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In recent years the Virginia wine industry has adopted Viognier as the state grape. And, as we are wont to do, wine bloggers took to exploring it, and giving it a nickname – "viggy". (Hattip to Lenn Thompson, SwirlSipSnark and Drink What You Like – not sure which of you coined the term – claim it in the comments, y'all!)
Many of my favorite wineries down south are producing beautiful viogniers, and MissWineOH loves to share so that others will fall in love with all this slightly misunderstood grape has to offer. While this wine originates in the Rhone Valley and is best known as the grape found in Condrieu, Virginia is where I first experienced the floral nuances and bright acidity reminiscent of evenings with a glass of chilled white wine in a garden of southern flowers. You should not confuse this with midnights in gardens of good and evil, though there may have been some of that as well in the distant past. On this particular evening on a Cleveland rooftop, we gathered a group of friends and colleagues, and 6 viogniers from around the world, and then paired them with some great summer dishes – and it was very good.
The Line Up:
Pillitteri 2010 (Canada)
Tarara Winery 2010 (Virginia)
Gerard Bertrand Réserve Spéciale 2010 (France)
Ferrandiere NV (France)
D'Arenburg 2006 – The Last Ditch (Australia)
White Knight 2008 (California)
The Menu:
All of these dishes were selected to pair with Viognier, without pairing with a specific wine's flavor profile. I would also recommend seafood (shellfish or meaty fish), pork, or pasta dishes. These crisper wines would be beautiful with an alfredo sauce. The talented Caitlin Ziegler (@thatcaity) is a budding chef, and my daughter – and she did all the hard work that went into creating the food for this event.
Brie with Apricot Marmalade (if I can coerce the marmelade recipe from @thatcaity, you'll get it on WineOH recipes!)
Spinach Dip with Chunked Challah Bread
White Chocolate Lemon Cupcakes – with lemon garnish.
My thoughts:
This tasting was inspired by finding a bottle of D'Arenburg, 2006 The Last Ditch at Viaduct Lounge in the cooler case, which I promptly absconded with at a decent price on an evening out with friends. This wine was probably the least viognier like of all of them – crisp with oak and cedar undertones and very little floral on the nose – almost like an unoaked chardonnay in profile. I wondered at first if I was tasting a pinot gris. Perhaps the age played a part in that flavor profile, but it was a very different style than the other wines. Try newer releases of this one. (2008 – $17)
The White Knight was playful and yet crisp – delicious lavender, orange and peach on the nose, with a smooth mouthfeel and bright acidity. I like the honeysuckle and slightly spicy finish on this wine. Its unique as a viognier on my palate, but a great wine. ($12)
Tarara showed as what I'd call "classic viognier" to me, but I'll acknowledge a bias toward Virginia wines. It was one of the three I could identify immediately. (the other two being those above) The floral notes on the nose call to me, with melon and a buttery mouthfeel rounding out a pleasing finish with just a hint of wood. I wouldn't call it an oaky finish, the taste is too subtle for that. I would say it was a stand out for me – very pleasing. (not sure this is still available)
Gerard Bertrand was a label I found at a trade tasting a few months ago and is readily available at an under $13 price point. It brings strong hyacinth and orange on the nose, with continuing citrus mid palate. Dry, with a bit of a short finish, not complex, but a great sipping or dinner wine at the price.
Pilletteri produces a viognier that was all pear and melon and then a slightly spicy finish. I expected a bit more oak based on some of the other Pilletteri wines I'd tasted – but this one is a perfectly beautiful specimen. A buttery mouthfeel and some vanilla on the nose, but I found no notes indicating aging in oak. ($18.20 CAN)
Ferrandier was a last minute addition to the party, and I was happy that I added it. This viognier from Domaine de la Ferrandier is out of the Pays de'Oc region of France. Its aged two to three months on the lees with a highly aromatic floral nose, full mouthfeel and strong pineapple and peach finish. Beautiful classic viognier which rightfully earned its place at the top of the lineup. It also comes in at $11.99 retail.
All of the wines were served at about 65, and were wrapped in opaque plastic and numbered. While I knew what the lineup was, they were randomly numbered, so not even I knew which was which without tasting first.
The Results:
Our guests were asked to taste each one and then vote on each with a chip. Green (like) Red (don't like) and White (on the fence).
And the winner, well…. that turned into a tie – with a very close second.
Ferrandiere and Pillitteri took top honors – with Tarara coming in close (by 1 vote) – the others did well, as in none fell solidly into the "omg, I won't drink this now, much less ever again" category – and all received at least 2 don't likes. There were a few minds changed as participants went back and tasted a second time – there may have been an attempt at ballot stuffing, but that was promptly halted by one of our felines chasing a shadow, instead of playing with the chips.
So what do the results tell you?
Everyone's palate is different. It's a combination of good food, good wine and good company that makes your experience a memorable one!


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The following is a company-submitted press release and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of College Planning & Management magazine.
NEW YORK, NY – The American Kennel Club® (AKC), the world's largest purebred dog registry and leading advocate for dogs, is pleased to announce the launch of the Companion Animal Law Writing Contest.
The contest is open to all students currently enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school. The contest will offer a first-place prize of $2,500 and a second-place prize of $500. Students will have two topics to choose from and submissions are currently being accepted. The topics available are companion animal law and pet custody law.
"The American Kennel Club is pleased to sponsor the Companion Animal Law Writing Contest," says Sheila Goffe, AKC vice president of Government Relations. "These students represent the future of animal law. We look forward to reading their responses on these hot-button issues; and encourage them to submit their work."
Entries will be judged by legal and public policy professionals with experience in laws impacting companion animals. Contestants can enter now through March 30, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. EST.
The AKC is happy to welcome the American Veterinary Medical Association, Cat Fanciers Association, and the Animal Health Institute as collaborators on the Companion Animal Law Writing Contest. To learn more about the contest, including official rules and policies, please visit writeaboutanimallaw.com.
Western Washington University relied on Excel spreadsheets to manage their energy spending in the past, leaving them with no data. See how they transformed their operations, got the data they needed and saved over 200 hours per year.
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Picnic Ride – R470 / couple
Enjoy a private picnic for two on our lovely gondola boat. We will provide the picnic in a hand crafted basket which is made right here in local Durban by the society for the blind. What better way to spend some time out and treat yourself.
Contents of Picnic:
* Soft cheese
* Biltong
* Ferrero Roche luxury chocolates
* Nougat Bar
* Oreo Biscuits
* Lays Chips
* Grape Juice
* We are not licensed to sell alcohol.


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STITCHED Fashion Camp
The ultimate "behind the seams"
fashion experience for
aspiring designers ages
Design & create your own
clothing & accessories
Work with top fashion industry
designers, stylists, influencers & professors
Fashion Illustration
You will be sketching like a top designer in no time! Develop original sketches and an illustration style all your own!
We work with some of the fashion industries top names to create unique projects & presentations that you won't see anywhere else!
Creation & Sewing
Bring your ideas to life! Take your draping & sewing techniques to the next
level whether you are a new or advanced sewer! Turn your sketches into your
first clothing collection!
Explore various methods of creating your own
fabrics including painting, stenciling, embellishment, and digital printing with our friends from Spoonflower!
Choose from an array of accessories including sunglasses, jewelry, hats, and bags to compliment all you've made at camp! Create a look worthy of a top magazine editorial spread!
Create a brand of your own by designing inspiration boards and color stories
for your Summer 2018 collections!
Designers needs a cool space and great tools!
Campers will have access to all the supplies
needed, including our singer sewing machines,
top of the line design markers, and the latest fabrics!
What is the fee for Stitched Fashion Camp?
The fee for two weeks at Stitched Fashion Camp is $3000.00. At Stitched, we strongly believe in working with each of our campers to develop their own aesthetic while improving their design abilities. Stitched is unique in that we keep a very low camper to instructor ratio allowing for unparalleled individual attention.
What is included in the fee? Are there any additional costs?
Everything you need for the two-week session is included in the fee! There are no additional costs. All the supplies and fabric you need will be supplied and all campers will be using the Stitched Camp's Sewing machines. Each camper will take home their projects at the end of the two-week session.
Are one week sessions available?
Due to high demand and a revised curriculum, this year we are only registering campers for the full two-week session.
Is Camp for Boys and Girls?
Yes! Fashion is for everyone! Boys and girls are welcome! You may choose to make the clothes for yourself or someone else, all you need are measurements. If you would prefer to make them for a specific size that's fine too! You can fit them on one of our dress forms.
Do I need any drawing or sewing experience?
No experience is necessary! We will teach you everything you need to know to bring your ideas to life! If you happen to have experience, our industry insiders will work with you to make sure you feel you are getting the one on one attention you deserve. Everyone will be able to work at a pace that is comfortable for them!
Who do we make the clothes we design for?
They are for you! You will learn to take measurements and the designs you make will be yours to wear and show off to your friends!
What happens on the last day of camp? Is there a fashion show?
The last day of camp is a chance for your family and friends to come see what you've been designing! Each designer will display all of their hard work! We encourage you to model your designs as well! If you are more comfortable displaying the work on hangers or dress forms that's ok too! We will spend the earlier part of the day putting the final touches on the final project and the studio will be open to the public later in the afternoon!
What's for lunch?
Please bring your own 'brown bag' lunch. We will have access to a refrigerator if necessary. We ask you to bring your own food and drinks as many people have allergies and special diets. We will take a lunch break around 12:30 for 30 minutes. Stitched will supply you with bottled water.
Can my family and friends come visit?
If you have a friend that would like to come see what you have been up to, feel free to invite them to the open studio on the last day of camp. Due to legal reasons and liability insurance, we cannot allow anyone except our registered campers in the studio during camp hours.
Is Stitched Fashion Camp only in East Hampton, NY?
We are very excited to host the fifth year of Stitched Fashion Camp at Guild Hall in East Hampton. Follow us on twitter, Instagram, and facebook and we will keep you posted on other STITCHED events and camp locations in the future!
Is Stitched a sleepaway camp?
Stitched is a day camp that meets Monday through Friday, 10am – 4pm. We will be happy to recommend accommodations should you be a camper from out of town. The Hamptons in the summer are a wonderful place to vacation and campers and their families will have plenty to do!


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'Give anyone a pen and paper," says astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell, "and ask them to draw a scientist. You can bet a tenner they'll drawn an old white man with crazy hair, a moustache, a beard and a scraggly lab coat."
He's probably right: I can see the image forming in my mind as we speak. Dartnell calls this the "Einstein trope" and he believes it's harmful both for science and for society. But there is one group working hard, with the help of Dartnell and other scientists, to dispel this trope through a rather unexpected medium: theatre.
Since 2008, the stage company Curious Directive has produced no fewer than 17 shows – from Your Last Breath, which was critically acclaimed at the Edinburgh festival in 2011, to Pioneer, which has just opened there – with the aim of "exploring life through the findings of science". Your Last Breath looked at climate change and medical innovation; 2012's After the Rainfall drew parallels between human behaviour and the architecture of ant colonies; and Pioneer is a multilayered thriller set in the not-too-distant future, concerning a fraught attempt to establish a human settlement on Mars.
Collaborations between artists and scientists are increasingly common, not least because as regular arts funding dwindles, the cash awards offered by institutions such as the Wellcome Trust and the Science & Technology Facilities Council are looking more attractive to artists. These collaborations also speak to the growing pressure on scientists to communicate their research to the public and, of course, to a genuine desire, on both sides, to share information and expertise.
But good intentions don't always lead to good art, or good science. What's remarkable about Curious Directive's work is that the company, led by artistic director Jack Lowe, submit themselves, in devising each production, to a research process not dissimilar to that of a scientist preparing a paper. "It's a very long process," Lowe explains, "and the facts don't always support the story you want to tell. But my dad was a biology teacher and my mum trained as an actress; to me, exploring science through theatre has always felt natural."
Dartnell's key research interest lies in the possibility of finding microbial life on the surface of Mars. He began working with Curious Directive last year, after Lowe approached him with an idea for a show inspired by Mars One, the first planned human mission to Mars. Dartnell often lectures on science to schools and festivals and had previously collaborated with a number of artists. But he was particularly impressed by Curious Directive's approach. "They had a real hunger for finding out about the science," he says. "They didn't just say, 'I want to make a sculpture that looks like this; can you make up some science to kind of support it?' That can be a problem with some of these collaborations."
During the company's work on After the Rainfall, Henry Ferguson-Gow, who was just finishing his PhD at University College London, met Lowe several times to discuss ant behaviour. He thinks working with artists who show a committed interest in science can prove useful to scientists, too. "You spend so long looking at such tiny pieces of detail in such depth," he says, "that after a while you're like, 'This is so boring, I can't imagine anyone finds this interesting'. That show made me realise that not only am I doing something really interesting, but it's not only interesting to people who have a scientific mind."
Then there's the fact that many of the characters in Curious Directive's shows are scientists and they are, for the most part, as far removed from that crazy-haired Einstein drawing as it possible to be. For Dartnell, that can only be a good thing. "There always seems to be this slight barrier in society from scientists," he says. "One of the most important things to get across is that scientists are just normal people. And that's what Curious Directive's work does so well."


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Tue, 16 December 2014
Christa Watson of Christa Quilts and I talk about being confident in your sewing and quilting, as well as how accessible quilting is and tips for tools you need to get started. We encourage you to just go for it bceause whatever you are making, in the end it is going to be a functional piece. It's also important to not get caught up in feeling like you need the latest and greatest tools - buy what you need to be creative and save up for the more expensive items.
Direct download: epi014_Christa_Watson.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT


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10413 Sedalia Drive
Mckinney, TX 75072
Estimated payment ∕month**
Customize your monthly payment
Sq Ft
GORGEOUS hard to find one story with farmhouse flair! Beautiful engineered hardwood found in study, dining, and living room. The study could easily make a 4th bedroom or playroom. Adorable shiplap wall in the breakfast room with updated pendant lighting and window seat. Spacious island kitchen with granite, stainless steel appliances, and breakfast bar. Inviting open concept living room with space for the whole family leads to the perfect place to kick back and relax, the beautiful cedar covered back patio! Large closets through out the home. Conveniently located across from jogging trail, park, elementary school, pool and other amenities. This home is a must see with a great location in a wonderful Master Planed Community!
Johnny Mowad
Associated BrokerEbby Halliday, Realtors Preston Center Office
(214)799-0339Contact Me
Additional Property Details
Homeowners Association (HOA)
Lot & Land
*Note: All room dimensions, including square footage data, are approximate and must be verified by the buyer.
The information contained herein is furnished by the owner to the best of his/her knowledge, but is subject to verification by the purchaser, and agent assumes no responsibility for the correctness thereof. The sale offering is made subject to errors, omissions, change of price, prior sale, or withdrawal without notice. In accordance with the Law, this property is offered without respect to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. This is not intended to solicit property currently listed.
**Assumes 4.25% APR, 20% down payment, and conventional 30-year fixed rate first mortgage. Rates cited are for instructional purposes only; current rates are subject to change at any time without notice. You should not make any decisions based simply on the information provided. Additional required amounts such as taxes, insurance, home owner association dues, assessments, mortgage insurance premiums, flood insurance or other such required payments should also be considered. Contact your mortgage company for current rates and additional information.Listing Agent:Emillie Rentfrow
Broker:Ebby Halliday, REALTORS Plano
Safety Rating
Commute to Work
School Districts
Results received from this calculator are designed for comparative purposes only, and accuracy is not guaranteed.
(877) 275-1762Alex.Parker@
PHMLoans.com Visit Our Website
When you decide to buy a home or refinance your mortgage, your search should start and end here. Home Team Mortgage has been the Ebby Family Companies preferred lender for more than 20 years! We have every Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA and Jumbo loan product you could ever want, but we also offer a unique set of specialty programs exclusively for our preferred partners. We are a locally owned and operated company with over 30 offices in the DFW area to conveniently serve you. Choose a lender you can trust to find the mortgage loan that best suits your needs.
5 Beds 3.1 Baths 4,326 Sq Ft
5 Beds 3.1 Baths 3,831 Sq Ft
5 Beds 3.1 Baths 3,846 Sq Ft
4 Beds 3.1 Baths 4,543 Sq Ft
6 Beds 4 Baths 3,928 Sq Ft
3 Beds 2.1 Baths 2,136 Sq Ft


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1 – Could Slack's Slackbot Herald the Era of Virtual Colleagues?
Slack's new virtual assistant, Slackbot, has helped increase the company's valuation to $2.8 billion by investors. The "assistant, notepad and programmable bot" first helps Slack users fill out their profile on Slack. The virtual bot then allows users to store message in a notepad, and programmed with automatic responses to encourage colleagues to pick up the pace. Other organizations, such as The New York Times (NYT), have created their own version of the Slackbot (NYT dubbed theirs Blossom, which recommends stories to be posted to Facebook). The potential of chatbots lies in the range of other capabilities that could be programmed, such as sending messages between colleagues to schedule work trips, research topics, run recruitment campaigns, and more.
Read the full article on (The Guardian)
2 – The Struggle to Define What Artificial Intelligence Actually Means
Society needs a usable definition of AI – and fast – if it is to effectively establish regulation and governance laws and policies. While the definition could change slightly depending on context, there is currently a very loose sense of the term throughout scientific and public circles. The primary debate revolves around the "intelligence" bit. While philosophy often prevents a set definition from occurring, regulators need to know what is at stake in regards to public welfare and safety. John McCarthy of Stanford University summed up the issue this way:
"The problem is that we cannot yet characterize in general what kinds of computational procedures we want to call intelligent. We understand some of the mechanisms of intelligence and not others."
Soon after, Marcus Hutter (ANU) and Shane Legg (Google DeepMind) proposed the following "human-independent" definitions: Intelligence measures an agent's ability to achieve goals in a wide range of environments. While this invokes a clearer set of variable for regulators, many hurdles still remain.
Read the full article on (Popular Science)
3 – Research: 34 percent Afraid of Artificial Intelligence
In July, Tech Pro Research presented a survey-based report titled Artificial Intelligence and IT: The Good, The Bad and the Scary. About 34 percent of respondents conveyed some fear of AI, with AI in healthcare being the forerunner, and business services/consulting, education, and IT also ranking higher than the average amongst categories. Respondents may be viewing these areas as threats to the future of careers; however, more than half of respondents thought that AI was good for business and society. About 24 percent of respondents said they were currently using AI for business, and 26 percent stated they were evaluating AI for its potentials.
Read the full article on (ZDNet)
4 – Team Uses Artificial Intelligence to Crowdsource Interactive Fiction
The Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a new AI system, named Scheherazade IF (Interactive Fiction), that uses crowdsourcing to brainstorm plots for interactive stories, a popular component of video games. Currently many AI models for games offer a limited number of scenarios and depend on a dataset that is pre-programmed. Mark Ridel, lead investigator and associate professor of Interactive Computing, explained,
"Our open interactive narrative system learns genre models from crowdsourced example stories so that the player can perform different actions and still receive a coherent story experience."
The system was tested with players and measured variables that included "commonsense" errors and players' subjective experiences. The technology may also be applied toward online course education or corporate training.
Read the full article on (Phys.org)
5 – Qualcomm's Latest Smartphone Chip Has Built-In, AI -Driven Security
Qualcomm is introducing cell phone chips that have built-in artificial intelligence to prevent malware from infecting phones. The next-generation Snapdragon 820 processor is the first child to use machine learning to uncover threats and privacy issues using an application called Snapdragon Smart Protect. Evolving security threats require systems that can learn and evolve in real-time, the purpose behind Snapdragon. The learning component comes from the Zeroth neural networking technology developed by Qualcomm over the past few years. Qualcomm is working with security software providers through an application programming interface to share data so that the AI the Snapdragon chip can better learn what types of threats exist and find best practices for handling those threats. Qualcomm expects to roll out the technology next year, with the hope that handset manufacturers adopt the chip.
Read the full article on (Fortune)


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I have been asked quite a few times to explain the process of covering an indented scar. This method is great for covering all manner of indented scars – acne indented scaring, chicken pox marks, indented surgical scars etc.
A mixture of highlighting, shading and covering can make a scar look less indented. The idea is to create the illusion that the surrounding area protrudes less.
- Cover the scar with a camouflage/concealer that matches your skin tone of the surrounding skin.
- Apply a slightly paler shade than this around the inside edge of the scar. I like to use a small liner brush for precision and eliminate mess. Tap this with your fingertip. Don't rub it in.
- Set with a thin veil of powder
- Apply a slightly darker cream (than the one that matches your skin tone) to the area just outside of the scar (the perimeter). Once again tap don't rub.
- Set with powder.
If the scarring is mild you could pick yourself up a concealer palette with a variety of shades to experiment with. However, if the scarring is more obvious and visibly discoloured or deep I would recommend investing in some camouflage products. I use veil and dermacolor in my kit but there are plenty of brands on the market to suit your skin and your wallet.
I hope this helped!
*Image from derma-rollerplanet.com


text: 'The Dark Knight,' for me, has the same problem that every other 'Batman' movie has. It's not about Batman. I think Heath Ledger is just phenomenal and the character of the Joker is beautifully written. He has a particular philosophy that he carries throughout the movie. He has one of the best bad guy schemes.


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The aerodynamic advantage of velomobiles usualy comes around 35 km/h. But velomobiles are not really a light vehicles, at least the cheaper one (around 5500 EUR), and one might have a problem to reach such speed reguraly. Than they might be interested in adding an electric engine into them which would help to overcome this problem.
In last couple of days, a link to this article appeared on many blogs. As we think it is quite interesting to read it, we also put a link here. But be prepared, it is really a long reading.
Electric Velomobiles: as Fast and Comfortable as Automobiles, but 80 times more Efficient


text: A Reputation Worthy of these Highly-Touted Third-Party Endorsements Bonded, Licensed & Fully Insured Life is full of risks. But here's one you probably shouldn't take: counting on just anyone with a tool box and a truck to service, repair or install the heating and cooling equipment in your home. Mountainwest Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning in Salt Lake City has been providing our community with professional heating and AC service since 1988. We are fully bonded, licensed and insured. It is credentials like these that ease your mind when you call us for your home comfort needs. NATE Certification We're one of the most NATE-certified companies you will find, anywhere. That means our furnace and AC experts are highly skilled and fully qualified to repair any make or model of HVAC equipment. ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner As an official ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner, Mountainwest Service Experts in Salt Lake City not only sells ENERGY STAR®-rated products, but also meets their high level of dedication to the environment. This unique distinction goes along with our company's lasting commitment to reducing energy bills and increasing comfort for homeowners. Working with an official ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner simply means your home and its heating and cooling systems are in good hands . And isn't that a reassuring thought? BBB Accredited The Better Business Bureau institutes quality standards for ethical business behavior and aids consumers in identifying trustworthy businesses. Mountainwest Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning in Salt Lake City is fully accredited by our local BBB and the National Council of BBBs. When you work with us, you can be confident that you're working with the best in the business.


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I have an 11 year old son and 6 year old daughter; I've never taught them a thing about selling, but they are closing on me every day! That's because kids are natural born sales people, and their number 1 target are adults.
Take this recent exchange I had with my son:
Son: "Dad, can I get Beats Headphones?"
Me: "They are pretty expensive and you already have a pair of headphones."
Son: "Yeah, but they aren't good and they don't look cool," (The Pitch) "I've saved some money and if you pay the rest, I'll give you my allowance until I pay it off."
Me: "Thanks for the offer, but I'd like you to save your money."
Son: "I really want them, and it's my money. How about we just go to the store and check them out?"
This feels like a trail close to me, but I say "Sure"…now he has me where he wants me. So, we go to Best Buy and after he is done "testing", he goes for the hard close.
Son: "Aren't these great? Can I get them, now?"
Just as I am about to say "Not now", he cuts me off with the ace up his sleeve "I have a gift card." You know how it ends…I let him buy them and I pay the difference.
But did I learn a few lessons from the experience:
Lesson #1 – Be Focused
Kids know exactly what they want, they don't get distracted. Many sales people get caught up with what they want. Stay focused, don't lose sight of the end goal.
Lesson #2 – Be Persistent
To a fault some kids go over the top and parents just give in to the child's demands to get them off their back. Sales people shouldn't take it that far, but should be persistent in their process of business development and not give up until they get a "NO".
Lesson#3 – Negotiate
Kids are master negotiators. They are focused on what they want and will offer compromises to help them close the deal . "If you let me do this I will do this" or "If you buy me this really expensive unnecessary thing, you will never ever have to get me anything again". Sales people should always have an alternative compromise to help close the deal. If it's a lower price point, faster delivery time, or another special consideration that a customer would appreciate.
Lesson#4 – Ask for the Sale
Kids are great at asking. I find sales people often have a hard time asking for new business and wind up either talking themselves out of the sale or are too nervous to just ask. Sometimes, the easiest way to get what you want, is by asking for it.


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Dying Light: The Following PC Performance Review - AMD VS Nvidia
Nvidia Depth of Field Performance
Published: 12th February 2016 | Source: OC3D | Price: |
Nvidia Depth of Field Performance
Nvidia GameWorks has been marred with controversy ever since it was first introduced, with many people claiming that using it would unfairly affect AMD's performance in games.
Dying light is a GameWorks title, using Nvidia's HBAO+ and Depth of Field effects. We have tested the performance impact of HBAO+ in the last page, but unlike HBAO+ Nvidia's Depth of Field effect has little to no performance impact in Dying Light on both AMD and Nvidia GPUs.
The performance difference here is marginal at best, so there really is not any reason to turn it off.
Most Recent Comments
Have yet to get the expansion but loved the base game in 4 player co-op especially at night when it gets super intense.Quote
This game runs really well though for me at 4K maxed out, on average around 65fps but that was before this DLC released so it might be abit better now.Quote
If you already have the base game then you get upgraded to the enhanced edition free of charge, "The Following" expansion costs around 15 notes though.
It's free if you have the season pass though which luckily I paid for when I bought the game, I think I paid £18 for.Quote


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Three months have been and gone, non stop exploring, non stop excitement but also non stop spending! I decided to look for some temporary work and as Wellington is still on the to do list i thought it would be a nice place to be and explore for a short while and also a good place to perhaps find some work.
I spoke to a girl in my room in the hostel and she was telling me she had applied to over 30 jobs and hadn't got anywhere. This did not fill me with confidence! I found that a lot of temporary jobs were listed on the Backpackers Board NZ which is a free noticeboard for jobs, cars, notices from people looking for travel buddies, that sort of thing. Anyway to cut a long story short, i found an advert for a job that was for an Au Pair for 6 weeks. It is an interim period before the child went to daycare and after the last Au Pair had left.
So here i am. I look after a little boy named Archer who has just turned one. I work Monday to Friday 7.30- 5. I live with a great family in a lovely house overlooking the harbour in a suburb of Wellington called Kandallah. I don't have to pay for food or board or anything for that matter except of course things i want to do in my own time. I help with the cooking and the clearing up and i look after my own room but that is all. Au Pairs are typically people looking for immersion in a different country/culture, usually to learn the language and they help out with the housework and childcare. For me, this was a perfect solution as i could save and earn as i am also getting paid (quite a good going rate for an Au Pair which is also great!). It is also very close to the city and within easy reach of many surrounding places to visit. I spend my days during the week with little Archer who is a delight to be around and i also get my evenings and weekends to do as i wish. I have had to dig out my repertoire of nursery rhymes and get used to singing them over and over again, along with various first word books over and over again but so far i think i am doing OK! I have introduced Archer to Spot the dog books and eggybread! I am pretty lucky to have such a gorgeous boy to look after, he has accepted me quite well and greets me with a huge smile each morning (or maybe that's just because I'm making him breakfast!) He is also in the process of taking his first steps, learning to point and standing up to reach things he shouldn't! I am here until the end of March so look out for more posts about my time in a pretty cool city!
|This is a view from my bedroom, that's the airport runway in the middle there!


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T-shirt with print
T-shirt with raglan sleeves
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Scorpions T-shirt
T-shirt with ruffled sleeves
Printed sleeveless sweater
Pink Panther T-shirt
Mickey Mouse T-shirt
Friends T-shirt
Alice in Wonderland T-shirt
Short sleeve T-shirt
Donald Duck T-shirt
Mickey & Minnie T-shirt
Oversize T-shirt with print
Colour block T-shirt with print
T-shirt with patches
Bershka logo T-shirt
179 - 199
Hello Kitty T-shirt
Sesame Street T-shirt
Tweety T-shirt
Mickey T-shirt
Mickey Mouse print hoodie
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Short acid wash dress
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Pokémon short sleeve T-shirt
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Sex Pistols T-shirt
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T-shirt with front knot
Toy Story T-shirt
Aladdin T-shirt
Oversized Snoopy T-shirt
Snoopy print T-shirt
Toy Story print T-shirt
Printed T-shirt with front knot
Fast and Furious print T-shirt
Printed short sleeve T-shirt
Slogan print T-shirt
Timon and Pumbaa T-shirt
Disney print T-shirt
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Metallica sleeveless sweatshirt
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Game of Thrones top
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On Thursday (11/5), we're excited to introduce the Request Center, a refresh to something you're already familiar with.
We took some of the things you're used to from the Find Questions List and made a few improvements:
- Customer initiated phone call requests are now standalone items! Phone call requests are prefixed with the tag "[Phone Call Requested]" before the request subject line. To learn more about fulfilling phone call requests, click here.
- For Experts using JustAnswer on smaller screens, you can now hide the left column.
- We've cleaned up the top menu and organized all of your personal pages under your name in one simple drop-down menu.
- For international Experts, you can easily toggle between different partner sites.
- Your favorite features such as notifications, filters and sound alert are still here.
Why is it called the Request Center?
As we continue to move in the direction of standalone additional services such as phone calls, we want to make it easy for Experts to find and respond to available requests, thereby, maximizing Expert earning opportunities. With this in mind, we feel it makes sense to re-brand the Find Questions List to Request Center. The Request Center will be the hub for Experts to see a combined list of available Q&A and additional service requests. Click here to learn more about the Request Center.
To access the Request Center, visit http://professional.justanswer.com.
What types of requests will I find in the Request Center?
You will find the same text-based questions (Q&A) that you're used to and standalone phone call requests. In the future, we plan to add other standalone additional service requests.
How do I reply to text-based questions (Q&A)?
When you see a Q&A you'd like to reply to, click on the "Reply" link. The request will open in what is now called Active Requests. Formerly PQA, the Active Request page works the same as PQA but re-branded because it contains all of your active requests including Q&A and standalone additional services. Click here to learn more about Active Requests.
How do I fulfill a phone call request from the Request Center?
When a customer requests a phone call but the original Expert cannot fulfill, an email notification is sent out and the standalone phone call request is added to the Request Center (after 5 minutes). To fulfill a phone call request from the Request Center, click on the "See more" link to open the request.
The landing page will be the same one you'd see if you were to open the request from an email notification. To accept the request, click on the "Accept this request" button.
Is there a difference between accepting a phone call request from email versus Request Center?
No. If you are subscribed to receive email notifications of phone call requests, then you should be able to be notified of new requests via both methods. However, if you spend more time in the Request Center, you may be able to spot new requests quickly.
Where can I find my PMs, account, report and account information?
All of your PMs and account-related information are organized and can be found when you hover your mouse over your name. My Questions has been renamed My Requests.
Want to learn more about the Request Center? Click here.


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Good Friday and a Moratorium on the Death Penalty
By Most Rev. Robert W. Finn
As we approach Palm Sunday and the celebrations of Holy Week our reflections are focused on the Passion, suffering and death of Our Lord.
The gift of our redemption is accomplished – once for all – in the death of Jesus Christ who took our sins upon Himself and unjustly went through a brutal execution. In dying for our sins, He carries us through death to new life.
For the last two and a half years I have had the privilege of serving as Chairman of the United States Bishops' Task Force for the Life and Dignity of the Human Person. One of the specific objectives that we have recommended to the bishops – as a priority – is to use this fundamental belief about the inalienable life and dignity of the human person as a unifying theme for all our efforts in defense of human life at all moments – from its inception through natural death.
So dignified and worthy of reverence is the human person that Jesus Christ determined, while we were still sinners, to lay down His life for us, that we may have life. Each human person has infinite value despite our failures and even our most horrible sins.
Today I wish to offer a plea for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Missouri. I know various other leaders and organizations have made similar appeals. Traditionally the U.S. Bishops have used the occasion of the commemoration of Jesus' execution on Good Friday as the moment to seek the grace of this clemency. I have joined the Missouri Bishops on more than one occasion in requesting this of our State government, and I wish to renew my petition for this relief.
Missouri has the opportunity to accomplish something very important: to pass a moratorium bill that would halt executions in our state for three years and establish a commission to study the practice of capital punishment in our state. This commission would report to the legislature, governor, attorney general, and the State Supreme Court. Currently, the Senate is considering only a study commission, while the Assembly is still considering a full moratorium bill. I urge our representatives in the Missouri Legislature to support this legislation for a full moratorium along with the study commission.
What are some of the reasons for us to do away with this ultimate and irreversible act of human justice?
The first reason is defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, Paragraph 2267.
"Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity 'are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.'"
The distinctions drawn here are valid and significant. Society may – indeed must – defend itself. But because we can do so without recourse to execution, we ought to do so through non-lethal means. The just use of Capital Punishment is not an intrinsic evil (as are abortion and euthanasia, which can never be justified). But the use of the Death Penalty is a practical moral evil if we can assure the common good without resorting to it.
A secondary, but important reason why we should immediately stop executions is the ample evidence of its occasional mistaken application. It has been shown that sometimes persons on death row are not guilty of capital offenses. We ought not to proceed with the business of State-sponsored execution if it remains a possibility that we may make a fatal miscarriage of justice.
The dignity and value of every human life is sorely offended when violent men and women take the lives of innocent victims. The supreme loss of the life of a victim, and the inestimable hurt of family and loved ones who experience that loss in a continuing way, is perhaps the most difficult element to reconcile in our consideration of the repeal of the death penalty. For this I have no facile response. We know well that the execution of a rightly-convicted offender cannot bring back the life of a loved one unjustly taken from us.
As we approach in faith the events of our redemption in Christ, which will reach a certain climax in Christ's saving death on the first Good Friday, I pray that the horrific image and life-giving power of Christ's death will help us see the value of letting this extraordinary practice fade into our history. May God give us some peace in seeking a different path to justice.
NOTE: Many of our parishes are conducting a postcard campaign to contact our State legislators urging them to support the moratorium legislation. If you would like to participate in the postcard campaign, please contact Jude Huntz, director of the Human Rights Office, at 816-756-1858 ext. 534 or email@example.com You can find the contact information for your representatives on our website.
Ed. Note: Facebook users may also join the cause page for Missouri's Death Penalty Moratorium.


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{March Beauty Favorites}
1.Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm "Shameless"
2. Essie smooth trick deep-conditioning cuticle oil
I cannot believe it is already March. Seriously, where did the time go?
My first beauty favorite is the 1) Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in the color "shameless." I am totally in love with this new crayon lip craze because they are the perfect balance between a lipstick and a lip balm. Let me start off by saying that this color can be a bit intimidating when looking at it on the shelf since it is a deep purple but I swear it is such a great color for a glam look. I give it a big thumbs up as far as texture and color go.
My next favorite is the 2) Essie deep conditioning cuticle oil. One of my best friend and I regularly go for manicures together- it's our thing. Can you blame us? But, whenever we fall off the manicure bandwagon my cuticles get so dry that they look and feel terrible. In between manicures I started using this Essie cuticle oil and it is seriously impressive. After I used it, I saw immediate results and my cuticles were significantly better. I even made my best friend try it for a second seal of approval- making it two thumbs up for this gem.
Lastly, 3) Essie in the color "Big Spender" is my final March favorite. It is the perfect dark fuchsia color for the transition of winter into spring.
Don't forget to comment and follow below. I would love to know, what are your March beauty favorites?


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The guessing games about all the reasons for Donald Trump's political popularity have only begun.
Is it the hair? His stance on the birther issue? His reality-TV show as a tough boss and straight shooter? His financial success? Do any or all of these really account for his high ranking in the GOP presidential field?
Here's my guess: A big chunk of Americans don't feel part of national politics and thus gravitate toward someone outside the traditional parties, even if he's not a regular guy. Mr. Trump is clearly an outlier, at least in style, with the staid GOP. And he's never held elective office, a real bonus to many who prefer the untainted.
Bold, bucking people like him (or Ross Perot or Ralph Nader) who tweak the noses of the party bosses stand an easy chance of winning over the alienated.
The rapid rise in the number of independent voters as well as the growth of the tea party movement reflect a growing disenchantment with the current party structures. Politics is seen as too just too inaccessible for common folk.
The Internet's ease of access – Facebook, Twitter, etc. – helps counter this trend by allowing the Democratic and Republican parties to reach people more directly. Barack Obama certainly knew that in 2008. But the Internet also allows informal groups, like MoveOn.Org or the tea party, to easily rally people behind a cause or a new upstart candidate.
Distrust of establishment politicians is an old problem in America's democracy. Trump has tapped into it, like many before him. But even he might admit that voting a shin-kicker like himself into office won't solve the problem of voters feeling estranged from their government.


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Once your quote has been submitted, we will contact you in 1-2 business days (usually within 1 business day).
Established in 1968 and a brand of Sherwin-Williams, Sprayon offers an extensive line of lubricants, electronic cleaners, degreasers, mold release and more. Let Sprayon products perserve and protect your costly to repair equipment.


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Add a touch of sparkle to your look with this maxi-clutch bag with a craquelé effect and metallic reflections. The bag has a removable shoulder chain strap so it can also be carried over the shoulder. Magnetic fastening, satin interior with pocket. Dimensions: 30x20 cm.
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Bag polyester, with polyurethane coating; Lining in polyester.
No special treatment is required to maintain our bags' appearance and functionality over time. You should always refer to a specialised centre for the cleaning of bags.
Wear it with


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France: Iran deal must include Gulf security guarantees
French President Francois Hollande threw his weight Tuesday behind demands by Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf Arab monarchies that a prospective deal with Iran over its nuclear program come with guarantees of their security.
After talks in Riyadh, Hollande and Saudi King Salman issued a joint statement, saying any nuclear deal with Iran must be "robust, lasting, verifiable, undisputed and binding."
"The agreement must not destabilize the security and stability of the region nor threaten the security and stability of Iran's neighbors," the statement said.
France is one of the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council and a moving force within the European Union – the so-called P5+1 nations that are negotiating the deal.
The statement also echoed concerns that lifting economic sanctions against Iran, and the prospective release to it of $150 billion in frozen overseas assets, would allow Iran to increase funding to its allies and proxies in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia also said Tuesday that it would soon host a meeting of Syrian opposition groups that are fighting the government of President Bashar Assad, a close ally of Iran whose troops have been reinforced with fighters from the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, as well as Iranian advisers.
A statement issued by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, after a summit in Riyadh, said the kingdom would work with the opposition groups to "map out" a post-Assad political landscape for Syria; it gave no further details.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, the council comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Hollande, a Socialist, has surprised observers at home and abroad by endorsing the Saudi-led military campaign against rebels in Yemen, instead of adopting a neutral stance as previous left-wing administrations have in conflicts that haven't threatened Paris' interests.
For that, he was bestowed the honor Tuesday of becoming the first Western dignitary to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council summit.
The payback for France's pivot to Saudi Arabia has been quick. France expects to soon finalize contracts with the kingdom for 20 projects worth "tens of billions of euros" – roughly the same in dollars – in the civil aviation, defense, energy and transport sectors, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Riyadh on Tuesday.
He said French companies would supply the kingdom with naval ships and passenger jets, build a railway linking the western port city of Jeddah with Islam's holiest shrines in nearby Mecca and Medina, erect a solar energy park and carry out a feasibility study for generating nuclear power.
Some of the deals could be finalized by June, Hollande said.
"We want to act quickly. We are here to set up a long-lasting strategic partnership," he said.
On Monday, Hollande signed a $7 billion deal with Qatar to supply 24 Dassault Rafale warplanes and missiles. France is also in talks with the United Arab Emirates to replace its aging fleet of Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets with 60 Rafales.
The new French position on a final nuclear deal with Iran was likely timed to increase Saudi pressure on the United States for a renewed commitment to Gulf security. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Thursday in Riyadh with Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers to finalize the agenda for meetings May 13-14, in Washington and at Camp David, between President Barack Obama and the six Arab monarchs or their heirs apparent.
Gulf Arabs have been perturbed by Obama's statements in interviews published in early April, after a framework deal was reached with Iran, that have been largely interpreted in the region as signaling a reduced U.S. security commitment to the Gulf countries, a cornerstone of U.S. policy in the Middle East since Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990.
In the interviews, Obama said the U.S. would continue to protect Gulf Arab states from external aggression but would have a "difficult conversation" with its partners about the need to accommodate domestic political dissent, particularly from disenfranchised Shiite Muslim communities. Gulf monarchies often charge that Iran, which is a Shiite theocracy, has fomented unrest over Shiite populations.
Hussain is a McClatchy special correspondent. Twitter: @tomthehack


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A scrapped vehicle is indeed a cause of worry for the owner as you don't know what to do with it. Neither do you know where to keep it nor what to do about it. While it may come across as junk apparently, it is not exactly so. There are some who are willing to pay cash for cars. Yes, you read it right. We at Cash for Cars Removal do exactly that. Not only that we also arrange for free car removal. We also pay cash for trucks.
Though the idea of cash for old cars may sound a bit strange, but the junk can be used for additional purposes. The scrapped automobile is stripped of the junk and then forwarded to metal companies which often sell the car parts to automobile companies.
So when do you know that you can give away your car in exchange for cash for 4wd. There comes a time when your car ceases to be your asset and instead becomes a liability. That is when you need to get rid of it for good. There are times when the cost to repair your car is much more than the actual worth of the vehicle. Also, its market value depreciates to almost nothing and therefore you cannot trade it off. There comes a time when one issue or the other keeps popping up after you have resolved a thing or two. Moreover, you aren't willing to spend anymore on advertising for the scrap car removal. You cannot even remove it to make way for a new car.
There are two ways in which you can arrange for accident car removal or a smash car removal. As per the old fashioned way, you can ride around the city to look for places which buy junk cars. However, there is an easier one way out. One can use the Internet to get cash for scrap car by logging into removal.
Here you can get rid of your damaged vehicle by following a few steps. All you need to do is furnish some essential information about the model and make of the car, its mileage, condition of the engine and the body, and any damage on the exterior or the interior of the car. We would also like to know if the car met with a crash or whether it has been abandoned for a long period. Once we have the necessary information, we will provide you with an appropriate quote for the damaged car based on our assessment of the damage that it has sustained.
If you are worrying about the charges involved, then you might as well breathe a sigh of relief. There are no hidden charges or for that matter any monetary issues involved in this transaction. All we do is pay cash for scrap cars in Auckland. We take away the scrap that lies unused at your premises and in exchange provide you with money for it. So it's always a win-win situation for our clients.
After the paperwork is done, we arrange for the scrapped car to be picked up from your residence. The payment is made right on the spot. We accept vehicles in every condition but one needs to inform us beforehand about the exact status of the vehicle so that we can arrange for the necessary mode of transport. If there is more than one vehicle that needs to be taken care of then also it's not a problem. In that case you need to inform us beforehand as a different vehicle may require a different quotation.
However, there are a few things that you need to take care of before you sell your car. Check the car properly to see if you have left anything inside. In case, you have a car insurance policy in place, then you need to inform the insurance company so that they can cancel the policy. Also, if you are not the actual owner of the car, then you need to furnish documents that state that you have handed over the vehicle by its real owner. In the majority of cases, the actual owner of the car is allowed to give away their vehicle so that they can get cash for scrap car.
We know that there are a number of people out there who do know what to with a junk car or truck that has been with them for years. It's not after all a bad idea to get rid of a junk piece of metal for some much needed cash. So what are you waiting for? If you have a car that you no longer use or one that has met with an accident and is therefore completely damaged, then you easily earn some cash for scrap car.
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We've got plenty of facilities to make your visit to Craigtoun park as enjoyable as possible. If you have any specific requirements, why not phone us beforehand and we'll do our best to assist. You can find our contact details here.
- Free parking, including disabled spaces and an overflow. Occasionally things get really busy, so on popular days it's worth checking our Facebook page before you leave to avoid disappointment.
- Public toilets, including baby changing and disabled facilities.
- Cafe
- First aid facilities
- A picnic hut for groups and parties – click to learn more.
- Picnic benches
We like to enjoy a barbecue as much as anyone, but please do not place them directly on the grass or on the picnic benches. Please tidy up afterwards and leave your used barbecues beside the bins, not in them.


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Sometimes when I'm leafing through the pages of Grid, attending an Urban Sustainability Forum at the Academy of Natural Sciences, or looking into the latest local-centric online publication (Flying Kite, UCOffTheGrid, Plan Philly…), I'll feel this surge of energy. It's almost electric — the kind of adrenaline rush you get when things around you are changing and you find you're lucky enough to be standing right in the center of it. To be, dare I say, born at the right time.
For some, that rush came during the 2008 Presidential election, when a generation often labeled cynical gathered in support of our president-elect. For me and others in my generation, it happens when an urban farm is planted, an artist-collective collaborates on an up-cycled installation or a team of public school teens builds a hybrid car.
Grassroots efforts are why I love Philly. Politics aside, you don't have to be "connected" or hold an advanced degree to make something happen in your local community. Last Sunday's Philly Stake Dinner, a recurring dinner to raise small grants, showed local citizens building new niches out of old challenges. Presentations from 10 budding creative projects included artistic reuse of waste materials, sustainable clothing manufacturers and vocational training for urban honeybee tenders.
More than 200 attendants packed into the basement of the First Unitarian Church in Center City. A local meal of spelt salad, slaw and potato soup served with bread and cheese was eaten community style. Organizers had anticipated raising one $750 grant, but instead raised $2,500.
Here's how it was parceled out: $1,000 to Refugee Urban Farm Project, a produce garden for recently resettled Bhutanese and Burmese refugees in South Philadelphia; $400 to Warrior Writers, which promotes self-expression among war veterans through the written word, performance and art; $400 to Recycled Artists-In-Residency, a collaborative effort of artists and industrial designers to inspire creative methods of diverting waste from landfills and develop a material reuse warehouse; the remaining $700 was saved for future Philly Stake Dinners.
At the end of the night, Philly Stake organizer Kate Strathmann had a wonderful problem. "If anyone knows of a larger venue with a kitchen attached, please let us know!" she exclaimed. "We're blown away by the level of excitement, energy and support from the community, and look forward to being able to support more creative and engaged work in future events."


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Two groups, Buhari Support Organisation, and the Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, have disagreed over the attempt by the State Security Services, SSS, to arrest the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, following his alleged comments calling for the killing of Fulani herdsmen.
While MURIC criticised the pastor for his comments and urged the security agency to arrest him, the Buhari support group warned against arresting of the cleric, saying it could cause a huge setback for the administration.
In a statement on Wednesday, BSO's Deputy Director, Blessing Agbomhere, said it would want the federal government or the security agencies to be drawn into a religious battle as a result of the comments made by the cleric.
Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State had prevented operatives of the SSS from arresting Suleiman in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday.
Speaking on January 2 at the last edition of the church's monthly Miracle and Fire Night Service in Auchi, Suleiman said President Buhari's "silence on the genocide in Southern Kaduna has continued to fuel mutual recriminations and distrust among the diverse ethnic and religious groups in the country."
He said he had been warned that Fulani herdsmen were planning to attack him, and urged his security guards to "kill" any Fulani herdsman found around the premieres of his church.
The Buhari support group noted that Suleiman's comments on the killings in Southern Kaduna, were a reflection of the mind of the Christian community, and that any attempt to pick him up would stir the adherents of the religion.
The group also urged the SSS to focus on stopping clashes between farmers and herdsmen in parts of the country and ensure the security of lives and property.
"Everybody has a right to free speech," said Agbomhere. "Any attempt to arrest him can cause a lot of setback for the Buhari administration.
"As a supporter of the President and a believer in this administration, I don't want the presidency or the DSS to be drawn into a religious battle."
According to Agbomhere, not only are people angry about the killings in Kaduna, they are also entitled to their opinions concerning issues of their faith, more so, because Apostle Suleiman is a leader in the Christian community.
But MURIC described Mr. Suleman's comments as "provocative, irresponsible and unpatriotic."
According to MURIC's Ishaq Akintola, Governor Fayose manifested a blatant disregard for the rule of law by preventing the SSS from arresting the pastor.
"Pastor Johnson Suleman wants to make the country unsafe for Muslims and law abiding Fulanis," he said.
"Muslims have never been known to fear death or to compromise their faith. But we do not want to join issues with belligerent people who are always bullying Muslims and Fulanis by telling lies and issuing threats. Neither do we want to heat up the polity."
Akintola urged Nigerians to objectively and critically examine the Fulani herdsmen phenomenon, saying those killing Nigerians are Senegalese and Malians.
"It is therefore unwise of us as Nigerians to allow a few lawless foreigners to cause religious or ethnic war in our land. Let us separate criminals from their tribe or religion.
"We should resist the temptation to stigmatise Fulanis or Muslims because a few herdsmen take the law into their hands.
"For the avoidance of doubts, we denounce the criminal activities of these herdsmen but we should mind where we point accusing fingers," he said.
"We therefore call on the Nigerian security agencies to do the needful. Nobody is above the law. Fayose or no Fayose, Pastor Johnson Suleman must still be questioned and cautioned for his vituperations and provocative statements. He cannot remain tied to Fayose's apron string forever," he said.
"We charge the Nigerian security agencies to spare no effort in dealing decisively with the notorious herdsmen who have brought untold hardship to Nigerian farmers.
"The full wrath of the law must be unleashed on them for killing innocent farmers and destroying their farms. We appeal to Muslims to go about their lawful duties and to remain calm and law abiding."
However, Apostle Suleiman has insisted that he only exercised his right of free speech when he made the alleged inciting comments.
In a statement by his Communications Adviser, Patrick Shaibu, the pastor wondered why he could be harassed for merely expressing his opinion on the menace of Fulani herdsmen.
"The Fulani militia, masquerading as herdsmen have stated that they are going to kill me," he said.
"Everyone knows that they are armed with AK47 and have already killed over 7000 persons in Nigeria. Women have been raped and houses destroyed. Yet, not one of them has been caught or is being prosecuted by the DSS or Federal Government.
"Are we saying that I should fold my arms and allow the same Fulani militia to kill me? Am I wrong to give my security aides orders that they should kill any of the so-called herdsmen found near me or my church? Is there nothing like self-defense in our law."
He clarified that his message was directed to the Fulani militia, in the guise of herdsmen, that had openly declared intention to kill him.
Shaibu noted that even if the comments made by Apostle Suleman were found to be inciting, as alleged by the SSS, a government that believes in robust debate as a means of strengthening democracy would have invited him for explanation, rather than attempting to "kidnap him."
Shaibu said the attempt by the SSS to forcefully arrest Apostle Suleman was "disingenuous and cheap."
"We expected a more civilized conduct from a government that promised Change," he said.
"What most people do not know is that Apostle Suleiman's father was a Muslim. He was born into a Muslim family. He has brothers and sisters that are Muslims and enjoy very cordial relationship with them. So to brand him anti Islam or anti Muslim is being mischievous or taking apostle's message out of context.
"It is sad that a government that promised a new dawn for Nigerians on 29 May, 2015 under a President who pledged to 'allow all arms of government (including free press) to function optimally and avoid the confusion which all too often bedevils governance', has now resorted to a tactic that was so cruelly employed by the military in the country's not-too-distant past. Is this the Change that President Muhammadu Buhari promised Nigerians?"
Shaibu wondered why the government has chosen to dissipate so much time and energy on hounding an innocent citizen for the mere fact that he expressed his opinion, at a time of growing national insecurity, worsening electricity supply and mass unemployment, just to mention a few.
"There is no way the Buhari administration will escape the kind of issues that Apostle Suleman has raised if it does not stop the senseless killing of innocent Nigerians by Fulani herdsmen."
"We are calling on the government to leave Apostle Johnson Suleman alone and apologise to him for the unwarranted intimidation and harassment to which he was subjected on Wednesday morning."


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301 Moved Permanently
Short walks or longer hikes are some of the best ways to explore the park. There are many kilometres of walking tracks traversing pristine sub-alpine plant communities and unique landscapes.
Walkers and hikers should be aware that the weather can deteriorate suddenly and without warning. Don't hesitate to turn back if the trip becomes too difficult or the weather deteriorates. Be sure to wear strong footwear, pack a snack, carry drinking water and a jacket.
Popular tracks in the park include:
Australian Alps Walking Track
Beginning in the old gold mining town of Walhalla and ending near Canberra, the 650 kilometre trail embraces the best of the Alps; the countries highest peaks, snow-capped mountains and plains, cattlemen's huts, tall forests, snow gum woodlands and many historic sites.
Be sure to check the advice on safety and regulations before walking or hiking in the park.
Hiking guidlines
- Stay on track - prevent trampling.
- Let someone know your travel plans before you go.
- Use a fuel stove - it's better for the bush.
- Carry it in, carry it out; don't bury or burn it.
- Leave hike-in campsites as you find them.
- Carry out human waste where possible, otherwise bury human waste 15 cm deep, 100m from water and campsites.


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Florida Center for the Blind - AFB Directory Profile
General Information
Florida Center for the Blind
1411 NE 22nd Avenue
Ocala, FL 34470
(352) 873-4700 (Local)
(352) 873-4751 (Fax)
Brief Description
The Florida Center for the Blind, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that teaches alternatives to performing daily tasks with a minimum of inconvenience to the individual. The Center also aids its clients in locating and qualifying for services available to them.
Education and training are provided in braille, mobility skills, daily living skills, cooking, and leisure time activities.
The Florida Center also provides training in employability skills such as typing, introduction to computers, and the use of specialized software.
Hours of operation: Mon.-Fri. 8:00 AM-4:30 PM.
Clients served on average per year: 80
Number of staff: 9
Staff description: ACVREP certified staff
Geographic area served: North Central Florida.
Kevin Bailey, Braille Instructor
Ben Cutler, Vocational Rehabilitation and Job Readiness
Charles Lawrence, Assistive Technology Instructor
Kelly Lewis, Rehabilitation Instructor
Sally Newton, O&M Instructor
Jennifer Nisbett, Transition Coordinator
Anissa Pieriboni, President/CEO, email@example.com
Services Offered
Services for Adults
- Computer Training/Assistive Technology
- Provides training in the use of assistive technology.
- Counseling
- Offers adaptive counseling for the blind and their companions.
- Daily Living Skills/Independent Living Skills Training
- Provides assistance for blind persons in adjusting to their environment, including independent living skills, mobility (use of the white cane), braille, and use of adaptive aids and appliances.
- Employment/Job Training
- Provides training in job skills such as typing, using computers with speech, employability and electronic communications.
- Information and Referral
- Refers to other programs for seniors.
- Support Groups
- Has a support group for people who are blind and their companions.
- Travel/Orientation and Mobility
- Provides O&M training.


text: Waiver requests will be processed only for those individuals working on a Defense contract. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics acts as a clearing house for waiver requests based mainly on the exchange visitor's potential contribution to research and engineering work in defense laboratories, universities and defense industry. The objective is to have a DoD focal point for information and referral purposes and to assure uniformity of review and judgment in the application of standards designed to protect the integrity of the Exchange Program and yet make it possible in compelling cases to retain persons of unique and outstanding qualifications whose services are urgently required for programs of significant official interest to the Department of Defense. It is clearly against national policy to use the Exchange Program as a recruitment source for critical specialists of exceptional caliber who have been tried and proven on the American scene. Additionally, the letter of support from the DoD agency or Service funding the contract must be detailed as far as the criteria below and signed by the agency head, Senior Executive Service (SES) appointee or flag officer (General/Admiral) of the sponsoring Service. It should also clearly state why it is of public interest for the applicant to be in the US and why it is mission critical for the Department of Defense. In accordance with this policy, each waiver request will be individually and strictly evaluated in terms of the following considerations and standards:


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051 The 4 Corners Hike with Eli Smith
Push Play
to Listen
Eli Smith started his journey in Florida, skipping Key West where his ambitious plan will end after walking to the other three corners of the continental United States. His plan is to reach as any people that he can and spread the awareness for PTSD. His fellow veterans, including some very close to him, have ended their lives because of this mental issue.
He keeps his exact location a bit private because of an attempted abduction in Texas (which he explains in the interview) and he talks about all of the wonderful people he has encountered. Many have provided meals and a place to either put up his tent or a bed to use for the night. "I look for houses that have an American Flag on them and I tell them my story... They usually let me in for dinner even though I ask to just use a spot in their yard for my tent!"
He has not yet conquered his first "corner", though he is making his way toward San Diego where he plans to get all the way down to the most southwestern location and then head north to Washington State. He knows this will be a long hike, but the amount of media, colleges and military connections he has already made are making it well worth while.
His original plan was to connect as many of our National Scenic Trails on his way around, but as he explains, "I just wouldn't be able to reach enough people from the middle of the mountain on the say the Pacific Crest Trail. I want to go to as many towns as I can."
To check out his pictures and progress visit: http://4cornershike.org
Also, check out his Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/4CornersHike
Don't forget to shop our Cascade Hiker Hats and Bumper Stickers!
Like our Facebook Page CLICK HERE
On Instagram Cascade Hiker Podcast
Check out Whiskey Fever: https://www.reverbnation.com/whiskeyfever The song used in the intro is 'Tall Grass' from their album Gonna Wake Up This Whole Town.


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Justene L. Raleigh, 92, died Sept. 9 at St. Luke Living Center in Marion.
She was born near Windom on May 18, 1919, to Clive and Leona (Rush) Myers. She married Ralph Raleigh on Aug. 3, 1940. She was a farm wife.
She was preceded in death by her husband, siblings John Myers, LaRue Bonnidee Myers, and Verna Paterson; and grandson Troy Bratton.
She is survived by her daughters Romona Bratton of Alexandria, Neb. and Marcia and Garry Vogel of Marion; five grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and 10 great-great-grandchildren.
A viewing was 1 to 6 p.m. Monday at Zeiner Funeral Home, Marion. A funeral was 2 p.m. Tuesday at Valley Methodist Church in Marion. Burial was at McPherson City Cemetery.
Memorial funds have been established with St. Luke Living Center and Valley United Methodist Church in care of Zeiner Funeral Home, 205 E. Elm St., Marion, KS 66861.


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Fab Fiance and I are taking much needed vacation. While many great and wonderful things are happening in our lives, we have also encountered some major challenges and difficulties.
We are grateful to be employed but our work loads at our day jobs have substantially
increased over the past several months.
We have our health, but have lost a treasured family member (again -sigh) recently.
We have each other and wedding planning is ramping up
so we need a little break before the whirlwind over the next year.
I hope to come back revived and ready to start work on this blog (and other fun projects).
Friday's Fabulous Flick (and a rejuvenated me!) will return in August!


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Game Junk Podcast Episode #16: The Last of Us and E3 2013
On a very special episode of the Game Junk Podcast we are joined by none other than Jay Cheel to review and discuss The Last of Us. We get into some pretty heavy analysis as to whether gameplay and narrative can co-exist in the world of story-driven games, and take some time to thoroughly explore what is a considered by most to be a landmark in gaming history. E3 has come and gone (mostly gone) but it doesn't stop us in from weighing in on all of the major announcements and revealing some potentially polarizing opinions. As always, we address your Junk Mail and throw in a few barbs along the way. Buckle in and get ready to stroke that giraffe!
0:00 – Intro
05:30 – Feature: E3 Reactions
1:00:05– Top 5: 2013 E3 Announcements
1:18:40 – Review: The Last Of Us
2:22:29– Games We Played: Viva Pinata, The Room, Ni No Kuni, THe Walking Dead, Tomb Raider, Candy Crush, Jurassic Park Builder, Gunpoint, Hotline Miami, Monsterboy in Wonderland, Bioshock Infinite, Heavy Rain
2:47:15– Junk Mail: What systems did Jay own?, How are Trophies/Achievements decided?, Level design detail contributing to story and immersiveness, Game Difficulty/Flow?, Funny Games for the KOC, Benchmark sports games of this generation, Frustrating game ending experiences, Vita suggestions,
3:19:08 – Upcoming Releases
3:20:32 – Outro
3:22:37 – Spoiler Discussion: The Last of Us
Game Junk Podcast Episode #16: The Last of Us and E3 2013 by Filmjunk on Mixcloud
» Download the MP3 (98 MB)
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» Follow us on Twitter


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The french software market is estimated at € 10,6 billion in 2014 and it is expected to grow in 2015 with a grow of 3,2%. Over the period 2014-2018, PAC provides an average grow of 3% for all the software market with sectors like the BI that will see average growth of 6,5%. The Saas sector will always dynamic with growth of 26,5% over the period 2014-2018.
- Spain – better than the other European Countries
- Italian Market for ICT is growing – Assintel Report


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Summer's winding down, but white still works
Summer's on its way out, but you should let your summer whites – especially the skinny jeans, cotton frocks and pale pumps – hang around.
White's power move to brisk weather makes complete fashion sense at a time when the stylish ignore staid style rules.
No white after Labor Day – which comes at the earliest possible date this year? Yeah, whatever.
Today's trendsetters are happiest mixing the silky with the furry, the striped with the printed, and the zippered moto with the floral and flowy. No wonder summer whites are itching to break out of their beachfront jail.
"Everybody is wearing whites into fall," said Liz Rymar, owner and creative director of the brand ellelauri. "It's yet another way people are able to experiment. We are selling so many textured and tweed items this year, presenting them with the whites we sold in summer months."
Extending the shelf life of our hotter-than-July wardrobe may also help us cope with this Sept. 1 Labor Day.
So hold on to your bright and creamier whites during the summer-to-fall transition. The summer hue's favorite cold-weather cousin, ecru – also called winter white – will be on the style scene soon enough.


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waking sleeping beauty...
Our childhoods would have very different places without the wonder of Walt Disney.
Whatever your age, you can't have failed to be enchanted by the wonderful animations he and his studio having been bringing to the world since the 1930's. Walt himself died in 1966 and was succeeded by his nephew Roy but by the 1980's all was far from well in The Magic Kingdom
At the weekend, I finally got around to watching the 2009 documentary 'Waking Sleeping Beauty' which tells how "from 1984 to 1994, a perfect storm of people and circumstances changed the face of animation forever."
Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairytale. It is a story of clashing egos, out of control budgets, escalating tensions and one of the most extraordinary creative periods in animation history.
In the 1980's, after a series of expensive commercial and critical disappointments such as The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, and The Great Mouse Detective, a handful of Disney executives were questioning the wisdom of continuing to make animated films, as the company was making more money in live-action movies, theme parks, and television.
But all of that was to change when Roy hired studio executives Michael D. Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg to restore their reputation for both quality and commercial appeal.
With the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, the team sparked a new interest in animation on the big screen, and a string of smash hits that began with The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast launched a new era of both acclaim and box-office success for the company.
But those successes didn't come without behind-the-scenes conflict, tension and jealousy...
The films director Don Hahn and producer Peter Schneider were key players at Walt Disney Studios Feature Animation department during the mid 1980s and are able to offer a real behind-the-magic glimpse of the turbulent times the Animation Studio was going through and the staggering output of hits that followed over the next ten years.
Through interviews, internal memos, homemovies, and a cast of characters featuring Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Roy Disney, alongside an amazing array of talented artists that includes Don Bluth, John Lasseter, and a very very young Tim Burton,Waking Sleeping Beauty shines a light on Disney Animation's darkest hours, greatest joys and its improbable renaissance..
The most wonderful thing of all about this documentary is that it introduces you to the animators who were, are and always will be, the true magic behind The Magic Kingdom.
Their love and complete devotion to their craft shines through every frame of this wondeful film.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyeoyRjEiUU]
Try and catch it if you can...
Queen Marie


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Kids ages 2 to 13 are invited to participate in a unique variety of camps that are fun and educational. Sign-up for our Pyramid Kids Camp mailing list and receive free information about our upcoming camps as they are announced.
Registration: For additional information or to register for a camp, please call 409-683-4325 or email us at email@example.com. Please make reservations at least two weeks in advance. Reservations and pre-payment are required for all programs. Moody Gardens members and UTMB Employees receive a 15% discount on all camp programs.


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During my lunch break I decided to again sit by the lake and eat my lunch and then head off for a walk around the lake. Today I also spotted a variety of wildlife, including four water dragons (two large dragons and two small, including one lying on a branch near the water's edge), swamp hens, moorhens, pelicans and a Little Pied Cormorant
Archive for August, 2013
Wildlife Spotting at Lunch – 20th August 2013
Posted in Birds, Cormorants, Natural History, Water Dragons, Wildlife Photos, tagged Australian native birds, cormorants, Lakes, water dragons, wildlife on August 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Wildlife Spotting At Lunch – 19th August 2013
Posted in Birds, Cormorants, Natural History, Water Dragons, Wildlife Photos on August 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Yesterday during my lunch break I decided to sit near the complex of lakes in the grounds of the university I work at. I spotted an Australian Water Dragon sunning itself on my walk to the lakes. I eat my lunch, observing a flock of Corellas perched in a tree and a Noisy Minor and moorhen scavenging for scraps near my feet. Then I took a walk around the bigger lake and spotted two Little Pied Cormorants, three Little Black Cormorants, pelicans, moorhens, Swamphens, ducks and two turtles perched on rocks poking out of the lake waters.


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My Week
Last Thursday I spoke to a meeting at Petworth House about fracking. We had just heard the news that Celtique Energie has appealed against West Sussex County Council's decision to refuse planning permission to drill between Wisborough Green and Kirdford.
I repeated my belief that this is a totally unsuitable site for drilling because of the lorry traffic it would cause through Wisborough Green. I hope we will win on appeal.
I also spoke about the the Government's recent amendment to the Infrastructure Bill, currently before the Lords, to change the trespass law to remove the ability of landowners to block fracking below their property.
I will look very carefully at this amendment, but it's important to point out that this covers horizontal drilling at great depths - below 300 metres or nearly 1,000 feet - and does not change the need for companies to obtain all the necessary planning and environmental permits.
It seems that many of those who have raised concerns about the proposal believe that it will licence a drilling invasion on the surface of their properties, but this is not the case. There are other examples of where the Government takes powers to allow tunnelling underground, for instance to construct tube lines which are in fact much nearer the surface.
Nevertheless, it is important that these proposals are scrutinised carefully, and I will do so when the Bill reaches the Commons.
I also pointed out that, only in July, the Government issued welcome new planning guidance which creates a strong presumption against fracking in or adjacent to national parks.
I left the meeting to travel to Arundel to meet the Roads Minister, and then travelled back to Petworth for an enjoyable AGM of the Petworth Business Association in the evening.
I then caught an early train back to London on Friday to be at the Commons to vote - yet again - for the Bill to legislate for a referendum on European Union membership.
I travelled back down to Arundel on Friday evening for the annual dinner of the Arundel & South Downs Conservative Association, where we enjoyed an excellent speech by the former Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC.
On Saturday the environment was again a theme as I joined a beach clean on Littlehampton's East Beach. We are so lucky in West Sussex to have both our beautiful beaches and the Downs, and we should look after them.


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Rockman Online Introduces the Sky Fortress "Atlas"/
Been a bit of time since we've heard about Rockman Online, but the official blog finally has a new location update. This time we're introduced to the floating fortress named Atlas. As the wars between the UCA and URA have spread across the world, it's become necessary to gain ground in the sky as well. This establishment belongs to the UCA, and is their biggest military installment next to the base on Gaia. Designed by Dr. Gaudille, it's made from a powerful Force Metal frame and has the latest Force Metal engine installed. Despite its size it has impressive speed, and can even self-repair basic damage it endures. The facility is also used for charging up and maintaining dozens of large battleships. The overwhelming power of Atlas serves as a symbol of the UCA's might over the URA. However, recently URA attacks have gotten more aggressive, and the state of affairs is growing worrisome. Scientists saw to completely safeguard Atlas' AI system from all viruses, but there are uncertainties surrounding entering URA controlled territories, where the level of virus contamination is highly serious. With intel pointing to a planned URA invasion on the fortress, it's possible Atlas could serve as a battlefield at some point. (Of course, as far as the actual is concerned, this is a guarantee!)
Thanks for the tip, HeatPhoenix! Now please stop commenting about Rockman Online in unrelated posts! :)


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Home/Shop/Sewing Patterns/Sew Ladida Vintage
Blitz Dress
We can do it! Blitz is a simple 40s style utility dress, perfect for jiving, digging for victory or make-do-and-mending in. She's dedicated to the rationing cause, too – this little gem takes very little fabric!
Special Offer:
Buy any two sewing patterns for £30.
Blitz is the perfect go-to day dress; with a pointed or rounded Peter Pan collar, short sleeve and empire waist leading to a straight skirt, it's perfect for a range of figures, ages and styles. For a true 40s aesthetic, use plain or small print cottons, crepe and Rayon in navy, grey, rose pink and primary colours; or by shortening the hem to a mini-skirt length and using an Op Art, psychedelic or monochromatic print, you can make Blitz into 60s style scooter dress. An improvised pocket, novelty print or tartan are all great modernisers, too. And who can resist a contrasting collar?
And in case you thought Blitz was only suitable for daywear, think again! Use silk or velvet, and get creative with the collar using vintage or embroidered lace – or better still, remove it altogether and finish with a ribbon bow fastening – the possibilities are as endless as your fabric stash!
Please Note: all Sew La Di Da Vintage Dress Patterns are protected by copyright, and are for home use only.
Fabric Required:
Tools & Haberdashery:
|81cm / 32″
|86cm / 34″
|91cm / 36″
|96cm / 38″
|101cm / 104″
|106cm / 42″
|111cm / 44″
|64cm / 25″
|69cm / 27″
|74cm / 29″
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|84cm / 33″
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|94cm / 37″
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|109cm / 43″
|114cm / 45″
|119cm / 47″
Want to see your makes here?
Send us images of your creations to firstname.lastname@example.com and we will upload them here to be viewed in all their glory!
3 reviews for Blitz Dress
Oh My Darlings … A newbie to the sewing world, the Blitz dress so easy to make I made two. The Sweetheart dress also a dream again I made two. Confidence on a high. Thank You Thank You x x
Caroline inspired me at a workshop I attended last year at stitch fabrics. I have just finished the blitz dress which looks great. I am on th lookout for more fabric to make a cotton version for the summer. Great pattern and easy to make
I have just completed the blitz pattern, I made it in a linen curtain material and lined it in a silky cotton, it is wonderful, a very special dress, I particularly like the shape and the way the sleeves are darted, I plan to make up this pattern many times in many different fabrics. I am just about to order the waistcoat pattern and one of your other dress patterns to benefit from the two for £30 deal. GREAT.


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Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Flower Soft Dynamic Dimension Challenge
Today, the Flower Soft design team is sharing cards with Dynamic Dimension! We are featuring pop-up cards made with the Mabel Lucie Atwell pop-up card-making kit. It is so fun to see the different directions our creative team can go even from the same starting place!
distress ink, and mounted it on colored card stock. I used some of the extra images provided to add a layer or two of dimension to the front of the card, and assembled the inside according to the package instructions. All you need are some paper snips to fussy-cut the images, and whatever embellishments you wish to add...the adhesive foam dots are included in the kit, so it makes things fast and easy.
Smiles and laughter are contagious, don't you think?! Be sure to visit the Flower Soft blog, and the blogs of my design team mates to see what they've created for today's challenge.
Participate in our challenge, and you'll get a chance to win three pots of Flower Soft and a FS glue!
Labels: Flower Soft, i {heart} papers
2 comments:
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- Page 1 AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition Review
- Page 2 Testing and Verdict Review
- Page 3 Performance Results: Single Tasks Review
- Page 4 Performance Results: Multi-Threaded Review
- Page 5 Performance Results: Games Review
For testing we've dropped comparisons to any dual core CPUs as we've already seen how these compare. Instead we've pitted the 9850 against Intel's nearest price competitor the Q6600 (which is well known to overclock to 3GHz and above) and the fastest consumer quad-core CPU currently available, the QX9770. Now you could argue that comparing the QX9770, which costs nearly £600, to the 9850 is a bit unfair but, remember, the 9850 is currently AMD's best so it's only fair to compare it to Intel's best.
As always we tried to create as even a playing field as possible so the only limiting factor for each setup is the CPU itself. Both test systems used western Digital Raptor 150GB hard drives and nVidia 8800 GTS 640 graphics cards. However, we used DDR2 memory with the AMD CPUs, while the Intel chips were accompanied by DDR3 and of course the two motherboards for each platform were also different.
"'Test Setup"'
"'Common Components:"'
* nVidia 8800 GTS 640MB
* 150GB Western Digital Raptor
* Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
"'Intel Specific Components:"'
* 2GB Corsair TWIN3X2048-1333C9 DDR3
* Asus P5E3
"'AMD Specific Components:"'
* 2GB Corsair Dominator TWIN2X2048-8500C5DF DDR2
* MSI K9A2 Platinum
Testing started with our usual quartet of Photoshop batch processing, VirtualDub video encoding, WinRAR file compression, and LAME mp3 encoding and we also ran the single core test in Cinebench. These tests are all single-threaded versions of the programs so they are only using one core at a time, which gives a good idea of raw clock-for clock performance of the CPUs.
Next we tested the multithreaded versions of WinRAR and LAME and also ran the multi-core test in Cinebench to see how effectively the CPUs distribute the computing load across multiple cores. Finally, we did a spot of game testing using Counter-Strike: Source, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and Crysis. Each test was repeated until a consistent score was achieved so the results we're showing are truly representative of the performance our test beds gave under our tests.
Once the first round of testing was over we set about overclocking the 9850 to see how much head room that unlocked multiplier really gives you.
We started by upping the multiplier and very quickly found we could get to 15x, which gave us an overall clock speed of 3.0GHz with no extra voltage whatsoever – not a bad start! Next we tried upping the HTT with this multiplier setting and very rapidly got nowhere, regardless of how much we pushed the voltages up. So, we started scaling back the multiplier and simultaneously trying to up the HTT until we finally had some success with the default 12.5x multiplier and 210MHz HTT, which was still a long way from our initial successes. So for our testing we settled on the 15x multiplier with everything else kept the same. Still, this is a massive improvement on the overclocking results we got with the first batch of Phenoms.
There is, unfortunately, one downside to all this. Reading around it appears reaching such lofty heights with quite such ease is not a common occurance and, although 3GHz is achievable you'll have to bump up the voltages to get there. Without experimenting with overvolting, 2.8GHz is a more likely achievement. We'd certainly be interested to hear what results you get, though.
"'CPUs Tested"'
* AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition @ 2.5GHz (12.5 x 200MHz)
* AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition @ 3.0GHz (15 x 200MHz)
* AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition @ 2.3GHz (11.5 x 200MHz)
* AMD Phenom 9600 Black Edition @ 2.5GHz (12.5 x 200MHz)
* Intel Core 2 Quad QX9770 @ 3.2GHz (8 x 400MHz)
* Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz (9 x 266MHz)
Looking at the results, then, what's clear right from the off is that the 9850 is a solid 10 percent faster than the 9600 when the TLB fix is disabled. Once the fix is enabled on the 9600 its performance drops by an average of another 10 percent right across the board – the appalling WinRAR results not withstanding. More to the point, though, is that on performance the 9850 is pretty close to its biggest rival, the Q6600. It never quite pulls ahead but, apart from Cinebench, it's consistently within spitting distance.
All in all, then, it's a close one to call and really it comes down to how successful you are when overclocking – that and personal allegiances. Although we're aware the Q6600 is a consistent overclocker, the 9850 is multipler unlocked so there's potential for significantly more headroom, if you're persistent, or just lucky.
The AMD Phenom X4 9×50 series doesn't significantly improve performance over the older 9×00 series, at any given clock speed. However, the TLB erratum has been removed and the new CPUs – especially the multiplier unlocked 9850 – seem to overclock more freely than the old chips. All of which combines to make the 9850, in particular, a worthy adversary to the Q6600. In fact, we'd say it's close enough that deciding between an Intel quad-core and an AMD quad-core is largely down to personal preference at this price point.
Unlike other sites, we thoroughly test every product we review. We use industry standard tests in order to compare features properly. We'll always tell you what we find. We never, ever accept money to review a product. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor.