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Young hurlers give Braves reason for optimism
In wake of rotation injuries, Teheran and Wood rise to the occasion
MILWAUKEE -- The Atlanta Braves have a history rich in starting pitching. They aren't completely bereft in that category now, either.
Certainly, the Plan A 2014 rotation for the Braves took some hits. The operative word for the Braves' rotation during Spring Training was probably "ouch!"
Kris Medlen required Tommy John surgery. So did Brandon Beachy. Mike Minor opened the regular season on the disabled list after undergoing a urinary tract procedure. Gavin Floyd is coming back from his own Tommy John surgery and is not available for the start of the season..
The Braves compensated for the losses by signing a proven veteran starter, Ervin Santana. Santana is expected to join Atlanta's rotation within the next two weeks. Minor and Floyd are expected to be ready to pitch for the Braves later this month.
That is good news, but there were also positive pitching developments on display for the Braves in the first two games of the season at Miller Park.
Julio Teheran, without his best stuff, still held the Brewers to two runs over six innings in the season opener. There wasn't room for rejoicing on the Atlanta side because the Braves were shut out, 2-0, by the Brewers.
Tuesday night, the starting pitching was even better and the results were much happier for the Braves. Lefty Alex Wood went seven innings, allowing one run. It ought to be noted that Miller Park is hitter-friendly and Milwaukee's lineup Tuesday night featured a difficult lineup with eight right-handed-hitting position players
Teheran and Wood aren't revelations, but these performances were reassuring, anyway.
Teheran is just 23, but he already established himself with a 3.20 ERA and a 14-8 record over 30 starts in 2013. Wood, also 23, had 31 big league appearances last year, but only 11 were starts. Still, he put up a 3.13 ERA and demonstrated that he belonged at this level.
After that, there are some questions. Aaron Harang has plenty of experience, but he was 5-12 with a 5.40 ERA last season. He is currently the third starter. David Hale is the fourth starter at the moment. He is 26, but he has had only two Major League starts.
Tuesday night, Wood was in charge, almost from the start. Carlos Gomez hit his first pitch of the game for a home run, but Wood settled down, settled in and pitched a winning game.
Wood said he had some initial difficulty with fastball command, but after he got that pitch working, all three of his pitches worked.
"If my fastball command is erratic, it affects everything else," Wood said. "Fortunately, I was able to find it in the third, fourth inning and go from there."
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez extolled Wood's work, both in this game and in general.
"He pitched so well that I was thinking about running him back out there [for the eighth inning]," Gonzalez said. "But you know, his first outing, I didn't want to take a chance of getting him over 100-plus pitches and facing that lineup for the fourth time.
"You know what, mentally he's a tough cookie. He knows what he wants to do. He prepares better than any young player I've ever been around, physically and also mentally. What I mean by mentally are the videos and his side work. When he goes out to the mound, he knows what he wants to do."
The work of these two young pitchers, specifically in the first two games of the season, has given the Braves renewed reason for optimism. Once Atlanta gets Santana, Minor and Floyd in its rotation, all pitching at something resembling their career norms, what looked like catastrophe could move all the way to being truly competitive.
Then again, Gonzalez said the Braves, even after some truly bad news on the pitching front, were never anything like demoralized.
"We had a little bit in Spring Training when Medlen goes out and the next day or two Beachy goes out," Gonzalez said. "You felt it in the clubhouse.
"But I thought the front office, with [team president] John Schuerholz, [general manager] Frank Wren and [chairman and CEO] Terence McGuirk, went out and got Ervin Santana the day after. As soon as Beachy goes out, Frank's on the phone keeping me abreast of the situation. Santana was going somewhere else [reportedly Toronto], but Frank got the deal done for us. And that kind of gave us a little lift.
"Then we got Harang. And then these guys see that Floyd is close, Minor is close, Santana will meet us in the next couple of weeks. So you don't get down.
"[Catcher] Gerald Laird came to me and he goes: 'We lost Adam Wainwright in the first week of Spring Training [in 2011] with the Cardinals and we ended up winning the World Series.' So he kind of rallied the troops and spread that thing around. 'Hey, it's not the end of the world.' It was good."
It is also good when your fallback plan for the rotation features two 23-year-old starters who are good enough to win for you, right now, and after the rest of starters get well.


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Sharon Carpenter couldn't have been more excited when she caught up with ATL's own B.o.B at the Atlantic Records offices in NYC recently. Making his way up north as his sophomore album, Strange Clouds is set to drop May 1st, B.o.B got the chance to sit with Sharon and raced the clock for GlobalGrind.com's 140 Challenge.
During the challenge, Sharon learned some interesting facts about B.o.B, including who his celebrity crush is and if he believes in love at first sight. What's his guilty pleasure, and who is his favorite person to follow on Twitter? Get to know more about B.o.B by watching the video here or clicking above!

subset: commoncrawl


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The desire of many people is to have a flat stomach. Unfortunately, you can't just exercise your way to it. A lot has to do with what you put into your mouth.
Do you have excess fat in your abdomen area and want to get rid of it once and for all? Fortunately, today we will show you a drink that is very effective to help us achieve a flat abdomen.
This drink is excellent because it helps you to avoid the increase of weight.
With this healthy drink you have many benefits because you can detoxify the organ system thoroughly and eliminate harmful toxins, it also improves brain activity and function, and helps prevent fluid retention.
- 1 cup freshly squeezed juice of organic grapefruit.
- 1 teaspoon pure natural honey.
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar.
Note: You can replace grapefruit juice with orange juice.
Place the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and homogenous.
How to consume:
Take this drink before lunch or dinner, for 7 days or until you see improvements in the waistline, and then repeat the treatment for another seven days.
One serving of grapefruit has only 53 calories and about 2 grams of fiber. Research has also found that eating half a grapefruit before every meal can lead to greater weight loss in dieters.
Apple cider vinegar stimulates digestion, it also reduces the amount of time that fats remains in the digestive tract. It's important that your body gets a chance to remove key nutrients from your food, and conditions that contribute to diarrhea can be life-threatening. But at the same time, it can be unhealthful to have food remain in the intestines for too long. If fats present longer than necessary during digestion, more fats will be absorbed.
Many people ask: Isn't honey a type of sugar? Doesn't it contribute to weight gain? Won't the calories in honey negate weight loss efforts?
That is correct, because honey does contain sugar. However, unlike refined sugar, honey contains beneficial vitamins and minerals as well. Refined table sugar, which people often use to sweeten their food, is considered a source of "empty calories", meaning that there is no ulterior benefit to eating them.
Source: healthyrecipesandideas.com


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PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest could affect climate elsewhere, and total deforestation could lead to droughts in the U.S. West, scientists say.
A study led by researchers at Princeton University suggests total deforestation of the Amazon may significantly reduce rain and snowfall in the western United States, resulting in water and food shortages and a greater risk of forest fires, the university reported Thursday.
Deforestation will likely produce dry air over the Amazon, and computer models suggest the atmosphere's normal weather-moving mechanics would create a ripple effect that would move that dry air directly over the western United States from December to February, the scientists said.
Deforestation is a concern for regions outside of South America, they said, because the rainforest influences various aspects of the surrounding climate, including cloud coverage, heat absorption and rainfall.
"The big point is that Amazon deforestation will not only affect the Amazon -- it will not be contained," Princeton goesciences Professor David Medvigy said. "It will hit the atmosphere and the atmosphere will carry those responses.
"It just so happens that one of the locations feeling that response will be one we care about most agriculturally," he said. "If you change the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, where most of the irrigation for California's Central Valley comes from, then by this study deforestation of the Amazon could have serious consequences for the food supply of the United States."
The Amazon's fragility and vulnerability, combined with its significant effect on global climate, add an urgency to the need to better understand how the forest's disappearance will affect the rest of the world, Medvigy said.
"We don't know what the world will be like without the Amazon."


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PHOENIX (Monday, September 10, 2012) --A lobbyist associated with the Fiesta Bowl has entered plea agreement that will result in a misdemeanor criminal conviction, Attorney General Tom Horne announced today.
Phoenix lobbyist John MacDonald agreed to plead guilty to one count of Failure to Report Principal Expenditures, a Class 1 Misdemeanor under Arizona Revised Statutes §§ 41-1232.02(A).
"Mr. MacDonald signed a disclosure report that is required of lobbyists and the organizations they represent that he knew was false," Horne noted. "This agreement brings to a close one chapter in the Fiesta Bowl case."
MacDonald admitted to falsely signing a "Principal Annual Report of Lobbying Expenditures" for the year 2008 in his role as a lobbyist for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. That report claimed that expenses benefitting nine state legislators for a trip to Boston in October of that year were reportable as Special Event expenses, when in fact they were not.
Under Arizona law, benefits paid to or on behalf of individual lawmakers must be reported by identifying the individual recipients and the amount spent on each. However, individual lawmakers are not required to be identified by name on a disclosure form when an entire legislative body, or the legislature as a whole, is invited to what the law refers to as a "Special Event." In this case, the Fiesta Bowl's 2008 "VIP Trip" to Boston benefitted nine legislators, but it did not meet the statutory definition of a "Special Event". The nine legislators were not members of any one committee and the entire legislature was not invited on the Boston trip, something which MacDonald knew before he filed a report which indicated the Boston trip was a special event and did not list the individual legislators who attended. There is no indication any legislators were aware of MacDonald's actions.
MacDonald will pay a fine ranging from $ 1,000 to $2,500 plus an 84% surcharge.
The case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Todd Lawson and Assistant Attorney General Leesa Morrison of the Criminal Division.
A copy of the plea agreement is attached.


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The traditional companies took a century to grow their first 100 million customers. In contrast, the internet giants have evolved at a much faster pace. With companies like Google and Facebook 'hyperscaling' in 10 to 20 years, they have set an unparalleled pace for every industry.
So what's behind the hyperscalable business model? It turns out that the algorithm is the Internet's billion dollar unicorn, transforming and innovating faster than humans.
The companies succeeding with AI are taking advantage of today's technology landscape to drive new developments and innovation. They are harnessing the 1000 fold data increases, access to new sources of data, in conjunction with the improvements to algorithmic design and accessibility. They are also taking advantage of more powerful compute and the 10x speedups when moving from traditional CPUs to GPU technology.
When companies begin to drive and capitalize on these elements, they are able to unlock new use cases, as well as realise improvements in age old industry challenges. These techniques support organisations to mature machine learning efforts to skilfully handle explosive growths in complex and time-series data.
Whereas traditional machine learning requires onerous time from a data engineering and wrangling perspective, AI and specifically deep learning, is enabling the algorithm itself to self-train, test-and-learn. With algorithms having the power to adapt through learning, they are able to find complex predictive patterns difficult for human analysts to detect. These algorithms mean organisations can accelerate at an unparalleled rate. In industries like automotive, these advancements are driving complete transformation, enabling self-driving cars and smart city initiatives.
However, it is not just new applications and emerging businesses that benefit from these techniques. Take Danske Bank, who were struggling with identifying fraud given the exponential growth of digital transactions and the increasing complexity of fraud. With a low detection rate of 40%, false positives at an all time high of 99.5%, and tens of millions of Euros lost every month – the bank knew they had to take action. In implementing innovative AI models via an Analytic Ops framework, Dankse Bank was able to realise a 60% improvement in fraud detection rates, 50% reduction in false positives, and millions saved in fraud losses.
But how did the bank, and other companies who have seen similar success, learn to crawl and walk before they could really run with AI?
Successful analytics focused companies can make the value driven application of advanced analytics look easy. Yet, the truth of the matter is that the practical and profitable applications of AI, machine learning, and deep learning are complex. It is a multistep process that only a handful of companies have successfully deployed at scale.
The companies truly invested in AI are creating frameworks that enable the deployment of hundreds or thousands of models, at any time, for any analyst, written in any language, operating on a joined-up view of their business data. This emerging discipline of Analytic Operationalization, or 'Analytic Ops', is combining the well-established principles of DevOps from software engineering with the domain of analytics. Without automation applied to analytics, innovative models are destined to be left on the bench.
Take Netflix as an example, personalisation through recommendations is a lucrative business reported to drive savings of more than $1B per year. Through implementing best in class algorithms Netflix is able to realise subscriber growth and retention, as well as optimise the catalogue size. However, when Netflix paid out a million dollars for a state of the art recommendation algorithm, in a Kaggle competition, they could not productionalize the winning entry. The personalisation science and engineering team at Netflix reflected "we evaluated some of the new methods offline but the additional accuracy gains that we measured did not seem to justify the engineering effort needed to bring them into a production environment".
This example, and many others, signify the importance of considering Analytic Ops at the outset of a project. Analytic Ops frameworks are essential to the success of AI endeavours, providing version control of data and models, automated workflows with continuous integration and automated testing. Without these environments, the most sophisticated models have no route to production.
Not every organization investing in AI has leaped to hyperscale stardom. Many are still in infancy, struggling with the challenges of adapting to a new data driven and algorithmic automation culture. A culture that requires a solid foundation before AI can be truly scaled to deliver value across the enterprise.
So, what must businesses remember in the journey to running with AI in a fluid, autonomous way?
Firstly, there is no single technology that can do it all, ecosystems are needed that balance agility with control: A Unified Data Ecosystem is essential, with easy access, integration and flexibility to work with data of different formats, sources and complexity. When it comes to the tools and technology within this ecosystem, it's essential to balance agility with control. Completely locking down an IT environment is not possible with today's rate of innovation and change – it is expected that new technologies will come and go in a timeframe of weeks and months, rather than years. In this age of change, consider Cloud to provide the necessary flexibility to keep up with the technology advancements.
Secondly, diversity of skills and talent is needed to be successful in AI R&D and deployment: To complete successful pilots and promote these past the prototype stage and into production, teams need to have architects, engineers, data scientists, dev ops and automation engineers, visualisation experts, as well as business experts working together. However, hiring talented individuals without well-designed functional environments minimizes the value they can bring over the long term. Hence, companies must also provide data science labs for analytic R&D, as well as automated environments for managing and monitoring analytic products, with governance and accountability playing a crucial role.
And finally: Don't be left behind! Leveraging analytical capability, in the forms of AI and machine learning, is being used today to realise true business benefits such as improvements in customer experience, achieving cost reduction, building cross-sell capability and asset optimization. Businesses that start with a business use case and weave AI into the heart of operations are harnessing the AI trend to deliver value. Making AI a key component of company culture going forward will help more companies move through crawling, walking and running with AI to evolve as the hyperscale examples of our future.
Perhaps Harvard Business Review said it best: "Over the next decade, AI won't replace managers, but managers who use AI will replace those who don't."
Yasmeen is a strategic business leader in the area of data and analytics consulting, named as one of the top 50 leaders and influencers for driving commercial value from data in 2017 by Information Age.
Leading the Business Analytic Consulting Practice at Teradata, Yasmeen is focused on working with global clients across industries to determine how data driven decisioning can be embedded into strategic initiatives. This includes helping organisations create actionable insights to drive business outcomes that lead to benefits valued in the multi-millions.
Yasmeen is responsible for leading more than 60 consultants across Central Europe, UK&I and Russia in delivering analytic services and solutions for competitive advantage through the use of new or untapped sources of data, alongside advanced analytical and data science techniques.
Yasmeen also holds a PhD in Data Management, Mining and Visualization, carried out at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation & Expression. Her work is published in several international journals and was recognised by the Sir Tim Hunt Prize for Cell Biology. Yasmeen has written regularly for Forbes and is a speaker at international conferences and events.
How do you organize your business for analytics? Here are six steps your enterprise should take when creating an analytics team. Read more!
Enterprises either have no data strategy at all or an over-complicated one that under delivers. Find out how to create an effective data strategy by striking balance.
Identifying and focusing on priority analytic use cases within your organization will ensure you are asking the right business questions. Find out more.


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Cranberry-Kissed Pork Chops
Total TimePrep/Total Time: 25 min.
Makes6 servings
- 6 boneless pork loin chops (5 ounces each)
- 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
- 1/3 cup jellied cranberry sauce
- 4-1/2 teaspoons stone-ground mustard
- 3 tablespoons dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
- Sprinkle pork chops with pepper. Brown chops on both sides over medium-high heat in a large skillet coated with cooking spray. Combine cranberry sauce and mustard; spoon over chops. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 4-6 minutes or until a thermometer reads 145°.
- Remove chops and let stand for 5 minutes. Add cranberries and vinegar to skillet, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Serve with chops.
Nutrition Facts1 pork chop with about 1 tablespoon sauce: 229 calories, 8g fat (3g saturated fat), 68mg cholesterol, 119mg sodium, 10g carbohydrate (7g sugars, 1g fiber), 27g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 4 lean meat, 1 starch.
Recommended Video
Aug 21, 2014
I used bone-in pork chops (because that's what I had in the freezer) and a raspberry-balsamic vinegar. My husband and I were both pleased with the results. I may make more sauce next time, but that's just because I like a lot of sauce. The amount in the original recipe was fine with my husband.
Dec 12, 2012
Am I missing something? The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 3 tablespoons of dried cranberries and then reduce that down to 1/2 cup?!?!? Where is the liquid coming from? I made this but no where near the liquid for 1/2 cup reduced. The flavor was still good and I will make it again, but would like to know the actual amount of liquid for the sauce.
Nov 15, 2012
This was pretty good. The raspberry flavor came through more than the cranberry - for me anyway. I doubled the sauce ingredients cause we apparently like things a little more saucy than most. It didn't really reduce much for me, but it was a good enough consistency.
Feb 1, 2012
We did not care for this at all.
Oct 19, 2009
This gets a 5 star rate. I fixed it for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious. I will fix it again and again!!!!


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Although I've been in Israel for a while and gone to many nighttime funerals, there's still something very eerie about going to cemeteries after dark. Maybe it's having watched too many horror movies as a kid, or the midnight showing of Silence of the Lambs …in any event, it's rather creepy.
Before I get to the scary part of this posting, I'm reminded of a true story from my wife's family. My wife's cousin worked for the chevra kadisha in an Israeli town…and dug graves. It's honest, respectable work even if it's not for everyone.
One day on his way to work, he forgot his lunch at home. When his wife noticed he had forgotten his lunch, she sent it to the cemetery with their 9 year old son. Arriving at the cemetery, the young boy started walking around, calling out "Abba, Abba, where are you?" as he peered into empty graves around the cemetery.
A group of mourners saw this surrealistic scene and were moved to tears…what could be sadder and heart-wrenching than a young boy walking around a cemetery, calling out for his (obviously deceased) father…"Abba, Abba, where are you?"
To their shock and horror, a hand suddenly popped out of an open grave and started waving, "Shlomie! Shlomie! I'm over here!!" (yes, this is a true story)
Anyway, going back to last night…it's pitch black…and we're all milling around waiting for the funeral to start.
My cousin's husband comes over to me, and we quietly say hi to each other.
We haven't seen each other for a while, and it's always nice to meet up with friends and relatives, even though it's a bit awkward at unfortunate events like funerals.
Then the spooky part comes…
He quietly says, "Hey, you know people…right?"
I whisper back, "I guess…"
He whispers to me, "Do you know who Jameel at the Muqata is…you know…the blogger?
Getting Blog ID'd… at a nighttime FUNERAL…in the middle of a dark Jerusalem cemetery?!?!
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael


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Free Lance was founded in 1980 and since then has become a benchmark for beautiful shoes. The collection is designed by Guy and Yvon Rautureau, fourth-generation bootmakers since 1870, then manufactured from exceptional leather using traditional methods in La Gaubretière in the French region of Vendée. This attention to detail and quality results in limited-edition boots of all styles that truly stand out from the crowd. Free Lance is a brand of shoe beloved of fashion writers and now distributed in huge numbers of sales outlets from New York to Tokyo.
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MMORPG.com and Funcom have teamed up to bring our readers the first view of The Secret World Game Director Joel Bylos' latest letter to the community. As he sits huddled in his bunker, Joel hopes development of TSW will continue past December 21st and he's got lots of news to share if it does! Read on and get excited! Leave us your thoughts in the comments.
One of the great strengths with The Secret World is our ambitious post-launch update plan. So far we've released five strong updates, called Issues, chock full of content, storylines, features and improvements. Having something new to play around with, something that keeps the game fresh and alive is important for us and we remain fully committed to releasing regular Issues. As part of the move away from required subscription, there will be some components of these issues that are free, while the other components will be paid DLC content. Though it will most likely differ from update to update, content such as new storylines and new locations will usually be part of the paid DLC.
Read more of Joel Bylos' Game Director's Letter.
A writer and gamer from the Philippines. Loves his mom dearly.
Can also be found on http://www.gamesandgeekery.com
Secrets of Dragon?s Spine Trailer.. !
Best MMOs ever played: Ultima, EvE, SW Galaxies, Age of Conan, The Secret World
Since for me the world / the content is the core in TSW, my favourite part in the letter was:
"I think that it puts the responsibility on us to deliver high quality, consistent content that is worth paying for. ... We've moved away from the "shotgun" approach to missions, that is, rather than spreading all of our missions across the entire game, each update will target a specific storyline.
This means that we can create long and compelling experiences that are diverse and offer something different every month."
I can't wait the upcoming Issues
"There are at least two kinds of games.
One could be called finite, the other infinite.
A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
The Secret World has HANDS DOWN the best writing and quest design of ANY MMORPG I've ever played. Hands down - no competition.
The quests are well written, voice acted and so many of them are SO creative!
The atmosphere of the game is amazing - the sounds, the artistic style, etc.
The Combat is pretty MEH to be honest - it's not something I consider very fun (using Shotgun/Hammer combo atm... perhaps another combo would be more fun.)
Overall, I'd strongly recommend this MMORPG to anyone who doesn't mind excercising their mind - anyone who wants to do more than mindlessly drool and grind.
Will see you in the Fifth Age, Joel. We, of the Dragon, do NOT intend to let the world end. We will maintain balance until the end...
I remember when I started the game back on release, liked it within the first couple of hours. After 10 hours I was in love with it.
When I played this one mission, where I found a crashed car, got to listen to the navigation device voice of the route the car took and had to backtrack that route by looking at the map to find out from which address the car departed to reach the next tier I yelled "Awesome!!" at the screen several times. In TSW one can find the finest mission design ever done in the MMO genre. This level of quality content, I hope they are able to keep up
Secrets of Dragon?s Spine Trailer.. !
Best MMOs ever played: Ultima, EvE, SW Galaxies, Age of Conan, The Secret World
Originally posted by SwobyJ
Oh and about combat - at least for most players, the inital solo stuff just doesn't make full use of the system. Once into dungeons and later content, many (but not all) players get into experimenting, making full hybrid builds, and making what's fun for them, instead of just a x+y weapon combo with the basic builders and finishers. Your feeling might not change, but for some others it at least did.
Yep, it pays to sit down a bit with the ability wheel to understand how it works -- some very nice builds to be had with some experimentation and study. Here's a really good primer:
I just started playing TSW, having alot of fun with it. I had avoided it because I was already into several other mmos and it got some bad feedback from clanmates who played it on launch. Playing now there is alot of great things in it I like. I am sick to death of fantasy games and have been slowly trying to stop playing them completely(still play gw2/wow/darkfall a bit). TSW is a great blend of paranormal/sci-fi/conspiracy stuff. From the few missions I have completed I think they actually made a game with difficult and clever puzzles.
Buy to play is really awesome and well done, so far as good or better than what is in GW2 and better than all the F2P crap I have seen over the past few years. This is a game I will not mind investing some cash into for vanity/dlc content when the time comes, somethin Ive only done for GW2 bag slots.
End of days ARG is pretty sweet too, alot harder than I expected :P
When I read it was going B2P I was actually interested but then I read the details and realized they are only doing this because the game failed to do well and this is a B2P freemium, not actually B2P. Much like with F2P freemium, B2P freemium creates a second class citizen in new players...monthly subscribers get bonuses that only they have access to.
No thank you.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
Uh. You pay 30 bucks and you get the whole game. No restrictions on hotbars, items you can use, clothing you can wear. No lockboxes that drop in the game that you have to buy keys for.
Try and find a better deal. There isn't one. If you'd read/listen to the interviews with Joel the 'second-class citizen' thing is EXACTLY what he's against.
But they do have to make some money. How do you think they are going to keep the servers running and the staff paid if people don't pay subscription fees and they don't sell DLC? Magic?
The perks that subscribers and grandmasters get are nothing great I assure you. And as a Grandmaster I don't care, I'd rather have a solid community.
So, how bout you give it a shot and make an informed decision instead of jumping to ill-concieved conclusions?
The game is well-worth your 30 bucks, honest.
Originally posted by jtcgs
When I read it was going B2P I was actually interested but then I read the details and realized they are only doing this because the game failed to do well and this is a B2P freemium, not actually B2P. Much like with F2P freemium, B2P freemium creates a second class citizen in new players...monthly subscribers get bonuses that only they have access to.
No thank you.
Ya if someone buys a membership to pay for future DLC and some cosmetic outfits, I don't see why I have to do that too. I want everything for free, and I mean EVERYTHING.
Just had to lol at this post. The nerve of some people.


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I guess - as a politics nerd, among the other kinds of nerd I am - that I identify with the sense of relief in the first two panels. Though the joke strikes me as not so much a joke but basically reality (See: Bloggers discuss 2012. Hell, it's basically a given that you don't even wait till the election ends to debate the next one).
And anyway, if the joke is that people say they want to be done with the stress politics but really they don't, I feel like a better joke might revolve around the game "Guess who the president is going to have work for him" or other political speculation.
In any case, it's not a bad comic - it just feels like as far as political humor, it falls far short of some of the great stuff out there. I feel like this election gave us so much to mock - I'll be bipartisan and mention both Sarah Palin and Mike Gravel - that this feels subpar. Randall has yet to succeed at political humor, and I think he should stop trying.
update: Oh god it's worse than I though. It didn't even take long for me to find way more examples of lame 2012 humor. Let me be clear - I don't think any of these are funny. I think all of them are based on a stupid, obvious joke that you have heard and will hear after every election.


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Technology resources for congregations and synods, including: Web ministry basics, cloud based services, social media guidelines and best practices, writing for the Web, guidelines for using photos of members, online giving options, administrative software, technology purchasing, computer and Internet security.
Below are a list of resources you can download or purchase. For more information about a specific resource, just hover over the icon.


text: Since our inception 25 year ago, ELLE has featured not only fashion's most gifted designers, but Hollywood's brightest talents. We were the first to make Bend It Like Beckham 's spunky Keira Knightley a big-time cover girl\u2014before Pirates of the Caribbean catapulted her to a new stratosphere of fame. And when ELLE gave Britney Spears her inaugural fashion-mag cover, we knew she was destined for pop divadom. Since 1993, we've opened our entertainment pages with breakouts on the precipice of stardom. Sometimes they took longer than expected: We shot Adrien Brody for Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line before the unpredictable director all but axed the would-be lead from the final cut. Three years later, Brody won the best actor Oscar for The Pianist . In some cases, we're still waiting. (Any time now, Rena Owen.) Here, we revisit some of the cinematic legends we're proud to say we spotted first. Click here for a slideshow of the stars you saw first in ELLE


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Planning to pay out good money to see "Taken 2"? To paraphrase Liam Neeson, you're about to be taken.
Whatever novelty there was watching Neeson go commando in 2008's "Taken" is gone in the sequel, a mix of third-rate action, dreary family melodrama, laughable bad guys and even more laughable plot devices.
"Taken 2" is so bad it feels as though producer and co-writer Luc Besson swept up odds and ends cut from the first movie and slapped them together between a few new scenes shot with Neeson's retired CIA guy Bryan Mills, his daughter (Maggie Grace) and ex-wife (Famke Janssen).
The original was relentlessly paced and just flew by. The sequel is about the same length yet takes its good old time putting the villains and viewers out of their misery.
Besson and director Olivier Megaton ("Transporter 3") pad "Taken 2" with really awful reconciliation moments between Mills and his family, and once the action finally kicks in, it's nothing but repetitive kill shots to the head, snapping of necks and poorly edited hand-to-hand fights.
The giggles start in the opening moments as a group of Albanians mourn their dead - all the thugs Neeson's Mills killed in the first movie for kidnapping his daughter in a prostitution ring.
"The dead cry out to us for justice!" proclaims family patriarch Murad (Rade Sherbedgia). "We will have our revenge!"
Murad assembles a seemingly countless gang of rogues to go after Mills in Istanbul, where he's just finished a security job and is taking some down time with daughter Kim (Grace) and his ex, Lenore (Janssen), who's newly separated from her second hubby.
They're such amateurs, Murad and his boys, that it's like watching Mills shoot puppies in a pet store window as he takes them out individually and in bunches. There's little sense of peril to Mills and his women, even Lenore, who spends much of the movie bound and whimpering, with knives at her throat (what fun for Janssen this job must have been).
The filmmakers decide to promote Grace's Kim from whimper-woman in "Taken" to her dad's apprentice here, with pretty silly results. Under Mills' guidance, Kim tosses live grenades indiscriminately around Istanbul so her dad can use the explosions to triangulate the position of Murad's lair.
Seriously. That's how dumb the movie is.
There was something primal about "Taken," a father putting all his brains and brawn into saving his little girl, and doing it with startling ferocity and ingenious trade-craft.
Neeson just looks like he's yawning his way through a light workout here, using one big Irish paw to snuff goons and holding the other one out to the studio for his paycheck.
This is old-style sequel mentality. Do a quick, crappy replay of the original, dump it in theaters and grab whatever cash you can before fans realize they've been had.
Studios still make crappy sequels, yet they usually take some effort to raise the stakes and bring something new these days. No one's taken any such effort on "Taken 2."
"Taken 2," a 20th Century Fox release, is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality. Running time: 92 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.


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This is how perfection looks to us. And this is how it works – only 1 click to our tutorial videos. Discover more...
The readers of "Motor Klassik" have again voted our products as BEST BRAND in category "paint & Chrome Care"
Treat your automotive investment to the ultimate luxury of Swissvax high contect carnauba waxes. For sparkling reflections that go beyond normal perceptions of "shiny". The Swissvax secretof exceptionally durable carnauba formulations that arise after several hours of manufacturing lies in using double-walled micro particles - known as the so-called micro-incapsulation. Discover more...
Swissvax is also first choice of various automobile manufacturers in the premium and luxury segment to have their own car care products developed and individually produced for them.
As a family owned independent manufactory we are able to concentrate on the development and production of the most exclusive and luxurious cosmetics for automobiles. With the Swiss reputation and queality and precision and meticulous attention to detail we want to exceed your expectations.
Experience know how and competence to protect and maintain, prevent and repair your leather interior with the complete, muli-faceted system to intercept leather aging where it starts. Discover more...
Being a passionate boating family since three generations, we are very familiar with all the joys -and sorrows- that come with boat ownership. Along with our superior automotive care we have traditionally developed and nurtured a high level of competence with regard to all facets of boat and yacht maintenance.
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Quick Detailing Fluids, refinishers and multiple surface sealants are important spray products for valeting your automobile in between car washes. In your garage, on the road, on concours events - or to simply impress your friends with your passion.
Swissvax Collections with thoughtfully selected products are up to 25% cheaper than buying the products individually.
We have a very accurate idea of our customers' needs and our kits are designed to match them - down to the last detail.
Car wash day!
With our efficient washing accessories and care tools, washing your car is child's play. Quite clearly, these products restore your car's dazzling shine to its former glory after every wash.
All you need to maintain and return paintwork to the mint condition you desire
We can't quite do magic with our products, but we are getting extremely close!
These award-winning carnauba formulations go beyond normal perceptions of "shiny"
For deeply reflective surfaces that will create a sensation on your automobile's paintwork - simply amazing!
We like to work professionally - and so should you!
Whether you're a beginner or a pro - with "Big Foot" polishers by Rupes (Italy) anyone can polish - anyone! Quickly, safely, without swirls. Guaranteed.
We also do matt!
Specifically developed product line for stunning results and the very special needs of matt paintwork only - we call it Swissvax Opaque!
Anti-ageing for your leather starts here ...
Our multifaceted system for stopping the ageing process of your leather interior as soon as it starts. Prevention, protection, maintenance, repair - for Napa and semianiline leathers.
Wheels - your automobile's eye-catchers!
Sparkling clean wheels and silky shiny tyres are your car's "well-polished shoes".
Your home is your castle - also on the road
Quite rightly, you expect us to be competent on interior care, too - and we are! Plastics, Alcantara, leather, precious woods, aluminum, chrome, navigation screens, textiles and carpets. You name it - we cover it.
Tender loving care for mohair and vinyl hoods
A dull rear window, brittle seals, a faded plastic top or a dirty mohair hood can ruin your automobile's appearance in seconds.
Crystal clear windows can be a real challenge
Every concours entrant knows the importance of crystal clear windows. And so do we. We supply you with the right tools and products for the job on glass, vinyl and perspex.
A "clean heart" is easier than you would think
Swissvax' engine cleaner and sparkling shiny engine spray sealant will do wonders.
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We don't like to leave anything to chance. Experience a range of practical and refined accessories - they will be of tremendous help to you in achieving first class results.
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Experience a new level of marine surface care that empowers your boat's most precious assets. The Swissvax Marine-Care- System has been specifically developed, tested and attuned for boat and yacht maintenance. Being a passionate boating family since three generations, we are very familiar with all the joys -and sorrows- that come with boat ownership. Along with our superior automotive care we have traditionally developed and nurtured a high level of competence with regard to all facets of boat and yacht maintenance.


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Tiny, plump-bodied, big-headed bird is a familiar woodland resident and backyard visitor in the northern U.S. and Canada. Gray overall with buffy flanks and a contrasting head pattern: black cap, white cheek, and black throat. Short, stubby bill is used for hammering open seeds. Often the core of mixed flocks of songbirds. Visits feeders. Nearly identical to Carolina Chickadee, but note voice and range.
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Understanding State-Full Programming Methods
When considering the solution to a programming task, there is generally no shortage of approaches. These typically range from the mundane to the extremely complicated. There is one approach to consider when solving a problem and that is through the use of a state machine.
The basis of a state machine is in fundamental theory of computation. The specific construct is a deterministic finite acceptor. We won't get into the arcane mathematics, but a basic understanding is in order. The basic elements are:
1. An understanding of the starting point or condition
2. What all of the intermediary steps / states are
3. What the conditions are to transition to the next step / state, and
4. What constitutes the end point(s).
What should be apparent from this is that the problem has to be considered fully and outlined before any work can be done. This is one of the key points of this type of programming in that it enforces preparation, planning, and documenting. The development process is as simple as following the four elements outlined above.
There are some key elements to keep in mind:
In a state machine there can be any number of states; as many as required to complete the task. This characteristic alone necessitates the use of integer-based states; the best analog is a recipe, such as baking a cake.
The machine can only be in one state at a time. As in following a recipe, you typically perform one step after another. You never hear of baking the cake at the same time as adding the ingredients.
Each state can transition to any other state, providing the transition is clearly defined. This is the real power of the construct: loops and jumps can be performed as well as single steps. As in baking a cake, add one egg, mix well, add a second egg, mix well, and add a third egg, mix for 60 seconds. Some steps are repeatable until a different transition is encountered.
Once the endpoint has been reached, the only viable next state is to start over at the beginning.
While automation programming is not quite the same thing as baking a cake, the basic concepts apply. Consider the control of a set of pumps used to pump down a sump:
1. At Low Level, turn on Pump #1
2. At Mid Level and Pump #1 On, turn On Pump #2
3. At Hi Level and Pump #2 On, Turn On Pump #3
4. At Mid level and Pump #3 On, Turn Off Pump #3
5. At Low Level and Pump #2 On, Turn Off Pump #2
6. At Low-Low Level and Pump #1 On, Turn Off Pump #1
The solution of this problem starts out with clearly defining the states and what are the conditions that will cause them to change. The basic states for the sump example are contained in Table 1.
Once the states have been defined, the next step is to work out the criteria that cause the states to change. The transition criteria are contained in Table 2.
It should be clear that each state has specific criteria, or inputs, that cause the machine to change or advance. In fact, using the initial criteria, we don???t even have to concern ourselves with whether or not the pumps are running ??? at this point we don???t really care; that is taken for granted by the state machine.
At this point we are almost ready to begin programming the state machine. However, before we do that we have to plan for some registers and flags that we???ll need. Some of these are required because of the way that a typical automation controller runs its program, from the top down.
The first register is CURRENT_STATE. This is exactly what it says, where the machine is currently. The next register is NEXT_STATE. This is the state that we want to transition to. Finally, there is a flag called NEW_STATE, this is a bit used to signal that we have moved into a new state. This is not strictly required for our example, but it is extremely helpful with larger machines.
The following is a ladder logic representation of the above example. I???ve over-simplified some things, such as the levels and there isn???t any code to check for valid numbers, but that???s not required for the example.
This example covers all of the basics: initial state, intermediate states, and transitions. I???m sure that you may have noticed that there isn???t an end state. For this specific example it wasn???t required. That is one of the advantages of a state machine; you don???t necessarily have to have an end.
While this example covers a very basic system, nothing inherent in the construct limits it to this use. The example is also limited in that it doesn???t illustrate the actual connection between the states and the field devices it controls but that should be easily addressed. This concept can, and has, been expanded all the way to recipe handling with hundreds of states. The only limitation that it has is the imagination of the programmer.
This post was written by Jeff Monforton. Jeff is a senior engineer at MAVERICK Technologies, a leading system integrator providing industrial automation, strategic manufacturing, and enterprise integration services in the manufacturing and process industries. MAVERICK delivers expertise and consulting in a wide variety of areas including industrial automation controls, distributed control systems, manufacturing execution systems, operational strategy, and business process optimization. The company provides a full range of automation and controls services ??? ranging from manufacturing plant energy efficiency to data historians and continuous improvement solutions. Additionally MAVERICK offers industrial and technical staffing services, placing on-site automation, instrumentation and controls engineers.


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The 49ers are scheduled host Utah State running back Robert Turbin for a pre-draft visit on April 12, a source told The Chronicle.
Turbin, who attended Irvington High School in Fremont, rushed for 2,813 yards, averaged 6.2 yards a carry and scored 41 total touchdowns in his final two college seasons. Turbin is also scheduled to visit the Chiefs, Eagles, Redskins and Jets.
At the NFL combine, Turbin, 5-foot-10 and 222 pounds, did 28 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, matching Boise State's Doug Martin for the most by a running back. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.50 seconds, the ninth-fastest among 28 running backs. His 10-2 broad jump ranked fourth. Turbin suffered two serious injuries in college, a torn capsule at the bottom of his big toe in 2007 and a torn ACL in 2010.
On Wednesday, the 49ers signed former Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, who will join a backfield that currently includes Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter and Anthony Dixon. Running back Rock Cartwright is expected to play primarily on special teams.


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Lawmakers seek to wall off transit funding
Lawmakers seek to keep state revenues intended to support transportation from being moved
Lawmakers are moving to protect fuel tax and other revenues dedicated to paying for transportation projects from being used to close the state's deficit in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposed budget.
The Legislature's transportation committee voted unanimously this month to place in a lockbox the state's Special Transportation Fund, which is used for road and transit projects.
The committee advanced a joint resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to further block using the funds to cover general government expenses. Over the past decade, the funds have often been used to offset deficits in the General Fund.
State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said the inability of legislators to refrain from using the fund to cover other costs -- as the state faces a daunting list of road, bridge and transit projects -- erodes the public's faith in pledges to repair infrastructure.
Lavielle said the maneuver has been conspicuous in the past two years, when rail and bus operating subsidies were trimmed in budget discussions as fare increases took effect.
"Taking money that is supposed to be used for transportation and using it to balance the budget isn't right," Lavielle said. "The Special Transportation Fund has always been considered a sort of spare tire, or a reservoir that is bottomless but it's not. We need to pay for transportation."
In the fiscal year beginning in July, Malloy has allocated $1.26 billion to the fund, but proposes a $75 million transfer from the transportation fund to the balance the state's budget, according to Gian-Carl Casa, undersecretary of legislative affairs for the Malloy administration.
The budget also eliminates $30 million in funding for paving projects for local towns and $20 million for a Pay as You Go transportation projects, normally paid for from the state's General Fund. Metro-North Rail operations will receive $9 million less in subsidy from the state due to rail fare increases set to go into effect as part of series of seven consecutive rail fare increases.
State Sen. David Scribner, R-Brookfield, who sponsored House Bill 6039, said the importance of blocking the appropriation of the fund for general government is heightened by the uncertain status of the federal commitment to maintain the roughly $500 million a year it has provided the state for maintenance and highway and rail upgrades.
"If we were prohibited from using the state transportation fund for other purposes we wouldn't be in nearly as precarious a position to pay for our bridge repairs and rails," Scribner said. "That is really the impetus behind it."
The state DOT has identified about $16 billion in unfunded road and bridge repairs and improvements that will be needed over the next 20 years, including $7.5 billion during the next decade.
Casa said the budget revisions and transfer of Special Transportation Funds are required to balance the budget, and the budget continues Malloy's commitment to put the state's Petroleum Gross Receipts Tax into the transportation fund.
The state's projected budget deficit for the 2014 fiscal year is expected to be $1.1 billion, according to the non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis.
In the second year of the budget and thereafter, the special transportation fund is expected to receive substantial transfers from the General Fund, Casa said.
Casa said it was too early in budget discussions to tell if Malloy would support a legal restriction on how transportation funds were used this year.
In discussing the prospect of reinstituting tolls on state highways during his 2010 campaign, Malloy said a legal prohibition against transportation fund dollars on other government operating expenses was probably necessary to gain the public's agreement to paying road fees.
State Sen. Carlo Leone, D-Stamford, a member of the General Assembly's transportation committee, said he believes enacting restrictions to keep transportation funds from being diverted is probably necessary to remedy a long-standing under-investment in maintaining and improving infrastructure.
Leone said even with the state's financial difficulty, budget discussions could lead to restoration funds for transportation and cuts elsewhere to make up the difference.
"As we look to find revenues for transportation we should not divert the funds we are collecting to support other uses," Leone said. "This sends a message that the money should remain in transportation-oriented projects."
firstname.lastname@example.com, 203-964-2264, twitter.com/martincassidyst


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#sales of Park tickets Special
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- Events
- Attractions
- Parades and
- Disney
Character Greetings
- Shops
- Restaurants
- Guest Services
Recommended Items
in Japanese only
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Recommended Menus
in Japanese only
Not found,
-All photos are concept images.
-Special merchandise items are available in limited numbers and may sell out.
-The contents of the menus may change and some items will only be available while the supply lasts.


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Oxford Learner's Thesaurus: A Dictionary of Synonyms Android In app Upper-Intermediate to Advanced (B2-C2) Oxford Learners Thesaurus Android In-app
|Android App
A dictionary of synonyms that helps learners to distinguish between similar words and use them correctly.
Learn the Oxford 3000 app
Rachel Appleby with Julia Adkins, Katherine Griggs and Rawdon Wyatt
Photocopiable Materials Adviser - Jill Hadfield
Series Adviser - Catherine Walter
|iOS App
Ниво Low-intermediate and above (A2-C2)
The most important and useful words you need to know to succeed in English.
Oxford Learner's Thesaurus: A Dictionary of Synonyms iOS app
|iOS App
Ниво Upper-Intermediate to Advanced (B2-C2)
No two words are exactly the same. This is the learner's thesaurus that explains the difference.
Refine by Изчисти всичко
- Advanced (4)
- Beginner (1)
- Elementary (1)
- Intermediate (2)
- Intermediate Plus (4)
- Pre-Intermediate (2)
- Starter (1)
- Upper-Intermediate (5)


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Prince of Air and Darkness
by Jenna Black
Self-published on November 23, 2011
Hunter Teague is the prince of the Unseelie Court, the dark half of Faerie. Raised in an atmosphere of unspeakable cruelty, Hunter has learned the lessons of his mother, the Queen of Air and Darkness, and he's ready to put them to use. He's on a mission, one that will shift the balance of power in Faerie forever: he will seduce the Seelie king's mortal daughter and sire a child upon her—a child who will be heir to both the Seelie and the Unseelie thrones. Hunter has never met a mortal woman he couldn't seduce...until now.
Kiera Malone is a self-employed web designer and a self-professed cynic. She doesn't believe in magic or soulmates, let alone her mother's ridiculous claims to have slept with the mythical Faerie King. But when Hunter hires her to design a website, Kiera finds herself drawn to him in ways that seem almost magical. He's gorgeous and sexy as sin, the kind of man any woman would swoon over—but her every instinct warns her there's something dangerous lurking beneath his charming façade.
To succeed in his mission, Hunter must let himself get closer to Kiera than he ever planned. Soon, he finds himself burdened with the one thing a prince of the Unseelie Court can't afford: a conscience. Now Hunter must betray either the woman who is slowly working her way into his heart, or the Queen of Air and Darkness...who would destroy him and Kiera both.
For a complete review which may contain SPOILERS, please click 'Read More' below:


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– Third installment of park's signature event features glow-in-the-dark fun and enrichment trails
Singapore, 29 November 2013 – The Forest Fairy has dropped her magic vial, unleashing its mystical energies and transforming Night Safari into a Wildlife Wonderland. This December, whisk yourselves into another realm and be mesmerised by a wonderful world of fantastical creatures, magic and enchantment at Mystica 2013: Wildlife Wonderland.
A fluorescent array of interactive activities awaits the adventurous, in a forest shrouded by mystery. Have a magical mingle with the whimsical denizens of the forest. Better yet, become one of them and come in the most peculiar costume imaginable for a chance to win an attractive prize.
To shine like fairies, have a magical makeover at the fluorescent face painting area and then pop into the black light photo booth before emerging with a spontaneous, irreplaceable candid memory of yourself and your friends.
Even the animals will be getting in on the action, as they receive whimsical treats for their enrichment activity. Go on a walking trail to discover them all!
Join us for a dazzling time at Night Safari this December at Mystica 2013: Wildlife Wonderland!
Dates: Weekends of 13, 14, 20, 21 Dec and 27-31 Dec
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Venue: Night Safari
Cost: Festivities are free but usual admission of SGD35 per adult and SGD23 per child between 3-12 years applies for those entering the park.
Mingle in the Jungle
Be captivated by a host of whimsical creatures and friends of the forest as you take in the bewitching lights around the park.
Dates: 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 December
Time: 6.30pm – 9.30pm
Venue: Night Safari entrance plaza
Dress In Your Best Contest
Attractive prizes await those who dive into the festivities and dress to impress our mystery judges. Turn up in the most outlandish costume you can think of and make sure you're noticed by strutting your stuff at the entrance plaza. The best dressed each night will walk away a winner!
Dates: 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 December
Time: 6.30pm – 11.30pm
Venue: Night Safari entrance plaza
Glow-in-the-Park Face Painting and Black Light Photo Booth
For a spot of fun you can bring home, spin over to our face painting booth and turn yourselves fluorescent before popping into our black light photo booth. Emerge with a creatively candid memory of a different kind. We guarantee a glowing result.
Dates: 5 – 31 December
Time: 6pm – 9.30pm
Venue: Night Safari entrance plaza
Note: Token donations requested for face painting
Animal Enrichment Trail
After meeting the creatures of fantasy, discover the real animals of the night along the walking trails. Witness the spirited side of the frisky otters, feisty fishing cats and prickly porcupines as they unravel creatively decked out enrichment goodies. The curious can ask questions and learn more about the animals from our friendly trail guide.
Dates: 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 December
Venue and time:
1. Fishing Cat Trail at 7.30pm
2. Wallaby Trail at 8.30pm
3. East Lodge at 9.00pm
4. Spotted hyena exhibit (East Lodge Trail) at 10.00pm


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Last visit was: July 6th, 2009, 11:26 pm
I've returned after 5 years. I was one of the first people to reg on the forum I think. I made some maps while I was bored as a 14 year old and now I'm on the verge of my 20s with little aspirations, so I want to search for hobbies or something.
I've Returned
Introduce yourself to the rest of the community here.
3 posts • Page 1 of 1
- Wind Astella
- Member
- Posts: 112
- Joined: June 4th, 2013, 6:18 am
- Name: Nik Mirza
- IRC Username: windastella
- Contact:
Re: I've Returned
Welcome back. Hopefully you can stay longer cause there will a lot of improvement to sandbox in the near future. Maybe make a game or two with the community. ^^
Re: I've Returned
i've just returned too... something about the quake platform and the PAS mod that i like... it's simple, but simple doesn't necessarily mean easy... i'm a hobbyist also... i think i'll take 2.7.1 and make an rpg express mod... simplify the menu's and make them all work correctly... i love organizing stuff, it seems i will have plenty to do on this project... will i finish it... (shrug) who knows... but it will be fun to try ...
welcome back MrApophis
welcome back MrApophis
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The world is bursting at the seams with Grand Theft Auto IV mods. You'd think there wouldn't be room for any more. But there's always room for wapeddell's Morgan Freeman. Oh, sorry. Gordon Freeman.
It's just... it's just so damn perfect. Especially since it reminds me of my old desktop wallpaper.
Morgan Freeman [GTA Mods]
Morgan Freeman Half Life 2 [YouTube, via Obi Pac Kenobi]


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Start Slideshow
- Scott Gundersen Cork ArtArtist Scott Gundersen sure can draw a beautiful portrait, but the Chicago-based artist has taken his oversized drawings to the next level by repurposing discarded wine corks to color his pieces. Gundersen collects and stores the corks in his studio, standing thousands of them on their ends to make up the range of flesh tones of his subjects.1
- Scott Gundersen Cork ArtThe portraits start out as large photographs that Gundersen takes of his subjects. The photographs are then used as a reference, as he renders the faces into a large scale pencil portrait. After shading and contouring, he is ready for the corks!2
- Scott Gundersen Cork ArtStacked around his studio, the corks are separated according to tone and color. Gundersen has a place for each cork, first scrutinizing the drawing to determine the placement of the tonal range.3
- Scott Gundersen Cork ArtUsing the cork, he "paints" the image, gradating from light corks to darks to create the dimensions of his subject's face, neck and hair.4
- Scott Gundersen Cork ArtThe corks are packed tightly together, and affixed to the portrait backing. The giant 96 x 66 inch portrait of "Grace" took Gundersen 50 hours to actually build up. "Grace" used an incredible 9,217 corks to create! (That's a lot of wine.)5
- Scott Gundersen Cork ArtGundersen's cork portraits have been featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not and on many news programs. He uses the cork as a way to draw attention to the importance of recycling and sustainability through art.6
- Scott Gundersen Cork ArtCork, once the standard used in wine bottling, has been in danger in recent years, being replaced by plastic corks and screw tops. The wine industry has directly affected the cork forests of the Mediterranean- as demand decreases, the forests are ripped up to grow other crops. Gundersen's beautiful portraits utilize the precious sustainable material, giving it a place in the art world, other than at the reception bar.7


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Now showing items 1-1 of 1
Suppression of von Hippel-Lindau Protein in Fibroblasts Protects against Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis.
(American Thoracic Society, 2016-05)
We have reported that von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL) expression is elevated in human and mouse fibrotic lungs and that overexpression of pVHL stimulates fibroblast proliferation. We sought to determine whether loss of ...


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How to Use the Images Photos 1 & 2
Photos 1 & 2
Questions for Photo 5
1. Photo 5 shows Belle Vista in 1896. The house is located on the side of Garret Mountain and is one of Paterson's most visible landmarks. Why do you think most people in Paterson called this house "Lambert Castle"?
2. Why do you think Catholina Lambert would have built such a house in Paterson? What does it reveal about his financial and social status?
3. According to a government survey of the silk industry published in 1911, "the silk manufacturers of to-day were the skilled operatives of yesterday."¹ What do you think someone just setting up his own business in Paterson might have thought when he looked at Lambert's house? What do you think one of the strikers might have thought?
¹ U.S. Senate, Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the United States, Vol. IV: The Silk Industry (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1911), 198-99.
* The photo on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Photo 5, but be aware that the file will take as much as 30 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.


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The Most Confusing Movies Ever Made
List Rules Vote up any movie that required a rewatch or someone else to explain it to you
The most confusing movies ever made are those films which either intentionally or accidentally are hard to follow, complicated and so far out there that they are disorienting to even the most seasoned viewer. That's not to say these movies are bad because of their complicated nature but certainly not for the easily confused.
For those who crave the mental challenge of confusing movies, there are several directors whose style is highlighted by their complicated plot lines, tendency to present films out of chronological order and seemingly devotion to chaos in their movies. The likes of David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Inland Empire, and Lost Highway), Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut) and Christopher Nolan (Inception and Memento) are perhaps the best at making stellar yet highly confusing movies and among the greatest directors in movie history.
Lynch, Kubrick and Nolan undoubtably influenced other great filmmakers who also have a tendency to create movies that make viewers ask what the heck is happening. Charlie Kaufman, who did Synecdoche, New York, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Being John Malkovich, and Steven Soderbergh, responsible for great films like Sex, Lies, and Videotape, among many others, gave their interpretation of how to create confusing and simply WTF movies.So whether you love the twists and turns in The Matrix or think the utter madness of Primer is cause to be among the worst movies of all time, vote for the movies you think are the most confusing below! Have a confusing movie in mind that's not listed? Add it! Help us rank the most confusing movies ever made.
If you're a fan, be sure to check out our list of the best surrealist films.Pi, also titled π, is a 1998 American surrealist psychological thriller film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky in his directorial debut. The film earned Aronofsky the Directing Award at ...more


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The Best Thing About Being a Military Kid!
What's the best thing about being a military kid? Some might say seeing new places, some might say making new friends, and some might even say learning new languages and cultures, but for me, the best thing about being a military kid is the person I have become along the way.
In September 2012, I joined a boys' soccer team here in Italy, where we live now. At that time, I was the only girl and only American on the team. You might be thinking that this has nothing to do with being a military kid, but it does. In ten years, I have moved six times, attended five schools, been without my dad for months at a time and joined countless sports teams.
When I was younger, I was very shy and dreaded moving because it meant that everything was going to change. Each time, I gained a little more self-confidence. I joined sports teams and attended camps and activities to help me make friends at each new place. I actually started to look forward to moving without being scared.
I now try to take advantage of every opportunity that our new home offers. I have even run in a few 5K races here in Italy. Being a military kid has made me stronger and more outgoing. I look for challenges and I try to always be the best I can be.
I have played soccer for seven years and I am really appreciative to be playing on the boys' team. Even though I get a little nervous sometimes, I would've never had the courage to go play on a team where I can't speak or understand the language. I really love soccer and don't know what I would do without it. Being a military kid has given me more courage, so that I could be brave enough to play.
My Army life has taught me to adapt to new situations, to be kind and understanding, to be brave, and to never give up when things get hard. I believe that all of the things I have been through as a military kid have made me strong and brave. I am proud to be a military kid and I look forward to the next opportunity the Army has for me and my family.
Guest Post by Delaney Edger, age 10, military child
0 CommentsAdd yours
I loved your story so much! I shared it with my own readers and will also send it to facebook and twitter. You are one rockin' lady, Delaney! 🙂
Delaney, your MomMom and PopPop Ryan are so proud of you.
You are one AWESOME young lady.:)
Delaney, VES is so proud of you! Thank you for being the AMAZING individual you are! -Mr. McK
Great job Delaney!
Awesome, Delaney! I'mfriends with your MomMom and PopPop Ryan and I know they are very proud of you and your family!


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Java Draw Created Mar 05, 2013 640 x 460px Unless noted Copyright 2013 crinaanca.
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Such vivid colors! Love the parrots!
very nice arangment! 5h.
Wow. Stunning draw. 5/5 and collect
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VERY nice artwork! Looks like an oil painting. Love it! 5 ♥'s
So beautiful Crinaanca - love the vegetation and amazing colours on the parrots. Great job.
great colors on birds I like the detail in the little flowers
There is not much more aesthetic as many macaws in flower laden trees. Detailed, lovely colors and wonderful idea!
i love it! 5h collect


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National Sep 9, 2011
PIA's Storm Info Central buoys Irene recovery with guidance for agents
GLENMONT, N.Y.-As victims from Hurricane Irene recover from the damage and rebuild their lives, a weight falls on the shoulders of the insurance industry to expedite their return to normalcy. To help its members serve their clients for this storm-and those in the future-the Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York State Inc. launched Storm Info Central, a convenient one-stop resource center with official storm-related guidance from federal, state and regional sources, as well as valuable PIAs producer- and client-oriented coverage answers on storm-related losses. PIA will update Storm Info Central with additional information from officials and responses to member inquiries throughout the rest of the 2011 hurricane season and beyond, to provide the latest news on events affecting members areas.
"With Irene and the following weeks rains affecting so many people in the Northeast, PIA felt it was important to give its member agents and companies all the tools and help it could to deal with the glut of inquiries and damage claims," said Diane Fowler, executive director of PIA. "Hurricane deductibles, the National Flood Insurance Program, federal aid agents have to juggle a lot when working to assist storm damage victims. Storm Info Central will ease that burden and facilitate a speedy recovery process."
PIA reports many members made use of elements contained in Storm Info Central during the week immediately following Irene. For example, PIANJ member Glenn K. Tippy, CPCU, CLU, president of Gerrity, Baker, Williams Inc. of Flanders, N.J., took advantage of the information PIA provided on letterhead-ready documents answering questions home- and business owners may have concerning their losses, one of many resources PIA developed and compiled in Storm Info Central. "I sent it to the Warren County Chamber of Commerce and e-mailed it to more than 800 business and government entities with my agencys logo and information," he said. "Having this information made my job-disseminating information to clients during an emergency-easy, and I was able to do it far more quickly because PIA was prepared."
Furthermore, since storms can strike an agency just as harshly as its clients, PIA also offers its Agency Preparedness and Recovery Plan as part of its Storm Info Central. The Agency Preparedness and Recovery Plan aids association members in identifying their businesss own risks and helps them develop contingency plans and recover from incidents such as losing power, inoperable computer systems, losing data or an uninhabitable office space.
Members can access Storm Info Central by logging on to www.pia.org/IRC/storminfocentral.php.
PIANY, PIANJ, PIACT and PIANH is a partnership of four state trade associations representing independent insurance agencies, brokerages and their employees throughout their respective states.


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Rams Shutout King's College in Season Opener
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - The Farmingdale State women's soccer team (1-0) shutout King's College (0-1) today in their season opening game in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Freshman forward Theresa Martorano (Commack, N.Y./Commack) opened the scoring for the Rams at the 11:48 mark, sending home a shot from 30 yards out, with the assist from sophomore midfielder Brittany Williams (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa).
Freshman forward Jamie Smith (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) scored the second goal of the day, off a cross from senior midfielder Tricia Pickford (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), and the Rams would go into the halftime break with a 2-0 lead.
In the second, freshman forward Melissia Elie (Brentwood, N.Y./Brentwood) dribbled through a few defenders and scored just under the crossbar, for her first career goal just four minutes in, giving Farmingdale State a 3-0 lead.
Smith added her second goal of the day, unassisted, on a loose ball in front, before freshman freshman forward Corine Magee (Mastic Beach, N.Y./William Floyd) scored the fifth and final goal for the Rams on a breakaway, assisted by freshman forward Carly Schneider (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore-JFK).
Farmingdale's freshman goalkeeper Kristi Wilken (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) made two saves for her first collegiate victory in 71 minutes of play.
King's goalkeeper Rachael Donatiello made eight saves in defeat.
The Rams will host three teams this weekend, including New Jersey City, Scranton and Skidmore with two games on both Friday, September 4th and Saturday, September 5th.
Farmingdale takes on New Jersey City on Friday at 2:00 p.m., followed by Scranton vs. Skidmore at 5:00 p.m. On Saturday, Skidmore faces New Jersey City at 1:00 p.m. and the Rams will follow against Scranton at 4:00 p.m.