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New ovarian stimulation technique offers more women with cancer the chance to preserve their fertility
ESHRE11 July 2008
Barcelona, Spain: Researchers have shown for the first time that it is possible to stimulate a woman's ovaries to produce eggs for collection during the final phase of the menstrual cycle. The finding offers the chance for more women who have been diagnosed with cancer to restore their fertility following chemotherapy or radiotherapy - cancer treatments that can seriously damage the ovaries, often permanently. The findings were presented at the 24th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona today (Monday).
At present, women who have been diagnosed with cancer may want to have some of their eggs collected and frozen in order to give them an opportunity of having children once their cancer treatment has finished. However, conventional protocols involve starting ovarian stimulation only at the beginning of a woman's menstrual cycle (the day that menstruation starts). Therefore, if the cancer diagnosis is made at any other time in the cycle, a woman could wait up to six weeks before it would be possible to collect eggs (or oocytes) after ovarian stimulation. For many women, six weeks is too long to wait before starting cancer treatment.
Dr Michael von Wolff, vice-director of the Department of Gynaecological Endocrinology and Reproduction Medicine at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, told a conference news briefing: "Depending on what phase of her menstrual cycle a woman is in when she receives a cancer diagnosis, it can take between two and six weeks to start ovarian stimulation and collect oocytes. Two weeks is an acceptable amount of time in many diseases to wait before starting a cancer treatment such as chemotherapy, but three to six weeks is far too long."
The researchers conducted a pilot study in 40 women in 2007 to see whether it would be possible to initiate ovarian stimulation during the luteal phase (the phase in the menstrual cycle from ovulation to the start of the next menstruation), without first having to give drugs to stop the luteal phase.
"Although other research has looked at giving medication to stop the luteal phase and then starting regular IVF treatment a few days later, to my knowledge, nobody has ever started ovarian stimulation immediately, without delay, in the luteal phase, either for IVF or for cancer patients," said Dr von Wolff. "This is because, in traditional IVF, ovarian stimulation has to be started at the beginning of the menstrual cycle, otherwise the endometrium is inadequately developed and a fertilised oocyte would be unable to implant successfully."
The researchers started ovarian stimulation in 28 patients in the proliferative phase of their cycle (the time from the start of menstruation to ovulation) using standard stimulation medications (GnRH-analogues and human menopausal gonadtropin, HMG, or follicle stimulation hormone, FSH). In a second group of 12 women they started stimulation during the luteal phase, using GnRH-antagonists and recombinant FSH (a synthetic form of FSH) in order to hasten the end of the luteal phase (luteolysis) and promote the development of new follicles containing oocytes.
The average time of ovarian stimulation was 10.3 days in the first group and 11.4 days in the second group. A mean average of 13 oocytes were collected from the first group and 10 from the second group. Nearly 77% and 73% of the oocytes were mature in the respective groups, and after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), 70% and 75% of the oocytes were fertilised respectively.
The researchers found that if ovarian stimulation was started in the second group during ovulation, then the luteal phase stopped after five days, and if stimulation was started in the mid-luteal phase, then it stopped within two days, enabling new follicles to start maturing.
Dr von Wolff said: "We found that the ovarian stimulation regime for patients in the luteal phase was successful in triggering the end of the luteal phase and the recruitment of a new cohort of follicles. The number of oocytes obtained after stimulation in the luteal phase was slightly but not significantly lower than those obtained after stimulation in the proliferative phase. However the oocyte quality was the same in both groups. This pilot study demonstrates for the first time that mature oocytes can be obtained before cancer therapy within a time frame of two weeks.
"This new protocol would enable patients with cancers such as breast cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma to have ovarian stimulation and oocyte collection. Waiting for two weeks before they start cancer treatment is acceptable for most patients while this process happens. For breast cancer patients, this technique can be combined with the anti-oestrogen drug letrozole. Furthermore, this protocol allows the combination of freezing and storing both ovarian tissue and oocytes, which results in the women having a higher chance of achieving pregnancy if their cancer treatment causes ovarian failure."
Dr von Wolff said information about these new techniques needed to be disseminated to oncologists so that they were aware of the options available to their patients to help them preserve their fertility. National networks of specialised centres capable of carrying out these techniques should be established, he concluded.


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Alan's Retreat In The Hills
Alan Yang
Location: Hollywood Hills — Los Angeles, CA
Size: 2,000 square feet
Years lived in: 1.5 years — own
Last Summer I had the awesome pleasure of working with interior designer Sally Breer of Commingle Home, where we photographed her clients home in the Hollywood Hills. Alan Yang, a screenwriter for Parks & Recreation, has been enjoying this incredible home for just over a year now.
The home in the hills boasts two bedrooms, three bathrooms, an incredible office... and a speakeasy! Yes, Sally turned a former storage room into a speakeasy-inspired hidden bar, trap door included. Though Alan's home has a wonderful nod to many design traditions and a fun aesthetic, I love that he doesn't take it all too seriously.
In a rad house that has so many incredible elements like the awesome view, the cozy office with a fireplace and the newly remodeled kitchen, it'd be hard to name just one favorite element. Alan remarks, "I really like the porthole mirror in the living room. You can flip a switch on the side, make the mirror disappear and reveal a photograph. The photo is of my mom, my sister and me at my second birthday party. I told my designer to crop my mom and sister out and just leave me in the middle, looking really cute, but she refused. Now I'm glad she did, because it reminds me of how much I love my family."
This home has no shortage of nooks to crawl in and find a comfy cozy spot to take a nap. However that wasn't Alan's main goal at all. He hilariously admits, "I had one goal when designing and furnishing my new house: I wanted a place where I could comfortably sit and eat a burrito at four in the morning. I am proud to say that I have accomplished that goal, and eaten several burritos in the designated place."
Sally Breer was in charge of most of the home's design renovations and piecing together Alan's style in a way that worked for everyday living. Also with a home that truly implores the LA bachelor and lifestyle it's easy to imagine how much the city's influence may have had on the design itself. Alan says "L.A. has a unique mixture of electrifying, star-studded nightlife, breathtaking natural beauty, and quirky ethnic neighborhoods, and I think it's safe to say that soaking all of that in has made me the most important designer of the twenty-first century."
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Alan's words about the house...
My Style: Modern, warm, comfortable. Also, everyone says "eclectic," so I'm going to say "not eclectic." It's the opposite of eclectic. Everything in my house comes from one aisle in the Target on Santa Monica and La Brea. Check it out — it's an awesome aisle.
Inspiration: Southern California. The Park Hyatt Shanghai. The Bowery Hotel in New York. The art of Ed Ruscha. The smell of freshly cut Kentucky bluegrass. The sensation of petting a dolphin. Voicemails. Tangerines. Austrian harpischords. What was the question?
Favorite Element: There's a little bar downstairs that's hidden behind a bookshelf that serves as a secret door. I also plan to use that bar as a panic room, so now I'm screwed if my future robber reads Apartment Therapy.
Biggest Challenge: Filling out this survey, when really I owe everything to my supremely talented designer, Sally Breer.
What Friends Say: They're just blown away that I no longer live in a house with five dudes.
Biggest Embarrassment: I do not deserve to live in a house this nice.
Proudest DIY: The living room fireplace used to be covered in a weird beige marble that made visitors vomit in disgust. Now it has a beautiful reclaimed wood facade that makes visitors vomit in appreciation and awe.
Biggest Indulgence: There are beautiful vintage apothecary bottles from Paris above the bar in the speakeasy room. And with the previous sentence, I've just won the award for "Most Down-to-Earth Man in America."
Best Advice: Hire a designer with impeccable taste. Also, put secret rooms everywhere in your house. They're the best. I have like fourteen secret rooms that I didn't even let you guys photograph. I park my car in a cave in Glendale that connects to my house somehow, I don't even know how.
Dream Sources: As I said, everything in the house, including all my food and clothes and stuff, comes from that one aisle in Target. So I guess "that aisle in Target"?
Resources of Note:
For the resource notes I asked Sally to talk about specific pieces and elements that stood out the most..
• All paint is Behr • Living room is Fashion Gray • Master bedroom is Burnished Clay
• Bar cart was a thrift store find- we had it painted white and added vintage hardware from liz's antique hardware.
• Mirror was a rosebowl score- I had to rewire it- which I did myself- it was an adventure! Haha the photo inside is of Alan as a little kid at his birthday party. (when the light is off it looks like a regular mirror- we loved that when it's turned on there's a more intimate & personal photograph hiding in there)
• The bench along the stairway- a vintage frame- we had the velvet cushion made for it.
• Sofa is from Hd buttercup- we had it recovered in Herman miller fabric. I believe the color is "ashes".
• Rug is from Modern Rugs on La Cienega- he was liquidating his oriental rugs so we ended up getting it for a really great price!
• Dining table was custom built by a guy up in san Francisco area- he uses all reclaimed materials.
• Chairs, I'm afraid, are knock off molded Eames - Amazon! We needed something clean and modern but we splurged on the pendants so we had to be conservative on the chairs.
• The pendants are vintage Raak lights, originally from Amsterdam- purchased from Amsterdam Modern
• I unfortunately don't know who did the kitchen- previous owners had it done. We, however, took out the wall between the kitchen and the living room to open up the living space. We also put up the wood on the fireplace facade
• The (colorful framed) prints are actually vintage teaching aids from Uncommon Objects in Austin Texas that we framed! They were so beautiful I thought- they're double sided which made me a little sad to have to lose a side!
• Chairs are vintage- Rosebowl Flea Market- had them recovered.
• Pendant light was custom made by a local welder. We took out a big ceiling fan and replaced it with our light to create something that was architectural and that would be a bit more interesting than the usual thing.
• Desk was a Craigslist score
• I actually got the vintage pollock chair from my rug cleaner- it was sitting in his office and I spied it one day when I went to pick up rugs that had just been cleaned. It took some major finesse to convince him to sell it to me. It was a major find.
• The painting above the mantel-It's a quote from David Foster Wallace (one of Alan's favorite authors) I found the big piece at a thrift store and then just used letter decals from the hardware store to spell out the quote.
• The headboard was actually a coffee table that I bought a while ago- the legs were ugly so i had planned to make a new base for it when I realized Alan needed a headboard! We were on a "guest room budget" (meaning, not the same amount as a master bedroom) so we needed to make the biggest impact with only a few pieces. The actual bedframe is just Ikea.
• The metal cabinet "credenza" is made of two metal cabinets I found at a flea market. They were used In a garage for tools and had weird paint all over them so we stripped the paint and then I had my welder make a base for them to raise them to normal credenza height and a piece of lacquered wood for the top to make it feel a bit more like one piece. By adding the legs and top we gave it a more modern and less industrial feel.
• Truthfully it was mainly inspired by Alan's coolness. And I mean that sincerely. He's a social butterfly and kind of the ultimate gentleman. So when I first saw the tiny weird "storage" room it seemed obvious that we made it into a speak easy. Also he was heavily influenced by his time at the Harvard lampoon and in one of our first meetings he was telling me about how magical and secret that building was. We couldn't really incorporate that intimate, dark vibe in the rest of the house because it's such a California house but this was our opportunity to give a nod to the lampoon.
• About the hidden door- When I was a little kid, we were staying at a family friend's chateau in the south of France and he had (what seemed like) endless secret passages. Hidden doors in the backs of closets that would open to entirely secret rooms. It left a MAJOR impression on my 8year old nerdy self. I'd probably put secret rooms in every house if I could. I don't think i'm alone on this one? Who hates secret doors and passages? No human I know. The original door was glass and for obvious reasons was all kinds of wrong for a secret bar so it was kind of a no-brainer.
• Lighting is a mix- Edison pendants from Big Daddy's Antiques, Sarafatti chandelier is from HD buttercup and then pendant over game table is vintage flea market.
• The chairs were all from a thrift store! We recovered in ombré blue velvets.
• The barstools are vintage Saarinen- I was really jazzed about these!
• The mirrored shelving above the bar- custom made bar & shelving by Chris Lumpkin Furniture
Thanks, Alan! Also BIG THANK YOU to Sally Breer
(Images: Bethany Nauert)• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE: Check out past house tours here. • Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form. • Are you a designer/architect/decorator interested in sharing a residential project with Apartment Therapy readers? Contact the editors through our Professional Submission Form.

subset: commoncrawl


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A T-Mobile salesman, who is also a massive Windows Phone enthusiast, was treated by Nokia to CES 2012 in Las Vegas with VIP treatment throughout the week. These treats included helicopter and Ferrari rides, Playboy parties and more, it certainly was an eventful week.
Will this incite salestaff throughout the U.S.? We'll have to see.


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In the advanced sessions, classic Asanas such as prānāyāmā, mudra and bandha are practiced which help in achieving mental wellness.REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT
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My Cloud Business Series 4-Bay Pre-configured NAS with Intel processor & WD Red Drives - 8TB
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In its annual battle with cross-town rival Harvard University, the host Crimson defeated nationally-ranked No. 13 MIT, 25-23, 25-17, 25-19, in a non-conference men's volleyball match on Tuesday night. Senior Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, Mo.) produced a team-high 10 kills to go along with four digs for the Engineers (11-10).
Junior Ken Siebert (St. Louis, Mo.) tallied seven kills, four digs, and two aces while classmate Paul Syta (Fairport, N.Y.) posted 24 assists and five kills. Sophomore Andrew Busse (Mount Prospect, Ill.) bolstered MIT's attack with five kills as senior Patrick Vatterott (St. Louis, Mo.) rounded out the front row with two blocks. Freshman Brendan Chang (Laytonsville, Md.) led the way with seven digs followed by five from sophomore Chris Omahan (Mount Vernon, Ohio).
The Engineers built a 5-1 lead in the opening set and maintained a small cushion until back-to-back errors helped Harvard tie the score at 21. Both teams traded points before a pair of hitting miscues propelled the Crimson to the win.
Harvard jumped out to a 7-2 advantage in the second set but MIT responded with a 10-4 run as a Siebert kill and ace put the visitors in front, 12-11. After alternating serves, a pair of kills gave the Crimson a 16-14 edge. The Engineers cut their deficit in half courtesy of a service error but this was as close as it would get as Harvard closed out the frame with a 9-2 run.
The early stages of the final frame were closely played as a kill by Busse evened the score at eight. The Crimson recorded six of the next seven points resulting in an MIT timeout. The Engineers battled back as Hohenberger's kill and ace narrowed the gap to three (17-14). Harvard countered with a 6-2 spurt which prompted MIT to use its final timeout of the set. Coming out of the break, Vatterott and freshman Tavish Smith (Oceanside, Calif.) registered kills to make the score 23-18. A service error resulted in match point; however, a hitting miscue by the Crimson kept the Engineers' alive. Harvard then denied MIT a chance at generating a late rally by clinching the match on its next attempt.
MIT continues its road trip this weekend at the March Mania Tournament hosted by Endicott College. The Engineers will take on Johnson & Wales University and Emmanuel College on Saturday, March 9 before squaring off with Sage College and No. 14 Rivier University the next day.


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Melissa Odabash's 'Bahamas' bikini is trimmed with three gilded horsebits. Particularly flattering on petite and athletic figures, it has an adjustable halterneck top and self-tie briefs allowing you to customize the fit. We think the bright white hue is the perfect complement to sun-kissed skin.
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Course Description
This course offers an opportunity to physicians interested in Neuromodulation Techniques for the treatment of Chronic Pain to discuss with expert colleagues current and new treatment modalities for various intractable painful conditions. The discussions on the first day will focus on ailments that will help the participants better understand the new treatment modalities, patient selection process, and implant techniques that lead to a successful treatment of such conditions. During the second part of the program participants will have the possibility to practice implant techniques in embalmed bodies prepared for this purpose.
Target Audience
Pain management specialists interested in using neurostimulation and intrathecal drug delivery for chronic pain management:
- Pain anesthesiologists and anesthetists
- Neurosurgeons
- Physiotherapy specialists
- Palliative care specialists
- Neurologists
- Nursing staff
Learning Objectives
At the end of this training participants will:
- Master the new treatment modalities
- Select patients
- Implant neurostimulators and ITDD pumps
- Manage implant complications
- Program and troubleshoot an implant with advanced features
This training program was granted 9 European CME credits (ECMEC) by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME). Event code: 12205


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by Michael Caruso
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, celebrated the Feast of All Saints with a Choral Evensong on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 4. The parish's music director, Zach Hemenway, conducted the combined adult and treble choirs plus organ scholar Caroline Robinson in a musical program that featured works by George Thalben-Ball, Healey Willan, Martin Neary, Charles Villiers Stanford, T. Tertius Noble, Edgar Bainton and G.S. Talbot.
Noble's "Magnificat" and "Nunc Dimittis," both taken from his "Evening Service in B minor," were the afternoon's principal scores. Both are English language settings from New Testament texts. The words of the "Nunc Dimittis" (Lord, now lettest thy servant depart in peace) were spoken by Simeon in that Gospel's Second Chapter. Noble set both texts with music that was straightforward yet expressive. Harmonies were both evocative and propulsive. The presentation of the words was clear, and the contrapuntal textures were smoothly blended.
St. Paul's combined choir of adults and children sang both works beautifully, filling the church's dramatically arched neo-Gothic vaults with warm and expressive tones.
The 2012-13 season of "Concerts at the Cathedral Basilica" continued Friday, Nov. 9, with the London-based Tenebrae Choir singing a program of mostly Russian Orthodox sacred choral music in the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter & Paul on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in center city. The concert drew an audience of nearly 1,000 music lovers, probably twice the size of the crowd that heard Tenebrae last season.
Nigel Short conducted the 17-member choir in mostly unaccompanied music only rarely heard outside the confines of the great cathedrals of the Russian Orthodox Church. While most American classical music lovers think of the piano whenever they hear or read the name of Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Russian master actually considered his piano music lesser in import than his orchestral music and those works of lesser importance than his sacred choral music.
His "All-Night Vigil" and "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom" are among the treasures of not just the sacred choral music of the Russian Orthodox Church, but of all sacred choral music composed for any and all liturgies. Nigel Short added variety to the roster of works by including music by the Estonian Arvo Part's "The Beatitudes" and several exquisite scores by the contemporary Englishman, Paul Mealor.
The Tenebrae Choir sang every work in their daunting two-hour concert with technical mastery and interpretive conviction. All 17 voices blended immaculately, yet whenever an individual singer sang a solo, his or her voice blossomed with stentorian power.
I hasten to mention the important ingredient of the venue. Although the Cathedral Basilica is in desperate need of restoration, there's nothing wrong with its acoustics for programs such as this. The tones emanated from the choir and then rolled outward and then back again to surround the audience with the roseate sound of heavenly singing.
When Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra celebrated this past June the centenary of Leopold Stokowski's appointment as music director of the ensemble with a series of concerts in its historic home, the Academy of Music, the results were spectacular. Stoki's young successor displayed an ear for sonorities that would have impressed the legendary maestro. Nezet-Seguin elicited sounds from the Philadelphians that old-timers like me — who actually heard Stokowski conduct and grew up during Eugene Ormandy's 44-year tenure — feared were part of the past but not of the future.
So it was with an optimistic spirit that I attended Saturday night's concert in the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall. Guest conductor Emmanuel Krivine had assembled a program Stokowski might have conducted: Franck's "Symphony in D minor," Poulenc's "Concerto in D minor for Two Pianos & Orchestra" (with soloists Christina & Michelle Naughton) and Stokowski's transcription for orchestra of Bach's "Toccata & Fugue in D minor for solo organ." It turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments in many a year.
Krivine displayed not one hint of Stokowski's acclaimed sound. In place of shimmering clarity from top to bottom of the range, he offered muddy textures, sloppy rhythms, rushed tempi and unarticulated phrases in both the Franck and the Bach. Ensemble was dreadful in the former while the counterpoint was obliterated in the latter. If Stokowski wasn't dead already, he certainly would have died Saturday night hearing what was being done to his "Fabulous Philadelphians."


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POSTED: Jun 21, 2013 5:41 PM ET
(AP) — Tony Parker refused to consider it, though it can't be ruled out.
David Aldridge Reports on the Spurs
Those last, agonizing moments of the NBA Finals may have been the last we see of these San Antonio Spurs.
Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Parker have been together for more than a decade, through more than 100 postseason victories. They are proud winners who have endured some crushing defeats, but nothing ever hurt like this NBA championship that got away.
"It's tough to come so close," Parker said. "Those last two games are tough, especially Game 6."
San Antonio officially lost its chance for a fifth NBA title with its 95-88 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 7 on Thursday night. But the Game 6 defeat, when the Spurs couldn't hold a five-point lead in the final half-minute of regulation, is the one they might lament far longer.
The Spurs have always gotten back up when knocked down, even when it was done in such a tough manner.
When Derek Fisher's stunning shot with 0.4 seconds left helped send the Los Angeles Lakers past the Spurs in the second round of the 2004 playoffs, San Antonio came back and won the title the next year.
When the Dallas Mavericks ousted them with a Game 7 overtime victory in San Antonio in the 2006 playoffs, the Spurs came back and won the title the next year.
Coming back from this one might be a far tougher task.
Duncan is 37, still near the very top of the list of NBA big men but approaching the final steps of a path that will end up in the Hall of Fame. Ginobili will be a 36-year-old free agent next month whose game shows signs of a drop-off, his body no longer always able to execute some of those daring plays his mind thinks up.
It's been a heartbreaking year on the court for Ginobili, starting when the Spurs blew a 2-0 lead against Oklahoma City in the 2012 Western Conference finals. Argentina then missed a chance for another Olympic medal when it was edged by Russia in the third-place game in London, and now this.
So he wasn't able to consider his future in the moments after Game 7, saying it wasn't the time.
"At this point, it's very hard because we are all sad and disappointed, but as I said before, when there's such a fine line and we were so close of winning it, I mean, everything can be like failure or success just because of a shot," Ginobili said. "You understand what I'm saying? So I am trying to put things in perspective, but it's very hard. And the next few days are going to be very hard."
Parker is only 31, but like Ginobili has played so many games in the NBA and with his national team that it's not surprising his body betrays him. This time it happened at the worst time, a hamstring strain in the finals that may have contributed to his poor shooting nights in the final two games.
The Spurs didn't feel they needed to change last year, even after the Thunder vaulted past them to the top of the West, believing another year of growth for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green was the improvement they needed, and they may decide they can bring this group back one more time.
But Russell Westbrook should be back for Oklahoma City after a knee injury in the playoffs knocked the All-Star out of the lineup for the No. 1 seed, and the West is always loaded with three or four other contenders.
Leonard appears to be a star in the making, and Green had a record-setting start to the finals before fizzling out at the finish. They could be even better all-around players next year. San Antonio has one of the league's best front offices, finding talent around the globe, so count on the Spurs finding someone who can help them out.
Coach Gregg Popovich said he'll be back, though he loses an important member of his staff with Mike Budenholzer leaving to become coach of the Atlanta Hawks.
But as always with the Spurs, the focus will be on their Big Three. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili led a memorable run this season, long after they could still be expected to do it.
"That's character," Popovich said. "We've got a bunch of guys who aren't going to give in, keep playing with each other, for each other, and really feel the responsibility to each other. So I expect nothing less, and that's what I got."
Perhaps for the last time.


text:
Dreg Racer (Red)
Mount Information:
Level Requirement:
Level 3 to ride.
in-game store.
Ground mount.
Trailblaze across Nexus on this tech-infused hovor mount adorned with bones, tusks, skulls and spikes.
Guide to Obtain:
- You can purchase this mount from the in-game store.
- For a single character it will cost 790 Protobucks or 395 Omnibits.
- For account wide it will cost 1380 Protobucks or 690 OmniBits.
- This mount is 1 of 2 mounts from Collectors Pack: Racers.
Mount Riding Skill Upgrade:
- Advanced Riding License (This increases your mounted speed by 15% of the base skill) - Purchase from a Mount Vendor for 50 Gold (your character must be level 40 to purchase.)
- Expert Riding License (This increases your mounted speed by 35% of the base riding skill) - Purchase from in-game store for 790 Protobucks or 395 OmniBits (this purchase can only be claimed by a single character).
- Note not all mounts are affected by Riding Skills as some travel faster than normal, check mounts tooltip (hover over icon) for their information.
Mount Customization:
- Mounts can be customized, go to Mount Customization in game to bring up the menu.
- Click HERE for Ground mount Customization List.


text:
"Magnetic Eyes" – the brilliant new single from Matrix & Futurebound featuring the vocal talents of Baby Blue – just smashed into the UK TOP 40 – jumping from number 100 to number 39 in its first week of release, the highest climber on the overall chart. Download your copy here.
The buzz around the latest track from the drum and bass superstars continues to build… much loved at 1Xtra and firmly on the playlist over at BBC Radio 1, "Magnetic Eyes" is also being strongly supported by Kiss FM and regional radio. Expect a strong midweek chart position!
Baby Blue recently laid down this acoustic version of the track.


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05 September 2010
Deanshanger Weather Station
Well the weather station is now back up and running. After water got into the cable early this year and worked its way down the cable into very expensive receivers and computer equipment. There will be a few breaks in the service as i move data and Templates onto another PC, this should not take long and hopefully i can keep the water out this time. Hope you find it useful and please feel free to send me suggestions etc. Many thanks.


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Review Group Week 185 - FANTASTIC FOUR #570
Hey you! Reader! Want to be a part of the GREATEST COMIC BOOK AND GEEK COMMUNITY on the web?! Well, they're not accepting new members, but we'll take anyone here, so why not sign up for a free acount? It's fast and it's easy, like your mom! Sign up today! Membership spots are limited!*
*Membership spots not really limited!
Hey you! Reader! Want to be a part of the GREATEST COMIC BOOK AND GEEK COMMUNITY on the web?! Well, they're not accepting new members, but we'll take anyone here, so why not sign up for a free acount? It's fast and it's easy, like your mom! Sign up today! Membership spots are limited!*
*Membership spots not really limited!
by ****** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:21 pm
by guitarsmashley » Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:28 pmI love making you edit the article to include my review. I'll have it done this afternoon(az time)
by Punchy » Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:57 pmJust read this, and really liked it, I thought it was full of interesting ideas, and was one of the best takes on Reed Richards I've seen, may have been better than this week's Secret Warriors.
Review tonight or tomorrow morning.
by SuperginraiX » Tue Sep 01, 2009 2:15 pm
Yes, but it may be because I really enjoyed the story at that point and really hate the original logo. I may also love the nineties.
I was actually hoping the Millar/Hitch logo would last longer. I like the look. Ah well.
by guitarsmashley » Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:28 pm
You have to have some of the worse taste in comics. I have no issues in the muscular reed. Personally I think it's a good thing to finally have him look like he could be capable of kicking some ass instead of letting other people do it for him while he twist around them rubbing his genitals all over there bodies. The art on this issue was pretty good but the story is stagnant as best. For a jump on issue it doesn't do that at all. It doesn't introduce the reader to anyone except a world full of reeds who you know are just going to turn out to be bad guys and reed and the boys and Sue who seemed completely useless this issue are going to have to help him out of this bucket of syrup. This issue had moments and I will say it had three great moments.
1.Reed and Sue in embrace.
2.Franklin asking about them helping the boy.
3. Idea 101.
but that's it. The bridge is a pretty stupid concept and I can't say this was a great first issue to a run of anything. Mark Waid did such great things and I see them all just disappearing.
by MrBlack » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:56 pmIn all likelihood, I will not be getting any of my comics until next week, so I probably won't have a review this week. Just wanted to give amlah6 a heads up.
by ****** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:09 pm
Thank you, sir.
by Chubbles » Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:35 pmFantastic Four Review
I've never had fantastic four be a part of my pull list so I came into this hoping Hickman could push through my disliking of the F4. So far so good I think. Hickman is one of my favorite writers out there. Transhuman, Pax Romana and Nightly News are all brilliant. Hickman is an excellent storyteller. He ties so many grand schemes and elaborate plots together so fantastically that I have no doubt he's gonna do something awesome here as well. This was a solid set up issue where he allows Eaglesham to flex some of his artistic muscle a bit. I very much enjoyed that spread with all the alternate Reed's. I still don't care much for the F4 but I believe 100% in Hickman so count me in for this.
Story 7
Art 7
Overall 7
by Starlord » Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:38 pmgeez, once again I feel guilty for not liking it as much as others.
by guitarsmashley » Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:03 am
but you disliked as much as I did and that's what counts.
by Garofani Spruzzo » Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:14 amOK, now where has the 4thman been?
Writing for the man?
by ****** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:18 am
Teaching Sunday School for nazi youth is time consuming I would imagine.
by Garofani Spruzzo » Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:23 am
Psh. Well, yeah, if you insist on private one-on-one sessions in the Rectory.
by Punchy » Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:48 amFantastic Four #570 - 'Solve Everything Part One' - Hickman, Eaglesham and Mounts
Story - For a very simple concept, the Fantastic Four has been difficult for many writers to get right, nobody has really struck the right tone since Stan and Jack. People may suggest John Byrne or Waid and Wieringo, but they still don't come that close. Millar and Hitch had promise early on, but by the end of their run, things had petered out. So now it's the turn of Jonathan Hickman to take the reins of Marvel's first family, and for my money, he does a pretty great job.
This is not Hickman's first go around at the FF, he previously wrote the team's Dark Reign mini-series, which recieved mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed, it was full of great ideas, funny alternate worlds, and some great Norman Osborn moments. Hickman picks up from that series here, as Reed Richards decided to use his 'Bridge Machine' in an attempt to 'solve everything'. That's a big statement, it may be a bit nebulous, but it's a catchy hook for a storyline, it's very Reed, and an inventive writer can do a lot with such an idea, and I think Hickman is the man for the job.
Make no mistake, this opening issue is the Reed Richards show all the way, the rest of the family barely get a look in. But I don't really have a problem with this, Reed has often been short-changed by many writers, and ever since Civil War many fans have hated him with a ferocity close to Tony Stark levels, Hickman began to rehablitate him in DR:FF and he continues here. The issue opens a flashback to Reed's childhood, where he is afraid to leap off a ledge, but his father gives him some sage advice. It's a scene which explains much of Reed's motivation, why he does what he does in general, and also why he does what he does in this issue.
In the present day we see the FF facing one of their old foes, The (Wingless) Wizard, in a scene that is genuinely creepy, the clones' blank faces, and then the poor cloned child, it was a dark touch, but it worked. I also liked how Hickman played up the parallels between Reed and the Wizard, they are both brilliant minds, and both have a desire to change the World, but go about it a different way. Hickman even compares their parenting techniques, the Wizard is disappointed in his 'children', whereas Reed is kind and tells them stories. Hickman set up some interesting threads with Franklin in Dark Reign, but they aren't picked up here as of yet, but I anticipate some interesting stuff with him and the Wizard's son.
Reed's secret Laboratory is one of the coolest scenes I've read in the FF for a while, the scribbles all over the wall, the 'deep in thought' personal touch, it's exactly what a brilliant, distracted mind like Reed would have, that scene is a sense of normalcy, before things get truly weird, and they do get weird, like... Grant Morrison weird. Reed turns on his machine, and is greeted by... himself. Well, not himself, but alternate reality versions. There follows a lot of fun pseudo-scientific words, which even Mister Fantastic doesn't get, but essentially, he's joining The Legion Of Super-Reeds, and it's awesome. It's a kooky idea, and it can go a lot places, Hickman has shown he's got a willingness to do crazy stuff, and an idea like this is much more akin to a DC idea than a Marvel one, especially these days, but the FF should always be going to new places, and this is just that. And that last page, with the Infinitey Gauntlet Reeds... he's even picking up on threads from the Illuminati. Hickman is bringing the FF forwards again, but also tying up some loose ends, and it's a lot of fun.
But there are still some problems, as I said, this is Reed all the way, Sue does pretty much nothing. Johnny and Ben get a bit of set-up for a holiday to Nu-Earth, which should be fun, it's good to see some of Millar's plot threads being picked up, but the balance of the FF is integral to the book's health, and Hickman needs to be able to focus on all the team members equally. Hopefully in future issues he will do, Millar tried to have each of his 4 story arcs focus (sort of) on a different team member, maybe Hickman will try something like that.
But overall, this is a strong first outing for Hickman with the FF, each team member is written well, especially man of the issue Reed Richards, there are some great new ideas floated, and I really got a kick out of the Legion of Super-Reeds. From his Indie work, we know Hickman is a writer with a lot to say and a lot of ideas, I hope things get even crazier from here on out. He's not just doing Galactus and Doom again, this is a personal story in many ways... but a cosmic one at the same time.
Art - Dale Eaglesham was one of the best artists at DC while he was there, which was why it was such a shame he was wasted on Johns' increasingly dull JSA. Now he's at Marvel, I can see his art on a good book!
Much has been written about how Reed is looking too muscular, but I don't particularly have a problem with it. He's a superhero, he fights people all the time. Before it got retconned, he was a WW2 veteran, if you go back and look at Kirby's work, he's pretty tough. To me, it makes Reed seem like Doc Savage or something, a kick-ass science explorer. I also like his stubble, for a man that's driven by work, it makes sense.
The other characters look good too, I like how lumpy Ben is, and Johnny's face is hilarious on many occasions. Eaglesham has a knack for great expressions. I was particularly chilled by the face of the Wizard's child clone, that blank, painful stare, great stuff.
And you can tell he had a lot of fun with the Legion of Super-Reeds, some funny alternates there.
Best Line - 'But to say that you're not even willing to try... that's unacceptable Reed' That pretty much sumes up the ethos of Mister Fantastic.
7/10 A strong opening issue, perhaps too much focus on one character, but the way Reed is written is very strong. There are some mad ideas in here, and some loose ends too. Plus, creepy villain. What more do you want in the FF?
by thefourthman » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:30 am
Working, the boss keeps sending shit over even though there is nowhere to put anything in this fucking store and I have asked him repeatedly to slow it down. I haven't done anything but relist on Ebay for two weeks cause I am constantly shipping and the boss man's new stupid policies mean only me and one other guy are getting any work done in the store and he is too fucking stupid to put more than one person on at a time to get anything done. Stupid fucking prick.
That and my cold from the other week never really went away and took a turn for the worse this weekend. I am about a week behind on BF stuff now and Jude wanted me to write something up on Disney (which I don't think I will be able to do in a timely fashion)
so, in conclusion life sucks and I haven't been on the internet as much. Although I was involved in the Disney thread on the asylum for a few hours on monday.
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text:
Daniel Burka
Paul, that's a really solid article.
I was actually debating the value of developing multiple concepts with a couple of designers the other day and I definitely was taking the same position you are — it sounds good to deliver multiple versions but as a designer you should know which is actually the best design and (without being arrogant) it's counter-productive to provide examples that you ultimately believe are below par.
A number of the other points are really strong as well. Providing written material explaining your thinking, wireframing, understanding users… these are the crux of a solid relationship.


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A post by Benjamin Eberlei@https://www.acquia.com/blog/high-quality-php-benjamin-eberlei
High Quality PHP
Posted on Thu, Dec 19, 2013
by Benjamin Eberlei
by Benjamin Eberlei
The historical perception of PHP in the software development community has not been the best. Some think it is a language for non-programmers and tinkerers, generally resulting in software of questionable quality. From its beginnings as a simple scripting language for online guests-books, PHP has transformed itself in the last 15 years to support high-quality software development and enterprise deployment, and it has managed to do so without losing the roots of its initial success.
Getting Things Done with Quality in Mind
The focus of PHP has always been on "getting things done" and the language's developers still value this goal highly. This practicality has spawned great open-source software such as phpBB, Drupal, Wordpress and various other well known applications that are hosted on millions of servers worldwide. Many PHP developers commit to learning these open-source platforms and developing custom applications on top of them. This approach of building extendable open-source platforms has served the PHP community well and lead to the majority of websites online today being run on PHP-based software.
With the wide-spread adoption and use of PHP, quality assurance and long-term maintainability have become increasingly important. Open source projects and development companies realize that they need to adopt new techniques and tools to continue satisfying their customers in the long term. Over the years, the PHP community has done an amazing job of teaching interested developers about high quality software, the problems of global state, spaghetti-code, and high coupling at local user groups, conferences, and training courses around the world.
In my experience, PHP has often been the "last one at the table," when new development practices or tools are developed. The Java, Ruby, and Python communities are possibly more bleeding-edge innovative, but there are significant benefits to adopting a wait-and-see approach in these cases. Once a technique or practice has proven itself in practice and matured somewhat, the PHP community quickly assimilates it, benefitting from the experience (good and bad) of the earliest adopters. This has happened in the case of software quality approaches too, including unit-testing, functional-testing, and static code analysis on a very large scale.
You can see the results of this process – very high quality software – in almost every PHP open source project today. Did you know that Drupal and phpBB have thousands of automated tests to ensure the backwards compatibility of their libraries? So do most of the other big open source platforms. Nowadays all the big open-source projects use automated tests to improve the quality of their product. You should learn to do the same for your customer projects.
Tools to Help Improve Software Quality
Now that you know something of how open-source projects are improving the quality of their code, I want to provide an overview on some of the different techniques and tools that are used in PHP today.
Automated Testing
Automated testing allows you to run parts of your application code in a controlled environment – just like performing a chemical or physical experiment under controlled conditions. Your code is executed by a testing tool and you automate the process based on the expected or correct outcomes.
PHPUnit - The long-standing tool of choice for automated PHP testing is PHPUnit, written by Sebastian Bergmann. It allows you to write automated tests for both object-oriented- and functional PHP code.
Behat - Behat is a relatively new tool for automated testing. It works in a very different way to PHPUnit. Behat allows you to write tests in a a human-readable language called Gherkin and parses it into executable test-cases. Behat is a Behavior Driven Development ("BDD") tool, because it focuses on the behavior of systems from a user's perspective. Writing browsers tests with Behat is very easy. Here's an example from the Gherkin documentation that shows part of a user access test:
- Scenario: Wilson posts to his own blog
- Given I am logged in as Wilson
- When I try to post to "Expensive Therapy"
- Then I should see "Your article was published."
- Scenario: Wilson fails to post to somebody else's blog
- Given I am logged in as Wilson
- When I try to post to "Greg's anti-tax rants"
- Then I should see "Hey! That's not your blog!"
Because of their very different approaches to testing, PHPUnit and Behat actually complement each other very well. A growing number of enterprise-level PHP projects are using a combination of both to achieve the best-possible test coverage.
Keep it SOLID
Writing automated tests isn't easy if you don't develop your software with testability in mind. As a programmer, you should familiarize yourself with the SOLID principles to make object-oriented code more testable. If you prefer functional programming, then you should look into creating lots of pure functions that don't mess with global state or have any other side effects. In general it's much easier to write automated tests for code that uses no globals and is built out of discrete, "composable" units – be it objects or functions – that can be put together at application runtime.
Static Code Analysis Tools
Static analysis tools don't execute code; they are used to find code that can be optimized in a number of ways. Static analysis tools are good for getting an overview of project quality. They are generally helpful in pointing out the most critical areas in your code in need of improvement. There is a wide range of static analysis tools available that can help:
- Check for common, consistent coding style (PHP CodeSniffer: "PHP_CodeSniffer is a PHP5 script that tokenises PHP, JavaScript and CSS files to detect violations of a defined coding standard. It is an essential development tool that ensures your code remains clean and consistent. It can also help prevent some common semantic errors made by developers.")
- Check for programming errors and messy behavior (PHP Mess Detector: "PHPMD takes a given PHP source code base and looks for several potential problems within that source, like possible bugs; suboptimal code; overcomplicated expressions; and unused parameters, methods, and properties.")
- Check for copy pasted code (PHP Copy-Paste Detector: "phpcpd scans a PHP project for duplicated code.")
- Compute complexity metrics for code (PHP_Depend: "pdepend can generate a large set of software metrics from a given code base. These values can be used to measure the quality of a software project and they help to identify the parts of an application where a code refactoring should be applied.")
- For more information and a great collection of tools to improve your PHP code, try the The PHP Quality Assurance Toolchain.
Round Up
PHP has come a long way and is now a proven and reliable enterprise technology. It has a variety of powerful testing tools available to it and a vibrant community that is passionate about software quality best-practices.
Becoming proficient with the selection of quality assurance tools and techniques I have introduced here will help you write better code and applications. These, in turn, will lead to happier clients and website visitors.


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What sort of transcripts are you looking for exactly? What levels, contents, etc?
Fatter Than HarryGuest
Hi All,
I was cruising the internet looking for inspiration and came upon this site, some fantastic resources available here, good job to you all
Ive just taken a job in China working for a large hotel company, being a quilo the first job given to me was to overhaul and update a pilfered English training manual and to implement a company training program for the million or so staff.
The manual is standard hotel English but has transcripts like
I say old chap, how do you do?
Im chipper and tip top bristol fashion, fancy a spot of tiffin?
Ok, its not quite that bad, but its not far off. Would any of you know of any transcripts I could use that might be found on the internet? Id be happy to credit the source and share the fruits of my labour with you all. I know the purists will say write your own bloody transcripts, but Ive 300 odd pages to re jig and Im expending all my inspiration on creating activities for the students.
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers and kind regards,
What sort of transcripts are you looking for exactly? What levels, contents, etc?
I was really looking for some modern day transcripts, the stuff I have is just unusable English, would you call it conversational English? I did find lots of good stuff here: http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslindex.html which is mainly aimed at lesson planning for dummies, which is perfect!
I must say the standard of English in China is very good, I've just arrived after a seven year stint in Thailand where their English was non existent outside of the tourist zones. Today at our new hotel, ninety new recruits were being drilled by Army Officers, we spent an hour in the canteen/classroom this morning teaching them English marching orders, which was funny as hell now It's the afternoon, but I was a bit scared this morning
I'm looking for all levels of English.
Thanks for your help,
Here's some hard core real English:
Or here for natural English:
Browse here:
Many thanks for that, a great help.
You're welcome.
Anything of use here?


text:
Beyonce Accidentally Rocks Her Huge $5 Million Wedding Ring! (Beyonce's GMA Interview About Opening Her Own Beauty School For Addicts)
Beyonce GMA interview
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