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Venus figurines
A Venus figurine is any Upper Paleolithic statuette portraying a woman,[1] with fewer sculptures depicting men or figures of uncertain sex,[2] and those in relief or engraved on rock or stones are often discussed together.[3] Most have been unearthed in Europe, but others have been found as far away as Siberia, extending their distribution across much of Eurasia, although with many gaps, such as the Mediterranean outside Italy.[4]
Most date from the Gravettian period (26,000–21,000 years ago),[3] but examples exist as early as the Venus of Hohle Fels, which dates back at least 35,000 years to the Aurignacian, and as late as the Venus of Monruz, from about 11,000 years ago in the Magdalenian. Such figurines were carved from soft stone (such as steatite, calcite or limestone), bone or ivory, or formed of clay and fired. The latter are among the oldest ceramics known. In total, some 144 such figurines are known;[5] virtually all of modest size, between 3 cm and 40 cm or more in height.[1] They are some of the earliest works of prehistoric art.
Most have small heads, wide hips, and legs that taper to a point. Various figurines exaggerate the abdomen, hips, breasts, thighs, or vulva, although many do not, and the concentration in popular accounts on those that do reflects modern preoccupations rather than the range of actual artefacts. In contrast, arms and feet are often absent, and the head is usually small and faceless. Depictions of hairstyles can be detailed, and especially in Siberian examples, clothing or tattoos may be indicated.[6]
The original cultural meaning and purpose of these artifacts is not known. It has frequently been suggested that they may have served a ritual or symbolic function. There are widely varying and speculative interpretations of their use or meaning: they have been seen as religious figures,[7] as erotic art or sex aids,[8] grandmother goddesses or as self-depictions by female artists.[9][10]
The expression 'Venus' was first used in the mid-nineteenth century by the Marquis de Vibraye, who discovered an important ivory figurine and named it La Vénus impudique or Venus Impudica ("immodest Venus"), contrasting it to the Venus Pudica, a class of Greco-Roman sculptures depicting Venus covering her naked pubis with her right hand, and her breasts with the other hand.[11]
The use of the name is metaphorical as there is no link between the figurines and the Roman goddess Venus, although they have been interpreted as representations of a primordial female goddess. The term has been criticised for being more a reflection of modern western ideas than reflecting the beliefs of the sculptures' original owners, but the name has persisted.[12]
History of discoveryEdit
Vénus impudique, the figurine that gave the whole class its name, was the very first Paleolithic sculptural representation of a woman discovered in modern times. It was found in about 1864 by Paul Hurault, 8th Marquis de Vibraye at the famous archaeological site of Laugerie-Basse in the Vézère valley (one of the many important Stone Age sites in and around the commune of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil in Dordogne, southwestern France). The Magdalenian "Venus" from Laugerie-Basse is headless, footless, armless but with a strongly incised vaginal opening.[13]
Four years later, Salomon Reinach published an article about a group of steatite figurines from the caves of Balzi Rossi. The famous Venus of Willendorf was excavated in 1908 in a loess deposit in the Danube valley, Austria. Since then, hundreds of similar figurines have been discovered from the Pyrenees to the plains of Siberia. They are collectively described as "Venus figurines" in reference to the Roman goddess of beauty, Venus, since the prehistorians of the early 20th century assumed they represented an ancient ideal of beauty. Early discourse on "Venus figurines" was preoccupied with identifying the race being represented and the steatopygous fascination of Saartjie Baartman, the "Hottentot Venus" exhibited as a living ethnographic curiosity to connoisseurs in Paris early in the nineteenth century.[14]
In September 2008, archaeologists from the University of Tübingen discovered a 6 cm figurine woman carved from a mammoth's tusk, the Venus of Hohle Fels, dated to at least 35,000 years ago, representing the earliest known sculpture of this type, and the earliest known work of figurative art altogether. The ivory carving, found in six fragments in Germany's Hohle Fels cave, represents the typical features of Venus figurines, including the swollen belly, wide-set thighs, and large breasts.[15][16]
The majority of Venus figurines are depictions of women, and follow artistic conventions on the lines of schematisation and stylisation. Most of them are roughly lozenge-shaped, with two tapering terminals at top (head) and bottom (legs) and the widest point in the middle (hips/belly). In some examples, certain parts of the human anatomy are exaggerated: abdomen, hips, breasts, thighs, vulva. In contrast, other anatomical details are neglected or absent, especially arms and feet. The heads are often of relatively small size and devoid of detail. Some may represent pregnant women, while others show no such signs.[18] It has been suggested that aspects of the typical depiction and perspective, such as the large and often pendulous breasts, emphasis on the upper rather than lower buttocks, and lack of feet and faces, support the theory that these are self-portraits by women without access to mirrors, looking at their own bodies.[19] The absence of feet has led to suggestions that the figures might have been made to stand upright by inserting the legs into the ground like a peg.
The high amount of fat around the buttocks of some of the figurines has led to numerous interpretations. The issue was first raised by Édouard Piette, excavator of the Brassempouy figure and several other examples from the Pyrenees. Some authors saw this feature as the depiction of an actual physical property, resembling (but not depicting) the Khoisan tribe of southern Africa, while others interpreted it as a symbol of fertility and abundance.[citation needed]
Recently, figurines with protruding buttocks from the prehistoric Jōmon period Japan were interpreted as steatopygia of local women, possibly under nutritional stress.[20] (c.f.Jōmon Venus)
The Venus of Willendorf and the Venus of Laussel bear traces of having been externally covered in red ochre. The significance of this is not clear, but is normally assumed to be religious or ritual in nature—perhaps symbolic of the blood of menstruation or childbirth. Some buried human bodies were similarly covered, and the colour may just represent life.[21]
All generally accepted Paleolithic female figurines are from the Upper Palaeolithic. Although they were originally mostly considered Aurignacian, the majority are now associated with the Gravettian and Solutrean.[4] In these periods, the more rotund figurines are predominant. During the Magdalenian, the forms become finer with more detail; conventional stylization also develops.
Notable specimensEdit
A number of attempts to subdivide or classify the figurines have been made.[22] One of the less controversial is that by Henri Delporte, simply based on geographic provenance.[23] He distinguishes:
- the Venus figurines of the Pyrenees-Aquitaine group (Venus of Lespugue, of Laussel and of Brassempouy)
- the Venus figurines of the Italian group (Venus of Savignano and of Balzi Rossi)
- the Venus figurines of the Rhine-Danube group (Venus of Willendorf and of Dolní Věstonice)
- the Venus figurines of the Russian group (Kostienki and Zaraysk[24][25] in Russia and Gagarino in Ukraine)
- the Venus figurines of the Siberian group (Mal'ta Venus, Bouret' Venus).
According to André Leroi-Gourhan, there are cultural connections between all these groups. He states that certain anatomical details suggest a shared Oriental origin, followed by a westward diffusion.[26]
There are many interpretations of the figurines, often based on little argument or fact.[3]
Like many prehistoric artifacts, the cultural meaning of these figures may never be known. Archaeologists speculate, however, that they may be emblems of security and success, fertility icons, or direct representations of a mother goddess. The female figures, as part of Upper Palaeolithic portable art, appear to have no practical use in the context of subsistence. They are mostly discovered in settlement contexts, both in open-air sites and caves;[3] burial contexts are much rarer.[citation needed]
At Gagarino in Russia, seven Venus figurines were found in a hut of 5 m diameter; they have been interpreted as apotropaic amulets, connected with the occupants of the dwelling. At Mal'ta, near Lake Baikal in Siberia, figurines are only known from the left sides of huts. The figurines were probably not hidden or secret amulets, but rather were displayed to be seen by all (a factor that may explain their wide geographic spread). An image of excess weight may have symbolized a yearning for plenty and security.[citation needed]
Helen Benigni argues in The Emergence of the Goddess that the consistency in design of these featureless, large-breasted, often pregnant figures throughout a wide region and over a long period of time suggests they represent an archetype of a female Supreme Creator. Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age people likely connected the female as a creator innately tied to the cycles of nature: women were commonly believed to give birth and their menstrual cycles aligned with lunar cycles and tides.[27]
Later female figurines and continuityEdit
Some scholars and popular theorists suggest a direct continuity between the Palaeolithic female figurines and later examples of female depictions from the Neolithic or even the Bronze Age.[30] Such views have been contested on numerous grounds, not least the general absence of such depictions during the intervening Mesolithic.[citation needed]
A female figurine which has 'no practical use and is portable' and has the common elements of a Venus figurine (a strong accent or exaggeration of female sex linked traits, and the lack of complete lower limbs) may be considered to be a Venus figurine, even if from after the main Palaeolithic period. Figurines which match this definition, apart from date, have been found in the Neolithic and into the Bronze Age. The period and location that a figurine came from will contribute to the opinion of a given archeologist, such that ceramic figurines from the late ceramic Neolithic may be accepted as Venus figurines, while stone figurines from later periods are not. This is a matter of ongoing debate given the strong similarity between many figurines from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic and beyond. A reworked endocast of a brachiopod from around 6000 BC in Norway has been identified as a late Venus figurine.[31]
This means that a given female figurine may or may not be classified as a Venus figure by any given archeologist, regardless of its date, though most archaeologists disqualify figurines which date from after the Paleolithic, even though their purpose could have been the same. For instance, the Mehrgarh figurine has all of the common characteristics of a venus stone figurine, including large breasts and incomplete legs, however it came from what is now Pakistan and also dates to 3000 BCE, which lies after the beginning of the Bronze Age.[citation needed]
See alsoEdit
- ^ a b Fagan, 740
- ^ Beck, 203
- ^ a b c d Fagan, 740-741
- ^ a b Fagan, 740-741; Beck, 203
- ^ Cook
- ^ Fagan, 740-741; Isabella, Jude, interview with April Nowell. "Palaeo-porn": we've got it all wrong, 2012. New Scientist, 216, Issue 2890, online; Cook; Beck, 205-214
- ^ Beck, 207-208
- ^ Rudgley, Richard, The Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age, 2000, Simon and Schuster, ISBN 0684862700, 9780684862705194-198, google books; Fagan, 740-741
- ^ William Haviland, Harald Prins, Dana Walrath, Bunny McBride, Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 13th edition, 2010, Cengage Learning, ISBN 0495810843, 9780495810841,google books; Cook; Beck, 205-208
- ^ Lawson, Alex. "The "Talk" for 45-year old women (weblog discussion)". MetaFilter. posted by Fuchsoid at 2:38 PM on November 22, 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Beck, 202-203
- ^ Dr. Beth Harris & Dr. Steven Zucker (27 May 2012). Nude Woman (Venus of Willendorf), c. 28,000-25,000 B.C.E. (youtube video). Smarthistory, Art History at Khan Academy. Event occurs at 0:21. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ White, Randall (December 2008). "The Women of Brassempouy: A Century of Research and Interpretation" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 13 (4): 250–303. doi:10.1007/s10816-006-9023-z.
- ^ Of the mammoth-ivory figurine fragment known as La Poire ("the pear") from her massive thighs, Randall White (White 2006:263, caption to fig. 6) observed the connection.
- ^ Conard, Nicholas J (14 May 2009). "A female figurine from the basal Aurignacian of Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany". Nature. 459 (7244): 248–252. Bibcode:2009Natur.459..248C. doi:10.1038/nature07995. PMID 19444215.
- ^ Cressey, Daniel (13 May 2009). "Ancient Venus rewrites history books". Nature. News. doi:10.1038/news.2009.473.
- ^ The body used is the local loess, with only traces of clay; there is no trace of surface burnishing or applied pigment. Pamela B. Vandiver, Olga Soffer, Bohuslav Klima and Jiři Svoboda, "The Origins of Ceramic Technology at Dolni Věstonice, Czechoslovakia", Science, New Series, 246, No. 4933 (November 24, 1989:1002-1008).
- ^ Sandars, 29; Fagan, 740-741; Cook; Beck, 203-213, who analyses attempts to classify the figures.
- ^ Cook; McDermott, LeRoy. 1996. "Self-representation in Upper Paleolithic Female Figurines". Current Anthropology 37 (2). [University of Chicago Press, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research]: 227–75. JSTOR
- ^ Hudson MJ, et al. (2008). "Possible steatopygia in prehistoric central Japan: evidence from clay figurines". Anthropological Science. 116 (1): 87–92. doi:10.1537/ase.060317.
- ^ Sandars, 28
- ^ Beck, 208-213 analyses several
- ^ H. Delporte : L'image de la femme dans l'art préhistorique, Éd. Picard (1993) ISBN 2-7084-0440-7
- ^ Hizri Amirkhanov and Sergey Lev. New finds of art objects from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Zaraysk, Russia
- ^ Membrana.ru, Венеры каменного века найдены под Зарайском
- ^ Leroi-Gourhan, A., Cronología del arte paleolítico, 1966, Actas de VI Congreso internacional de Ciencias prehistóricas y protohistóricas, Roma.
- ^ Benigni, Helen, ed. 2013. The Mythology of Venus: Ancient Calendars and Archaeoastronomy. Lanham, Maryland : University Press Of America.
- ^ "Site officiel du musée du Louvre". cartelfr.louvre.fr.
- ^ "Figure féminine - Les Musées Barbier-Mueller". www.musee-barbier-mueller.org.
- ^ Walter Burkert, Homo Necans (1972) 1983:78, with extensive bibliography, including P.J. Ucko, who contested the identification with mother goddesses and argues for a plurality of meanings, in Anthropomorphic Figurines of Predynastic Egypt and Neolithic Crete with Comparative Material from the Prehistoric Near East and Mainland Greece (1968).
- ^ Tidemann, Grethe. "Venus fra Svinesund". Uniforum. University of Oslo. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- Beck, Margaret, in Ratman, Alison E. (ed.), Reading the Body: Representations and Remains in the Archaeological Record, 2000, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0812217098, 9780812217094, google books
- Cook, Jill, Venus figurines, Video with Dr Jill Cook, Curator of European Prehistory, British Museum
- Fagan, Brian M., Beck, Charlotte, "Venus Figurines", The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, 1996, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195076184, 9780195076189, google books
- Sandars, Nancy K. (1968), Prehistoric Art in Europe. Penguin: Pelican, now Yale, History of Art. (nb 1st ed.)
Further readingEdit
- Abramova, Z., 1962: Paleolitičeskoe iskusstvo na territorii SSSR, Moskva : Akad. Nauk SSSR, Inst. Archeologii, 1962
- Abramova, Z., 1995: L'Art paléolithique d'Europe orientale et de Sibérie., Grenoble: Jérôme Millon.
- Cohen, C. : La femme des origines - images de la femme dans la préhistoire occidentale, Belin - Herscher (2003) ISBN 2-7335-0336-7
- Conard N., 2009: A female figurine from the basal Aurignacian deposits of Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany. Nature, 2009; 459 (7244): 248 DOI: 10.1038/nature07995
- Cook, Jill 2013. Ice Age Art: the Arrival of the Modern Mind; London: British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-7141-2333-2
- Delporte, Henri 1993. L'image de la femme dans l'art préhistorique, éd. Picard. (ISBN 2-7084-0440-7)
- Dixson, Alan F., and Barnaby Dixson. 2011. "Venus Figurines of the European Paleolithic: Symbols of Fertility or Attractiveness?" Journal of Anthropology 2011 [sic]: 1-11.
- Gvozdover, M., 1995: Art of the mammoth hunters: the finds from Avdeevo, (Oxbow Monograph 49), Oxford: Oxbow.
- Schlesier, Karl H. 2001. "More on the 'Venus' Figurines." Current Anthropology 42: 410-12.
- Soffer O., Adovasio J., Hyland D., 2000: The 'Venus' Figurines - Textiles, Basketry, Gender, and Status in the Upper * Paleolithic, Current Anthropology Volume 41, Number 4, August–October 2000
- Rau, S., Naumann D., Barth M., Mühleis Y., Bleckmann C., 2009: Eiszeit: Kunst und Kultur, Thorbecke, 2009, 396p. ISBN 978-3-7995-0833-9
External linksEdit
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Venus figurines.


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Quenneville: Discipline Is Key To Getting Even
Article By:From ChicagoBlackhawks.com: (link)
It's not the turnovers as much as how they are created.
While not wanting to stifle the creativity and aggressiveness that have marked his club and have fueled this run to the Western Conference Finals, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is counting on his team to play the remainder of this series a touch closer to the vest.
The Blackhawks have played their best while sticking to an aggressive, yet focused, plan. The improvement the team showed in Game 2 at Detroit was largely due to increased discipline and utter devotion to putting the puck on net. When the focus flags, however ...
"Surrendering goals on plays that start at our offensive blue line is no way to beat the Detroit Red Wings," Quenneville said during Wednesday's media session, which included Samuel Pahlsson and Andrew Ladd. "We turned the puck over and all three turnovers ended up in our net."
Detroit's ability to pounce on mistakes has proven fatal for the Blackhawks so far. Quenneville indicated that at full strength, playing focused and clean, he couldn't be happier with his team's effort in Detroit. But mishaps in Game 2 as simple as Dan Cleary's poke at Brent Seabrook that led to a solo breakaway goal and Mikael Samuelsson's steal from Brian Campbell that ended in a three-man rush and game-winner are proving the difference in the series.
Quenneville cancelled the practice scheduled for Wednesday at the United Center, as much a mental health break as a physical one. Still, the injury bug, barely nibbling at Chicago through the first two playoff series, is taking a bite out of two key Hawks: Martin Havlat, battling a leg injury suffered in Game 1, and Duncan Keith, who sounded hoarse during the first two games of the series and has seen his ironman ice time drop behind that of fellow defensemen Seabrook and Campbell.
"Staying away today made sense to me," Quenneville said. "We'll have another good day of practice heading into Friday."
Quenneville also said he sensed that spirits were still strong in his dressing room, a sentiment echoed by Ladd, who's been fighting for his life in front of the Detroit net and whose efforts there have forced more action into the crease.
"No one wanted to come back (to Chicago) down two games," Ladd said. "But we have to answer with wins in our building, and that starts on Friday. There's going to be a lot of excitement here, and we can't wait."
Author: Brett Ballantini | NHL.com Correspondent

subset: commoncrawl


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My dog is such a character! He likes to take paper under my desk and shred it. Grabs a mouthful, rips it off, grabs another mouthful, rips it off…
And not just paper,
It keeps him occupied!
My bronchitis continues to drag me down. Antibiotics didn't do anything for me, I replaced the window AC unit in my bedroom because I thought maybe mold was aggravating my lungs, but that didn't change anything. The next step is steroids. I'm considering it.
Another 90+° day here. Hot, hot, hot! I feel bad for the people down south, who put up with this every summer! I made 2 beads this a.m., and called it quits. Just too hot to sit at the torch. I'm in a mental and physical funk, with no energy to try to get something done.


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Friday, July 17, 2009
14 x 10 in - 36 x 25 cm Watercolor
This was painted for a Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge blog. So you will have to look here if you want to see the ref photo. Scroll to the bottom of that long post to get to the ref.
I am reasonably pleased with this.
Posted by RogerPf at 6:56 pm
7 comments:
and you should be.. great job!!ReplyDelete
He's got a Blues Man vibe.ReplyDelete
I admire anyone that can do a watercolor of a figure and yours is very nice with fresh clean colors. Very well done!ReplyDelete
You should be very pleased with this - very nice!ReplyDelete
Thanks to all for such positive comments.ReplyDelete
great entry for DSFDFReplyDelete
Great work!ReplyDelete
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Sometimes I get the sense that people have started to consider video game graphics a "problem" that has been largely "solved," and that any further development is an exercise in diminishing marginal returns. Like a skyscraper, after too many stories have been added the building becomes too expensive and simply not worth the effort to construct. It is then usually suggested that now we can finally stop worrying about graphics and go on to begin making the great, innovative gameplay we've all been waiting for (even though we do not really seem to agree on what that actually is).
However, just the opposite is true: the more development that has taken place in this area, the more that is possible to expand upon. Instead of a single skyscraper, the development of graphics technology is more like the construction of roads: the more development that takes place, the more valuable the resultant network as a whole, and the more further development becomes possible. The next generation consoles have opened the way to all kinds of new territory– areas of which we are really only beginning to scratch the surface in shipping products. There is a huge amount of work still to be done: a myriad of problems to be solved, and plenty of opportunity to seize.


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Executive Director
Cassie has over a decade of experience working with children with special needs in a variety of settings. Having always known that she wanted to work with children, she attended school to receive her Bachelors in Elementary Education. While completing her undergraduate coursework in 2002, Cassie was offered the position of line therapist providing ABA services to several young children diagnosed with autism and soon realized her true passion for working with children with special needs. While receiving supervision and training from her mentor Craig Thomas who was a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Cassie became inspired to become a BCBA herself. She worked as a line therapist and then behavior analyst intern under Dr. Thomas, during which time he provided her with valuable training in applied behavior analysis as they provided services to young children diagnosed with autism or another developmental disability. Cassie then received a Master's degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Early Intervention and took additional behavior analysis coursework through University of North Texas. Once she attained her board certification, she and business partner Renee Guidry opened Behavioral Intervention Group, an organization dedicated to helping children on the autism spectrum reach their fullest potential.
In addition to being a practitioner, Cassie has been actively involved in the regulation and/or licensure of behavior analysts in Louisiana and has worked with parents, clinicians, academics, and legislators to promote the dissemination and protection of behavioral services and those affected by behavioral services. She recently served as Vice-President for the Louisiana Behavior Analysis Association and as Chair of the Legislative Committee and Co-Chair of the Fundraising Committee.
Cassie currently serves as Chair of the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board.


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- Master the techniques of conversation starters.


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A 3-year-old girl, Brooklyn Andracke, looks forward to seeing her neighborhood garbage man every day. So, she decided to give him one of her birthday cupcakes, because she's his biggest fan.
The little girl's mom, Traci, posted a note to the city of Bloomington, Illinois mentioning that her daughter looks forward to seeing the garbage man every single Thursday. She calls him her "favorite, awesome, smiley, garbage man." The Facebook post about her story stole the hearts of thousands of people across the world.
The garbage man, Delvar Dopson, drove by one Thursday and the little girl was waiting outside and had wrapped up one of her birthday cupcakes to give to him as a gift.
Andracke said that Dopson was "instantly speechless." She thanked Dopson for always waving and honking when Brooklyn is outside waiting to see him pass by and that it really brightens her days. He said he loves seeing her, too.
Andracke added, "He said that he has a meeting every Thursday morning and always tries to get out of there in a hurry so that he can make sure to see us every week. He said he doesn't have any kids of his own, but he mentors several children and just loves them."
Needless to say, he definitely made Brooklyn's day. People all over the internet are eating up the story and praising Dopson for his kindness.
Even better.. in an updated post, Andracke said that Dopson came by the next week with a belated birthday gift for Brooklyn. It was a toy from the Frozen movie. Then, Brooklyn wrote him a thank you note that he now keeps in his truck.
It's the little things…
What a touching story of kindness and love! SHARE this with your friends and family on Facebook today to warm their hearts.


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Cloud-based B2B platform which digitalizes all procurement processes in the hospitality industry.
Esupl includes two of the most effective B2B ordering/selling tools ever: marketplace and tenders. Esupl provides easy-to-use and intuitive tools for procurement using digital ordering forms on your laptop or mobile phone. All you need is just to make two clicks and check out.


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A desolate archipelago off the west coast is the setting for one of the great untold stories of Australia's European beginnings. Bruce Elder reports.
About 20 minutes west of Geraldton Airport in Western Australia, in the small six-seater that Shine Aviation Services uses to fly people across to the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, the pilot points out the window. "The fort is around here somewhere." Below is the low, flat and scrubby expanse of West Wallabi Island, sometimes known as Weibbe Hayes Island. Edged by reefs and narrow beaches, it looks barren and uninhabited.
There's the fort ... nothing more than a tiny, sandstone-coloured rectangle in the scrub about 100 metres from the sea. It is unimpressive and isolated and yet this simple structure, just some loose rocks piled up to make a simple fortress, is the first building Europeans constructed in Australia. It was built 375 years ago, in 1629. That was 141 years before Cook sailed up the continent's east coast and 159 years before Phillip set foot on the shores of Port Jackson.
If the first moments of a nation's history are, in some ways, symbolic, then this was a very inauspicious beginning. This primitive stone fort was hastily constructed by desperate men trying to fend off a brutal frenzy of rape and murder by mutineers who, before they had finished, would slaughter 125 men, women and children and leave their bodies to rot in the unforgiving subtropical sun.
BY ANY measure the story of the wreck of the Dutch East India merchantman, the Batavia, and the subsequent murder of so many of the survivors is one of the great untold stories of Australian history.
A few years earlier the Dutch, who had already established a trading post at Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta in Indonesia), had discovered that, instead of turning north-east at the Cape of Good Hope and struggling across the Indian Ocean, it was a smarter option to ride the Roaring Forties to the coast of Terra Australis Incognito and, just before crashing onto the barren shore, turn left and head north. The problem was that, given the unreliable nature of navigation and the storms in the Roaring Forties, they ended up not knowing how far they had sailed east and, with dangerous predictability, they kept bumping into the coast.
Thus it was that the Batavia, flagship of the Dutch East India Company, a new vessel on its maiden voyage carrying 316 people as well as 12 chests of silver and jewels, ran aground two hours before dawn on June 4, 1629, on one of the many coral reefs that edge the Abrolhos Islands. At the time the crew's navigation was so wrong they believed they were 1000 kilometres from the coast.
Amazingly, most passengers and crew reached the narrow beaches of Beacon Island on the edge of the Morning Reef. Immediately the Batavia's commander, Francisco Pelsaert, accompanied by a mixture of 47 crew and passengers, launched two small sailing boats - a sloop and yawl - and headed for Batavia. They left behind 250 people on an island with no water or food.
So great was the speed advantage offered by the Roaring Forties that Pelsaert and his crew, even though they had been wrecked and forced into a small boat, arrived in Batavia on July 7, only a few days after the rest of the fleet, which had plotted
a north-easterly course across the Indian Ocean.
Shortly after his arrival, Pelsaert was given the Sardam, a fast vessel which the Dutch called a "yacht", and he headed south to collect the shipwrecked passengers and crew and, most importantly as far as his masters in Batavia were concerned, the cargo of jewels and guilders.
What no one, including Pelsaert, realised was that even before the Batavia was shipwrecked a group of sailors led by a thug named Jeronimus Cornelisz (an apothecary by trade) had been planning a mutiny. The prospect of vast wealth (the chests contained some 250,000 guilders as well as jewels) and dreams of lucrative piracy in the East Indies were tempting.
Freed from the constraints of the ship, and removed from the discipline of Pelseart, Cornelisz hatched a plan with a nucleus of about 20 mutineers. They would murder most of the survivors and, when Pelseart returned, they would capture his ship. Then they would "go pirating" in the East Indies, around Madagascar and on the infamous Barbary Coast.
There were problems. The mutineers were outnumbered by a combination of soldiers and ship passengers. The plan was to kill the soldiers who did not support the mutiny and then slaughter the passengers while keeping a supply of women for sexual pleasure.
The killing was ruthless and carefully planned. The strongest survivors were killed at night and their bodies buried. Some were lured onto rafts, told they were being taken to other islands where the water supply was good, and then shoved overboard in the channels between the islands and left to drown. Others were executed, usually by having their throats cut, after being falsely accused of stealing the property of the Dutch East India Company. In one case an entire family was killed in its tent by mutineers wielding adzes. In another incident a boy, Cornelisz Aldersz, was beheaded just to demonstrate how sharp a sword blade was. A small group of women were kept alive and enslaved for the "common service" of the mutineers.
While this was going on, a small group of survivors, led by Weibbe Hayes, escaped to West Wallabi Island. Here they survived by catching tammars (tiny wallabies), finding bird's eggs and eating the oysters and shellfish. They also found water.
When news of the massacres reached them (usually brought by people who had managed to swim or row from Beacon Island) Hayes organised the survivors into a tight quasi-army. They made pikes out of hoop iron from barrels washed ashore and clubs out of flotsam from the Batavia. Hayes established a system of sentries along the coastline, built two stone forts and collected coral rock to use as ammunition.
The first attack on the island occurred in late July. It was repulsed at the shoreline by a concerted defence involving stone throwing and a pike charge. So successful was this counterattack that Cornelisz and the mutineers stayed away from West Wallabi for a month. Cornelisz was prepared to wait for Pelseart's return.
In September the mutineers attempted to persuade Hayes and his supporters to join them. Five of the mutineers, led by Cornelisz, were allowed onto West Wallabi. Hayes arrested them all, tied them up, executed the supporters and kept Cornelisz as a prisoner.
The mutineers who had remained on Beacon Island during the "negotiations" tried to invade West Wallabi once again, but just as the battle began the sails of the Sardam appeared on the horizon.
Weibbe Hayes and his followers reached the Sardam and explained what had happened. They handed Cornelisz over to Pelseart, who wrote in his journal: "I examined him [Cornelisz] in the presence of the council, and asked him why he allowed the Devil to lead him so far astray from all human feeling to do that which had never been so cruelly perpetrated among Christians, without any real hunger or need of thirst, but solely out of bloodthirstiness to attain his wicked ends." Cornelisz blamed others or, as Pelseart so beautifully put it, "he tried to talk himself clean, with his glib tongue telling the most palpable lies".
Pelseart convened a court on the Abrolhos. Dutch law at the time required that a man had to confess before he could be executed. This requirement was greatly assisted by the legal use of torture. Cornelisz had to be tortured five times before he confessed. The examinations of the murderers took 10 days. While this went on the divers who had travelled on the Sardam retrieved most of the valuables from the wreck.
In the end the punishments were typical of the times. Cornelisz was taken to a narrow strip of land known as Seal's Island "there firstly to cut off both his hands, and after shall be punished on the Gallows with the Cord till Death shall follow". Of the others, four were sentenced to have their right hands cut off before being hanged. Three more were hanged without having their hands cut off. This occurred on the morning of October 2, 1629. A small group was taken back to Batavia, where they were executed.
On November 16, 1629, when the Sardam finally sailed away from the Abrolhos, an 18-year-old servant, Jan Pelgrom, and a man named Wouter Looes were marooned on the mainland. They were never seen again and their fate remains one of the great mysteries of early Australian history.
AS WE come in to land on the small, dusty airstrip on East Wallabi Island, it is hard not to think about these events. What a beginning to European settlement. In the first four months on these shores, 125 people had been murdered, eight had been executed on hastily made gallows, two forts had been built for protection from other Europeans and two people had been abandoned to an unknown fate.
Compared with this, the settlement in Sydney Cove 159 years later seems like a hospitality tent at the Melbourne Cup.
Today the Abrolhos Islands are a strange mixture of untouched isolation and commercial fishing. As we flew over the islands we could see hundreds of narrow jetties jutting across the reefs that edged the islands. For 31/2 months each year, from March 15 to June 30, about 150 licensed rock lobster fishermen, their families and their deckhands settle on the islands and catch about 1.5 million kilograms of lobster. They live in huts, shacks and houses on 22 of the small islands, with at least one of the islands even having a temporary school.
Beyond this commercial activity the uninhabited islands of the Abrolhos group, particularly the two largest islands of East and West Wallabi, are part of a pristine marine conservation area. Apart from the tammars, these islands are home to more than 90 species of nesting birds, including white-breasted sea eagles, schools of tailor, sampson fish, baldchin groper (which, at four years of age, undergo a sex change from female to male) and jewfish, and colonies of seals and sea lions.
The only landing strip is on East Wallabi. This uninhabited island is where visitors are obliged to make their own fun. You walk to the end of the runway, make your way along a path (tammars hiding in the bushes bounced away as we approached) and, crossing the low-lying dunes, reach the desolate, white sand beach that edges Turtle Bay. The Abrolhos lie at around the same latitude as the Gold Coast and, because the waters are fed by the Leeuwin Current, the water temperature, even in winter, never drops below 20C. It is possible to dive in off the beach and, with a few minutes of easy swimming, find yourself above the island's coral reefs.
A day on the Abrolhos Islands is a day of relaxation. We swam, snorkelled, lay on the beach and sunbaked, wandered along the beach and around the nearby headland, had lunch (a simple chicken salad roll, soft drink and piece of chocolate) and explored the barren hinterland, where we discovered a huge osprey's nest and found more tammars.
And all the time images of Cornelisz and his bloody mutineers, and Weibbe Hayes with his sad little fort and his brave, stone-throwing resistance, seemed to hover above us. They don't disturb the beauty and the peacefulness of the place. They are simply there in the background. A reminder that this unspoilt archipelago of islands and atolls was once soaked in blood and the scene of human barbarism.
In the late afternoon we flew back to Geraldton and made our way to the Shipwreck Gallery at Geraldton's Western Australia Museum where, in addition to remnants of the Batavia, an excellent movie dramatisation of the events on the Abrolhos Islands is shown regularly.
DESTINATION: Houtman, Abrolhos Islands
* Getting there
The archipelago of 122 mainly coral atolls in three groups is about 60 kilometres off the coast at Geraldton, which is 424 kilometres north of Perth and can be reached by bus, car or regular air service.
It is possible to travel to the islands by cruiser, but the distance means that most of a day trip is taken up with the voyage. There are two air services from Geraldton Airport. We travelled with Shine Aviation, which flies daily from Geraldton Airport, 11 kilometres east of the town. Shine charges $200 a person (minimum of two people) for a day on the Abrolhos Islands. This includes a picnic lunch and snorkelling equipment. Phone (08) 9923 3600 or see http://www.abrolhos.com.au
* What to read
There are two great books about the wreck of the Batavia, Islands of the Angry Ghosts by Hugh Edwards (HarperCollins, $29.95) is an account not only of the shipwreck but of the subsequent discovery of the Batavia. The standard work is Henrietta Drake-Brockman's 1963 book Voyage to Disaster (UWA Press, $29.65).


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At just under 12" wide, and without a built-in numeric keypad to obstruct access to the mouse, the Scissor-Switch Compact Keyboard from SolidTek is designed to help users reduce the risk of overreach injuries to the tissues of the neck, shoulders and upper back. The alpha-numeric keys and the arrow keys are the same size as those on a standard keyboard, and the keyboard includes an embedded numeric keypad (activated by the NumLock key) and a two-port USB 2.0 hub. However, the size of the surrounding keys — the Tab key, the modifier and Delete keys, and the keys on the Function row — have been reduced in size to help achieve the keyboard's narrow design.
The scissor-switch keys, similar in look and feel to those used in laptop keyboards, contribute to the keyboard's low profile housing and its light weight. The key cap tops are flat rather than contoured to the fingers, and the key travel distance (i.e. the distance the keys must travel before striking the inside surface of the keyboard) is as low as it is on most laptops.
Note: Those accustomed to typing by feel, rather than by sight, may find that uniformly flat key caps reduce their keying accuracy. Note also that the keyboard has a slight positive incline, in spite of its low profile (i.e. it is 0.7" higher at the back than at the front). In general, a neutral (flat), or negative incline is advisable for those experiencing pain in the backs of the hands, wrists, or forearms.
Scissor-Switch Compact Keyboard
Scissor-Switch Compact Keyboard - top view
Scissor-Switch Compact Keyboard - 2 port USB 2.0 Hub


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The LLPA Battle in Turkey
We are so proud of the fact that LLPA Battle is growing each year! 2016 edition has new participants and one of them is Turkey! Just two days ago they organized their local competition for the first time! As we know from them- it was real fun and all of them had a good time, besides the LLPA Battle is a great opportunity to develop yourself! Take a look into some photos of the Turkish competition!
Just to remind – we are getting closer to the big finals! The goal for the LLPA Battle for Ignite is to find the most all round IT Pro and Developer in the EMEA region, so good luck everybody!


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With the United States presidential election finally having run its course, and President Barack Obama re-elected, people can finally begin to focus on the long-term effects that the election will have on financial markets around the world. Needless to say, one of the core issues of the 2012 presidential campaign in the United States was how each candidate would potentially handle the poor but slowly recovering economy in the United States, and this question has significant implications all over the world.
For example, many involved in trading equities, bonds, and commodities such as oil, gold bullion, silver, platinum, corn, and coffee, were closely focused on the election, and how the victory of either candidate would ultimately affect the market, capital gains taxes, and the value of the dollar.
However, for all of the conversation and speculation about immediate effects on the world economy – and specifically on the gold market – the re-election of President Obama in the United States seems to have had little to no immediate effect. Ben Traynor, of BullionVault, one of the largest gold and silver investment websites, specifically noted last week that little has changed in a fundamental way in the gold market.
In fact, the price of gold seems to be safely remaining in the same general range it has been in since late summer. The price of gold is very unlikely to reach the $2,000 per ounce mark many predicted it would hit by the end of 2012, but gold remains a stable investment for those looking for a financial haven or alternative to traditional currency.
Investing in gold may prove advantageous after QE3, when the Federal Reserve and Ben Bernanke announced they would be purchasing $40 billion a month in mortgage-backed securities, as well as maintaining interest rates at zero percent until at least 2015. The purchase of MBS effectively pumps $40 billion of liquidity into the financial system and should have the effect of inflating asset prices, from stocks, real estate, and commodities, while devaluing the dollar in relation to other currencies. Investors holding cash in their accounts will see the purchasing power of that cash erode unless they invest in an asset (i.e. gold) that paces or outpaces inflation.
So, with the major event of the 2012 election in the United States safely behind us and seemingly no large shift in the gold as a result, many gold and silver investors are instead turning their focus to the next major financial event in the United States: the so-called "fiscal cliff." For those outside of the U.S., or those who have not specifically looked into the real meaning of this commonly uttered phrase, it essentially refers to a number of spending cuts and tax adjustments in the United States, such as the expiration of payroll tax cuts (a 2% tax increase for employees), the Bush Era tax cuts that will cost Americans $400 billion in additional taxes, and federal spending cuts for the military, Medicare and entitlement programs.
Universally regarded as something of a financial disaster if it is allowed to pass without a compromise, the fiscal cliff will be the subject of much discussion between politicians and economists in the coming months.
So what will the specific effects on the gold market be? It's difficult to say, but it is certainly conceivable that in the coming months the price of gold could rise significantly. One reason for this is that investors who fear financial disaster in the United States may decide to put their trust in gold bullion as a safer option.
However, the eurozone seems to be mired in disaster with no hope of a quick recovery, which may also lead many European investors to seek stable investments outside of their own economic systems. With the euro in trouble and the dollar heading for potentially dramatic shifts as a result of the fiscal cliff, gold may be a safe option out there for investors looking for protection.
This is about all that can be said at this point with regard to the effect of current United States politics on the market – uncertainty with how government spending and tax rates will be reconciled makes the final compromise reached in Washington anyone's guess. Nonetheless, it is also important to consider other factors in projecting the price of gold heading into 2013.
Simply because the United States is very influential in this market, and happens to have just completed an election cycle, does not mean that other world influences and factors are to be ignored. In particular, the European economic climate, as well as high demand from the Chinese and central banks, will play a key role in deciding how high the price of commodities can rise in 2013.
The European economic climate is particularly difficult to read at this time. While there is no doubt that the economies of many influential European countries are struggling – resulting in the struggle of the euro as compared to the recovering strength of the dollar – opinions differ as to how long the problems will last. Some believe that the eurozone is facing extremely grim prospects with a very long road to recovery, which could lead investors to trust in the dollar, gold, or other strong currencies.
Others suggest that there are already some signs of an eurozone recovery, and there is an argument to be made that certain European economies have nowhere to go but up. Watching the recovery effort is crucial for those looking to make gold investment decisions, as the relative strength of the euro and dollar are perhaps the two most telling indicators of the outlook for gold prices.
The Chinese market is also a major factor in projecting the value of gold, and unfortunately the outlook with regard to this market is just as difficult to read as others. On the one hand, China's top gold mining group is projecting flat output in 2013 due to slowed production of gold, whereas, on a more positive note, China's Zheng Zhiguang of the Precious Metals Department of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China explained that China's gold market has "just started," projecting strong growth as the demand for gold products and bullion increases. Long known to be a major player in the world trends of supply and demand for gold, China is certainly another country to keep an eye on as you attempt to make sense of investment opportunities for 2013.
Ultimately, the only way to sum up the gold and equities markets heading into 2013 is that it depends on a number of different factors that simply cannot be determined yet. Of course, if reading the market were simple, everyone would constantly profit from it – but in this case, it is fitting to take a cautious approach.
Overall, it is difficult to find many financial analysts suggesting a significant drop in gold prices in 2013. There seems to be a general consensus that the prices of precious metals will rise, but inconsistency in determining just how much this increase will be. Learn more about safe, low-risk investments with our article.


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The Economics of Entrepreneurship
2nd Edition
- Author: Simon C. Parker, University of Western Ontario
- Date Published: April 2018
- availability: In stock
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781316621714
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This second edition of The Economics of Entrepreneurship is an essential resource for scholars following the current state of this fast-moving field, covering a broad range of topics in unparalleled depth. Designed to be used both as a textbook for specialist degree courses on the economics of entrepreneurship, and as a reference text for academic research in the field, the book draws on theoretical insights and recent empirical findings to show how economics can contribute to our understanding of entrepreneurship. New topics, such as crowdfunding, entrepreneurship education and microenterprise field experiments, appear for the first time, while existing treatments of topics like regional entrepreneurship, innovation and public policy are considerably deepened. Parker also discusses new empirical methods, including quasi-experimental methods and field experiments. Every section - indeed every page - of the new edition has been updated, resulting in a rigorous scientific account of entrepreneurship today.Read more
- Provides a systematic and scientific treatment of entrepreneurship, from a principally economics perspective.
- Responding to reader demand, this book builds upon the success and influence of the first edition, by comprehensively updating and extending its content.
- Provides applicable teaching materials, including lecture slides, exercises and solutions
Reviews & endorsements
'For those looking to understand the up-to-date thinking and research about entrepreneurship, this is the book for you. Simon C. Parker takes the broad view in weaving together a coherent, integrated and thoughtful analysis of what is known about entrepreneurship, why it matters and how we know it. His careful and meticulous command of the subject combined with lively writing makes his subject come to life. The book is not just essential reading for anyone interested in entrepreneurship but also a pleasure to read.' David Audretsch, Indiana UniversitySee more reviews
'The first edition of The Economics of Entrepreneurship is generally considered as a landmark defining the field. Partly thanks to this milestone the field developed quickly. In the second edition Simon C. Parker documents this progress as well as links to neighbouring fields like psychology, innovation, education and finance. This second edition is fascinating and indispensable reading for researchers and students, even more so than the 1st edition.' Roy Thurik, Erasmus School of Economics and Montpellier Business School
'Simon C. Parker's The Economics of Entrepreneurship has long been a fundamental reading for entrepreneurship researchers and students. In this new edition, we are brought bang up to date, with important new material on financing, notably venture/angel capital and crowdfunding as well as innovation. Longstanding strengths of the book, for example concerning individual determinants of entrepreneurship and empirical methods, have also been significantly upgraded. This new edition will become the standard reference in the field.' Saul Estrin, London School of Economics and Political Science
'In my own work I regularly referred to the previous edition of the Economics of Entrepreneurship because it was the definitive text on the subject. The new edition maintains that authoritative position but I see it stretching out to those interested in Entrepreneurship from other disciplines. I hope these scholars will draw upon this new edition so leading to greater comparability and consistency in interpreting the causes and outcomes from Entrepreneurship.' David Storey, OBE, University of Sussex
'The concepts are well written and easy to understand. The book was intended as a graduate-level textbook; however, it could be a great addition to academic libraries as a reference resource for entrepreneurship researchers.' L. Camacho, Choice
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Product details
- Edition: 2nd Edition
- Date Published: April 2018
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781316621714
- dimensions: 246 x 173 x 46 mm
- weight: 1.59kg
- contains: 14 b/w illus. 27 tables
- availability: In stock
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
Part I. Selection:
2. Individual-level theories of entrepreneurship
3. Regional- and macroeconomic-level theories of entrepreneurship
4. Empirical methods in entrepreneurship research
5. Individual-level determinants of entrepreneurship
6. Evidence of regional and macro-level determinants of entrepreneurship
7. Ethnic entrepreneurship and immigration
8. Female entrepreneurship
Part II. Financing:
9. Debt finance for entrepreneurial ventures
10. Venture capital and business angel finance
11. Other sources of entrepreneurial finance
12. Wealth and entrepreneurship
Part III. Performance:
13. Entrepreneurial venture growth
14. Rent seeking, entrepreneurial effort and employment creation
15. Entrepreneurs' incomes and returns to human capital
16. Innovation
17. Venture survival and entrepreneurial exit
Part IV. Public Policy:
18. Principles of entrepreneurship policy
19. Finance and innovation policies
20. Regulation
21. Taxation, entrepreneurship support programs and indirect government policies.
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Whether you celebrate Saint Lucia, Christmas or Chanakuh these pictures would make great gifts for this holiday season.
I just found this link to the images taken for the September Agility Trial. There are some really great shots. So, you need to get a gift for that special someone? These images are for sale. Per the photographer the images that are posted have enough resolution to make a nice 4x6 image. He does have larger images and we will need to contact him for those. Jerry Ranch was the photographer for the day.
Check them out for yourself.


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The Mobile Blog
Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 – Pay Monthly Samsung Galaxy Ace on Vodafone Deals with Free Gifts
Posted: 30 Dec 2011 10:51 PM PST
Samsung Galaxy Ace White S5830 is the new delightful venture of Samsung Galaxy that has been released in the early 2011 into the gadgetry stream. The widget shines bright in the list of mid-ranged smartphones, which of late, have been posing a stiff competition to the high-end ones. And why shouldn't it, when it has clinched almost all the best features to succeed in this rat race?
The mid range of the Samsung Galaxy Ace White S5830 becomes a mightier with by the ornamentation of considerably affordable deals. Let us evaluate the amazing features of Samsung Galaxy Ace White S5830.
Compare All Best Samsung Galaxy Ace White Deals
Samsung invested this particular gadget with very formal looks that demonstrate a typical Galaxy. However, the black color grants a premium appeal to Samsung Galaxy Ace White S5830's plastic chassis, which measures 112.4 x 59.9 x 11.5 mm.
Display Screen:
The engaging Samsung Galaxy Ace White S5830 unveils a 3.5 inches TFT capacitive touchscreen, which is surfaced by a Gorilla Glass surface to impart screen clarity and potency to the display area. On the internal, there are 320 x 480 pixels that serve to light up the display elements satisfactorily. Moreover, TouchWiz v3.0 UI renders a smooth experience of dominating Samsung Galaxy Ace White S5830's touch sensitive controls and sensors.
Camera and Storage:
Samsung Galaxy Ace White Pay Monthly Deals has been equipped with a 5 MP snapper, and to assist it, it has features like auto-focus and LED flash, with the additional ones like geo-tagging and face and smile detection. The gadget also enables a QVGA video recording of 15 fps. You can also pay monthly to garner Samsung Galaxy Ace White S5830 and 158 MB of internal storage, 280 MB RAM and 2 GB external memory, which can be expanded to 32 GB.
Operating System and Internet Services:
Checkout the Most Popular Mobile Phone Reviews
The Android Froyo OS (v2.2), which is upgradeable to v2.3, is conjugated with the power house of '800 MHz ARM 11' processor. The OS enables a commendable speed of data connectivity services like GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP and a v2.0 microUSB.
Other Features:
Standard battery-Li-Ion 1350 mAh, HTML browser, A-GPS, Java MIDP emulator and a FM radio with a 3.5 mm jack (with DNSe sound enhancement).
On a Finishing Note:
Samsung Galaxy Ace White S5830 is, through its 'mid-price range' armament, determined to ace the battle of smartphones. Now it's your turn to showcase your smartness by opting for it.
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The YOGADOO team has been a fan of the work of Selfish Mother and the FMLY store in Bruton for some time, their famous #GoodTees slogan t-shirts have raised well over half a million pounds for charity and are super-cool t'boot.
That's why we are so excited to announce that YOGADOO will be running FREE children's yoga workshops this half term at the FMLY store in Bruton, Somerset.
Please RSVP here.
It's perfect timing as it's Half Term, and you're probably looking for ways to entertain the kids – right? YOGADOO founder, Lucy Aston will be running not one, but TWO kid's yoga workshops on Wednesday 31st May, which will be story-based sessions aimed at children aged 4-11, lasting around 45 minutes each.
The FMLY store will be open as usual, so you can enjoy browsing while the kids are occupied… Drinks, snacks and fresh fruit will be available from the Honesty Café in the store so you can sit back with a coffee and watch them having fun!
11am – Amazon Adventure: A journey through the rainforest.
2pm – We Are All Superheroes: Unleash your inner super powers.
In case your little ones have never been to a YOGADOO session before, we focus on positivity rather than spirituality, so there'll be no omm-ing here – just an active, engaging session that's accessible for all. Beginners are welcome, mats will be provided, so just show up on the day and get involved.
Please RSVP so that we can put your name down on the list. Drop-ins are also welcome on the day, though we may not be able to guarantee a place if spaces are full.
And in case you want to make a day of it, and you definitely could, check out what else there is to do in Bruton aside from the FMLY store.
The FMLY store is found at THE FMLY STORE, West End, Bruton BA10 0BQ


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Structual Integrity Management
Xodus Group's intelligent thinking and technical excellence delivers truly innovative solutions.
With almost 150 installations in the UKCS over 20 years old and over 100 over 25 years old, the structural integrity of ageing platforms is the primary focus of the HSE's Structural Integrity Strategy 2008-2013. Structural Integrity Management (SIM) is a major focus for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and consequently Xodus is committed to providing the resources needed to fulfil SIM projects. We are also committed to providing intelligent thinking to SIM projects, so clients benefit from truly innovative solutions, not an answer simply based on standard methods.
The Xodus structural team has developed an enviable reputation for technical excellence, and delivery of projects on time and within budget. Immediate access to in-house experts in related disciplines including materials and corrosion, welding, and safety is one of the reasons behind our ability to provide a fast turnaround. So when a problem is identified, it can be assessed rapidly. Results are explained in terms that non-specialists can understand and our experts offer excellent value for money. Our rates are competitive and we can eliminate or defer repairs or identify conservatisms that are inherent in traditional design methods. Xodus has demonstrated significantly increased jacket capacity for major North Sea clients such as BP and Talisman using non-linear analysis techniques.
Our SIM service complements activities in field development, finite element analysis, decommissioning and marine renewable energy.
SIM capabilities include:
- Maintenance of analysis models and performance of structural assessments (linear and non-linear)
- Inspection planning based on inspection history, fatigue and pushover analyses, fracture mechanics, corrosion mapping
- Assessment of inspection reports
- Written schemes of examination
- Walkdown surveys
- Fabric maintenance
- Weight control procedures and management
- Maintenance of weight databases
- Evaluation of accidental damage, e.g. boat impact, dropped objects, fire, explosions
- Design of repairs and strengthening
- Gap analyses
- Provision of emergency response capability including out-of-hours service
- Production of annual summary report
- Liaison with Independent Verification Body (IVB) and HSE.


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Established in 1971, the Arzakan-Meghradzor sanctuary is located in Hrazdan forest in the Kotayk Region of Armenia. The sanctuary covers 13,532 hectares of mountain forest (mainly oak), valuable habitat for a number of animals including, Brown bear, Roe deer, and the Caucasian black grouse.
CNF has awarded €136,500 over three years (2012-2014). Funds will support basic park operations and living wage supplements for park rangers and staff members and a new management plan for the sanctuary.


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Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. ("TAI") with headquarters in Ankara has taken over the Airbus supplier Grunewald Stade GmbH & Co. KG ("Grunewald Stade").
With the acquisition, TAI, itself a very large supplier for the industry leaders Boeing and Airbus, intends to further integrate with the European aerospace industry and to contribute more value by developing and manufacturing larger and more sophisticated aerospace components. The new location in Germany will serve TAI, among other purposes, as a hub in the strategically important aviation production site of Hamburg.
The transaction marks the first international acquisition by TAI and also the successful start in implementing the company's recently adopted global growth strategy.
Grunewald Stade is a mid-size manufacturer of components mainly for Airbus medium to longe range aircrafts A 320, A 330 and A 340. The remaining Grunewald group of companies will continue the production of tools and molds as well as for the development and optimization of metal and plastic components. In addition to its original location in Bocholt, Grunewald still maintains production sites in Kirchlengern and Irxleben.
TAI and Grunewald Group will continue their already existing cooperation after the acquisition. Confidentiality was agreed with regard to the purchase price.
GvW advised TAI with a team under the leadership of the Dusseldorf partner Helmut Kempf (corporate/M&A) as well as the partners Dr Malte Hiort (corporate/M&A), Dr Frank R. Tschesche (tax), Christian Kusulis (antitrust), the ass. partner Felix Wolf (corporate/M&A) as well as the associates Marius Bodenstedt (employment), Axel Krause, Dr Katja Göcke (foreign trade law), Dr Bettina Buddenberg (real estate), Lars Leskovar (tax) and Dr Andreas Wolowski (public law).


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Look at this face!!
Meet our new baby! She is still without a name, but we're working on it!
We went to see her yesterday and instantly fell in love. She's four weeks old right now, and we have until the end of the month until we can bring her home.
The people we're getting her from are awesome! They spend a lot of time with the puppies (fourteen of them - all with homes), calling them their new names, loving them, holding them. She'll be very socialized when we get her, which is a good thing. Their other dogs are very well trained and lovable.
We're all in love. (Yes, I know I said that already). K4 was holding her and she snuggled in against her neck and went to sleep. She's just... so sweet and such a lovey.
We've been talking and reading a lot about training and consistency. She's not our first dog, but we know there are things we could have done better with Abbie, and there are things specific to her mixed breed that will be different.
So, now we wait and gather what we'll need to take care of her.
And I go back to nursing this horrific cold that slammed me against the wall yesterday and hasn't stopped making me want to crawl under the covers and cry.
That is all...


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I read the San Jose Mercury News article today titled "Bay Area homes' price down 1.4% from a year ago" and pictured yet another heated discussion between the two propaganda crowds.
You know, the ones who want to make money and blindly say the sky isn't falling and the others who always carry around steel-reinforced umbrellas, not for protecting others, but to whack other people over the head with after they say, "I told you so."
Clearly there's some middle ground.
Data is open to interpretation, and just like you can turn Mary Poppins into a horror movie or The Ring into a love story, with a little music and some sound effects, you can move from lies, to damn lies, to statistics in just the same amount of time. So the key is to be able to think for yourself and make decisions that are based on your own requirements and risk tolerance.
This article isn't about whether or not the interpretation of the data is right. (The folks at Square Feet who focus on Silicon Valley have their own positive interpretation on their sister publication's article and, in general, the folks at View from Silicon Valley take more cynical viewpoints.)
This article is about some of the basics of how people use statistics and is based on an interpretation of the book "How to Lie with Statistics" written by Darrell Huff. The interpretation was written by the folks in the physics department at SMU.
We've all done it. You see those commercials for mutual funds feature the infamous disclaimer, "Previous performance is not an indicator of future results," but in your head, you're taking your money and multiplying it by the percentages they mentioned.
While reputation may give you a sense of the probability that those percentages will come through, there's no guarantee. Emotionally, extrapolation shows up as feelings that, "The market's up, the sky's the limit," or, "It's down, there is no tomorrow." Helping reign in these feelings is where risk assessment comes in.
People taking on average risk, most folks, need to understand what they are willing to possibly give up in order to probably gain something. Risk averse people try to minimize any loss regardless of the potential gain. Gamblers are willing to probably lose something to possibly gain something much greater. Adrenaline junkies are gamblers who will bet on anything regardless of the reward.
Understanding your personality will help you avoid the pitfalls of extrapolation and make better decisions based on your needs, and how much more "probably" is than "possibly."
Cherry-picking is when you take a couple key points out of context from a large amount of information to support your side of the story. The key words are "out of context" and it's usually an implication rather than a blatant lie that gets people. For example, a more subtle title for the SJ Mercury article could have been, "Silicon Valley median home prices up 2.7%" leaving the definition of Silicon Valley up to interpretation. The article, instead, explicitly states Santa Clara county.
Casinos are the most notorious cherry pickers. When was the last time you heard bells and whistles beneath the flashing lights of a slot machine where someone lost? Clearly, they want to call attention to the winners to inspire hope in others that the chance of winning big is more "probably" than not.
I bring up gambling because that's exactly what real estate speculation is. And a lot of folks who bought cherry-picked stories about real estate riches and extrapolated based on the state of the market a couple years ago are getting squeezed. Market speculation can't be stopped, but by understanding their mentality, people can more comfortably adjust to them.
One plus one equals B?
This happens when people confuse correlation, related events, with causation, events that cause each other. Take the hypothetical statement, "Staged houses sell faster, therefore staging my house will help it sell faster." In this example, whether a house is staged and how long it takes to sell the house may be related (correlation), but that doesn't prove that staging directly causes a house sell faster (causation).
Hypothetically, there could be a number of other factors including the profile of agents who recommend staging, what neighborhoods usually have a lot of staged homes, or even staging companies who are tied in to buyers. The point is that just because two things are related, doesn't mean one causes the other.
With this in mind, the question moves away from asking what is the right formula for success, but towards knowing the actions you are most comfortable with, then understanding the trade-offs involved with your choice. When you understand the options at your disposal and how they might influence (not cause) events, you'll be better prepared to adjust and act when the time comes.
Bottom line: information is like PlayDoh and can be shaped however you want it to be, but by knowing your options, understanding yourself, and being informed of the possibilities, you'll be empowered to make the best decisions for you and your family.


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1411 Oakland Road
Wayzata, MN
3 beds | 2 baths
Current Price: $275,000
Contract Information
List Price: $275,000
List Date: 2019-09-14
General Property Information
Total Bedrooms: 3
Total Bathrooms: 2
Full Baths: 1
Year Built: 1979
Location, Tax and Other Information
House Number: 1411
Street: Oakland
Street Abbreviation: Road
County: Hennepin
State/Province: MN
Status Change Info
Status: Active
Contingency: None
Property Features
Listing Office: Edina Realty, Inc.
Last Updated: September - 16 - 2019
All the listing data contained in this site is the copyrighted and confidential material of the Southeast Minnesota Association of REALTORS MLS. Such information cannot be duplicated or distributed in any manner without the express written consent of the owning association. Site contains live data. Data is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Monday 16th of September 2019 01:14 PM


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Each year our gym is transformed into Kid City, a simulation for 1st and 2nd graders that helps them understand how a community works. Students run a variety of services, and when they are not busy offering a service, students take on the role of customer. They are issued play money which they use at the various services.
Thanks, parents and teachers, for making Kid City a success!


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About Nova Safety Shoes
Increased performance and comfort that keep you energized all-day long. The Nova collection incorporates the Walkline® 2.0 technology to push the boundaries of safety, health and comfort. We have combined high-tech microfiber materials and breathable fabrics with a flexible, dynamic TPU Quattrotech® and Walkline® 2.0 sole to create a shoe that is designed for safety and looks ultra-stylish. Its light, breathable materials make it easy to wear. The result? You'll stay energized throughout the whole day, wherever you work.
- Sort by Default Order
- Display 15 Products per page


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Having generalized anxiety disorder and post traumatic stress disorder means that from time to time, I get really anxious about things. Things that logically, I know will be okay. Logically, I know that I am resilient, adaptable, and capable. But physically my mind is panicking. My heart is racing. I am in some imminent danger that does not make sense but I feel it.
This happened this week, the day before my interview. Granted, I have a wonderful full-time job (and I realize how fortunate I am to say that given today's economy). I am actually looking to advance in the company. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. And yet the panic, the overwhelm, the fear, and the anxiety were relentless.
I made an appointment with my therapist. And we talked about it, and I thought I would share who/what my anxiety is. After all, it is a part of me. And perhaps it will help those of you who are like me – who are sensitive to the world around us, and who may have been through some difficult experiences.
I was told to identify my anxiety. Describe what it looked like. And it was this large, overwhelming, hairy, dark, beastly looking creature. With red eyes and a panicked face. I sat with it, and we "talked." It showed me flashes of images of all of the horrible things we had been through. The abuse, the yelling, the hurt, the pain, the loneliness, the fear, the loss of self worth… And I put my arm around this hairy beast, agreeing that it was all really horrible. I remembered how horrible it all was. And the anxious beast (wanting to be called The Fear because it sounded cool) began to sob.
We consoled each other. And I reminded The Fear how good things were now. That even though changes were happening, it did not mean we were in the place we were before. I offered The Fear my cat, and it reveled at how cute he was.
Ultimately, we reached an agreement – where I would handle things from now on, and if The Fear felt like it needed to tell me something, I would listen. And The Fear could do whatever it wanted while I handled things. The Fear chose to run in a meadow full of flowers.
So now, The Fear is running in a field. Happy as can be. Hair flowing in the wind. Chasing butterflies and making friends with chipmunks. And I am relieved. I was able to walk into the interview, and feel it went really well.
I tell you all of this, because I thought The Fear was forever. That The Fear would be encroaching on me for as long as I live. That The Fear would forever be scary and horrible… but it's not.
The Fear is part of myself trying to protect other parts of myself. It is not evil or bad, even if it looked that way. It comes from a place of hurt. Of pain. And if we shed Light and love on it… It heals.
Think of it this way – every time we have been hurt, it has been because of a lack of love. Whether it is heartbreak or violence. Love was not there, and that is what hurt. So it only makes sense to bring love back – to understand and bring compassion. That is the key to healing (as corny or simple as it may sound).
So try to send the parts of yourself that you don't really like some love. Honestly, they need it.


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Something I've noticed going to nude beaches in a largely gay friendly city like Sydney is that the gay population is probably over-represented in numbers on nude beaches. Are gay men more comfortable nude than straight guys? Is it because we've already broken a huge taboo in being gay in the first place, so getting your cock out is nothing by comparison?
Obviously there are countless straight guys and girls who enjoy social nudity but I'm curious as to whether the straight guys would hang out nude together so much if there weren't women around to affirm their sexuality, even in a non-sexual environment.
To the straight guys that read this blog, and I know there are a handful, do you and your straight mates feel comfortable nude in front of each other? In what context?


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Fused Meadow Series Windows
These impressive larger panels feature a wide variety of floral and botanical elements, fused on both sides . They can feature painted images and fancy beveling in the beautiful border treatments. ferns, grasses and low flowers add sparkle and delight. The elements fused on the back cause beautiful movement in the base glass and look like the breeze blowing through a garden. The larger sizes usually come in a wood frame.


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Mastercard is a credit card payment provider and operates (as they say) the world's fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. It processes $3.6 trillion in transactions a year, that's $65,068 per minute. It only takes 130 milliseconds to complete a transaction, which is 2X faster than the blink of an eye.Our web shops offer a wide selection of fine jewelry, costume jewelry, engagement rings, and more. Shop rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings from BaubleBar, Kendra Scott, David Yurman, and more. Our site features jewelry in all price ranges, from affordable to high end. Gemstones, jewels and accessories are available from Lucky Brand, Gucci, Givenchy, Swarovski and many others. Whether shopping for a wedding ring or just everyday fashions, this jewelry provides a range of options for all shoppers visiting the site.
Amazon, is an American online shop from Seattle, Washington. Amazon.com started as an online bookstore and nowadays also sells DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, video downloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming, audiobook downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys and jewelry. The company also produces consumer electronics—notably, Amazon Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, and Fire TV.
Zaful.com is the leading one-stop online shop for women for today's most daring, exciting and edgy fashion apparels and accessories. Zaful.com offers a complete range of cutting edge fashion at preferential prices with Worldwide Free Shipping.
Overstock.com buys such surplus items at far lower price tag than their wholesale selling price. Let Overstock.com help you discover designer brands and home goods at the lowest prices online.
Jewelry for wholesale price. Save on 200,000+ quality loose beads wholesale. Cheap jewelry findings, beading supplies for jewelry making in various shapes, colors and mediums.
Scandinavian Design Center sells Scandinavian design products. Products offered include furniture, lighting, rugs, fabrics, and textiles. Scandinavian Design Center also sells women's and men's jewelry.
Buy designer sunglasses & glasses online. For the best prices, FREE delivery, 2 year warranty & 100-day no-hassle returns.


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Our Location-
5731 Greendale Road
Johnston Iowa 50131
Call/Text anytime 515-423-7225!
Contact Us
Looking to book your appointment? Complete the form and specify the date and time you are looking to tan!
Questions or comments about our services? Please feel free to ask!
Call or Text Holly at 515-423-7225 or email at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Let's take a minute and talk about the most common excuse that follows a threat of violence in a school - "Oh I was just kidding". It's interesting to note that "I was just joking about that bomb" doesn't seem to fly with TSA agents and airport officials (pardon the awful pun!).
We need to have some serious conversations about how not-funny threatening to shoot up the school really is. Given the tragic history of school violence in America, no one should be able to hide behind the excuse that a threat of violence is a laughing matter.
For more information about training for threat assessment and management, head to: http://eschoolsafety.org/tam/


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I Dream Of Cave Run Lake Decal
I Dream Of Cave Run Lake Decal
Conceptual-scape design based not only on the beauty of Cave Run Lake, but also the calmness and serenity of a long day of sailing, and perspective of area from Rowan County's Lockeege Rock. Cave Run is one of Kentucky's most beautiful lakes, flanked by rolling knobs, limestone cliffs, the Daniel Boone National Forest, and one of our most favorite place to SUP.
Made in the USA. Designed by Sam Cooper
4" x 2.23" Waterproof, Trail-proof Decal
sold out


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About Me
|Janie Burnette
|Cumming, Ga 30028
I'm a FULL TIME residential Realtor who has been involved in all types of Real Estate transactons. I'm a Christian, I love my nation, my career choice and breeding Pomeranians. I utilize technology, social networking and online marketing to keep my clients informed; provide maximum marketing exposure, superior customer service and a smooth transaction. I have owned, trained and bred Pomeranians for nearly forty years. Pomeranians have their own unique personality...likes and dislikes... just like children.


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As a whole video games based on comic book franchises have met with more critical success than games based on cinematic franchises. Part of the reasoning behind this is that comic books have a natural affinity with the transition to gaming: bold characters, super powers that can empower the player, the rich environments, and story lines that can be drawn on. All these things can help bring exciting and fun gameplay experiences.
Comic book narratives are something I love; the integration between written narrative and illustrative depth has always fascinated me. Every time a video game based on a comic book franchise appears, I buy it. Sometimes I've been stung by that, but most times I have a satisfying and immersive gaming experience.
So here are a few of my favourite games in this genre.
The Punisher
Voliton's The Punisher is a grisly game where you can torture enemies in order to gain information. One of the most satisfying and surprising elements of this game is how utterly faithful this adaptation is. It's also a satisfying shooter with some innovative techniques which vary the gameplay. The violence in the game is graphic; in fact, this is one of the goriest titles on this list, heads being blown away and arms and legs being torn off by the blasts of your powerful shotgun. The interrogation techniques are what this game is mostly widely known for, taking an enemy and threatening them by applying just enough pressure to the analogue stick. Once you find out what you need to know, you then brutally execute them.
The interrogations are contextual to the environment, allowing you to smash the target's face against glass windows of a high-rise building, threatening to throw them through it, or immersing a villain in the hot oils of a deep, fat fryer in a kitchen. The facial animation of the victim displays their mounting horror and it brings a form of empowerment for the player when assuming the role of this viscous Vigilante from Marvel's finest comics. Although this is a fairly old title - having been released in 2005 - the recent and excellent series of The Punisher on Netflix has shown that perhaps this title deserves an HD rerelease.
The Walking Dead
This modern game series developed and published by Telltale Games is based more on the comic book franchise than the TV series that was spawned from it. It's an adventure game which is emotionally devastating and powerfully told. It focuses on a group of survivors who are desperately attempting to stay alive in a world occupied by the undead, and sometimes trapped by ruthless people willing to stay alive.
The first season of this series builds up the characters and their relationships to one another. It creates a sense of atmosphere, and when the player has to make a decision which will branch the story line later, it truly means something.
Injustice 2
A follow up to the successful one-on-one beat-em up by Netherrealm Studios, this Mortal Kombat influenced series includes the chance to fight as some of the most popular characters from the DC universe - as well as some of the more lesser known individuals in its mighty roster. Arguably, this title tells a better Batman vs Superman story than it's filmatic counterpart. The narrative sees Brainiac, destroyer of Krypton, come to earth in an attempt to kill the last Kryptonians (Supergirl is present in this game) and destroy Earth. Superman has been imprisioned after the events of the first game and some characters are attempting to free him, including Black Adam and Wonderwoman. Others, like Batman, see him as a threat to all life on earth and want to keep him locked up. This creates a fantastic tension within the DC Universe and a compelling plot in single player mode.
The Multiplayer aspect also shines, offering players loot boxes filled with random goodies, experience points, and better armour to genuinely affect gameplay. Additionally, the fighting mechanics are solid. The environmental details are amazing and evoke famous moments in DC comic book history with small incidental memorabilia present for the eagle eyed. It's great to see the DC franchise having a game of such quality, and crafted around the characters rather than just shoehorning them in for revenue's sake.
Lego Marvel Superheroes 2
The Lego games have a very special place in my gaming heart. They bring amazing authenticity to whatever franchise they riff off, interesting moments, stellar co-op gameplay, and a multitude of playable characters. One of the biggest draws in Marvel Superheroes 2 is the personality that bursts through in the game, whether it's jamming to Mr Blue Sky with Guardians of the Galaxy's Star Lord and his awesome mix tapes, or enjoying the quips that Spiderman utters with trademark ease. You will always find reasons to smile while playing this game. I've had moments playing with my nephew where he doesn't always get each of the clever references to Marvel's history which cleverly make it onto the screen as homages for the dedicated fan. Other times, he doesn't know who some of the more obscure characters are. I get to pause the game and explain some of their powers and origins and he will play as them to 'try them out.' This game gives us the ability to test-drive Superheroes (and Villains!)
The strength of this game is the ability to reach into the annals of Marvel and embrace all aspects of the company's comic book history. You will see the influence of the movies - with Chris Pratt and Zoe Salanda present from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie - but also delving into the comics with villains like Black Knight and Kraven the Hunter. There's so much time spent on each of the character's unique abilities and alternative costumes. You can play as the camera wielding Peter Parker, or a medieval Captain America complete with sword and shield. These variations are fun and add more depth to this action puzzler. Lego Marvel Superheroes 2 is a unique, fun family game with depth and that's fairly rare.
Rogue Trooper Redux
An HD re-release of British comic's popular character Rogue Trooper came to our next generation consoles and PC in October. This third-person shooter captures the story of a genetically engineered soldier from the future who is bred to fight an ongoing war in a toxic environment. These cloned soldiers have one unique ability; when they die, the computer chip which houses their personality and experiences can be slotted into another trooper's equipment, namely the helmet, gun, and equipment bag. The main character, Rogue, is an all-out guns blazing kind of marine, tough and capable. He finds three of his comrades dying and extracts their chips and inserts them into the empty slots in his equipment to save them for re-cloning. They each assume the functions of that piece of equipment that they are bonded to. For example, Gunnar who controls the assault rifle can be placed on the ground and act as a turret against oncoming enemies.
It's a faithful, fun adaptation of a comic book creation by the legendary Gerry Finley-Day and its release in HD shows that Rogue's ongoing adventures still resonate with fans of 2000AD today.
These are just a few of my favourite games that are based on comic book franchises. There's a wealth of them out there and most of them are great representations of the franchise they are based on.
Let me know if you agree or disagree or if you have any particular favourites of your own?


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What I'm Playing Now - Episode 54 (audio only)/
Hey everyone, I just recorded and uploaded episode 54. Things got a little hectic last week with the holiday so I wanted to make sure I got one more podcast recorded before the end of the year as I've been busy playing lots of stuff. Some of the games I played this week were, Small World, Race Formula 90, Formula D, Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Crew as well as a few others. I also talked about a few of the games I want to play like 7 days to die, that I picked up from the Steam Christmas sale. Enjoy the episode.


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We can help with individual aspects of automation, and can deliver significant value in solving specific challenges that you may be facing. We can also compound the benefits of individual aspects of automation with our recommended integrated approach including environment creation and configuration, deployment and testing. We have solutions that are optimised for the data warehousing/BI context.
What is automated environment creation and configuration?
Environments are traditionally created by a process starting with procurement of new hardware, through to the setting up of that hardware and operating system configuration. With cloud services, the process can be done at short notice using user interfaces such as the AWS console, and may be automated further by scripting using CloudFormation.
Environments are then traditionally configured by manually typing commands, clicking on consoles and running sets of scripts. They may then be modified by further manual processes.
Configuration of environments can be controlled with tools such as Puppet, and there are techniques to get this to manage aspects of the infrastructure beyond the servers themselves, so items such as databases and S3 buckets may also be under control. This means Business Intelligence services may benefit in the same way as other services for which configuration management tools are considered standard practice.
Why should I use it?
The Visible Ops Handbook suggests that without modern processes, you can expect that 80% of outages are caused by a change, and 80% of the MTTR is caused by figuring out what the change was. By using automation, everything has to be done via mechanisms that can be effectively logged, and so you vastly reduce that 80% of MTTR caused by not knowing what the change was. It can also become possible to to undo changes conveniently.
With automated configuration of environments, the development and test environments are consistent with production, and fully automated deployments mean that the same upgrade process is used in development and test as in production, and can be done many times more frequently.
The benefits then increase exponentially when you have trivial effort to create and configure more environments - automated configuration and deployment is the key to making efficient use of the vast resources available in the cloud.
Can you help us work out how to use it?
Yes - and we have extensive experience of how to do this for business intelligence infrastructure, as we have used these techniques very successfully on a large scale Redshift enterprise data warehouse. We can advise on the use of Puppet for configuring various aspects of the infrastructure, from Linux servers to databases to S3 buckets and IAM users. Over the course of using this extensively at a major communications provider, we have done numerous experiments and worked out which are the most effective patterns to follow. We have an integrated BI optimised approach to automated environment creation and configuration, deployment and testing that we can tailor to solve your challenges and maximise the benefits you get from your opportunities.
Can you help us implement and operate it?
Yes - we built all these things at a major communications provider for an Amazon Redshift data warehouse project. We can also advise and coach on the people and processes aspects.
What extra value does Cloud BI Limited add?
We have done these things before with great success. We want to share the benefits of a devops influenced approach to data warehousing. We're easy to work with and want to see you succeed.
Download in PDF format: Automated Environment Creation and Configuration


text: Excited to announce the info for the next Spirit Weavers Gathering! Join us May 22nd ~ May 26th on a beautiful piece of land outside of Joshua Tree, California. Sign up for the mailing list on the Spirit Weavers Gathering website and then check back for detailed information as well as teacher and work trade applications on the new moon on March 1st. Ticket sales and registration will open April 1st. Calling in the sisterhood for this ceremonial journey! Deep bow to Amy of Daughter of the Sun for following her heart and bringing this gathering forth into the world. xxx


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Weekly News - November 7th, 2015
This week, the manufacturing team conducted and finish the last upper body mold. The last mold was conducted by putting bagging material both underneath and on top of the carbon fiber mold in order to form a sandwich that would not leak through the cracks of the foam mold. The team also discovered that the connection between the foot and the vacuum pump was not air tight and fixed this to get over 20 psi of pressure on the mold. The chassis panel testing and suspension designs have also progressed and the Vechicle Design Report has also been started on. The electrical team has ordered parts for the second vacuum pump that will be used in the encapsulation oven as well as worked on the bypass diodes for the solar array. The team also was part of the Homecoming parade at Purdue and tested Pulsar's new batteries with great success.
Thanks to everyone who could make it out this weekend.