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At a certain point in life we are all challenged to take in consideration the wonderfully artificial world of consoles and videogames: Because whether it is for some sort of dynamic entertainment or an in-depth exercise in sociology, videogames matters.
And what definitely matters the most is the incredible fashions some of the characters are showing off. Ok, maybe it is not necessarily what matters the most, but it'd be blind not to take in consideration some of these outlandish outfits.
Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a top-ten kind of thing, as all of these ladies and gentlemen equally look fantastic to us.
Bayonetta – Bayonetta
This lady is a witch with an hair-do. And that could easily be enough, but this lady also has pink/blue gun heeled decolletes in patent leather and a backless catsuit with mesh and chain insets that also nonchalantly feature long weaves of black hair exemplarily attached to its sleeves. Bayonetta could take Gareth Pugh, give him a little hug and send him home happy.
She wears glasses because she is an intelligent woman of intellect. But she also wears her ass out because it's not that it bothers her much.
Ashley Riot – Vagrant Story
Speaking of asses out, we could not possibly refrain from mentioning one of our favourite heroes of all times, Ashley Riot, from the beautiful RPG Vagrant Story. Ashley is impeccably (and elegantly!) dressed in a lacerated tank top, shorts and sandals (just like any drunk eurotrash superstar at Heaven); but what really makes him a style icon is that he's not afraid of showing some bare clavicle and shoulder. So SS16! And how not to mention the importance he gives to highlighting his wasp-like waist with layered belts and useless bits in iron. And again, wearing that bra-bib thing with spaghetti straps is pretty much everything.
Ashley Riot also loves his Elnett.
Nina – Tekken
"If I have to fight some men double my size, then I might as well do it while wearing this lilac turtleneck bodice (?!?) with these matching chandelier earrings. And if I'll have to fight in the office then I shall fight in these vintage Jil Sander trousers and my Helmut Lang bra because I kick asses but I am also very elegant like that." YES NINA! That's how you become a violent starlet of videogaming! Without never compromising on your femininity or your elevated fashion taste!
Kudos for your mini-animalier sleeveless bolero, Nina. It is subtle, Nina.
Alucard – Castlevania
Alucard has a head that is comparatively real small when put next to his shoulder pads, his collars or his flowing, silvery mane. I mean, Alucard's head is small even compared to his own eyelashes, for that matter. But that's why he rightfully won a place in this list: Here's another effeminate hero who is not willing to compromise on his looks. If he wants he can wear one, two, three, four collars, he doesn't care! Gloves' turnups that are evidently bigger than his actual waist? He doesn't care. A cape the size and weight of a queen-sized matress? HE DON'T CARE.
Echidna – The Bouncer
Echidna looks like a back-dancer for Sisqo (Sisqo of thong fame); we don't know why, maybe because of the ice-white lipstick. Or maybe because she does look a bit like Sisqo himself, we just can't say. However, what we do know is that we always say yes to an asymmetrical miniskirt in snakeskin and that we also always say yes to heeled square toe sandals. Faux-fur boa in pinkish-white? It's a yes in our books.
Echidna, just like Ashley Riot, loves her Elnett hairspray.
Kefka Palazzo – Final Fantasy VI
To choose from any character from the Final Fantasy franchise is a complete ordeal. And to choose from any of the loudly homosexual villains is even more difficult (Kuja from FFIX and Seymour from FFX were also serious contendants). But what sets Kefka above all the others – beside being one of the best villains in history – is that he looks like he just came out from a piece from the Ballets Russes: Designed by Bakst and personified by Nijinsky, Kefka is a character that knows his mix-and-match.
A bit of a scarf, a bit of make-up, a bit of a crimson cape in velvet and there she is! Ready to hit the town and take on the world.
Big Mama (EVA) – Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
If Helen Mirren were to be the face for Hermes, she would most definitely look like EVA in MGS4: She is sexy, mature and ready to strangle you using only your own socks. Just like Dame Helen Mirren. Her coat is somewhat reminiscent of Cristophe Lemaire's now legendary first collection for Hermes, and she altogether looks like she just walked out from an editorial in Encens magazine.
Please take the time to notice how she keeps her boobs out (for ventilation) and yet she appreciates the comfort given by a silk neckscarf (in case it gets a little breezy).
Dante – Devil May Cry 3
Dante always looks superfly, but his looks in DMC3 are what fashion legends are made of. WHY? Because he is the ultimate Versace hottie "Look, a Demon. I am gonna SLAY it using my BIG SWORD that is in no way phallic. And if that doesn't work, I am definitely gonna kill it using my double-breasted, multi-layered coat in red leather that is really LONG and that is demurely decorated with micro studs. And if that is not going to work, I will smirk and produce a red rose from my breast pocket because YOLO and seduce it all the way to its violent death." Dante is also very Saint Laurent right now.
Manny Calavera – Grim Fandango
Name's Calavera. Manny, Calavera: The most sophisticated and altogether convincing character ever seen in glorious 3D. Manny is a pastiche of everyone's favourite noir heroes, but pretty much dead. He has a penchant for American suiting with that trademark boxy shape. Manny is an underworld travel agent that also moonlight as a grim reaper, but if that were not to be enough, he could be a perfect spokesman for Ermenegildo Zegna, he could.
Karl Lagerfeld – Grand Theft Auto IV
We bet you all forgot about this, but Karl Lagerfeld made a cameo in the extraordinarily successful GTA franchise in the form of a DJ that mostly plays electronica. Unfortunately the character is not playable, but it offers a precious bit of trivia for any fashion-gamer out there. And we know there are many of you out there.
By Matteo Sarti


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In February U.S. home prices showed an increase of 10.2 percent over the previous year, the largest percentage gain in seven years. Consumer spending is on the rise and federal tax revenue is up. Borrowing costs are at historic lows, and the federal deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product is shrinking faster than at any time since the end of World War II. How does Washington plan to respond to this economic basket of good news? By following Britain's thus far disastrous lurch into austerity?
Over the last three years a real-world comparative economic case study has played out as the Obama administration tried to revitalize the economy with what many economists complained was a too-timid stimulus package and tax cuts. Across the pond Britain attempted to provoke growth through budget-balancing that coupled public sector layoffs and social service cuts with higher taxes. The result: The U.S. economy grew about 2 percent each year, and its deficit was reduced as a percentage of G.D.P. by nearly half, from the sudden increase to 10 percent in 2009 to 5.3 percent in 2013. Britain, meanwhile, endured painful social disruption and a credit rating cut while managing to reduce its deficit from 4.8 percent to 4.3 percent of G.D.P. And even that apparent if modest success, far from the 1.9 percent target projected in 2010, was achieved only with creative accounting that was overly kind to the policies of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. The nation currently wobbles on the edge of a triple-dip recession. Both nations have performed precisely as a Keynesian analysis would have predicted.
Despite these outcomes, some deficit hawks in Washington, primarily among House Republicans, remain starstruck by austerity, a bad idea whose time has not come. Europe's current predicaments tell a number of cautionary tales. One narrative cautions against government overspending, another against the manifold dangers of a financial sector grown too powerful and too unsupervised. Which one of these seems most applicable to the American experience? The final European tale of woe is being written as austerity budgets become provocateurs of social upheaval without bringing the hoped-for economic healing.
The timing of a further U.S. embrace of austerity could not be worse. More than six million private sector jobs have been created since 2010, and the U.S. economy is finally showing signs of a potentially self-propelling vitality. Holding the economy back from a full-throttle restoration is the sadly diminished public sector, which has shed more than 700,000 jobs over the last 36 months.
If the failure of austerity in Britain is not enough to encourage a course change inside the Beltway, perhaps a pothole or two will do the trick. Once every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers publishes a comprehensive assessment of the nation's major infrastructure categories in its "Report Card for America's Infrastructure." Since 1998 the grades have been near failing because of delayed maintenance and underinvestment across most categories; this year the grade rose only slightly to a D-plus. That poor showing should prompt a congressional re-evaluation of fiscal policy that will likely lead to wider deficits in the future while perpetuating the embarrassing decline of basic infrastructure in the United States.
Unfortunately, owing to the nation's dysfunctional political culture, prioritizing deficit reduction over job creation, however counterproductive that might be, remains the likeliest outcome of current budget negotiations. If the House refuses to budge on austerity, then it should at least consider empowering the states, where public sector job loss has been severe, to explore public-private partnerships on large-scale infrastructural improvements. At the federal level, the nation could declare a war on infrastructural decay, selling "I-Bonds" ("I" for "infrastructure" or "investment") to fund new projects that could be repaid from user fees or tolls where that is practical and fair. More resources for infrastructure and investment in human capital could be extracted through more aggressive budget mining within the still too-generous disbursements for defense.
According to the Congressional Budget Office's baseline projections, federal deficits will continue to shrink over the next few years, falling to 2.4 percent of G.D.P. as early as 2015. Over a longer time horizon, total national debt threatens to rise by 2023 to what may be an unsustainable level, but only if nothing is done to adjust spending and tax revenue in the intervening years. While keeping that potential long-term fiscal threat clearly in mind, the optimal decision in the short term is to confront the nation's persisting high unemployment and decaying infrastructure and spend more now. That priority shift should secure what has been a tenuous economic recovery and achieve the virtuous circle that has eluded Britain during its detour into austerity.

subset: commoncrawl


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SUMMARY: The Accountability Program Manager is responsible for program management of corporate-level evaluations related to FLA's accreditation program. The Program Manager provides evaluations, feedback and guidance to FLA affiliates, including those seeking accreditation and reaccreditation, to improve their corporate social responsibility programs in alignment with FLA Principles. The Program Manager also reviews factory assessments under FLA's Sustainable Compliance Initative (SCI) and helps guide affiliates in their remediation efforts.
· Serve as Team Lead and Project Manager of FLA's accreditation and reaccreditation of affiliated companies' labor compliance programs, consistent with the FLA Charter and adopted policies and procedures.
· Serve as primary point-person for assigned companies in their assessments and evaluations toward accreditation or reaccreditation. Provide specific guidance towards the fulfillment of FLA Principles and Benchmarks.
· Relationship Manager: communicate regularly with such companies, pursuing information and providing feedback. Collaborate with other departments as needed to provide coherent and consistent guidance to companies.
· Lead accreditation visits to company headquarters and production facilities, in the US and potentially abroad.
· Provide periodic written and verbal reports to companies, senior staff and the FLA Board. Author and contribute to company accreditation reports.
· Review, analyze and respond to company compliance data such as self-assessment results, documentation, field reports, company project participation, company participation in the FLA's factory-level assessments, etc.
· Lead the development of new enhancements, efficiencies, tools, policies and procedures to further enhance the Accountability Program, particularly with respect to the re-accreditation of accredited affiliates.
· Represent the FLA at meetings and professional gatherings as appropriate.
· Other duties and special projects as assigned.
SUPERVISION EXERCISED: Accountability Associate
· Strong commitment to the mission of the FLA to protect workers' rights and conduct due diligence on affiliated companies
· High-level communication skills, both oral and written; proven ability to deal with confidential and sensitive matters
· Strong organizational skills
· Strong program management skills
· Time management skills
· Attention to detail
· Team player
· Sound judgment
· Demonstrated initiative and reliability
· Diplomacy
· Negotiation skills
· Poise
· Willingness to help out as needed, regardless of title
· Master's degree in law, sociology, human resource management, industrial relations, or other relevant field, or the equivalent in experience
· Knowledge of and experience in the labor compliance field, labor rights, human rights and/or corporate social responsibility
· Knowledge of supply chain management, sourcing, production, design
· At least 5 - 7 years of professional experience in a relevant field, such as corporate social responsibility, law, social research, human resource management, manufacturing, sourcing, or industrial relations
· Experience in people management
· Strong computer literacy including MS Office Suite; experience with iOS preferred
· Strong writing skills, including authoring reports
· Ability to synthesize large amounts of information quickly and accurately
· Travel up to 25% is required for this position
· Position based in the FLA DC Office.
About the Fair Labor Association
The Fair Labor Association (FLA) combines the efforts of industry, civil society organizations, and colleges and universities to promote and protect workers' rights and to improve working conditions worldwide by promoting adherence to international labor standards. The FLA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has offices in Geneva, Switzerland and Shanghai, China. For more information, visit www.fairlabor.org


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Weddings take months of planning. The venue, the dress, the suit. The decorations, cake, vows and speeches. Every detail that makes your day what it is. You want something to remember all these things along with the smiles, the laughter, maybe some tears and the joy that is shared on the day. That's where we come in. We create beautiful, creative and cinematic films that tell the story of your wedding and the love you share. We're a two-person team and together we both plan, film and edit the video. We have a strong passion for amazing visuals and we bring this passion to every wedding film we create. We have a discreet presence throughout, but capture all the special moments on the day (including some you might not have seen!) We film the day as it was, without interfering or directing. We will work closely with the photographer to make it a seamless experience and you'll hardly notice we were there. The essence of every wedding is the personalities of the people behind them. Your wedding is about you as a couple, and as every relationship is unique, so is every wedding. We love getting to know couples and then working to produce a film that you will cherish forever. Your special day only happens once but with our films you can relive the day forever.
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My name is Mandy.
I'm a person who has several emotional and physical issues with which anxiety goes hand-in-hand.
I'm learning to cope with my anxieties.
It's really hard.
I live in Michigan, and I have a loving husband who's fantastic at writing, being a work-from-home dad, and keeping me calm.
I have an adolescent daughter who hasn't yet completely lost her mind from being an adolescent. She's pretty amazing.
I have a sweet-but-short-bus cat that is our family's, a foster cat who came to stay for 3 weeks and has been here much, much longer (good thing she's clever & pretty), and sometimes a foster cockatiel, who is both lascivious and a mad wee beastie.
I knit, spin, and otherwise engage in using fiber (especially wool) in any creative way I can.
I have a day job. I sometimes like it.


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What are tardigrades, and why are scientists so interested in these microscopic creatures also known as "water bears"? Recent weeks and months have seen an uptick in interest in these invertebrates, and a new study now suggests that tardigrades just might be tough enough to survive asteroid strikes and other cataclysmic events.
In the words of study co-author David Sloan, a theoretical cosmologist at Oxford University, it's not accurate enough if you go to the obvious and use humans or dinosaurs as benchmarks for the durability of life on Earth — doing so would make life appear to be "pretty fragile." Instead, tardigrades may be a much better benchmark, as they may have been among the very first forms of life to emerge on our planet.
Speaking to the Washington Post, University of Stuttgart (Germany) researcher Ralph O. Schill explained what tardigrades are in terms of the noteworthy events in the history of life on Earth they have "witnessed." Schill, who was noted as an expert on tardigrades, said that microfossils of the species have been dated as far back as the Early Cambrian period, about 520 million years ago. The creatures also may have been around about 100 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period, he added.
"They have seen the dinosaurs come and go."
In terms of their physical appearance, a separate report from Gizmodo described what tardigrades look like — eight-legged creatures that measure only 0.5mm long and are only visible through a microscope. Their durability, on the other hand, can be proved by previous studies, where they survived radiation blasts, freezing temperatures of up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius), and even intense underwater pressure. As Gizmodo also noted, the animals can live up to 30 years without consuming any food or water.
Those tardigrade facts show us that they are indeed a hardy bunch. But could they survive potentially world-ending events? That was the question scientists wanted to answer in a new study from earlier this week.
In a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports on Friday, Sloan and his fellow researchers described how they tried to do away with tardigrades "in theory," using sophisticated mathematical modeling techniques to find out if they would survive killer asteroids, supernovae, and gamma-ray bursts — three distinct events considered to be among the most "devastating" our planet may ever witness.
All told, mathematical models suggest that tardigrades are capable of living through 10 billion years' worth of destructive events, and can potentially survive even if our sun swallows up Earth, or fails completely. None of the aforementioned events were revealed to be likely to boil all of our planet's oceans, which, in theory, is the only thing that could kill tardigrades and wipe them out completely.
As cited by Gizmodo's report, co-author Avi Loeb, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said that tardigrades would react to events that could destroy Earth's atmosphere by taking refuge in the oceans. That means a complete loss of water would indeed trump any other cataclysmic event when it comes to rendering tardigrades extinct.
There are, however, some possible flaws in the study, according to William R. Miller, a tardigrade expert who was not involved in the research. Miller told the Washington Post that it may have been a mistake for the researchers to bunch all 1,250 tardigrade species into one, for the purpose of their study. According to Miller, not all tardigrades consider the water to be their habitat — some variants, in fact, have been nicknamed "moss piglets," due to their preference to dwell in moss and lichens.
"I can't say anything about the physics, but they can't say anything about the animals," said Miller.
[Featured Image by 3DStock/Shutterstock]


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An epic battle: Local doctors, pharmacists fighting opioid epidemic
The statistics are alarming.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, deaths from prescription opioids increased 631 percent across the state between the years 2000 and 2016. The death toll from opioids, heroin and psychostimulants, including meth, increased 1,155 percent.
Despite the daunting challenge, Perham Health and Sanford Health are attempting to find ways to deal with the opioid problem.
A Pharmacist's View
"As everyone knows, there is an opioid epidemic going on," Perham Health Director of Pharmacy Duane Wallace said. "We kind of take a look at it from three areas — there is misuse, abuse and then overdose. We decided that we would try and take a look at protocols to see if we could reduce the ordering and the dispensing of opioids and see how that affects the opioids and the deaths that are associated with that."
Wallace said the healthcare institutions are attempting a two-pronged approach.
"We are doing a study where we are decreasing the number of prescriptions written and decreasing the quantity of drugs (opioids) in each one of those prescriptions," Wallace said, adding that he believes they are on "the right track".
Perham Health and Sanford Health started tracking this program in 2014.
"Even though we are still working to reduce this, we still have a long way to go," Wallace said. "What is going on? What are we doing that is not quite working yet?"
As a pharmacist, Wallace is in charge of dispensing and monitoring. His department works closely with the provider, the patient and the prescriptions Perham Health physicians dispense. They want to make sure there is a good diagnosis and the quantity and directions are appropriate.
"If were notice anything that is a little out of the ordinary we will contact them," Wallace said. "We have a very open relationship with them."
In working with the patients what has been discovered is that the dependence on opioids usually takes place when the quantity of medication lasts for more than a period of 45-90 days.
Opioid tracking is also possible through the Prescription Monitoring Program of Minnesota.
"I can look up a patient and find out every time they've got an opioid (prescription) filled anywhere in Minnesota or North Dakota," Wallace said. "In that way, we can make sure they are not getting overfilled."
Wallace also monitors for early refills.
"That's a tell-tale sign that they are misusing their medication or abusing it," Wallace said.
A Physician's View
Dr. Mark Paulson is in family practice at Perham Health and sees the work he is doing with opioids as a "practice change."
It is doctors like Paulson who put the ball in play by prescribing opioids or narcotics to their patients. They share the responsibility with pharmacists in making sure it gets into the right hands in the proper amounts.
There is evidence to suggest that the introduction of synthetic drugs triggered the rise in opioid use in the United States. In the beginning, the manufacturers of these drugs made claims about their safety, which were true, to a certain point.
"They went back and quoted an antidotal statement that somebody said that if we put people on narcotics in the hospital they won't get addicted in the hospital," Paulson said. "Well, nobody gets addicted in the hospital because they are only there for four days. They extrapolated that to say then that they won't ever get addicted to these medications. It was really twisting science and creating its own truth."
But the beginning of the opioid epidemic is not where Paulson is spending his energies. Like many of his fellow medical practitioners, he is doing his best to deal with it now.
"It's just been an exponential rise in the number of people who are dying from narcotics overdoses," Paulson said. "It was something like 70,000 deaths from narcotics this last year in the United States. Back in 1980, it was as low as 10 or 20,000, maybe less than that."
Sanford Health created the Controlled Substance Stewardship Committee in March 2016. Their mandate was to try and bring down the number of narcotic prescriptions that are being made.
The illegal drug market is not the responsibility of physicians but the medical fraternity does bear a burden.
"We are responsible for every pill that enters that realm," Paulson said.
This is one of the portals into a very dark and dangerous world...a world where profits can outweigh morality.
"Some patients will divert (opioids), some (opioids) will be stolen; children, grandchildren, friends will steal them out of cabinets," Paulson said.
Paulson recounted a case in the Perham area where a young woman feigned car trouble, gained entrance to the house by asking to use the phone, then asked to use the bathroom and took all the narcotics out of the bathroom cabinets and leaving.
"There is a significant street value to these medications," Paulson said.
Addiction is a driving force behind the use of opioids. Physicians will prescribe them to treat pain, but addicts will use them to get high. Genetics can dictate how a person reacts to medications. One person can take an opioid and get high. The next person can take an opioid and get nothing.
At a recent medical retreat Paulson learned that for every person who is on pain medication and has not been on it before, the probability of that individual being on a narcotic in one year is one-in-18.
"Our responsibility is to keep as few of those drugs in circulation as possible," Paulson said. "When you look at death rates from heroin and death rates from your standard drugs, those are actually pretty flat. It's the rise in prescription medications — overuse and overdose of prescriptions."
One of the biggest culprits in deaths brought about by overdose is Fentanyl, which has a derivative that is even more potent, according to Paulson.
"The problem is the Fentanyl is about 100 times more potent than any other narcotic," Paulson said.
By not understanding the potency of Fentanyl, a patient can overdose.
"It's a mistake, it's a lack of knowledge," Paulson said.
Paulson pointed out that patients who received opioids to treat a condition may not use their entire supply.
"There are meds in circulation that never get used by people," Paulson said.
One weapon in the arsenal of physicians is a "pain treatment agreement" which basically gives them some control in case they suspect an individual is diverting, overusing or not following the rules. If this is the case, the physician has the right to "terminate" their relationship with the patient. Yet what they are actually doing is stopping their prescription of narcotics with them.
Can total victory ever be won in the battle Wallace and Paulson are fighting?
"This is one of these things that is a battle that I don't know we will ever totally win," Paulson said. 'It's addiction in general. There will also be people who are addicted. "It isn't necessarily that we can win it, but we control it to the best of our ability."


text: Three individuals were taken to Fayette County Hospital following a two vehicle accident Thursday afternoon in Vandalia. Vandalia Police Reports indicate that at 3:29 pm on Thursday afternoon officers responded to a two vehicle accident at Kennedy Boulevard and Fillmore Street. Vandalia Police Reports indicate that a vehicle driven by 91 year old Lewis D. Locke of Vandalia struck a vehicle driven by 36 year old Lovie M. Bauer of Vandalia, when he failed to yield at a stop sign. Both vehicles sustained major damage and both drivers were taken to Fayette County Hospital with injuries, and a passenger in Bauer's vehicle was also taken to Fayette County Hospital. Vandalia Police say that Locke was issued a ticket for Failure to Yield at a Stop Intersection.


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Hey ya'll,
it's been a good while since I've posted and I have improved a lot. ^_^ Please let me know what you think, I'm posting a good bit. :D
~ Codi Lyn ~
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
LiveJournal for LotR Artists' Community.
|Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Hey ya'll,
it's been a good while since I've posted and I have improved a lot. ^_^ Please let me know what you think, I'm posting a good bit. :D
~ Codi Lyn ~
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Monday, July 2nd, 2007
Hey, I've just joined.
I currently have NO work based on LOTR, but I am planning to..
I first of all need a place to find some images of the drawings people made of some of the sets for LOTR with trees in them.
And I'm also wondering if anyone could lead me to a website documenting the white tree of Gondor, the silver tree and the 'history' Tolkien wrote regarding that?
Thank you all in advance for your help! I need it for my final year at art-school, so any help will be greatly appreciated! :D
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Thursday, June 28th, 2007
Hi everyone,
I finally found a good LotR art community! *_* YAY! I've done a TON of LotR artwork, it being the most fun to work with, and here are a few (linked to my DeviantART) that I think you might like. :D Thanks so much!
~ Codi Lyn ~
|1 Hobbit Song| Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Saturday, June 2nd, 2007
I thought I'd share these with anyone who's interested.
Legolas x Arwen: http://legolas-x-arwen.deviantart.com/
Aragorn x Eowyn: http://aragorn-x-eowyn.deviantart.com/
Aragorn x Legolas: http://aragorn-x-legolas.deviantart.com/
Frodo x Sam: http://frodo-x-sam-club.deviantart.com/
Legolas: http://legolas-club.deviantart.com/
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Saturday, September 30th, 2006
Ne, I read the rules and I think I can post this behind an lj cut, so please just delet it if it's prohibited and I apologize x___x~
( ~RPG free themed community (including Lord of the Rings)~Collapse )
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Thursday, September 21st, 2006
I've just started an lj of my LotR comics. I'm still learning, so any tips are welcome and good. I use Adobe Illustrator.
Oh, and I'm looking for fellow cartoonists. So let me know if you are one!
( Oh, the tragic Sea-LongingCollapse )
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Thursday, January 19th, 2006
Hello, I'm new here and I just discovered the world of Lord of the Rings. I wanted to find a community I could see fanart and post my own. :) I loved the movies so much that I got inspired to start drawing my favorite characters.
Here's the first picture:
|2 Hobbit Songs| Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Sunday, January 8th, 2006
Thanks to everyone who commented on my first set of LORD OF THE RINGS: EVOLUTION Sketch Cards (coming out soon from Topps). Here are some more...
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Saturday, January 7th, 2006
Hey Folks,
Just wanted to share some of my LORD OF THE RINGS: EVOLUTION Sketch Cards with you...
The interesting thing about these cards was that they printed a nice medium tone, which gave the cards a more classic look, but it also gave the option of adding some vague highlights with white color pencil.
Other than that, I have to say, these cards are fairly difficult for me to do. I used to drawing much larger, so trying to get a solid little masterpiece onto a small trading card that's just inches of space is not easy...
But that's nitpicking. I'd be lying if I said these weren't a hoot to do. :)
Hope you enjoy! I'll be posting lots of CONJURE news soon, as well as some STAR WARS tidbits... :)
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Saturday, October 22nd, 2005
Can we think of and help one of our own great writers of fantasy?
This info comes from his publisher, btw. And it's a sad story. An old one, of how a creative person does not get credit or money for his hard and wonderful work.
Peter S. Beagle needs support in the fight to get him his due for the animated versions of THE LAST UNICORN and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. To learn all the details — and find out how you can help — go to:
His financial needs are great, esp. to pay his mother's medical bills. He's never been properly paid for all the work done on the films of 'The Last Unicorn' and the animated 'Lord of the Rings'.
Please pass this info on to all fans you know and all fandom-related email lists, fannish Usenet newsgroups, and of course any fandom web-based messages boards like Ezboards or LiveJournal.
I have no connection with Mr. Beagle or his publisher, I'm just passing on the info in hopes that it can be of help to him and his mother.
|Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Tuesday, July 19th, 2005
Hello, I'm new here. I wanted to post some photo's of a bag I made with an evlish look to it. Most of my friends didn't "get it" if you know what I mean.
It has one of Luthien's symbols sewn on the front :)
( More fair then mortal tongue can tell...Collapse )
|2 Hobbit Songs| Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Monday, May 23rd, 2005
Hey all!
I just joined & figured I'd link & post some of my LotR art:
Battle Scene (those are kilts, not skirts)
Gandalf (no, unicorns aren't canon)
Frodo Playing Card (some day I'll do a whole set, but this was just a "tester" to see if I could do it at all)
Elrond Tarot Card (another "tester"...and yes, his hair is the wrong color...sorry!)
( And here are some more!Collapse )
And I'm currently working on a Fellowship painting...hopefully will have it finished sometime next week. :)
xposted in another lotr comm
|2 Hobbit Songs| Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Monday, February 21st, 2005
hi! mY name is Marika and im new here..but definitley NOT to Lord of the RIngs..i love these books and movies, and the magic and realness of it just takes me away. I also love the soundtrack and of course the actors!
looking forward to a fun time!
|2 Hobbit Songs| Welcome to the Green Dragon
|Saturday, February 19th, 2005
Hi. I've just joined the community, and I've got some "artwork" if you could call it that. Here are just some icons I made.
Follow the fake cut
LiveJournal for LotR Artists' Community.


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Published on: 22 Feb 2017 by sophia-addison
Your home is where you relax, and come back to at the end of every long, hard day, so obviously it needs to be comfortable and inviting. It should be a sanctuary of sorts that allows you to rejuvenate and recuperate. One way to ensure this happens, is by paying attention to your décor. That is not to say you need to spend as much as the Kardashians do on revamping your home every time a holiday rolls around, not at all. This in fact means that you should include things that make you happy and bring you a sense of peace. Ways in which you can demonstrate your character, personality and like without having to say much. And as much as this applies to your living room and bedroom, so it does to the bathroom. Mix-Up ColoursNormally, when we go for paint jobs, we tend to be a little conservative by either sticking to one colour or a less exciting shade. It is time to change all that. Mixing colours is all the rage and in fact, it delivers some spectacular results. You need not mix two completely contrasting colours to come up with a worthy effect. Mix colours within the same spectrum that complement each other such as green and blue for instance, or green and purple. The best part about this is that it is entirely up to you and there an endless combination of colours to choose from.
DIY Accessories
Pinterest anyone? If you are a fan of DIY projects or even have been planning on starting some soon, then why not start with some items for your bathroom? For instance, you can paint over an old, wooden ladder and use it as a towel rack and place some unusual towels such as round towels on it to give the space some character. Or get some empty jars and stencil designs on them to hold your shampoo, conditioner, creams and so on. There are actually hundreds of fun little crafts to do, if you take the time out to do them.
When it comes to decorating, never underestimate the power of mirrors. Mirrors are an excellent way of adding depth to small spaces. In other words, they can make a cramped area look more spacious than it is, thanks to is reflective capabilities. If your bathroom is more on the small side, why not look at this? Of course you would have already included a mirror over your sink, but what about the rest of the bathroom? You can use many small mirrors or long, thin ones to place in corners so they reflect properly. Voila!
If it feels like you simply cannot pull the look of your bathroom together, it is because you are not working to a theme. Themes help you with direction and what you need to be looking at in terms of objects. If you are going with an ocean theme, then you know you need seashells, ocean-coloured candles or something along those lines. Pick a theme so you know what you are working with. It will also help you prevent wasting any money.


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FragranceX is an online shop specializing in discount perfume. Many beauty and personal care products from famous brands: Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Burberry, Guerlain, etc are waiting for you at this store. Order your favorites and save even more with the latest FragranceX promo code and coupons!http://www.fragrancex.com
Never Miss Another Great Deal


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Industrial Humidifier Machine
① 120 employees.
② 21 professional technicians.
③ 15 years dehumidifier and humidifier manufacturing experience.
④ 5 new models are developed each year.
⑤ 1 year warranty with all of our machines, free spare parts within one year if any failure.
Quick Details
Type: Ultrasonic humidifier machine
Installation: Central
Certification: CB, CE, EMC, EMF, RoHS, SASO, CE
Mist Output (gallon / day): 110
Power (W): 2100
Voltage (V): 220
Place of Origin: Zhejiang, China (Mainland)
Model Number: JDH-21Z
Brand Name: CONLOON
Capacity: 21
Humidity Control: Humidistat
color: optional
After-sales Service Provided: Engineers available to service machinery overseas
Output Capacity: 2100W
Voltage: 220V
Condition: New
Dimension(L*W*H): 800*760*570mm
Warranty: 1 year
Weight: 70KGS
Packaging & Delivery
|Packaging Details:
|standard export package, foam inside and carton outside. also you can choose wooden boxes package.
|Delivery Detail:
|7 days
large ultrasonic fogger
reasonable design.
increase humidity in short time.
one year warranty.OEM acceptable.
JDH-21Z 21L/Hr capacity ultrasonic humidifier
a. Our ultrasonic humidifiers are controlled automatically.
1. You can set the RH to be 80% for example. When the humidity reaches 80%, our machine will stop working, when the humidity can not reach 80%, our humidifier will start to work automatically.
2. It can be controlled by timer. From 1-24 hours.when you set 12 hours for example. The machine will stop working after 12 hours.
b.Digital humidity controller can be randomly set from 1%-99%.Its control precision reaches ±5%
c.The fog diameter is 1-10µm.
d.It is easy to move with 4 universal castors.
e.It is stainless steel body,nice looking and long time service life.
Power input
Air volume
Fog outlet
2pc 110mm
Work temp
Machine size
Packing size
Applying area
300-350 m2
Loading quantity
Warm tips:
a. Please use clean water instead of dirty water, and the water can not be very hard. Less calcium.
b. Draining the water in the tank if you do not use it for long time.
c. Clean the mist module often with soft brush and clean water.
d. If the fog is decreasing, we suggest you replace the mist modules.
Package and shipping :
Package: Standard caton package.wooden case package when deliver by express.
Shipping: By sea or by express,for your option.
Applying area:
1. Textile industry
2. Supermarket ( to keep fruits and vegetable fresh)
3. Paper mill industry
4. Computer industry
5. Tobacco industry
6. Heating ventilation industry
7. Preservation and cold storage
8. Electronic industry
9. Spray coating industry
10. Plastic industry
11. Gun power industry
12. Printing industry
13. Laboratory
14. Food industry
15. Planting industry
16. Breeding industry
17. Artificial landscape


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Island Retreat beach house, built in 2000, is a large (1800 sq.ft) ocean front beach house located in Eastern Prince Edward Island on 2.5 acres of beach front property. This open concept beach house has two stories with three spacious bedrooms and two bathrooms, room for 6 people.
The main floor features a living room with a propane fireplace, dining room, kitchen, TV room, bathroom, and laundry room. The garden doors off the living room lead to a large ocean front deck wrapping around 3 sides of beach house, where you can relax in one of the many lounge or deck chairs.
The second level features three bedrooms and master bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and skylight. The master bedroom measuring 14 ft. x 24 ft. features a large semi circular deck as you walk out through double garden doors, offering a spectacular view of the sand dunes and ocean. The second bedroom has 1 double bed and the third bedroom has 2 single beds.
Your Island Retreat Vacation should be relaxing and hassle free, so we have provided everything you may need for your vacation. We also add special touches to help make your stay a memorable one. You are always treated with fresh flowers and a complementary bottle of wine on your arrival.
Keywords: Beach House


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Our exciting new product for seeding 2019
Our new wheel for parallelogram machines
Try our new seeding kit builder
View our range of spare parts
View maintenance information for our range of products
Not sure what kit will suit your machine? Select your machine below and follow the prompts to build and customize your seeding kit!
If your machine or tyne type is not displayed please contact Agmaster on (08) 9358 1555
Our Multi Boot seeding system gives farmers the flexibility of being able to choose between either a Paired Row Seeker Wing or Single Row 45mm Closer for the same boot mount. It's compatible with our existing "slip and clip" point and holder system so a wide range of point and closer combinations are available. Multi Boot supersedes the NT11 Seeker Boot and Rigid Boot kits for most machines. Suitable for all double bolt C-Shank tynes. For more information on Multi Boot CLICK HERE.
Our NT11 Rigid Boot Kits combined with our "slip and clip" points and holders have been a very popular seeding system over the past two decades. Multiple point and boot options are available making them suitable for a wide range of seeding programs and soil types. With the introduction of Kwik Fit for all double bolt C-Shank tynes, they will now primarily be used for edge-on tynes that Kwik Fit does not suit.
The seeding boot is a stiff but flexible hose that self cleans in heavy soils and allows banding of fertiliser in the knife point slot. Used with the NT11 "slip and clip" point and holder system. Suitable for double bolt tynes with breakouts upto 350kg (750lb)
Bolt on point and single shoot boot system. Suitable for single bolt cultivator and scarifier tynes in the 90 - 150kg break out range.


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HARBOR SPRINGS — A business located on Third Street in Harbor Springs is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the vandal or vandals responsible for breaking a sign located at Third and Gardner streets, said Harbor Springs Police Department chief Dan Branson.
The sign listed the name of the business offering the reward along with the names of neighboring businesses, Branson said. The businesses placed it there several years ago in an attempt to draw more foot traffic.
Branson said the vandalism occurred overnight sometime in mid-October. The sign was broken into pieces, he said.
Police have no suspects at this time and the business offering the reward, which would like to remain anonymous, hopes it will be enough incentive for someone who has information to come forward.
The reward will be given to whoever is able to identify those involved, assuming the information leads to an arrest, Branson said.
Another Harbor Springs business was reportedly egged in October, Branson said, but it is unclear whether the incidents are related.
Anyone with information pertaining to this case should contact the Harbor Springs Police Department, (231) 526-2522.


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Purchase this article with an account.
J. Y. Niederkorn, P. W. Chen, C. Stevens, J. Mellon, E. Mayhew; Allergic Asthma Exacerbates Corneal Allograft Rejection Mediated by a Mixed Th1 and Th2 Alloimmune Response. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2009;50(13):3869.
Download citation file:
© ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)
Purpose: :
We have demonstrated that allergic asthma exacerbates corneal allograft rejection. We wished to determine if this rejection was Th1-based, Th2-based, or a combination of these and if allergic asthma enhanced alloimmune responses.
Methods: :
Airway hyperreactivity (AHR) was induced in BALB/c mice with ovalbumin (OVA) or short ragweed extract (SRW) prior to C57BL/B6 corneal transplantation. Mixed lymphocyte responses (MLR), cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL), and delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) alloimmune responses were examined following graft rejection. MLR supernatants and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were examined for Th1 and Th2 cytokines by ELISA. Th1 (Tim3+) and Th2 (T1/ST2+) CD4+ T cells were isolated from corneal graft rejector mice and adoptively transferred to nude mice, which then received C57BL/6 corneal allografts. Some nude mice received Th2 cells and injections of interferon-g (IFN-g).
Results: :
AHR mice had an increased tempo and incidence of corneal allograft rejection (P = 0.004), but mounted MLR and DTH responses that were not significantly different from control mice (P>0.05). Moreover, CTL responses were not detected in either AHR mice or control mice. BALF and MLR supernatants from AHR mice had a preponderance of IL-13 and IFN-gg. Adoptive transfer studies showed that Th1 and Th2 cells mediated rejection in 40% and 20% of the hosts respectively. However, simultaneous transfer of Th1 and Th2 cells resulted in 100% graft rejection. Moreover, Th2 cells produced 100% corneal graft rejection in hosts that were simultaneously treated with IFN-g.
Conclusions: :
The results indicate that corneal graft recipients with ongoing AHR mount a mixed alloimmune response that is characterized by production of both Th1 (IFN-gg) and Th2 (IL-13) cytokines. Unlike non-atopic hosts, which appear to mediate corneal graft rejection by a Th1-mediated mechanism, atopic hosts reject corneal allografts via a mixed Th1 and Th2 mechanism. IFN-ggcan substitute for the Th1 component of rejection. Asthma-induced exacerbation of corneal allograft rejection is not due to enhanced MLR, DTH, or CTL alloimmune responses.
This PDF is available to Subscribers Only


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Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a legal proofreading add-in for Microsoft Word with special capabilities for briefs and other documents with citations (see article below), an inkjet printer with color laser muscle, and two task managers with their own unique approach to helping you get things done. Don't miss the next issue.
Your clients demand both efficiency and perfection when you draft briefs and other legal documents. More importantly, you demand a certain standard of yourself to maintain your reputation and prevent malpractice claims. But you cannot proofread documents endlessly — and even if you could, you'd still overlook something. A new Microsoft Word add-in addresses this dilemma.
American Legal Style for PerfectIt 3 … in One Sentence
Launched this week, Intelligent Editing's American Legal Style for PerfectIt 3 is a legal proofreading tool for Microsoft Word that enforces correct legal style usage across your firm.
The Killer Feature
Intelligent Editing worked with lawyer and law review editor Ivy Grey to create American Legal Style for PerfectIt. American Legal Style helps to enforce your style preferences and needs from popular references such as The Bluebook, Bryan Garner's The Red Book, Strunk & White's Elements of Style, Black's Law Dictionary, etc. As a result, PerfectIt can catch errors like a rogue space in "F.3d," "statue" when you mean "statute," "ex parte" when you forget to italicize it, and much more.
"I was drawn into this project because I know how it feels to draft documents under intense time pressure and worry about whether I've made style or consistency errors," Grey told us. "With PerfectIt, I feel confident that my work is clean and error-free, and I cut down on proofreading rounds that are often the cause of late nights and early mornings in the office."
Other Notable Features
You select American Legal Style from the PerfectIt icon on the Microsoft Word ribbon or toolbar. PerfectIt works like a spell checker, offering one or more suggestions for each error it finds. If it finds the error in multiple locations, you can correct every instance with one click. Among its capabilities, PerfectIt flags erroneous citations, misspelled legal words and terms of art, words that require italicization, and common dictation and speech recognition errors.
Multiple authors can wreak even more havoc on a document than dictation. Accordingly, American Legal Style for PerfectIt catches inconsistencies ranging from cultural variations (e.g., "color" versus "colour") to conflicting capitalization of defined terms.
PerfectIt can also improve the clarity of your writing by finding mistakes that elude spell checkers, suggesting plain English terms instead of legalese, and pointing out commonly confused or misused words. You can also further customize American Legal Style for PerfectIt to enforce your firm's house style.
What Else Should You Know?
PerfectIt works with Word 2003 and later (including Word 2016) and Windows XP and later (including Windows 10). PerfectIt costs $99 for one user with discounts available for volume purchases. Learn more about American Legal Style for PerfectIt 3.
How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.


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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Beautiful first impression
In the short time I've played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – about 3 hours to be exact – one thing is certain: it is beautiful. One of the best looking games I've ever played, in fact. The textures are wonderful, the faces are bordering on photo-realistic and the scenery – aside from the odd jagged edge here and there – is simply breathtaking.
Tomb Raider Review
Admittedly, I've not been a huge fan of the Tomb Raider series. I've played a few of the older titles, and I have the collection on Steam, but it's never been much more than a filler in my gaming library; a series that 'I'll play through one day'.
That being said, I was immediately intrigued at the early mentions of a TR reboot, one that would show us the origin story of our historically disproportionate heroine and give her more of a gritty, vulnerable feel. The final product, simply called Tomb Raider, is not only a staggeringly beautiful action adventure game, but its combination of visuals, stealth/action gameplay and story also serves to reinvigorate a series and a character that were becoming stale.
Lara's character development is front and center.
View original post 610 more words
The War Z
As a big fan of zombies and zombie culture, I was really excited to get a one-day pass for the alpha version of The War Z – an upcoming 3rd person, zombie survival MMO from Hammerpoint Interactive. Because it is still in Alpha, I wasn't expecting a lot, just to sort of get a feel for the game and see how it stacked up against an already over-saturated niche.
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The Walking Dead is incredible!
How did it take me so long to play this game?!
When I first heard of The Walking Dead from Telltale Games, I was admittedly skeptical. I had heard good things, but I'd also seen Telltale's previous work – namely Back to the Future – and it wasn't exactly a masterpiece. So when I got down to playing TWD, I wasn't expecting too much.
Was I ever wrong: This game is amazing!
Gory violence…just because the game has a comic book look, it's still awesome.
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Dishonored Is Awesome, If You're Not SUPER Lazy Like I Am
Let me start this out by saying Dishonored is an amazing game. It's full of insane kills, devouring rat swarms, swords and knives, guns, stealth assassinations and all of that awesomeness. The acting is pretty good, and while it's not the best looking game out there, it's completely playable, and the more cartoon-ish graphics lend it a sort of atmosphere that just feels right when playing it.
The problem is that I'm just so lazy, and therein lies my discontent with this game.
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Slender Man
There aren't many games out there that scare me anymore. I've mentioned a few before in previous articles, but aside from those, it's pretty tame out there in the world of horror games. That's why this game caught me so off guard: I can confidently say, that if you're looking for a genuine creep-fest, look no farther than Slender.
A "survival horror" game from Parsec Productions, it's based on the recently created myth – completely made up during a contest to alter a picture and make it 'paranormal' – of Slender Man, a tall malevolent being that haunts and abducts humans. He is generally described as being between 6-15 feet tall and always dressed in a black suit. What makes him so creepy is the fact that he has no discernible facial features, only a white blank face. He is shown in the backgrounds of various pictures being generally…
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Just Cause 2
So I'm probably one of the last people to play Just Cause 2, but it was gifted to me on Steam just recently and I've had a hard time putting it down.
Really though, how could I have I been in the dark about this game for so long? It's published by Eidos Interactive (Hitman, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, etc.) and distributed by none other than its parent company, Square Enix. Not a bad team to have behind your game, that's for sure.
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The Newport Harbor High frosh/soph boys volleyball team defeated
Corona del Mar in the championship match of the Newport invitational
last week.
Newport defeated Mater Dei in the semifinals, while the Sea Kings
defeated Laguna Beach to advance.
CdM had a five-point advantage against Newport until the Sailors
took a definitive lead to seal it.


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A Level Sociology
As a student of Sociology you are interested to understand how society works and how different theories might be applied to the way the modern world appears to function. You will study how education works in modern societies and investigate critical views on schools, exams and the way students may get ?labelled? on their journey through the system.
As well as investigating the ways in which sociologists gather their information ? questionnaires, experiments, official documents ? you will also consider some of the great and controversial theories such as Marxism, feminism and social conservatism.
Armed with both theory and method you will then be well placed to engage in a deeper study of what ?family? means in modern society. You will explore different family types and make observations on the extent to which social policy impacts on the way families function in modern Britain.
In your Sociology lessons you can expect to be challenged and motivated towards developing independent views on what it means to live in a modern society. You?ll never look at your family and school in quite the same way ever again.
Sociology students progress to a range of higher education options and careers and make very good use of the research skills developed in their studies.
Entry Requirements
To study sociology at this level you must meet the general entry requirements.
Simply submit your enquiry to us & we will email or call you back


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Our internet service (cable) was down all day today. It was fixed when the cable guy brought a new modem (plus hours of fiddling by us to get it to work right). Megan is convinced that the cable guy was an idiot, and he accidentally hit on the right solution. We started discussing whether he could be said to have "known" and I started wondering if this was a rare real-world example of a Gettier problem. (I'm not really clear on what it means for a belief to be "justified" so I'm not sure.)
In other internet news, my e-mail provider has started dropping mail sent to my Ars Math address. I apologize if you sent me a mail and I did not get it. I'll be switching providers shortly.


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Vaping is one of the quickest to take hold trends in recent history. At the same time, why vaping has become so popular so quickly is simple. Even the most health conscious smokers find it excruciatingly difficult to kick the habit. This being the case, vaping is appreciated by many as the perfect compromise.
When vaping, traditional smokers still get their all important nicotine fix. What people who vape don't have to worry about, however, is inhaling the hundreds (if not thousands) of toxins and carcinogens present in traditional cigarettes and tobacco products themselves.
While vaping has become popular among millions of smokers world wide, it's no secret that vaping itself has been dogged by criticism from certain health and product safety groups. Health critics say that vaping doesn't actually help people cure their basic reliance on nicotine itself. Meanwhile, exploding vaping devices have been touted several times as a serious direct health hazard.
Thankfully, in the latter case of exploding devices, smart consumers really don't need to worry. This is because only cheap counterfeit vaping devices have ever been known to seriously malfunction. Higher quality devices bought from established vendors such as VapeDrive, on the other hand, have a perfect safety record. Where things really start getting interesting, however, is when it comes to the fact that vaping is now proven to possibly help even long-term tobacco smokers finally kick the habit for good.
According to recent articles published by trusted medical magazines and journals such as Medscape, one of the biggest benefits of vaping, in general, might rest with the fact that vaping is actually helping more people to stop smoking than ever before.
Sound too good to be true? Well, it's not. In fact, in a peer reviewed study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers in California have found a direct relationship between numbers of smokers who transition to using vaping devices and increasing numbers of people who are finally managing to quit smoking for good.
While no one (as yet) has shown how exactly vaping might be helping people to give up nicotine, the actual reason might lie with the additives which many tobacco companies add to traditional smoking products in the first place. In the late 1990's, for example, tobacco industry insider Jeffery Wigand revealed how many big tobacco companies intentionally add ammonia to cigarettes in order to make them three times more addictive.
Might you be more addicted to ammonia than you are nicotine itself? If so, vaping is easily the best way to transition away from such harmful additives and in the process, perhaps also start transitioning away from nicotine altogether. The only question, in this case, is have you tried vaping yet?


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Mobile: 602-430-7404
Office: 602-430-7404
Fax : 888-329-6321
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Address: 1166 E. Warner Road Ste 117, Gilbert, AZ 85296
Sold Date: 12-01-2018
Courtesy of: HomeSmart
Beautifully upgraded home with granite counters and maple cabinets! 3 bedrooms plus den! Washer/dryer/refrigerator included. Just one house away from the community greenbelt and lake! Community features white picket fences, tree-lined streets, basketball courts, BBQ ramadas and playgrounds. What a great location within Gilbert's 'A' rated school district! Minutes to the 202 & 60 freeways, entertainment, San Tan Mall, and movie theatre. Get it while it's still available!


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A leading industry dinner in Jersey is being sponsored by Ipes.
Ipes will this year be the headline sponsor of the Jersey Fund Association's annual dinner.
The Jersey Funds Association (JFA) is an active trade association representing companies with Jersey offices operating in the funds sector. The Association has over 70 members; membership spans from small Jersey owned companies to global leaders.
The event taking place on 25 March at the Hotel de France attracts more than 300 industry professionals and is described by some as the highlight on the Jersey Funds Association's calendar.
Ipes Jersey Managing Director and Chairman of the JFA Nigel Strachan says, "Ipes is proud to be sponsoring this prestigious industry event. The JFA is an asset to Jersey's Funds Industry and the annual dinner provides an opportunity for us all to get together and reflect on the industry over the past 12 months."
This year's guest speaker Fred McAulay will address the audience. Fred presents the weekday morning show on BBC Radio Scotland and also regularly appears on "Have I got news for you", "mock the week" and "QI".
After dinner Joe Stilgoe who is described by some as a "serious musician having fun" will entertain with his singing, piano playing and sense of humour. Joe has been described as one of the favourite musician performing in the UK's top jazz clubs.


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Coach "Q" ResignsMay 31st, 2011 by admin
Wakefield, MA–Coach Mike Boyages recently announced that Coach Rick Quattrochi-'73 has resigned from his position as an assistant coach. Coach "Q" has been an integral member of the coaching staff the past few seasons.
"Coach "Q" has been a very important piece to our coaching staff the past few seasons. I am sad to see him go, but understand the committment he makes during the season has a direct impact on his business," said Boyages. Coach "Q' owns Michael-Maria's Landscaping and has found it hard to manage both his highly successful business and the grueling requirements of coaching in recents years as his business grows.
"Rick did a lot of things for the kids that go unnoticed by a lot of people. He never did it for the recognition, but I know all of the kids who have played for him not only respect him as a coach, but also a person. I wish him well."
The Warrior Club salutes Coach "Q" for his many years of service and wishes him well in his future endeavors.


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Miiverse is dead, long live… well, I guess that's just the end of it.
Today, Nintendo shut down Miiverse forever. It was a wonderful little social media experiment that let Wii U and 3DS users share thoughts, drawings, and screenshots of games. Nintendo also used it for special promotional events, and it was a valuable avenue for communicating with smaller game developers.
Of course, Twitter does all that, and from your phone, so.
Miiverse wasn't perfect, but it did add a lot to Nintendo and video games culture. It gave rise to many memes, like "Y Can't Metroid Crawl?" It provided us with one of the best Twitter accounts ever, @BadMiivesePost. And of course, there were the completely mind-boggling things on there like the always delightful Miiverse Water Guy.
If you were so inclined, Nintendo offered a download of all your Miiverse posts up until last night, but I didn't opt in. I felt it was better to just let it all go, rather than have another meaningless file to stick in a folder somewhere and forget about. It's not like I had any especially insightful or funny posts, anyhow.
Honestly, I think the memories of how exciting Miiverse was at first are more important than the actual posts. It was a cool new feature to a cool new game console (which ended up being a dud for most), and I'm sure that I've spent much more time scrolling through Miivese posts than I ever will spend with the Twitter app. Oh well! It was a fun ride, but nothing lasts forever.
I think most of all, I'll miss all the dick drawings that pop up after a game in Nintendo Land.


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Press Release
This weekend, from July 31st – August 3rd, acclaimed creator Harlan Ellison will join IDW's Editor-in-Chief and CCO, Chris Ryall, at the official Star Trek Convention at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. Celebrating the rich universe of Star Trek, Ellison will be featured throughout the weekend on diverse panels, and on hand for a number of signings.
Ellison's award-winning Star Trek episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever" is a lauded sci-fi masterpiece; cited by many as the greatest episode in the franchises' long history. Recently adapted to comics by IDW, "The City On The Edge of Forever" rapidly sold out of the first issue, and received a second print, in stores soon! Adapted by Star Trek veterans Scott and David Tipton, with stunning art by J.K. Woodward, the comic series is bringing the complete, unedited script by Ellison to fans, as it was originally intended.
During the weekend, fans will have the opportunity to hear Ellison speak on a number of Q&A panels. The first of which will take place on Thursday, the 31st at 5:20 PM in the main theatre. On Friday, the 1st at 1:20 PM, also in the main theatre, Grace Lee Whitney, the actress who played Janice Rand on the classic series will host a Q&A session, while Walter Koenig, best known for his role as Chekov on the original series, will host a final Q&A with Ellison on Sunday the 3rd at 10:15 AM, in the main theatre.
Ellison and Ryall will be signing and meeting fans alongside "The City on the Edge of Forever" cover artist, Juan Ortiz, during the rest of the convention at Harlan and IDW's booth, B26.
Don't miss out on this very special occasion to meet a formative creator at this spotlight convention!
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About IDW Publishing
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro's The TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE and MY LITTLE PONY; Paramount's Star Trek; Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 2000AD's Judge Dredd; The Rocketeer; Toho's Godzilla; Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons; V-Wars from New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Maberry; Ragnarök from Eisner Award-winner Walter Simonson; Winterworld, created by Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino; and Little Nemo from the award-winning duo of Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints, Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio, and the multiple award-winning Artist's Edition imprint.
IDW's critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot; Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Warner Brothers are producing a film based on Ashley Wood's Lore; Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes and Sony are bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film, Kurtzman/Orci are producing a movie based on Locke & Key at Universal.


text: 23 Sep /By Melissa Mazzeo/0 Comments/Uncategorized Highlights from our September Build-a-thon in Joburg JR in his element Looks like our participants Got Out of the Building… Have we mentioned that we love Bean Republic? Thanks, Edwin! What are investors looking for? We live-tweeted the event for our friends outside Joburg Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading... Related ALN Ventures


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OutputFileName property
|WinHTTP component.
|property OutputFileName: String;
|The OutputFileName property specifies the target filename for downloaded resource. If the OutputFileName specified, the WinHTTP uses the TFileStream instead of TMemoryStream as the storage for downloaded data.
| Use the OutputFileName to specify the target filename if you need save data to the file AND if you don't want to use memory-stream of OnDone event.
|If you would like to hide the temporary (incomplete) file while it downloading set OutputFileAttributes.Incomplete property to [atrHidden].
|In case if the OutputFileName can not be created (e.g. path not exists, or file locked by system etc) OnOutputFileError event occur.
| The downloaded document will not be stored to the "OutputFileName", in case if component received erroneous status response code (not 200 - OK and not 206 - Partial Content (if request was initiated by Resume or ReadRange methods)).
|In case of HTTP error, the downloaded content will be represented as TMemoryStream in various events of WinHTTP.
|WinHTTP1.URL := 'http://www.domain.com/filename.zip';
|WinHTTP1.OutputFileName := 'c:\filename.zip';
|OutputFileAttributes property;
|Read, ReadRange and Resume methods;
|OnDone, OnHTTPError and OnOutputFileError events;
|HTTP Status Codes.


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Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
Vintage photos of:
May 1938. "General store and railroad crossing, Atlanta, Ohio." Which way to the ATM? 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein. View full size.
It's an optical illusion the way the Crossbuck is mounted. While it looks like they're at 90 degrees to each other, if you look closely you can see the shadow cast by the forward arm of the buck on the rear arm.
Another optical illusion is found in the thumbnail sized photo. Due to the way it was photographed, the thumbnail has an almost "tilt shift" sense to it, making the image look to be from a model railroad, as opposed to real life.
Sitting on the fender of the delivery truck. He chewed Mail Pouch, but it never occurred to me that apparently you could also smoke it.
Wonder if that shiny new '37 Chevy sedan delivery finished life as a hot rod!
Bertram Conaway Hughes was born on August 26 1876; married Martha Donahoe in 1902; they had 4 children: Gladys 1903-?, Mildred 1906-1984, Carroll 1912-1993 and Doris 1919-?. Bertram died in 1943; according to his WW1 draft card he was of medium height with blue eyes and gray hair. Martha died in 1981 aged 102.
A friend posted a link to the photo on Facebook and had a question - "New to me is the way the crossbucks are mounted on the square post so that the arms are at 90 degrees rather than on opposite sides of the post. Nice detail...was this common?"
I think the name is still Atlanta; it's just that it's unincorporated, so Google Maps refers to the closest incorporated town (New Holland).
And if you were wondering why the highway number is now 207 instead of 277, it goes back to 1962. The Interstate highways were coming to Ohio, which was to include I-277 around Akron. Ohio followed the standard that route numbers are unique between highway systems, so Ohio State Route 277 was renumbered Ohio State Route 207. The topographic maps on Historic Aerials show it numbered 277 as late as 1963. As for the railroad (Pennsylvania RR), it disappeared sometime between 1975 and 1988, and its right-of-way is now occupied by a high tension line.
Someone decided it would make a nice painting:
The distinctive eaves on the first house peaking in from the right still seem to exist on the house in Google maps, then the next building, which appears to be a garage, looks to be the of the same construction as the existing building, just with a different front on it.
...a scene you would try to recreate on a model railroad.
Railroad gone, store gone, and the town has a new name, but the 3 building on the right look like they remain but altered somewhat. 'Travel' down to the 2 story (3rd house) and the windows match.
Its just straight down that road about 50 years...


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Horse Riding Breeches and Jodhpurs
Buying And Caring For Equestrian Riding Pants
Your horse riding pants, or breeches as they are called in some styles of riding, are crucial to staying comfortable while you are on the back of your horse. Some riders can get away with simply heading out and picking up a new pair, however, beginning riders, and even some experienced riders need help in choosing the right pair.
Before you are going to be able to purchase a pair, you have to understand the different types. There are four main styles of riding pants, from knee patch, to full seat, jockey's breeches and Jodhpurs.
Knee patch riding pants are built with a suede or leather patch inside of the knees of the pants, where jumping riders apply the most pressure. Full seat riding pants, however, contain a layer of suede or leather up the entire inseam and onto the riders buttocks. Jockey's breeches provide a much looser fit, helping to give you increased mobility.
The last type of riding pants, called Jodhpurs, combine the best elements of knee patch and jumping pants with full bottom breeches, giving you a suede or leather lining up the entire inseam and onto the buttocks of the pants.
Once you know which style of riding pants you are going to want, you'll have to figure out what size you wear and whether or not you plan to wear them with horse riding chaps . For women the pants typically range one size larger than the size pants that you normally where.
Children's breeches are sold at the same sizes, and are much easier to purchase. You are also able to find short and long styles, if your legs are a different length than most riders. As you receive the riding pants and begin to wear them more, and more, you are going to need to ensure that you take proper care of the material.
When you wash the pants in cool water, make sure that you turn them inside out to avoid excess wear to the leather patches. As soon as the load has finished, you want to remove the pants and hang them to dry. If you notice stains on the pants, you should take the necessary steps to remove them quickly.
Horse riding pants help protect your skin and are a perfect fit to help your legs wrap snuggly around the horse, giving you an incredible feeling of security. As long as you take these tips into consideration, you will have a much easier time buying new horse riding breeches than if you were to simply grab a pair off the shelf and attempt to go riding.
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Everyone needs to have a 'cake' doughnut recipe in their repertoire! It's the new cupcake – perhaps as quick to bake and open to so much creativity when it comes to toppings, glazes and even flavours! And did I mention that we skip the yeast and frying? This is just the sort of recipe that will save you if you have to make an incessant number of doughnuts for your kids and their friends.
We don't always have buttermilk lying around at home, so I usually go with adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to 3/4th of a cup of milk. Give it a stir and let it rest for 30 minutes. This also means that you'll need to start with making the buttermilk before you start baking.
Apart from that, it's a pretty simple, 'wet-ingredients-meet-dry-ingredients' sort of batter that takes all of 15 to 18 minutes to bake in the oven. Run a blunt knife around the edges to release the doughnuts and let them cool completely on a wire rack before icing them with the mango glaze. Ideally, use a not-so-sweet variety, that will allow you to control the sweetness.
The icing sugar is quite crucial in a glaze such as this one, and you want to cook this on a low flame until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. What that means is that when you run a finger across the spatula with the glaze on it, the mark of the finger remains, the remaining glaze on the spatula doesn't run across it. Once the cooled icing is spooned over the cooled doughnuts, you'll find that it continues to set over the doughnuts. And since the doughnuts are not too sweet because of the raw sugar used, you'll find that the flavours balance out really well. The garnish of chopped pistachios and dried rose petals add a quintessential Indian touch.
Time taken: 50 minutes + plus cooling time Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS: For the doughnuts
– Flour: 125 gms
– Raw sugar: 150 gms
– Baking powder: 1 teaspoon
– Salt: 1/8 teaspoon
– Buttermilk: ¾ th cup
– Egg (beaten): 1 large
– Canola/Sunflower oil: 1 tablespoon
– Vanilla extract: 1 teaspoon
– pistachios (chopped): 1 tablespoon
– Dried rose petals
INGREDIENTS: For the Mango Glaze
– Pulp of 1 'kesar' mango
– Icing sugar: 1 ¼ cups
– Grease the cavities of a 6-doughnut baking pan. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
– In the bowl of the KitchenAid Stand Mixer, add the flour, raw sugar, baking powder and salt. Use the flat beater attachment to mix them together.
– In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of the stand mixer and start mixing at low speed, taking it up to the next speed to mix together the ingredients. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix again till completely combined.
– Pour the mixture 3/4th of the way in each doughnut cavity of the pan and bake in pre-heated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the doughnuts comes out clean.
– While the doughnuts are baking, puree the pulp of 1 kesar mango with the icing sugar. Cook this in a saucepan over a low heat (stirring continuously) until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Let it cool completely.
– Cool the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the outer and inner edges of the pan and then invert the doughnuts out of the pan. Let the doughnuts cool completely on a wire rack.
– Use a spoon to pour the glaze on the doughnuts. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios and dried rose petals.
– Make it a Sweet Summer and serve!


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From 17th to 28th Apri I had a trip to Vancouver, Canada to visit my aunty and her family.
Vancouver is a very beautiful city which have big green stands of vegetation but small
populations. During this trip I got a chance to visit
- Emily Carr university of art+design
- Vancouver Art gallery
- some art works from an Greece artist
Useful link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver
Emily Carr university of art+design
Emily Carr University of Art + Design is a full member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. Established in 1925, and based in Vancouver, BC, Emily Carr University of Art + Design one of Canada's premier, post-secondary universities specializing in undergraduate and graduate art and design education and research.
Useful link: http://www.ecuad.ca/about
Emily Carr university located in Granville Island, after this one day trip and talk with some students who study here, I got some personal feeling for this university. On my opinion, Emily Carr pay more attention on the CG area most of their work are based on CG technology. During the conversation, I found that they would like to doing more 3D works also some fantastic after effects, they doing well in this stage. It doesn't mean that I don't like use those CG technology, nowadays, CG technology become more and more important in the design area, but I still think to be an animator or designer, the first skill you need to have should be drawing skill. Use simple pen and paper you can just easily translate the imagination in you mind to be some real pictures which can help designer catch their idea in the first place. Anyway, this just some of my personal feeling about it, Emily Carr university still have a very good high education and great skills which worth me to learn in the future study. If some of you have a chance to visit Vancouver don't forget coming to visit the Emily Carr university, all their teachers are kind, also talk with their students could be a very good experience to open you mind to see others works, hear different ideas could be a pretty good way to inspire you ideas.
This one is their animation studio below:
University outside look:
Vancouver Art gallery
Despite visited Emily Carr university, I had a one day trip for Vancouver Art gallery as well.
The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is the fifth-largest art gallery in Canada and the largest in Western Canada. It is located at 750 Hornby Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its permanent collection of about 10,000 artworks includes more than 200 major works by Emily Carr, the Group of Seven, and illustrations by Marc Chagall.
The VAG was founded in 1931 and had its first home at 1145 West Georgia Street. In 1983 it moved to the Hornby Street location, the former provincial courthouse. It was renovated at a cost of $20 million by architect Arthur Erickson, which completed his modern three city-block Robson Square complex. via an underground passage below Robson Street to an outdoor plaza, restaurants, the University of British Columbia's downtown satellite campus, government offices, and the new law courts at the southern end.
The VAG has 41,400 square feet (3,850 m2) of exhibition space and about 10,000 works in its collection, most notably its Emily Carr collection. It has also amassed a significant collection of photographs. In addition to exhibitions of its own collection, the VAG regularly hosts touring exhibitions. The VAG regularly sponsors or hosts a number of public programmes and lectures.
In March 2007 the 2010 Olympic countdown clock was placed in the front lawn of the VAG. It was open for free for the public to see. The clock has since been disassembled, with one half going to BC Place and the other to Whistler Village.
On that day I saw three current exhibitions on show:
- from the collection
Useful link: http://vanartgallery.bc.ca/
For me, WALKING + FALLING JIM CAMPBELL, CHRIS MARKER AND EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE which really gave me a unforgettable experience.
From that I saw a lot different walks, also the artist use many different ways to record the walks. The most interesting one was the Jim Campbell
Exploded View (Running Falling), 2010. On that work his use 1152 LED s, wire and steel to create a 3D model to show walk people walk cycle on different vials.
Because the gallery not allow take photos inside, I couldn't post their art works on my blog. I will try my best to find more information and useful links to show those wonderful artworks.
Vancouver Gas-town Steam Clock:
Vancouver street view:
To sum up, if the National Gallery is the heave for classical art, then the Vancouver Art Gallery could be a garden for modern abstract art. It probably because Canada's culture history. Canada do not have a long history like UK or China. Base on this culture background, we can see most of city buildings are succinct style modern architecture. I think it's good for me to see those different styles art works also their city architectures, again if your eyes view are so narrow it would give any help for you creativity.
Because my uncle is an artist whose specialize in oil painting. After saw some art works from him and his friends, he told me something about art and design on his understanding, we had a long conversation and I really got some useful suggestions from him for my work and future study.
For me, this Canada trip gave me a lot of memorable experience, I found traveling could be a very important skill not just for artist and designer, even anybody on create industry. Hope I can have more chance to visit different place in the future.


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Best suited for indie game studios having constraints on the budgets for running full game quality assurance activities OR small studio's feeling the need to have a third-party validation of their game AND all who would like to feel confident for launching the game into the market. Many are clueless about the first impression of their games. GameCloud understands the situation and has designed minimum required set of quality checks that will translate boosting the confidence of the indie or small game studios in launching the game.
Unique Value Proposition:
Packaged Benefits:
Content Of The Final Report:
What We Expect From Client?
What We Test In Confidence Pack?
Cost Of Confidence Pack
Minor Game: Core Pass upto 20 hours | $399 USD
Major Game: Core Pass upto 40 hours | $699 USD
The "Confidence Pack" is a packaged service that cannot be customised. We have a fixed approach under this 'packaged' offering. It is about playing the game from end-user perspective in an attempt to complete the gameplay objectives (start to finish) in a single exploratory round. Here we report every issue that occurred while reaching the final gameplay objectives.
The "Confidence Pack" does not involve QA iterations, regressions or multiple rounds with multiple tests created. But, our single sweep from an end-user perspective and our report of all the revealed issues and overall feedback points (which are collected through our journey towards reaching the end-game objectives, right from the beginning) are enough to give you confidence about the release of your game. Of course, we expect you to fix the issues we have reported, to make the game better.
In short, this pack will produce an end-user feedback as well as expert opinion (along with all technical issues, if revealed) for your game based on a single exploratory run.
Core Pass – It represents a list of quick checks designed by GameCloud, specifically to your gameplay objectives.
Interested in knowing more?
Drop a mail to firstname.lastname@example.com and we will respond quickly!


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Escapade Products
- Triathlon
- Running
- Trail Running / Hiking
- Fitness / Yoga
- Rugby
- Swimming
- Tennis
- Field Hockey
- Netball
- Accessories
- Nutrition
- Leisure
Gandys Flip Flops
Inspired by the the loss of their parents in the 2004 Tsunami – Rob & Paul founded Gandys from their bedroom in London together with their charitable foundation; 'The Gandys foundation'. Rob and Paul established the Gandys foundation which supports the Orphans for Orphans initiative - aiding underprivileged children with education, medication and nutrition.
Gandys flip flops are designed in London, Inspired by travel, Fueled by giving back!
Gandys is available in
- Causeway Bay
- Repulse Bay


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The Obama Administration on Saturday said it supports the concept of reintegration of the Taliban and welcomed Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan of a grand peace 'jirga' in the coming months.
"We actually support and discussed yesterday during the Afghanistan conference the concept of reintegration, and we are very gratified that there has been a fund put together," Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said, adding that Japan has made a significant contribution to that.
"So this is fully consistent with our strategy of trying to build up capacity within the Afghan Government and provide it resources so that we can begin to peel away the foot soldiers who we think are not ideologically committed to this.
It may well be something simple, like the Taliban for the moment is paying better than the Afghan Government," Crowley said.
Observing that the Taliban is a kind of mixed grouping of disparate elements, Crowley said the US thinks there can be an opportunity through a political process, one that is Afghan led, to try to see who among these leaders are willing to make a fundamental change in their approach.
"We will support this," he said.
Crowley welcomed the plan of Afghan President Hamid Karzai of a grand peace jirga in the coming months.


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<iframe frameborder='0′ width='240′ height='210′ title='Team Play at Poco Diablo Resort' src='index.html' type='text/html' allowfullscreen='true' scrolling='no' marginwidth='0′ marginheight='0′></iframe>
Just as the Oak Creek flows through our property so will the energy of your group as they Retreat to Recreate, Renew and Rejuvenate at Poco!
How is your "Team Play"? How do you want your team to Retreat & Recreate?
Todd and Marsha Davis are the facilitators for Team Play at Poco Diablo. Their facilitation integrates the Fun Factor with the outstanding facilities, grounds and customer service of the resort. Todd and Marsha Davis have brought their meeting groups to Poco to help increase motivation and inspire people by introducing better engagement strategies and work-leisure balance. They are now available to share their creative programs with your group based on your needs! Team Play offers your organization a variety of activities designed to connect your most valued resources, "people", through experiences that are designed to "Play with a Purpose". They are professional design experts with the facilitation experience needed to connect adults through communication, cooperation and collaboration Choose one or even a few activities that could end up being the missing ingredient needed to improve connections at your next meeting or retreat. As your Fun Coaches, we will coordinate and integrate activities, ice-breakers and engaging experiences to foster a better work-life and personal-life for all who attend.
Engage the Fun Factor & Have More FUN! People connecting for a sense of Friendship! Performing to build better Unity, including trust and respect. Needs met for the Individual through input and engagement and the organization through productivity and teamwork.
Social recreation activities help your attendees connect in the afternoon, over a happy hour or later in the evening. Get to know others with a "Who Are You?" network game, lawn games tournament or a salsa-margarita culinary challenge. Enjoy a program under the stars with glow in the dark disc golf, corn hole, bocce ball and neon Kan Jam. Enjoy our favorite and mix up it up with a Team Chef challenge when you fire up the burners for our famous Chili Cook-off.
Our Playshops, or interactive workshops, provides interaction complete with cooperation and collaboration through our Problem Solving challenges. Team up to build a boat, deliver an egg or discover tips with our leading through guiding activity. Our unique experiences teach a communication process with designed planning time prior to performing the activity. These values then transfer back to the workplace or committee for the next meeting when your group needs to tackle the challenge at hand.
Have Fun with our Urban and Outdoor Recreation facilitation as we enjoy all that Sedona offers. From adventure on the trail to Fun in downtown to tour Team Play facilitation will guide your participants through an unforgettable experience. Head into for our Sedona Urban Fun Amazing Chase or Mixology Treasure Hunt documenting your journey with photos along the way. You can also pair a jeep or hiking experience with a game of "capture the flag" and a message of overcoming NDD (Nature Deficit Disorder)!
Community Service with a team twist! Build a better community of team talent while engaging in VolunTEAMism experiences on or offsite. Pair your happy hour with a Build A Food Sculpture, Build a Garden or Bike, or Golf for a Cause as we offer a variety of unique "giving-back" experiences for your group. Or explore the beautiful Sedona scenery in a Jeep where you can enjoy a hands-on project in nature picking up trash or fixing a trail along the way! GO GREEN!


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We study the effects of tagging, per-VC buffer allocation, and per-VC scheduling on providing GFR to TCP/IP traffic. We conclude that per-VC scheduling is necessary to provide GFR guarantees to TCP traffic. Per-VC scheduling alone is sufficient to provide minimum rate guarantees to the CLP0+1 stream. If the source end systems perform tagging (but not the network), then per-VC scheduling and per-VC buffer allocation are both required to provide GFR guarantees to the CLP0 stream.
Contribution in Postscript (436,710 Bytes) | text *without* figures (28,220 bytes)
Presentation slides in Adobe Acrobat 3.0 Format (89,457 bytes)


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Katie Ramsey has been a Las Vegas local since 2005, relocating after growing up in Orange County California and graduating from California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor's of Science in International Business. Katie joined Signature Real Estate Group in 2014 after leaving her 13 year career in retail management. With her retail background, Katie brings an energized focus to the customer perspective, always ensuring that her clients are highly satisfied throughout every step of each transaction.
Outside of Real Estate, Katie loves all animals and currently has three dogs: Jaro, Jack, and Duke. Katie spends her time watching the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Angels, traveling to various countries, and volunteering with local organizations.