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A roundup of articles about?Beer!
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A roundup of articles about?Beer!
This is BeverageDaily.com's monthly beer special, from the industry's point of view. If you don't think of beer as an industry, think again.
Flexible, diverse breweries are the way forward for small craft: The craft beer industry is navigating a more mature growth pattern in 2019: a theme that was explored at the 36th annual Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Denver… Read Outdoor clothing brand Patagonia sues Anheuser-Busch over ?copycat? beer brand: Outdoor clothing and gear brand Patagonia, Inc has filed a lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch: accusing the beer giant of ?attempting to copy Patagonia?s famous brand identity? with its Patagonia beer brand… Read
Constellation Brands: ?2019 sees a monumental shift for Corona as it expands into a more comprehensive beer family?: Constellation Brands is expanding its core Corona brand with new launches that appeal to a wider range of consumers and occasions ? including the nationwide US rollout this month of premium alcohol-spiked refresher Corona Refresca… Read
?Probably not the best beer in the world – so we've changed it?: Ca...
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Fecha de publicación: 03-05-2019 21:54
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text:
From woodworker and ITP student Ben Light's site:
A spoil board is sacrificial material that's used underneath the material you want to cut on a CNC machine. This ensures a better through cut and is usually MDF. I've noticed that when the spoil boards are all used up at ITP, some really amazing patterns are formed.
By making careful choices in his display of this found art, Ben really stumbled onto something beautiful that normally would have ended up in the dumpster. It would have been a shame to see this piece spoiled in such a way.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Texas A&M International University Small Business Development Center (TAMIU-SBDC) will provide a Seminar targeted for business owners dealing with difficult people on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at TAMIU's Western Hemispheric Trade Center, room 125. Registration fee is $30. Those registering prior to August 24 receive a $5 discount.
Does "Winnie the Whiner" work in your company? How about "No Way Ned" or "Passive Patti"? For the first time in history there are four generations in the workplace and a strong emphasis on individualization.
How do you deal with all the differences? Do you know what your communication style is? Do you think about the communication style of others?
This workshop identifies unwanted behaviors and describes different styles of communication offering strategies to turn conflict into cooperation.
The workshop will cover:
To register, call the TAMIU-SBDC office at 956.326.2827 or e-mail: email@example.com
Office hours are from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday.
Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests
and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information
Services at email@example.com
Texas A&M International University
5201 University Boulevard
Laredo, TX 78041
© 2019


text:
ok, so i'm guessing this is a method..
mymethod() {
Now this doesn't run unless the method is initiated right??? How do your initiate it when you want to?? Or if i'm totally wrong how do you set a set of instructions to only run when called on..
Please keep it simple. Thanks for the help guys!


text:
by Ian Brock
Ludum Dare 21 marked Incredible Ape's second Dare and fourth ever game jam. We had a great time and are quite proud of our little game called / ESCAPE \ (which will be henceforth referred to as Escape in this post). If you haven't played it, you should check it out right now! You can also watch a timelapse of Josh's screen during the development process.
The following is an (extremely long) account of and reflection upon the successes and failures that Josh and I experienced during the making of Escape.
What Went Right
Falling in love with the idea
There's a lot of pressure when you're trying to crank an entire game out in less than 72 hours. Knowing when to call something "good enough" and move on is crucial to a successful jam (ie finishing your damn game), but the brainstorming phase is one thing that should not be rushed through. When we began brainstorming on Friday night, it was already decided that no actual programming or artwork would be made until the next day. This decision made it easy to bring up and ultimately throw out lots of bad ideas because we weren't feeling rushed, and there wasn't the pressure to just go with an okay idea simply to start working on something. Instead of considering and analyzing the merits and practicality of every idea we had, if a concept wasn't immediately exciting, we simply moved on. We did this until the idea of a one button wall jumping game was brought up, and it instantly sparked excitement in the both of us. We quickly boiled the gameplay down to its purest form and, despite what had been previously decided, started working right away. We were too excited to wait!
Playing to our strengths
Successful teams know what they do well, and they also know what they suck at. For Ludum Dare 20, Josh and I were using Unity for the first time and both of us were in unfamiliar territory. We came up with a pretty neat idea but everything took longer than it should have and at the end of the 72 hours we had only finished two simple prototype levels. For this jam, we stuck to our guns. Josh is good at Flixel and I'm good at 2d sprite art so that's what we went with. We also brought in our friend Guerin McMurry (aka spamtron) to do the music and gave him utmost freedom to do what he does best. Unsurprisingly, the end result was a much more complete, polished and satisfying game than when we tried something completely new.
Focusing on controls first
Since we decided to make an action game, we knew the most important thing to get right was the feel of the controls. Good action games make the player feel skilled and powerful and nothing ruins that more than sloppy, laggy, confusing, or otherwise poor controls.
The jumping mechanic was the very first thing Josh prototyped (with beautiful programmer art) and it proved that our idea would be fun. Originally, I had been skeptical whether we needed to give the player control over their jump height, but Josh insisted and after playing his prototype, I completely agreed. I had first imagined the game relying purely on the timing of your jumps (trying to keep it simple), but Josh's controls were so intuitive and responsive that they won me over. A big inspiration came from the tight, fast, acrobatic jumping in Super Meat Boy and Escape's controls were basically designed to feel just like that. With the controls proven early on in the development process, we knew that even if we didn't have time to add all the cool visual stuff we wanted, the game would still be fun.
Random generation
Designing good levels by hand for an action game takes a long time, and 72 hours is anything but. Early on, Josh and I both knew that the only way too make something small that could keep a player entertained for more than a minute or so would be randomly generated levels, an idea we first realized when we made PewPewPewPewPewPewPewPewPew for the Global Game Jam earlier this year. Of course, randomness can introduce complexities as well so you have to keep the variables to a minimum. There are several elements to a level in Escape and two of them never change: the walls are always the same distance apart and the laser accelerates at the same rate every time. The only things that are variable are the min and max distances between shockers, their probability of spawning, and their size. With just those few variables, we were able to generate dynamic, challenging and fun levels that test a player's skill and don't feel cheap or impossible (most of the time). Josh also adjusted the variables based on height so that the game's difficulty ramped up gradually, creating accessibility for new players and reward for those who play long enough to really hone their wall-jumping skills.
Playtesting, playtesting, playtesting
If you watched Josh program Escape, you probably noticed that a large percentage of the time was spent playing the game during its various stages of development. He would test the game after each and every change, no matter how small, and it was this mentality of playtesting, playtesting, playtesting that I think contributed the game's overall quality. However, I wished we could have gotten more fresh eyes and hands on Escape during development as by the end of the jam both Josh and I were extremely adept at the game's mechanic and it was a bit too challenging for new players. When we realized this (at the last minute, of course), we reduced the difficulty, but by too much, and the late-game challenge disappeared, so we had to scramble to re-balance the game with seconds on the clock. This bring me to . . .
. . . What Went Wrong
Too addicting
Let's get the least humble and admittedly bullshit reason out of the way first. As I said before, playtesting, and playtesting often, was a key component to the game being fun, and there's certainly nothing wrong with making a game you genuinely love to play (I mean that's why we do this, right?). With that being said however, we often spent too much time just playing Escape when we should have been implementing new features, fixing bugs, or making assets. What can I say? The game is really fun and addicting as hell (IMO). At least the fun we had kept us motivated throughout the process.
Blocking issues
Confession time. Unlike my friend Josh, I don't have professional experience in my field and I'm not used to working in groups. That's no excuse to ignore your partner's requests though. It's not as if I was doing it on purpose, but I'm generally not very ordered or organized when it comes to working on stuff. I tend to just go where my attention is drawn and I also tend to start tweaking assets that are already in the game when I should be making new ones. That's just my perfectionist nature I suppose, but at times it was a significant hindrance to Josh's productivity. As the artist, I don't usually rely on Josh to get my work done but he often relies on me to be able to progress. If I had realized this earlier, we could have had the game at a more finished state earlier and we could have avoided some unneeded tensions.
Too damn hot
Yup, I'm blaming mother nature, or maybe I'm blaming anthropomorphic global warming. In any case, this summer has been particularly hot and no more so than now. Unfortunately, our apartment was without air conditioning so we had to sweat it out. The heat made us lethargic and relatively unproductive during the day, with night time bringing some relief but not much. On the second night we worked outside for a bit but Josh's laptop quickly ran out of juice and so it was back to the oven that we call an apartment. I suppose we could have gone to a coffee shop or Fred Meyers or something, but that probably would have been too distracting to be worth the AC. I'd rather be hot with a finished game be than cool without one.
Forgot to eat/drink
Not only were our bodies secreting moisture at an incredible rate, but Josh and I weren't even re-hydrating most of the time. This was not a conscious decision of course, just an unfortunate side effect of being completely wrapped up in a project with a looming deadline. I think I ate just one small meal on Monday. I'm sure these factors decreased our productivity, so next time we'll definitely plan breaks and meal times in advance so as not to forget.
In Conclusion
Despite all that went awry, this Ludum Dare has been our most successful game jam ever and I think Escape is certainly the most fun out of all the games Incredible Ape has made thus far. We can't wait to do it again in four months time! I hope you enjoyed our game, I hope you enjoyed this lengthy postmortem, and I hope you enjoyed Ludum Dare 21 as much as we did. Until next time!
Tags: escape, incredible ape, postmortem


text:
If you've kept a SpareOne cell phone in your car for emergencies since Xpal announced them at CES last year, congratulations! You still have 14 years of power left on that one AA Energizer battery.
Those late to the party, though, can consider this year's upgraded model, SpareOnePlus, which still comes with a waterproof bag. But it adds, according to Engadget, location-based data that can be beamed to any smartphone, useful for general creeping or actual tracking in case of an emergency.
SpareOnePlus, which should be available in the next few months, also includes audio feedback so you know what number is calling or what digits you've entered. The price is $100, up from $50 at CES 2012, which seems kind of weird since there's still no screen or improved durability on the handset itself. On the other hand, you can feel better about your personal safety without even looking at the thing for 15 years. [Spare One via Engadget]


text:
The good news is that it has never been easier to participate in international trade. We have instant communication,
a system to quickly transfer money, a huge market outside the US, and endless products that we can import.
The bad news is that it is harder than most people think:


text:
JUSTIN BERRIER/Media Matters For America:
Fox News dishonestly claimed that consumers in the health care law's exchanges would have limited options, ignoring reports that the exchanges will offer significantly more choice than is currently available in the individual market.
On Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade said, "You cannot force a private company to get into these exchanges. And if they all bail out like Aetna's done in a lot of states, like United's done in a lot of states, next thing you know, they're only going to have one option and it's going to be a federal option, a nationalized health care system because none of the private sector wants to get involved." Co-host Steve Doocy agreed, claiming "That's kind of subterfuge is - a lot of people are saying that's the ultimate end game for President Obama and the Democrats, is the single-payer where the government pays for everything":
But Fox's characterization of choices in the health care exchanges is misleading. Despite some insurers not initially providing plans in the exchanges, consumers in the majority of markets will have several health care options to choose from. The New York Times reported that, as of May, 2013, "More than 120 insurance companies have filed applications with the federal government":
More than 120 insurance companies have filed applications with the federal government, and it appears that most consumers will be able to choose from health plans offered by five or more insurers, the administration said.One-fourth of insurance companies proposing to offer coverage in these federal exchanges have recently entered the individual market, the administration said.Experts on health policy said the filing of applications was only the beginning of a race to the market for insurers. After scrutinizing applications, federal and state officials could demand changes in benefits and rates, and insist that insurers expand their proposed networks of doctors and hospitals.
A recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services of exchanges in 36 states found that consumers "will be able to choose from an average of 53 different plans when the new health insurance marketplaces, also called exchanges, open on Oct. 1."
For many consumers purchasing insurance through the individual market, options for purchasing insurance are already extremely limited. The Center for American Progress pointed out that individual insurance markets often only offer a few options and many markets are dominated by one insurer:
[I]n many states insurance markets are dominated by only one or two insurance carriers. In at least 21 states, one carrier controls more than half the market. More than half of the market is controlled by two carriers in at least 39 states. In 2007, a survey conducted by the American Medical Association found that in more than 95 percent of insurance markets, a single commercial carrier controlled at least 30 percent of the insurance market.
In addition, exchange plan choices for initial enrollment will only affect a small portion of the market. In theWashington Post's Wonkblog, Ezra Klein pointed out that "we're talking about a small fraction of the American health-care system":
Here's the first thing to know: We're talking about a small fraction of the American health-care system. This isn't about people on Medicare or Medicaid or employer-based insurance. It's about people joining Obamacare's insurance exchanges. That's people who buy insurance on their own now, as well as some of the uninsured. In 2014, 7 million people, or 2.5 percent of the population, is expected to buy insurance through the exchanges. By 2023, that will rise to 24 million people, or 8 percent.So we're talking about a small portion of the market.


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"Zero" Amazon Deforestation Possible by 2015, Brazilian NGOs say
By 2006, an area lager than France had been deforested in the Amazon rainforest.
Photo by Brant Olson via Flickr
Halting deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is the objective of nine Brazilian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have drafted an ambitious plan to stop clearcutting in the region within seven years. The groups, which include national affiliates of Greenpeace, WWF, and The Nature Conservancy, presented the proposal at an event in Brasilia on Friday attended by environment minister Marina Silva, state governors, and other authorities.
The plan aims to unite sectors of Brazil's government and civil society in efforts to conserve the biologically rich Amazon region. "This is just the start, but it is a good start, and it is something interesting," said Silva, who herself grew up in the Amazon and achieved global recognition as a leading rainforest activist before joining the ministry. "We are building a national plan with common, but differentiated responsibilities."
The proposal, known as the "Agreement on Acknowledging the Value of the Forest and Ending Amazon Deforestation," calls for combining strong public policies with market strategies to achieve annual deforestation reduction targets. It suggests that roughly $1 billion Real per year (US $550 million) from national and international sources be invested in maintaining existing forests and the environmental services they provide.
Other recommendations include strengthening forest monitoring, control, and tax measures and providing economic incentives for indigenous people and rural producers to conserve land. "It is necessary to go beyond 'command and control' measures by promoting the revision and re-orientation of financial incentives, which historically have been channelled into destructive practices," the Agreement notes.
Other Worldwatch Articles You Might Enjoy
By 2006, an estimated 17 percent of Brazil's original Amazon rainforest cover had been destroyed, an area larger than France. Land-use changes and related deforestation—in particular the clearing of trees for agriculture and livestock ranching—are responsible for up to 75 percent of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, and they contribute to significant losses of biodiversity in the region. Continued destruction of the Amazon could bring prolonged drought to many regions of Brazil and directly affects the lives of millions of people who rely on the forest to survive, according to the Agreement.
The details of the proposal remain to be worked out through a process involving key national, regional, and local stakeholders. These include Brazilian state and federal government representatives, rural and forestry producers and businesses, environmental and social justice organizations, and indigenous and traditional populations of the Amazon region.
This story was produced by Eye on Earth, a joint project of the Worldwatch Institute and the blue moon fund. View the complete archive of Eye on Earth stories, or contact Staff Writer Alana Herro at aherro [AT] worldwatch [DOT] org with your questions, comments, and story ideas.


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Key trends from energy industry conferences around the globe
Andrew Smart explains how citizen-centricity, cleaner fuels and digital workforce solutions play a key role in navigating the future of oil and gas.
Top tech trends in oil and gas for 2019
These four key technology trends are playing a big role in shaping oil and gas companies' strategies for delivering growth amid today's pervasive change.
Driving the digital revolution in oil and gas
See how you can mitigate the oil and gas industry challenges to date, and how the power of digitalization can help leaders drive the digital revolution.


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I've had such a great experience so far on this site that I figured this would be the first place I would come for advice on this matter. In my past, I was a christian - if you've seen my introductory post on my background you'll understand, if not I was a fundie raised person surrounded by devout people. I've lived and breathed the baptist doctrine and now I'm becoming incensed. I've been a non-believer, Atheist for about 5 years now but am starting to deal with the consequences of religion, and my actions during that time.
I've said horrible things to homosexuals, other atheists, and even other religious sects. Of course it's the same things you've read about on here, "you're going to hell", "homosexuality is a disease", "Catholics got it all wrong and are going to hell" and so on. I have a horrible guilt trip for these words. If I was even able to track down each of those individuals how many would even accept an apology or much less care?
It feels better to write about it, but how would you feel if you realized that someone had said those things to you previously and you found out that they had come to their senses. Assuming I could even find some of them should I even bother to reach out or do you think it's moot?
I'm thinking more about the Atheists and homosexuals that I have dealt with in the past. The Catholics can go to hell still.
Views: 367
You shouldn't beat yourself up over it. Life goes on. You made a mistake then, now you know better. No one got hurt, other than feelings, maybe.
Most of those people were probably so used to hearing those things that they probably just brushed it off as another day in the life of.
But if you feel that you need to do something to get it off of your chest, instead of tracking the people down, write a blog about it and post it on facebook, or some public feed. Or even write about it and have it printed in a local paper (as long as that won't cause any hate towards you or your family), show some sort of support for a secular organization in your area, or the LGBT community.
By all means, if you feel the need to atone for it, there are lots of ways to do it, and I'm sure the people here are going to give lots of ideas.
Hope some of those are decent ideas for you.
Hi. Had you insulted me because of my atheism in the past and I later learnt you had become an atheist I would have greater respect for you because I would know how completely differently you had felt in the past and so iunderstand how hard it must have been to challenge your own long held perceptions and overturn them. I would think you a person of strong principles and self awareness to be able to do this and do 'kill the fatted calf' (hee hee) for you. I suspect most gay people will feel the same. If I were you I would apologise if you ever see someone you have been rude to and otherwise just support gay rights?
I agree. When you abandon religion you pretty much cease to be the same person. Much like being extraordinarily drunk, you were under the influence. Your actions were the product, at least I assume, or an upbringing of religious indoctrination. In effect, you were a blank slate that was carved into something harmful; responsibility truly lies with the teachers (although they are probably products of the same system). If you were force-fed a harmful drug which caused bad behaviour, it would scarcely be your fault. Much the same has happened to you but with ideas. I would say that rather than guilt--which is irrational and achieves nothing--make at least some effort to protect others from the same fate. Contributing to the growth of the secular community through this website serves this purpose indirectly.
Seems the consensus is that I should perhaps volunteer to teh LGBT community, I think that is a wonderful idea. I know they aren't synonymous with atheism but their challenges and struggles have some parallels and they do have a well connected community. Atheism is a little harder to create a community? I wonder why that is, no direction?
Those are great ideas, I'll look into what I can do to volunteer some time. Not that I have any... but whatever I can do to help I'm happy to help with.
Hey Paul, no need to feel so bad!
It's great that you now know better about saying such things, but don't feel so bad about it. Sure it's not nice but atheists and homosexuals are generally very open minded people, people who never hold a grudge or anything. I'm sure the atheists you've encountered in your past shrugged off any misplaced words you had for them, and as for any homosexuals, I think it can be a little harder for them sometimes. Being bombarded with hate from every side, you know. But I'm sure that even those people you've talked to wouldn't be mad at you, in fact both the atheists and gays would be very glad to hear from you.
So it would definitely not be moot. Especially if these were people you knew, old friends or neighbors maybe. Just don't feel so bad over it, and there's really no need to go and apologize to every single person you've met in your life that you offended. You are a much better person now, so look into your bright future, not your dim past!
Hey Paul, I'm with the rest of group here.. Don't beat yourself up over this. Its normal to feel guilt and remorse for things you've done in the past... Its also an absolute sign that you've taken the next step away from that previous mindset that allowed all those things to happen.
Acknowledge the guilt and remorse but don't dwell on it. Move forward and know that you now have the tools to address that 'old' mindset when you encounter it in the here and now and in the future.
"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Steven Weinberg
If you do run into some of those people from your past.. try to show them that you're no longer running the same operating system as before.. Some people may want to address the past..but some may also just want to move forward. For me personally there's no better apology than to see that someone has moved to a 'higher state of awareness' (XD).. Let all your interactions reflect that and it will do your apologies for you. You may get a chance to apologize for specific things and it will be wonderful if you do.....but right actions from now on will do more than atone for all the things in your past.
Good luck and try to keep a positive attitude. Many of us have been and still are wearing the same shoes you are. (for all kinds of things we've done in the past)
I understand how you feel, i also wish i could apologize to all the people i hurt when i was religious, but you cant beat yourself up, religion has a strong hold over a lot of you when you are ensnared. In my oppinion you should just be proud you broke free from the doctrines you had been following as many others are either willfully ignorant or simply lack the will or inteligence to see the world for what it is.
I am another atheist who thinks you're fine, and that those you've wronged would be not only forgiving of your prior transgressions, but elated that you've "seen the light" and are a more, shall we say, "self aware" person?
I have had this exact thing happen to me twice - both with friends of mine who became a part of a "Christian Youth Movement" (I call it a CULT) called "Alpha", ran by a church called Chapel Hill Harvester (I've written about this stuff in the past). Once they woke up and cried BULLSHIT at the stuff this place taught, they both came and apologized to me for the things they had said to me. I was just glad that they got out of it and became more self-aware and rational. Their prior actions were nothing to me - I, as an out of the closet atheist in the Deep South, am used to it, and those comments roll off like water off a duck's back.
So I promise that if those you've verbally attacked in the past were to know that you have "woken up" and become "rationally saved", they would be excited and would congratulate you. And if you happen to see one of these people down the road, simply apologize. It takes a very strong and mature person to admit when they were wrong, and to apologize for it - and when it does happen, it means a lot.
You're a good person - and we're all better for it.
I think it's really not important, you had a change of personal belief, that affected you across the board. Now I don't want to sound cheesy, but it was the doctrine talking, not you. You would have to feel guilty if you knew the real truth and still kept saying those things. Don't beat yourself up about it, if you hurt someone specifically, make amends so you can have your inner peace. People you said those things to probably don't hold a grudge but they certainly will accept an apology as to make you feel better, and if they don't well fuck them :). Hope you find the answer interesting!
why would Catholics go to "hell" if you don't believe in one? and are you not still being hateful? hmmm good luck!
Sorry, that was tongue in cheek and doesn't translate well in text. Don't get me wrong, I believe all religion is a fairy tale along with hell, but I'm not going to try and justify my comments to them. It's like apologizing for denying the Easter Bunny while claiming Santa is very much real.


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The internet aficionados at Know Your Meme have named their top memes of 2011 in one handy video that features Nyan Cat, Occupy Wall Street, and the resurgence of My Little Pony. I was not satisfied.
Buzzfeed's Top 40 of 2011 includes the somewhat glaring omissions of Feminist Ryan Gosling, Hipster Ariel, and star of the Royal Wedding, The Frowning Flower Girl. Ranker's top 50 list reminds of Paula Deen Riding on Things, Hipster Cop, and the overused, ultra-douchey phrase popularized by Charlie Sheen — "Winning!" A few suggestions of my own? Ugly Renaissance Babies, Kitty Album Covers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Noses. What a year it was. And for the love of god, please tell us who favorite silly internet meme of the year was by leaving plenty of examples in the comments.


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If you're looking for another random assortment of galactic hotrods, you've come to the wrong top 10 list.
Don't get me wrong, I love cool spaceships just as much as the next guy. Who doesn't? The inner geek longs to climb into the cockpit of an X-wing starfighter, open up the Swordfish II on the galactic tarmac and slingshot a Klingon Bird-of-Prey around the sun.
But this article is going to answer to a higher calling. It's not enough that a ship is merely redonkulous. Free from the restraints of engineering or even basic physics, most fictional spacecraft manage redonkulousity just fine.
Nope, this list is concerned with which fictional spacecraft would actually benefit humanity in a meaningful way, which out-of-this-world rides would awaken a true space-faring civilization and save us from ourselves.
Let's fire up the engines, shall we? Engage.
Humans are amazing creatures, capable of achieving just about anything we set our minds to. The thing is, we tend to blow our limitless potential on foreign wars and new episodes of "Fear Factor" instead of scientific advancement. Sure, space colonization might ensure the long-term survival of the human race, but we'd far rather watch game show contestants drink donkey semen on network TV.
What if we could just steal spacefaring technology instead of developing it ourselves? That's what makes the SDF-1 Macross from the "Robotech" anime series so appealing. This massive alien battle fortress mysteriously crashed in the South Pacific and, since no one immediately reported it missing, humans spent close to a decade stripping it down like a stolen Honda Civic in a New Jersey chop shop.
Of course, the evil, alien Zentraedi fleets eventually came to look for it, but by then we'd benefited from the stolen science and learned to use the SDF-1 Macross as our own planetary defense system.
Sure, the "Dead Space" video game mostly depicts the USG Ishimura as a haunted-house spaceship overrun with disgusting corpse monsters. But if that's all you remember, you're missing the big picture. This fictional 25th century vessel is also the Earth's largest planet cracker, a class of industrial starship designed to carve up a planet like Thanksgiving turkey and harvest the choice slices.
Sound dastardly? Well, it beats carving up our own planet for delicious mineral ore. When not fueling our worst nightmares, the USG Ishimura represents an industrially motivated and financially sustainable space program. You know, one fueled by money and greed. A planet cracker like this would revolutionize the space exploration business in no time. Orbital shipyards would spring to life, spawning fleets built and fueled from the bones of destroyed worlds.
Sure, we might also unleash a living hell of alien body horror, but somehow I think that's a risk big business is willing to take.
Space exploration is costly, but economic gain isn't the only motivator for human megaprojects. Just consider the pyramid tombs of Egypt or China's vast defensive wall. According to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, war and devotion to divine royalty could also push humanity out into the void [source: Tyson].
So clearly, this Imperial Emperor-class Battleship from the "Warhammer 40,000" universe is exactly what we need. The dark fantasy gaming world exists in a distant future consumed by total war. The human race battles endlessly for its very survival against enemies both alien and heretical.
The result? Well, on one hand, you wind up with a universe of constant, horrific bloodshed. But the upside is that survivalist fear and devotion to a godlike emperor pumps tons of time and energy into spacefaring technology, producing an entire Imperial Navy of gothic vessels such as this one.
Did I mention that it travels faster than light by dipping through an alternate dimension of demonic chaos? Yeah, there's always a downside.
Here's the problem: Human lives are brief, and outer space is really freaking huge. In order to explore the cosmos in a reasonable fashion, we need to travel fast, which takes a toll at the gas pump.
We're talking silly amounts of power here, such as an infinite amount of energy to reach the speed of light (thanks, physics!) or the converted mass of Jupiter to achieve warp travel. So what we really need is a spaceship with a truly phenomenal power source.
The Starship Heart of Gold answers all these prayers, as it depends on what "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" author Douglas Adams called the Infinite Improbability Drive. Exact descriptions of the technology are somewhat sketchy, as the power source essentially thrives on a blend of theoretical quantum physics and random, surrealist nonsense.
According to Adams, it generates the "infinite improbability field needed to flip a spaceship across the mind-paralyzing distances between the farthest stars." The same technology, he explains, could also cause all the molecules in a person's undergarments to leap simultaneously one foot to the left.
Other side effects include hallucinations, mutations and the spawning of enormous marine animals. Hey, everything comes with a price.
Whether enjoying a Caribbean cruise or enduring a red-eye flight to Boston, you'd probably prefer a thoroughly sober captain -- not one tripping inside a massive vat of drugs.
At least that's the norm in our universe -- not so in the pages of Frank Herbert's "Dune" saga. Yes, the next spacecraft on our list is one of the Guild's heighliners, ships massive enough to carry entire planetary populations, gargantuan payloads and whole armies across the known universe.
Who can you trust to safely pilot such a craft? Not a mere human, that's for sure -- and certainly not a machine. Clearly, you'll want to pass the wheel to a secret society of navigators who imbibe ghastly quantities of the drug Melange.
Also known by its street name "the spice," Melange induces prescience (insight into future events) in the user. This effect allows the navigators to dodge safely the many disasters that await a heighliner on an interstellar jaunt. Heavily atrophied and mutated by their addiction, these navigators float in thick clouds of the stuff, enclosed within special chambers.
Think of it as the ultimate safety feature in a vehicle that also allows us to fold time and space.
Outer space really is the worst. The temperatures are extreme, the gravity is awful and the breathable atmosphere is nonexistent. Forget about creature comforts -- there aren't even any creature necessities up there.
Humans didn't evolve with space travel in mind, but what if there were creatures that did? Science fiction provides us with a wide range of fleshy, living starships to choose from, but few are as attractive as the Leviathans of "Farscape." These sentient, biomechanical organisms thrive in the void of space, while also providing a habitable internal environment. They even grow to meet the specific life support needs of the crew inside it.
The Leviathan Moya serves as a central character in the "Farscape" series, bonded with a special pilot species in a symbiotic relationship. The result is a spaceship that feels an emotional bond to the crew that it sustains and protects.
A spaceship that loves us? Sounds like the way to explore the cosmos.
Living spaceships and psychic navigators are fantastic ideas, but humanity's future in the cosmos is undoubtedly a robotic one. The technological singularity approaches, promising an age when computer intellects outpace the cognitive abilities of their human masters.
Sure, the machines might go all "Matrix" and enslave every last one of us in a battery tank, but what if they proved benevolent? What if they tackled all the complex scientific, political and social problems for us and left us to do absolutely anything we want?
That's where the General Systems Vehicles of Iain M. Banks' "The Culture" series enter the picture. These titanic vessels house vast populations, factories or defense forces -- each controlled by a trio of extremely powerful artificial intelligences called Minds. These number crunchers do all the heavy lifting while the humanoids in their charge are free to peruse whatever sort of hedonistic or altruistic lifestyle they desire.
Wouldn't that be swell? Life in the Culture's utopia doesn't always go so swimmingly, but it does mean interstellar travel without ever having to understand how it works.
Benevolent supercomputers, organic ships made from alien creatures -- it all feels a bit dishonest, doesn't it? Humanity's future in space should be born out of our fascination with the universe, not out of a lazy desire to cruise the stars.
Behold the bridge of the Spaceship of the Imagination, cosmologist Carl Sagan's own fictional starship from the 1980 television series "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage." Outside, the vessel resembled a glowing dandelion seed. Inside, it was all glowing new-age Star Trekery, cathedral ceilings and the ethereal vibes of electronic composer Vangelis.
Fueled by curiosity, Sagan's flagship traverses the far-flung galaxies of the known universe, leveling the twin photon torpedoes of science and physics against even the darkest of cosmic mysteries. The man himself is no longer around to pilot it for us, but his legacy inspires us still.
Every year, a forested area the size of Costa Rica vanishes from the Earth, along with all the dependent species that called it home. A portion of the blame falls to natural causes of deforestation, but millions of hectares yield to the ravages of human climate change and modern agriculture [source: U.N.].
The spaceship Valley Forge, however, might just help matters. Featured in the 1972 environmental sci-fi classic "Silent Running," this converted American Airlines freighter boasts an array of geodesic greenhouse domes, each devoted to a different terrestrial ecosystem and Joan Baez song. A fleet of these vessels keeps the dream of a green Earth alive near the orbit of Saturn, awaiting the day they can return home to revitalize a poisoned and barren world.
That is, assuming the powers on Earth don't decide to nuke the forests and return the ships to commercial service. Leave it to greedy corporations to outfit an environmental seed ship with atomic detonators.
What if Neil deGrasse Tyson is right? What if the only forces capable of pushing us to greatness are economics , war and religious fervor? Is there something broken in the human psyche that prevents us from achieving more? Perhaps it's a blessing that we're sequestered to this single, insignificant world.
If that's the case, we need a fictional spacecraft that can fix us -- a vessel that can travel faster than the speed of human ignorance and escape the gravitational pull of our violent hearts.
In Grant Morrison's comic book epic "The Invisibles," a sentient satellite known as Barbelith intercedes in human events to help the species realize its true potential. Vaguely resembling a dying sun or blood-red eye, the craft allows one character to feel humanity's collective suffering and ultimately enables the heroes to defeat the forces of darkness and achieve enlightenment.
An enlightened civilization of spacefaring humans -- now there's a fiction worth clinging to.
NASA's Dragonfly Rotorcraft to Explore Saturn's Giant Moon Titan
NASA's Dragonfly mission, launching in 2026, will land on Saturn's moon, Titan. HowStuffWorks takes a look at this ambitious mission.
Author's Note: 10 Fictional Spacecraft We Wish Were Real
You don't have to look far on the Internet to find a top 10, 20 or 100 list of awesome fictional spacecraft. All they really have to do is look awesome and do gnarly things. In this article, I attempted to highlight spaceships that illuminate something real about the dream of true cosmic exploration. What hurdles do we have to overcome? What holds us back from, as Carl Sagan puts it, wading out from this shore on the cosmic ocean?
Plus, yeah, I made sure to pick some extremely gnarly spaceships. I hope you enjoyed reading about them as much as I enjoyed writing about them.
Related Articles
More Great Links
- Adams, Douglas. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Pan Books. 1979.
- Banks, Iain M. "The Player of Games." 1988. Macmillan.
- "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage." The Science Channel. 1980.
- "Dead Space" Official Web site. Electronic Arts. 2012 (Feb. 22, 2012) http://deadspace.ea.com/
- "Farscape." The Jim Henson Company. 1999.
- Games Workshop. 2012 (Feb. 22, 2012) http://www.games-workshop.com
- Herbert, Frank. "Dune." 1965. Chilton Books.
- Morrison, Grant. "The Invisibles Vol. 7: The Invisible Kingdom." Dec. 1, 2002.
- "SDF-1." Robotech.com. 2012. (Feb. 16, 2012) http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/mecha/viewmecha.php?id=6
- Tyson, Neil deGrasse. Personal interview. Sept. 22, 2011. (Feb. 16, 2012) https://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2011/09/22/stbym-interview-astrophysicist-neil-degrasse-tyson/
- United Nations. "Deforestation in decline but rate remains alarming, UN agency says." UN News Centre. March 25, 2010. (Feb. 17, 2012) http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34195


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Wequetequock Burial Ground
Stonington, Connecticut
Mrs. Submit Palmer
born May 3, 1718
died January 29, 1793
Quick Kathy, how do you pronounce the cemetery name. Very nice photo I might add.ReplyDelete
What a beautiful gravestone. It amazes me what can be done with stone!ReplyDelete
Wow, the engraving seems so crisp and clean after all these years. I've seen much newer stones with more deterioration. I hope it lasts many more years!ReplyDelete
Thanks all. This person is not from my family but my husband has some ancestors buried here. I was impressed by the stone as you all are!!
I want to figure out which kind of stone lasts the longest so when it's my turn ... I don't want anyone forgetting me :-)


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Want to be innovative? Then please keep it simple! Yes, keep it simple... focus on building relationships, solidify the "basics" and keep learning at the center. Innovation isn't about an app, a gimmick, a trend or "cool" way to do something we have been doing for years; innovation is about people, relationships and working towards the next (and hopefully better) iteration of ourselves.
Over the last several years I have read dozens (maybe even hundreds) of blog posts, articles and even books that focus on this notion of innovation. Aside from The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros, the majority of the pieces I have read focus on the thing or stuff one could use to be innovative in their school. Innovation, and particularly being innovative in schools, seems to be a goal for many; a "thing" that educators are trying to do in their classrooms, schools and districts. It is one of the "sexy trends" in education along with developing a growth mindset, allowing time for genius hour and launching a 1:1 device initiative (just to name a few). Trust me, I am not saying there is anything wrong with these trends; in fact, I have talked about them, written about them and even tried to implement them but the reality is, if we want innovation to be the norm and for our innovations to be sustainable we must keep it simple. We must slow it down and not focus on the stuff but instead focus on the people, the learning and the skills we want our educators and students to develop within our learning organizations.
How do we make that happen? Keep it simple by focusing on these 3 things...
1) Build relationships! No innovation or innovative practice is going to be sustainable if we don't invest in the relationships within our school communities. Successful innovation is built on healthy relationships that are rooted in positivity, trust, and respect. Relationships that allow people to support each other but also push each other; relationships that make people feel comfortable within their space but uncomfortable at times when learning and growing; relationships that foster pride in the successes but also relish the failures as an opportunity to get better. Relationships are the key to innovation because if educators are invested in the people within their school communities then they will always be looking for ways to get better and disrupt the norm to help create an innovative space for themselves, the students and their families. Things aren't innovative; the people who create the "things" are innovative!
|George Couros- The Innovator's Mindset (from Pinterest)
2) Solidify the basics! During my time at #Cantiague, we tried many new things that we, ourselves, categorized as innovative. We tried Genius Hour, MakerSpace, BYOD and heck, we even started our own annual Innovation Day! Yes, we were willing to try anything and everything at Cantiague to make our school a better place for the kids, staff and families; but, that only happened after we built relationships and solidified the basics. For years we focused on basic literacy and math skills in an effort to empower our students and help them solidify the skills we felt they needed to be even more innovative (let's face it, many kids are more innovative before they enter school & then we squash it by breeding compliance but that is a whole other post). One of the most concrete examples is our implementation of writing workshop in Grades K - 5. We wanted our children to see themselves as authors in an effort to help refine their writing skills, enhance their craft and build their confidence. There were writing notebooks, folders and pens abound because we felt it was imperative for our children to be good writers so they could accomplish any goal they set for themselves. We wanted our children to be critical thinkers, creative, collaborative and strong communicators and we felt that by supporting their development as writers, we were giving them a way to accomplish their goals. Yes, we eventually started leveraging various digital platforms and tools (some would argue "innovative" resources) to enhance our writing workshop experience but we primarily focused on building a solid foundation.
3) Keep the learning at the center! This one is quite simple - people who learn are people who have access and people who have access can be innovative. Ultimately, innovation is about creatively solving a problem; it is about looking at problems through the lens of opportunity; it is about disrupting the norm. Well, in my opinion, in order to be innovative, one must be informed and in order for one to be informed, they must be a learner first. Although we claim schools are about learning, what we know is that most schools embrace a culture of teaching first and foremost. Well, I think that by maintaining a culture of teaching, we are never actually going to be breed innovation in our schools; if we want innovation to be sustainable, we must shift from a culture of teaching to a culture of learning.
Yes, innovation can be an awesome and powerful process but don't forget that said process is about people and ideas not things and devices. So, if you want to be innovative in your space, keep it simple.


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Nikko necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 167 diseños de 63 diseñadores freelance.
Nikko Photography
I am a Toronto-based, lifestyle photographer looking to rebrand my photography business with an artistic, cool and clever logo design. I am 30 years old and have nearly a decade of photography experience under my belt. My current focus is wedding photography (local or destination), however, I'd like to further extend my portfolio as my business continues to grow. I would describe my style as photojournalistic, unobtrusive and fine-art. Basically, I am passionate about capturing life's stories as they unfold and documenting meaningful moments for my clients.
I am in the process of redoing my website, but here is the link so you can get a feel of some of my work: http://www.nikkophotography.com/
I want to attract young professional couples (25-40 year-olds). They are fun, cool, (sometimes even a bit adventurous) and classy, who are willing to spend a little bit more for quality work. They appreciate artistic creativity and photojournalistic story-telling.
Ideally a logo with an icon and typeface. I would prefer a brand that incorporates both my business name (Nikko Photography) and an iconic symbol (possibly this symbol can be a play on my name). Perhaps try to incorporate this symbol within a crest or a seal. I like aesthetics but I'm looking for something with good usability and positive user experience when clients see my brand. A combination of the two will guarantee a design winner.
Please no popular photography logo icons (i.e. shutters, apertures and cameras) or clip art/stock images in the design.
I would like to use this design to "mark" my photos, as a watermark or signature. If my company name is too long, I am considering only using my icon as my signature on my work.
I need something clever to represent my work: photojournalistic, fine-art and classy.
I need the design to brand all my communications/promotional materials:
• Website (including site header)
• Blog
• Social media channels (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube)
• Business Cards
• Stationary
• Tradeshow Booths
• Advertisements
• Other collateral materials (i.e. pamphlets, brochures and postcards)
• 2-3 colours max (love grey and purple but am open to other colours)
• Large files
• Print file format - .ai (CMYK)
• Web file format - .jpg and layered .psd (RGB)
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Happy Friday!!
Any fun plans for the weekend?
Oh I almost spit my coffee out on the screen.... so funny!
Well, Kovas? What do you have to say about this?
I like your thinking! I'm down to shorts, socks and shirt right mow - with warmer weather, who knows? :)ReplyDelete
If the kids aren't home, then that look might be a good thing! LOL! Funny stuff.ReplyDelete
Yeah. This could be rough.
- Beard (all the time)
- Sweatpants
- Find ways to stay in bed longer since commute is 10 feet
- showers at weird times of the day
- The "pretend I'm not home" speech on days when there is no school but it's a business day.
- Lunch hour workouts that drift to 1:15 +
So many more.
Have you tried this gear? Something similar you like better? Something I should try? Let me know by leaving a comment!


text:
Inflatable Whale
Welcome to inflatablewhale.com. An inflatable whale is a must have for every backyard swimming pool. We offer a complete assortment of inflatable backyard pool supplies. Some of our popular sellers include inflatable whales, inflatable boats and inflatable water slides. Order today and have your inflatable whale delivered to your home in 24 hours.


text:
Sept. 17, 2005
IRVINE, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara lost matches to Stanford and Navy on the first day of the Southern California Water Polo Tournament. The Gauchos opened play with an 11-5 loss to Stanford and then in the afternoon, they dropped a 6-4 decision to Navy.
In the early match against Stanford, UCSB fell behind 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, but the Gauchos scored three goals in the second stanza and trailed just 5-3 at the half. The Cardinal, however, outscored the Gauchos 6-2 in the second half to put the match away. UCSB was paced by senior driver Ramiro Saldain who scored a pair of goals and sophomore goalkeeper James Street who recorded nine saves. Stanford was led by senior Thomas Hopkins who tallied five goals.
In their second match of the day, the Gauchos and Navy were tied at half, 3-3. UCSB scored the only goal of the third quarter and took a 4-3 lead into the final period. Navy, however, scored three goals and blanked the Gaucho attack in the final quarter to post a 6-4 victory. Sophomore Robbie Bauer had three of UCSB's four goals in the match and Bret DeMuth added the fourth score.
The tourney opener against Stanford marked the first time that UCSB's first-year head coach Wolf Wigo faced his alma mater. Wigo, a three-time All-American at Stanford in the mid-90s, led the Cardinal to a pair of NCAA Championships.
Santa Barbara is now 5-5 on the season. The Gauchos will play Bucknell on Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. The match against the Bison will be played at Corona del Mar High School.
1 2 3 4 Total UC Santa Barbara 0 3 1 1 5 Stanford 3 2 3 3 11
UCSB Goals: Saldain-2, Coulson Lantz, Young, Tilburg Stanford Goals: Hopkins-5, Fortune-2, Hindle-Katel-2, Varerllas, Jacobson Saves: UCSB: Street-9; Stanford-Hohener-6
1 2 3 4 Total Navy 1 2 0 3 6 UC Santa Barbara 1 2 1 0 4
UCSB Goals: Bauer-3, DeMuth Navy Goals: Gentry-2, Mulvey-2, Carlson, Flacco Saves: UCSB: Wright-6; Navy-Naughton-13


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Tara wrote:Wisdom Books (UK) have "Manual of Standard Tibetan" priced at £47.59, http://www.wisdom-books.com/ProductDetail.asp?PID=11986" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Blue Garuda wrote:The books look very pricey (£60)
$51.50 US, new, on eBay US with free USA shipping.
$46.52 US new, on Amazon with free "Supersaver" shipping.
Thanks for mentioning this new manual. I collect them and put them under my pillow, sometimes, in hopes it will do some good. No luck yet.
Maybe this one is different.


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CSB and SJU Students Meet Globally Recognized Figure
In spring 2009, CSB and SJU students studied abroad in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Students had intensive Spanish language instruction as well as courses about the indigenous community, history, politics and culture of Guatemala. To further their cultural experience, the students lived with home stay families.
While studying in Guatemala, students' read Rigoberta Menchú's book, Me Llamo Rigoberta Menchú, as way of understanding an indigenous perspective of Guatemala's civil war in their Senior Seminar class. Rigoberta Menchú is a Guatemalan indigenous rights activist, known for her documentation of Guatemala's 36 year-long civil war. In 1992, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work. Since then, she has organized an indigenous political party in Guatemala, and ran in the nation's 2007 Presidential election.
During their four month stay in Guatemala, students heard that Menchú was speaking at a nearby village. They decided to take advantage of their proximity and hopped on a bus to see a globally recognized figure.
"The gathering was located in a very small town. The sudden appearance of 15 Americans definitely took the rural Guatemalan village by surprise!" CSB senior Stephanie Wegmann said.
Through this event, students were able to experience history and culture first hand. They were able to see life through the perspective of the Guatemalan people.
"To be able to meet Rigoberta Menchú in her home country, at a rural indigenous political gathering, and listen to her relay her message in Spanish, rather than English, was the most genuine experience we could have possibly asked for," Wegmann said.
Back row (left to right): Alex Ludescher, Chris Morgan, Mike Lenczewski, Doug Trumm, Becky Suhr, Sarah Wildenborg, Kate Westlund. Front Row (left to right): Jordan Differding, Stephanie Wegmann, Laura Wildenborg, Maria Gau, Rigoberta Menchú, Markie Crosby, Ellery Eggermont, Shannon Conk, Megan Woodruff


text: Hey all, I've been looking at getting a PDA lately, and although the Palm Tungsten E2 seems quite attractive in terms of price, ease of use and functionality, I also would very much like to be able to develop my own applications for the PDA. Seeing as how I have some experience with Windows development and none at all with Palm OS, I can't help but wonder if I should consider an iPaq or something, which uses a mobile version of Windows - although, as I've read briefly somewhere, Palm OS is supposed to be much simpler, which is good, but makes me wary that it may lack power and flexibility. Can anyone comment on this please?


text:
Alternatively call 0203 051 1004Login to My Account
Looking to call
our phone number?
Unfortunately we are currently closed. Our working hours are 8am-8pm Monday to Friday.
You can contact us by creating a support ticket - one of our customer service team will get back to you as soon as possible. If you do not have an account, or cannot remember your details, please click here to contact us.
If you are an existing customer, you can also login to our client area to check your account details and existing support tickets.


text:
Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, Cody, and Jackson - Everything!
All photos from our 8/2010 trip to Hill City, Devil's Tower, Custer State Park, Cody, Yellowstone and Jackson. These photos are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please link to the original photo in this gallery if you use these photos.Read More
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curl-loader (also known as "omes-nik" and "davilka") is an open-source tool written in C-language, simulating application load and application behavior of thousands and tens of thousand HTTP/HTTPS and FTP/FTPS clients, each with its own source IP-address. In contrast to other tools curl-loader is using real C-written client protocol stacks, namely, HTTP and FTP stacks of libcurl and TLS/SSL of openssl, and simulates user behavior with support for login and authentication flavors.
The goal of the project is to deliver a powerful and flexible open-source testing solution as a real alternative to Spirent Avalanche and IXIA IxLoad.
The tool is useful for performance loading of various application services, for testing web and ftp servers and traffic generation. Activities of each virtual client are logged and collected statistics includes information about resolving, connection establishment, sending of requests, receiving responses, headers and data received/sent, errors from network, TLS/SSL and application (HTTP, FTP) level events and errors.
Virtual clients are grouped together to the so-called batches of clients, performing the same sort of activities, like:
- authentication login;
- user activity simulation by fetching several URLs with configurable timeouts in between;
- logoff.
The tool can be easily extended to generate sftp, telnet, tftp, ldap, ssh, scp etc other application protocols, supported by the great libcurl library. Features List
- Virtual clients number. The tool runs, depending on your HW and scenario, 2500-100 000 and more simultaneously loading clients, all from a single curl-loader process. Actual number of clients may be several times higher, and it is limited mainly by memory. Each client loads from its "personal" source IP-address, from the "common" IP-address shared by all clients, or from the IP-addresses shared by some clients, where a limited set of shared IP-addresses can be used by a batch of clients.
- Rampup of the virtual clients number at loading start in either automatic or manual mode;
- IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and URIs;
- HTTP 1.1. GET, POST and PUT, including file upload operations;
- HTTP user authentication login with POST or GET+POST methods. Unique configurable username and password for each virtual client as well as configurable posted string (post-forms) are the options. Another option is loading of users with credentials from a tokens text file;
- HTTP POST/GET forms with up to 16 tokens filled from a tokens text file;
- HTTP user logoff with POST, GET+POST, or GET (cookies); POST logoff with configurable posted string (post-forms);
- HTTP multipart form data POST-ing as in RFC1867;
- HTTP Web and Proxy Authentication (HTTP 401 and 407 responses) with Basic, Digest (RFC2617) and NTLM supported;
- HTTP 3xx redirections with unlimited number of redirections;
- HTTP cookies and DNS caches;
- FTP passive and active, FTP upload;
- Full customization of client request HTTP/FTP headers ;
- Transfer limit rate for each client download or upload operation on a per url bases;
- URL fetching probability;
- TCP connections reuse or re-establishment on a per url bases;
- Unlimited configurable number of URLs. Mixing of HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and FTPS urls in a single batch (test plan) configuration;
- Connection establishment timers for each URL;
- URL completion timers monitoring and enforcement for each client;
- Inter/after URL "sleeping" timers, including random timers taken from a configurable interval;
- Logfile with tracing activities for each virtual client. The logfile is automatically rewinded, when reaching configurable size preventing disk crashes;
- Logging of responses (headers and bodies) to files.
- Pre-cooked batch configuration (test plan) examples;
- Load Status GUI at console and with output to file;
- Status and statistics for each virtual client, which are logged to file;
Here is a screenshot: curl-loader screenshot License
curl-loader is licensed under GPLv2. Authors
The tool is written and supported by Robert Iakobashvili and Michael Moser, both from Israel.
Israel flag
Please, use the link to the mailing list provided in Support section to contact us and to get support for the tool. Subscribe to the curl-loader-devel list and mail your filled PROBLEM-REPORTING form located in the curl-loader tarball to the list. Your suggestions, ideas and patches would be very much appreciated.
The official language of the curl-loader-devel mailing list is English, whereas Russian and German written mails are also welcomed. Successfully Used
To simulate HTTP/S load of thousands of clients against authentication gateway for testing of the gateway performance in various scenarios. curl-loader supplied HTTP/S client load against Apache web-server with the gateway in the middle, where the gateway made a browser hijacking and HTTP- redirection of the curl-clients to the HTTPS url at the gateway's own web-server. HTTPS page of the web-server provided a POST form to the user with username and password for the client/user authentication against an external AAA (RADIUS) server. If the authentication was OK, user (a libcurl virtual client object) was allowed to enter the Internet and to perform some sort of simulated by curl-loader network activity, namely, fetching urls and sleeping in between them. After enjoying Internet, user was coming to logoff.
To test web-server pages, authenticating tens and hundred thousand of clients, where each client comes to a HTTPS url using GET method and is redirected by the web-server to another url, providing authentication POST form with username and password. After successful authentication of a client the web-server was setting to the client server-cookies. Client activities were further simulated by fetching urls and sleeping in between. Clients were doing logoff using GET-method to the web-server logoff-url, where the cookies were used by the web-server to verify client identity.
To generate Gbps traffic from thousands of TCP/HTTP clients and to test the impact of thousands of firewalling and NAT iptables/ipset rules and hundreds of the rules being added/deleted each second at performance of a gateway device. curl-loader provided client load against Apache web-server fetching a url with a gigabyte file, thus, creating a permanent heavy-load traffic, containing thousands of tcp-streams at the gateway in the middle.


text:
About this Quilt
Romance Bed Skirt
Bed Skirt Pattern
Vintage Pinwheels quilt pattern published in the September 2004 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts.
Prepare Muslin
Step 1. Measure mattress width and length. Add 1″ to each of these measurements to determine cutting dimensions.
Cutting Width = mattress width + 1″
Cutting Length = mattress length + 1″
Step 2. Piece muslin as needed to make rectangle that measures Cutting Width x Cutting Length.
Step 3. For top edge, hem 1 end of muslin rectangle (along width) in the following manner. Turn 1/4″ to wrong side and press. Turn 1/4″ again; press. Topstitch 1/8″ from fold.
Prepare Skirt Strips
Step 4. Measure desired "drop" (from bottom of mattress to floor). Add 1″ to this measurement to determine cutting width.
Skirt Cutting Width = drop + 1″
Step 5. Calculate the skirt strip cutting lengths in the following manner.
Side Strip Cutting Length = Cutting Length x 1.5
Bottom Strip Cutting Length = Cutting Width x 1.5
Step 6. Cut 2 side strips and 1 bottom strip per dimensions figured in Steps 4 & 5. Hem short ends of each strip as described in Step 3. In same manner, hem one long side of each of the 3 skirt strips.
Step 7. To gather fabric along remaining raw (long) edge of each strip, machine baste 2 rows of stitching, 1/4″ and 3/8″ from raw edge. Pull thread ends to gather fabric so strip length matches length of respective side of prepared muslin rectangle as follows. Gather side strips so they're 1/2″ shorter than muslin side length (hemmed edge to raw edge). Gather bottom strip so it's same length as muslin width (raw edge to raw edge).
Assembling the Bed Skirt
Step 8. Beginning at hemmed edge of muslin, pin skirt side strips to muslin sides, right sides together. Note: Side strips will end 1/2″ before raw end of muslin rectangle. Using 1/2″ seam allowance, stitch side strips in place. Pin bottom strip in place along bottom edge of muslin rectangle, right sides together. Note: Hemmed short ends of skirt strip will align with muslin raw edges. Using 1/2″ seam allowance, stitch in place. Press to set seams. Press side seams toward muslin and press bottom seam toward skirt fabric to finish.


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>Baking in Foil
Posted on April 22, 2009 by Glutenfreeda
Baking in foil is a method of cooking that locks in natural flavors and keeps food moist. Foil packets are also great ways to combine an entrée with vegetables and sauce all in one neat packet.
Foil packets can be substituted with parchment packets if you prefer. When using parchment be sure to butter it well and reduce the cooking time.
Foil packets create a wonderful steamy aroma when opened at the table. They are the perfect way to tantalize an appetite! Packets can be cut in different and fun shapes like clam shells, footballs, rectangles, squares or circles.
A great time saver, packets can be prepared ahead of cooking time and popped in the oven for 30 minutes or less prior to serving.
For a quick and simple anytime dinner, try these baked in foil recipes,
Sole w/Crème Fraiche in Foil
Chicken & Pepperoni in Foil
Shrimp, Procuitto & Lemon in Foil
Chicken, Pineapple & Cherry Tomatoes in Foil
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text:
Nathan Van Wilkins, 44, is charged with 18 counts of attempted murder, one count of shooting into an occupied building and one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling. He is being held on $2 million bail.
TUSCALOOSA | The man accused of opening fire at a downtown Tuscaloosa bar early Tuesday morning remains on suicide watch at the Tuscaloosa County Jail.
Meanwhile, only three of the victims of Tuesday's mass shooting remained hospitalized at DCH Regional Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon.
Nathan Van Wilkins, 44, is charged with 18 counts of attempted murder, one count of shooting into an occupied building and one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling. He is being held on $2 million bail.
Tuscaloosa police did not give media interviews on Wednesday, nor did they indicate what Wilkins' motive for the shootings might have been. Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton said Wednesday that Wilkins has been evaluated by a psychiatrist and is on suicide watch based on statements he has made.
An inmate on suicide watch wears a different uniform and is confined in a cell with no access to materials that could be used to commit suicide, Sexton said. Guards check in with the inmate every 15 minutes and monitor a video camera positioned in the cell.
Wilkins turned himself in to Jasper police Tuesday after allegedly shooting a man at a home in Northport, opening fire at the Copper Top and injuring 17 and setting fire to property at his former workplace in Brookwood.
Warrants and other legal documents were filed in Tuscaloosa County District Court late Wednesday.
The papers list the 17 people who were shot at the Copper Top as Andreas Hielscher, Christopher Bryant Johnson, Renardo Jackson, Alonzo John Ruffin, Jeremy Cordell Davis, Willis Junior Howard, Tebiarus Levert Gill, Andrew Herbert Stone, Rachel Amberly Studdard, Jonathan Riley Dunn, Cody Clay Patterson, Brian William Hundley, Kelvin Tramon Sigler, Jason Bradley Atencio, Kaitlyn Knapp Lamb, Jillian Nicole Garcia and Mario Winkler.
Jackson remained in fair condition and Winkler was in serious condition Wednesday, said DCH spokesman Brad Fisher.
The condition of Northport resident Bruce Richardson Bankhead, who was shot in his home Monday night, is not known.
A deposition sheet written by a Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit investigator detailed the shooting in Northport that took place less than an hour before the shooting at Copper Top.
According to the document, Bankhead, 30, said that someone knocked on his door and said "delivery." A man who investigators say was Wilkins pointed a gun at Bankhead and began to fire as Bankhead turned to run. Bankhead was shot in the back. Wilkins continued to fire into the house.
One of Bankhead's roommates told the Associated Press that Wilkins said he was looking for another roommate, a black man, and used a racial slur.
Investigators began receiving tips Tuesday morning that identified Wilkins as the shooter. They found the doors to his house on Buckhead Drive in Northport open and no one home. Inside, they found open containers of Wolf ammunition, the same brand used in the shootings.
Acquaintances of Wilkins say they find it difficult to reconcile what Wilkins is accused of doing with their impressions of him.
Richard Hill has known Wilkins for 30 years. They met as teenagers when Wilkins was a student at Northside High and Hill attended Tuscaloosa County High.
"Ever since I've known Nathan, he's been one of the best people you'd ever meet. He has one of the biggest hearts of anybody you'll ever meet," he told The Tuscaloosa News. "I never would have expected anything like this from him."
Wilkins often participates in charity motorcycle rides that benefit children, he said. Wilkins has adult children and grandchildren.
"I don't condone what he did. Looking at the mug shot, that's not him. That's not the guy I know," he said.
Kim O'Hair has been friends with Wilkins for about 12 years. She said she was shocked when she discovered that he was the man in a video released by police Tuesday morning, showing a man walking toward the Copper Top holding a military-style assault rifle by his side.
"I was crushed and in shock," she said.
She described Wilkins as quiet and said that she had never seen him violent or angry.
"He's one of the best friends you could ever have. I've never seen a man who was a better friend and good person all around," she said. "I don't know what could have possibly happened.
"I'm not condoning his actions. We never know what people go through in their lives, we never know. We don't walk their road, we don't travel their sorrows and we can't walk in their shoes. Until we do, the prayers should be for all, including the victims, him and his family."
Wilkins had been fired from his job at Capstone Oilfield Services after a fistfight with a co-worker in March. He told police that he was angry about his firing, and he was pressing assault charges against the co-worker, said Brookwood Assistant Police Chief Jimmy Sellers. The other man had also been fired but not arrested.
Sellers said he's not aware of any connection between the shooting victims and the company.
Court records filed Wednesday indicate that Wilkins receives $260 of unemployment each week, and had financial troubles. He filed for bankruptcy three times since 1991, most recently in 2011.
Hill said that Wilkins' younger brother died from a brain tumor a few years ago. Court records indicate that he had been divorced since 2004 from his wife of 16 years. His wife claimed that Wilkins had been verbally and physically abusive, and had threatened to kill her. He served 10 days in the Tuscaloosa County Jail when he violated a restraining order by threatening her at their son's football practice, telling her to "watch her back."
Reach Stephanie Taylor at email@example.com or 205-722-0210.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.


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There's a restaurant scene partway through Act 2 of "La Cage aux Folles" that spotlights Christopher Sieber, playing Albin, the reigning drag queen of Saint-Tropez in the propulsive and entertaining production at the Hippodrome this week.
Albin, decked out like an overstuffed Margaret Thatcher and still hurt by perceived slights from the most important people in his life, is called upon to sing a little something. Sieber's whole body subtly softens and seems to glow as he sings in gentle, conversational tones: "Hold this moment fast, and live and love as hard as you know; make this moment last, because the best of times is now."
No great shakes as a lyric or a tune, but Sieber's nuanced singing sells it so affectingly that you'd swear it was the most divinely inspired song in the Broadway canon, a bittersweet anthem as much for those in love as for those who feel threatened. In just a few measures of that song, Sieber reveals the tenderness that truly defines Albin and anchors the whole musical.
Yes, "La Cage," the 1983 musical by Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein, is still a comedy, not some deep psychological work. But if played too straight, so to speak, all you get is a glitter-and-be-gay farce. The beauty of this touring production, neatly directed by Terry Johnson and based on a revival that originated in London in 2007, is that it doesn't slight the heart of the matter.
And Sieber's towering performance, with its blend of multilayered acting, spot-on comic timing and inspired vocalism, makes you believe in the love story of Albin and longtime partner Georges as they both get caught up in the machinations of an amusing, if somewhat tired, plot.
Sieber is partnered here by veteran actor and perennial celebrity George Hamilton. He puts his familiar gleaming smile to good use as Georges, the owner of the drag club and, thanks to a momentary diversion, father of a child he raises with Albin.
Hamilton is a little too soft-spoken and reserved at times, and he may miss or mess a few lines along the way, but you can't help but root for him. More often than not, he delivers. His singing is quite passable, too.
The rest of the cast does sturdy, dynamic work. Billy Harrigan Tighe brings a particularly warm and supple voice to the role of Georges' son Jean-Michel, whose plan to marry the daughter of an arch-conservative politician sets "La Cage" spinning. Jeigh Madjus is quite the dynamo as the "butler" Jacob. Gay Marshall adds a lot of bounce to the proceedings as restaurant owner Jacqueline.
The corps of drag queens — thankfully, no women are worked into the ranks the way they were back when "La Cage" was new — is at once nimble, flighty and tough. When they don their bird outfits (Matthew Wright designed the vibrant costumes), they look like crazed runaways from a "Swan Lake" company.
Tim Shortall's scenic design has lots of color and detail, especially when Georges and Albin's flat gets a makeover, from emotional to devotional, to impress Jean-Michel's would-be in-laws.
The creaky bits of the plot and the score still creak. The scene where Georges tries to teach Albin "manly" motions still rankles. The padded production numbers still wear out their welcome, despite the energy that propels them here.
But "La Cage" remains a good old-fashioned musical with good old-fashioned values, and a lot of it comes off as surprisingly fresh in this well-oiled revival (a real orchestra, rather than a few guys and synthesizers, would add even more).
There are strong messages in the show — some folks would call this an agenda, I suppose — about what it means to be human and true to yourself; about how the definition of family can be awfully complicated, but still mean a family.
In the end, though, "La Cage" is as eager to entertain as Albin, when he dons makeup, gown and wig. Entertain it does. But, to steal a line from Georges, it also lets you leave the theater with more than a folded program and a ticket stub.
If you go
"La Cage aux Folles" runs through Sunday at the Hippodrome, 12 N. Eutaw St. Tickets are $59.25 to $91.20. Call 410-547-7328, or go to Ticketmaster.com.
There's a restaurant scene partway through Act 2 of "La Cage aux Folles" that spotlights Christopher Sieber, playing Albin, the reigning drag queen of Saint-Tropez in the propulsive and entertaining production at the Hippodrome this week.