text:
2008 Kawasaki 450 Enduro
Early Release Model - Arriving in Dealerships Early 2007
Adapted to the rigors of grueling courses, this model's lightweight engine has been tweaked for more low and mid-range performance delivering a wide spread of responsive, high-traction torque and superior throttle control for low-speed maneuvering.
Adding an electric starter in addition to its kick-starting capability gives the KLX rider more options in the event of a stall. A high-capacity starter motor and compact, high-output battery helps insure quick and reliable starts under virtually all conditions a racer might face. A simple push of the starter button is all that's required in the event of a stall and can often be accomplished while still moving.
The Kayaba AOS inverted fork provides precision with tuning specifically optimized for light, easy handling characteristics. Oil and air are kept in separate chambers for stable damping performance during long events and low-friction seals contribute to smooth fork action.
The KLX450R's chassis has been specially set-Up: the wider seat with slip-resistant top surface adds both to comfort and mobility, while the 18-inch rear wheel allows for use of a taller/thicker rear tire, which is more suited to absorbing sharp-edged impacts and allows the rider to choose from a wide selection of off-road tires.
A lightweight digital instrumentation cluster includes speedometer, twin tripmeter, odometer, and clock. The plastic fuel tank has a 2.1 gallon capacity and the petcock is fitted with a reserve. Illumination equipment is also kept on the light side, with the 35 watt compact headlight using a plastic lens, and an ultra-compact and energy efficient LED tail lamp.
- 449cc liquid-cooled, four-stroke single with four valves.
Top End
Wide-Ratio Five-Speed Transmission
Aluminum skid plate
From the Cockpit
Off-road racing equipment


text:
Basic wireless sensor networks platform extended by functionality to interoperate with existing and emerging wireless platforms
Research, definition, design and development of new generation it platforms for energy management and network optimization.
Accurate navigation and localisation information is already seen to be providing great added value for emerging mobile services. The commercial importance of location-based services (lbs) can already be seen, and is forecast to grow substantially over the coming years. The wide coverage and low cost of gps systems...
The success or failure of applications and services is greatly determined by user experience (ux). While careful ux design has proven beneficial, it is surprising how little effort has been made to measure and respond to user experience after deploying the application. This project aims to achieve better user...
The project, 'panacea gaming platform' (pgp), aims to develop a robust technology platform to enable game development for use in the clinical treatment of those with disabilities (15% of the paediatric population and up to 40% of the elderly population). The end results will be a suite of health games, a tracking...
The cam4home project has created a common metadata-enabled contents delivery framework enabling rich, personalised multimedia experiences in the home. The project simplifies access to and sharing of all contents with any terminal through any network and through peer-to-peer networks. It exploits a novel concept of...
Evaluation and development of industrial lasers for material processing
Project ID:
Experimental and theoretical determination of the distribution of primary and secondary air pollutants in order to understand and predict their chemical transformation and their transport over europe.
Project ID:
Integrated computer communication network/associated server/ equipment transcending national borders using public data networks provided by european ptts to support research collaboration between universities/research organisations
Project ID:
New industrial products and technologies as well as craft skills for conservation and restoration work. Establishment of technical standards and guidelines for examination and treatment of objects and monuments.
Project ID:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
How To Save A Relationship From Ending
"Can you save my relationship?!!" People come to me wanting to know how to achieve this usually when things reach boiling point and everything starts to fall apart, and they begin to fear that they'll lose the relationship, and want to save it from ending.
If you're like this you'll probably find yourself wanting to hold on to even the tiniest branch of hope just to save it, especially when despite it all, you still love the person. Relationships, no matter how much love you have for one another, can become complicated.
And if you're not willing to work through the hard times, it cannot last. I want to go through here some key points that will put you on a better footing starting today and enable you to save your relationship.
How to Save Your Relationship From Ending
There are only two outcomes for every relationship, either it ends for a variety of reasons or it lasts. Your relationship doesn't have to end. If it is on the rocks, here are some steps you can take to put your relationship back on the road to recovery:
Identify the root cause of your problem and work on it: Problems don't occur without any reason at all. Aside from fixing the problem itself, it is a lot better to find out what caused it in the first place so that you can do something about it. And consequently stop the same problem from arising again. Once you spot signs that your relationship is in trouble, you need to do this step immediately. Accept the problem (because it's already there) and fix it and don't let the root cause remain.
Focus solely on the partnership: Push everything aside if the relationship matters that much to you. When you are sick, you seek medical attention. In the same way, your relationship also needs attention when it is on the rocks. It won't fix itself unless you do something about it. So take time to sit down and open up to your partner. Identify the areas that need improvement and point out the issues that should concern both of you.
Listen to your partner: Now it may be that your partner seems uncooperative in saving your relationship. But this may be because you are always doing things your way and you don't give him time to express his concerns and how he wants to fix them. A relationship is a partnership, so make his views and opinions count. Listen to him or her and make your partner feel important too. It takes two people to make a relationship work. So have an open mind and learn to adjust to your partner.
Determine if both of you are willing to save the relationship: It is very important to know whether your partner also wants to fix things and save your relationship. Because no matter how hard you try to fix things, if the other person no longer wants it to be fixed, you could be in trouble. Sometimes the issues are so deep and indispensable that it might not be worth fixing. If you both feel that it's best to end the relationship and walk away, then so be it. Bitterness would only likely take over and you'd both be miserable sooner or later if you force yourselves to keep a relationship that has lost its value.
Spend more quality time together: Keeping an open communication line is of course always important. Bottling things up inside never does any good. For both of you to stay on course, nightly conversations can do a lot. And going away for a vacation in a romantic place is very effective for you to reconnect and rekindle your love together. A lot of the time, the hustles and bustles of modern life can make couples forget how important they are to each other.
As you can see, you need to understand what and why things went wrong and then focus on how to fix it. And when both of you are willing to make things work again, saving your relationship will become a lot easier and not the uphill task it seems right now.
Need more help on how to save a relationship from ending?
Yes, are most relationship issues actually normal?
How are men different from women in processing information?
What are the Dos and Don'ts of long distance relationships?


text:
We are having a annual fundraiser and was wondering how much a two sided poker chip would be.
In a world full of technology, innovation, and start-ups everywhere you turn, it has become more and more difficult to differentiate yourself and your product in this global economy. A standard business card or flyer just does not get the job done anymore to stand out and rise above the competition. The marketplace has changed and changing times require changing measures.
Custom Made Casino recognized this need these past few years and has become one of the industry leaders in Custom Poker Chips as a creative marketing tool to bridge the gap and make a strong and lasting impression as an individiaul, brand or company. Today, people want more than just the norm or status quo, they want that wow factor. If you look at the current political landscape, love it or hate it, the candidates getting the most attention are not those necessarily with the most well articulated policies, but those who know how to create that factor and stand out amoung the masses. If you log onto Facebook, Social Media, Instagram, Twitter or any social media platform, the newsfeeds are endless with posts, but the ones that catch the eye are the ones that grab the attention. In business, that attention is invaluable.
Whether you are promoting a major corporation, own a small business or practice, are in Real Estate or any occupation looking to expand your brand, Custom Poker Chips are a great way to market your product/service and make a lasting impression. These customized chips can be used as a unique business card, a discount coupon, special promotion or they can even have a QR code that leads directly to your website or YouTube channel. Whatever your idea is, if it can fit on a poker chip, Custom Made Casino can put it together for you. View examples below or check out our instagram to see hundreds of different ways these custom poker chips are helping companies grow. Customize your chips today @ CustomMadeCasino.com !
Adam Marks
Founder of Custom Made Casino
Follow us: FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | GOOGLE PLUS | YOUTUBE
We are having a annual fundraiser and was wondering how much a two sided poker chip would be.
Hi Kimberly, That depends which chip you are looking at, below is a link with the different chips and pricing. All full color chips include imprint on both sides with free set-up. http://custommadecasino.com/Custom-Poker-Chips/Custom-Poker-Chips-Full-Color
Hello, I am looking to buy my parents personalized poker chips that read: Don & Lenore's Parkview Poker Lounge Metallic Gold lettering 50 black, 50 blue, 100 green, 150 red, 150 white Is tgis possible? Would we be able to see a sample pic? How much would it be delivered to Saskatchewan, Canada?
Interested in designing a military chip with slight differences between chip holders (I.e. Commander's chip is different from Chiefs chip is different from Flight chip is different from general distribution chip for Flight visitors). Can you assist in this desire?


text:
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a platform adventure game developed by Konami Tokyo and published by Konami for the Game Boy Advance in 2002, and one of many Castlevania games.
Overall it's just an okay game; worth playing, but nothing new or exciting.
Beat the game and saw all three endings, although I needed hints to see the best ending.
- Overall: 4/10
- Best Version: Game Boy Advance
- The game yields a lot of play time, and creating a light and dark side of the castle was a clever way to add difficulty and length, and also introduce some nice puzzles.
- Some of the backgrounds have amazing graphics.
- Some of the puzzles are challenging and took me several attempts, but none seemed unfair.
- I liked how your secondary weapon can be affected by the various spell books to create more special abilities.
- Some of the monsters had a lot of work put into them, like the level 3 skeleton dragon that curled around the columns.
- The story is pretty garbage and none of the characters are interesting.
- A lot of the graphics are pretty bad, especially the character sprites.
- Most of the monsters were just repeats of earlier Castlevanias with very little originality.
- There are surprisingly few secrets.
- The game has a lot of backtracking.
- Using Maxim's ring to unlock one of the castle's many locked doors took forever to find!
- Why does Juste have an ethereal after-image right from the beginning? It doesn't feel earned, and it's visually distracting.
- The same weak enemies remain for most of the game making backtracking rather pointless.
- I wish the developers had come up with a better way to handle the secondary weapon. I kept accidentally picking up a weapon I didn't want.
- The cross is vastly superior to the other weapons, so, when you get it, all the others are obsolete.
- There aren't any decent hints for getting the good ending.
- The fact that this came out after Castlevania: Circle of the Moon which is better in every way, is embarrassing for Konami1
- Nothing really.
Box Art
- Castlevania - Harmony of Dissonance - GBA - Manual.pdf
Game manual.
- mobygames.com/game/castlevania-harmony-of-dissonance - MobyGames.


text:
One day in 1911 two Edwardian gentleman sat down with scissors and paste and created a masterpiece – using illustrations from Whiteley's Catalogue.
It was published under the title What a Life ! – (an autobiography E.V.L. & G.M.) – and I find it surreal, inventive and very funny.
It also provided the inspiration for my Whiteley's Catalogue House –
so called because at the bottom of the first page…
there is the picture of a dolls' house that is, to me, the absolute epitome of late Victorian suburban architecture,
I wanted one, in miniature, quite desperately the minute I saw it.
I made the first one at least 15 years ago now and I have just completed numbers 19 and 20.
Over the years they have changed a little bit here and there, but they are still one of my favourite houses to make.
Size wise they have remained pretty much the same – the base is 1 and 1/4 inches (3.15cm) wide by 1 inch (2.5cm) deep and from the base to the top of the chimney pots is approximately 2 and 1/5 inches (6.3cm).
I do not know who made the original house, or what size it was, or what colours it was painted in, so you could say that these are mostly my own invention, but they would never have been made if E.V.L. & G.M. had not sat down with scissors and paste and created What a Life !
What A Life! – (an autobiography E.V.L. & G.M.) , Collins edition 1987, ISBN 00 217796 X (possibly out of print)


text: '"Losing isn't an option in this town. Not making the playoffs isn't an option in this town. You can go back to what I said when I first got here. People here are passionate about the team. It's their team, and you can't get around that. That's where the challenge is. We have a big challenge ahead of us here."'


text:
By Joan Akello
Government has failed to release 6.5 billion shillings for the recruitment of 6,172 health workers. This is attributed to problems in budget cash flow caused by the suspension of donor aid.
This was disclosed by the minister of state for Finance Fred Omach (general duties) while appearing before the Health committee chaired by the workers Member of Parliament Dr. Sam Lyomoki.
Dr. Christine Ondoa health minister and the Director General of Health Services, Dr. Ruth Achieng gave a report to the committee on the release of the Sh6.5b and the recruitment progress
Omach attributed the delay in releasing money to the suspension of donor funds to government because of the office of the prime minister scam.
The angry MPs told the ministry of finance officials to release the money for the recruitment of health workers since parliament approved the health budget.
Lyomoki warned the officials saying, "You appear to be callous to the people of Uganda. This money must be released without further delay. On Tuesday, if you do not release the money we shall invoke the constitution to impose sanctions against you."
MPs have directed the ministry to make a report to the committee next week with evidence of funds it has released to the health sector.
The workers for recruitment include senior medical officers, medical officers, senior clinical officers, clinical officers, anaesthetic assistants, enrolled nurses, enrolled midwives, laboratory technicians and assistants, nursing officers and midwives.
Government in the financial year 2012/13 promised a supplementary budget of 49.5 billion shillings as additional funds to boost the health sector budget to a total of Shs 800billion.


text:
We aren't your everyday IT company.
Our workforce is comprised of passionate and fearless innovators who dream big, work hard, and have fun. We have built a foundation where all employees have the opportunity to make an impact on the future of the company as well as our customer's missions. At MetroStar, you are more than a number – you are the differentiator.
Does Your Career Stack Up?
We don't mean to sound cheesy–pun intended–but we're looking for that secret ingredient to add to some of our teams, and we need you!
Learn more about a career with MetroStar.
Some of our best ideas have come from happy hours, the kickball field, or from our executives summiting Camino Inka in Peru. Our Sensible PTO program empowers employees to choose how they balance work and play.
The entrepreneurial spirit that powered our co-founders two decades ago is deeply ingrained within MetroStar's DNA. It's how we've deployed apps to help with chemistry (ChemBook) or track product recalls (Woozy), or even a company changing the digital world with their approach to big data (Zoomph).
• Multiple medical plan options with significant financial investment from MetroStar
• Prescription benefit plan
• Dental and vision coverage provided by MetroStar
• Wellness program
• Gym benefit
• Health Reimbursement Account provided by MetroStar
• Group life and AD&D insurance provided by MetroStar
• Supplemental group life and AD&D options available
• Short-term disability provided by MetroStar
• Long-term disability provided by MetroStar
• Employee Assistance Program provided by MetroStar
• Legal services
• Identity theft protection
• Accident insurance
• Critical illness insurance
• Comprehensive & wellness pet insurance
• 401K retirement plan
• MetroStar match for 401K plan
• Healthcare Flexible Spending Account
• Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter Flexible Spending Account
• Employee morale events throughout the year
• MetroStar Collaborative Action of Responsible Employees (CARES) for community service
• In-house gaming
• Food Fridays
• Run club, soccer team, kickball team
• MetroStar University
• Leadership Engagement in Action Program (LEAP)
• Individual Career Development Program
• Career paths
• Intern program
• Startalks & deminars
Technology Partners
MetroStar Systems is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. If you are a qualified disabled veteran or individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use or access our online system or to participate in the interview process, please contact our Human Resources department: email@example.com.
EEO IS THE LAW MetroStar Systems invites any employee and/or applicant to review the Company's Affirmative Action Plan. This plan is available for inspection upon request by emailing email@example.com.


text:
PSD to HTML
Let us go and turn your psd design to html and css. We've got the tools you need to turn your wonderful design into a delicious website.
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Services Related:
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Place your order now or get a free quote to start your PSD to HTML project with us.


text:
|Psychologists have finally come up with a name for the condition when someone acts like a bigger celebrity than they actually are.
They call it Lokhandwala Complex!
|Sanjay Dutt: I might have to go to jail again.
Sanjay's wife: Dutt Tere Ki!
|Saaho Film Ne YouTube Ke Trailer Se Itne Paise Kama Liye, Kuchh Filmein Poore Lifetime Mein Kamati Hai!
|At 18: Apna Time Aayega
At 25: Apna Time Aayega
At 35: Apna Time Aayega
At 45: Apna Time Aayega
(One day)
Doctor: Rishtedaron Ko Bula Lo... Inka Time Aa Geya Hai!
|Cinemas would probably make better profit if they sold food and drink for regular prices!
|A Muslim actor from UP is playing Bal Thakrey in his biopic.
Shiv Sainiks confused Hain Ki Ab Movie Dekhni Hai Ya Theater Todna Hai?
|Pehle 3 Idiots
Phir 2 States
Phir Ra.One
Phir Half Girlfriend
Aur Ab Zero
|Anushka or Viraat?
Deepika or Ranveer?
Priyanka or Nick?
You know who is originally the happiest person?
It's Mr. SABYASACHI MUKHERJEE (the designer) who, by now, I think must be planning a trip to the Galaxy with all the money he made from these three marriages!
|The law and order of our city is pretty bad.
I had kept 2 tickets of Thugs of Hindostan movie in my car.
Some idiot broke the window glass and left 2 more!
|Please watch Thugs o fHindostan... it will teach you a lot of things.
1. Value of time and money.
2. Importance of a painkiller.
3. How Intermissions are a blessing.
4. Katrina Kaif is not attractive when she dances like Salman Khan.
5. You can't trust anyone, not even Aamir Khan.
~ Enjoy the Movie


text:
Gold Medal Challenge '92 (NES)
Published by
Developed by
Not an American user?
DescriptionIn 1992 the Olympic Games were held in Barcelona. Gold Medal Challenge '92 gets the player into the Olympic spirit with a selection of sports that played during the Olympic Games.
After selecting the number of players (1-8) the player needs to select there country out of U.S.A., China, Great Britain, Germany, Bulgaria, Span, C.I.S., Canada, France, Romania, Hungry, and Japan and then CPU makes up the rest of the competition. The sports are divided up into programs that have 2 or 3 different sports each as well as a Special Event, the Marathon. Most of the sports involve pressing A and B buttons quickly or rhythmically, and getting the correct timing to do the needed action.
The Programs and there included sports are as follows:
Program 1:
100-Meter Dash - Run to the finish as fast as possible.
Long Jump - Run and jump as close to the line as possible and get the right angle. Jump too late and the long jumper will get a foul.
100-Meter Backstroke - Get into the correct rhythm. Unlike the other swim styles, there is no need to take breaths.
Special Program:
Marathon – This event is split up into five parts. In each of the parts the player is given a map with opponent locations and upcoming hills, the distance from the finish line, and the runners condition. From that information, the player must pick the right speed for there runner to run at. If the runner is too quick he will run out of energy and walk the rest of the leg at 4km/h. After each program the player gets the opportunity to adjust the speed of there runner
Program 2:
200-Meter Dash - Run to the finish as fast as possible keeping an eye on the runners energy. If runner runs out of energy the runner will stop until he gets it back.
Shot Put - Build up power and throw the shot put as close to the line as possible at the right angle.
100-Meter Butterfly. Get into the correct rhythm and take breaths. When out of air she will sink to the bottom.
Special Program:
Marathon – Part 2
Program 3:
400-Meter Dash - Run to the finish as fast as possible keeping an eye on the runners energy. If runner runs out of energy the runner will stop until he gets it back. Harder then the 200 - Meter as the runner needs to conserve more energy.
Triple Jump - Run and jump as close to the line as possible. Time and get the right angle for all three jumps.
100-Meter Freestyle - Get into the correct rhythm and take breaths. When out of air she will sink to the bottom.
Special Program:
Marathon - Part 3
Program 4:
110-Meter Hurdles - Run as fast as possible and time it right to jump all the hurdles.
Javelin Throw - Run and throw the javelin before line at the right angle. Throw too late and the throw will be a foul.
100-Meter Breast - Get into the correct rhythm and take breaths. When out of air she will sink to the bottom.
Special Program:
Marathon - Part 4
Program 5:
Weightlifting - Select the weight and then try to keep the power over the selected point on the power bar.
High Jump - Select the height of the cross bar. Run and time the jump to clear the bar. The higher the bar the faster the high jumper needs to run.
Vaulting Horse - There are a few different vaults the vaulter can do, some requiring a certain run up speed to do well. After the vault the vaulter is given a score based on the speed of approach and the vault performed.
Special Program:
Marathon – Part 5
Program 6:
4X100-Meter Relay – All four different swims put together. The swim are done the same as if there were individual
200-Meter Medley – Run as fast a possible. The baton is passed between runners automatically.
After all the events are completed any world-records that the player as beaten is saved on the battery backed RAM so they can be viewed and challenged in the future. All the sports except the Marathon can be played individually in Training mode.
Promo Images
There are no promo images for this game
Alternate Titles
- "Capcom's Gold Medal Challenge '92" -- Informal Name
- "Capcom Barcelona '92" -- Japanese title
- "CAPCOM バルセロナ'92" -- Japanese spelling
User Reviews
There are no reviews for this game.
Critic Reviews
|Feb, 2012
|Oct, 1992
|74 out of 100
|Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library
There are currently no topics for this game.
There is no trivia on file for this game.
beetle120 (2422) added Gold Medal Challenge '92 (NES) on Jan 14, 2008
Credits (6 people)
Yoshinori Takenaka ('Bamboo')Designer:
Keiji Inafune ('Inafking'), Doriru Hayato, Naoya TomitaProgrammer:
Tadashi Kuwana (T.K), Kero


text:
Computer Speakers - what you can get for 25 USD or 15GBP
People often post in this forum regarding small full range computer speakers.
So I thought I'd post my thoughts on some recently aquired Logitech X-140's.
What you get :
2 x 2.5" long excursion full range driver.
2 x 3" matching passive radiator.
2 x cabinets, not non-resonant, but well controlled.
2 x 2.5W RMS power amp (class D and switching supply assumed,
note power supplies are built into the speakers, not a wall wart.)
Presumably some fixed active EQ to the full range driver.
Volume control - input is 3.5mm stereo.
Tone control - AFAICT it should be labelled bass.
Some dynamic bass management apparently.
Listening impressions :
Volume capability is pretty much what you'd expect from the above,
not bad, good enough for nearfield, but they do overload quite easily.
Bass on quiet stuff is very good, but becomes more what you would
expect on more livelier stuff - probably due to the dynamic element.
Sound quality on DVD's is excellent, in fact the dynamic bass element
does seem to ameliorate the worst excesses of "dynamic" 5.1 mixes.
With music I'm not going to go there, very good though for £15.
A self build without some active EQ could easily tonally be worse.
Overall :
Limited volume capability, decent sound, bass management works.
As a package incredible value, no worries regarding bass overload.
For music don't expect real dynamics, but for videos that works.
Emphasis is on decent midrange, not bright treble or fat bass.
rgds, sreten.
A more personal impression is the laptop screen gets in the way of
the best imaging, but for the stuff I like, they do a great job at £15,
though I'm nearly always just under the overload / distortion boundary.
Just a quick follow up :
Using my MP3 player, not my laptop, things improved somewhat, they
sounded more dynamic but somewhat cruder if that makes sense.
For music the vocals quality is surprisingly good, they are very well
balanced in that respect. Makes sense to concentrate on what a
small full range driver should be good at, also great for videos.
With the Sansa Clip * some of the "full range magic" is apparent.
On the more technical side it seems the heavily actively EQ'd broad
midrange has some real dynamic capabilities, more than 2.5W rms
might suggest, due to the "headroom" given by the active EQing.
The bass end AFAICT is simply controlled to allow it to work with
the midrange, its not ideal, but neither is a small driver overloading
all over the place in response to low bass signals, its pragmatic.
On music basically just necessary, on videos possibly a boon.
rgds, sreten.
Having messed around with various USB full range speakers and the logitech
X220, full range computer speakers are worth a look, sub+sats for real bass.
* MP3 player well rated for sound quality
Hi, I can't believe FR fans are not interested, technophobia ?, rgds, sreten.
FWIW for what they cost I'm massively impressed by the X-140's.
They'd certainly be IMO a rather big improvement for many TV's.
Laptops, PC's etc IMO a no brainer, they are great for the price.
The gaffer just got a pair of these for his iPad, I agree they do sound rather good for the money.
Hello sreten, I have read the posts you made with interest. I bought some used satellite speakers for a Logitech Z-560 systems a couple years ago. I was surprised by how good they sounded, even in the cheapo plastic cases they have. I opened one up to find that they are TB W3-665SC drivers. So they have some background in fullrange on the Z series. I have since picked up enough of these speakers to make a couple of mini line-arrays, with some as yet undecided tweeters to cross in for the high end.
As they are "running in" (more likely I'm simply getting used to them)
I'm becoming more impressed with the engineering compromises made.
Everything seems optimised around vocals and then adding as much
extended bass as possible that the driver can cope with, good stuff.
rgds, sreten.
Having tried lots, they really are outstanding for £15 computer speakers.
Last follow up to this. Having been giving them some full disco and reggae
workouts the bass management is pretty spot on. If you fancy something
nice in wooden boxes you could do a lot worse than stripping these.
Your going to be hard pushed to get the bits anywhere near the cost.
I'd recommend increasing internal volume by a maximum of 50%.
rgds, sreten.
thanks for the review
any other products under consideration before purchasing these or were they just too good to resist for the minimal outlay? for a new laptop?
Not really.
They were an impulse buy wandering around a shop looking for a printer.
My usual laptop speakers were USB powered 2" egg shaped jobbies, and
they were pretty nice, great imaging, but in comparison the bass is a joke.
They were £10 (in a sale reduced from £20). In comparison the X-140's
are simply miles better overall, but not at everything. However overall
having heard loads of cheap (£10 to £20) computer speakers the X-140's
do things that for me are quite amazing for £12.50 delivered from Amazon.
rgds, sreten.
Suppose I should point out I had recently previously bought some Logitech
S150 USB speakers and the Logitech S220 2.1 system for friends and been
fairly impressed. These things though are overall IMO far more impressive.
It'd be cool if they just built a 2.0 design like these into the (multimedia) laptops to begin with. I mean how hard could it be? Race to the bottom priced laptop or the lowest common denominator I guess.
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text:
Unyielding Blue
A short story by Sam Oliver
Weightlessness, a warmth, a queer floating feeling, as if enveloped by cloud- if clouds could be warm. A bubble surrounds her, and at its edges there are hundreds of other bubbles, floating, transparent, all visible before her eyes. Deep blue eyes with red pupils, half-open, half-closed, barely looking out at anything at all. Engrossed with something, with nothing, pleased to be here, pleased to be gone.
Something is eating at her awareness, some small, dangerous thing, something she can't quite credit with existence. Her arms and legs float beside her, drifting. She turns, sculling with her hands, twisting around in her timeless bubble, in the warmth. Is she upside down now?
She stares out beyond the film of her bubble, of her life, gazing down on upon rows and rows of bubbles just like hers, transparent, showing things, green things, red things, yellow and white things. Blurry through the film, but nevertheless there.
And next to her bubble, something blue, like her eyes, something safe and separate from her.
Time passes, and there is nothing but the warmth. A flicker in her eyes, something changes. She blinks, eyelids fluttering, open, then panic. She flips herself, panic slowly fading to wonder, gazing out at the bubbles, really staring at them.
Green slowly forms in her vision, becoming trees. White becomes cloud. Yellow becomes sun or fire and flickers hazily, grey forming smoke. Smoke which she breathes in, chokes on. She coughs, and the bubble around her begins to crack.
For a moment she doesn't believe that it's real that it happened, and then, as her eyes open fully and everything dissolves, she really doesn't believe that it's real.
Wind is streaming past her.
She is falling. She doesn't know why she isn't screaming. Instead, she's laughing, even as she tips, even as her eyes fall on the ground rushing up to meet her, even as she slams into the ground face first and her skull knocks against stone. Cracks spiderweb through it. The force of the blow seems to shatter every bone in her body- she can feel the tortured twang of nerves set aflame by her impact.
For an eon she lies there, facedown, flat, unwilling or unable to roll over to get more comfortable, doing nothing but lying there, breathing unevenly through bruised lungs and cracked ribs. Each breath sets her body aflame. But there's a… a fierce joy in her, so great that it makes her want to burst out laughing.
Her hands- blackened hands, brown hands, skin like charcoal- press down on the ground, push her up to her knees. Her eyes, wide and aching from harsh light after being closed for so long, turn to the ground around her, marveling at every detail in the cracked stone surrounding her, and at the bruised and broken skin on her body. Her mind loves the pain- and why? A word comes to her- perverted? Is she some twisted creature, to love this agony?
She stretches out from her knees, then slowly rises to her feet on numbed legs. Her hands clench. Unclench. She throws her head back, gasping, smiling helplessly, happily- and at nothing, at the grey smoke surrounding her like mist, at the basalt beneath her feet. Her breath comes deep and deliberate, the stabbing pain welcomed. And another word comes to her mind, on the tail end of a thought so powerful it causes her skin to tingle all over. She shouts it, the word, a word in a language she hasn't used in ages escaping all at once.
She spreads her fingers, standing up straight and reaches up for the sky, grinning. Every part of her aches, but her mouth forms the word again, whispers it. "Alive. I am alive."
The euphoria lingers for a time, buoying her up despite her aches and pains. Then a cold wind blows and brushes her body, washing over her all at once and making her gasp with the suddenness of it. Without quite realizing why, she turns, and immediately her happiness is replaced with a sudden, cold fear.
The girl feels alone and she doesn't have a name. To her the latter matters more, and she finds herself hoping one might solve the other. Without any real direction to travel in, she walks off, stumbling slightly, trying to find her balance once, and then twice.
Her feet trip on stones hidden in the rock, but as time passes she can find her way easily, one foot in front of the other. It seems as if forever goes by as she walks. Finally though, her feet take her to a part in the grey smoke, to a place where it suddenly stops and, not five feet from her, blue begins.
As the smoke hisses away from her and her heart thumps in her chest, she spreads her hands, and the grey mist around her rises.
To reveal a curtain, a wall of unending clear blue- an incredible, shining crystal wall of- water. Fear vanishes, replaced by awe- the wall stretches on into the sky. Every part of her screams that she should run, but the water simply stays there as if there is- some barrier that prevents it from crashing down on her. She can see it flat against something- the wall of water is pressing up against something it cannot pass- the wall before her, the blue rising into the heavens can't fall on her.
For a time she simply stands there, gazing into the depths of blue, her heart skipping beats, then slowly calming down as she eyes it, as she gets used to the idea of it. She lets out an nervous laugh, a relieved sigh.
She works up her courage slowly, but eventually begins to walk along the wall- for it seems to stretch on into the horizon.
She reaches an ebon hand out to touch the wall as she walks, tentatively, and gives a pleased, wondering gasp as her fingers slide through something with the consistency of glue, and then on into the water. It's cool- pleasantly so against the aches of her hand and wrist.
She leans forward, pushing her hand through the invisible barrier and into the water, up to her arm…
But as she does, she looks down into a murky shadow, a blotchy patch of darkness down below her, over the edge- edge?
The basalt here drops off completely beyond the invisible barrier, leading into nothing but blackness and oblivion. The girl shudders and pulls her hand back from the water. And no sooner do her fingers pass the barrier between water and smoky air something enormous darts up from the black, a blurry shape all dark grey, with white ivory teeth flashing at her in a savage, saurian grin.
The shape brings memory to her lips and lets it out in a stutter. She stumbles back away from the invisible wall, catching herself on her hands.
"D-dragon," She breathes, to no one, to nothing.
Its mouth opens further, a long scaled snout, sinuous, lithely scaled, its tail stretching down into the depths, its eyes flashing at her, cold, cold blue in the clear water, making her shiver. And then it speaks.
The words are in her head.
"Little demon girl, you are lost and alone."
For a moment, she doesn't understand that it addresses her, and of all the questions she has, her first feels stupid the moment it leaves her mouth.
"You have horns and cloven hooves, a long charcoal tail and burning red pupils, girl."
Its tone hurts her ears- its voice is loud in her mind and echoes around her head. And for the first time, she also can feel her tail. Her toes, which she'd thought were rather hard, are shaped into hooves, and her hand, trembling slightly, reaches up- she can feel horns, one above and behind each ear, curling around under them and ending in points. It seems odd to associate them with herself.
"Who are you?" She asks quietly, her voice trembling.
"My name is Ashrinael. I am the Lady of True Depth, the realm you attempted to enter."
"Who am I?" the girl asks, then, pushing herself up onto her knees and gazing at the creature curiously- now that it doesn't seem about to snap her up. "What do you want of me?"
"I have waited for someone to indebt themselves to me for a time- few brave the depths anymore. I have… a task which need be done, that I myself cannot do."
The girl nods slowly. She doesn't quite understand, but she feels a tingling in her limbs. Her gaze wanders up to the massive expanse of blue rising above her.
"What do you require of me?" She asks quietly. "And what might I take in return?"
"Daring to assume you are allowed to ask a favor in return. You are faster than the others. But that is not important- you will be rewarded. I shall give you a name as payment before you start your task."
"Done," the girl says quickly. She suddenly doesn't care what the task is- she's felt a, a burning need for a name for a time now. Since she dropped.
"I will take you to what need be done, girl. Are you brave enough to enter the water?"
The nameless demon stands, walking to the edge of the barrier, hesitating. "How will I breathe?"
"Are you afraid?"
"No," She lies, the word slipping out sharp. Her whole body hurts still from her fall. "Of course not."
"Then come, little demon."
The girl takes a deep breath, lungs stinging, ribs aching, and presses beyond the barrier into the cold.
The water presses all around her like a vice- and a current tugs at her a mere foot away from the barrier. She struggles in it for a moment, panics when she realizes she can't swim, and begins to sink for a few awful seconds. A blue blur arcs through the water, sending a barrage of bubbles into her face, and then something long and sinuous wraps around her wrist. There is a brief tugging sensation, and then, abruptly, blurred, fast movement with water sliding around her, over her, drenched, towed behind an immense blurry shape, so fast that the water streaming around her forces her eyes shut.
Her mouth opens and she tastes saltwater, loses air, feels it hissing past her in a stream of bubbles, and with nothing to cling to, she's helpless to steady herself and stop its escape.
It goes on. Her lungs ache to draw air in.
Presently, it stops, and she dares open her eyes. For a time now she realizes that she's felt nothing around her, no water. Just cool- then freezing, the wind taking the heat from her bones. And there is much wind here.
She spits out her mouthful of salt water, coughs reflexively, feels it dripping down her chin. Her lungs have stopped aching, and she realizes that she no longer feels the need to breathe either. She lets the breath out again in a rush, but this time doesn't draw in any air to replace what remains. Her lungs and her chest feel empty.
Her vision, blurry with salt, clears, and her heart pounds at what she sees. The wind isn't all that is cold here. She kneels on a plain of pure ice that stretches out, obscured by heavy snow mist. Something wrapped around her waist- blue and comparatively warm- drags at her attention, and she hears the Lady of True Depth speaking in her mind again.
"This is as far as I take you, Emberais. That is your new name- take good care of it."
The tail unwraps from around her waist- it is long, tipped with a spade- and where it had gripped there are the marks of scales on her charcoal skin. As the last of it unravels from her, the voice speaks again before she can voice an answer.
"Wings for the dead, breath for the dying, souls for the soulless- you are not the only hope, but you are a hope, Emberais. You must create an imbalance in order to restore it."
Then the tail disappears, sliding into a pool of water- she must have been pushed through it!
The ice surrounding it is warmer than it should be, so she lingers near it while she tries to get her bearings.
Just like the smoke, though, the snow surrounds her on all sides, and there is no way for her to understand where she is. Was she pulled up or was she pulled down? It seems a bit irrelevant, but she's curious.
She can feel her limbs warming on the ice, and the sheer contradiction of it makes her smile through the chill of the snow on her arms and legs. Ice should be cold.
She doesn't know why she knows that.
Emberais, as she is now called, stands. She flexes her fingers, stretches out on her hooves, wobbling a little, unused to the way they stick to the ice. Her eyes still burn from the salt, but no matter how she stares into the snow she can't see anything. Still, she isn't breathing. She should probably be dead, but she doesn't want to let that stop her. She owes a favor for being taken here and being given a name.
Everything else can wait until after she finishes this favor, whatever it is. She steels herself, gathering her strength, staring out into the snow until her eyes sting. She takes a deep breath, out of habit, and steps out into the white mist.
A time passes. She doesn't know how long. The dragon's words are ringing in her head nonsensically, in bits and pieces.
Wings for the dead. Souls for the dying, breath. Breath for the dead? Wings for the dead, breath for the dying, souls for the soulless. Souls…
Eventually, she comes across an immense rock structure- it fades into view slowly, as she approaches, barely more than a hill of snow in the mist until it becomes apparent that it is open, and that inside it is warm. She is cold- Emberais can feel her frozen hooves ache in sympathy for the difference in temperature. Already she can feel her fingers melting away.
She looks down at her hands and gasps- her fingers have curved into wicked talons!
She stares at them for a few moments, then carefully steps into the cavern, and the heat. Steam rises up around her- she's beginning to understand the pattern. First smoke, then snow mist, now steam.
It feels good, soothing away the ache of the boneshattering cold. It feels incredibly good, in fact, and it's only when she looks down that she realizes the steam here is near solid, swirling around her, caressing charcoal skin, along tail and her arms, shoulders and calves with an almost impish purpose.
To her further shock, it forms a shape in the air- a pair of glowing green eyes and a mocking smile.
Outrage boils in her blood. She can feel it pushing the last remnants of frost away, and set a sick tinge to the pleasing touch of the steam.
"Stop," She says quietly. The eyes, staring at her still, do not budge. Her heart- had she ever felt it before?- is not beating, but there is a tingling, an undeniable sense of power in her blood, urging her on. "You have no right."
Her voice is steady, without a tremble. She has stopped as well, staring the green eyes down, taloned hands clenched, tail flicking back and forth without her really willing it.
A voice in her mind, slick and cool where the dragon's was overwhelming. "Why should I obey you, little half-blood?"
A taloned hand rests on her hip while she replies, eyes narrowing, still staring steadily. Something makes her say it, and she isn't sure why it comes out, but her lips form the words before they even enter her mind. "I bring wings for the dead."
"You've come to set me free?" The voice is eager, but also taken aback, as if it couldn't fathom her purpose- the purpose that had sprung from her mouth full formed. The tendrils of steam stop toying with her.
"I suppose," She concedes, still wondering at her own words. Is that why she is here? But how could she do such a thing?
"HAVE YOU COME TO SET ME FREE?" The voice is unspeakably loud, and the entire cavern seems to quake, setting her aquiver, confidence shattered.
"Yes!" She replies in a shaky shout, above the rumbling of the cave. "I have come to set you free! I just- I don't know…"
"You do not, but I will show you the way."
"Can I trust you?" She asks, suddenly suspicious. The change had been so immediate it hurts her in her bones to try to switch from defiance to distrust. It's moving too fast for her. "Wait-"
Her mind is set aflame. Her body- every part of her is jarred by something- something immense forcing its way into her, her head and body shaking with its passage. Her nerves are fire, boiling her blood away into steam- the steam that rises around her, dizzies her senses and rattles her bones.
She collapses to the wet floor of the cavern, panting, trying to gather her bearings and failing. Taloned fingers dig into stone with insolent ease, screeching as a razor drawn down glass.
The presence is there- slippery, cold, calculating- and dead. She can feel it resting in the back of her mind, and she feels thrice again as heavy as before, and thrice again as strong. Wondering at it, she finds- she feels– heavy wings on her back, feels her body larger and stronger than before, thick hooves now cloven and tipped with spikes that dig into the stone as her fingers had.
Her tail is longer now, charcoal still, but tipped with a red spade and with two long spines. The rest of her feels about the same.
Marveling at it, at the power as her tail flicks this way and that and she stands- struggling, spine curved slightly under the weight of wings that can't be for anything other than ornamentation. She experiments with them, trying to fold them this way, and then that.
"What are you waiting for?" The amused, cool voice asks. "Give me wings, little demon girl."
Emberais shivers. But she knows where she needs to go. First smoke, then water, then snow, then steam… She walks into the steam without thinking about it, and the heat dries her new, drenched wings. Slowly, the scales harden, and she can feel the strength running through them- ornamental?
No. Not a chance.
Gradually though, after what seems an eternity, she can see an end to the cave. Her wings, stiffening in the heat, fold as she stretches. Then unfold again, a dry wind blowing over her, boiling hot against her skin. It smells of spice- thyme, dried mint. Good, the voice whispers. It seems to be filled with a form of ephemeral satisfaction.
"Good?" She asks back, wonderingly. "I did nothing!"
You are the vessel.
"But what does that mean?"
You are the vessel!
Emberais sighs, hooves clacking on stone that gradually gives way into sand- pressing through another glue-like air barrier. Grinding hooves into grit.
Can you find the dying?
Emberais shrugs. "I found the dead, how much more difficult could it be to find the dying?"
And in her ears, an unholy shrieking and the screech of metal on metal is heard. Clangs, hisses, howls. The unearthly sound of combat whispers to her on the dry, dry wind. It chills her to her bones in a way the snow could never have done. But here she can see for miles, and the combat does not seem to be anywhere- just open plains of striped yellow sand for as far as the eye can see.
Impatiently, she feels her wings flicking, opening up, stretching out. Without warning, her heart jumping in her chest, they flap, reacting with her thoughts. If she could just fly.
And she does, her legs bunching under her, pushing off of the sand awkwardly, wings flapping down, fanning out- the ground drops away and she gasps, nearly squeals with a mixture of delight and stark terror. Her wings seem to know what to do even if she doesn't, flapping once, twice, rising on a thermal. The rapidly receding ground vanishes from her mind, replaced with something else- a sort of abnormal determination, alien and foreign to her. She wants- needs- to go somewhere, and her wings are taking her there.
She doesn't even need to think about what she is doing or where she is going. Her body makes all her decisions for her.
When it releases her, when her body is her own again, she feels herself touch down on stone, lime and rock together. Her nostrils flare, and she totters forward, then back, reeling from the smell of blood, rot and filth. It's strong- so strong.
It makes her weak in her knees, but her hooves clack on the stone as she steps forward, staring into the sandy mist. Finally her eyes comprehend what she's seeing, and the sight deadens her heart.
Men lie on the ground, sightless, soulless, staring above at nothing. Blood-soaked stone, cracked, hewn by blows from hammer or sword- shattered pieces of it lie scattered all around, glimmering faintly in the light of midday, in the heat of some glowing thing that scalds her back. Emberais steps forward uncertainly, kneels- with some difficulty, her hooves refusing to curl- next to one of the dead men.
Breath for the dying.
But these men are dead. She can feel them- they have no pulse, her fingers can feel no heart beating in their chests, their eyes are glazed. Yet the sounds of combat still carry to her ears. She pushes herself to her feet, standing again. She leans down, stooping to pick up a dropped hammer, but recoils, hand burning as if stung when she touches the metal handle.
Her fingers ache as she leaves it where it lies, wondering at it. Why did it hurt?
Breath for the dying!
It's more of an urge, more of a need now. She stumbles off towards the sounds of battle, following metal on metal, treading sandy tracks in stone.
Her weaving path leads her to another clearing, stone and sand, nothing but stone and sand. Columns here, broken by some immense force. And two men, lying, glaring hatred at one another, weak and snapped hatred, but hatred all the same. Both have clapped hands to what can only be mortal wounds- the blood, the ragged, shallow breaths that pass their lips.
They freeze, though, almost in unison, turning their respective gazes to her with fear.
She walks closer, stands directly between them- they each sit with a back to a column, one with hand to chest, the other with fingers to his shoulder. Red drips down arm and belly respectively.
She can scent death on both of them, can smell it, almost taste it, and can feel the presence in her mind- the dead- yearning for them. She swallows hard, but fights down her fear and sits between the two dying men.
Words come to her, forced from her mouth by the urge in her breast.
"Two souls lie here in mortal agony, two souls. To one I give breath so that he might live, the other I'll take as my own. Who will be a soul to the soulless, and which of you might live so the other will die?"
When the words are through, the force holds her tongue, and again she feels helpless, she is aware of her body fighting her, but helpless to stop it.
The balance must be broken before it is fixed.
"So ye are the judgement t' be passed down on us," The first says. She sees he has white skin, his eyes are blue and his hair as white as first snow. Wrinkles have only just begun to mar otherwise near perfect skin. His chest is a mess of red, and his hand is tense with pain. Weathered hand, veined hand, tired of battle.
Still, she doesn't know how to- and cannot- respond to the man's statement.
"It has the look of a devil!" The second hisses. She notices his tan-darkened flesh, the horrible broken mass of bone that used to be his shoulder and the wound on his chest also, a nasty puncture that seems to cause him immense pain with every drawn breath. His eyes are brown, and his hair is blacker than night. "Surely it is here for you, not me?"
"That no' be my decision," the elder one replies. "She be a valkyrie. Tis up t' her who goes and who is left behind. Chooser o' th' slain, so she is. My part be over."
"That is not so," Emberais finds herself replying. "You must choose. What is more, you must agree."
"Agree? To let some succubus wench of a devil decide my fate for me?" The man hisses.
"No," Emberais replies stonily. Her voice is not her own. "You must agree with the man before you, your former enemy."
She can say no more. She isn't sure what she would say even if she could say something, but she does not like this feeling.
"Th' day I let garbage like him decide wha' our fate is t' be is a sad, sad day indeed," the older man grunts, laying back fully, wincing.
"Then you will stay here forever," Emberais says quietly, and she realizes that no one forced her to say it, taking comfort from that. "You must choose."
"Who are you, demon?" The black haired one asks. Fear makes his strong voice tremble.
"My name is Emberais," she replies warily. "Or at least, I am called Emberais. Who are you two, and what brought you to fight?"
"I be called Soulshatter, the White Hand," the white haired man states, and for a moment he seems to regain some of his composure. "Champion o' the Frozen Halls. My true name be yours already, aye?"
Emberais feels herself nod. And then realizes she does know his 'true' name- it tingles as it settles in her mind. "It is."
"Some call me Bladebreak, the Grey Hearted," the dark haired one says quietly. "I'll not tell my true name to any demon."
"You don't need to," Emberais says into the silence that follows. "I know of your true name already. All Carriers need to know this. Why are- were- you fighting?"
"Why? Are ye daft?" the white-haired man, Soulshatter asks sharply. "He be on th' other side o' me! He be th' Champion o' the Southland Fells."
"That I am," Bladebreak replies moodily. "You neglect to mention that the fight began because of your rather unchivalrous behavior."
"If yer enemy can't see ye and 'e dies from ye attackin' while he's blind, th' fault rests with 'is corpse, no' yer own. History t' th' victor," Soulshatter grumbles. "None o' tha' "chivalry" shit. Ye know it all amounts t' the same."
"Craven bastard," Bladebreak snaps. "You have no honor!"
"There is no honor in war," Emberais says quietly, but her voice is lost as the two men fight, with words rather than blades.
Around them, the sand and wind pick up at once, blowing back and forth with each stinging volley. Emberais, caught in the middle of it, frowns at first, then as sand stings in her eyes and grit chafes at her wings, stands up and flexes them stamping a hoof, cloven points digging into the stone with a screech and a crash.
"Enough!" Emberais snarls, temper flaring. "Your arguments are both flawed. The land you knew is dead and gone! Here you are judged, and you behave like children!"
The air around her suddenly trembles with heat, the stone under her hooves smokes. "You are both near dead," She says flatly. "You have not made any headway in centuries now!"
The knowledge comes to her- the dying's eternal struggle with one another, the inability for them to choose- a challenge, an ordeal for warriors greater than any other.
"Before you give in and die, you must make this choice! Do you mean to run away, to postpone judgement forever?" Ember asks harshly, her eyes flashing. "If so, I will leave you to your respective fates now."
This pointless bickering makes her angry- her angry, not the voice inside that seizes control. She had moved, had acted on her own. On memory that remains only as a blur…
Soulshatter stares at her, then stares at his feet, looking cowed. Bladebreak grumbles, but subsides, gaze falling as her piercing eyes meet his.
To her amazement, Soulshatter rises, leaning back against the column, sitting up straight and sighing heavily, raggedly. "Lass, ye strike th' point squarely. We 'ave been arguing for so long, be it any wonder the Fates 'ave finally seen fit t' send their angel?"
Bladebreak doesn't respond, but she sees him lift his eyes, his mouth a twisted mess of emotion. He nods to Soulshatter, then shakes his head and stares at the stone again. After a time, he finds himself again and speaks. "When this- I can't imagine being here forever. I suppose I always knew I was dead- from the moment I got this wound. I just did not think that I would ever… die. But I have been here with this abominable pain for what seems forever- I can't remember when it happened any longer, and truth be told, I'd forgotten where I hailed from. Soulshatter has a much better memory than I."
"Aye lad, but ye sell yerself short on combat," Soulshatter replies, smiling a little. "Ye bested me."
"No, I believe you bested me," Bladebreak replies ruefully, smiling. "It should be I who gives this woman a soul."
"Ye can't mean tha'?" Soulshatter asks, incredulously. "She's- well, ye know. She's a she- er, no offense, yer angelship. Bu' she no' be of- her shell- ye canna expect t' be you-! "
"Souls are souls," Bladebreak says quietly. "If mine is a price to pay for yours, then so be it. It is time to tip the balance, so to speak. It has been an honor knowing you, though I did not want to admit it. This demon- if demon she is- has… opened my eyes more with a few words than ever I could alone. I should be angry, but she is telling the truth. I owe it to her to provide wholeness now, a life debt." He chuckles, coughs painfully and grimaces, hugging his shoulder.
"Do you find this agreeable?" Emberais asks of Soulshatter.
"Ach," he whispers weakly. "Aye, tho' it hurts t' say it. I 'ave no intention o' becoming a woman. No offense meant, again, yer angelship, but I 'aven't got th' courage t' lose myself for ye, fer all that ye obviously be strong an' brave. Best o' luck t' ye, Bladebreak of the Grey Heart."
"Goodbye, Soulshatter, the White Hand. Good fortune until our paths cross- but truly, I hope they do not cross again," Bladebreak says quietly.
Emberais reaches out, then, moving on instinct, and in a flash of light and a hissing, popping, crackling noise, Soulshatter disappears.
In her outstretched hand, Emberais holds a tiny figurine carved out of ice- strangely warm ice, that doesn't melt in the intense heat. It is exquisitely detailed, a replica of Soulshatter down to the apologetic, slightly bewildered smile on his face as he'd disappeared.
"Keep it safe," the dead whisper in her ear.
She turns to Bladebreak, who holds up his hands in weak protest, plainly horrified. "Where did you take him?"
"He is with me until he is to be reborn," she replies, voice soft and soothing. "I have him here- see?"
She shows Bladebreak the figurine, but, far from making him relaxed, he seems to tense up further, eying her suspiciously.
"You've made your choice," She reminds him.
It seems to ease his panic slightly. "I have. I am ready."
"You are," Emberais says quietly. She knows somehow- though she's no longer questioning it- what to do, walking over to him, reaching down and settling her fingers against his forehead, palm flat against his skin. Black on tan.
There's a tingling, queer cool sensation, and she closes her eyes but a moment. When she opens them again, Bladebreak is gone.
But she can feel him in her, dwelling there in a part of her, she can feel something- like an inner fire, an inner warmth that wasn't there before. And the memory washes through her in a dazzling flood- violence, blood! Battle and glory!
Celebration in victory, a wife and children. Tragedy, deaths of the family, long, bitter struggle against the clans in the North, ice and steel leveled against friends….
She takes in a breath, stunned, and feels him- no, her- feels her own exultation at it, joy a hundred times more intense than at the pain of being alive, of being there. For the first time, now- she can feel her- her – thoughts. She can call them her own, rather than shades, half-memories. The feeling of the sand on her is uncomfortable- the wind beating at her stings like little specks of fire, her hooves grinding into the stone- it all adds into one true feeling.
Living. The pain is real. The memories are real. She feels as if she is here above all else.
And while she can't hear his voice, his story lingers- Bladebreak is here with her. She hadn't realized what he was giving to her- willingly or not. Now… she could never, ever give back what he gave up.
The knowledge makes her tremble.
Are there tears on her cheeks? Salt on her lips, salt and sand.
But something still pulls at her. Even with everything completed- a soul for the soulless, breath for the dying, wings for the dead…
She has one last task to complete, and it's one which is ingrained in her very bones. Turning, hooves biting into the stone, she sets off into the grit again, following her heart.
The cavern is near empty. A lone desk sits in the corner, and the clerk is obviously busy poring over a book. Near the northern end lies an immense pool. It's exactly what Emberais has been looking for. Days ago, she would be thrilled to have found it. Now she is simply tired. Too tired to even experience her amplified excitement.
"Name, please," A bored looking woman asks of her, not even looking up. Reaching over, Emberais taps the sheet of paper, forcing the woman's eyes up to meet hers. The woman's skin goes white, and she fumbles. "Ah- you-"
"I am here to give my regards to the Lady of True Depth," Emberais says quietly. "Tell her I have finished what she needed done, and that I have braved the bureaucracy of seven different Planes in order to find her. Tell her I wish to receive my reward now."
"Er- race?"
"I'm a demon," Emberais replies smoothly. "Carrier type. They don't tell you these things, you know," She adds grumpily.
"I don't, er, actually know," The woman says, one hand tossing golden curls behind her head. "I'm not, uh, dead."
"Neither am I," Emberais says cheerfully. She flashes the woman behind the desk a tidy smile.
The woman gives her a strange look, but then nods. Her finger traces a burning sigil in the air, and as the strange rune disappears, there's a near instantaneous boom that comes close to rattling the walls. Some dust floats down from the cavern ceiling, and the clerk sneezes noisily, blushing and hiding her face. "She'll be waiting," The woman says quietly.
"Finally," Emberais mutters.
A week of searching- to have the end in sight should make her feel something.
She walks over to the immense pool of water and, very carefully, sits down near the edge of it.
"So, my little pawn. Come back?"
Her voice doesn't hurt the way it used to. Emberais folds her arms and stares down into the pool. She can make out the dark shape of the Lady- of Ashrinael. It makes her apprehensive, of course, but she doesn't tremble in fear.
"I am no one's pawn, Lady," Emberais answers. She isn't sure if it's her newfound soul that gives her this courage, or if it is her own heart which strengthens her. She had found both in her journey, so why is she angry?
It had been what she learned when she started her search. Why did it matter what she did?
Because giving a demon a soul was unprecedented. Word of mouth had spread. Because her new soul was no longer allowed to enter the Cycle. The balance had been tipped, and then broken the moment she had taken her first breath. And the orchestrator?
Swam in a pool below her.
"Yet you have done exactly as I wished!" Ashrinael hisses, excitement in that cool voice. "With any luck, now the entire system may change! It must change! You cannot fix what was not broken."
Emberais shrugs dispassionately, even as anger churns in her stomach. "It is not my business anymore."
"Really? And where will you go without me to protect you? Do you think that you can simply walk away?"
A sense of motion, a startling burst of speed, and the creature hisses in front of her, snarling at her, the Lady of True Depth rearing up out of the pool with claws to either side of her.
Emberais feels small and weak- all of her trembles, but a part of her roars back.
"Yes!" She shouts back, so that the word echoes in the cavern. Heat flares around her, evaporating water as it cascades down over the Lady's scales. "I do! My life! My soul! I will do what I want, and no one can control me or manipulate that! I am not your servant, and I am not your slave! I did this task for you, but I have found myself, and I will never lose that!"
Ashrinael blinks at her, tongue flicking out, serpentlike, smiling, sinking down onto her scaled elbows and staring Emberais in the face.
"Good," The Lady hisses softly. "Go then, daughter, and be free."
She slips away then without another word, the flukes at the tip of her long dragon tail slapping the water as she dives. The shadow of her disappears, swallowed by the inky black of her domain.
The demon girl, still shaking, stands and regains her composure. She's about to turn, when she realizes that she never was given her true name….
…but it occurs to her that one's true name lies with the soul they have. She knows the true name of Bladebreak, and, in knowing that, in knowing this one secret, and in being sent by Ashrinael- who is also apparently her mother- on this quest, she learned it- remembered and gained it- all on her own.
Emberais walks to the edge of the cavern and pauses for a moment, staring back at the clerk, who is reading her book, and at the silent pool of water. She doesn't know what the truth of the matter is, but now she wants nothing more than to find out and to learn for her own sake.
With this in mind, she steps out onto the endless plain, and the wind below her accepts her wings as she takes flight- into the unyielding blue sky.


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Understanding how to choose an attorney can make a significant difference in the outcome of your case. When hiring a personal injury lawyer, you are not looking necessarily for the best client experience or rapport, but you need to find someone that is effective at getting positive results for you and your family. Typically, only 2% of all personal injury cases have to go to trial, so you should concentrate on hiring a personal injury attorney that has an exceptional record for getting the best settlement.
As you begin your search, you may want to consult with friends or colleagues for referrals or recommendations, especially if they navigated through a similar situation. Additionally, you can research the reviews and feedback using third party sites and legal association listings. Generally, these sites will provide feedback from previous clients that details some of their experiences with personal injury cases. As a general guideline, you are looking for the attorneys that have successfully settled without needing to take your case to trial, but you should also look at the trends to gauge who is highest rated.
The personal injury attorney has the goal of getting your just payment on any pain and suffering, or worse in wrongful death settlements. As you narrow down your selection of attorneys from your online research, you can start to schedule some preliminary consultations with them. Use the initial meetings to discuss your case, the circumstances, and for the attorney to provide an overview of the process. They may even be able to give you some ideas of issues that will become important during the discovery process.
Regardless of which attorney you choose to work with, you should maintain very detailed records of any conversations and the feedback you receive along the way. Documentation just might prove to be the thing that helps you get the best settlement for the situation. Careful research prior to hiring a personal injury lawyer can pay off well in the long run.


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As the weather starts to shift from summer to fall (sob) and we all start to think about jeans and boots and fall jackets, we also need to start rethinking our beauty routines.
The light flush of summer is likely gone from our cheeks and our skin is going to start to go dry. Although it is not yet cold enough to stop, soon we will want to break out the blow dryer and the hot styling tool and we all know what a mess that makes of our hair.
So, be prepared for winter with these beauty tricks.
10 Beauty Tricks That Will Bring You Into Fall:
Darken your hair: If you darken your hair at the beginning of the fall, you will have an easier time keeping it from drying out. The darker dyes are less harsh on the hair shaft. Besides, nothing says cozy in front of a fire like deep mahogany hair.
Add facial moisture: In the summer, you may cut out the oily facial moisturizer, but now you can add it back in. Make sure to protect your skin with thick moisture on the dry areas.
Don't cut back on sunscreen: Now is not the time to stop using sunscreen. If you are apple picking or hayriding or trick-or-treating, sunscreen is a must. Even now.
Deep conditioner/hair mask: Make sure you are deep conditioning your hair once a week. In the shower, apply it at the beginning and let the steam help it penetrate while you finish your shower.
Trade pedicures for manicures: Pedis are great in the summer, but if you can only get one, make sure you are protecting those cuticles. They take a beating in the cooler months.
Body scrubs: Take the extra time in the shower to really slough of all the dead skin you have been accumulating all summer long.
Chapstick: Apply, apply, apply. This is the season on chapped lips.
Blush: The summer may be over, but the summer blush can last all winter long, so long as you keep some on hand to apply to your cheeks.
Shorter nails: The best way to avoid brittle, dry nails? Keep them short and moisturized.
Hand/foot moisturizer: Apply deep moisture before bed, put socks and gloves on and go to sleep. In the morning, everything will be baby soft.
What are your fall beauty tricks?
Image via Facebook.com


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Listing courtesy of RSVP Real Estate. Selling Office: Coldwell Banker Bain.
Impeccably built, Beautifully maintained 1.5 yr old in S Rose Hill w/AC. Grand entry w/soaring ceiling leads to bright, open floor plan. Hardwoods throughout main floor. L Rm w/gas fireplace, Lrg formal dining. Chefs kitchen w/quality SS appliances. Huge Island w/Elegant quartz counters/gleaming white cabinets. Upstairs Grand Master w/2 walk-in closets, huge 5 piece bath, jetted tub, Lrg shower. 4 bdrms up/1 main (or office)Main 3/4 bath. Spacious Bonus Rm. Walk to parks, Rose H Middle School.


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Blood Bowl 2 Gets Chaos Dwarf & Khemri Teams
Two new teams, along with their star players, are now available in Blood Bowl 2 on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Mac as separate DLC packs.
Being dead has its advantages. The Khemri team not only possesses the Regeneration skill but, due to certain arcane devices dragged up from the tombs, some players also benefit from Block and Pass. This means that they surpass the other Undead teams when playing the ball as they can run and pass almost as well as similar players of the living races. The flip-side of course is that since the majority of the team is made up of shambling Skeletons and lumbering Mummies, Khemri Coaches will need all their centuries of experience not to lose their most useful players early in the game.
The Chaos Dwarfs are different. They are the twisted descendants of Dwarf explorers turned into evil, self-centered creatures by the forces of Chaos. Their teams are defence-oriented and benefit from the great velocity of their Centaur retrievers and from a very powerful front line that can endure (and apply) a lot of pressure. Their main weakness lies with their poor ball-handling skills, forcing them to rely on their fragile Hobgoblins.


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Table of ContentsDefinition / general | Essential features | Terminology | Epidemiology | Pathophysiology | Clinical features | Radiology images | Prognostic factors | Case reports | Treatment | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Cytology description | Positive stains | Negative stains | Electron microscopy description | Additional references
Cite this page: Roychowdhury M. Hemangiopericytoma . PathologyOutlines.com website. http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/breastHPC.html. Accessed May 27th, 2020.
Definition / general
- Rare, low grade malignant tumor with circumscribed area of bland spindled cells with branching and staghorn vessels
- Originally regarded as a vascular, pericyte derived tumor; recently categorized by WHO as a fibroblastic tumor similar to solitary fibrous tumor
Essential features
- Low grade malignant tumor composed of branching / staghorn vessels and bland spindled cells
- Complete excision with negative margins is considered curative
- Aggressive behavior suggested if large ( > 5 cm), necrosis, mitosis, infiltrative margins
- First described by Stout and Murray in 1942 (Ann Surg 1942;116:26)
- Very rare
- Usually women 33 - 67 years
- Originates from capillary pericytes
Clinical features
- Painless, firm nodule / mass, not attached to the skin
Prognostic factors
- Nuclear atypia, high cellularity or necrosis, increased mitotic index ( > 4/10 HPF), large tumor size ( > 5 cm) and infiltrative margins are considered criteria for malignancy and also correlate with local recurrence and metastatic disease
Case reports
- 33 year old woman with tumor of pectoralis major muscle mimicking a breast mass (Int J Surg Case Rep 2013;4:338)
- 43 year old woman (Case Rep Oncol Med 2015;2015:210643)
- 66 year old woman (Arch Gynecol Obstet 2008;277:357)
- Metastasized hemangiopericytoma of the breast (Arch Gynecol Obstet 2009;280:491)
- Complete local excision with negative margins
- Inadequate data regarding lymph node dissection; in general, lymph node metastases are rare
- Mastectomy may be necessary for large lesions (Mod Pathol 1988;1:98)
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Thin walled, staghorn type vessels separated by polygonal cells with indistinct margins, pale cytoplasm and small round / oval nuclei
- May have areas of hemorrhage and cystic degeneration
- Variable mild increase in mitosis
Microscopic (histologic) images
Cytology description
- Cellular
- Single and tightly packed clusters of oval to spindled cells aggregating around branched capillaries
Negative stains
Electron microscopy description
- Pericytes associated with vessels (Am J Surg Pathol 1981;5:745)
Additional references


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Tomorrow I am leaving with our staff at 9 am for our annual Staff/Elder's retreat. I am excited because we are taking tomorrow all day as a staff till dinner to do nothing but think, reflect, pray, and spend time with God. It is really easy (especially with my personality) to want to talk strategy, money, facilities, changes, and everything else. I am thankful for a lead pastor who can hit the pause button and make sure we are all focused in the right direction. Please pray for our staff and elder's this weekend if you think of it. I will be back Saturday afternoon to delight the blog world with what I have learned and been challenged with.
Monthly Archives: January 2008
TONIGHT'S GAME PLAN-Resources?
Courtesy of advanced planning, an intern, and delegation of speaking responsibilities I found myself with a little spare time before Wednesday night chaos kicks off here around 5 o'clock. I thought I would give you all the run down of what our night will look like and even put some "resources" up on Google Docs. I put resources in quotations because the stuff I put up is a far, sad cry from a Newspring or Willow Creek type thing.
Here is the game plan for tonight
And Here is where we got our graphics and countdown.
We are making February love month because of Valentines Day. We are starting the month early tonight. Jim Heffner is handling all the speaking since he is 1) awesome and over qualified and 2) I could disappear at any moment if my wife goes into labor.
Here is the plan…
January 30 Love-definition-foundation
February 6 Dating
February 13 How far is too far?
February 20 Marriage
I know we all read blogs and don't comment, but I am asking for help from people outside of my box. I have some worship songs that really rocked me through the fall and now I need new stuff. I only download singles of of itunes so I could be missing songs from artists I already know about or albums I have pieces to. I like (Steve) Fee, Hillsong United, Charlie Hall, etc. So please tell me what artists, songs I need and can't live without.
It's been a while since I reported on a book I read…
I recently finished Simply Strategic Stuff: Help for Leaders Downing in the Details of Running a Church by Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan.
They wrote this book when they were both at Granger Community Church in Indiana. Now the book title might make you think I am on the verge of a breakdown but don't worry it is really just a book that helps you get better at what you do. The book is written in 99 helpful hints that are all 1-2 pages long on easy insightful topics.
I would highly recommend it to anyone holding a position at a church big or little for two reasons. The first is that it is written in short little essays so it gets to the point and doesn't bore you which is great for a short attention span like mine. The second reason it was good is because it covers so many topics that span ministry categories (money, staffing) and also church at large stuff too.
Here were the two biggest takeaways from the book for me…
1) Maintain an Appropriate Span of Care
This dealt with the amount of people you can effectively oversee and shepherd well. I was already learning this but this was the final nail that I need to put mid-level management in place to run my volunteer youth staff effectively. They offered this insight"You are responsible for to many people if you….
- Don't have time to listen to them
- Don't have time to encourage them
- Don't have time to return their phone calls and emails
- Don't have time to pray for them
- Don't know their kids and pets names
- Don't have time in your schedule to meet with each of them on a regular basis (for some that may be necessary daily: for others, weekly: and for others twice a month).
- Don't' have time to talk about life and hobbies because you're always talking business."
"Everyone in your span of care needs you to give T.I.M.E. to them. That is you should Touch, Inspire, Motivate, and Encouarage….Decide to delegate Authority so you can lead with strength and health."
2) Watch the 3 Lids
They said that churches usually overlook or ignore three very important areas; Parking, Children, and Seats. To keep a church growing and on vision you have to address the lids that are holding you back. As soon as you address one it will present others.
"If you aren't able to address these lids on a continual basis your church will eventually stop growing."
(The authors blogs are linked to the right)
Paranoid Dad Syndrome
Well it happened. I knew it would as the day got closer. I am officially paranoid about being away from my wife. She is teaching a girls bible study right now and is only 3 miles up the road, but I am afraid she will go into labor. My mind wants to tell myself that she isn't due for like 16 days but I still can't help but get worked up. I went into the Y tonight and left my phone in the car and worried the whole time. When I got home I got in the shower and didn't have my phone in the bathroom. I guess the moral of the story is if you can't calm down, take your phone everywhere.
Update your links and bookmarks kiddies
That's right it feels like Christmas morning because I am giving you all a present. In my previous post, Dave Nicodemus commented and let me know that he had a new blog. He said if he earned it I could link to him. Dave, I link to people I like and you made the cut. Everyone go check out Dave's new blog and give him some love.
I can't handle it any longer, I just want to go a day in Christian subculture without someone referencing U2 or Lord of the Rings. I know I might not be allowed to be a pastor and say this, but I must confess something to the blogging world…
I honestly don't really care about U2 and I have never seen ANY of the Lord of the Rings films.
I don't ignore their success, but I am not making a golden image of either one anytime soon. What popular things do you not care about? Please leave a comment and share.


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To the editor:
The Reporter-Herald's March 15 editorial regarding the public response to Colorado's recent gun legislation misses the mark. Few, if any, gun owners believe that this legislation will result in the outright confiscation of firearms. However, some of these bills have a significant impact on citizens' Second Amendment rights.
Most notably, HB 1224 places arbitrary restrictions on magazine capacity. It would greatly restrict the sale, possession, transfer, and inheritance of most gun magazines, rendering the bill unconstitutionally vague. It would ban the possession, sale and transfer of many existing firearms. And, it is effectively unenforceable.
In the landmark Supreme Court case, McDonald v. Chicago, the Court held that any legislation impacting Second Amendment Rights must be subject to strict scrutiny, which is the highest standard of review. To meet this standard, the law must serve a compelling government interest. It must be narrowly tailored to serve that interest. And, it must be the least restrictive means to serve that interest. By way of comparison, strict scrutiny also applies to the First Amendment. Pornography, flag burning and lying have all survived First Amendment challenges. If such egregious conduct is permissible under strict scrutiny of the First Amendment, we should expect no less leniency in its application to the Second Amendment.
Constitutional issues aside, the recent anti-gun legislation was driven in no small part by billionaire zealot Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City. Mayor Bloomberg used his great wealth to provide legal and other support to partisan factions in the Legislature. No doubt he also offered campaign financial support to compliant legislators as well. All Coloradans, regardless of their views on guns, should be greatly concerned about the influence of East Coast wealth on Colorado's public affairs.
Gary Oplinger


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If you, like me (probably not), was wondering what happened to Kony 2012's "Cover the Night" event, it happened … last Friday, April 20th. I did see a sign, and my wife claimed to have seen a sticker or two while we were driving, which prompted us to wonder if the event had happened yet.
Yeah, the event wasn't all that successful. It didn't cover the night, the night covered it. Most people probably have no idea if it even occurred.
Kony 2012 started with a sizzle, but did it end in a fizzle? It depends on how you look at it.
The first online video produced by Invisible Children and featuring one of its founders, Jason Russell, went viral on YouTube and Vimeo, getting over 100 million views. That's phenomenal. It did what the video wanted. It made Joseph Kony famous. People all over the world know who he is now. He's the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army that kidnaps African children and turns them into killing machines and sex slaves.
The organization didn't really need the "Cover the Night" event to achieve that objective, the viral video already got that accomplished. As a matter of fact, just today Barack Obama vowed to capture Joseph Kony and stop his army from committing further atrocities to children in Africa.
Will this eventually lead to Joseph Kony's capture? I don't know. When that happens, then Kony 2012 would be a complete success.
On the other hand, If you're only counting YouTube and Vimeo views, then the movement ended with a dud. The first video had over 100 million views. The sequel, "Beyond Famous" only managed to draw in a few million. The "Cover the Night" event was scattered and didn't make an impact.
I wanted to support it after watching the first video, but after hearing about the mismanagement of donated funds and other negative criticism, I was on the fence about donating. I still wanted to support it because the organisation's intentions were good, even if the management wasn't. And before you know it, Jason Russell was running around naked on the street and reportedly masburbating in public.
Anyone will think twice about supporting the organization or being associated with it after that incident. The organizing went from a group of young people trying to capture a wanted criminal to one with the guy who had a public meltdown.
Still, overall, it was very successful. It has made Joseph Kony and his crime against African children very famous. Now, it's up to the world leaders to decide his fate.


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The Object-Oriented Software Construction Specialists
Download (10Kb) the Test Data for the Attendance Application
get pictures of Mathematicians
Download (9 pages) the FAQ as a pdf file.
Digital Exedra Inc.
The following links launch Web Start Applications which will run under:
Launch QuickPickApp Java Application This is not at all endorsed by any official loto company, and you have a better chance to be hit by a lightning while sitting in front of your computer than picking up a winning number. This is a pseudo random numbers serie that generates the same numbers every time from restart. Use the init button to use another part of the serie.However, if you believe that numbers that haven't shown up yet have a better chance next time (i.e. the bar in the top distribution is low), which is contrary to any statistical analysis, then you might find this helpful.Click select to pick up a new number.
Look at the generators in the menu bar and click the buttons to experiment with two different distributions.


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Kaye Alexander looks at plans to redesign London's Oxford Circus and alleviate the area's congestion
'Oxford Circus has lost its "circus" quality,' says Peter Heath, principal urban designer at Atkins. 'It is used so intensely that on the ground it is impossible to appreciate its circular nature.'
The reconfiguration of Oxford Circus, the heart of London's main retail district, has been on Westminster City Council's agenda for over 20 years. Heath worked on an improvement strategy during his time at the council in the late 1980s. Work on site began this week and the aim is to complete within 12 months.
Now, as part of the wider Oxford, Regent and Bond Street (ORB) Action Plan, Atkins is working with The Crown Estate, Transport for London (TfL) and the council to alleviate congestion caused by the 43,000 people and 2,000 vehicles that negotiate the junction every hour.
'In a retail environment, people represent potential customers,' says Heath. 'Data shows that 11-15 per cent of these potential customers are not catered for – typically the elderly, people with young children and people with disabilities. And despite the high non-local visitor numbers, there are few repeat visits from tourists. The redesign aims to address this shortfall.'
Accessibility is key and a number of studies were conducted, with particular focus on blind users. 'The consensus was that blind users do not want the unfamiliar option of crossing diagonally. An upstand kerb will therefore discourage the use of this route,' says Paul Fraser, senior urban designer at Atkins. 'The corrected alignment of the straight crossings will help such users who will be guided by tactile edging.' TfL also insisted that crossing equipment be 'future proofed' to accommodate countdown-style signals via visual numbers and audio alarm.
1. Remove street clutter
An audit by Atkins found that within the immediate Oxford Circus zone, there are over 150 items of street furniture, each creating about 1m2 of 'dead space'. Atkins aims to reduce this number by at least half. The staircase points for access to the London Underground are fixed and the existing stone balustrade renders the space between them redundant. In the new scheme this space provides an area for people waiting to cross to congregate without blocking
the pavement.
2, Increase pavement size
To redress the pedestrian/vehicular balance, pavement area is being increased by 63 per cent. With the extra space created by decluttering, this represents an overall increase of 69 per cent.
3. Realign crossing
The new crossing position reinstates the street line, reducing the detour pedestrians must make to continue along Oxford Street and Regent Street. The shorter crossing distance means the central refuge islands are not strictly necessary, but Atkins has retained a slimmer version to promote consistency and the perception of the space as symmetrical. There is potential to extend the central island device down the length of both streets, to accommodate numerous crossings.
4. Insert diagonal option
The option of crossing the circus diagonally will further alleviate congestion at crossing points and represent consumer 'desire lines'. The Shibuya crossing in Tokyo, Japan, is the case study on which this idea was loosely modelled.
5. Rephase crossing
Rather than staggered crossing periods, which necessitate large central refuge islands, traffic-light systems will be coordinated to provide an 'all-red' phase to allow all pedestrians to cross at the same time, within the cycle time of 115-120 seconds. This is clearer and safer for pedestrians, and has vehicular advantages because stop lines can be moved forward and traffic can clear through more quickly.
6. Materials
The circumference of Oxford Circus, suggested by the curved facades of the buildings at each four 'corners', is reinforced by a curved paving line. This will be infilled with mottled paving, the small units of which are cheap to replace should any future excavation be necessary. It will also indicate a change in tempo from the granite and York stone flagstones of Oxford Street and Regent Street. A change to the aggregate mix of the tarmac will achieve the subtle definition of the central circle, diagonal crossing and straight crossings, accompanied by raised white circular and square studs.
Urban design, transport planning and pedestrian movement Atkins
Planning authority City of Westminster
Funders The Crown Estate and Transport for London
Developer New West End Company
Contractor West One
Atkins researched and produced a two-dimensional model that simulates pedestrian movement with software by Legion. This particle-based system ran seven different layered simulations controlling 5,000 virtual people, and was used to predict pedestrian behaviour such as clustering and walking speed in response to the new street layout. Visualisation firm Designhive combined the data from the Legion model and a 3D Studio Max model of the proposal to produce an accurate and compelling simulation – one of the first times this technique has been used. The particles were replaced with animated people, programmed to walk while the particles were moving and idle when the points stopped for traffic signals. A similar technique was used to create moving traffic from a VisSim model by Atkins. 'The end result is a simulation that is difficult to distinguish from a real piece of video footage,' says Fraser.
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Dierks Bentley Cuts Theme Song for 'Biker Battleground Phoenix' [Listen]
Dierks Bentley will soon be a star on the History Channel ... sort of. The 'Drunk on a Plane' singer has written and recorded the theme song to a new show on the network titled 'Biker Battleground Phoenix.'
Coincidentally, the new series takes place in Phoenix, where Bentley was born. He's also a motorcycle enthusiast -- and the show will feature custom motorcycles. Bentley wrote 'Ride On,' which will be the show's theme song.
The History Channel is helping fans get revved up for the show's premiere by giving a little glimpse behind-the-scenes of the show via a music video of sorts. Bentley's face opens the clip, and he's ready to "see what happens" for the recording session. The video features cacti, big bikes in addition to the well-loved country singer.
"Give me a highway I can ride on/ Miles and miles I get high on that/ Don't bother leaving the light on/ 'Cause we ain't ever coming back, we ain't ever coming back," he sings in his new song fit for a hog ride.
Big biker names Paul Yaffe of Paul Yaffe Originals/Bagger Nation, Len Edmonson of Azzkikr Customs, Kody McNew of Voodoo Bikeworks, Brian Jenkins of Hatred Customs and John Shope of Dirty Bird Concepts will all appear on the series, which will let viewers see what it's really like in a garage and how stiff the competition to be the best really is.
'Biker Battleground Phoenix' will start its engines officially on July 1 at 10PM ET on the History Channel. The theme song, which was co-written and produced by Jingle Punks, will be cut short for the show itself.


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$ 0+ shipping charges
Book Description
Yajnyawalkya: a novel based on the writer's insights into ancient Indian Upanishads, it depicts Yajnyawalkya's journey towards self-realization. It is also an attempt to understand the human condition. The writer is rooted in the philosophy of existentialism. However, there is no need to relate to any philosophy, known or unknown. A readiness to understand humanity takes us along the path of Upanishads. 'Yajnyawalkya' is the name of the quest for eternal life. 'Maitreyi' is the script of that quest. The quest did not die, because unknown to her, every Maitreyi carries the knowledge of deathlessnes, the nectar of life, within her.