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Terms And Conditions
The following subscription agreement and terms of service (the Agreement) govern your use of the Services. The Agreement is a legally binding agreement between Loop Backup LLC, (referred as "Us", Loop Backup"), and "You" as the "Customer".
By using or subscribing to our services or installing or using software You agree to the Agreement.
If you are entering into this Agreement on behalf of a company or other legal entity, You agree that You have the authority to bind such entity to this Agreement, in which case the terms Customer, You, Your or Yours shall refer to such entity.
All use of the Services shall be subject to the specifications, fees, features, scope, duration and such additional terms and conditions, which are specified under the corresponding Order Form which You or Customer have executed, signed or otherwise authorised in conjunction with the purchase of the right to use the Services. The terms and conditions of the Order Form are hereby incorporated by reference into this Agreement, a Loop Backup and in the event of conflict between the Order Form and this Agreement, the Order Form shall control.
1 Definitions
"Customer" means the natural or legal person who subscribes and activates the Services made available by Loop Backup and accepts the responsibility for performing payments for these Services.
"Subscription" refers to the specific access terms of a Customer to the Services in consideration of the payment of a fee for a defined period, within the usage limits specified in the Order Form.
"Services" means all products, software, services, mobile applications and websites, made available by Loop Backup, which allow you to replicate your data from the cloud services, including Workspace and Office 365, to a secondary cloud storage for the purposes of data protection.
"Subscription Term" means the period of time that You may use and access the Services as set forth in the applicable Order Form.
"Content" means electronic data and information submitted by You to the Services or collected and processed by You using the Services.
"User" means Customer's employees, agents, consultants, contractors or other individual users that have been granted the right to access and use the Services by Customer, in the performance of their duties for Customer, and for which Customer has purchased the Services.
"Reseller" means one of Our partner resellers through whom You purchase the Services.
"Order Form" means the Loop Backup licensing online page that allows you to select and subscribe to the Services or an ordering document specifying the Services to be provided hereunder that is entered into between You and Us or any of Our Affiliates or
2 Our Responsibilities
2.1. Provision the Services. Pursuant to this Agreement and to the Order Form(s), we agree (i) provide the Services in accordance with applicable laws and government regulations (ii) to provide customer support for the Services, (iii) use reasonable efforts to make the Services available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except for: (a) planned downtime, or (b) any unavailability caused by circumstances beyond Our reasonable control.
2.2 Protection of Your Content. We will maintain industry-standard administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for protection of the security, confidentiality, and integrity of Your Content. Those safeguards will include, but will not be limited to, measures for preventing access, use, modification or disclosure of Your Content by Our personnel except (a) to provide the Services, (b) as compelled by law in accordance with Section 8.3 (Compelled Disclosure) below, (c) as set forth in our Privacy Policy, or (d) as You expressly permit in writing.
2.3 California Consumer Privacy Act. We do not receive any Personal Information from You ("Your Personal Information") as consideration for the Services or other items provided by Us to You. Except as expressly set forth in the Agreement, We shall not (a) have, derive or exercise any rights or benefits regarding Your Personal Information, (b) Sell Your Personal Information, or (c) collect, retain, share or use Your Personal Information except as necessary for the sole purpose of performing the Services. We agree to refrain from taking any action that would cause any transfers of Your Personal Information, either to Us or from Us, to qualify as a Sale of Personal Information under the CCPA. We understand and will comply with the restrictions set forth in this Section and the applicable requirements of the CCPA. For the purposes of this Section, We are a Service Provider and the terms "Personal Information", "Sell", "Sale", and "Service Provider" shall have the same meaning as in the CCPA.
3 Use of Services
3.1. Your Responsibilities. You agree (i) not to access the Services if you are Loop Backup's competitor or competitor's affiliate, (ii) not to access the Services for the purposes of monitoring its availability, performance or functionality, or for any other benchmarking purposes, (iii) not to copy, distribute, perform, or display any ideas, features, functions, content or graphics which are proprietary to the Services; (iv) not to transmit documents that are illegal, confidential without authorisation, or constituting harassment, defamatory, racist, indecent, abusive, violent, threatening, vulgar, obscene or any other unacceptable document of any kind whatsoever; (v) not to use the Services for illegal purposes; (vi) use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorised access to or use of Services, and notify Us promptly of any such unauthorised access or use; (vii) not to allow access to any of the Services to anyone other than You or Your Users; (viii) not to sell, resell, license, sublicense, distribute, rent or lease any Service, or include any Service in a service bureau or outsourcing offering;
3.2. Free Trial. If You register on Our website for a free trial, We will make certain Loop Backup Services available to You on a trial basis, free of charge, until the earlier of (a) the end of the free trial period for which You registered to use the applicable Service(s), or (b) the start date of any Subscription Term for such Services, or (c) our decision to cancel your free trial. Your Content on our systems or in our possession or control during Your free trial may be permanently lost or deleted at the end of the free trial.
We will have no liability for any harm or damage arising out of or in connection with a free trial. Notwithstanding section 9 (representations, warranties, exclusive remedies, and disclaimers), during the free trial the services are provided, "as-is" without any warranty.
3.3. Customer Content and Privacy. You retain all ownership and intellectual property rights in and to Your Content. Our Privacy Policy placed at Loop Backup.com defines and describes the use and sharing of information that is received within Your use of the Services. You acknowledge that you agree to Our Privacy Policy before accessing or using the Services.
4 Fees
4.1. Usage Limits. Services limits specified in the Order Form. If You exceed a specified limit, You would need to purchase additional quantities of the Services, or decrease the usage to comply with the limits. You shall pay all fees in accordance with the Order Form. Fees are based on purchased quantities of the Services and continue for the initial subscription term specified in the Order Form or, if not specified, for an initial term of one (1) year.
4.2. Payment. You will provide Us with valid and updated credit card information, or with alternative document acceptable to Us. If You provide credit card information to Us, You (i) authorise Us to charge such credit card for the Services listed in the Order Form for the initial Subscription Term and renewal Subscription Terms as set forth in Section 5.2, and (ii) shall ensure that the credit card information provided to Us is current and valid and promptly update the information if the credit card expires. Charges shall be made in advance, either annually or in accordance with any different billing frequency stated in the Order Form. If the Order Form specifies that payment will be by a method other than a credit card, We will invoice You in advance and otherwise in accordance with the relevant Order Form. Unless otherwise stated in the Order Form, invoiced charges are due net seven (7) days from the invoice date.
4.3. Taxes. Our fees do not include any taxes, levies, duties or similar governmental assessments of any nature, including, for example, value-added, sales, use or withholding taxes, assessable by any jurisdiction whatsoever (collectively, "Taxes"). You are responsible for paying all Taxes associated with Your purchases hereunder. If We have the legal obligation to pay or collect Taxes for which You are responsible, We will invoice You and You will pay that amount unless You provide Us with a valid tax exemption certificate authorised by the appropriate taxing authority. For clarity, We are solely responsible for taxes assessable against Us based on Our net income, property, and employees.
4.4. Reseller Purchases. If You purchased the Services through a Reseller, all payment-related terms (including, but not limited to, pricing, invoicing, billing, payment methods, and late payment charges) will be set forth in Your agreement directly with such Reseller and such payment-related terms will supersede any conflicting terms set forth in this Section 4. We may suspend or terminate Your access to the Services in the event of non-payment of the applicable fees to Us by the Reseller, or Your uncured breach of this Agreement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the agreement between You and a Reseller: (i) shall not modify any of the terms set forth herein, and (ii) is not binding on Us.
5 Term and Termination
5.1. Term of Agreement. This Agreement commences on the date You first accept it and continues until all Subscription Terms hereunder have expired or have been terminated.
5.2. Renewal. The Subscription Term shall be and shall renew as specified in the applicable Order Form. Subscriptions will automatically renew for additional periods equal to the expiring Subscription Term, unless either party gives the other notice of non-renewal. The pricing during any automatic renewal term, as described in the Order Form, will be the same as that during the immediately prior term unless We have given You a notice of a pricing increase, in which case the pricing increase will be effective upon renewal and thereafter.
5.3. Termination for cause. A party may terminate this Agreement (i) after providing written notice to the other party of a material breach of its obligations under this Agreement, (ii) if the other party becomes the subject of a petition in bankruptcy or any other proceeding relating to insolvency, receivership, liquidation or assignment for the benefit of creditors.
5.4. Termination and Refunds. You may terminate your subscription by providing us with a written notice of any such termination. We not refund you any prepaid fees covering the remainder of the subscription Term of all Order Forms after the effective date of termination. We reserve the right to terminate Your subscription if our cost of providing the Services far exceeds your Services fees.
There are no refunds issued against any invoices.
5.5. Access to the Services. Upon expiration or termination, You are no longer authorized to use the Services, You will no longer have access to the data and other documents that You have stored in connection with the Services and the data will be deleted by Loop Backup.
5.6. Surviving Provisions. Termination shall not be effective with respect to any provision of this Agreement that is either specifically designated as surviving termination, or should reasonably survive in order to accomplish the objectives of this Agreement.
6 Rights Granted
6.1. Reservation of Rights. Subject to the limited rights expressly granted hereunder, We reserve all of Our rights, title, and interest in and to the Services, including all of Our intellectual property rights. You reserve all of Your rights, title and interest in Your Content. We will use Your Content as provided in Section 6.2 below. No rights are granted to You hereunder other than as expressly set forth herein.
6.2. Our Rights to Use Your Content. You grant Us and Our Affiliates the right to use Your Content, in compliance with applicable law, in order to: (a) provide the Services in accordance with this Agreement and the Privacy Policy or as may be required by law. Subject to the rights and licenses granted in this Agreement, We acquire no right, title, or interest from You under this Agreement in or to Your Content.
6.3. License by You to Use Feedback. You grant to Us and Our Affiliates a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use and incorporate into the Services any suggestion, enhancement request, recommendation, correction or other feedback provided by You or Users relating to the operation of the Services.
7 Limitations of damages and responsibilities
7.1. Exclusion of Consequential and Related Damages. In no event shall Loop Backup, its affiliates and their respective officers, partners, members, shareholders, employees, affiliates and agents be liable to any person for any claims, liabilities, losses, costs or damages under any theory, including but not limited to any direct, incidental, indirect, special, consequential or punitive damages, including, without limitation, lost profits, costs of delay, business interruption, costs of lost data or liabilities arising out of or in connection with any access, installation, download or use (or inability to use) of the Services. This limitation is intended to apply without regard to whether other provisions of this terms have been breached or have proven ineffective.
7.2. Limitation of Liability. The cumulative liability of Loop Backup to Customer for all claims arising from or relating to this Agreement, including, without limitation, any cause of action sounding in contract, tort, or strict liability, shall not exceed the total amount of all fees having been paid to Loop Backup by Customer for the Services to which the liability relates within the preceding 1 month period. This limitation of liability is intended to apply without regard to whether other provisions of this Agreement have been breached or have proven ineffective.
8 Confidentiality
8.1. Definition of Confidential Information. "Confidential Information" means all information disclosed by a party ("Disclosing Party") to the other party ("Receiving Party"), whether orally or in writing, that is designated as confidential or that reasonably should be understood to be confidential given the nature of the information and the circumstances of disclosure. Our Confidential Information includes the Services; and Confidential Information of each party includes the terms and conditions of this Agreement and all Order Forms (including pricing), as well as business and marketing plans, technology and technical information, product plans and designs, and business processes disclosed by such party. However, Confidential Information does not include any information that (i) is or becomes generally known to the public without breach of any obligation owed to the Disclosing Party, (ii) was known to the Receiving Party prior to its disclosure by the Disclosing Party without breach of any obligation owed to the Disclosing Party, (iii) is received from a third party without breach of any obligation owed to the Disclosing Party, or (iv) was independently developed by the Receiving Party.
8.2. Protection of Confidential Information. The Receiving Party will use the same degree of care that it uses to protect the confidentiality of its own confidential information of like kind (but not less than reasonable care) (i) not to use any Confidential Information of the Disclosing Party for any purpose outside the scope of this Agreement, and (ii) except as otherwise authorized by the Disclosing Party in writing, disclose Confidential Information of the Disclosing Party only to those of its and its Affiliates' employees and contractors who need that access for purposes consistent with this Agreement and who have signed confidentiality agreements with the Receiving Party containing protections no less stringent than those herein. Neither party will disclose the terms of this Agreement or any Order Form to any third party other than its Affiliates, legal counsel and accountants without the other party's prior written consent, provided that a party that makes any such disclosure to its Affiliate, legal counsel or accountants will remain responsible for such Affiliate's, legal counsel's or accountant's compliance with this Section
8.2. Compelled Disclosure. The Receiving Party may disclose Confidential Information of the Disclosing Party to the extent compelled by law or by the order of a court or similar judicial or administrative body to do so, provided the Receiving Party gives the Disclosing Party prior notice of the compelled disclosure (to the extent legally permitted) and reasonable assistance, at the Disclosing Party's cost, if the Disclosing Party wishes to contest the disclosure. If the Receiving Party is compelled by law to disclose the Disclosing Party's Confidential Information as part of a civil proceeding to which the Disclosing Party is a party, and the Disclosing Party is not contesting the disclosure, the Disclosing Party will reimburse the Receiving Party for its reasonable cost of compiling and providing secure access to that Confidential Information.
9 Representations, Warranties, Exclusive Remedies and Disclaimers
9.1. Representations. Each party represents that it has validly entered into this Agreement and has the legal power to do so.
9.2. Our Warranties. We warrant that the Services will perform materially in accordance with the specifications set forth in the Documentation. For any breach of the warranties, Your exclusive remedy and Our sole obligation is those described in Section 6 (Termination).
9.3. Mutual Warranties. Each party warrants that it will comply with all laws and regulations applicable to its provision or use of the Services, as applicable (including applicable security breach notification law).
9.4. Disclaimers. Except as expressly provided herein, neither party makes any warranty of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise, and each party specifically disclaims all implied warranties, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.
10 Mutual Indemnification
10.1. Indemnification by Us. We will defend You against any claim, demand, suit or proceeding made or brought against You by a third party alleging that the use of a the Services in accordance with this Agreement infringes or misappropriates such third party's intellectual property rights (a "Claim Against You"), and will indemnify You from any damages, attorney fees and costs finally awarded against You as a result of, or for amounts paid by You under a court-approved settlement of, a Claim Against You, provided You (a) promptly give Us written notice of the Claim Against You, (b) give Us sole control of the defense and settlement of the Claim Against You (except that We may not settle any Claim Against You unless it unconditionally releases You of all liability), and (c) give Us all reasonable assistance, at Our expense. If We receive information about an infringement or misappropriation claim related to a Service, We may in Our discretion and at no cost to You (i) modify the Service so that it no longer infringes or misappropriates, without breaching Our warranties under Section 9.2 (Our Warranties), (ii) obtain a license for Your continued use of that Service in accordance with this Agreement, or (iii) terminate Your subscriptions for that Service upon thirty (30) days' written notice.
10.2. Indemnification by You. You will defend Us against any claim, demand, suit or proceeding made or brought against Us by a third party alleging that Your Content, or Your use of the Services in breach of this Agreement, infringes or misappropriates such third party's intellectual property rights (a "Claim Against Us"), and will indemnify Us from any damages, attorney fees and costs finally awarded against Us as a result of, or for any amounts paid by Us under a court-approved settlement of, a Claim Against Us, provided We (a) promptly give You written notice of the Claim Against Us, (b) give You sole control of the defense and settlement of the Claim Against Us (except that You may not settle any Claim Against Us unless it unconditionally releases Us of all liability), and (c) give You all reasonable assistance, at Your expense
10.3. Exclusive Remedy. This Section 10 states the indemnifying party's sole liability to, and the indemnified party's exclusive remedy against, the other party for any type of claim described in this Section 10.
11 Revision, Governing Law and Jurisdiction
11.1. Notices. Notice may be sent to the email address You used when subscribing to the Services or any other reasonable means. You are responsible for providing Us with Your most current e-mail address. In the event that the last e-mail address that You have provided Us is not valid, or for any reason is not capable of delivering to You the notice described above, Our dispatch of the e-mail containing a notice will nonetheless constitute effective notice of the changes described in the notice.
11.2. Revision. This Agreement is subject to revision. If We make any substantial changes, We will notify You in accordance with Section 11.1. Any changes to this Agreement will be effective upon the earlier of thirty (30) calendar days following dispatch of a notice to You (if applicable) or Your next use of the Services. Continued use of Our Services following notice of such changes shall indicate Your acknowledgement of such changes and agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of such changes.
11.3. Governing Law and Jurisdiction. Each party agrees that this Agreement is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of Scotland, in all respects, without regard to choice or conflicts of law rules, and that all disputes arising out of or relating to this Agreement are limited to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located within our selection. Each party hereby consents to and waives any objections with respect to such jurisdiction and venue.
12 General Provisions
12.1. Export Compliance. The Services, other technology We make available, and derivatives thereof may be subject to export laws and regulations of Scotland and other jurisdictions. Each party represents that it is not named on any U.S. government denied-party list. You shall not permit Users to access or use any Service in a U.S.-embargoed country (currently Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Russia) or in violation of any U.S. export law or regulation.
12.2. Entire Agreement and Order of Precedence. This Agreement, including any Order Forms, is the entire agreement between You and Us regarding Your use of Services and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements, proposals or representations, written or oral, concerning its subject matter. No waiver of any provision of this Agreement will be effective unless in writing and signed by the party against whom the waiver is to be asserted. No modification or amendment of any provision of an Order Form will be effective unless in writing and signed by the party against whom the waiver is to be asserted. The parties agree that any term or condition stated in Your purchase order or in any other of Your order documentation (excluding Order Forms) is void. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency among the following documents, the order of precedence shall be: (1) the applicable Order Form, (2) this Agreement.
12.3. Assignment. Neither party may assign any of its rights or obligations hereunder, whether by operation of law or otherwise, without the other party's prior written consent (not to be unreasonably withheld); provided, however, either party may assign this Agreement in its entirety (including all Order Forms), without the other party's consent to its Affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganisation, or sale of all or substantially all of its assets or equity securities. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a party is acquired by, sells substantially all of its assets to, or undergoes a change of control in favour of, a direct competitor of the other party, then such other party may terminate this Agreement upon written notice.
12.4. Relationship of the Parties. The parties are independent contractors. This Agreement does not create a partnership, franchise, joint venture, agency, fiduciary, or employment relationship between the parties.
12.5. Third-Party Beneficiaries. Our licensors shall have the benefit of Our rights and protections hereunder with respect to the applicable content. There are no other third-party beneficiaries under this Agreement.
12.6. Acquisition of Non-Loop Backup Products and Services. We or third parties may make available third-party products or services, including, for example, Non-Loop Backup Applications and implementation and other consulting services. Any acquisition by You of such non-Loop Backup Applications, and any exchange of data between You and any non-Loop Backup provider, is solely between You and the applicable non-Loop Backup provider. We do not warrant or support Non-Loop Backup Applications or other non-Loop Backup products or services, whether or not they are designated by Us.
12.7. Waiver. No failure or delay by either party in exercising any right under this Agreement will constitute a waiver of that right.
12.8. Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to law, the provision will be deemed null and void, and the remaining provisions of this Agreement will remain in effect.
12.9. Force Majeure. Except for payment obligations, neither party will be liable for inadequate performance to the extent caused by a condition (for example, natural disaster, an act of war or terrorism, riot, labor condition, governmental action, and Internet disturbance) that was beyond the party's reasonable control.


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"Imagine me, reader; I shall not exist if you do not imagine me."
-Nabokov (I know, I know, you're all shocked.)
The word "believe" and its derivatives come up a lot when readers and reviewers evaluate fiction–especially realistic fiction. I certainly have used it, and I probably will slip up and do so fifteen minutes after I post this. But I think it's an imprecise and unfortunate word choice in almost any case. "I just didn't believe the story" and "It was full of unbelievable characters" are decent examples of post-last-page dismissals. You can think of others, I imagine.
Now think about the word "believe." How does belief relate to pleasure? How does it relate to transcendent aesthetic bliss? (These are the goals of fiction. Keep your eye on anyone who mentions other goals first.) Does the need to exercise your capacity for belief lead you to read novels? I believe in gravity and evolution. I believe that I will ride my bike home in a couple hours on a near-perfect September afternoon. These beliefs alone give me no pleasure or pain. They are simply things I think are true. Whether I believe in Humbert Humbert or hobbits or Harriet the Spy is even less interesting. Believing in fictional characters doesn't make them true. There is no squirt of dopamine in the nether regions of my brain.
Now, let's consider the word "imagine" as an alternate course in the same thought process. I don't know about you, but do take pleasure in imagining the workings of evolution, gravity, and my ride home. Even more important (and here's where the dopamine fountain comes in), I find a great deal of aesthetic bliss in imagining fictional characters. The act of imagining is, after all, the key act in all fiction. Belief simply doesn't matter. Whether you're talking about swords-and-dragons fantasy or urban, "realistic" fiction or murder mysteries, the contract readers have with authors of fiction concerns the imaginable not the believable.
I don't need an author to tell me there are people living on the streets of Brooklyn engaged in activities I have a hard time imagining. I do, however, need an author to help me imagine people living on the streets of Brooklyn doing things I have a hard time believing. And in the end,when the book is over, if I imagined those characters and those things and those streets, then it is irrelevant whether I believe them. In fact, it's probably better if I imagined it thoroughly but still have a hard time believing. Belief wrings no joy from the page. Imagination will leave you needing new trousers.
Now, sometimes a reader simply swaps the two words. (I hope this is the mistake I make in fifteen minutes.) One reader might say she could "imagine" the character no more than she could "believe" in the character, because the author fails to uphold his end of the bargain. This swap is an error of semantics. Other times, though, I believe a reader misses the point of fiction entirely–especially realistic fiction–when he mixes up the two. The character was real while the reader was imagining her, but then he stopped imagining her and started looking to the real world for evidence, where he found none. This is an error of judgment and of effort–the equivalent of blowing out the fire to find out what was casting the shadows on the cave wall. For me, the main difference between these two cases is who has broken the contract.
All this I believe.

subset: commoncrawl


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Refreshingly Fast & Friendly Painting Services
Reliable & professional Residential & Commercial Painters servicing Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, & other surrounding cities in the Durham Region & GTA!
At 123 Paint we are committed to providing exceptional quality work at an affordable price. With our vast skills, equipment, and services for all residential and commercial painting job types, you can be sure that the professionals at 123 Paint can tackle your project.
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We strive to make painting your home or business as easy as 1, 2, 3!
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Quality workmanship and your satisfaction are the top two priorities for every residential and commercial job done by a 123 Paint contractor. Our painters are skilled in various interior projects for your home or business including drywall repair, wallpaper application and/or removal & popcorn ceiling removal. Safeguarding your home/business is important to us too; which is why every surface is covered and protected before any 123 Paint contractor starts the job, so they will leave the site as pristine as it was when they arrived.
The contractors at 123 Paint are fully equipped to handle your exterior painting jobs too! Exterior paint jobs such as fence and deck painting will always be sealed for the utmost protection against the elements, so you get a job that lasts.


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Poll: London drivers support clean air zone
A majority of Londoners are either extremely or very concerned about air pollution levels in the city, according to a new poll.
The poll also revealed that approximately half the respondents were in favour of clean air zones, a figure that rose to 62%, once the concept was explained further – including a majority of car owners.
Clean air zones would tax drivers of more polluting vehicles entering the city.
The survey conducted amongst 1,000 individuals by nfp Synergy, comes ahead of mayoral elections in which air pollution has been a key issue.
The reported research was sampled by questioning 1,000 Londoners from the 23rd, until the 28th March (2016).
Citizens were asked to choose two feasibly perceivable solutions for air pollution that related to means of transport. Interestingly, the most popular choice amongst respondents was the introduction of 'clean air zones' (50%), where high polluting vehicles would be taxed. The second most popular option was better public transport (49%). . Incentives to preserve money were also paralleled in the second most popular option, which was better public transport (49%).
In combination with taxable zones, public transport would reflect a cheaper and more sustainable commute. Solutions such as certain bans on diesel cars, and cycling provisions proved to be less popular, as they only had a 30% and 24% turnout, respectively. 55% of people either said they wouldn't participate in a car sharing scheme or weren't sure.
Parental concerns
On average, individuals under the age of 45 proved to be more concerned (65% were extremely, or very concerned) about air pollution. Respondents with children living at home were especially interested in the effects of air pollution levels.
Ironically, car ownership was highest (81%) amongst those who claimed to be more concerned, such as parents of children who live at home and were under the age of 18.
Overallmiddle-aged respondents were amongst the most motivated to improve air pollution in London, especially amongst those with children, and individuals in high managerial professions (56%).
When it came to the impact of air pollution symptoms were reportedly experienced most by the age group 25-44, which was especially high amongst women (46%). Hence, the younger lines of generations are most heavily affected and aware of environmental damage.
Responsibility for air pollution was largely directed towards decision-making institutions such as Governmental bodies, and the Mayor of London (mostly amongst over 35s). Car companies and drivers were given less of the blame.


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Certain pundits have been predicting the demise of game consoles for years now.
Indeed, when mobile gaming became popular on Android devices and Apple's iOS lineup, many thought such portable devices would inevitably herald the end console gaming. Well, such a scenario has yet to happen, with console gaming still going strong as highlighted by the undeniable success of Halo 4.
More recently, people have been speculating that the Ouya game console might (once again) mean the demise of the game console. Personally, I don't see that happening either.
But in the meantime, we can certainly enjoy our mobile devices for gaming, helped along by companies like Green Throttle which wants to transform your Android device into a console.
This product is funded by some personalities with significant history in the entertainment business, including Charles Huang, who is perhaps best known for Guitar Hero.
Essentially, the idea behind Green Throttle is that you can connect an Android-powered smartphone or tablet to your TV – and then use a Bluetooth Atlas Controller to form a pseudo console.
Green Throttle is coding its own games for the plaortform and has convinced a number of third party developers to jump on board, including Free Range Games, Mercenary and Monstrous.
Interestingly, the controllers used in the system promise full analogue control sticks – allowing precise controlling fluid motion. As noted above, the Green Throttle system works with Android devices, with the company offering a free software development kit (SDK) for download in an effort to spur interest and adoption.


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2) This line of kids clothes:
3) The Playsam Roadster :
5 Things I'm Loving Right Now
1) This room:
2) This line of kids clothes:
3) The Playsam Roadster :
Little Portraits
Beautiful photography makes me happy. Maxine Helfman makes me oh so happy.
Twinkle, Twinkle
Kalon Studios
I love Kalon Studios' Caravan line, especially the new Divan. All of the Caravan pieces are available in 6 bright, contemporary colors. How fun!
White Christmas
We are starting to gear up for Christmas decoration at our house. I'm thinking about a white theme this year. Some white ideas from Bodie and Fou:
Family Home: French Elegance
This lovely home makes me want to move to the north of France.
Family Home: Thanksgiving Edition
I hope you're enjoying this Family Home week. I had to repost this Sneak Peek from Design*Sponge. It's a lovely 1700s Massachusetts home with murals, maple countertops (swoon), and buckets of character. It's the perfect place to celebrate turkey day.
Family Home: A Tiny Space
This beautiful house is small in size but huge in style. Read more about Lincoln Barbour's shoot here.
In honor of Thanksgiving, a holiday I associate with family gatherings and homecomings, I'm featuring family homes all week. Hope you enjoy this beautiful space. What a unique mobile in the nursery.
Family Home: Keri Russell
I'm crazy about Keri Russell's renovated 1860's brownstone, featured here in Elle Decor. I love the ceiling moldings, the fireplace, that tufted table, and the fabulous Arctic Pear chandelier (at the top of my wish list) from Ochre. I grew up playing an upright piano, and it's refreshing to see one styled so beautifully. Everything feels light, bright, and warm.


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Cornell University
PhD. in Mathematics
Norm was 4th at the 2004 USA Weightlifting Nationals! He still trains and competes occasionally, despite his busy schedule.
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Cornell University
PhD. in Mathematics
Norm was 4th at the 2004 USA Weightlifting Nationals! He still trains and competes occasionally, despite his busy schedule.
The second derivative can be used to determine the minimum surface area of a cylinder with a given volume. Recall that the volume of a cylinder is V=πr2h, where r is the radius of the base, and h is the height of the cylinder. Also recall that the surface area of a cylinder is SA=2πrh + 2πr2(the circumference of the circular base multiplied by the height plus the area of the two circular bases). This is the equation we want to minimize.
Find the critical points of the surface area function by taking the first derivative. Then, by taking the second derivative, you can determine which of these critical points is a minimum (when the second derivative is positive, the point is a minimum).
Let's do another optimization problem. Manufacturers of Slurm want to make a cylindrical can that will hold 250 pi cm³ of a highly addictive beverage. Determine the dimensions that will minimize the amount of material needed for its construction.
So I've drawn a cylinder here. I need to introduce some variables. I'm going to call the height of the can 'h'. I'm going to call the radius of the can 'r'. So the volume of the cylinder, is the area of the base times the height. That's going to be Pi r², that's the area of the base, times the base is h.
So here is a problem where I have two variables, r and h. I have to try to get this in terms of one variable only. So I need to find a constraint, somewhere in the problem, that will allow me to define r in terms of h. It's this. The volume is 250 pi. This has to equal 250 pi. Then I realize, what am I actually minimizing here? The amount of material needed for its construction. That's area, and that's the surface area of the can.
So let me find an equation for surface area. The surface area is going to be the circumference times the height, so that's 2pi rh. That will give me the lateral area of the can. Then pi r² for the top, and pi r² for the bottom. That's plus 2 pi r². So that's the thing that I have to minimize.
Now this is a function of two variables. I need to replace h in this function. So let's take a look at our constraint. This is actually our constraint. I'm going to cancel the pi, and I have that h equals 250 over r². So let me substitute that into my area equation. So a equals 2pi r, and h is 250 over r² plus 2 pi r². Now r will cancel here, and we have 500 pi over r. Then we have plus 2pi r².
Let's think about what kind of domain we want for this. Now I have this volume constraint, 250pi, but I could really have any positive value for r even if it's very small. I could find an 'h' that's big enough to give me that volume that I need. So, as long as r is bigger than 0, I'll be okay. So that's going to b my domain r bigger than 0.
So I have my area function. Let's find its derivative. So let me copy up here first. 500pi over r plus 2pi r²; that's r for greater than 0. It's the derivative A'. This is really 500pi times r to the -1. So the derivative of that would be -500pi r to the -2 plus, and the derivative of this term is 4pi.
In order to find critical points, I'm going to need to get this into a single fraction. Right now, this represents a fraction that's being added to another term. They don't have the same denominator, let me show you what I mean. This is -500pi over r² plus 4pi r. So I need to get both of these terms with the denominator of r² in order to combine them.
Well, I could give this one a denominator of r² if I multiply the top by r². That will give me 4pi r³. Now I can combine them into -500pi plus 4pi r³ over r². Now I'm looking for critical points. I notice that this is undefined where r equals 0. It's not a critical point, because it's not in the domain.
So let me look at the numerator. When is this going to equal 0? A' equal 0 when 4pi r³ equals 500pi. So let me cancel the pi's. Divide both sides by 4. 500 over 4, what's that? Well, it's 250 over 2, which is 125. That's a perfect cube. So r equals 5, that's our critical point. So we have one critical point.
Now what I have to determine is that the second derivative is either always positive, or always negative. So I need to find the second derivative, A''. So looking at this, the derivative of this first term, the -2 comes out in front. I get +1000pi r to the -3. Then for this term, the derivative of 4pi r is just 4pi. Now all I need to know is, is this second derivative always positive or always negative? Well, my domain is r greater than 0. Now this is the same as 1000pi over r³ plus 4pi. Now this part's always positive. If r is always positive, this term will also be always positive. So A'' is always positive.
Now think about what a second derivative always positive means? It means the graph is always concave up. So our single critical point at r equals 5 is going to represent an absolute minimum. So A has an absolute minimum when r equals 5.
Now we were asked to find the dimensions, that will minimize the amount of material needed to make the can. R equals 5 is one of the dimensions. Now we need to find the height, h. Well, that comes from our constraint way back over here. This was our constraint. Remember we got it from setting the volume equal to 250pi. If I plug in my r equals 5 here, I get 25 in the denominator, 250 over 25 is 10. H is 10.
Now remember, the original 250pi that was in cm³, so all these lengths are in centimeters. So the final dimensions of the can are; a radius of 5cm, and a height of 10cm.


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Happy book birthday to Circus Mirandus!
I've been looking forward to celebrating Circus Mirandus' book birthday ever since I devoured it on January 11! It is an awesome page-turner that will keep you up all night reading.
|Click here to visit the official website.
Cassie Beasley dropped by to chat with me about Micah Tuttle, Great-Aunt Gertrudis, school libraries, reading, and nErDcampMI. I wrote the words in orange, and she wrote the words in black. Thank you, Cassie!
Micah Tuttle believes even when believing is a really hard thing to do. And I think it gives him the courage he needs to get things done. Getting into a magic circus isn't always easy, but believing you might be able to manage the job is the first step.
I think Great-Aunt Gertrudis is a little less horrible than Micah thinks she is. Just a tiny bit less, mind you, because she is not at all the person she could be, and she's a world away from being the aunt he needs. She's bitter and hurtful, but she's not completely devoid of human feeling. She does spend weeks caring for Grandpa Ephraim, after all, even though she hasn't been close to him for decades. There must be a stubborn shard of love in her somewhere.
Circus Mirandus' cover and case are proof that magicians are real! They were obviously all called in to work on the design. The top hat cutout is extremely cool. The art is by Diana Sudyka. Bibi, the tiger, looks like she's about to spring right off the case, doesn't she? I could spend hours (okay, I already have) staring at just the outside of the book. There are so many details to take in and so many tantalizing hints about the story!
I wrote Circus Mirandus because I couldn't not write Circus Mirandus. I was working on a completely different book when Micah and Grandpa Ephraim appeared. I try not to jump into new books before I've completed the ones I'm currently writing because that's a recipe for never finishing anything! But with Circus Mirandus I couldn't help myself. I think some stories are just ready to be told, and I'm grateful that this one found me.
|Click here for more information.
Scott Steindorff and Dylan Russell believe in Circus Mirandus so much that they've optioned the film rights! This was so unexpected and so exciting, and the idea that I might one day be able to see the circus and the magic and the characters on-screen is amazing! I think there are a lot of visual elements, particularly when Micah is at the circus, that will translate so well.
One of the most interesting things about writing a novel is how well you know your characters when you get finished. You know bits of their pasts that nobody else will ever learn, and you've imagined them saying and doing things that nobody will ever read. One of my very favorite characters in Circus Mirandus, the Lightbender, has such a long and fascinating history, but he's quite mysterious in the book. It's fun to have that knowledge, and it's great when readers share their own guesses about the backstory, especially when they're right!
School libraries are places where you can become a better person by experiencing other peoples' stories. I think that when we read books, especially as children and teenagers, we are saving up a personal box of tools that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. Of course, some of those tools are informational; books can teach you how to build a birdhouse or set a table if that's what you need. But I think the most important tools we can gain in a library are the spyglasses that let us peek into other peoples' lives.
Reading a well-written book is such an immersive experience. When you find yourself inside the mind of a character who thinks very differently than you do, you often begin to empathize with him or her, and by the end of the story, you realize that this person with a different point of view and a different background isn't such a stranger after all! I think that's pretty special and pretty powerful.
Reading a well-written book is such an immersive experience. When you find yourself inside the mind of a character who thinks very differently than you do, you often begin to empathize with him or her, and by the end of the story, you realize that this person with a different point of view and a different background isn't such a stranger after all! I think that's pretty special and pretty powerful.
Mr. Schu, you should have asked me what I'm going to do now that Circus Mirandus has finally arrived. First of all, I'm really looking forward to attending nErDcampMI in July! And you probably won't be surprised to hear this, but I've got books stacked all over the place that I haven't had time to read with all of the excitement. I'm going to dive into Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Nightbird by Alice Hoffman, and Rita Williams-Garcia's Gone Crazy in Alabama. I've also got my hands on an ARC of A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic by Lisa Papademetriou, and I can't wait to get started on that! Now all I have to do is decide just how many books I can read at one time.
Borrow Circus Mirandus from your school or public library. Whenever possible, please support independent bookshops.


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There's a Great Deal We Can Do for You
Welcome to Our Tax & Law Factory!
You have been looking for a tax expert, a fiduciary, or a legal counsel. And here you are – at Müller Steuer & Rechtspraxis AG. Now you are wondering if we are right for each other. So let us therefore briefly introduce ourselves and our fields of expertise.
What exactly is Müller Steuer & Rechtspraxis – or MSRP in brief? Well, it's a factory of sorts. A manufacturer of highly customized products. You are the client. And you can order the product you desire.
Customized Products
This can be a perfectly completed tax return, all correct and ready to be submitted to the tax authorities. Or it may be orderly annual financial statements – "orderly" in the full sense of the word, i.e. a neatly compiled folder containing all the required accounting details. Then again, you may simply be looking for an elegant overview of how your matrimonial assets would be split according to the applicable matrimonial property law.
Tax, Accounting, Law, and Financial Planning
Are you considering early retirement and therefore in need of a comprehensive overview of the financial consequences? Or would you like to legally and financially prepare for your passing by drafting a will and determining how your assets will be allocated in the event of death? For all these products – including comprehensive consultancy services – Müller Steuer & Rechtspraxis is the right place for you.
Fancy a Factory Tour?
We are proud of our company. And we are looking forward to getting to know you in person and showing you where we work.
Why Is MSRP a "Factory"? Some Words about the Metaphors Used on this Website
A factory – this presumably conjures up images of huge production halls, throbbing engines, harsh working conditions, and mass production. Whatever happened to the familial consulting boutique with its highly specialized individuals and its customized products?!? Your confusion is understandable. "Factory", "production lines", and "workforce" are not immediately recognized as metaphors. But this is exactly what they are – metaphors.
The word "factory" points towards the output-oriented nature of our work and the consistently high quality of our products. "Production lines" stand for our clearly defined processes. And "workforce" underlines the equal importance of all MSRP staff members involved in these processes.
Last but not least, by using these metaphors, we show that while we take our work seriously, there is also a playful side to us.
The MSRP Principles
We Take Everything Personally
The personal service we deliver is paramount in creating the mutual trust on which long-term client relationships are based.
We Are Up-to-Date
Our commitment to continuous training and education ensures that we deliver high-quality consultancy services. We are members of EXPERTSuisse.
We Train Young Talents
As a company that trains commercial apprentices, we are actively promoting young professionals.
We Are Part of a Network
Through our cooperation with partners, we form a network of experts.
Taraxacum officinale Is Our "Power Plant"
Dandelion – The Symbol of Our Self-Perception
The dandelion visually integrates nature in our services. Our scope of work is local, national, and international – and our symbol, in its numerous forms of expression, is also present throughout the world.
Are you surprised to see the pictures and colors used on this website? They all draw their inspiration and energy from the dandelion, our "power plant". For many years now, Müller Steuer & Rechtspraxis has closely associated itself with this medicinal plant. Common yet extraordinary, it blossoms in the most surprising places on this planet, both in urban and rural areas.
Three aspects or characteristics of the dandelion are particularly influential for our work:
Our strength stems from our qualifications, our skills, our core competencies, and our families, while dandelions also have strong roots that draw nourishment from the earth.
And just as the dandelion seeds alight on the soil and take root, our expertise and professionalism form the fertile ground in which our customer relationships, nourished by personal and cordial discussions based on mutual respect, can prosper and grow deep roots over the years .
Quite often, goals cannot be achieved quickly. We are like the dandelion in the perseverance with which we cultivate professional relationships in a straightforward and authentic way. This perseverance ensures continuity and security for our clients in tax, legal, and personal matters.
Just as the dandelion adapts to various environments, flexibility is one of our strengths. Every client has a different background and different preferences. Knowing these is key to providing the best consulting services possible.
And just as the dandelion overcomes obstacles in order to blossom in the most surprising places, we adjust readily to any changes in the tax and legal system, as we follow developments with curiosity and interest. And we swiftly implement the necessary changes in the solutions we offer you.
How We Came to Choose the Dandelion
At the beginning of 1995, our company specializing in tax and law was established under the name of Steuer- und Rechtspraxis Gaby J. Müller – with Iustitia, the Roman goddess of justice, adorning its letterhead.
Our tenth anniversary in 2005 was an opportunity for introspection. We realized that Iustitia – blindfolded, with a sword and scales – no longer adequately reflected the services we provided to our clients. This initiated a long and intense search process in which we were assisted by the corporate identity specialists of Musqueteers®.
Initially a spontaneous idea that emerged in this rebranding process, the dandelion gradually took center stage, and we finally chose it to be the symbol of our activities from spring 2006.
Our corporate design poster Corporate Design-Plakat visualizes the presence and influence of our power plant in our day-to-day work.
The dandelion illustrations on this website have evolved as our bond with it as our MSRP power plant continues. They are created by illustrator Martina Ott.
Further Images and Information in Our Blog
Are you also captivated by our power plant? Our blog features a dedicated dandelion category. Blog


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Playlist Squirrel, Littleloud's latest creation for Radio 1/ 1xtra, is a quiz game that allows you to show off your music knowledge (while trying to collect enough nuts to buy your girlfriend a pop-themed birthday present).
With questions created dynamically each week from the artists and tracks in playlist rotation on Radio 1/ 1xtra, the game is constantly changing to provide hibernation-thwarting challenge and excitement.
Players must answer multiple-choice questions in order to earn nuts that the playlist squirrel can use to buy his girlfriend an iconic pop-based prize. There are 10 random multiple choice questions derived from the Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra playlists of the week.
For each question answered correctly, you win bonus time to use in the final Nut Grab bonus round. Think Crystal Maze except instead of money you're collecting nuts and, instead of being four yuppies from London you're one squirrel from Epping Forest.
Perform well enough and you'll have enough nuts to buy a wonderful pop-themed gift from the local cockney badger for your squirrel girlfriend, Nuttina, which you can then share on Facebook and Twitter. Squirrels are all about the social media these days.
Launched on Radio 1 Dan and Phil on the 5th May 2013, Dan earned £1.45 and bought Jessie J's lips for his squirrel girlfriend. Dan is quoted as saying, "It is the new World of Warcraft".


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Sapka Communications
Thu, 06 Oct 2016 03:21:30 GMT
No Smoke has hired Aram Rappaport, an emerging talent who just directed the production company's most recent campaign for client Optimum Cable and the Martin Agency.
"Upon meeting Aram, we were immediately interested in having him join our team as a director. His creative vision and innate drive are truly impressive," said Andrew Swee, partner and executive producer at No Smoke. "And now that I've been in the trenches with him on Optimum, I can confirm what I suspected: he thoroughly immerses himself in a project and delivers 300%."
While this is Rappaport's virgin ad effort for No Smoke, it's hardly his first time in the director's chair. Born in Los Angeles in 1987, he opted to write and direct a feature film rather than attend college at age 18. While many pursue that path, few persist—as Rappaport did—to the finish line. The result of his journey was "Innocent," an ambitious one-take drama starring Alexa Vega. He's since written and directed more feature films, including 'Syrup' starring Amber Heard, Brittany Snow, Shiloh Fernandez and Kellan Lutz (Magnolia Pictures), and "The Crash" (January 2017), which stars Minnie Driver, John Leguizamo, Frank Grillo, Dianna Agron and AnnaSophia Robb. Leguizamo introduced the director to No Smoke's leaders.
This is fitting because Leguizamo actually stars in the Optimum ads, which focus on the company's app. In 'John vs. John,' Leguizamo, the character actor/comedian/cable customer, goes up against himself in various guises that represent his favorite content. As he interacts with his flirty woman, foreign chef and street-hustler selves, the audience learns that they can get all their favourite content on their smartphones. The 30-second ad tags with, "Optimum. Let's connect more."
His commercial credits include campaigns for Nike, Hasbro, Dalmore Whisky, One Teaspoon, Misfit Wearables, Betterment, Vroom.com and IT Cosmetics. View his reel here.
view more - Hires, Wins & Business
Genres: Comedy
Categories: TV, Consumer ElectronicsSapka Communications, Thu, 06 Oct 2016 03:21:30 GMT


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Darcy Earrings
Darcy Earrings
Using our beautiful silver enrobed stone as the focal point these contemporary earrings feature an oval frame and element for the perfect length design & finished with a lever back ear wire.
All in .925 sterling silver.
Pair them with the Darcy Necklace for a complete set
Materials: Natural stones, man made stones, .925 sterling silver
Length: 2.75"
Designed and made in Canada
Sale Sold out
Regular price $74.00 CAD
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Rusutsu Resort (ルスツ) is considered one of the best ski resorts in Hokkaido. It has a large ski area that covers three mountains, each having a variety of long runs with a good mix of groomed trails, great powder and tree runs. It is located close to Lake Toya (Toyako) and is just on the other side of Mount Yotei from Niseko.
At the base of the ski slopes stand two large hotels, the highrise Westin Rusutsu and the North and South Wing Hotel. Several small pensions can be found in the nearby town center of Rusutsu. Besides skiing, Rusutsu Resort offers numerous other attractions, including restaurants and shops, pool facilities and hot spring baths. Summer activities include golf and an amusement park with over 60 attractions and 8 roller coasters.


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Breeding Crested Geckos
Breeding crested geckos is fun to do, and once you start, you're hooked!
THE BASICS In Breeding Crested Geckos:
Geckos must be fully grown before they are bred. 35-40 grams for male, 40 plus grams for females (always). When a female lays her eggs, she may stop eating for a while. That's okay if she's fat enough. But if she's underweight… it can be a big problem! Although the male must be big enough for the female, he can't be TOO big. Breed your crested geckos in spring, the time they naturally reproduce. If you want to start earlier or do it later, you can fix the lighting to trick them into thinking its spring! If you plan to sell your cute little babies, chose pretty geckos to breed so people will want to buy them.
This is Groot, my male crested gecko. Isn't he handsome?
- Choose your enclosure (either the female or the male's). I recommend putting the male in the female's enclosure. She won't be as stressed at this crucial time and knows her favorite hiding spots. Either way, make sure your female has tons of places to conceal herself. Like all women, sometimes she just likes to be alone!
- Watch closely! Your crested geckos may not bond right away! And don't panic if you see them biting. The female or male may even have bite marks (this is normal). But if the female seems too defensive and they are fighting, remove one of them! Try again in a week or two. Don't try to force the union. You'll have better results if you're patient and wait for true love!
- Once they breed, place the geckos back in their home enclosures. YAY! Now get busy on a nursery!
- If you're buying an incubator, I recommend you order it before the breeding period so it will arrive on time for your baby cresties. You can buy simple incubators or expensive ones. Just add a substrate made for hatching reptile eggs. There's a variety of cool substrates if you'd like to get fancy!
Do it yourself!
If you're making an incubator, here's some need to know information! Some reptiles require special temperatures but crested geckos are kept at 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Normal house temperatures! How convenient is that?
1. Find a small plastic container.
2. Fill it up with substrate, vermiculite, or perlite. Make sure its moist, not wet.
3. Poke 5 small holes in the top so your eggs to breathe.
4. Add a thermometer/hydrometer keep the humidity at 85-90%. Soil helps!
It's best to have one of these in a female terrarium. If she lays eggs, it may be hard to find them and they need proper care. If they're infertile, the eggs will decay unnoticed until you have an odor problem! So, here is how to make an egg laying box.
- Find a lidded container your female crested can fit in. Fill it with 50% vermiculite, and 50% peat moss. Leave 1/3 of the container with nothing in it. Then, if possible, I recommend adding some sphagnum moss. Again, make sure the moss and vermiculite are wet, but not dripping when you squeeze them. Always keep it moist!
- Poke 3 small holes in the lid. Cut an additional hole large enough for your mom to enter.
(You can use a cardboard box shown here, or a plastic container)
- Place the egg-laying box a week before she lays her eggs (2). This should occur a month after mating. Soon she will venture into the container to dig some. Keep an eye out but don't disturb her too much. Once you spot them, rejoice!
- But here's another tricky part! When you relocate the eggs from the box to the incubator, you must be careful! DO NOT switch or rotate them! Use a marker to note the tops and position so the eggs so they're not accidently shifted or rotated.
- Check the eggs often. Make sure they aren't moldy, and that the humidity stays at 85-90%. If mold does occur, wipe them gently with a paper towel. Remember, no rotating! Wait 60-70 days, or longer with higher temperature (the process takes longer at higher temps).
Once they hatch, take time for a happy dance!
I HAVE BABY GECKOS!!!!! Now what???
I recommend getting a Kritter Keeper cage for your babies. Use paper towels for bedding, bottle caps for food and water, and 1 small hideout and bit of foliage (like a vine). Don't crowd in too much or they won't be able to find their food and water. Don't worry if they don't eat right away. Sometimes it takes 3-4 days for hunger to set it!
Offer tiny insects once a week, and gecko diet 3 times a week (maybe more if you had lots of babies). No fresh food until they are a few months old. If one starts bullying others, remove them to another box.
After eight weeks of age, you can sell them if you wish!
Have fun and don't forget to take pictures of those little cuties!
This article was written and contributed by Madison Bright.
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IndianaTown of Munster Contractor Bond
Cost: $50
The city of Munster requires contractors to submit a $5,000 surety bond before receiving a license or permit to work.
Secure Checkout
Backed by SSL, our online bonding process is secure. We are committed to your privacy.
Purchase your bond today and we'll email your bond directly to you. No shipping required.
Best Prices
We shop the top surety markets to find you the best rate.
- State:
- Indiana
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- $5,000
- Term:
- 1 year
- Licensing Agent:
- Brooklyn Ventures, LLC
- License Number:
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Review: Legends of the Dark Knight: Alan Davis Vol. 1 hardcover (DC Comics)
Monday, December 23, 2013
Unlike most of DC's other hardcover volumes focusing on a single artist's Batman work, Legends of the Dark Knight: Alan Davis Vol. 1 actually includes a continuous run of Detective Comics stories (#569-575) with the same creative team, as writer Mike W. Barr and inker Paul Neary join penciller Davis for most of the book.
Barr and Davis's stories are an entertaining throwback to the "superhero" Batman in the months just preceding (and then briefly concurrent with) the constant Miller-angst that reigns till this day. Batman smiles, cracks jokes, and frequently calls Robin "chum." Alan Davis's art is crisp, clean, almost but not quite veering into cartoony. He homages the giant prop Sprang era quite a bit, but he can do grim as well, as seen in one panel where Batman backhands the Joker in a burst of anger.
The first few stories feature Catwoman (in her purple dress with green cape outfit) and the Joker. Next up is a Scarecrow story that seems to have been the inspiration for one of the later Bruce Timm animated episodes featuring the villain, in which he removes people's fears rather than creating or exploiting them. An over-confident, grinning Batman is as unnerving as the grim look you normally see, especially when he plays chicken with a couple of trucks.
The highlight of the volume is the anniversary issue of Detective Comics #572, reprinted in its entirety even though it includes non-Davis art, where Batman teams with fellow detectives Slam Bradley, Elongated Man, and even Sherlock Holmes (featuring guest art by Carmine Infantino, Terry Beatty and ER Cruz) in a story that focuses on a century-spanning mystery book.
Following that is a Mad Hatter story with a tragic ending that leads directly into the next issue. This issue ". . . My Beginning and My Probable End" is billed as "the new origin of the Batman" which signals the changes in Batman's history, as his origin is retold with echoes of Year One and the upcoming Year Two, the first chapter of which is also reprinted here (subsequent chapters are penciled by Todd McFarlane and are not included in the volume), and ends Davis' Detective run. I believe this is also the first appearance of Dr. Leslie Thompkins and her clinic, vs. the pre-Crisis version of her as an elderly lady still living in Crime Alley.
That leads to another observation about the uniqueness of this volume -- that is, its place in Batman's history, as it straddles the time period between pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Earth 1 Batman and post-Crisis/Year One Batman. This is most evidenced here by the prominent inclusion of circus acrobat Jason Todd, as established back in 1983. By the end of the run, there is allusion to the new Jason Todd origin that was established in the "Batman: The New Adventures" era that followed Batman: Year One in the Batman title, but that's inconsistent with how Jason is portrayed throughout the book. This version of Jason would less likely have been voted to be killed by readers, as he actually seemed like a genuine kid who was thrilled to be at Batman's side and eager to be a worthy partner.
The collection concludes with the Year Two sequel, Full Circle, originally a standalone graphic novel, and a short story from the Batman: Gotham Knights black and white back-ups that features characters from the original Barr/Davis run.
All told, Legends of the Dark Knight: Alan Davis Vol. 1 is one of the more satisfying, straightforward volumes of artist-centric Batman volumes. It takes place during a transitory period in Batman history, but that makes it no less enjoyable for fans of old-fashioned superhero Batman fun that combines the tongue-in-cheek sensibilities of the '60s with the burgeoning seriousness of the '80s, with beautiful art to carry the reader along. The art reproduction is also consistent throughout the volume. (Not sure why this is called Vol. 1 though, as I believe this includes all of Davis' Batman work.) Highly recommended.
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7 comments:
maybe are there plans to include the batman and the outsiders issues drawn by alan davis? One can hopeReplyDelete
Hopefully we'll someday see color reprints of Batman and the Outsiders, both the Aparo and Davis-drawn issues..ReplyDelete
- Anonymous12/24/2013 05:45:00 AM
After "Year One," these are hands-down my favorite Batman stories. Read these as a 13-year-old when they were originally published in 1986 and have been waiting decades for them to be collected and reprinted. Love this collection.ReplyDelete
If they published a Batman and the Outsiders Showcase Presents Volume Two, that would get all of those stories in print.ReplyDelete
I know these are creator-focused collections, but I don't like incomplete storylines in the collected editions I purchase. That's what's kept me from buying these "Legends of the Dark Knight" books.ReplyDelete
In my opinion, 60-70 more pages are not a big deal, and I don't think any collector would be mad for the inclusion of two or three issues illustrated by other artists.
Anyone agree?
- Anonymous1/07/2015 02:36:00 PM
That comment about Jason Todd makes me wince. If you've actually read any of his post-crisis comics, you'd see that he's pretty dang similar to Barr/Davis's version of him. Please don't buy into this weird retroactive myth that Jason was a terrible, disliked character. The votes were nearly equal, rigged by a repeat caller, and a paid service, meaning that the vast majority of callers were middle aged men missing Dick Grayson.ReplyDelete


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text:
"The Rumi Skandher beg, who is like the vast, open skies…"
"I never saw a more strange man than him. He lives like a hermit among his Tibetan and other works, in the house of the Asiatic Society, which he seldom leaves."
This post corrects a terrible injustice I committed in my book on Bamiyan, most of which is nevertheless fair and reasoned and even potentially worth a read. On p. 143 I claimed that the "first Europeans to set eyes upon Bamiyan were William Moorcroft and his companions George Trebeck and George Guthrie in August 1824." I was wrong, as was gently pointed out to me by Edmund Melzl, who knows more about Bamiyan's history than anyone. In actual fact Bamiyan had received a visit more than two years before Moorcroft from another European, a Hungarian scholar from Transylvania named Alexander Csoma de Kőrös.
I wasn't the first to overlook Csoma; in fact you could say he was cursed to being overlooked. In March 1822, for example, British agents reporting from Maharajah Ranjit Singh's capital at Lahore in the Punjab recorded the arrival of three European travellers, two feringhis, the Napoleonic veterans Jean-François Allard and Jean-Baptiste Ventura, looking for employment with the Maharajah's army, and a ghora, Alexander Csoma. The choice of words is significant, feringhi suggesting status and nobility, ghora a dismissive term for a common-or-garden white man without any distinguishing features.
In a way Csoma asked to be ignored: a naturally reticent man, his "principal trait of character was his regrettable diffidence," according to his biographer Theodore Duka, "…and his own too modest estimate of himself." "This has often served as justification for disparaging his unique accomplishments," Duka adds. He dressed scruffily ("a suit of blue clothes, which he always wore, and in which he died," according to one witness), and in later life consistently refused any of many offers to supplement his very limited finances. His diet was mainly rice and tea mixed with butter and salt in Tibetan fashion, and his living habits, as the opening quotation indicates, were by his own choice basic in the extreme.
But if Csoma was a peculiar man, it arguably took just that kind of man to achieve what he did achieve.
For starters, no normal person would have walked from Transylvania to Tibet. Everything about Csoma's education pointed to a comfortable life as an academic quietly employed in his homeland. He was an accomplished scholar, though more by dint of application than natural brilliance: by the end of his life he had mastered somewhere in the vicinity of twenty languages. A successful academic career in Hungary had been rewarded with two years at the prestigious University of Göttingen in Hanover, but as big an influence on Csoma as his formal education was the intensely nationalistic atmosphere of early nineteenth-century Europe, whether in Hanover or Hungary, a nationalism understood in terms of language communities, and thus bound to interest a linguist like Csoma. He later described the motivation for his journey eastwards as "to search for the original seats of the Hungarians, to collect historical data about their deeds, and to observe the analogies which various Oriental languages present with our vernacular." (A fascinating article by Imre Galambos, '"Touched a nation's heart": Sir E. Denison Ross and Alexander Csoma de Kőrös', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 21 (2011), 361-75, describes among other things the role played by Csoma in later Hungarian nationalist feeling.)
At any rate, Csoma became determined to apply his academic training to the national interests of Hungary, specifically by pinpointing the Asian origin of the Magyars. "The most ancient homeland of our ancestors," he declared, lay in "Greater or Little Bokharia," in other words Bukhara and its environs, north of Afghanistan, and the Tarim Basin to the East, now in the Xinjiang region of China. In November 1819, despite tempting employment opportunities at home, the thirty-five-year-old Csoma set out to test his theory.
Travelling mostly on foot, occasionally by horse or by boat when seas or rivers were available, he made his way to Constantinople, Alexandria, "to Larnica, in Cyprus, thence to Sidon, Beyruth, and then, on another vessel, to Tripoli and Latakia, whence, travelling on foot, on the 13th of April I reached Aleppo in Syria," Mosul, Baghdad, (on horseback) Hamadan and Tehran. Thence, dressed as an Armenian Christian, and with a miniature Johnson's Dictionary given him by the British Envoy in Tehran, he headed for Mashad and Bokhara, where he believed the ancestral home of the Hungarians might lie. Here, though, his itinerary took an unanticipated turn: "affrighted by frequent exaggerated reports of the approach of a numerous Russian army,… I left Bokhara… and with a caravan I came to Balk, Kulm, and thence by Bamian; on 6th of January, 1822, I arrived at Kabool."
Csoma would later become an expert in Tibetan language and culture, and hence in Buddhism, at a time when that religion was very poorly understood in the West. He wasn't yet an expert when he saw the Buddhas of Bamiyan, but later, with hindsight, he understood what he had been looking at:
There is yet in ancient Bactria, at Bamian, on the road between Kabool and Balk, a large colossal statue, with two others of smaller size at a certain distance from the first, hewn in the mountain-rock. It is very probable this was a representation of Buddha, or Shakya, with his disciples represented in painting on both sides of the wall. The painting is in the same style as is usual amongst Tibetans or amongst the Christians of the Greek Church, to represent saints, with the radiant or solar circle round the head.
Csoma was the first of many Europeans to visit Bamiyan in the first half of the nineteenth century, when it was in the process of becoming one of the most famous places on earth, but, odd as it may seem, very few of them recognised the statues as images of the Buddha.
Kabul, Peshawar, then to Lahore with Allard and Ventura. Csoma was trying an alternative route to his mythical Hungarian homeland, and from Lahore he climbed via Kashmir to the high-altitude Buddhist enclave of Ladakh, "Little Tibet," hoping to cross the Himalaya to Yarkand in the Tarim Basin. But Csoma, at times a strange combination of anxiety and reckless adventurousness, got cold feet in the Himalaya: "I ascertained the road to Yarkand was very difficult, expensive and dangerous for a Christian."
But on the road back to Lahore, on July 16, 1822, he had an encounter which changed everything. William Moorcroft is one of the most intriguing of the early European explorers of Central Asia, theoretically engaged in a search for fresh bloodstock for the East India Company's horse stud in Calcutta, but in his own mind at the cutting edge of British efforts to counter Russian designs on Britain's possessions in India. He persuaded Csoma (in Latin, since one language Csoma didn't have at this stage was English) to return with him to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, and with Moorcroft's encouragement Csoma became fascinated by the Tibetan language and culture he encountered there.
To cut a very long story short, after seven years of intense study at a series of Buddhist monasteries in Zanskar and Kinnaur, under the guidance of a Tibetan Lama, Sangye Puntsog, Csoma produced a dictionary and grammar of Tibetan, eventually published in Calcutta in 1834. These publications are considered to be the foundational texts of the academic discipline of Tibetology.
An impression of Csoma's working conditions in monasteries like the striking Phugtal Gompa in this photo comes from Dr James Gerard, who encountered and befriended Csoma whilst travelling in the Himalaya introducing inoculation against smallpox and indulging his wide-ranging scientific interests. Gerard would later travel with Alexander Burnes to Bokhara, via Bamiyan. Here in the Himalaya he describes finding fossil shells at high altitude, and a deodar tree "29 1/2 feet in girth", but Alexander Csoma was "far from the least remarkable of the many objects which have passed before me in this journey", "like one of the sages of antiquity, living in the most frugal manner, and taking no interest in any object around him, except his literary avocations." During his first period of research, Gerard records, "[Csoma], the Lama, and an attendant, were circumscribed in an apartment nine feet square for three or four months; they durst not stir out, the ground being covered with snow, and the temperature below the zero of the scale. There he sat, enveloped in a sheep-skin cloak, with his arms folded, and in this situation he read from morning till evening without fire, or light after dusk, the ground to sleep upon, and the bare walls of the building for protection against the rigours of the climate." Later, as the librarian of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta, Csoma adopted a lifestyle not much less reclusive.
Csoma had his motivations for his strange journey across Asia, as we have seen (and they are well described in this excellent short biography). Extending the boundaries of the British Empire wasn't one of them. But there's no doubt that his patron Moorcroft saw in the study of Tibetan something of political value. Moorcroft was considered a hawk and a maverick by the British authorities, and they kept him at arm's length, but his perception of the political value of the study of Tibetan was mainstream enough: "This will not only promote the commercial and political prosperity of Great Britain and her Indian possessions," we hear elsewhere, "but may effect the still more important end of teaching to yet semi-barbarous tribes the advantages of industry and civilisation." It was an issue Csoma was aware of, and in the preface to his dictionary he insists that "he had not been sent [to Zanskar] by any Government to gather political information." But there were reasons nevertheless for the British authorities' enthusiastic reception of his project, and for the resources they provided to ensure its publication.
Alexander Csoma continued to research and write on Tibetan topics after his dictionary was published, and for a number of years he was an eccentric but well-liked librarian of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta. But the original ambition that drew him from Hungary remained unsatisfied. In 1842 he left on a third attempt to reach the elusive Hungarian homeland, aiming for Lhasa via Darjeeling, and thence to the land of the Uyghurs (Xinjiang), whom he suspected to be the Hungarians' Asian kin. But he developed malaria in Darjeeling, characteristically refused treatment, and died on April 11, 1842. A tomb was erected by the Asiatic Society with an epitaph which begins
A Native of Hungary,
Who, to follow out Philological Researches,
Resorted to the East;
And after years passed under privations,
Such as have been seldom endured,
And patient labour in the cause of Science,
Compiled a Dictionary and Grammar
Of the Tibetan Language,
His best and real monument.
What always intrigues me about these European travellers in Central Asia is how they cope with the strangeness of the places they find themselves; how they convince themselves they have a right to be there, I suppose. A lot of Europeans saw it as the scene of the exploits of a great European hero, Alexander the Great, and made it theirs that way. For Csoma, "Bokharia" was the original home of his people, a place where he would be able to say, "At last I am among Hungarians." There may be a hint of this Hungarian yearning for the East in Aurel Stein's sense of a home-from-home in the barren borderlands of China.
In general Stein was very much of the Alexander persuasion, but he felt a sentimental attachment also to his Hungarian forerunner. In 1899, visiting Darjeeling, Stein described to his brother Ernst an "evening walk to the well-cared for grave of poor Csoma de Kőrös. The lovely cemetery on a mountain slope would please Hetty [Stein's sister-in-law] very much." Then in 1913 Stein composed a moving tribute to the Hungarian émigré Theodore Duka, a mentor of Stein earlier in his career as well as the biographer of their fellow-Hungarian Csoma. Whenever possible, Stein liked to retreat to Mohand Marg, a high meadow in Kashmir where he pitched tent and wrote with his dog Dash at his feet:
How often, looking down from my favourite Alpine camp in Kashmir into the verdant Sind Valley, some 5,000 feet below me, have I thought of the poor Hungarian wandering as he passed here in 1822, and again a year later, on his way to Leh, the chief place of Western Tibet!
Even Stein can't exclude that note of condescension that always seems to accompany "poor Csoma". Contrast the words of one of Csoma's Tibetan collaborators:
The Rumi Skandher beg, who is like the vast, open skies in his unshakable fortitude and his insight demonstrated in sciences, undertaking the arduous journey from the large ocean of the Orient to jasmine-covered Upper Tibet in his search for learning…
The Fall and Rise of Field Marshal Haig
I think I said my next post was going to be Martial again.
Well, yes and no. I've written before on the impact of the First World War on my college, but the most famous Great-War soldier from Brasenose was the British Commander-in-Chief himself, Field-Marshal Douglas Haig, perhaps the most controversial figure the war produced. An undistinguished student at Brasenose from 1880 to 1884, Haig emerged with a Pass degree, despite apparently spending most of his time at Oxford on horseback, but received tutorials from, among others, Walter Pater; at which the mind truly boggles.
Oxford colleges, like every other British institution, were traumatized by the war, and when hostilities were finally over faced the same challenge of creating a memorial equal to the enormity of what had happened. Brasenose's response should certainly strike us as peculiar, but it clearly made sense to the fellowship at the time.
Within six months of the Armistice the College had decided on a three-part memorial, a monument in the chapel recording the names of 114 men of Brasenose who had died; a portrait of Haig by William Orpen, the war artist and portraitist, and a stone inscription at the entrance to the College reading as follows:
This last one went up first, and was in place just inside the main gate by November 1920; the wooden memorial in the chapel followed sometime between then and May 1921; while Orpen's portrait of Haig, after appearing in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1921, was hung in Brasenose Hall in January 1922. It was placed, significantly, on the east wall of the Hall, where images of the founders and most significant figures in College history are located. The painting had been partly funded by subscriptions from old Brasenose students, each of whom received a "photogravure" copy, a print, of Orpen's work.
The striking thing, of course, is how unapologetically proud the College was of Haig in the immediate aftermath of the Great War, and to what extent he dominated Brasenose's act of commemoration. This Brasenose man was the hero that had let the country to victory, the thinking seems to have been, and giving him the prominence he got was only appropriate.
Needless to say, the oscillations in Haig's reputation over the years didn't leave that confident assessment undisturbed. Stories are told about the portrait in Hall, though I'm not sure how true they are: that at a later stage it was removed from display, and only rehung when a descendant of Haig had happened to arrive as an undergraduate. It was certainly moved from the east wall, and now hangs in another corner of the room, quite easily missed.
As for the stone memorial in the Lodge, that was certainly taken down. When I turned up here a couple of decades ago it was under a tarp around the back of the College, and the College magazine from 1969 explains how it ended up there:
During the past year the Lodge-Entrance has been given a thorough refurbishing. Previously it had the appearance of a neglect dating back to its reconstruction in 1885, and the attention was overdue. (The only casualty in the operation was the plaque commemorating Field Marshal Earl Haig (1880) as the first among Brasenose warriors of 1914-18. Its legend, which may be found in The Brazen Nose of 1920, when it was erected, was often regarded as being not wholly in the happiest of taste. Its removal to make room for the Senior Tutor's enlarged notice board, may or may not demonstrate superiority of the pen over the sword but is unlikely to cause a widespread sense of loss.)
An urbane account that omits as much as it says. You don't take down a war memorial just to make space for a noticeboard, but then again you do take down a memorial lionising Field Marshal Haig in 1969. The Sixties had seen the First World War, at its fiftieth anniversary, returning to public attention, and Haig did not emerge well from it: there was a classic TV series, The Great War (1964), books like Alan Clark's The Donkeys (1961) and A.J.P. Taylor's The First World War: An Illustrated History (1963), and the musical Oh! What a Lovely War (1963). The dominant narrative became the one still familiar to us, lions led by donkeys. The film version of Oh! What a Lovely War was released in 1969, and did more than anything to crystallise the perception of Haig as a callous, upper-class buffoon, who was bound to be an acute embarrassment to his alma mater.
Now, though, another 50 years on, Haig is back on the wall again:
It's not so much that Haig is back in favour, though it's true that more recent trends in Great War historiography make him a less toxic old member than he used to be. Really Haig's back up there because it's the centenary and it isn't really acceptable to have a memorial, of any kind, hidden under a tarpaulin. Well, that's my impression.
But just as the original commemorative plan in 1919 tells us fascinating things about how the war could be regarded in its immediate aftermath; and just as measures taken in 1969 characterize very vividly the view of the war and authority in general that prevailed fifty years later: so the recent re-erection of Haig's memorial is a more complex, and telling, gesture than it may seem. It certainly hasn't been returned to the College lodge. The place chosen for it might, to the uninitiated, seem equivalent to its original location: by a gate leading out onto High St. But in fact this is a very quiet part of College, and the gate isn't used by students. In other words, the inscription has been placed in a position that looks like it's on everyone's route, "that those who pass may be put in mind of Field Marshal Earl Haig," but is in fact well off the beaten track.
An entirely appropriate location for Field Marshal Douglas Haig in 2014, in other words.
Help me: is this funny?
The Roman poet Martial was an epigrammatist, meaning that he specialized in very short poems. In total he wrote about 1,500 poems that we still have, and he must have written a lot more. But they don't come much shorter than the 24th epigram of Martial's sixth book, published in AD 91:
Nil lasciuius est Carisiano:
Saturnalibus ambulat togatus.
Carisianus is the most mischievous man alive:
He walks about in a toga during the Saturnalia.
This summer I spent a few days working through all of Martial's epigrams, on the hunt for material to use at an event with Mary Beard at Cheltenham last week. Martial's poems are superficially simple things, but can belie that appearance, often as intricate as any sophisticated gag; and of course they're written for the pleasure of readers with a very different set of cultural assumptions. But 6.24 was one I quickly noted down on my piece of paper: an example of a very short poem with a clever but clear point, I thought: seven words, simple but funny, and perfect for our event.
What's so funny about it? Whatever it is, it'll certainly be less funny once I've tried to explain it. But it all hinges on the Roman festival of the Saturnalia in December. This was the most popular festival of the Roman year, a week in December featuring excessive eating and drinking ("exuberant gorgings and even more excessive drinking bouts," according to one scholar), gift-giving and role reversal (masters would wait on slaves, for example, and slaves could speak freely to their masters), and special clothes: instead of the toga, the distinctive garment of the Roman citizen, everyone during the Saturnalia dressed in a suit of clothes known as the synthesis or cenatoria. We don't really know what the synthesis looked like, but it seems to have been looser-fitting than the formal toga, and colourful (a bit like pyjamas), and whatever it was actually like, it symbolized the character of the Saturnalia, a time of uninhibited release.
Are you laughing yet? Probably not. But Martial's joke is that by breaking the "rules" of the Saturnalia and wearing his toga instead of his synthesis, Carisianus is acting more in the spirit of the Saturnalia than anyone else. The word used of him, lasciuius, suggests uninhibited behaviour, in other words exactly what was expected of Romans at the Saturnalia. Carisianus is the most outrageous of the lot by virtue of acting totally square when everyone else is cutting loose. Geddit?
Well I thought I'd got it, and Mary Beard agreed (and she's written a book on Roman laughter), and there was at least a ripple of amusement in our audience at Cheltenham as we tried to explain it.
© Marie-Lan Nguyen
But it turns out the Martial specialists don't agree at all. Farouk Grewing, who's written a commentary on Book 6, thinks the joke is much more complicated than this. What we're meant to understand, according to him, is that Carisianus is actually a woman, specifically a woman who has been convicted of adultery and as punishment has to wear the toga. That was indeed a way of stigmatizing "fallen women" in Rome, the toga being, as well as the Roman citizen's proper clothing, the garment worn by prostitutes (to distinguish them from respectable women, who wore the stola). Martial's joke, according to Grewing, and Martial is certainly well capable of such viciousness, is that a woman dressed in a toga as punishment is mistaken for a man too uptight to dress down for the Saturnalia.
If so, as another scholar, Andreas Heil, points out,* Martial is being very oblique indeed, since there's no indication anywhere in 6.24 that the protagonist is a woman, and Latin is meticulous about these things: the -us at the end of Carisianus and togatus indicate clearly that he's a he. But Heil agrees with Grewing that a simpler reading of the poem is unsatisfactory: "It is hard to understand why wearing the toga at the Saturnalia should be proof of the special lascivia [mischievousness, naughtiness] of Charisianus." Heil's solution is that by telling us that Carisianus wears the toga at the Saturnalia, Martial is implying that he wears the synthesis the rest of the year: that is, Carisianus is lasciuus because on every day of the year other than the Saturnalia he dresses louchely, and behaves accordingly. A Roman citizen who habitually dressed in the synthesis would be a very disreputable character indeed.
Now that all seems too complicated for me, but there's no doubt Martial can be complicated. I'm planning to write another blog soon showing just how much can be going on in a seemingly simple two-line Martial epigram. But I think what matters here is that both Grewing and Heil feel a need to complicate the reading of 6.24 because a simpler reading of the poem doesn't deliver enough of a punch. Isn't funny.
But it is funny, right?
(A freer translation:
Carisianus is so shocking:
At the Saturnalia he goes round in a toga!)
*A. Heil, 'Bemerkungen zu Martial: 6, 24. 6, 61. 6, 75. 9, 35 und 12, 5', Philologus 146 (2002), 309-17, at 309-10.