text:
Cross Horizon Review – A Console Throwback on Mobile
Cross Horizon is the latest mobile MMOG title coming out from Marvelous USA. The game boasts itself as a "console quality" action RPG for the android and iOS platform. You are put into the shoes of a hero who has lost his memories and is haunted by the dream of a witch.
You then embark on your adventure to regain your memory, and alongside that mission you are tasked to find out the "truth" behind the return of the Bandit King, the game's big baddy.
Starting Off
If you're thinking that the game was set up like some anime-ish quest game, you aren't far behind. Not only does the storyline seem to be torn off the pages of a generic adventure anime, the artwork also is a good indication that you are playing a game developed to look "beautiful". However with the limitations of the platform you are playing at, (for the sake of this review I played Cross Horizon on my iPad 2) the sprite design looks clunky at best, and it's a grim reminder of how old PS games looked like.
The game introduces you to the basic controls and the things you can do. You are escorted along the game with a poorly written set of quests that opens up one game feature after another. After that, you are then left to your own devices on how to progress through the game.
The game's quest mechanic is its main fuel as you progress through the game one quest after another. With that said, the lack of multitasking quests pretty much puts the game in a bad light. It's pretty tedious to keep on going back and forth from the castle (quest starter), to the quest area and back to the castle once again submitting the finished quest and getting another one when we are already used to gathering all the quests and finishing them in one go.
Quests are separated into two different types, the combat and find missions. As the name suggests combat quests task you to finish off a specific amount of monsters while find quests require you to traverse through the maps to find the endless list of missing objects. NPCs in this world can't seem to remember where they put anything.
Most of Cross Horizon's controls are touch based. You move with the left side of the device you are using while the character's PoV is controlled through the right side. This would be your default control scheme during the explore phase but it switches up once you enter the battle phase.
CH's battle phase turns into a first person lash-fest reminiscent of other touch based reflex games such as fruit ninja and the like. The difference with CH is that you can only attack or shield yourself as long as you have stamina points which deplete whenever you do an action during battle. The damage you deal in-game is not just determined by the amount of attack damage you have but also through the body part where you are specifically attacking. You can in fact "break" certain body parts if you hit it hard and consistent enough.
Going back to the game's explore mode. You enter into instanced areas that are teeming with big "eye-like" circles that represent enemies in the field. Each circle has its own field vision that you can artfully avoid. One nice game mechanic is that you can attack monsters "from behind" by initiating a battle behind the circle's field of vision. On the flipside though is when enemies are able to attack you on your blind spot you get a lesser amount of starting stamina hence you are open to pot shots from said enemy.
Other Features
While the game currently doesn't have a live multiplayer feature, CH allows interactions between players by either the bar system, where you can add and even message other players and or through the random greetings that occur in-game.
Greeting other players in CH leaves a "mark" within the map a player is playing through. It works much like how players can leave notes in Demon's Souls. The game does promote "socialization" even in its most primitive form.
The other notable feature in the game is the enhancement feature where you can upgrade the stats of your weapons at the expense of the weapons you currently have.
Cross Horizon is a game that looks like a great game on paper. The game's quest system is the game's main replayability factor. The game's customization feature, while a good effort from Marvelous AQL isn't as much as it's cracked up to be. I can't really enjoy how my avatar looks if the details are not as well defined as I would like.
Another thing I didn't like in CH is that the game forces players to actually go through the hoops of going through the maps even after you're done with the quest. The alternative is that you would have to purchase a premium item to be teleported back in a flash. While I do understand that the company needs to make a profit, adding such an integral game feature as a cash item detracts from the feeling that the game is actually free. I haven't even mentioned the special drops you get that require you to pay for items that would unlock said items for use.
Cross Horizon's gameplay is solid. There's no going around that. I liked that the game allows you to switch between PoVs. In its own way I liked that the game gives off an RPG vibe since you don't necessarily play with other people and the only traces of them are found with "player greetings" that litter the explore maps you get into. However, the tediousness of going through the game eliminates whatever fun you have especially if you've gotten used to other titles having all the minor features available to you free. If you're looking for a game that doesn't make playing for free too much trouble, then this is not the game for you.
Articles You May Enjoy
- 2014 MMO Predictions – The Death and Rebirth of an Industry
- A pattern is developing. This pattern is not independent to our industry. It's the Internet and it's growing. Hiding information is becomi...
- The Aurora World – The Guardians' Update Goes Live March 14
- GBE Games announces the Guardians update for The Aurora World, introducing new content for every player.
- SMITE: Another COG in the Machine Patch Preview
- During today's SMITE stream, Hi-Rez revealed the patch notes for the next update to hit the game, code named "Another COG in the Mac...


text:
To Apply for this Job Click Here
POSITION: Licensed Practical Nurse
SHIFT: 36 hours per week day or night shift
LOCATION: Southern NM CF in Las Cruces
Wexford Health Sources, Inc. is a member of the Wexford family: a group of the nation's leading innovative correctional health care companies. At Wexford Health Sources, Inc., our philosophy is that health care should not be considered a luxury for anyone. We simply care for those in need and the corrections environment is our venue.
- The Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) is responsible for assisting in the delivery of patient care through the nursing process of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation.
- Under the clinical guidance of Registered Nurses, directs and guides patient teaching activities commensurate with education and demonstrated competencies.
- Under the clinical supervision of a Registered Nurse, assists in the assessment of the physical, psychological and social dimensions of patients in the health care unit and, as necessary in the housing units.
- Assists in planning and implementing individual treatment programs, in the health care unit and housing unit, by utilizing available resources and consulting with registered nurses, physicians and correctional officers.
- Implements medical plan through administering medications and intervention in accordance with provider instructions.
- Documents nursing encounters, patient response, effectiveness, complications etc., and communicate information to supervisory personnel and physicians, in accordance with provider's orders.
Wexford Health offers a competitive benefits package including:
- Performance check-ins with annual merit increase
- Generous paid-time off program that combines vacation and sick leave
- Paid holidays
- Comprehensive health insurance through BlueCross BlueShield
- Dental and Vision insurance
- 401(k) retirement saving plan
- Company-paid short-term disability
- Healthcare and dependent care spending account
- Continuing education options
Minimum Requirements:
The following requirements list the minimum to qualify. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be accepted.
LICENSING: Current, unrestricted New Mexico Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) License
CERTIFICATION: Current CPR Certification
EDUCATION: Graduate from an accredited school of nursing
PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: Minimum of one (1) year of clinical experience; correctional experience preferred
NM, Las Cruces
las cruces, new mexico
Las Cruces, New mexico
new mexico las cruces,
New mexico Las Cruces
las cruces new mexico
las cruces new mexico
las cruces, new mexico
New Mexico
Las Cruces
To Apply for this Job Click Here
Share This Job

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Sponsored Links
GM 5.3 Liter V8 EcoTec3 L83 Engine
The GM L83 V8 engine is used in pickup trucks and SUVs. It is part of GM's Gen V Small Block engine design that's known in trucks as EcoTec3, replacing the Vortec line.
EcoTec3 Engine Family Highlights
- Advanced combustion system increases power and efficiency
- Seamlessly switches to four-cylinder operation under light loads
- Rugged hardware engineered to help keep operating costs down
- Best-in-class V8 fuel economy
EcoTec3 Engine Family Overview
The EcoTec3 engine family features three state-of-the-art technologies to make the most of power, torque and efficiency across a broad range of operating conditions:
- Direct injection
- Cylinder deactivation
- Continuously variable valve timing
"We believe these are the most technologically advanced engines ever offered in light-duty pickups, and they are 100 percent truck – specifically designed for the way customers use trucks in the real world," said Jordan Lee, Small Block chief engineer and program manager.
"They have all the power and torque needed to confidently handle the tough jobs, and they seamlessly switch to four-cylinder mode to increase efficiency during light-load driving.
"This is technology no other truck maker can match, and we offer it in every one of our EcoTec3 engines, for every one of our customers," said Lee. "It is not an extra cost feature. You get our best and most sophisticated technology regardless of trim level."
Although they share only a handful of parts with previous Silverado engines, the new EcoTec3 engines build on experience gained from millions of trucks and billions of real-world customer miles, while incorporating the latest in advanced materials and combustion systems.
"The combination of straightforward mechanical systems, the latest in materials, and an advanced combustion system enable us to improve power and efficiency, while also reducing noise and vibration," said Lee. "We think truck customers will find our new engines to be the right tools for the toughest jobs, while helping hold down ownership costs over the long run."
The EcoTec3 lineup consists of the following powerplants:
- 5.3L V8 L83 (this engine)
All three engines are mated with proven, efficient six-speed transmissions in the United States and Canada.
The new 5.3L V-8 is SAE-certified at 355 horsepower (250 kW) and 383 lb.-ft. of torque (519 Nm). With EPA-estimated fuel economy of 23 mpg highway (2WD), it offers the best fuel economy of any V-8 pickup, and beats the fuel economy estimates of the Ford EcoBoost V-6.
Advanced Combustion System
At the heart of the new EcoTec3 engine family is an advanced combustion system that maximizes the potential of the direct fuel injection system, cylinder deactivation, continuously variable valve timing and other technologies.
Development of this advanced combustion system involved extensive design and engineering by GM's global powertrain organization. More than 100 iterations of the combustion systems were evaluated through computer modeling before a final design was selected for each engine variant. The overall engine design involved more than 10 million hours of computational CPU time, with the combustion process alone accounting for more than 6 million of those CPU hours.
"Owning a truck doesn't mean settling for second-best technology," said Lee. "Our new EcoTec3 engines harness some of the most advanced powertrain technologies in the world to meet the specialized demands of truck owners."
For example, truck engines often need to provide maximum power under heavy load for long periods of time, such as towing a trailer up a mountain grade or slogging through mud at a job site. A rugged, large displacement engine is well suited to reliably providing this power and torque, year in and year out.
"For the 2014 Silverado 1500, these larger displacement EcoTec3 engines can now instantly switch to four-cylinder mode to improve efficiency when less power is required. It gives customers the best of both worlds – a rugged truck engine when they need it, with improved efficiency in light-load driving," said Lee.
The ability to more precisely control combustion also enables the new engines to run with a higher compression ratio – 11.0:1 for the versions with regular fuel recommended. This higher compression is one of the best ways to simultaneously increases both power and efficiency.
This increased efficiency can now be maintained over a broader range of operating conditions. For example, when towing a trailer on a hot summer day, Silverado's advanced combustion system can reduce the need to trim back spark advance to control detonation, helping maintain both performance and real-world fuel efficiency, even when the going gets really tough.
Emissions are also reduced, particularly during cold starts, when hydrocarbon emissions are cut by about 25 percent.
Direct Injection
The new EcoTec3 engines use direct fuel injection, which precisely meters fuel directly into the cylinders, to optimize combustion over a broad range of conditions. The engines also feature a new cylinder-head design and a new, sculpted piston to optimize the mixing of air and fuel in the engine and the burning of the mixture to create power.
The heads features smaller combustion chambers shaped to complement the unique topography of the piston heads. The smaller chamber size and sculpted pistons produce a compression ratio of 11.0:1 or higher, depending on the engine, while the heads features large, rectangular intake ports with a slight twist to enhance mixture motion.
To further enhance combustion, the intake and exhaust valve positions have been switched from previous versions, and the valves are now slightly canted toward the cylinder centerline. Also, the spark plug angle has been revised and the electrode is now closer to the center of the chamber to support optimal combustion.
The pistons feature unique sculpted topography that was optimized via extensive computer analysis to precisely direct the fuel spray for better mixing and more complete combustion. The contours of the piston heads are machined after casting to ensure dimensional accuracy – essential for precise control of mixture motion and the compression ratio.
Cylinder Deactivation
Cylinder deactivation, also known as Active Fuel Management (AFM), is now standard on all three EcoTec3 engines. The 2014 Silverado and 2014 Sierra make the most of the technology, with improved engine mounts, electronic throttle control, adaptive exhaust systems, improved aerodynamics, low-rolling resistance tires, and other technologies that help the engines operate in four-cylinder mode for longer periods of time, further increasing efficiency.
"GM pioneered cylinder deactivation technology, and we consider it a great technology for improving the efficiency of full-size trucks," said Lee.
The system uses oil pressure, controlled by the powertrain control module, to deactivate the lifters on selected cylinders, closing the valves for those cylinders. It deactivates four of the cylinders on the V-8 engines and two cylinders on the V-6 under light load conditions – operating the engines as a V-4 – and seamlessly reactivates the cylinders when the driver demands greater power. The transition takes less than 20 milliseconds and is virtually imperceptible.
"This is another great example of using a relatively simple mechanical system and powerful software to provide a real benefit to our customers," said Lee.
EcoTec3 Engine Family Features
- Proven truck engine designs: although the EcoTec3 engines are all new, sharing just a handful of small parts with previous engines, they build on a foundation of more than 100 million Small Block engines and billions of real-world customer miles.
Engines based on the Small Block architecture are typically smaller and lighter than competitive engines with overhead camshafts, and typically have lower friction. Although package size is usually not a concern with full-size pickups, lighter weight and lower friction can both contribute to improved efficiency.
- Weight-saving aluminum engine blocks: all three engines use lightweight aluminum blocks with cast-in iron cylinder liners. The blocks were developed with math-based tools and data acquired in GM's racing programs, providing a light, rigid foundation for a smooth and strong engine.
The deep-skirt block design helps maximize strength and minimize vibration. Cross-bolted main bearing caps are secured to the block with four main bolts and two cross bolts each. A structural aluminum oil pan further stiffens the bottom of the block. The result is an engine that is quieter, smoother and more dependable, even under the toughest conditions.
- Advanced oiling system: the oiling system incorporates a new variable-displacement oil pump that enables more efficient oil delivery, based the engine's operating conditions. Its dual-pressure control enables operation at a very efficient oil pressure at lower rpm, and then delivers higher pressure at higher engine speeds to provide a more robust lubrication.
Oil capacity has been increased to six quarts for the 4.3L V6 and eight quarts for the V8 engines. All engines use GM's Dexos oil for increased fuel efficiency and longer oil life, and V8s are engineered to use 0W/20 oil to improve lubrication and reduce friction.
All trucks also feature GM's oil life monitor, which better protects engines by recommending oil changes based on actual engine operating conditions and can save owners' money by avoiding unnecessary oil changes.
- Oil-jet piston cooling: at higher engine speeds, small jets spray oil on the underside of each piston. This helps reduce piston temperature, enabling the engine to maintain maximum horsepower and torque, and also reduces engine noise.
- PCV-integrated rocker covers: new domed rocker covers house a patent-pending integrated positive crankcase ventilation system that enhances oil life, reduces oil consumption and reduces exhaust emissions. The domed sections of the covers contain baffles that separate oil and air from the crankcase gases, with about three times the oil/air separation capability of previous engines.
- Exhaust manifolds: the exhaust manifolds were developed to improve durability and sealing and reduce operating noise. The cast iron manifolds feature saw cuts along their cylinder head mounting flange, which split the flange into three separate sections on the V6 and four separate sections on the V8s, allowing each section to move under extreme hot-cold temperature fluctuations to virtually eliminate movement of the exhaust manifold gaskets. That helps ensure proper sealing for the life of the engine and reduces the chance of gasket failure. The exhaust manifolds also feature triple-layer stainless steel heat shields, which limit heat transfer to the engine bay and help further reduce noise.
- Cooling system, humidity sensor and more: additional features and technologies of the new Silverado engines include:
- A revised cooling system with an offset water pump and thermostat for more efficient performance
- An air induction humidity sensor ensures optimal combustion efficiency, regardless of the surrounding air's humidity
- All engines feature an engine-driven mechanical vacuum pump to enhance braking performance
- 58X ignition system with individual ignition coil modules and iridium-tip spark plugs
- All-new "E92" engine controller
General Motors' investment in the new EcoTec3 engine family will create or retain more than 1,600 jobs in five North American plants, including in the Tonawanda plant, New York.
|Displacement (cu in / cc):
|325 / 5328
|Bore & stroke (in / mm):
|3.78 x 3.62 / 96 x 92
|Block material:
|cast aluminum
|Cylinder head material:
|cast aluminum
|overhead valve, two valves per cylinder, variable valve timing
|Ignition system:
|coil near plug, platinum-tipped spark plugs, low-resistance spark plug wires
|Fuel delivery:
|direct fuel injection with Active Fuel Management
|Compression ratio:
|Horsepower (hp / kW @ rpm):
|355 / 250 @ 5600 (gas – SAE certified)
|380 / 283 @ 5600 (E85 – SAE certified)
|Torque (lb-ft / Nm @ rpm):
|383 / 519 @ 4100 (gas – SAE certified)
|416 / 564 @ 4100 (E85 – SAE certified)
|Recommended fuel:
|regular unleaded or E85
|Maximum engine speed (rpm):
|Emissions controls:
|close-coupled catalytic converter, Quick Sync 58X ignition, returnless fuel rail, fast-response O2 sensor
|Estimated fuel economy
|2WD (City / Hwy):
|16 / 23
|4WD (City / Hwy):
|16 / 22
|2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado
|Hydra-Matic 6L80
|2014-2018 GMC Sierra
|Hydra-Matic 6L80
|2015-2018 Chevrolet Silverado
|Hydra-Matic 8L90
|2015-2018 GMC Sierra
|Hydra-Matic 8L90
|2015-2019 Chevrolet Tahoe
|Hydra-Matic 6L80
|2018-2019 Chevrolet Tahoe
|Hydra-Matic 10LXX
|2015-2019 Chevrolet Suburban
|Hydra-Matic 6L80
|2015-2019 GMC Yukon/Yukon XL
|Hydra-Matic 6L80


text:
March 23, 2012 12:59
A junior high-schooler in the southwestern city of Gwangju suffered burns to his buttocks Wednesday when the battery of his smartphone exploded in his trouser pocket. The parents said the boy's Galaxy S2 phone exploded in his trouser pocket as he was preparing for class at school on Wednesday afternoon.
It was an extra battery that he had put in his rear pocket, which started smoking after what sounded like a thud. He suffered burns on his fingers and buttocks as he took the battery out of his pocket. According to school regulations that prohibit cell phone use during class, the boy had reportedly left his phone with the school authorities but kept the spare battery.
The parents said they bought the phone in downtown Gwangju in December last year. Samsung Electronics staff collected the burnt battery when the parents notified them. A Samsung spokesman said, "The explosion of the battery occurred when it was separated from the device, so we are inspecting the battery in question with the manufacturer. It will take time to get to the bottom of this."
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com


text:
Deep Purple's Jon Lord dies at age 71
LONDON - The Associated Press
This file picture taken on September 22, 2004 in Berlin shows Jon Lord, keyboardist with legendary British rock band Deep Purple and co-author of their most famous hit Smoke On The Water, who died aged 71, his family announced on July 16, 2012. AFP photoBritish rocker Jon Lord, the keyboardist whose powerful, driving tones helped turn Deep Purple and Whitesnake into two of the most popular hard rock acts in a generation, died Monday. He was 71.
A statement on Lord's official website says the Leicester, England-born musician suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism in London after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
"Jon passed from Darkness to Light," the statement said.
Lord co-wrote some of Deep Purple's most famous tunes, including "Smoke on the Water," and later had a successful solo career following his retirement from the band in 2002. The statement posted on Lord's website said he died "surrounded by his loving family."
Emily Freeman of The Agency Group, which represented Lord for all his live concert work, confirmed the news in an email.
Tributes to Lord flooded Twitter, with artists such as Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and Toto's Steve Lukather expressing sadness over his death and praising his musical contributions.
Earlier this month, Lord canceled a performance of his Durham Concerto in Germany for what his website said was a continuation of treatment. He had told fans last year that he was fighting cancer.
Lord got his musical start playing piano, first taking classical music lessons before shifting to rock and roll.
After moving to London to attend drama school, he joined blues band the Artwoods in 1964 and later toured with The Flowerpot Men - known for their hit "Let's Go To San Francisco" - before joining Deep Purple in 1968.
Deep Purple - which featured Lord along with singer Ian Gillan, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, drummer Ian Paice and bassist Roger Glover - was one of the top hard rock bands of the '70s. Influenced by classical music, blues and jazz, Lord took his Hammond organ and distorted its sound to powerful effect on songs including "Hush," "Highway Star," "Lazy" and "Child in Time."
The group went on to sell more than 100 million albums before splitting in 1976.
Lord went on to play with hard rock group Whitesnake in the late 1970s and early 1980s and later, a re-formed Deep Purple.


text:
The coming update includes version 0.10.7.1 of CFFI,
update I was wrong about the CFFI updates. There haven't been any backwards-incompatible changes from 0.10.6 to 0.10.7.1. Sorry for the confusion.
Thank you for doing this. Quicklisp is a huge benefit to the Common Lisp community.ReplyDelete
THANK YOU!ReplyDelete
Thanks. Any chance of quicklisp automatically removing, or providing a command to remove, older versions of software under its control?ReplyDelete
It's on the list of things to do.
The old stuff lingers, but it doesn't interfere (except for chewing up disk space).
But it does. This morning, I had to remove cl-fad v0.6 by hand because Quicklisp picked it up instead the newer v0.7 one, also installed. Quickutil needs v0.7 because it uses OPEN-TEMPORARY.
BTW, contrary to what the website says, quickutil is not in quicklisp ?
The next time this happens, will you please let me know? I'm not sure exactly how you could encounter this kind of situation and I'd like to troubleshoot.Delete


text:
Like Tintin's age, Wolverine's daily lager intake, and the number of birthmarks on Popeye's body, the exact location of Gotham City is one of those comic book mysteries we will likely never receive a firm answer to.
We can however look to a litany of conflicting and dubiously canonical sources to get a rough idea of where Batman's stomping ground sits on planet Earth. Who knows? You could be living in Gotham City right now, completely unawares — that is until Killer Croc and Kite-Man burst through your living room wall.
Right from the start, the location of Gotham City was nebulous. As Batman co-creator Bill Finger admitted in 1970:
Originally I was going to call Gotham City "Civic City" [...] Then I tried "Capital City," then "Coast City." Then I flipped through the New York City phone book and spotted the name "Gotham Jewelers" and said, "That's it," Gotham City. We didn't call it New York because we wanted anybody in any city to identify with it."
You can see a modern version of Finger's "every-city" principle in director Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, which incorporated chunks of Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Newark, New Jersey into Gotham City limits. And since Finger coined the name, the comic book location of Gotham bends to the whims of whomever the hell's writing Batman.
And decades of writers not coordinating their Batman scripts has led to some contradictory cartography. For example, in 2003's Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth, Warren Ellis sums Gotham up as "old as New York, founded on the East Coast and originally designed by English masons on opium [...] exacerbated by absinthe-fiend local architects in the twenties, [and] basically not suitable for habitation."
But Gotham also has been hit by earthquakes (1999's No Man's Land story arc at left), sits in the Central Time Zone (Man-Bat #3), and was a cowboy town in the 1800s (2011's All-Star Western). Heck, if we interpret all of the above criteria extremely loosely, Gotham City could sit on South Padre Island, where Batman rescues co-eds year round from their own vomit.
So yes, it's a fool's errand to pinpoint Gotham in an atlas. But the true fun begins when artists go ahead and slap Gotham on real-world maps, like in this 1978 World's Greatest Heroes comic strip, which dropped Gotham over Bridgeton, New Jersey and eradicated Dover, Delaware with Metropolis.
And in the 1990 atlas to the DC Heroes roleplaying game by former DC editor Paul Kupperburg, New Jersey is deformed by the tectonic forces unknown — does the Delaware River exist in the DC Universe? — but Gotham still sits squarely in the vicinity of Vineland, NJ. Metropolis, on the other hand, has slid down over the Delaware towns of Seaford and Laurel. (Notice forlorn New York up there, "the Cinderella City," eclipsed by its two "ugly stepsisters.")
But hey, this is comics we're talking about! Next week, the dreaded Anti-Monitor could accidentally fart Herb Alpert's "Spanish Flea," which would rewrite reality and transport the state of Iowa a few miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Moral of the story: never buy real estate if you live in a comic book. It's a renter's market.
Semi-related: Did Batman go to Yale?
Hat tip to Ultimate DC/Keith Veronese.


text: Disclaimer: This site is not in anyway associated with 123movies, Putlocker, Fmovies, Xmovies8, Onlinemovies, Watchfree sites. We do not host any videos on This site. This site is absolutely legal and contains only links to other third-party websites like Youtube, Uptobox, Vidto, Google, Dailymotion, Openload, Upfile and many more. This site is not responsible for the compliance, copyright, legality, decency, or any other aspect of the content of other linked sites. If you have any legal issues please contact the appropriate media file owners or linked hosting websites. This site only and only provides links to third party sites links which are uploaded by third party users. This site is in no way affiliated with them!


text:
VIENNA — Talks between the U.N. atomic agency and Iran "have been going around in circles," the organization's head said Monday, acknowledging that attempts to probe alleged secret nuclear weapons work by Tehran have failed and suggesting Iran was to blame.
Yukiya Amano's unusually blunt language in comments to delegates at the opening session of a 35-nation IAEA board reflected his frustration at the lack of progress. Experts of his International Atomic Energy Agency have met Iranian counterparts 10 times since early 2012 in attempts to gain access to sites, documents and persons linked to the IAEA investigation, without tangible headway.
The IAEA had hoped that the meetings would lead to a restart of its investigation that stalled in 2007.
While not putting direct blame on the Islamic Republic, Amano suggested the fault lies with Tehran's perceived refusal to cooperate with IAEA experts looking to investigate the allegations. He appealed to the Islamic Republic to engage with his agency on the probe "with a sense of urgency."
International exasperation with the IAEA-Iran stalemate is compounded by deadlock in repeated attempts by six world powers to persuade Tehran to curb uranium enrichment — a technology that can generate both nuclear power and the core of nuclear weapons. Iran denies any work interest in such arms and insists all of its atomic activities are peaceful. It has been hit by U.N. Security Council and other sanctions for its refusal to halt enrichment.
Amano frequently urges Iran to cooperate. But his departure from softer diplomatic language appeared to be a prelude to a push by the U.S. and its allies for tougher action on Iran that goes beyond the usual critical speech making.
The Security Council first took up Iran's nuclear file on the basis of an IAEA resolution in 2006 suggesting it was not in full compliance with the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and the agency has since sent several other resolutions to the council.
Western diplomats have said that unless there is progress in the IAEA probe their countries could push for another resolution reporting Tehran to the Security Council. That would add diplomatic pressure on the Islamic Republic and give traction to any attempts by the United States, Britain and France — the Western permanent council members — to lobby for possible new sanctions.
Amano specifically urged Iran to cooperate on IAEA attempts to probe allegations that Tehran worked on explosive triggers for a nuclear blast at the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran, at a site that the agency suspects may now be undergoing a cleanup.
In comments to reporters Amano mentioned soil removal, asphalt work and "possible dismantling of infrastructures" at Parchin.
Because of such work, he said "it may no longer be possible to find anything even if we have access to the site."


text:
South African scientists to develop rugged microservers to handle the harsh desert conditions, explore new computer architectures and develop advanced algorithms for radio astronomy imaging
Pretoria, South Africa – 11 Mar 2013: Square Kilometer Array (SKA) South Africa, a business unit of the country's National Research Foundation is joining ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, and IBM in a four-year collaboration to research extremely fast, but low-power exascale computer systems aimed at developing advanced technologies for handling the massive amount of data that will be produced by the SKA, which is one of the most ambitious science projects ever undertaken.
The SKA is an international effort to build the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope, which is to be located in Southern Africa and Australia to help better understand the history of the universe. The project constitutes the ultimate Big Data challenge, and scientists must produce major advances in computing to deal with it. The impact of those advances will be felt far beyond the SKA project—helping to usher in a new era of computing, which IBM calls the era of cognitive systems.
When the SKA is completed, it will collect Big Data from deep space containing information dating back to the Big Bang more than 13 billion years ago. The aperture arrays and dishes of the SKA will produce 10 times the global internet traffic*, but the power to process all of this data as it is collected far exceeds the capabilities of the current state-of-the-art technology.
As part of the global effort to solve this unprecedented challenge, last year, ASTRON and IBM launched a public-private partnership called DOME, to develop a fundamental IT roadmap for the SKA. The collaboration includes a user platform where organizations from around the world can jointly investigate emerging technologies in high-performance, energy-efficient computing, nanophotonics, and data streaming. Through its SKA South Africa unit, the National Research Foundation is now a user platform partner in DOME.
"The DOME collaboration brings together a dream team of scientists and engineers in an exciting partnership of public and private institutions. This project lays the foundation to help the scientific community solve other data challenges such as climate change, genetic information and personal medical data," said Simon Ratcliffe, Technical Coordinator, DOME-South Africa.
Scientists from all three organizations will collaborate remotely and at the newly established ASTRON & IBM Center for Exascale Technology in Drenthe, the Netherlands.
More specifically, scientists from SKA South Africa will focus on the following research themes:
– Visualizing the challenge — fundamental research will be conducted into signal processing and advanced computing algorithms for the capture, processing, and analysis of the SKA data so clear images can be produced for astronomers to study;
– Desert-proof technology — the DOME team is researching and prototyping microserver architectures based on liquid-cooled 3D stacked chips. The team in South Africa will extend this research to make the microsevers rugged or "desert proof" to handle the extreme environmental conditions where the SKA will be located; and
– Software analytics — the 64 dishes of the MeerKat telescope in South Africa will be used for the testing and development of a sophisticated software program that will aid in the design of the entire computing system holistically and optimally—taking into account all of the cost and performance trade-offs for the eventual 3,000 SKA dishes.
"The DOME research has implications far beyond astronomy. These scientific advances will help build the foundation for a new era of computing, providing technologies that learn and reason. Ultimately, these cognitive technologies will help to transform entire industries, including healthcare and finance," said Dr. Ton Engbersen, DOME project leader, IBM Research. "For example, we are designing a system for storing information that learns from its interactions with the data and parcels it out in real time to the storage medium that's most appropriate for each bit, which can also be applied to medical images."
"DOME is not only innovating in the laboratory, but our user platform is setting a new standard in open collaboration," said Dr. Albert-Jan Boonstra, DOME project leader, ASTRON. "In addition to SKA South Africa, four additional organizations are expected to join in the coming weeks including universities and small and medium-sized businesses located in the Netherlands."
The initial five-year DOME collaboration is realized with financial support of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I) and from the Province of Drenthe.
Virtual Recruiting Event
IBM and ASTRON scientists will be hosting a SmartCloud virtual recruiting event on 26 March for several open positions within the DOME project. For details visit www.zurich.ibm.com/astron/
Introducing the SKA
The Square Kilometre Array project is a global science and engineering project to build the world's largest radio telescope.
The SKA will see back to a time before the first stars lit up. Optical telescopes see the light from stars. Before stars existed there was only gas; a radio telescope with the sensitivity of the SKA can see back in time to the gas that existed before stars were even born.
The SKA will address a wide range of fundamental questions in physics, astrophysics, cosmology and astrobiology. It will be able to investigate previously unexplored parts of the distant Universe.
The project is led by the SKA Organization, a not-for-profit company with its headquarters at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester, UK. The organization was established in December 2011 to formalize relationships between the international partners and centralize the leadership of the project.
The SKA will be built in Southern Africa and Australia. There will be 3,000 dish antennas, each about 15 m in diameter as well as two other types of radio wave receptor, know as low- and mid-frequency aperture array antennas. The mid-frequency aperture arrays will be built in South Africa and are envisaged to be a major component of the SKA Phase 2. The antennas will be arranged in five spiral arms and the dishes in Southern Africa will extend to distances of at least 3,000 km from the centre of the core region. Construction of the SKA is expected to begin in 2017 and conclude in 2024.
About SKA South Africa and NRF
SKA SA was established by the Department of Science and Technology of South Africa and is administered as a business unit of the National Research Foundation (NRF).
The main programs falling under SKA SA are the hosting of the SKA, the construction of the 64-dish SKA pre-cursor telescope known as MeerKAT, the establishment and protection of the Radio Astronomy Reserve in the Karoo region in South Africa, the development of a substantial human capital development program, and the development of the African VLBI Network.
As an independent government agency, the NRF promotes and supports research in all fields of knowledge. It also conducts research and provides access to National Research Facilities. The NRF provides services to the research community especially at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Science Councils with a view to promote high-level human capital development. The NRF aims to uphold excellence in all its investments in knowledge, people and infrastructure.
About ASTRON
ASTRON is the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Its mission is to make discoveries in radio astronomy happen, via the development of novel and innovative technologies, the operation of world-class radio astronomy facilities, and the pursuit of fundamental astronomical research. See also: www.astron.nl.
About IBM:
For more information visit www.research.ibm.com
Read this whitepaper on the DOME project: www.scribd.com/doc/125147649/Ultimate-Big-Data-Challenge
*Source: IBM


text:
Retina Dashboard is a back-end admin panel design to be a content management user interface but with the potential to be much more – in fact any kind of web application you can think of. It has 15 pre-built templates which can get you off the ground, but with the various UI elements and widgetized design you can quickly and easily create additional templates.
Important: Please click the "remove frame" button in the top left to view the fully responsive design.
- Retina ready
- jQuery implecation
- Responsive layout
- Flot graphs/charts
- jQuery slider
- Widgetized layout
- iPhone style checkbox
- Drag & drop file upload
- Accordion menu
- UI Elements
- Icon fonts
- Unique timeline view
- Sortable tables
- Custom WYSIWYG editor
- jQuery UI plugins
Theme updates
V1.1 6/3/13 – Align icons for multiple browsers
V1.2 12/3/13 – Added jQuery UI date picker
V1.3 10/4/13 – Removed broken icons, align media icons for Firefox, fix notifications dropdown for Firefox
V1.4 14/5/13 – Fixed horizontal scrolling issue when nav extended on mobile safari
Please use the contact form on my profile to report a bug or send a feature request, thank you!
Remember to subscribe to my mailing list for new releases and updates to items!
- Please note there is currently no support for ie8 and lower


text:
Why is it so hard for people to love one another, especially when all it takes is a mere gesture, a smile, a gentle meeting of the eyes, a willingness to listen to our fellow human beings with an open heart?
We much too often blow easy opportunities to express our love. Like the situation in La Jolla with the organizers of the annual La Jolla Christmas Parade. They won't even consider using an adjective other than Christmas in the name of the parade, knowing that such a giving gesture would make more people feel comfortable and at ease at the festive celebration, unburdened by their religious beliefs and life philosophies, having a good time in a spectacularly beautiful community called the "Jewel by the Sea. All it would take is a deletion of a word on a PC. Oh, if every social problem could be solved so easily.
But the La Jolla Parade Foundation folks want no part of promoting such goodwill and harmony. I mean the San Diego Human Relations Commission offered to provide mediation for all concerned and they said "No" to that without batting an eye.
That's when I started to really pay attention because I value this commission. I know that each member, to the person, is dedicated to their mission of fostering mutual respect and understanding and promoting amicable relations among all members of the San Diego community. They're in existence for the very purpose of helping us love each other. Shunning their help says to me that the people responsible for the La Jolla Christmas Parade really don't want to make positive contributions to a city that more and more is becoming people and neighborhood oriented, more and more respectful of its diversity. They, instead, seem to have chosen to go against the grain of making our city better unashamedly, feet planted in opposition to notions of love.
That's so sad. So disappointing. So counter to the work that's been done for decades in San Diego around human relations issues – the work that began when my friend Carrol Waymon came to town in 1964 to run the City of San Diego's first human relations agency, the CIC (Citizens Interracial Committee).
It was mostly about race then and I remember taking part in dialogues where people of all races, colors, and creeds sat down with city and governmental officials to bring a sense of urgency to the problems of race relations in the San Diego area and La Jolla very much included.
Because a number of people loved their city enough to want to change it, good things started happening. Soon covenants about who could and couldn't live in certain areas of town were removed and La Jolla sure had its share of these hateful agreements – but no longer. That's the beauty of people gathering together to show that they care. They can bring an end to uncivil practices.
More jobs opened up for people of color. We could eat in the major restaurants, try on clothes in department stores. Schools became integrated. The police practices in minority communities began being addressed.
A number of "firsts" appeared on the scene, first black school board member, first black city councilman, first Latino California Assemblyman – all rising from the dialogues, from people working to make our city responsive to all its citizens.
Now, the environment in which people worked on the city's social problems wasn't necessarily like a genteel tea party. It wasn't all peaches and cream by any means. I recall some very spirited postering, to be polite, in the police department conversations, particularly. All the issues were addressed with deep passions. But these breakthroughs in our city's history came about as a result of diverse groups of people working together in a spirit of love. Love is the glue for all great social work. The great movements of our times around equality and free speech and women rising and gays marrying et al were all inspired by the love in people's natures.
And it would sure seem to me that when it comes to an event that's held during the Christmas season there would be an element of love somewhere in the mix. However what we've got going in La Jolla seems to be based on some kind of angry "Christ is the Reason for the Season" stance. But wouldn't making the La Jolla Parade (hmmm, that has a nice sound) friendly and inviting to everyone be a nice Christian thing to do? A loving act?
Well, alas, I can only hope the parade organizers begin to show the good side of their humanity and gift us with a vision of them coming around to appreciating and honoring our city's diversity.
All it would take is a mere gesture (changing a word), a smile (to those whom they've made the gesture), a gentle meeting of the eyes (as the recipients of such kindness smile back), a willingness to listen with an open heart (to the next opportunity to make great social changes).
Love would win the day.


text:
Oct. 29, 2012. Junior Kaitlyn Kerrigan (Lakewood Ranch, Fla.) recorded her first career brace to lead the Lees-McRae College women's soccer team to a thrilling 2-1 extra time victory over Mount Olive College on Saturday afternoon, pacing the Bobcats to their second consecutive Conference Carolinas regular season title on Senior Day.
With the win, Lees-McRae (11-5-1, 10-1 CC) claims the program's second straight outright league title, while also securing the top overall seed in next week's Conference Carolinas Tournament. The Bobcats outshot Mount Olive (7-9-1, 6-5 CC) by a 24-3 margin in the match, including a 13-1 advantage in the second half.
Prior to kickoff, Lees-McRae honored its 2012 senior class, paying tribute to the accomplishments and contributions made by seniors Mary Biehner (Wilmington, N.C.), Mary Bowers (Alexandria, Va.), Jessica Cardenas (Bakersfield, Calif.), Mary Dorn (Shallotte, N.C.), Lauren Griffin (Kernersville, N.C.), and Emily Jones (Leonardtown, Md.) in a pre-match ceremony.
Kerrigan paced the Bobcats with a career-high two goals on a match-best seven shots, tallying her first collegiate brace to account for all of Lees-McRae's scoring on the afternoon. Biehner got the start between the pipes for the Bobcats before being subbed off for junior Alicia Pierson (Brooksville, Fla.), who was called upon to make one save in the match.
Carolin Edenhofner made seven saves for the Trojans while playing the full 93 minutes, as Maddy Robak found the frame with both of her team-high two shots, one of which stroked the back netting. Lauren Power also added an assist for Mount Olive.
The Bobcats got off to a flying start in the sixth minute, taking an early 1-0 lead when Kerrigan collected the clearing attempt off her own corner and delivered a stunning finish inside the far post from 25 yards distance.
Dorn nearly doubled the advantage to 2-0 in the 13th minute, flicking a header on frame that was parried wide by Edenhofner. The Trojans would level against the run of play in the 31st minute, when Robak nodded a corner from Power inside the far post to pull Mount Olive back on terms at 1-1.
The score remained knotted at 1-1 through the interval, with Lees-McRae nearly netting the breakthrough in the 62nd minute when LeeAnn Sullivan (Greensboro, N.C.) forced a fantastic save by Edenhofner with a driven strike from distance.
Neither side would find the winner before time, sending the match into extra time. Lees-McRae notched the lone scoring chance of extra time in the 93rd minute, when the Bobcats were awarded a penalty kick after freshman Sarah Mahar (Jacksonville, Fla.) was pulled down after a tremendous run into the area. Kerrigan delivered from the spot, beating the keeper low and to the right for the extra time winner and the outright conference title.
Lees-McRae returns to the pitch on Monday, October 29 when the top-seeded Bobcats host eighth-seeded King College in the quarterfinal round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament at 4 p.m. on Tate Field.


text:
Aspire - Archon 150W Box Mod
FREE Delivery
The Archon is a powerful new mod from Aspire. The Archon is a dual bay 18650 battery mod which delivers up to 150 watts of power. The Archon has a strong magnetic battery cover which slides off for easy access to battery bay. Archon's operation is simplified with one-button selection between Wattage and Temperature Control (TC) modes. The Archon has a nice ergonomic design which ensures it feels just right while vaping.


text:
Today is a perfect day to make cookies! The kids are home from school, the college students have flown in, any relatives have probably descended, and the family is hovering.
Let's put them to work and bake for the rest of the holiday!
The Food Bloggers Los Angeles group – a merry band of blogging bakers if ever there was one – met earlier this month for their annual cookie exchange, a frenzy of sugar and nuts and spices. Some of the best morsels in Los Angeles were arrayed on the buffet table, and once we said "Go!" members eagerly lined up with their tins to choose what they wanted to bring home.
Some of everything, please!
Choose a recipe from this array for your own baking pleasure. In addition to the cookies mentioned in the story, FBLA members linked up their other amazing cookie recipes in the photo collection at the bottom. Pick a recipe and fire up your oven!
Valentina Wein of Cooking on the Weekends brought sticky, gooey Flourless Chocolate Espresso Caramel Brownies. To literally gild the lily, she sprinkled them with gold dust!
Erika Kerekes of In Erika's Kitchen (our host! Thank you!), contributed impossibly rich and intriguing Super Smoky Scotch Whiskey Truffles that she had rolled in silver sprinkles. FBLA is all about the bling come cookie time!
Lana Watkins of Bibberche brought beautiful Hazelnut Shortbread with Custard and Ganache.
Kim Burnell of Rustic Garden Bistro brought Brown Butter Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies. She had us with the name alone.
Lynne Hemer of Cook & Be Merry brought Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies.
Judy Lyness of Two Broads Abroad made her Aunt Bea's famous Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Kisses and Linzer Tortes.
Tina Ferris of The Unprocess brought Almond Joy Bars, Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, and Gingerbread.
Cheri Liefeld of Adventures in the Kitchen brought Dark Chocolate Almond Shortbread and Speculoos Buttons. Love the variety of decorations!
I (Shockingly Delicious), brought Best Ever Pecan Bars, a wonderful pecan pie-ish bar without the HFCS.
Kelli Abrahamian of I Had a Delicious Time brought her famous Apricot Rosemary Bars, which were one of the winning cookies in the L.A. Times Cookie Contest this year. (I made these for Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit!)
Gisele Perez of Pain Perdu brought her mother's unique Festive Bars, like a little fruitcake in a bar.
Judy Weintraub of Bumbleberry Breeze brought Cranberry Pistachio Blondies and Rugelach.
Ellen Rosentreter of Within My Means brought Macadamia Bars, Lime Bars and Chocolate-Macaroon Bars. Whew!
Natalie Wiser-Orozco of The Devil Wears Parsley brought Double Decker Torte – apricot, pineapple, mango and walnut with a sour cream crust. Yum!
A variety
Christina Conte of Christina's Cucina brought the impossibly lovely and delicious Snow Cookies, another winner in the L.A. Times Cookie Contest this year.
Nancy Eisman of Adventures of Nancy Rose brought New Mexican Wedding Cookies that packed hidden heat from Hatch chiles!
Gerry Speirs of Foodness Gracious also brought Russian Tea Cakes. Mmmm…the more tea cakes and wedding cookies, the better!
Cathy Arkle of She Paused for Thought brought unique Spicy Gingerbread Sticks, not too sweet, quite spicy, and utterly fantastic. She also brought Ginger Lime Crinkles.
Christina Peters of MDR Photography Classes brought classic Peanut Butter Cookies.
Andrew Wilder of Eating Rules brought a plate of Vegan Strawberry Spelt Scones. If you have ever met him, it won't surprise you to learn he ground his own spelt.
Quyen Gin of Kitchen Runway brought Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookies — yee-haw! It's Laura Bush's recipe!
Priscilla Willis of She's Cookin' brought Snickerdoodles with Cinnamon Chips. Yum – double cinnamon!
Susan Silverberg of The Home Artist brought Almond Cream Cheese Cookies.
Jackie Dodd of The Beeroness brought showy Butter Cookies with Beer and Brown Sugar Buttercream, and Chocolate Stout Crinkles.
For every cookie exchanged, Glad (the plastic wrap people) donated $1 to CookiesForKidsCancer.org in the name of FBLA. We raised $1,427. That's a lotta cookies!


text:
Ontario's first accessibility standard, the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, came into effect on January 1, 2008. Established under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (the "AODA"), the standard states what organizations in Ontario must do to make their goods and services more accessible to people with disabilities.
The Town of Hanover is committed to providing quality goods and services that are accessible to everyone. We believe that effective planning, management and co-ordination of public services assist Hanover and area residents to lead balanced lives, achieve full potential and gain life satisfaction. The Accessible Customer Service Policy approved by Hanover Council ensures that our goods and services are provided in a way that respects the dignity, independence, integration and equal opportunity for all people. All Town of Hanover employees have taken training on providing accessible customer service.
The second standard to become law is the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR), which came into force on July 1, 2011. The IASR is divided into sections including General Requirements, Information and Communications Standards, Employment Standards, Transportation Standards and Design of Public Spaces Standards. The Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation Policy approved by Hanover Council contains the necessary information to ensure that the standards will be met and addresses how the Town of Hanover will achieve accessibility through meeting the Regulation's requirements.
As part of the IASR, the Town of Hanover has prepared a Multi-Year Accessibility Plan 2023-2025 to implement. The Town of Hanover will be maintaining this plan yearly and providing full updating of the plan every five years.
The Town of Hanover has developed an Emergency Response Plan governing the provision of necessary services during an emergency and the procedures in which employees of the municipality and other persons will respond to the emergency.
Emergency Management Ontario () - Emergency Preparedness Guide for People with Disabilities / Special Needs
Are you organizing a community event? To plan your event so guests with disabilities feel welcome, read this quick tips?
For more information about the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, please visit the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment website.


text:
013 The Functional Nerds
In the 13th episode of The Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio are joined by the latest recruit in the 3rd Nerd Army, author, blogger and podcasting pioneer: Mur Lafferty! Despite Skype causing an EPIC FAIL and a slew of technical difficulties, Mur Lafftery joined John Anealio and Patrick Hester in discussing Science Fiction and Fantasy podcasts, publishing, Joe Giacino, TOR.com, Twitter, The Leviathan Chronicles, Escape Pod, Far Point Media, old time serials, Mercedes Lackey, Tracy Hickman, Scott Sigler, self-publishing via podcast, Magazine Podcasts, Pseudopod, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Drabblecast, Tobias Buckell, younger people not reading blogs, Netflix, Growing up digital, TiVo, talk radio, new media, Dragonpage, Babylon 5, Balticon, crappy author websites & blogging.
Featuring Music by:
John Anealio
© 2010 Patrick Hester & John Anealio
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS
One Response to Episode 13
[…] Episode 13 of the Functional Nerds featuring Mur Lafferty is live over on the Functional Nerds website. Check it out. […]


text:
The Enchanted Chamber [狐俠] (1968)
Starring Margaret Hsing Hui, Chin Feng, Lily Li Li-Li, Lee Kwan, Goo Man-Chung, Pang Pang, Tung Li, Chiu Sam-Yin, Fang Mian
Directed by Hsih Chun
Expectations: High, for some reason. Probably because I couldn't see this one for a long time and now its mystique is all built up.
Wuxia films always contain some supernatural elements, but The Enchanted Chamber is a true supernatural wuxia. Powers and the spirit world inform nearly every scene in the film, creating a fantastically entertaining film that is a hybrid of wuxia, spooky horror and a tale of star-crossed lovers. Thinking about the other Shaw films from 1968, The Enchanted Chamber also feels quite unique in this regard, flawlessly blending genres together where other films of this era have a rough time presenting one genre as well.
Based on a tale from the classic Chinese collection Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, The Enchanted Chamber opens by introducing us to Chiang Wen-Tsui (Margaret Hsing Hui), a trickster fox fairy. We watch as she thwarts an adulterous couple mid-coitus, and a few minutes later she sings a wonderful song while providing pears for some hungry children in town. It would appear that she is to be our main character, but about 20 minutes in, the film takes a hard turn away from her story. While she does return to play a very important role in the film, her introduction also serves double duty by introducing us to the type of world we're dealing with. This is a world where mischievous fairies are very much a real thing, and if someone says their house is haunted, you better not stick around.


text: Twitter has evolved into one of the most popular, go-to tools when it comes to reaching broad audiences, whether you're promoting content, branding yourself as an expert in a field or networking with individuals who share similar interests. One way to expand your reach on Twitter is to obtain more followers\u2014but it's not as simple hitting the follow button and hoping they follow you back. The latest research from Dan Zarrella, author and Hubspot's "social media and viral marketing scientist," provides insight into what people look for in a Twitter profile before following someone, and how you can increase the chances they follow you back.Follow these five tips from Zarrella to increase your reach and spread your content.1. Let others know who you are.When you first signed up for a Twitter account, you were asked to complete your profile. This includes filling out a bio of yourself, a link and a picture. Take a look at your profile and see whether any of these are missing, Zarrella advises. "Accounts that do take the time [to fill out a profile] have many more followers than those who don't," he says. So upload that picture, link to your blog or webpage and complete a bio so others know who they're about to follow.[For more Twitter tips, tricks and analysis, check out CIO.com's Twitter Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Twitter.]2. Lay off the narcissism.Often, social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter can be saturated with too much "me" talk\u2014what they did today, trivial complaining and more. But, according to Zarrella's research, if you're looking to beef up your Twitter followers, it's important to stop talking about yourself."Imagine meeting someone at a cocktail party who did nothing but talk about themselves all night long," Zarrella says. "Would you want to listen to them for very long?"3. Diversify your tweets.One interesting finding gleaned from Zarrella's research: Twitter users with more followers tend not to reply as often as those with fewer followers. So while you may feel compelled to respond every time someone sends you an @reply, it's not necessary, he says. Instead, balance your @replies with other content.[Twitter Tip: How to Get Retweeted]\n\n\n4. Identify yourself authoritatively.\nState authoritatively in your bio what legitimizes you and why people should pay attention to you. If you've written a book, call yourself out as an author. Or, if you speak frequently, brand yourself a speaker."One of my favorite 'unicorns-and-rainbows' myths to pick on is the dog-eared 'don't call yourself a guru,'" Zarrella says. "I've heard said a bunch of different ways, and it's present anytime someone maligns the term 'social media expert' or suggests there is no such thing. It turns out, though, that when you pull the rainbow-colored wool from your eyes and look at the actual data, Twitter accounts that use the word 'guru' tend to have 100 more followers than the average Twitter account."5. Don't be a Debbie Downer.Not everyone has a good day every day, but resist the urge to vent your frustrations on Twitter, Zarrella says. Try to keep negative sentiments such as sadness, aggression and morbidity to a minimum."Nobody likes to follow a Debbie Downer, and accounts with lots of followers don't tend to make many negative remarks," Zarrella says. "If you want more followers, cheer up."Kristin Burnham covers consumer technology, social networking and Web 2.0 for CIO.com. Follow Kristin on Twitter @kmburnham. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline and on Facebook. Email Kristin at email@example.com


text:
A thing I really do love is to make up new recipes. I always feel slightly uncomfortable publicizing these recipes to the world, for I fear that I may reveal myself to have more in common with the inventor of "fish stick parmigiano" or "sloppy joe di maggios" than I'd like to admit, and while I think there is nothing wrong with inventing such things in the privacy of one's own home, making such inventions public does indeed seem wrong.
That said, I did make a red cabbage soup today, into which I threw in left over mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving, thus making the soup pleasantly creamy and thick, even as the cabbage was crunchy.
Also, I finally tried that brussel sprout recipe I'd intended to try on Thanksgiving (the Gods of Thanksgiving must have intervened, because my brussel sprouts never made it home with me), and it turns out I don't hate brussel sprouts! I only hate them every other way except for this way! It is amazing!
I also made the lebanese chicken/almonds/meat dish that I so love.
So anyway, I've got food to tide me over all week long. Operation Fitness resumes! Deliciously!
11 years ago


text:
CLICK HERE to talk with a DNN Expert
Classified Pro 9.3 - eCommerce & Store & Auction & Classified Ads & Slideshow & Content Localization, for DNN 9.2+
1. Quick Links
View User Manual Download 60 days free trial version
Online store demos
1 - shaghayegh2.com (A Iran store which sells perfume)
2 - Dnn Module store (our live store to sell DNN modules)
3 - Dnn Module subscriber (our live store to sell portal roles)
4. GrinKids.org (a charity site which accepts donate and sells charity meeting tickets)
5. Netlapp.it (a Italy site which sells iPhone/iPad/Mobile application)
6. rus-auction.com (a Russian site which sells antique and rare books)
Auction web site demos
1. English Auction (open ascending price auction)
2. Sealed First-price Auction (first-price sealed-bid auction)
3. Vickrey Auction (sealed-bid second-price auction)
4. Second Item Auction (the only 1 auction which supports more than 1 quantity of product)
Classified Ads demos:
1. Publish news article and photo gallery
2 - publish real estate
3 - publish job listings
4 - publish automobile (car)
5 - publish documents
6 - Location (country, state/province, city, and town) search support
Note, demo 2 - demo 6 are created by our "Cross Article" module, but "Classified Pro" supports same features too. We just don't want to create same content again.
Responsive layout support Demo1, Demo 2.
Try visit these two links with iPhone/iPad/Samsung/Android, or visit them via Firefox browser, then press Ctrl+Shift+M to simulate different device width, and check its responsive layout support.
Slideshow demos
1 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Galleria" mode
2 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Pgw Gallery" mode
3 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Pgw Slider" mode
4 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Carousel flow gallery" mode
5 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Numeric Rotator" mode
6 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Bootstrap Carousel" mode
7 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Unslider" mode
8 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Lite Accordion" mode
9 - Show products/ads with JavaScript slideshow - "Slidorion" mode
10 - Show products/ads with Adobe Flash slideshow
Note, these slideshows are created via our "Cross Photo Gallery" module, but "Classified Pro" (and also other modules of us, like "Cross Article", "Cross Video Gallery") supports same slideshow effects too.
3. Module Highlights
3.1 Auction, Fixed Price, Classified Ads, Sell/Auction everything, Content Localization, Easy of use, DNN 9.2 based
You can sell these seller roles using Classified Pro module itself, charge them based different condition (disk quota, product count, departments, product list position, etc.). Besides that, module also supports charge commission from seller sales. For example, you can specify 20% as commission percent, so if a seller sell $1000, he will get $800, and site will get $200.
Also support custom attributes search. For example, if you create a extra "Color" property, then you can search based it. You can even search based Location (country, state/province, city, town). For example, search products (listings) which
"country = USA, state/province = California, city = Los Angeles, town = Bell". In one word, you can search everything with the advanced search feature in Classified Pro v8.1.
3.7.2 Template-driven layout and design
There are 16 sub modules in this package. Except the Cp_Admin module (which is used to manage all data) , the other 15 sub modules are fully template based. There are some built-in template in package, you can try save a copy and modify them, then choose them as your display.
P19 - Template list
3.7.3 Responsive Layout
You can choose some specific existing templates (like ProductList_Responsive.ascx file) which based responsive layout, so in combination with responsive skins they will adjust to smartphone and tablet screens. Or you can create other templates according to your responsive skin, to make them look better. For live demo, please visit http://www.shaghayegh2.com/Default.aspx?tabid=92 with PC / iPhone / iPad, or visit it using Firefox, then press ctrl+shift+m, check its layout under different resolution
For example, you can choose to show 4 items per row in PC which has big screen width (e.g, 1900 *1200)
P22 - Responsive layout - normal
When visit with mobile which has small screen width (e.g, iPhone 320 * 480), module will automatic switch to 1 item per row to fit screen width:
P19 - Responsive layout - for iPhone 320 * 480
When visit with tablet (e.g, iPad 768 * 1024), module will automatic switch to 2 items per row to fit screen width.
We have helped a lot customers to create responsive templates before, feel free to contact us if you need more details.
For live demo of skin object, check http://DnnModule.com.
6. Version history
v9.3 (released on 11/10/2018)
1. Cp_Product_VendorProfile sub module added based customers' feedback.
v9.2 (released on 8/6/2018)
1. PayPal Mass payment support.
v9.1 (released on 7/6/2018)
1. Rewrote based DNN 9.2 platform
v9.0 (released on 3/10/2017)
1.Social sharing support. Classified ads now can be marked as protected, or share between author's friends / followers / social groups.
2.Option to hide the Ms Silverlight file upload control.
3.New "User Id Mapping" option to show user products in DNN user profile page.
4.New "Group ID Mapping" option added to show ads (listings) in DNN group detail page.
5.Using the site avatar photo as the seller default photo.
6.Improve the data grid align.
7.Test under DNN 9.
v8.9 (released on 9/4/2016)
1. Allow client uploading files to his order (or his help ticket), also allow seller uploading files as response.
2. Now help ticket can be deleted by the client (or the seller).
3. UI improvement based customers' feedback.
v8.8 (released on 4/18/2016)
1. Auction time countdown feature added.
2. Allow administrator to choose JQuery UI tab css in Cp_Admin sub module.
3. UI improvement based customers' feedback.
4. New templates for Cp_Product_Detail sub module.
v8.7 (released on 2/17/2016)
1. Rebuild based DNN 8 platform.
2. Provide another JavaScript upload control to allow seller upload digital files.
3. Upgrade image light box popup library, to support new version browsers.
v8.6 (released on 1/27/2016)
1. Alipay (China) payment gateway support.
2. Cp_Product_ListTab sub module added (show products with JQuery UI Tabs).
3. Product variants support which allow client choosing his favorite properties while ordering.
4. Over 20+ JQuery UI CSS packages added.
v8.5 (released on 10/31/2015)
1. More PayPal languages.
2. Simply the department creation process.
3. Shipping status support.
4. More help information.
v8.4 (released on 5/18/2015)
1. Improve load speed (now runs 20% fast than before)..
2. Introduce another upload control (JavaScript based which supports iPhone/iPad/Android/Mobile and PC).
v8.3 (released on 4/13/2015)
1. Content localization support.
2. Source code refactoring.
3. 2 new slideshow effects.
4. Over 15+ minor improvements based customers' feedback. Like split Cp_Admin sub module, submit product name to PayPal, min sell quantity, seller favorite shipping address, etc.
1. Auction start / end hour (minute) support based customer's feedback.
2. New slideshows effects ("Pgw Gallery" and "Pgw Slider") added.
3. Sku search support.
4. Other minor improvements based customers' feedback.
1. Rebuild based DNN 7.3.0.
2. Setup wizard added.
3. Stripe payment gateway support.
4. Custom attributes search support.
5. Site level discounts and seller level discounts support.
6. Location support.
7. More slideshow effects.
1. Rebuild based DNN 7.2.
2. Cp_Product_Slideshow sub module support.
3. Rewrote user file management control with Ajax support.
1. Auction system support.
2. Classified Ads support.
3. User Role discount support.
1. Upgrade to DNN 7.x platform.
2. Discount support.
3. DNN built-in journal support.
4. New sub module - Cp_Product_Manufacturer.
All modules from DnnModule.com are customer-driven, v9.3 is the 43th generation of this product. We have received many suggestions from our customers since the first release, this module can't be making out without customers help .
Customers who bought v9.0/9.1/9.2 before can get 100% free upgrade discount. Customers who bought other old versions can get 80% upgrade discount, please mail us at [email protected], provide your previous order detail, and we will specify related discount to you.
Learn More
From $199.95
From $149.00
From $49.00
From $89.99
From $59.99
Copyright 2023 by DNN Corp. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
I don't think you can do whole house audio using Pandorra, I don't think it is possible to share the exact same 'Computer' window. two media directors could be playing pandorra but they would be two different sessions, so different audioyou can do it with your audio and video although I am not sure how synchronised it is in 0810 becaues I haven't tried it.
Your desire to change Pandorra channels from your BB may be being looked at:http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=9706.0


text: Once you can sleep at night knowing you have ownership rights, you can decide whether to leave them unregistered or proceed to register them. Unregistered design rights overlap with copyright to an extent and the protection afforded is decent to say the least. Go for registered designs if the design is more complex and vital to your business. If you don't have the time or the cash for registered designs, just take the cheap practical option of sealing your design in an envelope and mailing them back to yourself through recorded delivery.


text:
ZTE announced a total of 15 devices today at its Mobile World Congress Press conference, but the ZTE Era definitely got the most buzz.
The Era is ZTE's first quadcore offering running the NVIDIA Tegra 3 1.3GHz AP30 chipset. I also got a chance to play with the N91, an LTE dual-core phone also announced today.
ZTE claims that the Era is "one of the thinnest quadcore phones." At just 7.8mm thick, the Era has a very slim profile and feels really nice in hand. The construction feels high quality and the design is eye-catching with a silver and black color scheme.
The other highlight of the Era is its 4.3-inch qHD (960 by 540 pixels) TFT display, which looks incredibly bright with vivid colors and sharp detail. It also has an 8-megapixel camera as well as an MHL port for connecting to your HDTV. Another important feature to note is that the Era has the Icera HSPA+ modem, which is also made by NVIDIA. The Icera modem is also found on the ZTE Mimosa X, which was announced last week.
Performance-wise, the ZTE Era was incredibly snappy. In my brief hands-on time, I was able to open up multiple applications with ease. The network connection was shoddy in the hotel where I was demoing the Edge, but the entire OS felt smooth.
The other LTE Ice Cream Sandwich phone, the ZTE N910, also has a 4.3-inch display, but it is WVGA at a slightly lower resolution of 480 by 800 pixels. It sports a 5-megapixel camera with a flash and is powered by a Qualcomm 1.2GHz dual-core processor. The N91 is a CMDA LTE phone. The ZTE 910 doesn't feel as high quality as the other two phones, but you still get pretty good specs for what is supposed to be an inexpensive phone.
For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the world's largest mobile show, check out PCWorld's complete coverage of Mobile World Congress 2012.


text:
It Wasn't Beyonce Who Challenged Racial Hatred at the 2016 CMA's
Nearly a week removed from the 2016 CMA Awards, and what are we still talking about? We're not talking about how the CMA's were able to assemble an amazing list of legendary performers to usher in their 50 year anniversary. We're not talking about the excellent collaborations between George Strait and Alan Jackson, or Chris Stapleton and Dwight Yoakam. We're not talking about how Chris Stapleton did the unthinkable again and walked away with the Male Vocalist of the Year prize, or are awed by how Garth Brooks bested out Luke Bryan for the coveted Entertainer of the Year award—the first time Garth's won the award in 18 years.
In fact we're not talking to each other at all. We're shouting. We're yelling. We're digging into our predisposed positioning stances and blaming the other side. We're not discussing the music. We're either attacking or defending Kenny Chesney for the inadvertent and arbitrary facial features he many or may not have made during Beyonce's CMA performance, or some off-the-cuff tweets from Travis Tritt. And the think pieces continue to pour in about how important Beyonce's performance was to healing racial divides and building bridges, when ultimately all it did was unleash the mother of all shitstorms that we're still trying to unwind from, and likely will be for weeks or months to come, and during a time when we need music to be a place apart from political acrimony more than ever.
Some have asked why there wasn't nearly as much anger directed toward Justin Timberlake when he performed on the CMA Awards in 2015. But criticism levied towards pop performers has been present throughout the history of the CMA Awards, from Justin Timberlake, to Charlie Rich burning the envelope with John Denver's name for Entertainer of the Year in 1975. It's just the mainstream entertainment media wasn't paying attention until there was a political narrative they could exploit.
And what was the result of Justin Timberlake's performance with Chris Stapleton? It was a consensus built between mainstream and independent fans, traditional and contemporary fans that this Chris Stapleton guy is someone we can all enjoy, together, to the tune of a year later Chris Stapleton once again has the #1 record in all of country music. The performance brought people together.
What has been the result of Beyonce's involvement in the 2016 awards? Division and acrimony. Some will tell you that Beyonce is just what country music needed to root out its racial bigotry, or as one commenter said, "Beyoncé's outward character is associated with everything about black culture that white people find threatening. And she is proud of it." This is the theory that continues to be forwarded in think pieces written by pop journalists who only know country music from the outside looking in, and as a bastion for Trump supporters and red state dwellers. For some reason country music must be threatened into purging its racism, as if anyone would assume that would be effective instead of counterproductive, because discussion and understanding seem to not be a worthy avenue.
And it's that failed logic that has resulted not in the eroding of the minor, but undeniably present racially insensitive quotient to country music. It has fanned the flames. It has fueled the fire. It has given the racists of country music a forum and a springboard, and they have exploited this opportunity, and now country music is roiled in political and racial debate like every other sector of American society.
What was the biggest concern about booking Beyonce for the 2016 CMA Awards? It wasn't that her performance would sow racial and political discord, it was that her star power would overshadow the rest of the performers and award recipients, and push others off the itinerary completely with such a big time slot. And that is exactly what happened.
Who won the 2016 CMA for Album of the Year? How many country fans can even tell you off the top of their head? It's hard to remember even though it's one of the most important distinctions of the night, because less than a week later it feels like an afterthought. But it was Eric Church and his record Mr. Misunderstood, which arguably is one of the best records to be released in the country mainstream in years. Like so much else that went down (and was overshadowed) on the 2016 CMA Awards, it was yet another indication that the tide is turning for the better in country music.
But again, we're not talking about that.
And though it seems that few, if any noticed, it wasn't Beyonce that decided to tackle hatred and racism head on in her performance at the 2016 awards, it was Eric Church. The song that Eric Church decided to perform on the 2016 CMA Awards was called "Kill A Word." It's a duet with a black country music performer named Rhiannon Giddens. "Kill A Word" is a song about the very themes that have come to the forefront in the aftermath of the Beyonce performance, and all the seemingly endless racial threads that it has sprouted. It's about how important it is that we listen to each other, and instead of shouting accusations, understand how divides don't get broken down with insults and name calling, but get exacerbated by them.
Eric Church didn't choose to perform "Kill A Word" at the 2016 CMA Awards a week before the Presidential election by happenstance. Church says, "I've performed on a lot of award shows, I've played a lot of songs, but I don't know if I ever had a performance that felt more important and timely than this one."
And if there is one specific word that you think Eric Church is most highlighting to 'kill' in "Kill A Word," what would it be? I think you know. I think we all know. And this lesson, and this song and performance delivered with a cool-headed grace and patience could have resulted in what so many were hoping Beyonce would accomplish on the awards simply by her presence. But instead Beyonce's presence only overshadowed Eric Church, Rhiannon Giddens, and "Kill A Word." You can tell this because in the continued parade of think pieces and opinion, nobody is talking about it, even though it hits right at the very themes of the issue.
Use staff and rod to turn me black and blue
Cause you can't unhear, you can't unsay
But if were up to me to change
I'd turn "lies" and "hate" to "love" and "truth"
The 'lies' and 'hate' were how Beyonce's "Beyhive" attacked the CMA's for being racist for "scrubbing" Beyonce's involvement from the awards. The 'love' and 'truth' was the CMA's booking Beyonce in the first place, and removing a video from social feeds at the Beyonce camp's request.
And what of the 2016 CMA Song of the Year, Lori McKenna's "Humble and Kind"? These were the types of expressions and lessons the CMA Awards were trying to push to the forefront with their presentation and awards. This was the message they wanted to have country music represent, fully knowing they would be one of the final nationally-broadcast cultural assemblies right before the Presidential election. Country music doesn't need to be talked down to as if it doesn't know it has a racial problem, and it doesn't need to solicit help from the pop world to solve it.
And meanwhile, what are we talking about nearly a week later? The problem is, we're not talking at all.
– – – – – – – – – –
(At the time of posting, this performance of 'Kill A Word' has just over 11,000 views. The Beyonce performance over multiple platforms has many millions.)


text:
Some commentators are criticizing President Obama's response to a supporter at a campaign event who asked him why he is a Christian:
"I'm a Christian by choice," Obama told his audience here. "My family didn't — frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church.
"So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead — being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me," he continued.
"And I think also understanding that Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings, that we're sinful and we're flawed and we make mistakes, and that we achieve salvation through the grace of God," Obama said. "But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people and do our best to help them find their own grace."
I have no interest in questioning Obama's religious faith, which I believe to be sincere. It is only fair to note, too, that some of what he said was right on the money. But Obama's answer causes one to suspect that he would be among those who, as in the Pew poll that is also in the news today, would have trouble answering basic questions about his own religion. The Golden Rule is a fine idea, but it is not a principle
of unique to Christianity. Nor did Jesus ever say that we should be our brothers' and sisters' keepers; Obama apparently referred to the story of Cain and Abel.
This is the point I want to make: Biblical precepts are often twisted by liberals to support socialism. Jesus was not a socialist. On the contrary, he explicitly disclaimed any political agenda. And the moral of the story in Genesis is not that we are, or should be, our brothers' keepers. Rather, the phrase comes from Cain's answer when God asks him the whereabouts of his brother Abel, whom Cain has just killed. Cain denies any knowledge, and adds the self-exculpatory question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The point of the story is not that Cain was responsible for looking after Abel, like an Old Testament Nancy Pelosi. Cain was condemned not for failing to keep watch over his brother, but for killing him.
Barack Obama is hardly the only liberal who misapplies scripture to support liberal politics, but his answer today provides a useful opportunity to set the record straight.


text:
The first time I ever got drunk, I was a sophomore in high school. It was 2009 — a pretty indistinct year with all things considered — except a new phenomenon was crashing down with a vengeance on kids my age: the rise of reality television.
Prime time gems like "Flavor of Love" or "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" peppered the television lineup like a bad case of herpes. Then came "Jersey Shore" — the penultimate reality television show for getting plastered, having sex with strangers and living an entirely irresponsible life … while simultaneously becoming famous and getting paid.
These stars were impossible to ignore — their faces plastered on billboards, commercials and advertisements. So I, much like every other teenager, investigated what the hype was all about and eventually bought into everything the reality TV paradigm had to offer.
My friends came over for a sleepover, and we flipped on a "Jersey Shore" marathon. After my parents went to sleep upstairs, we snuck to the back of the living room, quietly shuffled some potted plants around and broke into the liquor closet. We mixed some vodka and orange juice and began to play a "Jersey Shore" drinking game.
"Every time someone refers to themselves in third person — drink!"
"Every time someone references gym, tan or laundry — drink!"
"Every time they have to blur out a body part — drink!"
By episode three, we were passed out drunk on the couch. The next day we awoke with killer hangovers and the vodka safely back in the cabinet half filled with water (sorry, Mom and Dad).
In my young mind, drinking and reality shows like "Jersey Shore" seemed to go hand-in-hand. I thought getting wasted, dressing awfully and making altogether bad life choices like Snooki and the Shore gang made them seem "cool." And what kid doesn't want to be cool?
It's easy to write off this kind of anecdote as teen stupidity. That was "so high school" — after graduation, students receive the gift of maturity along with their diplomas. But the effects of reality shows have a tendency to burrow much deeper than one drunken sleepover. They can alter perception of what is right and wrong and can perpetuate drinking, drugs and sex throughout generations.
Communications Prof. Susan Douglas teaches a course that analyzes the effects of reality shows like "Jersey Shore."
"Let's say you're thirteen and watching 'Jersey Shore' at night," Douglas said. "You're seeing all of this behavior, and these people that are famous because of this show, which can provide aspirational representations. You want to aspire to these behaviors with the goal of becoming famous."
The result: you aspire to these behaviors with hopes of becoming famous.
Even for students in college, the idea of being on a reality television show can persist as a last resort. LSA sophomore Mackenzie DeWitt sometimes jokes with friends about how she plans to be on "The Bachelorette."
"When your life turns to complete crap, it's always a viable option to go on TV and make a fool out of yourself," she said. "If we can't become professionals, we can always become reality TV stars!"
One of the largest dangers of these shows is the overwhelming glorification of drinking and party lifestyle: Entire populations of young adults can have a similar experience to my own in high school.
"Shows like 'Jersey Shore' totally normalize binge drinking," Douglas said. "They go out every night and drink massive amounts of alcohol until they have something that really resembles alcohol poisoning, which is harmful. We do know that binge drinking — unlike social drinking — is a problem on campuses including ours because it is a dangerous health behavior."
DeWitt echoed Douglas's sentiments from her own experience on campus.
"It seems as though students assume the more they drink, the more it will be like it is on television," DeWitt said. "They search for that level of excitement and drama and vivacity."
Reality shows don't only perpetuate an emphasis on drinking in viewers, but they also heavily encourage it on set as well. Emotionally dramatic shows like "The Bachelor" amp up the alcohol content to make contestants irrationally emotive.
When the women go to the Bachelor house there's often no food, only alcohol. Producers supply them with wine, and if that isn't enough to create drama, they crack open the vodka, a fact that Douglas teaches in her introductory communications course. The cast is encouraged to engage in drunken conduct, a behavior that is then transferred to TV viewers regardless of age.
"I think reality television portrays drinking as something fun that has little to no consequences," DeWitt said. "It sensationalizes drinking because it shows these huge parties that are exciting and colorful and people meeting other people … and that's really not how it is at a frat party, for example."
Reality television can also preserve old-fashioned notions about sexual stereotyping. Women are encouraged to fulfill roles as "the slut" and are simultaneously devalued by doing so. On the opposite end, men can be players and promiscuous without consequence, sometimes even with reward.
"There is this emphasis on women fighting with other women over men," Douglas said. "Women are stereotyped as not getting along, competing over the men and being judged by their experiences. That's really 1957 kind of stuff."
Shows that each season alternate genders as the object of affection only spread stereotypes.
"ABC claims that they have 'The Bachelorette' so they're 'gender neutral,' but in my opinion, just because you objectify men in the same way you objectify women doesn't mean either one is okay," Douglas argued. "The dynamics behind it is so retrograde."
The concept of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" seem to be similar to a dramatic combination of online dating and "The Hunger Games." The competition is fierce and only one can find true love. The probability of finding real, lasting love in front of millions of viewers seems next to impossible, because most people on reality television have ulterior motives, such as fame and money. The odds of "winning" reality television don't seem to be in favor of the contestants.
"I think it's funny because especially with 'The Bachelor,' these people who are beautiful and apparently successful are turning to TV because they don't think they can find someone in the real world," DeWitt said. "It's kind of like using online dating sites. People are turning to technological outlets instead of just putting themselves out there, which arguably is altering the way that we see love."
So what exactly has happened to our concept of social drinking into throwing back cosmopolitans before a rose ceremony? Why is it that when we see Snooki pass out face-first in the sand we think, 'Hey, that looks like fun?' Are the casts of reality television a reflection of us as a generation, or are we the ones who set the entertainment agenda.
"I feel as though people turn to reality television as an alternate source of what reality should be like," DeWitt argued. "You see these beautiful attractive people being promiscuous and doing ridiculous things, and some people use that to justify mirroring those behaviors in real life. Instead of a culture shaped by more intellectual entertainment we turn to "Jersey Shore."
Television networks follow market trends — shows that don't get an audience will not stay on TV. Reality TV sells, making this system unreliable in providing what we really should be watching. Though the Shore team finally left the boardwalk for good, shows like it will keep succeeding because they show viewers what they want to see.
We, as television watchers, perpetuate the presence of low-quality television.
"Since the 1990s in particular, there has been an increase in sexually explicit material in a variety of TV shows, and young people favor these shows," Douglas said. "'Jersey Shore' amped up the drinking and the sex, using infrared cameras to film scenes that suggest that casual hooking up is the norm, normalizing it and putting minimal attention to the importance of safe sex and contraception. Do they reference sexually transmitted diseases? Or even talk about condoms?"
The answer is no. Recently, reality shows are nothing more than superficial. Character's personalities only skim the surface in a way that makes them easily classifiable: the bitch, the whore, the player, the good-girl, the nice guy, the clown. Even though no one in reality is that simple, TV viewers don't want to deal with complications in their entertainment. So, when it comes to a one-night tryst between "the whore" and "the player," viewers want fulfillment without any of the messy consequences that might come of the situation.
"They aren't safe, and they are at risk, and it isn't talked about as much as it should be because that's not what they want to feature on TV," Dewitt said.
So what came first, the proverbial chicken of reality television, or the degradation of the moral fabric of our society, represented by the egg? TV shows like "Jersey Shore" took off so quickly because of the way the producers framed the people on the show. The mode of address seems to suggest that the viewers are better than the people performing these ludicrous acts on national television. No matter how out of control you get, the show seems to say, at the very least you aren't like these people!
But if at first the point was to poke fun at the characters while flattering the viewer, the reality TV phenomenon has evolved into another beast entirely. I can say with certainty that you could get exact re-enactments of scenarios on "Jersey Shore" right here on campus on any given Friday night at Rick's — a fact that calls into question, does anyone really want to be like Snooki?


text:
Webster Bible Translation
God's Judgments on the Nations
1Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all things that spring from it.
2For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3Their slain also shall be cast out, and their ill smell shall come up from their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their hosts shall fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree.
5For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
6The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be drenched with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
8For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.
9And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch.
10It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke of it shall ascend for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
12They shall call her nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
13And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in her fortresses, and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
14The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the isle, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech-owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
15There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
16Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
Webster Bible Translation
Section Headings Courtesy BereanBible.com
© 2013, 2014 Used by Permission
Bible Hub