text:
It's a McLaren F1 GTR in Gulf Racing livery. What more could you want out of life?
This shot comes from the October 1997 Visa FIA GT Race at Laguna Seca. Even though the F1 turns 20 this year, it can still obliterate nearly anything it's put up against from the modern era. Not too shabby if you ask me.
Photo credit Getty Images

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Twice as dense as a 'Winter Density', with twice the coloration, twice the downy mildew resistance, and twice the taste. Dappled red on green leaves are upright like a dense romaine, with out-turned extra wavy margins. Heat tolerant and very bolt resistant. Farm Original Variety!
Oregon Tilth Certified Organic Seed!


text:
Welcome to Elm Green
More Videos
Uploaded 03.12.2015 | Duration 1m 59s
Sherburn-in-Elmet, in the heart of North Yorkshire is home to our Saxon Gardens development of 4 bedroom homes. A truly tranquil setting perfect for growing families.
Amington Green, Tamworth
Uploaded 20.02.2018 | Duration 1m 19s
Welcome to Amington Green in Tamworth
Aspen Park at Roundwood
Uploaded 15.11.2018 | Duration 30s
Aspen Park at Roundwood offers a select range of 3 and 4 bedroom homes in a traditional village location
Uploaded 08.04.2018 | Duration 1m 57s
Welcome to Aylesbury, surrounded by beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside, it's home to our development Weston Grove, which has a stunning selection of 3,4 & 5 bedroom homes.
Backford Cross
Uploaded 20.06.2019 | Duration 1m 9s
Backford Cross is a stunning location in Cheshire, it is also home to our development, The Pastures, which offers a selection of 3 & 4 bedroom family homes.


text:
We love the EVO VIII. It's the most well balanced, all-around car we've ever driven for any price. It has reasonable power with tons of upgrade potential in its well-developed bulletproof 4G63 engine. Then there's the handling-it's so easy to drive hard at the limit. The stock tires have near-race-tire grip, the balance between under and oversteer is just right, the steering is quick and responsive and the car has an honest, non-computer aided linear feel. The brakes are firm, fade-free and powerful. Even when driven clumsily, the EVO still makes the inept look good.
Others share the same opinion. Turbo's sister publication "Sport Compact Car" tested the EVO against offerings from Porsche and BMW and it still came away the overall winner, much to the teeth-gnashing chagrin of brand-conscious, Euro-status-car-driving yuppies around the country.
The EVO's construction is equally impressive. It's easy to tell it was designed at the factory for WRC Rally punishment. The chassis bristles with beefy tower and underchassis braces stock. The front crossmember is a huge perimeter unit that dwarfs anything we've seen. The massive rear crossmember is cast from stiff aluminum alloy. The crossmembers bolt to the chassis in numerous places with big bolts. The suspension pivots and ball joints are huge. The unibody has many heavily reinforced points with multiple layers of metal and stiffening ribs and buttresses. This baby was born to run.
So how do we improve on this batch of automotive goodness? A car this good can be easily spoiled with too heavy a dose of tasteless aftermarket bling-bling. The trick here is a carefully engineered package of properly selected aftermarket parts. Our goal is to make the ultimate daily driver, at least at first.
We want to enhance the overall driving experience of the EVO, not just increase its power or give it stick in the corners. Lag and throttle response must remain crisp and the ride must stay compliant if we're going to attempt to make the car uncompromisingly better- a hard task, indeed, considering the lofty starting point. Let's dig into our EVO and get to work.
Wheels And Tires
To stay inline with our goal of streetable performance, we ruled out the simple way to improve grip, like throwing on a gummy set of R-compound race rubber. Instead, we obtained the stickiest non-racing tires we could find-the BFG Comp TA/KD 245/35-18 . When testing other projects, we drove the KD against other sticky rubber and were amazed at the tire's grip and predictability at the limit. Only full-race DOT rubber could surpass the KD in performance and then by not much. Amazingly, the KD has a UTOG tire wear rating of 220, far better than the 160 or less typical of sticky street rubber.
We scrapped the EVO's stock ultra-light Enkei roll-forged wheels for the lightest, strongest wheel we could find. Putting a wider rim on the car would help keep the tread flat on the road, so we chose Volk TE37 wheels, sized 18x8.5 with a 30mm offset and weighing only 18 pounds. The Volks are a true forged wheel, in which aluminum billet is smashed into a die with tremendous force, squeezing it into a wheel. This violent process refines and aligns the grain of the metal and is the strongest possible process to manufacture an alloy wheel. The aluminum gains strength and ductility during forging, so the wheel has thinner section widths without sacrificing strength.
Our choice of big meats wasn't going to fit in the stock wheel wells without rubbing. We sent Project EVO to Brian Kono of Afterhours Automotive fame to have the wheel wells massaged. He subtlety flared our fenders to clear the tires without rubbing and repainted the inside of the wheel wells. Although it's a lot of work, the killer looks and the traction these tires afford are worth it.
The grip of the tires is amazing, so much that it threw the balance of the car' suspension off. The once taut and flat-cornering EVO now leaned in the corners like some sort of base sedan because the added grip increased cornering speeds and allowed a lot more weight transfer to the outside tires. Also, the increased grip made the car's once-firm suspension feel soft and floaty.
We tried slapping a set of lowering springs on it in hopes this would firm things up, but these lowered the car too much and didn't stiffen it enough. Although the car looked sharp lowered, its handling was now worse than stock and the ride was rough for the level of cornering.
We want the ability to adjust ride height and to cornerweight our car, so coil-overs are a must.
When HKS's Hyperdamper II suspension system became available, we grabbed it. From previous experience, we knew the Hyperdamper would have a huge adjustment range and a base valving that was firm, not rock-jarring solid. This is the exact daily-driver-friendly setup we're looking for.
The Hyperdampers feature 30-way damping adjustment, which increases both compression and rebound damping externally with an easy turn of a knob. They come with pillow-ball mounts, allowing adjustable camber up front and eliminating all the gushy rubber in the stock mounts. This ensures that all wheel motion will be damped instead of dissipated in flexing rubber, letting the car bob.
The front struts use an inverted shaft, a feature that's compatible with the EVO's WRC DNA. The inverted shaft has the strut shaft upside down inside the strut tube and the shock body appears to be the shock shaft that attaches to the upper pillow ball mount. This method of building shocks is many times stronger than the normal conventional way with the body down and the shaft up.
The Hyperdampers feature hard-anodized and stainless hardware to eliminate rusting and sticking of the adjustment collars. They bolted in easily like stock factory pieces. The Hyperdampers featured a reasonable 30-percent stiffer spring rate, which wouldn't break our teeth. The front springs are rated at 5 kg/mm, up from the stock 3.8 kg/mm. The rear springs are 6 kg/mm, up from the stock 4.8 kg/mm.
One of the coolest things about the Hyperdampers is they have a 1.5-inch shorter body and thus lower the car without reducing wheel travel. This is a huge advantage for both ride comfort and handling.
We demanded that all of our suspension elements have racecar-like adjustability. To further reduce body roll and give us more tuneabilty, we called upon Nukabe products for a set of Cusco anti-roll bars. The Cusco bars are currently the stiffest EVO bars on the market. They fit like a charm. The front bar installation, however, required we remove the lower engine and transmission crossmember, steering linkage and exhaust. The front Cusco bar is 25mm, compared to the EVO's stock 23mm, and offers a 123-percent increase in roll resistance over the stock bar.
The rear Cusco bar is 23mm, compared to the stock 18mm, and features three-way adjustment, which allows fine adjustment of oversteer and understeer. The adjustment range is 108 percent, 122 percent and 138 percent more roll resistance than stock in each of the three positions. We expect to use the adjustable feature to help us set up the car rapidly at the track.
The EVO's suspension is amazing. The suspension links are all constructed of strong, light and stiff forged aluminum. The rear suspension is multi-link and most of the rear suspension pivots in a spherical bearing that are sealed against the elements and float in a thin layer of hard rubber for noise isolation.
There's little "sticksion," little flex in the wrong direction and long life to boot. It's just about impossible for the aftermarket to improve on these pivots. However, the rear trailing arm bushings have a huge gushy rubber front pivot and the front lower control arms pivot in soft rubber. These bushings are probably concessions toward ride comfort.
To help hold our wheel geometry in line with our newly installed, bigger, stickier tires (while avoiding a spine-compressing ride), we replaced the non-bearing gushy rubber pivots with hard polyurethane parts from Energy Suspension. The urethane bushings were used for both lower control arms bushings, the rear suspension trailing arm and the front anti-roll bar.
When installing the big front lower control arm bushing, it's necessary to chamfer the lower control arm hole with a .200-inch radius, or it's almost impossible to press the bushing in. The instructions say to merely chamfer the control arms' hole's lead in. We lightly chamfered the hole, but weren't able to get the bushing in. We slowly removed more and more material until the bushing popped in.
We also installed Energy's bushings in the differential carrier and differential moustache bar. These hard bushings will help prevent any wheel hop our sticky tires may create on launch or when powering hard out of a corner, by greatly reducing differential movement and wind up. Getting rid of this will greatly extend the life of other drivetrain components. Unlike other hard differential bushings, Energy's urethane parts didn't transfer any more noise or vibration into the cabin.
Once we installed our suspension, we drove Project EVO to West End Alignment to have Darren Nishimura align the car. Darren is well known in the local So. Cal. road racing scene as the guy to set your chassis. Darren set our front camber at -2 degrees, and the front toe slightly out. The rear camber was set at -1.5 degrees with 0 rear toe.
Darren also set the corner weights for 0 cross weight with 200 pounds in the driver's seat. We also set the front Hyperdampers at 25 clicks, nearly fully stiff, and put the rear shocks at 20 clicks. We set the rear Cusco bar in the middle setting as well to keep close to the stock balance between front and rear roll stiffness.
We're very impressed with this setup. The Hyperdampers ride with less harshness than the stock suspension, yet still resist roll. The easy compliance of the EVO's rally-bred suspension is still there, since the dampers' short bodies have ample wheel travel, but body roll is reduced by more than 50 percent to slightly less than stock, even with the sticky tires.
The EVO's precise steering is now razor sharp; turn-in is fantastic and the car only understeers with the most ham-fisted wheel motions. The EVO's natural balance is about neutral. Our setup will work for both autocross and road course work, which is unusual.
EVOs outfitted with fat R compound tires that are the same size as ours may desire a stiffer, more race-oriented suspension, but our setup can't be beat for total street and weekend warrior track dominance. We can't wait until the next NASA HDPE open track event to see how many supercars we can embarrass with this little giant killer.
The only downside is the car's cornering limits are so high, perhaps higher than any street car we've ever driven, that we can't safely probe the car's capabilities on the street. The final setup will have to be determined on the track.
The EVO comes with amazing stock brakes. Big four-piston front and two-piston rear Brembo calipers clamp big rotors. With Brembos all around, the stock EVO brakes are better than many upgrade kits right from the factory.
Increase the grip with significantly bigger tires like we did and fade becomes a possibility. Although not a huge problem, we noticed a decline in pedal feel and an increase in pedal effort when pounding around the track. Also, the stock pads were noisy, and wore the stock rotors quickly to boot. Stock replacement pads were also expensive from the dealer.
We wanted to enhance our brakes to keep them steady and consistent. The EVO's Brembos didn't need serious upgrading, but we did tweak them in the interest of reduced fade and better pedal feel and modulation. We replaced our front rotors with Project 's two-piece front rotors. The rotor is pillar vented, which has more interior fin area, so that heat dissipates better than the stock Brembo vane type vents.
Pillar venting also makes for a lighter rotor. The rotor is grooved on the outside, which allows hot vaporized brake pad material to escape, preventing the pads from hydroplaning on the layer of vaporizing pad. This does the same thing as drilling the rotors but without the risk of cracking that drilling presents. The slots also give water a place to escape for wet braking, helping out first stops after a puddle in cold, wet weather.
The rotors also have a special heat-treating hardening process for longer life, with harder, more aggressive brake pads and increased warp resistance. The rotor's center part is machined of aluminum alloy and anodized blue to reduce heat transfer to the hub bearings and to remove several pounds of rotating and unsprung weight from the rotor.
For the rear, we used a trick rotor from Stillen. The Stillen rear rotor features pillar vanes like the Project rotor to improve cooling and reduce weight. They're also heat-treated to improve wear life and to reduce the chance of warping. They're slotted and have an integral drum to be perfectly compatible with the stock drum parking brake. The rotors feature rust- and heat-resistant paint on the hub and inside the rotors vents. They have stripes of temperature-sensitive paint so the rotor's operating temperature can be determined. This is very useful when selecting brake pad compounds.
For brake pads, Vishnu Tuning supplied us with some recommended Ferodo pads, which feature a wide operating range. We were assured these pads would be more fade resistant than stock, while running quietly with less dust and longer life.
For track use, Project M also supplied us with a pad that, although it's still streetable, it provides a steady coefficient of friction up to 900 degrees. We haven't evaluated these pads yet, but we've heard good things about them and look forward to that opportunity, probably during our first track event with the new suspension.
To improve pedal feel, Vishnu also supplied some of its braided steel brake lines. The braided lines don't balloon under pressure like the stock lines do; thus, every bit of pedal travel goes to the calipers. We were surprised at how much difference these lines made.
The pedal feels like rock solid like a real racecar; impressive, considering the stock pedal feel was quite good as well. It was a noticable difference. The car's ABS system seemed to like it as well, seemingly cycling faster with a higher resolution. We don't know if that's true or not, but the seat of our pants told us so.
Finally we replaced our stock Japanese fish oil brake fluid with Motul RBF 600 brake fluid. Motul's RBF formula is one of the best fluids, performing nearly as well or better as exotic fluids like the legendary F-1 standard Castrol SRF and AP550. Motul's dry boiling point is 600 degrees Fahrenheit. It works so well that racecars need only bleed the brakes once a season, instead of the typical once a race. Motul also resists absorbing moisture from the atmosphere better than most brake fluids, so the high boiling point lasts longer than most fluids.
Our impressive stock brakes are now even more impressive. We won't need to upgrade them further, no matter how involved we get with this project. The EVO has some of the best stock brakes we've ever sampled.
Our world-class handling and braking EVO is now in exotic stomping territory with our few simple mods. We didn't sacrifice any of the day-to-day pleasantness of driving this car in our quest to improve it.
In the next installment of Project EVO, we'll work on getting some power to back up our grip.


text:
Bell: Joe Flacco's new contract is an elite arrival
Here's the question that Joe Flacco can ask anyone who ever doubted his ability to blossom into an elite quarterback:
How ya like me now?
Flacco agreed Friday to the largest contract in NFL history -- six years at $120.6 million, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told USA TODAY Sports That person requested anonymity because the contract has not been signed and details of the pact have not been made public by Flacco's representatives or the Ravens.
In the month since being named Super Bowl MVP, Flacco's victory lap cruised through Walt Disney World, The Late Show with David Letterman and the grand parade in downtown Baltimore. But the final stop was always going to be at the bank.
MORE:Hall of Famer says Flacco earned top pay
So here it is, a stress-free weekend for the negotiators -- led by agent Joe Linta and Ravens Vice President Pat Moriarty -- just before things would have gotten really sticky and the Ravens would have been forced to use a franchise tag to keep their quarterback off the free agent market. Flacco is expected to formally sign the contract on Monday to beat the 4 p.m. ET deadline for teams to apply their franchise tags.
The most important business of the Ravens' sweet-but-shortened offseason as champions is settled. They can operate and maneuver within the NFL's $123.9 million salary cap without having to tie up $14.9 million on a franchise-tagged number for Flacco -- although he will account for a huge chuck of the cap, nonetheless.
There's no mystery now, no drama.
The best timing, though, always belonged to the 28-year-old Flacco during these negotiations. There's no better window to talk about a new contract than to be a quarterback in his prime, coming off a Super Bowl victory as the MVP.
Translated: Had. The. Team. Over. The. Barrel.
This is what big-time leverage can do:
► Secure a deal that, if the report numbers hold up, exceeds the $20 million per year average -- even if only by a few C-notes -- that Drew Brees received last year with his monster deal (five years, $100 million) from the New Orleans Saints.
► Restore order to the always-escalating quarterback pay scale, days after Tom Brady cut the New England Patriots a salary-cap break by adding three years to his contract at below-market value.
► Formulate a target for Aaron Rodgers. Although the Atlanta Falcons have to re-up Matt Ryan and Tony Romo is in talks with the Dallas Cowboys, neither of them has won a Super Bowl. But Rodgers, playing with a bargain of a contract with the Green Bay Packers ($12.704 million yearly average), might be the next to raise the quarterback bar after his deal expires following the 2014 season.
► Allow a quarterback who came from what was then the Division 1-AA level and not-exactly-a-powerhouse Delaware Hens to one-up football royalty, Peyton Manning and his little brother, Eli. That's one-up, mind you, when not counting the endorsements.
Joe Flacco, highest-paid player in NFL history.
A few weeks ago, this would have been laughed off like a pipe dream. The Ravens lost their first three games in December, hardly appearing destined for a deep playoff run. It was easy to deride Flacco as less than "elite" as his team stumbled.
Ah, elite.
The "elite" tag has provided so much background noise for Flacco's journey that -- with money, status and power now -- he should try to trademark the word. Last spring, he unwittingly responded to an interview question asking whether he sees himself as elite, by declaring that he saw himself as the best quarterback in the NFL.
On one level, Flacco was, well, dissing Brady, Manning, Brees and Rogers. But he apparently believed that, Super Bowl rings or not. In the context of that moment, though, it was in the same spirit as Richard Sherman declaring that he's better than Darrelle Revis.
When Flacco arrived in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII, he knew better. Someone asked whether he saw himself as elite, and he said it was for others to decide.
Lesson learned. Then he won the game. And the bet that he made on himself.
FREE AGENCY PREVIEW:AFC North teams
Flacco did not merely state last spring that he saw himself as the league's best quar-terback, his actions suggested similarly. Contract talks died last summer with Flacco rejecting a deal that averaged in the $14 million-per-year range, which at the time seemed fair but at significantly less than the elite scale.
Essentially, Flacco gambled on himself. And won. The new deal clinched it.
New contract. Super Bowl MVP trophy. Baby on the way. Life is good for Flacco.
The debate about whether Flacco is elite (sure), or the best quarterback in the NFL (not) can rage on. Flacco has a career regular-season passer rating of 86.3, but sparkles in the playoffs. Peyton Manning has an average rating of 101.8 over his past nine seasons, but is not always so hot in January.
Surely, the Packers would take Rogers over Flacco. The Saints would rather roll with Brees. In many ways, elite is in the eye of the beholder.
For Flacco, it's just a word. The substance comes with the championship hardware and the fat paychecks coming his way that are expected to pay at the most elite scale ever.


text:
This setting is within my world of Hewdamia.
The dark God Caedmon came to the realm of Hewdamia with a purpose. What the purpose was, only he knew as he kept it close to him and took it to his oblivion during the War of the Gods. In his wake he left a swath of confusion that to this day holds a mystery to the knowledgable.
When the Gods argued, Caedmon began to work in secret. He slipped away and began building gates in remote places of the world, hidden from the questioning eyes of his fellow Gods, away from meddling mortals. These massive stone gates depict scenes of horror and terror beyond what anyone had seen. These gates were doorways to another place, possibly from where Caedmon originally came from.
These gates open to the world of the Demons and their kin. Caedmon had originally planned to open the gates and unleash a swath of destruction so encompassing, that the Gods would fail to stop it. The gates were dubbed the Demon Gates and they stood ready to unleash a hell on the world only Caedmon had ever seen before. He placed keys throughout the world to be used when he was ready, but before that time came, he was thrust into a war between the Gods that ended his existance.
It is thought, or rumored, that Caedmon traveled from world to world unleashing this hell on the worlds he visited. Some whisper he was a Demon God trying to usurp the power of the others. The truth, no one knows and can only be speculated by those insane enough to deeply study the dark God's teachings.
Effects of the Gates
The Demon gates are not limited to operating only while open. A side effect that the God Caedmon had not foreseen was the amount of desire the demons force through the gates, even while closed. A few have been able to filter through over the centuries but that pales in comparison to the deadly power that flows through the closed gates.
Those who have stayed near the gates, whether aware or not, have come away changed. Even a simple evening spent in the shadow of foreboding gates changes a person forever. Thoughts and voices are often heard in the minds of those that are within 100' of the gates. These voices are fleeting at first, but build up over exposure to the gates. At first, only a whisper of noise can barely be detected and will often be ignored as the wind or odd noise. The longer one spends around the gates however, the voices get stronger and more persistent. The voices become personalities of their own soon demanding the attention of those they infect. Silent words of death and murder filter through the mind turning into detailed visions and thoughts of death and horror, often dealing with loved ones or friends.
This is enough to make anyone crazy and desire to flee from the area. Spending a day away from the gates will clear the mind of the voices, but will never clear the thoughts that they had during their exposure.
Those sleeping near the gates for an extended period of time are not so lucky. Visions and detailed murders grasp at their subconscious, forever tainting their mind. As their exposure to the gates increases, so does the frequency and the detail of the horrible nightmares. Vivid nightmares about riding a cresting waves of Demons, surging out from the gates or towers frequent the dreams. Most often with massacres of entire kingdoms running with the blood of those murdered.
This begins to slowly change those who spend time near the doomed gates. They begin to become angry over the most mundane of things, arguing frequently with others, and coming to blows after only a short period of time has been spent near the gates. The images of murder and destruction begin to change their ideals and they begin feeling the urge to reproduce these vivid omens. No longer seen as nightmares or dreams, but omens or portents from a higher source, the fallen God Caedmon perhaps.
Eventually if not controlled by a stronger force, they will turn on anything to satisfy the bloodlust that fills their veins, and the anger and hatred that fills their soul. Any demon or being capable of withstanding the overwhelming effects would capitalize on anyone in this state in an instant, using their weakened mind to control for their own purpose.
Documents written in an old text tell a tale of physical deformation as well with extreme exposure to the gates. But the journal ends with indecipherable scribble as the scribe was obviously insane when the journal was completed.
Additional Ideas (5)
Set beneath a crumbling ruin of a temple to Aduivo, the quiet halls of a forgotten temple rest undisturbed. Cobwebs and dust are it's only inhabitants for the last few centuries. The temple above having long ago been built and crumbled into history in the open view to the stars, while beneath it, the preserved hallways of a diabolic temple continued on. Waiting.
The temple was originally built by Caedmon and his first few followers. Having long anticipated the creation of the Demon Gates, the prepared a special place for them to rest. Deep below, a raging storm of energy constantly battled as the worlds life blood flowed freely, warming the temple unaturally. While above, the suns and the moon shone down on the earth where the temple rested, in full view of Caedmon, ever watchful.
It was simple, the temple was. A chamber for a priest and followers with a room set aside for holding slaves for sacrifice. The temple had a singular purpose, the opening of the Demon Gate. But due to the War of the Gods, Caedmon fell and was not able to see his vision through with the opening of the gates. And that is where they sit today, devoid of life, waiting to be found, waiting to be opened.
A set of double doors block the hallway. A large relief sits in the middle of the doors barring passage. The doors are a silvery metal that seem to reflect any light as would a large mirror. Runes inscribed into the door confound the eye as if they move on their own.
The doors radiate warmth but are cold to the touch, and while they are not locked only someone knowing the ancient script of the Demons can decipher the runic script to open the door.
The room inside is a mental nightmare that will haunt the dreams of even the most stout of mind. A cold wind blows in the hot room, flickering torches to life. No direction can be determined from where it comes from however.
The floor is black stone polished to a near mirror shine with three two foot steps leading up to the main dias. The room is also noticably devoid of dust, dirt, or spider webs. As if the room has been taken care of through the centuries.
The steps lead to a central dias where a five foot long block of obsidian rests, the top having a slight curvature that holds the body of those to be sacrificed. behind the alter is a most terrible sight.
Two huge double doors take up the entire west wall of the room. They are carved with images of a mass of horrific beings pouring forth from a gaping maw of some unknown caricature to lay waste to defeated mortals whose sculpted expressions plead for aid and mercy. At the head of the tide there is a single being who stands above the roaring army of demons, cloaked in a deep-hooded cape, with a smiling mask. The whole is made from some sort of dark, slick stone that appears oily or wet in the lights, yet rough and dry to the touch.
The same runic script on the main doors also line these huge doors, detailing the glory of Caedmon and the mass he brings to the unworthy and supposed righteous. The single key made for each gate, enters into the gaping maw and opens wide to show a wall of fire and nightmare.
What comes through... open the gate and see.
The Gate of Forlorn Hopes is a huge black gate, over 30 feet high, carved with images of a mass of horrific beings pouring forth from a gaping dragon's mouth and laying waste to mortals whose sculpted expressions plead for aid and mercy. At the head of the tide there is a single being who stands above the roaring army of demons, cloaked in a deep-hooded cape, with a smiling mask. The whole is made from some sort of dark, slick stone that appears oily or wet in certain lights.
It is set into the wall of a large vaulted cavern high in mountains. The stone around it is buckled, torn, and cracked, and the cavern's walls and floor frequently shake and groan, as if the rock were attempting to free itself of this black chancre. In some places, the cracks and wrinkles in the stone knot together and form mocking faces which stare demonically from the walls, laughing silently at mortals who come to look.
There is a large scored dent in the gate's left door. Usually, nothing can be seen through the hole at its center but darkness, but on certain intersections of time and chance, a baleful red glow blazes in a bloody beam through the score, shooting like a lance through the cavern's mouth and onto the mountainside beyond. When this happens, small things, bits of demonic elements and vitriolic little masses of the Demon World's essence leak through eddying about the cavern invisibly on the hot currents of air that blow through the gap, and give the cavern a distinctly alien feel and a latent atmosphere of menace.
The stone is far stronger than what it should be, and holds up the strain of the walls & roof quite well. However, it is still very heavy, and those mercenary bandits that live within the floor beneath it worry about the supports collapsing down upon them. If only they knew that not all of the creaking & soft moans late at night were from material stress alone...
For the past few years, Warlord Octavius has had vivid nightmares about riding a cresting wave of Demons, surging out from his tower. He considers this only to be inspired by his unique decorative floor of his throne room & personal chambers, and caused by too much spicy food before bed-time. However, unbeknownst to him, most of the other inhabitants have also been having these same nightmares for the past few months.
Though he is a capable and charismatic leader, not all of the new additions to Warlord Octavius's army may be the result of his leadership and fame. Lately, the numbers have swelled, with ever more vile and depraved rogues.
Just last week, Warlord Octavius noticed a scaly rash on the backs of his shoulders. This he associates to the increasingly crowded tower, and increasingly dirty new troops, bringing in new diseases and vermin. He also considers the pain in his shoulders to be either an early sign of age, or difficulty sleeping properly because of the rash.
Are these signs innocent, as the Warlord and his men are not? Do they bode ill for the surrounding countryside? What if the rash spreads, becoming true armoured scales, or even sprouts wings... as they did in Octavius's most recent dream? What happens when the other bandits also start exhibiting signs that their close proximity to a gateway to Hell is affecting them physically?
Perhaps death and destruction will be unleashed from the door afterall, but perhaps not in the way Caedmon originally envisioned.
It started off with a door being found, and then a rumor was heard of a family that since time forgotten were guardians of a key that could open The Door. No-one knew where the Door was, so the family was dismissed as nutcases. The main characters, however, made the connection. As did the MBG (Main Bad Guy), who promptly stole the key, then took it to the Door and was driven insane by unlocking it. The climax of the story was where the main characters had to push the Door closed and lock it, while demons on the other side pushed against it to try and break loose.
Very action filled, very scary. That is how these Gates should be used and portrayed. The thought of what might get out should scare the living crap out of the PCs, and make them try to keep it closed at all costs. *cue heroic actions of a player sacrificing himself to lock the door from the inside or something*
In the Mouth of Madness
A strange pulp horror movie that told tales of H.P. Lovecraft from the start. What made the movie all the better, you never saw any of the monsters coming from the bad place. You say glimpses of them, like form the corner of your eye but that is it. That is how you do a horror story. Tell them everything up to the point where imagination takes over. Our own imagination is far worse then what someone else could come up with.
Suggested Submissions
- Octavius Brekaeil NPCs By: Mourngrymn
- Taur Lifeforms By: Mourngrymn
- The First Era of Hewdamia Systems By: Mourngrymn


text:
Make sure to catch a talk from our very own AudioAcrobat, David Barrett, this weekend at the San Francisco Green Festival! Brian will be speaking at 5PM on Saturday, Nov. 12th in the Green Business Pavilion!
Home » hunger
Audio, video and podcasting tips, tricks, techniques, tutorials, testimonials and semi-technical teachings.


text:
Marian asks:
"How much research can I reasonably do using just the internet? My health keeps me from traveling to courthouses and such."
You can't do everything but you can do a lot, more every day thanks to organizations such as FamilySearch. Even if you can't visit courthouses and other repositories you can phone them, email them and write letters to them requesting information and documents so all is not lost. You can also hire other researchers to do some of the leg work for you.
The two things I would recommend to you are Cyndi's List and Online State Resources for Genealogy. Between the two I think you will have access to every online source there is.
I always exhaust all my internet options first, then I formulate a research plan for those things that I can't do on the internet. So many things are being added daily that I go back and try again on the internet if I am looking at a research problem that I haven't worked on in a while.
Copyright © 2012 Michele Simmons Lewis


text:
I am realizing just how boring I am. I don't have pets anymore, don't really want any. I have a baby girl. I go to church 2-3 times a week. I cook and grocery shop, but I don't cook every day. I feel like I'm constantly on the go, but I don't really know what I'm busy doing. I need to get a life, really bad. Do fun things. We did go to a theater production for my birthday on Tuesday. That was fun. But, really I don't do enough. So, if you wanna leave a comment...leave some things I can do and can try. I am learning to use my mom's sewing machine. I really am trying to improve my life.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
I'm boring, but Ellie is CUTE
Posted by ssbean at 7:25 PM 3 comments Links to this post
Friday, July 24, 2009
CF test results; vacation; and 2 pics
I have so many pics I think I'll post a pic per post, if that's ok, instead of doing the all pic post. Because I also have important things to write about, and I don't want the beautiful pic nor the writing to get left out.
She went to her CF appointment last Tuesday. Her stool sample was normal. The sweat test was borderline. She will continue to be followed and it's pretty much what the doctor expected to see with her mutations. She did great with the sweat test, on the first leg, then screamed bloody murder on the 2nd leg. Once it was over, she quickly settled down and fell asleep. What an angel.
We went to NC for a semi quick trip. It was about an 8hr drive there, and the 2nd day we broke it up and made the trip in 2 days to be more relaxed. It's supposed to be an 8hr trip w/out baby and somehow, I think because Simon must have been going 80mph, it was an 8hr trip. I sat with Ellie in the back most of the way there, Simon was with her on the way home.
So what we did in NC. Ellie met her great granddaddy for the first time. This is my granddaddy's first blood great grandchild. His wife has some, but she's MEAN. She doesn't let her great grandkids go over to her house because they get into stuff, run around, and just be kids. She said she doesn't want them over. They all live out of town, so of course they wont go over. She said she hates kids. She said her only grandaughter brought her boyfriend over 10yrs ago. Since he had holes in his jeans, she told her not to bring him there, and didn't care if she ever came back either. That was the last time she saw her, 10yrs ago. So, I doubt we will be taking Ellie back. If we did, the next time would be when she's at least crawling, maybe walking, and of course exploring. And I know the woman can't handle that.
We also saw my severally mentally challanged aunt. She didn't acknowledge Ellie much, but she touched Ellie's back, which is kinda her way of acknowledging.
We also met some old family friends that I have seen in many years. Sonny has cerepral palsy and is in a wheelchair, has speech problems, but otherwise is way smarter than one might assume. His sister owned and still does a fabric shop. She makes dresses and shirts for people. She's done this my whole life. My mema would take me to the shop and while they talked, Sonny and I would play and talk. Sonny got to see Ellie and kiss her cheek, like he would do me, and really like he always did my mom. This was a highlight of my trip. Ok, I know I said one pic per post, but I can't resist. Here is Sonny and myself kissing Ellie. She really didn't know what to think.
Another highlight is when I drove by my great grandma's ("other mema") house. The front door was open, and Simon talked me into going to the door to see if I could have a tour from the complete stranger. How dangerous!! But I did it and come to find out, it was woman, maybe 10yrs old than me. She very friendly and talkative and was happy to give me a tour. It was so nice to be able to say "bye" to the house. I never got closure as "other mema" was put in a nursing home when I lived in Georgia for a year.
Overall the trip was wonderful closure for me. At the end of my junior year in high school, I had no idea that I would be living in Georgia for my senior year, I didn't know that I would never go back to that school. Later I returned to the area for a while, before moving to Tennessee. When I left I had to quickly get out due to a bad relationship. I never got to have closure at all. Since I've been back a couple times, but I haven't been there long enough for closure, nor was that on the agenda. So, it was a very productive trip, more than needed.
Posted by ssbean at 11:29 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, July 10, 2009
I'm doing it
I printed off the application for Surgical Tech, and completed it, and it sits in front of me ready to be stamped and mailed off. It will be to start August 2010, so I have some time to wait. Maybe I will take a class in the spring to kinda get in my mind working. If I take Anantomy and Physiology 1 and 2 or Intro to Human Biology and make at least a "B" then I get bonus points towards selection to the Surgical Tech program. So...I think I may see about doing that, it would be awesome to do it.
I went to my counseling appointment this morning. I really love going. I dunno, it's just something about going to counseling every other week that helps. I like to see what kind of BIG things I can accomplish between appointments. Such as I've gotten seen and treated for my plantar facisitis. I've gotten this anal fissures taken care of. I've got this application for college done. The next 2wks, I will have to sit down and talk to my mother in law about a couple things. I need to fill out the application for the gym and TURN IT IN. And make an appointment w/ a primary care doctor. So, that's my homework. Also I need to try to work on some of my anger issues.
We may be going to NC this week. Simon is off 3 nights in a row. So....hopefully we can travel the 8ish hr trip and visit my grandfather. I'll be away from the comp. during that time unless my MIL will let me use her comp. Yeah right. We would leave Tuesday after Ellie's CF appointment. She has her sweat test and an appointment. They said it should be only 2hrs. So, we should be finished at 11am give or take. Simon has his leg appointment earlier that morning, at 8:15 and will hopefully be able to put weight on it. I'm gonna see if Nana can come w/ me to Ellie's appointment.
I gotta run to get Ellie from Nana's. I just wanted to stop by the house real quick to put the application in the mail. Can we say PROGRESS!!! So exciting. So you've all read my goals for the next 2wks. Make sure I work towards them.
Posted by ssbean at 7:41 AM 4 comments Links to this post
Monday, July 6, 2009
Surg. Tech or EMT
So, I'm thinking about going back to school. Only this time, I'm not going back to finish what I started. I was going to get a Bachelors in Sociology. How useless is that...well let me rephrase, it wouldn't be very fulfilling to me. I've always dreamed of being a doctor, one that performed surgery. Well, obviously that dream is out for more reasons than I can count. I've lost that desire completely. But what I do desire, is to be a part of the surgical team. In some way, in any way. Surgical Tech is a relatively quick course, w/ classes that will be of ultimate interest to me. I may even one day be able to work on a trauma team, which would just make me so HAPPY. It's the best and most exciting thing to me. The problem is, I have plantar fascitis in my feet, of course, hence the name plantar. I'm not sure if I will be able to stand for the whole surgery. Also during the pregnancy smells really got to me. Now, I'm guessing an operating room doesn't really smell good. So there are a couple fears. I mean for the foot and knee pain, maybe my doctor can prescribe something that will help. I don't know. I really want to be a surgical tech...but the pain is kinda scary. Oh and the college I would have to go to is 45min. away in the next town over. It's actually from where we move from. But, I can get over that, really I can.
The other option is at the community college here, I could do EMT. Now still in the medical field and still somewhat fun. But....I'm not big on the driving an ambulance, especially in the city (not huge). I just don't trust myself as much as I should. I've been told I should be an EMT by many people. I played the roll of an EMT in a church program one year. I was told I looked "natural" in the uniform. I've been told I should do it because when a medical emergency arises I think the fastest and am the most confident. My adrenalin goes up and I go from this little shy, timid person, to a fast confident, take charge person. It's pretty cool after the "medical emergency" when I get to look back and think "I did...and because I did the right thing, everything turned out ok." It really is a great feeling. I've experienced situations through my jobs with working with mentally/physically challanged adults. You will have things from LONG seizures to bloody noses, to a person with aspiration problems vomitting, or falls, and the list really does go on. My problem is I am overweight, I know I don't move really fast. Also, I'm not a big fan of working in the elements such as rain/storms or snow. I envision a wreck at night, during a thunderstorm and downpour, and I can't wait till it slows down. I soak and wet have to be able to manuver to care for the situation. Ack...enough to scare me away I think. I'm pretty sure they do 12hr shifts, which I hate. Obviously it's a 24hr 7 day a week job, no major holiday off. I personally want a little more hope than that. I mean I could work in a surgical clinic and do mon-fri. I mean could. But it's a little more freedom w/ Surgical Tech. But the college is in my town, it cost less...I think, and isn't quite as long as Surgical Tech, although Surgical Tech isn't real long realively speaking.
So do I do what will make me the most happy since both have slight physical problems associated. I can get past it, expecially if I just lose weight. That's another post. So obviously I'm leaning towards the Surg. Tech program, but what do you think. Not to discourage from commenting, but I think my mind is made up....Now I need encouragement to STOP procrasinating. My middle name is procrasination. I'm not getting anywhere by procrasinating though. I HAVE to do this.
Posted by ssbean at 8:27 PM 4 comments Links to this post
Friday, July 3, 2009
My mom has polyps in her stomach
My mom had her gallbaldder taken out a couple weeks ago. It was functioning at a whopping 12% which is considered non functioning. Plus she had gall stones. YIKES!! She's been battling this for over a year, till she finally gave in and saw a different doctor as she was getting way sicker. She has still been sick. Poor thing. She had the endoscopy thing where they go down with a scope to look in the upper GI portion. She had/s numerous polyps. The dr. took 6 out, which that's all he said they can take out at once or they run a risk of rupturing the stomach, or something like that. He sent them off for testing to see if they are cancerous and stuff. He said every 6months she'll need to return to get 6 more taken out. He said it's probably precancerous so this will be an ongoing thing. To me none of this sounds good. But, I'm gonna play calm. My mom is pretty stress free. She will not put herself through chemo. She's cool w/ what life brings. I'm not so calm. I have a little baby and my mom is the BEST grandma any child could ever ask for. She may have lots of $$ to buy the kid anything or everything, but she is so much fun, even with Ellie being the age she is. When I need to smile and laugh I just let my mom and Ellie be together, and it's so funny. And my mom is AWESOME w/ her woodworking stuff and has all these ideas of building Ellie a swing set and playhouse and stuff. So...I'm hoping for the absolute best. Plus if Ellie loses her Gammy (my mom) then it would be plain sad. Ellie doesn't seem to care much for her Granny, which is Simon's mom. Ellie cries everytime she holds her. Which I don't blame her. LOL. The woman starved her for a couple hours, despite her rooting because she was passing gas. This has happen a couple time. I've got other stories, but that's not the focus of this post. What I'm saying, is if Ellie looses her Gammy, she looses a lot. So yeah, I'm nervous, but I can be calm too....soon. My mom doesn't have the cancer diagnosis. It's all good right now....right?
Posted by ssbean at 10:19 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Surgery and breastfeeding
I had surgery yesterday. I thought I had hemorrhoids during the pregnancy and after. I guess I didn't. It got so bad last week that I went to the ER in the middle of the night. I was told it was hemorrhoids and to see a surgeon. Last Friday I saw the surgeon, just to learn it wasn't hemorrhoids, but rather anal fissures. So yesterday I had my sphincter muscle repaired and fissures removed. It hurts to sit and well it's just not fun.
Breastfeeding has never been great, but I've had some rewarding times. Times that I felt like I was really making progress and doing an awesome job. Before surgery Ellie began falling asleep while I breastfed her. Ugh, very hard on me, to make sure she gets what she needed. But, after the surgery, she had to have bottles for 24hrs. Now today was HORRIBLE for us. She refused every time but 2. And those 2 times she'll take it as long as there is a nice heavy stream, but once she has to work a little she freaks out. I'm so ready to throw my arms up and say forget it. But, on the flip side, I'm really wanting to fight to keep it going. I don't have a pump, we were renting one and I let it go back in June. I think I'm loosing supply, but I also know that I can still increase if I buy a pump (low on money these days), and PUMP, PUMP, PUMP. There is also a bottle that I saw at babies r us that resembles the breast, maybe if I use that, and pump, then maybe I can get her back on the breast. I dunno. I miss my time w/ my precious baby. :-(
Posted by ssbean at 5:45 PM 2 comments Links to this post


text:
To aid in searches for explosive materials and persons who have been in contact with them, Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with support from the Department of Homeland Security, has developed a new certified reference material, Standard Reference Material (SRM) 2905, Trace Particulate Explosives. Compatible with field and laboratory assay methods, the SRM will be helpful in calibrating, testing and developing standard best operating procedures for trace-explosives detectors. (More)
Comments Closed
Due to increased spam, comments have been closed on this content. If you wish to comment about the content, we encourage you to email firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
The formation of a new global consortium made up from lighting industry players, with the aim of creating a globally accepted standard for a management software interface for outdoor lighting networks, has been announced. Named TALQ, the founders/participants are Harvard Engineering, Kingsun, Philips, Schréder, Streetlight.Vision, and Thorn/Zumtobel.
Driven by trends such as the increasing prevalence of LED luminaires, more efficient city operations management, growing social and legislative pressure to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and an increasing move towards city beautification, the outdoor lighting market is shifting from traditional to intelligent lighting networks. Among other functions, these new networks offer remote monitoring, smart asset management, smart dimming and scene setting, and intelligent measurement of energy consumption.
At present, the market is characterized by a diversity of proprietary systems and interfaces. The lack of standards makes it difficult to integrate, operate, and maintain management systems, which is prohibiting the growth of outdoor lighting networks. The TALQ consortium aims to promote the application of outdoor lighting network systems by delivering and governing a well-defined software protocol specification for the interface between central management systems and outdoor lighting networks and by managing a promotion, certification and compliance program. This will enable a single user interface for customers to manage their outdoor lighting infrastructure, enable second-source supply of interoperable systems, and stimulate market growth by fostering competition. The software protocol specification will be independent from the various physical communication technologies in existence today (e.g. wireless, power line, etc.) and will be able to accommodate future standard enhancements.
The TALQ consortium plans to have a draft specification prepared by the end of 2012. For more information, contact [email protected].


text:
In the end, expanded practice powers for pharmacists, but not nurse practitioners or optometrists, made it to the governor's desk.
Senate Bill 493 was one of three pieces of legislation introduced by state Sen. Edward Hernandez, D-West Covina, that sought to expand the practice powers of the three categories of medical professionals.
Last week, the Assembly unanimously approved the pharmacy bill after confirmation by the Senate, sending the legislation to Gov. Jerry Brown.
If Brown does not use his veto powers, pharmacists would be granted a wider range of practice, including the right to administer hormonal contraceptives and prescription smoking-cessation drugs, and independently initiate and administer routine vaccinations.
The bill would also create a new certification "advanced practice pharmacist," which would allow a practitioner who is collaborating with one or more doctors to "adjust or discontinue a drug therapy" as long as they promptly notify the patient's doctor.
Hernandez championed the bill, and two others that focused on nurse practitioners and optometrists, as a way of coping with an expected doctor shortage that many think will increase when federal health reform extends health insurance to millions starting on Jan. 1, 2014.
Heavily opposed by the California Medical Society, the nurse practitioner bill died in the assembly's appropriations committee in late August. The third bill, which focused on optometrists, has been made into a two-year effort.
Hernandez said Monday that he believes the pharmacists bill will help cope with any doctor shortage, though it will likely take time for the state pharmacy board to make necessary changes it its own procedural regulations.
"There are over 40,000 pharmacists in the state of California that can step up and help very quickly, and I believe they can easily be integrated into the system," Hernandez said.
He added that he will not give up on the other two bills.
"I'm not going away," he said.


text:
Facts: Two years before the marriage, Husband purchased a 63-acre farm consisting of a 10-acre portion with a house and a 53-acre portion with a barn. During the marriage, Husband converted the barn into a guesthouse. Husband testified he performed most of the work himself. Wife testified that she helped by assisting with the design as well as selecting furniture, paint, decor, and appliances. During the marriage, Husband borrowed money against the property that required Wife to execute a Deed of Trust. The trial court ruled that the 10-acre portion was Husband's separate property but the appreciation in value during the marriage was marital property. When the marital estate was divided in the divorce, the trial court found that the 53-acre portion was Husband's separate property because Wife made no substantial contribution to the property's appreciation in value. Wife appealed the ruling regarding the 53-acre portion and the classification of both properties.
On Appeal: The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court.
When dividing the parties' property in a divorce, the court must first determine which property qualifies as "separate property" and which qualifies as "marital property." "Separate property" is defined as: "All real and personal property owned by a spouse before marriage . . . ." "Marital property" is defined as:
(A) . . . all real and personal property, both tangible and intangible, acquired by either or both spouses during the course of the marriage up to the date of the final divorce hearing and owned by either or both spouses as of the date of filing of a complaint for divorce, except in the case of fraudulent conveyance in anticipation of filing, and including any property to which a right was acquired up to the date of the final divorce hearing, and valued as of a date as near as reasonably possible to the final divorce hearing date. . . .
(B) "Marital property" includes income from, and any increase in value during the marriage of, property determined to be separate property in accordance with subdivision (b)(2) if each party substantially contributed to its preservation and appreciation . . . .
[I]ncreases in the value of separate property during a marriage will not be considered marital property unless both parties "substantially contributed" to the appreciation in the value of the property. While these contributions may be either direct or indirect, they must satisfy two requirements. First, the contributions must be "real and significant." Second, there must be some link between the spouses' contributions and the appreciation in the value of the separate property. Whether a spouse made a "substantial contribution" to the preservation and appreciation of separate property is a question of fact.
Regarding the marital appreciation of the 53 acres, the Court affirmed the trial court, writing:
Wife did not present any evidence at trial that the value of the 53 acres had, in fact, increased from the time the parties married to the time of the divorce. Husband presented evidence that the value of the 53 acres actually decreased from the time of the parties' marriage to the time of trial. Further, despite Wife's argument that she made "significant contributions to the guesthouse," Wife failed to present evidence of any link between her contributions and any appreciation in value of the 53 acres.
Wife then argued that the entire 63-acre property had transmuted from Husband's separate property into marital property because she signed Trust Deeds when Husband used the properties as collateral for a loan.
Transmutation occurs when separate property is treated in such a way as to give evidence of an intention that it become marital property. One method of causing transmutation is to purchase property with separate funds but to take title in joint tenancy. This may also be done by placing separate property in the names of both spouses. Conduct between the parties can affect the classification of the property. For example, if either spouse makes a gift of separate property to the marital estate, the property is transmuted into marital property. A presumption of transmutation arises when a party uses separate funds to purchase property but places the property in the names of both spouses. Transfer of title in previously separately owned property to joint ownership also creates a presumption of a gift to the marital estate. Either of these presumptions can be rebutted with evidence of circumstances or communications clearly indicating an intent that the property remain separate.
The Court reasoned:
In the case before us, Wife presented no evidence that she signed either note, assumed liability for them, or that she made any payments on the loan Husband obtained in December 2006 or the loan Husband obtained in June 2007. Instead, Wife simply relies on the signatures she put on the two Deeds of Trust to argue that both the house and ten acres as well as the other 53 acres were transmuted into marital property.
We do not believe that Wife's signature on the Deeds of Trust has any effect on her ownership interest in the house and ten acres or in the 53-acre parcel. It is not unusual for a bank, when loaning money to one spouse who is the record owner of a piece of property, to require the other spouse to sign a Deed of Trust to protect the bank's interest in the property. In fact, Husband testified on cross examination that the bank required Wife's signature for that very reason. Contrary to Wife's suggestion, however, the act of signing one or more Deeds of Trust, without more, does not transfer any rights in the property to the nonowner spouse that he or she does not otherwise have.
Accordingly, the trial court was affirmed.
Sandford v. McKee (Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Section, September 27, 2012).
Information provided by K.O. Herston: Knoxville, Tennessee Matrimonial, Divorce and Family Law Attorney.


text:
Wesport resident publishes memoir
Photo: Contributed Photo
Jacqueline Masumian, of Westport, has announced the publication of her book, "Nobody Home: A Memoir." The book explores the author's relationship with her mother, a difficult woman who had a unique, erratic brand of nurturing as well as a dark family secret she'd hidden for decades. The setting of the memoir is Cleveland, New York City and Westport.
Masumian is the owner of Tanglewood Designs, a landscape design firm in Westport, and has served on the Westport Zoning Board of Appeals.
"Nobody Home: A Memoir" is published by Bookbaby and is available from www.Amazon.com; the e-book is available from e-book retailers including iBookstore and Barnes & Noble. It can also be borrowed from the Westport Public Library.


text:
Hawk-Eye, a Sony group company, is one of the leading vision processing companies in sports, providing officiating, production, video-management, broadcast and digital solutions that make the game fairer, safer and more engaging.
Electronic Line Calling
Goal Line Technology
Decision Review System
Point Detection System
Broadcast Enhancement
SMART Production
SMART Replay
SMART Coach
SMART Stadium
SMART Vote
Data Visualisation
Web and Mobile
Delivering bespoke projects across tracking, broadcasting or virtual reality
Using the latest technology of high-frame-rate cameras and cutting-edge vision processing techniques, combined with over 12 years of experience in sports officiating and broadcast enhancement, Hawk-Eye is well placed to provide goal line technology solutions for football matches.
A revolution in live sport production, SMART Production utilises automated cameras, cutting-edge IT-based production technologies and advanced vision processing to bring live sport to life.
Helping the world's biggest sports to ensure fairer, safer and more engaging play, SMART Replay lets you see every angle when you need it.


text:
Have you installed the new JSF Mobile app? Check out all the details here.Dismiss Notice
One account & one avatar for all of JSF. Unified login and profile. Forum alerts on the main site, and more. Check out the details here: Forum & main site unified account feature is live!Dismiss Notice
Sober January Challenge
Discussion in 'Fitness Challenges' started by Ecrivain, Dec 23, 2009.
Page 1 of 6


text:
Each year I go to two Super Bowl parties. I leave the first party at halftime, which I don't mind doing if the TV halftime show includes musical guests such as Bruce Springsteen.
This year, the first party I attended was being thrown by a woman named Linda. I called her to ask if I could bring my dog. (I'd just gotten him from the shelter and already had a complaint from a neighbor because the dog barked when I was gone for a few hours. Until I could train him to deal with the separation anxiety, I wasn't thrilled about leaving him alone.)
Linda said she had a few big dogs and it wouldn't be a problem. She was worried about people stepping on him, and I said I'd keep my eye on that.
Linda's backyard in Mount Helix was perfect for a party. It was huge and had a pool as well as an outdoor bar. TV sets were everywhere. There was so much food, I couldn't find a place to put the Super Bowl cupcakes I'd brought (half of which were ruined when I stopped suddenly and they fell off the seat).
There were two large canopies set up, and Linda told me, "I really looked at all the areas, to see how shaded it would be." I glanced over and saw three huge palm trees on one side. They offered no shade.
She told me that a wedding reception was held here, with the groom throwing the bride and the cake into the pool. She made a joke about it turning into "sponge cake."
There were a couple of huge dogs; one had a diaper on. I asked the owner if it wasn't potty trained. I was told that it was a wound from a pit bull attack.
I saw a few teenagers drinking Dr Pepper, but all I saw was booze available. There were four coolers, but each one I opened was empty. Not even ice. I grabbed a drink from the frozen-margarita machine.
I heard Linda tell someone that she was going to get a projector to show the game. Someone asked, "Did you buy all these TVs for the game, or did you borrow them?" She said they only borrowed one.
Because I got there an hour before the game started, I was able to mingle.
I found out one guy trained dolphins for the Navy. I asked him about his job, and he said he didn't want to talk to a reporter about it. Someone leaned in and said, "You could understand that. What if he's training them to go on suicide missions with bombs strapped to their dorsal fin or something?"
I met a bailiff and his friend who worked in law enforcement. They told great stories. One involved a defendant who was mad at his lawyer. He smuggled in a bag of his own feces and rubbed it on his attorney's face before throwing it at the jury.
I put down the bean dip I was enjoying.
The bailiff's friend, a woman, spent a lot of time petting my dog and praising it...and also praising another furry thing — the toilet seat in the bathroom. She told me I had to try it. I explained that guys hate furry seats because they don't stay up. Someone heard this and yelled, "That sounds like a personal problem to me!"
Every time someone came out of the bathroom, the lady would ask them what they thought of the seat.
I finally went in there and reported back to her. I said, "That seat is great because it's furry and actually stays up without you having to hold it." She then talked about how it's great because it can sop up all the mess the guys leave. She added, "My brother was the worst, but that's because he was born with a small pee hole." She went on to explain that at four years old he had to have surgery. She said, "I brought that story up at his wedding. I don't think he liked that."
I met a couple that had just moved here from Texas; the guy was stationed on a ship there. He told me that the previous night a homeless guy had assaulted him. He said he didn't want to fight and risk getting in trouble with his work, so he just walked backward as he dialed 911. The homeless guy kept yelling at him as cops showed up. He said, "They were there really quick. They tased him and he pissed his pants. It was insane."
All the conversations I was having were about going to the bathroom. As I grabbed a few spicy pieces of chicken, Linda told me about her family in Boston and how they brag about their sports teams. She then brags about the weather.
I thanked her for letting me bring my dog and headed to the next party in San Carlos.
I stopped at home, where my girlfriend said she'd watch the dog. I picked up a Super Bowl cake (which I managed to get to the party in one piece).
The second half had started. And, it wasn't toilet-seat talk I heard. My friend Gerald and I argued with a guy that thought Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner should make it to the hall of fame. I said, "Uh...he threw an interception that was returned 100 yards for a touchdown." We debated for ten minutes.
Everyone was looking at the squares others had bought for one of the betting pools. The woman that won bought only one. Someone said, "What are the odds of that? The person with the fewest squares wins." Someone else said, "Can't you spare a square?"
A cute redhead in a Chargers jersey kept saying, "There was a score. We have to do Jell-O shots." She'd grab a large tray from the fridge and pass them out. I said, "Did you make these in the Cardinal colors on purpose?" She said she didn't.
One guy kept wrestling with a woman. At one point he got her into a headlock and was trying to make her eat a chili pepper. I mentioned they were really cute together. Someone leaned in and said, "Uh...well, they're just coworkers. They're both married to other people."
This was a smaller crowd than the first party, but it was harder to hear the commercials because nobody cared about them.
When the Steelers won, I asked the guy with whom I'd argued about Kurt Warner if Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will now be talked about for the hall of fame. He'd just won his second Super Bowl in a young career. The guy responded with "He'll need to perform like that for years to be considered." I got mad and said, "What are you talking about? That was my whole point with Warner! He's only had three good years in the NFL. Just because those years all led to Super Bowls..."
We agreed to disagree, and I left during the postgame celebrations.
More from SDReader
- More stories by Josh Board
- Dangerous Bird — Aug. 26, 2009
- A Chihuahua Named Wanda — June 10, 2009
- Australian Rules — April 29, 2009
- Dog Is My Copilot — Nov. 25, 2008
- Must Love Dogs — Aug. 18, 2005


text:
In these difficult economic times, we see much more renovation than new construction. Generally, when an owner renovates a building, the work will more than likely affect the fire alarm system coverage or operation.
It makes sense, then, that when you quote electrical work for a renovation project, you should also review the physical building changes planned—as they relate to the fire alarm system—to verify the detection and notification appliances will meet the requirements of both the owner and the currently adopted version of NFPA 72, the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code. For example, if the renovation adds or enlarges conference rooms, you will need to add a strobe or increase the candela rating of the existing strobe. Additionally, new offices, walls or halls could trigger the need for more audible or visible notification appliances to comply with NFPA 72 requirements.
Many jurisdictions often require a complete system upgrade when you simply want to replace the fire alarm control unit, but the code does not require this! Assuming you have developed a relationship with the fire officials in your market area, you will already know of the existence of some of these "back-pocket" requirements. I call them this because they often do not actually appear in any code.
Nevertheless, the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) may have "heard" from a misinformed contractor that replacing the fire alarm control unit triggered a full system upgrade. So he or she became convinced the code required this and began enforcing that process as if it did. So although you may not successfully convince the AHJ that the code does not require what he or she asks for, you will, at least, have an opportunity to advise the owner—your client—what to expect as an unintended consequence of the renovation work.
Regardless of the local official's back-pocket requirements, audit the existing fire alarm system to determine if the currently adopted code would affect detection and notification appliance coverage. After reviewing the existing system, determine if the wall or room changes require new detector spacing, if their locations need alteration, or if the renovation will mean additional detection devices or notification appliances.
Ask when someone last tested the existing fire alarm system. If it has been more than a year, offer that service. This becomes especially important if the work you bid on includes the addition of detection devices or notification appliances in the renovated areas.
The system audit I am suggesting would help reveal if the circuits to be modified will support the new devices or appliances. Adding equipment to a fire alarm system changes the voltage-drop calculations, the power supply capacity calculations, and the standby battery calculations. If you choose not to audit the system, the owner will likely resist paying you for any additional equipment above what you originally specified to meet code requirements.
Another caution when dealing with renovations: avoid the trap of replacing the existing fire alarm system equipment one-for-one. Many fire alarm systems salespeople will try to convince the owner that this "upgrade"—using the existing wiring and locations—will provide the most cost-effective approach. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you replace the entire system, the AHJ will most definitely require you to meet the currently adopted codes. Moreover, the owner will look to you to ensure the fire alarm system meets the code requirements.
This mandate will force you to meet audibility requirements and—if the fire alarm system uses voice evacuation—intelligibility requirements. This could have catastrophic consequences on the project's cost-effectiveness. Always advise the owner to allow you to review and audit the existing system against the current code requirements to ensure the one-for-one replacement does not turn into a black hole for cost overruns.
If you do not feel comfortable performing the review and audit, find a qualified fire protection engineer to contract with the owner to provide the service. Otherwise, a mistake could cause the AHJ to void the certificate of occupancy or withhold it until all corrections have been made.
After considering this information, it should seem clear that simply bidding on renovation work that includes some modification to an existing fire alarm system takes more thought and initiative than simply pricing the additional equipment and the labor to install it. Understanding both the fire alarm system pitfalls and the opportunities that can result from renovation work will enable you to increase your sales and your profits.