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Russell learning to wait for his pitch early in career
MESA, Ariz. -- Considered a can't-miss prospect, shortstop Addison Russell proved scouts right in his first full season in 2013. Russell finished with double-digit totals in doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases, and you could count on two hands the number of Minor Leaguers who did that. There were eight.
With 29 doubles, 10 triples, 17 homers and 21 stolen bases built almost solely at High A Stockton, Russell was in select company. The A's top-ranked prospect preferred, however, to look at the season in a different light, one of growth and discovery as he locked onto his best approach at the plate.
MESA, Ariz. -- Considered a can't-miss prospect, shortstop Addison Russell proved scouts right in his first full season in 2013. Russell finished with double-digit totals in doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases, and you could count on two hands the number of Minor Leaguers who did that. There were eight.
With 29 doubles, 10 triples, 17 homers and 21 stolen bases built almost solely at High A Stockton, Russell was in select company. The A's top-ranked prospect preferred, however, to look at the season in a different light, one of growth and discovery as he locked onto his best approach at the plate.
"I didn't start off as good as I wanted to. I tried to do some things that weren't me at the plate, just trying to hit the ball," Russell said. "I was trying to muscle things a little bit, trying to force some things. I learned I have to let it come to me and take advantage. That's what I did in the second half. It wasn't anything mechanical. It was all mental. I told myself to settle down, and things took care of themselves."
It is a lesson all players learn at some point, but seldom does it seem to take as little time to implement as it did for Russell, who signed for a $2,625,000 bonus as Oakland's first-round pick in 2012 out of Pace High School in Florida.
"Especially us young guys. We have to learn how not to put everything on our shoulders," Russell said. "It is a long year. You have to just relax. Things will take care of themselves. Your ability will take over. Try not to produce. Just try to do what you are supposed to do and stay grounded."
Russell is continuing his strong year for Mesa of the Arizona Fall League, where he had a .307/.369/.467 slash line in 18 games to help the Solar Sox to first place in the East Division of the six-team made-for-prospects league.
While others may have been feeling the weight of the long season in November, Russell was closing strong. He took an eight-game hitting streak into the final week of the season, with 14 hits in his last 34 at-bats. He had seven doubles, a triple, a homer and four stolen bases, tied for third in the league in doubles.
With understanding has come plate discipline, and Russell has cut down his strikeouts dramatically. After 125 strikeouts in 442 at-bats -- 107 games with Stockton, three with Triple-A Sacramento -- in the summer, Russell has brought his ratio down to 5:1 with 13 strikeouts in 75 at-bats.
"I am trying to pick out the best pitch for me to hit hard," he said. "I'm just looking for my pitch. If I get it, I am trying to swing at it. If it is not there, I am going to try to watch it go by."
Russell, who turns 20 on Jan. 23, seems certain to take the next step to Double-A Midland next season, but it is nothing he dwells on.
"I just want to take what I'm learning here and put it into effect next year," Russell said. "Take my ABs, take my walks, see some good pitches. It's going to be a long year, just like this year. So just try not to press and be me and have fun playing the game."
Bill Richardson, Russell's manager in Mesa, sees a high ceiling.
"His aptitude is off the charts," Richardson said. "He makes a lot of things look easy. Then you give him something [to work on], and he puts it into play, and he looks like he's been doing it for 10 years. That is his foundation. That's his fabric."
Richardson managed in the Angels' system last year and spent the previous six years in the Texas organization, where Elvis Andrus took over as the starting shortstop at 20 and stabilized the position. He sees Russell as the same kind of player.
"[Addison is] a 19-year-old with so much upside, not only talent-wise but his work ethic. His tools are all there," Richardson said. "Shortstop is such a premium. You get a good shortstop, [and] when you have that guy, it makes things a lot easier on your club. He's been very solid. He might be one of the most talented players in this league. He knows what he wants, and there is no doubt in my mind he will make it. How soon is what it is."
A's hitters in the AFL
• Acquired in the deal that sent Kurt Suzuki to Washington last season, David Freitas had a three-hit game on Halloween but has not had a lot of opportunity to work, a common issue with Fall League catchers because teams carry three backstops. Freitas was hitting .222 with a homer and four RBIs in nine games. He had 10 homers, 30 RBIs and 31 walks in 90 games combined at Double-A and Triple-A this summer, and his patient approach is a plus.
• First baseman Max Muncy, who is ranked the organization's No. 16 prospect, had a breakout season at High A and Double-A over the summer, going .273/.381/.476 with 25 doubles, 25 home runs and 100 RBIs. A fifth-round pick in the 2012 Draft out of Baylor, Muncy has not sustained that pace in the Fall League, hitting .196 with three RBIs in 14 games. He had been hot recently, however, with five hits in his last 17 at-bats.
A's pitchers in the AFL
• Counting the Fall League as another step up, Ryan Dull has pitched at six levels in his 17 months with the A's organization since being selected in the 32nd round of the 2012 Draft out of North Carolina-Asheville. Dull has experienced some growing pains while finishing a long season here, with a 5.40 ERA in nine appearances, but he will enter 2014 with a strong resume after posting a 2.40 ERA with 19 saves combined at Class A Beloit, High A and Double-A. A fastball/changeup guy with command, Dull had 78 strikeouts against nine walks in 60 innings at his three stops in the summer.
• Left-hander Omar Duran came into the Fall League equipped with dominating stuff at times, but he has struggled to locate in Arizona as the A's attempt to determine whether to protect him or expose him to the Rule 5 Draft. Duran, who can hit the mid-90s, was 0-1 with a 4.70 ERA in seven outings, with six walks and four strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings. It is a comedown from an enigmatic summer season when he was 3-1 with three saves and a 4.17 ERA at Class A Vermont and High A. Duran, who is 6-foot-3, struck out 91 but walked 43 in 58 1/3 innings.
• After moving to the bullpen for good in 2012, Seth Frankoff took another step forward in the Fall League, giving up two runs and holding opponents to a .143 batting average in 11 appearances. He had 14 strikeouts against only two walks in 10 1/3 innings, building on a nice season at High A, where he was 2-0 with four saves and a 2.78 ERA in 48 appearances. Relying on a cut fastball, Frankoff struck out 93 in 74 1/3 innings at Stockton after being selected in the 27th round out of North Carolina-Wilmington in the 2010 Draft.
• Late-blooming left-handed reliever Jeff Urlaub continued to do what he does best ... throw strikes. Urlaub, who is 6-foot-2 and 160 pounds, was 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA in 10 outings. He had 14 strikeouts and two walks in 11 innings, a pattern that has marked his rise through the Minors after being a 30th-round Draft pick in 2010 out of Grand Canyon University. Urlaub, 26, was 2-2 with one save and a 3.86 ERA at Double-A in the summer. He averaged 1.6 walks per nine innings in four seasons.
Jack Magruder is a contributor to MLB.com.


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"Django Unchained," Quentin Tarantino's big smooch to exploitation movies, spaghetti Westerns and classic revenge flicks, will divide and outrage audiences. Hallelujah to that.
The excessively violent, persistently provocative and daringly entertaining epic never shies away from the sensational. A pack of vicious dogs chews apart a slave. A naked black woman gets yanked from her underground prison. A man savagely beats another with his bare fists.
Ugly images, yes, but this is no empty-headed wallow. While in many regards, Tarantino is an enfant terrible — just look what he did with history in "Inglourious Basterds" — he's also a bold artist with a deep passion for movies and filmmaking with blood and guts.
For the most part, "Django Unchained" finds Tarantino in fine form and carting out his signature staples: blood-spurting shootouts, cheeky dialogue, movie references and a quirky, killer soundtrack. The film's absurd Christmas Day release date is conspiring against it, and given the horrific tragedy that unfolded last week in Newtown, Conn., the collective tolerance for such in-your-face cinematic extremism likely will reach a new low. Yet "Django" shouldn't be branded as trash, then summarily reviled and dismissed. Under the guise of a hilarious exploitation flick, it has big, if not always fully realized, ambitions.
Its most audacious goal is to make us bear witness to the ugliness of racism and the pure horror of slavery. Overall, there's much more good and ugly than just plain bad represented here, even if a few bits fall flat, including a Ku Klux Klan encounter that's just not very clever.
Set two years before the Civil War, "Django" follows unshackled slave Django (Jamie Foxx) and bounty hunter King Schultz (Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz) as they tangle with all sorts of Southern characters while bagging "most wanted" bad guys and searching for Django's wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington).
The trail Django and Schultz follow — at one point juxtaposed against the hilarious accompaniment of Jim Croce's "I've Got a Name" — leads to gory choreographed shootouts, an encounter with a slick but dangerous plantation owner (Don Johnson, delivering one of his most successful performances), right up to the main prize: the Candyland plantation, run by evil dandy Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) — a sicko who, for sport, holds bloody "Mandingo" fights in his swanky parlor.
Playing against those boyish good looks, DiCaprio makes Candie a charismatic monster; it's a pleasure to see him branch out from low-hanging-fruit roles of leading men. Here, he demonstrates just how well he can pull off portraying a loathsome cur. However, the scene-stealer is Tarantino go-to guy Samuel L. Jackson as Candie's right-hand man, Stephen, a slave who's averse to any change in the master-slave dynamic. With his stooped posture, baffled expression and weirdly righteous outrage, Jackson makes Stephen the film's most fascinating character.
He's certainly more interesting than Django, a stock, one-dimensional Tarantino character — much like Uma Thurman's The Bride in "Kill Bill" — with a single-minded purpose. The Oscar-winning Foxx expresses Django's simmering and eventually seething fury with steely-eyed intensity, but the role — as written by Tarantino — doesn't allow for much more than standard vengeance. The supporting parts are better drawn, including Waltz's kooky dentist/bounty hunter.
These unique characters, combined with the stunning plantation set pieces, frequent humorous bits (Tarantino has a terrific cameo) and rich Tarantino dialogue, not to mention well-staged action sequences, make "Django" one of Tarantino's finer efforts.
Does it always work? No. But Tarantino's brazen "Django" is one bloody — with the emphasis on bloody — good time.
'Django Unchained'
* * * ½
Rating: R (for strong graphic violence throughout, a vicious fight, language and some nudity)
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Running time: 2 hours,
45 minutes

subset: commoncrawl


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Maybe it's been a slow weekend on the campaign trail (or we're all just bored with polls and debates), but sexual orientation and race have injected themselves – refreshingly, dare one say? – into the GOP presidential race.
Specifically, Republicans are being taken to task (in some cases, by their own number) for what seemed to be the audience's insensitive response to a gay soldier who asked a question of candidates by video at the most recent GOP debate.
Meanwhile, Texas Governor Rick Perry is under fire for the racial slur that was the name of his family's hunting camp.
A 3,000-word piece in Sunday's Washington Post, reported from Perry's hometown of Paint Creek, Tex., asserts that "In the early years of his political career, Rick Perry began hosting fellow lawmakers, friends and supporters at his family's secluded West Texas hunting camp, a place known by the name painted in block letters across a large, flat rock standing upright at its gated entrance. 'N…..head,' it read." (Except the story spells out the name.)
"Over the years, civil rights groups and government agencies have had some success changing those and other racially offensive names that dotted the nation's maps," notes Post reporter Stephanie McCrummen. "But the name of this particular parcel did not change for years after it became associated with Rick Perry, first as a private citizen, then as a state official and finally as Texas governor. Some locals still call it that. As recently as this summer, the slablike rock – lying flat, the name still faintly visible beneath a coat of white paint – remained by the gated entrance to the camp."
The story notes that Perry grew up in a segregated part of the country before the passage of major civil rights laws, and it quotes him as saying the word on the rock is an "offensive name that has no place in the modern world."
But on Fox News Sunday, Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain (who is African American) took Perry to task over the issue.
There isn't "a more vile, negative word than the N word," Cain said. "For him to leave it there as long as he did before ... they finally painted over it, is just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country."
The Perry camp was quick with damage control.
Ray Sullivan, communications director for the Perry campaign, said the governor's father, Ray Perry, leased the hunting rights in the early 1980s and that Rick Perry was on the lease from 1997 to 2007. Rick Perry has not visited the property since December 2006, Sullivan told the Associated Press.
"Mr. Cain is wrong about the Perry family's quick action to eliminate the word on the rock, but is right the word written by others long ago is insensitive and offensive," Sullivan said. "That is why the Perrys took quick action to cover and obscure it."
During the most recent GOP debate, some of the audience booed when Stephen Hill, a US Army soldier serving in Iraq, asked via a YouTube clip whether the candidates would try to reinstate the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy banning openly gay servicemen and women from serving in the armed forces.
"In 2010, when I was deployed to Iraq, I had to lie about who I was because I'm a gay soldier and I didn't want to lose my job," Hill said. "My question is: under one of your presidencies, do you intend to circumvent the progress we've made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?"
That was the point at which boos and hisses could be heard in the audience – taken by many advocates and analysts as an insult to many Americans serving voluntarily in wartime.
Since then, the candidates and others have seen the problem with allowing to stand that response to a serving soldier.
Rick Santorum, who'd jumped right in to declare that he would reinstate DADT, later told Fox News, "I condemn the people who booed that gay soldier."
"That soldier is serving our country, I thank him for his service to our country," Santorum said. "I'm sure he's doing an excellent job. I hope he is safe, and I hope he returns safely, and does his mission well."
On CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday, Sen. John McCain (who'd led the opposition to repealing DADT) said the candidates should have stopped the booing.
"The fact is, we should honor every man and woman who is serving in the military and should in no way treat them with anything but the highest regard," McCain said.
On ABC's "This Week" Sunday, Herman Cain said he regretted not having spoken up on the soldier's behalf. "In retrospect, because of the controversy it has created and because of the different interpretations that it could have had … that would have been appropriate."
For his part President Obama saw the episode as an opportunity to needle his Republican challengers.
At the annual Human Rights Campaign fundraising dinner Saturday night he said, "We don't believe in the kind of smallness that says it's okay for a stage full of political leaders – one of whom could end up being the president of the United States – being silent when an American soldier is booed."
"You want to be commander in chief?" Obama asked. "You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient."


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Avistar (News - Alert) Communications (www.avistar.com),
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[ Back To Unified Communications's Homepage ]


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Observing Ramadan, teens ponder self-improvement
Ramadan, the Muslim month of reflection and fasting, began Tuesday, and Amina Iro has some goals: Study her Koran more. Try to use less profanity. Spend more time with her family.
"Sometimes my mom and I butt heads, and I want to be more patient. I'm realizing more and more that this life is not forever, so I have to make the most of it," the 17-year-old from Bowie said.
Iro is part of a group of Muslim teens who have been exploring a key Ramadan theme -- self-betterment -- this year through their participation in one of the biggest Muslim youth events in the country.
Organizers of the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament (MIST) picked the topic of self-improvement after surveys last year showed many of the largely traditional teens carrying guilt, worried about sinning and making mistakes. The thousands of teens compete in everything from improv comedy to photography to spoken word.
"They felt like because they sinned or they did things that weren't necessarily the best, they didn't consider themselves religious," said Tara Mohammed, regional director for the Washington-area MIST, which includes nearly 600 youths. "They felt, 'There's no hope for me now, I might as well turn to other things, partying.' We are trying to push self-awareness, patience, the idea that you can always rise to something better."
Iro, a high school senior from Greenbelt, Md., took first place last weekend in short fiction at the MIST national championship in Michigan. Her story was about two sisters living in an orphanage. The younger has schizophrenia, making it harder for them to be adopted. The older sister struggles with anger and shame about her sister. Meanwhile, the younger one has elaborate imaginary adventures.
Iro says she is fascinated by people with conditions like schizophrenia and wanted to explore the life of "someone who is generally misunderstood." As a girl who has been bullied for wearing a hijab, or head covering, she sees parallels with her life as a Muslim in post-Sept. 11 America. She knows what it is like to feel a bit out of the mainstream culture.
"We live in a society where not everyone knows everything about my way of life," Iro said. "There was a subconscious thought to try and make a connection."
Anam Khatib, 16, who won the regional short film competition for her video about a relationship between a father and son, went to a religious school for middle school and said observant Muslims "struggle in public school" to resist drinking, drugs and sex. "There's a lot we know we can't do. Sometimes we do them and feel guilty."
Does doing such things make someone a bad person, or a bad Muslim?
"I don't think anyone is a bad person. Some actions make them feel like they are," said Khatib, a Maryland high school senior whose parents emigrated from India (her father played the father in the film). "And relationship with God is a very individual thing. Other people can't judge you on your actions. Only God can."
Islam teaches that Satan is chained up during Ramadan, giving Muslims extra protection as they fast and try to become closer to God. "That means it all comes down to us," she said. She doesn't make specific resolutions -- though many Muslims do during Ramadan -- but will generally try to be more charitable, a better student and a better daughter, she said.
Khatib's brother, Arbaz Khatib, 15, placed second in the regional championship in photography for an image of an hourglass and a century-old tree outside their Greenbelt home. He wanted to show how the tree had survived storms and time and was still prospering. He shot it from the bottom looking up to emphasize how its movement was upward.
"When we mess up, and go against our religion, either by accident or on purpose, the guilt should be there. It's a sign of repentance," he said. "But also you need to have patience. Yes, you messed up, but we are all humans."
This Ramadan, Arbaz Khatib said he's working on being more respectful to his parents and being more prompt about starting his five-times-daily prayers. After professing yourself a Muslim, praying on time is the second most-important thing, he said.
Idiris Mohamed, 16, of Hyattsville, Md., said he'll work this Ramadan on memorizing more of the Koran -- a feat particularly valued in certain Muslim communities, including Mohamed's native Somalia.
"It's cultural, but it's really for God. At the end of the day, whatever you do is for the sake of God," Mohamed said. "[Memorizing] makes you more involved in your prayer. Once you get more involved in your prayer, everything falls into place in your life. I've found that, definitely."
Mohamed goes to Dar Us-Salaam private school in College Park, Md., and says going to a school with other Muslims doesn't necessarily make it easier to deal with peer pressure and other things that can challenge a teen's self-image.
"At the end of the day I'm human," he said. "As a Muslim, usually if you can realize you're doing something wrong you can still feel you have a good heart. "
He made it to the national semifinals for improv comedy and took first place in the regionals for a graphic design image of an unproductive painter.
Teens at MIST talk a lot about how to stick to traditional Islamic values and resist having boyfriends or girlfriends. They also talk about family problems and what to do if a sibling or friend "is going astray," he said. "Muslims understand it's wrong [to have physical relationships outside marriage] but still do it anyway."
One of the most powerful moments at the national competition, he said, was a spoken word piece by a teen who is, like Mohamed, from Somalia. The piece was about the boy's father leaving him. The other teens chanted the boy's name at the end.
"That's to me the whole point [of art], to use your own life story to change others," he said. After the other youth's performance at nationals, "everyone became more grateful for their lives."


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Welcome to Rosalind Cook . . .
my sculptures and my person. I specialize in figurative bronze sculptures that are representational in style. My work is an extension of who I am: my experiences, my personality and my faith. My statues are most noted for their faces as I strive to capture the inner spirit of my subjects and bring that forth. That spirit is also expressed through composition and design. The real joy comes in creating images that communicate to the viewer on a personal level. To that end, the true purpose of my work is to celebrate life and to lift the human spirit.
As you visit my Web site you will be able to see both small works and large works in thumbnail size. By clicking on the small picture you will see a full screen view of that sculpture and often additional views. You will also discover more about the artist, my background and training. Should you be interested in a specific bronze you will find a price reference and can contact the artist with comments or inquiries. I hope you enjoy your journey with me. A book of Rosalind's works and her story are available for order on this website.
The Rosalind Cook Encouragement Award
Because Rosalind strongly believes in the many benefits of art education for youth, Rosalind has a foundation that annually awards public school art teachers monies to buy art supplies or begin a new artistic venture in their classrooms. This foundation is distributed through Tulsa Community Foundation.
Rosalind's New Book
Rosalind's book, Capturing the Spirit in Bronze, is now available!
Order your copy here!


text:
All Recipes
June 6, 2014
Green Lasagna Rolls
Pasta rolled up with garlicky spinach, pesto, and ricotta will fulfill your wildest dreams.
May 4, 2014
Breakfast Nachos
All of the brunchy requirements...no utensils needed!
February 27, 2014
Brussel Sprout Fried Rice
As if fried rice weren't delicious enough already! Enter the Brussel sprouts.
February 12, 2014
Seitan & Waffles With Pomegranate Syrup
Make your date swoon like mad with this twist on a classic comfort combo.
January 28, 2014
Buffalo Chickpea Pitas With Ranch
A fun and easy translation of buffalo wings that won't get your fingers greasy!
January 16, 2014
Black Eyed Pea Curry With Collards & Potatoes
A voluptuous, out-of-the-ordinary curry that will warm your belly and your soul.
December 19, 2013
Banana Eggnog Pancakes
From now until New Years, these pancakes are your best friend morning, noon or night.
December 8, 2013
Gingery Coconut Stew With Brussels & Rutabaga
So warming and creamy and full of all your favorite veggies plus...chickpeas!
November 10, 2013
Quinoa Caesar Salad
Put some quinoa on it! You don't wanna' live without this creamy, briny dressing.
November 3, 2013
Stuffed Thanksgiving Burger
Like eating a Bob Ross foliage landscape - in burger form!
October 30, 2013
Roasted Red Pepper Mac & Cheese – VIDEO
This mac and cheese will remind you of PIZZA! Who could argue with that?
October 24, 2013
Nirvana Enchilada Casserole – VIDEO
An overstuffed casserole just bursting with flavor!
October 22, 2013
Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream – VIDEO
This is the most ice-creamiest ice cream ever. Pumpkin pie in a cone! (Or a bowl.)
October 18, 2013
Meat Beany Chili & Corn Muffins – VIDEO
Lentils make this chili totally meaty! And cornbread never hurts.
October 17, 2013
Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies – VIDEO
Chocolate and rosemary: a sublime combination!
October 16, 2013
New England Glam Chowder – VIDEO
The creamiest, dreamiest, most chowderiest chowder there is!
October 11, 2013
Zomberoni Pizza Faces
What do vegan zombies eat? GRRRRRAAAAINNNNS!
October 4, 2013
Monster Mash Shepherd's Pie
Vegan food hasn't been this scary since the 80s!
October 2, 2013
Coconut Cream Pie
A dreamy, creamy, cloud of coconut heaven!
September 25, 2013
Appleberry Pie With Olive Oil Crust
Summer meets Autumn in these flaky, fruity pie.
September 22, 2013
Everyday Pad Thai
The quintessential sweet and sour Thai noodle, made easy enough for any night of the week!


text:
The Obama administration is close to deciding where the U.S. will house detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a White House official said late Saturday.
Obama, who pledged to close the facility by January but admitted Friday the deadline may not be met, is working with his administration to decide where to relocate the inmates set to be moved from Gitmo once the prison is closed, the official said.
"We are in the final stages of locating a security facility in the U.S. where detainees can be held," the official said.
There are still 223 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, which opened after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Get more: Reuters


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Pre-owned: An item that has been used or worn previously. See the seller's listing for full details and ... Read moreabout the condition
|Nike SB Stefan Janoski
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A security researcher, nicknamed SandboxEscaper, announced the fifth zero-day vulnerability since August last year.Nine West Women's Jatoba Knee High Boot,Nine West Womens Nicolah Leather Pointed Toe Knee High Fashion, Cognac, Size 6.0 The new vulnerability exists in Windows 10's Task Scheduler and will allow local hackers to extend general privileges to administrative privileges. Read the rest of this post »
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ifridge & Company necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 177 diseños de 29 diseñadores freelance.
Blue Owl Fusion
We are a new software and consulting firm that works to enable corporations through training and deployment to breakdown internal and external corporate silos and deliver outstanding customer service, customer retention, and customer growth by analyzing and acting on customer behavior, calls and transactions. Our solutions encourage the corporation to better manage its relationships with all its stakeholders, including internal ones such as sales and services departments, and external ones such as distributors, partners, investors, and customers.
We are targeting medium to large corporations such as financial services and insurance firms. Professional style is expected.
The logo must show the three concepts represented by our name, "Blue", "Owl" and "Fusion". Some shade of blue. For "Owl", this is to represent "insights" as in finding information that is usually kept in the dark and bringing it into the light. The owl is not sleepy and sitting in a tree! For "Fusion", this can represent either the idea of bringing things together (i.e. connecting sales and services departments in a company, connecting a company to its customers) or a "fuse", defined as a "burning device for communicating fire to fireworks, antique gunpowder munitions, or blasting caps" and therefore focuses more on ignition, spark, etc. Or something else.
We want a design that is a sleek and innovative look, very business- but perhaps a bit playful. It should look good in black and white, and be available with a transparent background.
We like the owl eyes picture (attached) simply as a bit of inspiration, for its intensity. We don't want anything that looks like a traditional owl with monocle, such as those often used for training programs (see training attachment). We also don't want it to be cute or child-like such that it would work on products for children or is "crafty" (see crafty example).
The files we will require are:
Print file format - .ai (CMYK) and .pdf (including vector fonts)
Web file format - .jpg and layered .png (RGB)
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Phantom makes a pretty awesome line of high-speed cameras. The details these reveal about movements that are usually too quick for the eye to see are just incredible, and when the subjects are creatures as majestic as cheetahs, the resulting footage is simply jaw dropping. National Geographic recently went to the Cincinnati Zoo to capture the feline doing what it does best: run. The production ended up being one of the most sophisticated the crew had worked on, including several cameras rolling on a track-mounted dolly capable of reaching 60mph. A rotating cast of 5 cats were coaxed into short sprints by what looks like a ball of yarn on s string. Cute. They were shooting at 1,200 frames per second, and the video, included below, is simply a masterpiece. Totally worth checking out.
If you're curious about how it was done, hit the jump for a video of that.
[ National Geographic ] VIA [ BoingBoing ]


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See Who The Walking Dead Companion Series Cast as Its Male Lead
Dec 4, 2014 6:35 PM EST
Move over, Rick! There's a new leader in town. Gang Related and Missing alum Cliff Curtis has been cast as the male lead in the pilot for AMC's Walking Dead companion series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. From Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkm… Read more


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"sheet of paper," 1580s, from Middle French page, from Old French pagene "page, text" (12c.), from Latin pagina "page, leaf of paper, strip of papyrus fastened to others," related to pagella "small page," from pangere "to fasten," from PIE root *pag- "to fasten."
Earlier pagne (12c.), directly from Old French. Usually said to be from the notion of individual sheets of paper "fastened" into a book. Ayto and Watkins offer an alternative theory: vines fastened by stakes and formed into a trellis, which led to sense of "columns of writing on a scroll." When books replaced scrolls, the word continued to be used. Related: Paginal. Page-turner "book that one can't put down" is from 1974.
page (n.2)
"youth, lad, boy of the lower orders," c. 1300, originally also "youth preparing to be a knight," from Old French page "a youth, page, servant" (13c.), possibly via Italian paggio (Barnhart), from Medieval Latin pagius "servant," perhaps ultimately from Greek paidion "boy, lad," diminutive of pais (genitive paidos) "child."
But OED considers this unlikely and points instead to Littré's suggestion of a source in Latin pagus "countryside," in sense of "boy from the rural regions" (see pagan). Meaning "youth employed as a personal attendant to a person of rank" is first recorded mid-15c.; this was transferred from late 18c. to boys who did personal errands in hotels, clubs, etc., also in U.S. legislatures.
page (v.1)
"to summon or call by name," 1904, from page (n.2), on the notion of "to send a page after" someone. Related: Paged; paging.
page (v.2)
"to turn pages," 1620s, from page (n.1). Related: Paged; paging.
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EDINBURGH, Scotland, April 5 (UPI) -- The Scottish government, despite objections by wildlife advocates, approved a wind farm Wednesday that could produce more power than any other in the world.
Viking Energy plans to locate the turbines on the main island in an area where the winds are the most powerful in Europe, The Guardian reported. A single turbine near Lerwick has already set a global record for efficiency.
The project has roused considerable opposition in the islands with more than 10 percent of the population lodging objections.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a former supporter, now says the wind farm could destroy nesting areas for birds like the whimbrel, with 90 percent of the British population nesting in Shetland.
Scottish Energy Secretary Fergus Ewing has already forced Viking to reduce the size of the project to 103 turbines from 127. Ewing said the larger plan threatened safety at Sullom Voe Airport.
Experts say the wind farm will produce enough power for 175,000 homes. Most of it will be sent to Scotland via an undersea transmission cable.


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David Risley necesitaba un nuevo diseño de banner publicitario y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 40 diseños de 19 diseñadores freelance.
Need some banner ads of the common sizes to be used by affiliates of 3DayMoney.com. The logo is already designed and in use. Will mainly be used on blogs.
The 3DayMoney program is a multimedia course containing 14 videos, audios, and a 92-page transcript. The course is listed in Clickbank which means we're going to have affiliates. I simply want to design a set of banner ads which affiliates can choose from to advertise 3DayMoney.com.
The logo is already designed and can be found right on the header of the sales page. If anybody needs a high-def version of it, it can be found here:
I would like the following banner sizes:
- 125x125
- 468x60
- 120x60
- 300x250
- 234x60All banners can use the same theme, but I do need different sizes so affiliates can choose.
Here is a potential idea for a banner design for another program:
There is a picture of me on the sales page as well. Here is another I use alot online and can be used:
My image doesn't have to be in the banner, but it might help.
Otherwise, keep in mind that these are banners that should garner attention on the web. Design accordingly and I'll see what you guys come up with. :)
UPDATE 3/18: It occurred to me I should include some ad phrases for these banners. Here are a few and you can use/edit them as you see fit.
- in 3 days, learn how a problogger built a six figure business online.
- 3 Days to The Beginning of your six figure online business.
- Blogger makes six figures per year. Learn how in 3 days.
- In 3 Days, learn how a blogger made $141,011.55 in 2008.
- Banners of the sizes specified above. Either JPG or PNG.
- Rainbows. :-)


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Category Archives: Jacks'R'Better
I Get It Now.
The Top of Mt. Whitney I remember in the months and weeks leading up to my 2011 hike of the PCT, as I prepared, I researched like crazy. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on. Not … Continue reading
Pacific Crest Trail 2011 in Photos (Mexico border to Central Oregon)
Here's a little "start to finish" of my 2011 PCT (almost)thru-hike, pretty much most of these shots were from my iPod Touch (not great quality) and I have a ton from my Canon Powershot that I will add as well. … Continue reading
C l o t h i n g : All I'll Be Wearing for the Pacific Crest Trail
CLOTHING for the Pacific Crest Trail (Next month, April of 2011, I will be setting off from the border of California and Mexico and taking my first steps northward, hoping to finish sometime in September in Manning Provincial Park in … Continue reading
A Big "Thank You" To My Sponsors
The date of my attempt at hiking the length of the Pacific Crest Trail is nearing. The reason I am hiking from Mexico to Canada is to raise awareness and funds to stop human trafficking and child prostitution. (Click HERE … Continue reading


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Make Your Stay Super
Enjoy free breakfast, free WiFi, and more
Start your day with a free 8-item SuperStart breakfast every morning, and enjoy practical amenities that include a coffee maker, hair dryer, alarm clock/radio, work desk, and free WiFi. Our pet-friendly hotel offers an outdoor swimming pool and sun deck. Free parking for all-sized vehicles is included. Non-smoking rooms are available.
Things to Do
Tour the Edison Birthplace Museum or head to Summit Motorsport Park
Get a taste of American history at Edison Birthplace Museum. Head to Summit Motorsport Park for drag racing or Sandusky Speedway for rubber-burning action. Take a day trip to Lake Erie islands, less than 30 miles away, or venture to Port Clinton and Put-in-Bay. Only nine miles away, Cedar Point offers heart-stopping rides and entertaining shows.
Plan Your Group Travel With Us
Book your wedding party, sports team, or other group travel at our hotel. Submit your request for information about special rates on blocks of rooms.


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Dawna (Age 23)
Mead, WA
About DAWNA :
"I am a professional bi-fem who enjoys the pleasures and sensuality of other females. My husband is supportive and encourages me to fulfill my desires. We are safe and d/d/f, and expect the same. We enjoy going to alternative clubs and exploring all levels of sexuality. Imagine wine, candles, and your fantasies, then tell me where you want to begin."
Larissa (Age 19)
Mead, WA
About LARISSA :
"hey baby ……. is your cumgun loaded??? ….. my pussy is already soaking wet and my nipples extremely stiff and difficult ….. I adore raunchy and uninhibited sex …. being fucked difficult hmmm … tough and deep … I'm also fond of fine lingerie … I adore being a submissive slut ….or have my own sex slaves …. and shemales …. I'm quite openminded but do have borders also …. would you like to feel how wet I am, do you need to stick you huge hard cock in me???I might be waiting for you …horny kisses xxxxxxxxx"
Veronika (Age 26)
Auburn, WA
About VERONIKA :
"Well I am a dirty girl in a very very dirty world ???? I like to suck cocks and I love to take it from behind. Love a guy that has good oral skills, havent met anyone thats really good at it. I have been told that I am an amazing lay a few times already….would like to try out a few more fellas before I look for the last guy I will ever fuck"
Rebecca (Age 26)
White Salmon, WA
About REBECCA :
"A finished nymphomaniac that loves a total spectrum of sexual perversions. It's standard to have sex five or four times a day with partner. What I love most is be powerfully taken advantage of and to act as a little girl. I totally love sucking cock and anal sex and also the preference of my own pussy. Adore to have oral, vaginal, and anal sex with female partner."
Damaris (Age 27)
Pacific, WA
About DAMARIS :
"I'm an honest, loving sexy woman, who'sn't getting what she wants.
I love to get naked and have sex uhm lots of sex.. I'm incredibly into oral.
Love to be with a guy who takes control and puts me on my back and just has his way with me..
Can you see my pussy, I would love for you to bury your face in here….xxxxx"
Leoma (Age 29)
Kapowsin, WA
About LEOMA :
"Hey I'm only 20 and have been in a relationship for 4 years.He was my first and only love sort off. He will be getting into the major leagues pretty soon and I dont want to be part of that world.
Plus I'm really curious to see what else is out there in this great big world for me.
Rasheeda (Age 30)
Starbuck, WA
About RASHEEDA :
"Yeah I Love Having Fun with fruit ???? Apart from obviously being crazy about sex I am also vibrant witty at times and curious…You must have a really high sex drive and urge. So yeah for the time being I'm just "using" fruits 'because a womans life sure can be hard at times!!"


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Monfils and Juan Carlos Ferrero are currently deadlocked in the second round at the U.S. Open. Ferrero took the first set, 7-6 (5), Monfils took the second at 7-5, and Ferrero is up 6-5 in the third. Monfils, though, got the psychological (and bullshit) advantage with this trick shot early on.
Gael Monfils Took The Tennis Trick Shot To A New Level Today


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It Took Us 100 Years To Get, But Your New Breakfast Is Finally Here
Does Vanilla Cherry Pecan sound tempting? How about Ginger Pear Macadamia? Even the Original flavor is loaded with coconut, currants, flax seeds, banana chips and spices!
Drooling yet?
Let's back it up a sec.
The History
The Flavors
Bircher (unsweetened) – A nutritional powerhouse made of 12 super healthy ingredients including almonds, coconut, apples, flax seeds, dates and raisins, Bircher is vegan and untoasted—it's the one for all the raw foodies out there!
Vanilla Cherry Pecan – Made with natural Bing cherries and rich, nutty pecans, Vanilla Cherry Pecan Muesli is gently toasted and sweetened with organic honey—so good you can eat it as dessert!
Ginger Pear Macadamia – Made with natural ground ginger, chewy sun-dried pears and tender macadamia nuts, Ginger Pear Macadamia Toasted Muesli is lightly sweetened with organic honey—perfect for those of you looking to spice up your breakfast routine!
Original – A tried and true breakfast staple, Original Toasted Muesli is packed with Brazil nuts for a boost of selenium and tasty additions like coconut, currants, flax seeds, banana chips, organic honey and delectable spices like cinnamon and cardamom! Yum!
The Nutritional Breakdown
25% of your daily value of fiber
6 – 8 grams of protein
<1% sodium
11 grams or less of sugar (from organic honey, dates and fruit!)
- 2% – 25% of your daily minerals: Calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, selenium & more!
What People Are Saying
"I love this flavor because it is the simplest one, unsweetened, and untoasted. The healthiest choice for me and it's delicious too!" – Lissa
Vanilla Cherry Pecan
"This cereal is so great. It has an awesome texture that goes well with raw milk. Unlike regular granola it has big pieces of nuts and dried fruit, which is a plus." – Julie
Ginger Pear Macadamia
"A new fave breakfast!. I love the texture and natural taste of this product." – J
"This is pure wholesome goodness, makes me feel terrific!" – Richard
Why Is Seven Sundays Such an Awesome Company?
"Our inspiration for Seven Sundays muesli came to us during a trip to New Zealand. 'Kiwis,' as native New Zealanders are often called, live active, sustainable lifestyles built upon enjoying simple pleasures and making the most out of their treasured and limited natural resources. One of our favorite parts of the trip was starting each day with a bowl of fresh, homemade muesli, a popular New Zealand breakfast. It was nothing like the cereals we were used to — no puffs, flakes, shreds or clusters – instead loaded with all natural ingredients. With no suitable replacement back home, we decided to make our own New Zealand inspired mixes!"
– Hannah & Brady
Ways to Enjoy Muesli
No more boring breakfasts! Seven Sunday Mueslis are fast and easy, full of nutrition and flavor, and super affordable!
Sunfood's "Natural Solutions" does not promote or suggest natural cures, natural healing or natural remedies for any disease, disorder or ailment thereof. This information should be treated as educational material gathered and discovered from various studies, clinical trials and customer reviews. It is designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, and independent conclusions in regards to natural products and alternative health choices. It is best to consult with your healthcare practitioner before attempting any form of natural cure, natural healing or natural remedy to any health issues.


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Creating a textureless "pure3D" look
(This is a post about Oberon's Court; a fantasy RTS/RPG game being developed by Tomas Sala (@littlechicken01) who is also one of the co-founders of Little Chicken Game Company. However the game is not an official Little Chicken Production, you can keep up to date on the game at http://facebook.com/oberonscourt)
One of ways I decided to challenge myself when starting Oberon's Court was to create a visual style that does not use any textures. There's two reasons for this.
First of all, it looks beautiful. Having grown up with pixel games and the advent of 3D games has instilled in me a deep appreciation for 3D graphics. But the advent of pixel art has shown me that you can take any visual tech and distill it to its purest form. Creating 3D art without the use of textures does exactly this; it distills your modelling, animation and visual skills. Henceforth I shall call this style "pure3D" (feel free to add that your technobabble jargon).
Secondly, it's very efficient, taking away the need to unwrap and texture a model removes a significant chunk from the development process. However, you will need to adjust your models and shaders to compensate for the lack of definition, seeing as you're also losing an aspect or tool in your pallet.
This post is a how-to on approaching this style. This is by no means a "one-and-only" guide, as there are many artists and indie-devs using wildly different approaches to creating a stylized and purist 3D aesthetic, but it is how I did it for Oberon's Court.
In this first post I'll write about the general setup, and going through the process step by step.
Regarding shader code:
I'll do an in-depth look into each shader and how to create them yourself in Shaderforge or Strumpy as a part two of this post. For those eager to experiment here's a copy of my entire shader library that I used for Oberon's Court:
In the meantime, please do download / purchase these two awesome shader tools for Unity3D. I highly recommend them, as I use these as essential tools for my development process.
Download Strumpy for unity3d
Purchase Shaderforge for unity3d
Lets get started!
Evolving the aesthetic
When I started creating the visuals of Oberon's Court I was very much into compensating for the lack of textures, adding lights and accents to maximize the impact of the style. However, I quickly found that increasing contrast, when you have nothing but gradients, edges and solid colors to work with, does not improve the clarity of a game. Even though visually striking, it was hard to discern units and foreground items from the background.
As development progressed I found myself removing and subtracting visual effects to create a visual style where the player could easily discern the "shadow" units from their environment. Additionally, I found it a very pleasing experience to subtract effects, instead of adding more and more.
If you compare the earlier screens with the latest screens you can see that some of the initial tests where visually more striking, however they weren't very suitable for game play. I'm not saying that you can't make a game using a more high-contrast approach, but it was not the game I was designing.
The ingredients
To create the pure3D style I used a couple of recurring ingredients and themes. I'll iterate on those here, explaining what techniques are involved and how I achieved the ingame results.
In essence the style is very, very simple. There is nothing new here for most game artists. But combining these ingredients can lead to striking result when you remove the texturing from the process.
- using smoothing groups as shape definition
- using additional dark/light vertex color data, such as radiosity solutions
- using UV coordinates to create color gradients and color mixing
- using shaders to add shape enhancing effects(fresnel etc.) to the model
- using unlit shaders (without lights), but with realtime shadows
- using select post-fx (bloom) to enhance/soften the look
1. Using smoothing groups as shape definition
When working without textures, you lose an important part used to help enhance the depth of your 3D model. Especially for mobile development, where textures are often used as main way to enhance the visual complexity and shape of an otherwise very lo-poly model.
In Oberon's Court I used smoothing groups to enhance the definition of my 3D models. Usually smoothing groups are discarded, as normal maps and other techniques are used for describing the angles of faces. Nowadays we're more used to creating high poly models and distilling that angular (normal) data in a texture. When you have the full dataset of a hi-res texture, smoothing groups seem quaint and only of passing interest. But using them effectively can provide a beautiful tool of enhancing the shape of your model. Both as it's being lit as well as for use in shaders.
Some notes:
- Unity does accept multiple normals per vertex, so your smoothing groups will transfer to Unity3d's lighting models still intact. The same does not count for vertex colors (more on that later)
- Edge triangulation: when creating smooth surfaces you'll need to occasionally re-triangulate to create the smoothest look. Just make sure you're modelling in basic shaded preview mode
- Create smoothing groups that enhance the edges of your model
- Break up over-convex shapes, if the angle between two faces is too big (too sharp) do not try to smooth over it, break it up in two smoothing groups
- Create enough faces so you can create interesting edges and protrusions, which the smoothing groups can enhance.
- Use a limited number of smoothing groups, just for practicality. You can repeat use smoothing groups, as long as they don't touch another set of faces with the same smoothing group ID
2. Using additional dark / light vertex color data, such as radiosity solutions
When working with shaders you want to be able to add as much additional information as possible into a 3D model. Most shader models work with data stored in the textures (normal maps, diffuse maps etc), but also with data stored in the geometry and vertices (points). The simplest form is the position: the normals and basic data required to display the model. But you can keep adding more data to each vertex. This can be physics data for physical materials, but also additional lighting data. In Oberon's Court I used 3D Studio Max' ability to render a radiosity solution on vertex level and save this to vertex colors. Basically creating a dark-light shading for an object based on a complex lighting solution. This allowed me to darken and lighten the model based on a pre-determined lighting scheme.
Some notes
- Using skylights is a quick way of creating a soft outdoor look with radiosity
- Object and vertex colors will influence the color of other faces, as light literally gets bounced off the geometry, and thus radiates color
- Don't worry if the radiosity is not very precise, you can add extra tesselation and vertices to improve quality. We only need a hint of dark-light to give depth to a model. It doesn't need to be realistic, nor perfect
- Only add radiosity after you've done the smoothing groups, as smoothing is taken into account during the calculations
- Radiosity is found in the scanline renderer of 3D Studio Max and is an advanced lighting method. (Similar features are available in Maya, I believe)
- You can assign the radiosity to be permanent, by using the vertex colors modifier, and use the "assign vertex colors" function in the roll-out
- Detach each smoothing group! Unity does not retain multiple vertex colors per vertex over the same channel, so if you want to retain the radiosity solution and the sharp smooth edges, you must detach each smoothing group to separate elements.
3. Using UV coordinates to create color gradients and color mixing
In order to diffirentiate height in the environment, I used color gradients. The easiest way of implementing these would be to create a texture. However, seeing as I committed to not using textures, this wasn't an option. Also, gradients are something shaders can do quickly, without much fuzz. In order to create a gradient we need information on both the direction and length.
Initially I used world position data for this, to create a true height-map type effect. However, this approach is calculation-heavy, as the shader needs to retrieve the world position of each individual vertex. Therefore, this approach is not very suitable for mobile use. After coming to this conclusion, I decided to use UV coordinates to achieve the same results.
You can even use UV coordinates to create not just gradients but entire dynamic gauges and bars, using shaders.
Creating the shader (using the Strumpy shader editor):
- Create a model with a simple UV set (in 3dsmax, simple planar mapping)
- Create a gradient by lerping between two colors based on either U or V component
- Floor or ceil the gradient value (makes it a hard line, either zero or one)
- Add a sine deform based on time, to the gradient value (sinetime)
- Add an offset to make the gradient rise or fall (add float value)
You end up with this:
4. Using shaders to add shape enhancing effects (fresnel etc.) to the model
When writing a shader you can combine gradients, vertex color data, and finally some shader specific effects to create a nice unlit shading that is quick to render and accentuates the geometry, instead of hiding it.
The shader algorithm I used is really simple, and can be summed up as such:
- Create a top down gradient for basic colors
- Add a fresnel effect, (shiny rim effect based on the normals of your model)
- Mask the fresnel effect with another gradient (so the shiny rim only applies on the top of the model, not the flat floors)
- Multiply all with the radiosity vertex colors (adding a dark / light shading to everything)
- Add a realtime shadow layer to the unlit shader
- Tweak until right
Here's how this looks in strumpy shader editor, and here's a link to the strumpy shader file
At one point I even multiplied the gradient with the Y component of the vertex normal, in order to have one color on flat horizontal surfaces and another on vertical surfaces, creating a true height-map look, however I discarded this as being to cluttering in the scene.
Here's a link to a decent description of what "fresnel" means: http://www.3drender.com/glossary/fresneleffect.htm
5. Using unlit shaders, without lights, but with real-time shadows
Nowadays in Unity3D 4+ you can use real-time directional shadows on mobile platforms, which is great. However, shadows in shaderlab (the in-between system Unity uses for cross-platform compatibility) are part of the lighting calculations. This means that if you make an unlit shader, you have to add shadows in a separate pass, as making shaders unlit or emmisive excludes the effect of lamps or lights on the model, and thus the ability to cast or receive shadows.
Luckily I've already done an entire post on this topic , which you can read here: http://blog.littlechicken.nl/programmers-weekly-so-you-like-them-shadows/
6. Using select post-fx (bloom) to enhance / soften the look.
Post-fx are effects that take the entire final rendered image of your game and apply different effects to it. Unity Pro ships with a few post-fx shaders that are optimized for mobile platforms. For example: the Depth of Field shader uses a black and white depth image to blur the 3D world, based on depth. This makes everything in the foreground sharper and at the same time blurs the background.
One of the post-fx I'd like to point out is Mobile Bloom and Fast Bloom. The bloom shader is simple: it makes a copy of your final renderview, blurs it and multiplies the blurred result back onto the original, thus creating a soft glow that is most pronounced at very light areas such as the sky.
End of Part 1
I hope this post provided some insight into making a pure3D or textureless 3D game. It's not all that difficult, but it does require you to use your tools differently. That being said, much of what I wrote here also applies to more "normal" 3D art assets.
Please let me know on twitter or facebook what you think, or if there's anything you'd like to see explained or shared. Just hit me up and i'll do my best. I'll try and get into specific shaders in the near future.
Tomas Sala
109,308 total views, 4 views today


text:
Snow Storm Threatens Post-Christmas Travel
(NEW YORK) -- A huge storm that dumped heavy snow and rain on the West Coast is expected to move east and could spoil travel plans for people looking to return home the day after Christmas, which is considered one of the busiest travel days.
The storm is forecast to move east over the next few days and drop snow in Oklahoma starting Monday before finishing up in the Northeast sometime Wednesday.
The Midwest will be covered with snow by Wednesday, likely causing delays at major airports in cities including Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago just in time for post-Christmas travel, when millions of Americans will be on the move.
Snow could arrive in the Northeast by Thursday, dropping 1-3 inches over parts of New England.
In Syracuse, N.Y., plows are working overtime, dealing with two consecutive days of snow this weekend during the city's first snowstorm of the season. As the city continues to dig out, all eyes are watching the storm roll in from the west.
Torrential rain and heavy winds have also caused trouble for California's Bay Area over the weekend, which has seen severe flooding, power outages and delays for those planning to fly out for the holidays.
More than 400 flights were canceled on Sunday at San Francisco International Airport. Travelers had to deal with more than 200 cancellations on Saturday.
So far this month, San Francisco has gotten almost five inches of rain -- almost twice as much as the area gets for the entire month of December.
Severe snow and rain are not the only issues facing Americans looking to get home before the New Year. Several states in the Gulf of Mexico, all the way from Houston to Raleigh, N.C., are bracing for possible tornadoes starting on Monday and lasting until Wednesday.
The biggest chance for tornadoes will be Tuesday from Houston to New Orleans to Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta.
AAA predicts 93.3 million people will travel more than 50 miles this holiday season, from Saturday, Dec. 22, through New Year's Day. That's a 1.6 percent increase from last year.
Christmas is the third-busiest holiday for travelers, after Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. AAA is urging drivers to leave earlier or later to dodge bad weather.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio


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The TYCA Research Initiative Committee was formed in 2004 in order to conduct a variety of national research initiatives related to the teaching of English at the nation's two-year colleges.
______________________________________________________________________May 2005
The TYCA Research Initiative Survey launched their first survey to gather data to support the creation of a national database for Two-Year College English faculty that will include resources for "Best Practices." The database will ultimately provide colleges with information regarding national practices and further two-year college research and advocacy efforts. Within the survey, we have allowed space for comments and recommendations of "Best Practices." Our hope is that the results of this survey will provide valuable insights regarding the complex and varied pedagogical and professional responsibilities for two-year college faculty.
We are still taking responses; if you teach at a two-year college and have not completed the survey, click here.
The survey must be completed in one sitting and takes 40-60 minutes to complete. Please feel free to forward this survey to colleagues at other campuses.The information we have received thus far is very interesting, and we are committed to sharing it. What we learn here can help us affirm our successes, identify our challenges, and provide us with useful data as we advocate for students and faculty on the local, state, and national levels.
To view survey questions without submitting responses: Inactive Survey.______________________________________________________________________
August 2005
The TYCA Research Initiative Committee sponsored a session at the 2005 CCCC Convention in San Francisco, entitled "Mending Walls, Unlocking Gates: Research and Reflection on the Shifting Roles of the Two-Year College." One colleague from each of the TYCA constituent regions was invited to spend approximately six months gathering information in preparation for this meeting Each researcher was asked to focus on "the key challenges and successes" in their region. This report is an executive summary of the research reported at this meeting. For more detailed information, please see the full report and appendix (individual reports from each participating panelist):
Mending Walls, Unlocking Gates: Research and Reflection on the Shifting Roles of the Two-Year College Report submitted by Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community College, CT, August 30, 2005
Report Appendix______________________________________________________________________September 2005
TYCA TWO-YEAR COLLEGE FACTS AND DATA REPORT: 2005 Researched & Compiled: Jody Millward, Chair, TYCA National Research Initiative, Santa Barbara City College Editor: Lois Powers, Committee Member, and Assistant: Rebecca Crump, Santa Barbara City College, September 2005 The TYCA Facts and Data Report, partially funded by a 2004 CCCC's Research Initiative grant, presents information about the two-year college mission, its programs, faculty, students, and funding to help define the two-year college culture. Although the collection of data cannot be neutral, the goal is to provide teachers and scholars with a compilation of the most recent information available in national studies and reports on the two-year college. To place two-year colleges within the context of postsecondary education, some comparative data on four-year and graduate institutions is included. Facts are directly quoted or paraphrased from sources and cited by corresponding Works Cited entries. This report is intended to serve as a foundation for scholarship (including interpreting, analyzing, and building upon the information provided here) and to support professional advocacy on behalf of two-year college students, faculty and programs.
Complete TYCA Facts and Data Report Facts and Data Report Highlights
______________________________________________________________________For more information about the TYCA Research Initiative Committee or these reports, please contact the chair of the TYCA Research Initiative Committee, Jody Millward.
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text:
mgryan98 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de impreso o envases y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 103 diseños de 28 diseñadores freelance.
Intensity Nutrition develops super-premium sport supplements for athletes who train and compete at the highest thresholds of athletic performance. Our customers are typically elite athletes, martial artists, military special operations personnel, firefighters, law enforcement, or other tactical professionals.
Our products are designed for the elite - available to those with an unwavering commitment to train with intensity. Our packaging needs to reflect this attitude and our super-premium price point.
Here are some keywords that communicate our brand message: Intense, gritty, power, strength, bold, cutting edge, edgy, pure, quality.
25-45 yr. old males. Our athletes typically represent a higher socio-economic demographic. They are typically more affluent, educated, and very knowledgeable about nutrition and training. Most importantly, they are extremely competitive and dedicated.
…Imagine yourself in a store, staring at row upon row of sports nutrition products. In one glance, Intensity products need to stand out from the rest.
This contest winner will be chosen for the packaging design for one product only - RECOVER. However, the winner will be required to provide packaging for the remaining two products as well. The packaging for all three should be basically the same - only the name, product logo, and size jug will vary.
Designers will have the following to assist their efforts:
1. A link to the website (under construction) with sample web pages:
a. http://nxiel.com/clients/randy/nutr…ndex2.html
b. http://nxiel.com/clients/randy/nutr…cover.html
c. http://nxiel.com/clients/randy/nutr…unity.html
d. http://nxiel.com/clients/randy/nutr…/shop.html
2. Attachments below:
You will see product images on the web page mockups. I do not like this design – it is just a sample to give you a sense of the containers.
In addition to the above requirements, designers must have the ability to create a nutritional label (I will provide a complete ingredients list) as well as incorporate a barcode SKU on the packaging. Must also be able to generate product images (like the ones seen on the website).


text:
Fall Leaves 2
Fall Leaves 2
from 2.00
High quality glossy photo paper prints, hand mounted on mat board frames.
Each print is assembled and hand signed by James Lee Leslie.
Dimesions: 11x13 frame with 8x10 print or 8x10 frame with 5x7 print
Original photography or artwork.
Anytime cards.
Front features photography or digital painting by Autistic Eye Art, inside is blank to add your own message. Envelope included.
Printed and hand cut by James Lee Leslie. Printed with an inkjet printer on card stock.
Add To Cart


text:
Hi to everyone!
I would like to share my sketch of the Bridge Diodes and Timing Network for the Siemens U273. My idea is to get any advises in order to add more control to the unit like attack control, threshold control and Ratio Control.
I believe we can add "Ratio Control" with a Double Pot in series with the Voltage Control(see the attached schematic). "The Threshold Control" will be done with a potentiometer substituting the R2 or R7 (or both!!) in the side chain preamp by installed external manual control potentiometer (see the original Siemens U273 complete schematic); I can be wrong!!......
Any comment??


text:
Evernote Update for Windows Phone Adds Notebook Sharing
Evernote hands down has to be my favorite app. So I thought I'd let all my Windows Phone users know what the latest Evernote update adds notebook sharing functionality in addition to better searching and editing.
Now Windows Phone users can share entire notebooks from the mobile app. Via the People panel, you can share notebooks by creating a link that you share with others via email. Via the Public panel, you can create a link that can be shared via email or anywhere else (social networking sites, etc.). Similar to other platforms, if you're a premium subscriber (which I am), you can allow recipients to add to or edit your shared notebooks.
Evernote also added better searching. While inside a note, the search box looks within the note. Outside of a note, the search function will search your entire account. Finally, notes with text have an editor that displays all the text of a note, while any pictures and other attachments in the note have their own location at the top of the note. In other words, you can just get to the actual text of a note for quick editing.
Several other additions in this update include:
- Improvement of template creation process.
- Note creation from notebook and tag lists.
- Improvement of data storage stability.
I always suggest Evernote as on the first app you should download when you get a smartphone. Same goes for my Windows Phone folks as well. Download/update Evernote from the Marketplace and let me know what you think in the comments section.


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Dr Fatih Birol (1958 Ankara, Turkey) is the Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency and Director, Office of The Chief Economist, with overall responsibility for the organisation's economic analysis of energy and climate change policy. He oversees the annual World Energy Outlook series which is the flagship publication of the IEA and is recognized as an authoritative source for energy analysis and projections.
He is also responsible for the IEA Energy Business Council which provides policymakers with a business perspective on energy market issues.
Throughout his career, Dr. Birol has been decorated with numerous awards in recognition of his contribution to the energy debate. He was recently named by Forbes Magazine as the world's fourth most powerful person in terms of influence on the world's energy scene.


text:
Schuler, Positech to Provide Laminating Presses
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Friday, February 1, 2008
An agreement between Schuler Inc., Canton, MI, and Positech, Lexington, TN, has Schuler supplying the mechanical portions of Models N8C and N20C manually operated notchers, and Positech integrating its Compuslot controls and servo-drive technology to provide presses used to produce electric-motor laminations. Schuler will handle the spare-parts, service and retrofit programs for the presses. It's also responsible for sales and marketing of N8C and N20C Compu-slot notchers, as well as the service of all existing and new Positech notching presses installed in North America.
See also: Schuler Incorporated
Related Enterprise Zones: Presses
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text:
Monday, August 20, 2012
PlanetBox lunch: Kindergarten Red Day
While I wasn't certain that the Kindergarten was still doing this (it's been five years since Ethan was in Kindergarten, and three years for Owen), I hoped Color Days would be happening for Paige too. And it is! Yay! Besides wearing the cutest red dress and red sandals to school, I tried to pack her a reddish lunch also.
In our PlanetBox lunchbox she has:
- hummus on multigrain bread sandwich, cut with a heart-shaped sandwich cutter
- strawberries with a red crayon pick (I ordered those from Amazon ages ago with Color Days in mind!)
- a bit of red mini M&M's
- pretzels
- a wrapped string cheese that has a coordinating crayon picture printed on the wrapper.
Simple, but gets the red theme across, I think. Paige was excited and said she couldn't wait to eat it. Success!
Supplies used in the making of this lunch:
9 comments:
I love your lunches, but $60 for a bento box? That is crazy!
- August 20, 2012 at 12:25 PM
Today is red day at my daughters kindergarten too! So cute!
- August 20, 2012 at 12:39 PM
- Corey @ Family Fresh Meals said... [Reply to comment]
Super cute Melissa! My girls are loving these string cheese crayons too :)
- August 20, 2012 at 1:00 PM
- Melissa said... [Reply to comment]
$60 is a lot for a lunchbox, believe me, I know! I admired it from afar for an entire year before I finally bit the bullet and bought my PlanetBox. It's unlike any other box we have (which is saying a lot, since I have a ton of them!). It is incredibly sturdy and durable stainless steel - it will last a LIFETIME. And it is not something the kids will "outgrow"... it's cool enough for any teen or adult to carry. I'm happy with the purchase.
- August 20, 2012 at 1:10 PM
- Meredith said... [Reply to comment]
I saw those crayon string cheese the other day. Very cute. I appreciate your review of the Planetbox. It's on my wishlist:)
- August 20, 2012 at 3:01 PM
Hi Melissa
Just discovered your blog and I love it...my twins will enter kindergarten in 2 weeks ! and your site gives me so many ideas.
I just bought the laptop lunch box, still have to find a lunch bag for it, do you have any suggestions? I think I would like for them to be able to carry their lunch flat, and also be able to add snacks and drinks in the lunch bag.
Also, you seem to like the Funtainer bottle, some people complain of having mold in them, I would think around the plastic, straw part...do you have this problem, or is it easy to take apart and clean? Thank you,
I am writing from Canada.
- August 20, 2012 at 3:33 PM
- Lea058 said... [Reply to comment]
I just went to Marshall's and found a bento box double stack for 7.99, just need to keep ur eye open to find surprises like that!
- August 20, 2012 at 4:59 PM
- Melissa said... [Reply to comment]
Hi Stephanie!
When the kids take a Laptop Lunches box they pack it in a "regular" kind of lunchbox, so it's not flat, but on the side. Both Tyler and Paige have Olive Kids lunch boxes - http://amzn.to/OtLdHM (mermaids for Paige, trucks & planes for Tyler!). When Ethan takes a Laptop Lunch he uses Owen's LLBean lunchbox. At the time I couldn't find a flat-carrying lunch box that would fit the LL (it's slightly too big for EasyLunchboxes coolers), but recently Laptop Lunches came out with a few carriers that carry flat. I haven't used any of their carriers though.
I LOVE the Thermos Funtainers. I have not had any problem with mold. As soon as the kids come home I rinse them out, run water through the straw and let air dry. I can't imagine it molding unless kept wet and not allowed to dry well. The pieces are very easy to separate and clean. Two of our Funtainers are five years old and going strong.
- August 20, 2012 at 10:07 PM
- Michelle | Creative Food said... [Reply to comment]
Now I feel like I "need" those crayon picks! Love this lunch!
- August 22, 2012 at 8:15 PM


text:
They say women are magicians. I absolutely agree to the statement. We are born with this talent of changing things within fraction of seconds - let it be our looks, our moods, our homes, discussions, and what not. And being married and a mother of a smart boy who is as demanding as his father, you actually get plenty of practice to polish these skills!
You might have noticed my recent "obsession" with morning delights (For those of you who havent or havent bothered to click the links: its been the main focus of my bolgtivity all this month of Januray:). Not that I had planned this breakfast series before, it was all just a result of the dull expressions that usually appear on the faces of my men on getting same things for breakfast repeatedly after a while. In order to keep my small audience more engaged and interested, I had only been making a conscious effort to add more variety to my morning show. But trust me folks, its not easy to NOT "offer the same stuff more than two days in a row".You just run out of ideas!
So, what I have started doing now is creating illusions by using the same old igredients and making them appear like new:P Check out the ingredients listed in the recipe below, do they remind you of any recipe Ive blogged lately???
2 cups plain flour
1 tbs baking powder
10 tsp fine granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup +2 tbs milk
1/2 tbs vinegar
1 egg
7 tbs cold butter (ca. 100 g)
Few drops of vanilla essence
3/4 cups dried cranberries (see tips)
1 egg yolk
2 tbs granulated sugar to sprinkle on top, optional
Yes, I am using almost the same ingredients as in the Best Pancakes recipe, only with a little change in quantities and a different cooking technique.
Cranberry Scones
Combine milk and vinegar to make soured milk and set aside for 5 minutes.
Sift flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Add in sugar and salt.
Cut the cold butter in cubes and rub in with the dry ingredients using your finger tips until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs. Tip: You may use your food processor for this. Try to work quickly, few bigger lumps of butter are better than overmixing!
Add in the soured milk, egg and vanilla to this. Combine all the ingredients with an electric mixer (dough-hooks on) just enough to form a dough.
Also add in the cranberries and transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Tip: In case cranberries are not available, you may like to substitute these with chocolate chips, raisins, fresh blueberries etc.
Cut the dough in half.
Stack the two halves on each other and press down with your hands.
Again cut the dough in half and stack the two parts on each other. Pat down and repeat the procedure one more time. This will make your scones rise higher while baking.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle (about 2,5 cm thick and 6 cm in width).
Cut into small triangles.
Tip: In case you wish to serve the scones later, pop them into refrigerator at this stage until baking.
Brush with beaten egg yolk and bake in a preheated oven at 200 C for 15 minutes until golden and slightly crispy on top.
Tip: I have also sprinkled extra sugar on a few to add a little crunch on top before putting in the oven.
Remove from oven and serve immediately with clotted cream, whipped cream, lemond curd, fruit jam of your choice, chocolate syrup OR JUST PLAIN !!!!!
Let the new feat of magic astound everyone, including youself!!


text:
Lyrics:First verseIts just one little year, Norine, one little year today Since we strolled hand in hand to church, where bells were ringing gay; The same gay crowd that gathered there, and heard our wedding bell, Ere twelve months passed were there in tears, brought by your fun'ral knell, They were plain country folks, Norine, and friends of yours and mine, Both services, love, were performed by that same old divine; Friends strove in vain, me to console, But none can fill your place, never will find happiness, till we meet face to face. ChorusSweet Norine, my love grows stronger, Tho' your voice is silenced now forever here, Life holds it's charms for me no longer, Time's wrought a change, in just one little yearSecond verseIn just one little year, Norine, in just one little year Our wedding past, the baby came, it's died since you were here; I missed you but our baby boy, missed you much more it seems, And left this world to search for you, in that bright land of dreams; I laid him by your side, Norine, and there's a place for me, That when the judgement day rolls round, together we may be; Somewhere, some sweet day, we will meet in realms beyond the sky, For love like ours, my darling wife, can never, never die.
Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.


text:
|27 Sep 2009
Configuring the "Debugging Tools"
For updated WinDBG install and configuration instructions please visit the following link - WinDBG - Install and Configure for BSOD Analysis
Download the debugger package that matches YOUR machine's Windows version
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtoo...g/default.mspxOverride the default install path and install to c:\debuggers instead
This is entirely optional but you'll be happier, especially if you intend to do a fair amount of dump analysis. Choose the "custom" install option and use c:\debuggers (or d:\debuggers or whatever other drive) as the install path. It makes it easier to work with the tools and removes that pesky "Program Files" space from the path name. The debugger package is a lot more command-line oriented than many apps nowadays.Register WinDBG as the default handler for dump files
Another entirely optional step that makes life easier. By registering WinDBG (the main debugger you'll want to use) as the default handler for common dump file types, you'll be able to double-click on a dump and have it open in WinDBG without having to go through the "File | Open..." menu operation every time. This registration needs to be performed from an elevated CMD prompt (run CMD as administrator):Set your symbol pathC:\>cd debuggersIn response, WinDBG should pop up a dialog box that says this:
This is NOT optional. In fact, getting it wrong is the #1 reason for frustration when learning to debug. There are several ways to get it right, and this is possibly the simplest:Opening and analysing dumps
Once you've done the preparatory steps above, you can double-click (if registered) or "File | Open Crash Dump..." in WinDBG to get it to open and analyse a minidump or any other memory dump, including crashes from user-mode processes. If you want to re-invoke its automated analysis engine, use the !ANALYZE -V command. The "v" switch stands for "verbose" - it produces additional detail which may be useful.More (Optional) Debugger Trickery For The Interested
A minidump contains 3 main items of information:Even More Debugger Trickery For The Really Interested
Minidumps can also easily reveal basic information about the Windows version, service pack level, time of the crash, and system uptime:=============================================1: kd> vertargetSay you've identified a driver that you believe to be responsible, and now you want to see more particulars about that binary. Use 'lmvm' with the module name:
Full dumps allow for much more meaningful analysis but they're hundreds of MB or even several GB in size, depending on the dump type, and for a 2-minute look at someone's BSoD problem a minidump is perfectly sufficient. If their system is crashing frequently and the dumps all point at the same 3rd-party driver - bingo. Otherwise, if virtually every dump points at a different culprit and they mostly look inscrutable, chances are it's a hardware issue or something which would require more advanced analysis methods.
|My System Specs
|08 Nov 2009
Thank you for sharing this nice tutorial!
I did not yet installed the Windows debugger, but I have a question.
In the tutorial, I read this:
c) Set the path to be the following:
SRV*C:\SymCache*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbolsI don't understand the above, I never have created a path with SRV*, and the directory, and then a http:// link, can you give an example of how to set the path correctly?
Best regards, and I hope to see a new tutorial from your hand soon ;-)
|My System Specs
|09 Nov 2009
Thank you for sharing this nice tutorial!
I did not yet installed the Windows debugger, but I have a question.
In the tutorial, I read this:
c) Set the path to be the following:
SRV*C:\SymCache*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbolsI don't understand the above, I never have created a path with SRV*, and the directory, and then a http:// link, can you give an example of how to set the path correctly?
Best regards, and I hope to see a new tutorial from your hand soon ;-)
I understand your natural reluctance to call something that looks like the text string above a "path", but it makes sense to the debugger. The SRV... syntax means that what follows is a multi-part value. In detail:
SRV*<path_1>*<path_2> tells the debugger to first try find the symbol in <path_1>, then resort to <path_2> if necessary. If it turns out that <path_2> does have the necessary symbol, it will be automatically copied to <path_1> for faster future access.
These are all valid symbol paths, assuming the C:/D:/E: drives and target folders exist on the machine in question:
The fact that <path_1> is a "DOS" path while <path_2> is reached via HTTP is incidental. This is also a valid sympath, although it obviously doesn't reach the MS symbol server:
If appropriate, it is also OK to combine multipath "SRV" entries with traditional syntax (as found in the system PATH environment variable):
Obviously, the example above would be somewhat slower for general-purpose debugging because it would cause the debugger to look in E:\SomeApp\Symbols every single time, before resorting to the SymCache+HTTP combination.
A truly convoluted sympath may be something like this:
In practice, once you get to the point where your debugging needs necessitate sympaths that complex, it's better to set up separate "workspaces" for different types of debugging, but that just confuses the issue for our purposes here.
I hope that explanation makes more sense. If not, please let me know!
|My System Specs
|09 Nov 2009
Thank you for making the SRV* syntax clear to me, and perhaps others not yet understanding this.
Very nice tutorial!
|My System Specs
|10 Dec 2009
Hi H2SO4,
why my windbg stop at
Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.11.0001.404 X86 Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Loading Dump File [C:\1.dmp] Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available DbsSplayTreeRangeMap::Add: ignoring zero-sized range at ?ffffffff`83f3ead4? Symbol search path is: SRV*c:\temp*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols Executable search path is: Windows 7 Kernel Version 7600 MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Built by: 7600.16385.x86fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255 Machine Name: Kernel base = 0x83e18000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x83f60810 Debug session time: Fri Dec 11 05:27:07.971 2009 (GMT+8) System Uptime: 0 days 9:30:09.750 Loading Kernel Symbols ............................................................... ................................................................ ............................... Loading User Symbols Loading unloaded module list ....................
|My System Specs
|13 Dec 2009
I am having trouble with the third step in this tutorial, "register WinDBG as the default handler for dump files". Whenever I try the "cd debuggers" command, I get the message "The system cannot find the path specified."
I have tried the custom install outlined in the tutorial above. which didn't work, so I also tried a standard install... to no avail. Anyone have any tips on what steps/commands I might be missing? I'm sure the trouble is with my command prompt skillz, as they are non-existent. Thanks!
|My System Specs
|13 Dec 2009
Use chdir /d command followed by the folder location to get into the folder where you installed Windbg folder, first.
|My System Specs
|13 Dec 2009
Win 8 Release candidate 8400
H2SO4 is no longer here.
RE: path. you could also add the directory to the path statement
RE: the 2 hour hang. That may be all the info available in that dump
Good luck and let me know if you need help
Ken J+
|My System Specs
|13 Dec 2009
Thanks Geo64 and zigzag! Got it to work!
For any noobs who follow:
1. Open a command prompt as an admin, that'll give you:
2. Enter "chdir /d C:\debuggers"... this will give you a new prompt "C:\debuggers"
3. Enter "windbg.exe -IA" and Et Voila!
Thanks again guys!
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