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A caravan of 3 horse-drawn carriages had been on the road for the past three days. The first of them was a stagecoach capable of carrying 6 people and their belongings. The other two wagons were transporting cargo. One of them had barrels and crates loaded with all manner of food. Salted meats, smoked fish, dried fruits and pickled vegetables made up about half of its cargo, the rest consisting mostly of rye and wheat. There were even a few kegs of top-quality dwarven ale and a crate of less-than-top-quality elven wine. The other wagon, the third vehicle in the convoy, held a number of general goods such as spices, ropes, clothing, tools and cutlery.
Overall, the caravan was carrying goods that had a total market value of about 1,300G. A tempting target should a group of well-coordinated unscrupulous individuals decided they wanted it for themselves. Which is precisely why the merchant that owned these carriages hired a total of 13 adventurers as armed escorts. 9 of them were keeping pace with the caravan on foot while the rest were riding on top of the carriages where they and their weapons were clearly visible.
Usually a show of force like this would be enough to deter bandits. After all, even though such criminals were not that uncommon, they weren't stupid enough to risk fighting an engagement where their lives would be at serious risk. No matter how sweet a prize, you couldn't get a single taste of it if you were dead. That's why such criminals would not attack their victims unless they had an overwhelming advantage.
Such as, say, having a large group of 30 or so bloodthirsty men ambush the convoy and use their superior numbers to quickly overwhelm the defenders and seize the loot. Which is more or less exactly what the local bandit gang tried to do. They picked a spot on the road where one side of it had a thick forest with plenty of cover while the other side was a sheer 25 meter drop into a rocky canyon, complete with furious white water rapids at the bottom. Even if the escorts survived that fall, they would still be dragged under by that unforgiving current.
And so, with their plan in place and their target in sight, the bandits began their ambush by firing on the caravan out of the forest. A flurry of arrows and Spells rained down on the adventurers. However, it would seem the criminals had not gone entirely unnoticed. The Shaman and Wizard in the group had already deployed their defensive Spells.
"Wind Wall!"
"Anti-Magic Shell!"
An impossible gust of wind knocked physical projectiles off course while a bright purple bubble repelled the offensive magic. However, the defensive magic could not cover the entire convoy, and a number of attacks ended up on target. A combination of two Acid Javelins and a Shadowbolt struck the lead carriage at once, knocking it over and blocking the road. The horses flew into a frenzy and bucked wildly, threatening to wreck the two cargo wagons.
The redhead human Ranger that served as leader of the armed escort quickly flew into action. She ordered her comrades take cover behind the cargo wagons, with the canyon to their backs. She wanted to confirm the safety of the passenger in the lead carriage, but that seemed to be a lost cause. The bloodied, lifeless hand that stuck out from inside the melting wreckage was more than enough proof that their client had died. A second volley was fired soon after, killing the horses and completely ruining any chances the adventurers might have had for a quick escape.
However, the 230 centimeter tall, scar-faced, black-haired gang leader by the name of Makren didn't order a third ranged attack. The female Ranger's snap judgement was spot on. It was only natural that the bandits would hesitate to destroy the very loot they came here to get.
"Damn that bitch," he cursed under his breath. "Guess she's not as green as she looks."
He ordered over half his men to step forward. 20 heavily armed bandits revealed themselves from the treeline and started establishing a perimeter while brandishing their weapons. All of them were male and wore mismatched armor and shields, obviously looted gear from previous victims. There was even a trio of them that appeared to be deserters from the royal army, or at least the very least wore its trademark plate armor with the griffin-head-shaped right shoulder pad. Other than that, the rest of them were a mix of half-plate, chainmail and reinforced leather armor.
However varied their gear might have been, all of them still had one thing on common. Each bandit wore a dark red cowl, hood, headband and/or bandana. Clearly intended to be some sort of identifying gang sign, a flag if you will. They also moved with a certain amount of coordination, suggesting they had been training in mixed unit tactics, which was extremely strange for criminal rabble like that.
Once their half-encirclement was complete, they moved forward in a threatening manner, stopping some 15 meters away from the still hiding adventurers. It was a tense atmosphere, a standoff of sorts. While the adventurers were naturally unwilling to start the inevitable skirmish, the other side seemed to be holding back as well, at least for the moment.
"Listen up, snowflakes!" shouted Makren. "We just want the loot! Leave it behind peacefully and we will not give chase! Nobody else has to die here!"
They would probably win the fight if it came to that, but it was highly likely the bandits would suffer quite a lot of casualties even though they outnumbered those people nearly 3-to-1. If their ambush had succeeded and they had taken out 3 or 4 of them, then it would have been a different story. However, the Ranger leader had spotted their approach seconds before and prevented most of the damage. Two of her people were heavily injured before they could scramble for cover, but it was nothing the party's healers couldn't deal with. The client in the lead carriage, however, was not so lucky.
"Yeah, right!" she yelled back. "As if anyone would trust a bunch of lowlifes like you!"
"Be reasonable, honey! Your people ain't got a chance!"
"Then come and get us, you dickless turds!"
Makren sighed. He really hated those heroic types that never backed down. It was always the hard way with those insufferable people. To make matters worse, he really wasn't lying about letting them go. Engaging a well-oiled adventurer team in open combat was a terrifying prospect. They were people that fought dangerous monsters and beasts on a nearly daily basis. The difference in quality between a bandit and an adventurer was almost like heaven and earth, which is exactly why Makren made his men train together regularly. The importance of teamwork was something Makren understood well, having been an adventurer himself until a few years ago.
"Come on boss!" said one of his subordinates. "Let's go shut that bitch up real good!"
"Yeah," chimed in the fellow next to him. "Enough with this diplomancy bullcrap!"
His fellow bandits, however, lacked that sort of insight. They failed to understand that the adventurers leaving peacefully would have been the best resolution to this failed ambush. None of his men would die and they'd keep all of the loot. True, they'd leave witnesses alive, but they could always relocate if someone put out a bounty on their heads or if some punitive force came knocking.
That path was now closed to him, however. He now had three options.
First was to try to flush out the adventurers and keep the cargo as intact as possible. They would reap the most profit, but his men would end up questioning his leadership if a lot of them ended up dying over it. This was the best short-term solution, but would sow seeds of discontent among the survivors which would likely become trouble further down the line.
The second was to bombard the carts from afar with magic. That Wizard would try to ward off their Spells, but his MP would not hold out for too long. That way they would suffer the least casualties, but also have very little to show for their trouble. Some smart-asses would probably question his decision anyway, but he could just counter with how they're alive now becaues of it.
And the final option was to simply give up on the profits and withdraw. A sure fire way to have his men turn on him, have a bounty put out on his head AND lose out on all the loot. It was still technically a choice, no matter how terrible it would be.
"Have it your way then!" he shouted. "Boys!"
Having made his decision, Makren lifted an arm above his head. Everyone, bandit and adventurer alike, went silent in anticipation of what would undoubtedly be the order to start the battle. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Wait, wasn't this too quiet? The bandit leader could have sworn he still heard the odd bird call or distant roars of monsters while they were preparing their ambush. In fact, the forest's denizens had gotten particularly noisy ever since the sky lit up and the ground shook several hours ago.
And yet they were quiet. In the middle of a summer day, that entire section of the overgrown forest was completely and utterly silent. The only noise that could be heard was the muffled splashing of the nearby river.
"Boss! On the road, look!"
One of the bandits pointed in the direction that led towards the city of Monotal. Makren followed his finger and easily saw it. How could he not? You'd have to be blind from the eyes to not notice that. A nearly 3-meter tall, red-skinned, four-armed and metal-horned pile of muscle and anger was running toward them at full sprint. It was some 150 meters away and closing in fast.
"W-What is that?!"
"What do we do, boss?!"
The bandits were understandably shaken. It's not every day one meets a demon. Especially not one that seemed to be without a master.
"Calm down, you shits!" shouted Makren. "That thing's nothing to be scared of!"
He once again raised his arm. That demon was going to be upon them real soon!
"Backline!" He swung his arm down theatrically. "Open fire on that thing! Turn it into a puddle!"
His men raised a cheer in anticipation for the light show. It lasted for several seconds before it dawned on them that such a thing wasn't going to come.
"... Huh? What are those assholes doing?!"
Their leader looked towards the forest, just in time to see a small crystal fly out of it. It was a perfect dodecahedron, with a tiny, transparent skull inside it. It fell on the ground, right int the middle of a cluster of his men. It then cracked open, releasing a wailing, piercing screech that was loud enough to rock one to their core.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 6 seconds.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 7 seconds.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 6 seconds.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 4 seconds.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 5 seconds.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 5 seconds.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 7 seconds.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 8 seconds.
Your target has been crippled by fear for 8 seconds.
Proficiency level increased. Crystallize Magic is now Level 2. INT +2. WIS +2.
Mass Panic is much tastier this way, thought Boxxy. The spike in MP cost was well worth the additional range. The duration of the effect was still unreliable though. It seemed to vary from person to person, and never went over 8 seconds or under 4. Well, other than all those times its minions resisted the effect completely, but that was besides the point.
"Save me! I don't wanna die!"
"Mommy! I'm sorry! Mommy!"
The bottom line was, the distraction was scarily effective and effectively scary. About half of the red-clothed humans were currently curled up in a ball and wetting themselves or running away at full speed due to the magically induced panic attack. And fear was contagious. Even if it wasn't 'real,' the sudden wailing and crying, combined with Kora charging at them like a gigantic woman-shaped battering ram made the rest of them visibly shaken.
And speaking of the muscular fiend, she seemed to finally reached their panicking front line and then-
"Here comes the pain, bitch! OOOORAH!"
-literally ran them over. She clotheslined two of them with a double lariat and decked a third one with a boot to the face. Being crippled by magic left them wide open for her attacks, allowing her to forego defense and hit them as hard as she could. She then jumped on top of the booted one's face heels-first, using her enormous weight and powerful legs to smash the human's head open against the ground, killing him instantly.
"Ora! Ora! Ora ora ora oraoraoraoraoraora!"
Next came the immediate barrage of fists and kicks aimed at the few bandits that still had the balls to attack her. Some of them tried to strike at her unarmored torso while others tried to stall for time by blocking and parrying. However, all of them seemed to be fighting sloppily due to their anxiety and uneasiness. If they were calm, they would be able to quickly pick up on her simple attack pattern and counter attack, but the Mimic's new toy had taken a massive shit all over their composure.
Judging by the 8 bandits it disposed of silently just a while ago, Boxxy had concluded they seemed to be quite a bit tougher than the rabble it had dealt with until now. Estimated Level was around 30 or 35. 40 at most. And while that increase in Level made this endeavor more dangerous, the XP and Proficiency earned were extremely delicious. Ah, but it would seem that one or two of the rats were making an escape. It would seem the Mass Panic Spell Crystal was a bit too effective. Now it would have to go hunt them down and kill them. After all, the last time it let someone escape like this, it resulted in a punitive force being organized to hunt it down. Needless to say, it wanted to avoid a repeat of that situation. Next time it may not be so lucky.
"Snack," it called out telepathically," I am going to hunt. Do not let any of these people survive."
"Yes, Master," replied Xera.
She was currently scouting out the situation from high in the air. Even if someone were to look upwards it would be difficult to see her light-blue camouflaged body against the clear sky. The rotten gears in her head started turning, looking for a way to fulfil that command.
"Ah, Master!" she exclaimed. The proverbial lightbulb had gone off in her head when she saw the new development. "I need something from you to help me do that!"
Back at the battle itself, the adventurers were already locked in combat with the enemy. Borona, the Ranger leader, made a judgement call to assist the mysterious red-skinned demon. It was a risk to get too close to it, however. She may have managed to kill one and incapacitate two of those criminals during the surprise attack, but it wasn't clear if she was under contract or not. The fact she was not under ranged attack from the forest meant she probably had allies working nearby that counter-ambushed the Casters and archers hiding in the treeline. Even if that wasn't the case, it was better to act now and catch the bandits in a sort of pincer attack, rather than, as her second-in-command named Winchester put it, 'sit down, have a pint and wait for this whole thing to blow over.' Bloody dwarves.
"Miles, support Eric and Logar," she ordered through her Whisper Wind Skill.
The effects of this Skill meant her words would reach any target within 200 meters without fail and would be clearly audible no matter what.
"Haas, you have two of them on your left. Nora, don't get near that rampaging demon just yet!"
It also meant that only the target would be able to hear her speak, which made this an excellent tool for relaying orders during a hectic battle like this.
"Winchester, how are you already out of MP?! I swear, if you put whiskey in your mana potions again I will rip your fucking liver out and feed it to you!"
She kept giving out orders while firing her bow from a distance. Even if the enemy was more numerous, the adventurers had magic support on their side, which made them the superior force. The only worry was making sure none of the people under her command died to this scum.
Just then she saw a Fireball stream in from the treeline. Her first thought was that more bandits had shown up, but quickly abandoned tht thought when she saw the Fireball accurately hit one of the bandits in the back, setting him on fire while he screamed his lungs out. The Ranger quickly tracked its point of origin to female human Caster emerging from the treeline. She had auburn hair tied in a long ponytail and wore long, gray robes. It was plainly obvious she had been badly hurt. Her right thigh had a deep gash in it with copious amounts of blood leaking from it. Her robe had been slashed up along her thigh and shoulder, and it looks like she cauterized her wounds with magic. Let's not even mention that heavy limp she had.
"I am an adventurer from Monotal and that fiend's master!" she yelled towards the Ranger. "I will support you!"
"Understood! We welcome the assist!" came the immediate reply.
The Ranger was honestly glad. Looks like they wouldn't have to face off against that fiend. Honestly, she had serious doubts she was actually leashed. She knew demons were brutal by nature and that bandits were to be killed on sight by law, so she could accept a certain amount of violence under the circumstance. However, ripping off a guy's arms and and then beating him across the head with them while repeatedly yelling 'Stop hitting yourself!' was perhaps a bit too violent. It's like her master didn't even try to restrain the demon under her charge.
Which was more or less the case. That red demon's actual master was currently busy stalking one of the two deserters from earlier. It had neither the time, the opportunity nor desire to reign in its rampaging familiar. In fact, 'run wild and mow them down' were pretty much the orders it gave Kora in the first place.
"Haah, haah, haah," panted the bandit as he leaned against a tree to catch his breath. He was a young man, barely 17 years of age. That Mass Panic from earlier hit him hard. It was his first time experiencing that sort of depthless desperation. When he finally regained his senses, however, he had already deserted the battle. And he knew full well what that leader did to deserters. Therefore, he just kept running. Fighting people was one thing, but he never signed up for that sort of freaky monster shit. How come he had to-
Assassination Skill triggered. Your attack has dealt 250% more damage. Target HP -563.
You have slain your target in a single strike. Assassination Proficiency increased.
Proficiency level increased. Assassination is now Level 6. AGI +2. DEX +1. STR +1.
The mithril dagger was then casually withdrawn from the back of his throat, pulling his body down in the process. Boxxy then immediately activated its Cadaver Absorption Skill. This should be the last one it needed before reaching the next Skill Level.
Your Cadaver Absorption was a minor success!
12% of the target's highest Attribute has been added to your own. AGI +10.
Proficiency level increased. Cadaver Absorption is now Level 5. All Attributes +1.
And indeed it was. It even got some tasty tasty Attributes from it as a bonus! It would seem that taking part in that little struggle was the right choice. Even if its Jobs were slow to increase in Level, it could still spend some time and train up some of the Skills it had been neglecting recently. Such as, for example, Stealth.
Description: The practice of thinning out one's presence in order to avoid detection
Requirements: AGI 15, DEX 15, INT 5
Type: Toggled (ON)
Activation Time: Instant
Cost: 10 MP
Range: Self
Effects: Suppresses all sounds made by movement.
Drains 2 MP for every 1 meter traveled in any direction.
The noise suppression effect of this Skill improves with each Level of this Skill.
Honestly, this entire encounter so far felt oddly nostalgic. Boxxy felt like it had been forever since it actually managed to ambush something properly, even though it's only been about a week in reality. Well, from the perspective of something that's only been alive for 3 months, that's still quite a long time. Even the core meltdown that happened earlier today already felt like a distant memory.
Ah, but now wasn't the time to space out and reminisce about the past. It had hunted down one of the rats that tried to flee the sinking ship, but the other one had escaped in a different direction entirely. Boxxy wasn't very good at tracking so, realistically speaking, its chanced of tracking him down now were catastrophically low. It could keep looking around blindly, but perhaps it would be better to go back and make sure that tasty buffet it left behind didn't go anywhere?
Speaking of which, it had been about 7 or 8 minutes since it left that battle. Wouldn't it be prudent to check on the situation? Yes, that seemed like a-
Your target has been obliterated. HP -934.
Your familiar has been banished.
Your target has been blown away. HP -601.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -915.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -951.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -734.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -886.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -860.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -903.
Your target has been blown away. HP -812.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -894.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -847.
Your target has been blown away. HP -794.
Your target has been blown away. HP -689.
Your target has been obliterated. HP -920.
The slaughter invigorates you. HP +126. MP +112.
Proficiency level increased. Power Overwhelming is now Level 4. INT +4.
Proficiency level increased. Crystallize Magic is now Level 3. INT +2. WIS +2.
Proficiency level increased. Ruin Mastery is now Level 6. INT +2. WIS +1. END +1.
Level up!
Level up!
Congratulations, you are now a level 24 Warlock! INT +4. MNT +4. END +4.
Several seconds after that, it was notified that the four targets that were 'blown away' had suffered blunt force trauma, presumably on impact with the ground, giving it an extra 18 HP and 16 MP through the Butcher of Humanity Perk. It also heard the distant echo of an explosion roll through the forest.
"Arms, any survivors?"
"I don't think so, Master. That bitch blew up good! She took out the whole lot of them in- Oh wait! One of them's still twitching!"
Proficiency level increased. Summon Familiar is now Level 7. INT +2. WIS +1. MNT +1.
The slaughter invigorates you. HP +19. MP +18.
"There, all done!"
"Good. Guard the place, I'll be there later. I have prey to hunt."
"Yes, Master."
The Mimic felt oddly satisfied as it began its search for the last survivor. As expected of the Snack, it came up with a truly tasty plan. Boxxy would never have considered gaining the trust of adventurers just to explode them all at once in a suicide attack by detonating a Big Bang Ball. That was the nickname it had given to the potent combination of Power Overwhelming, Dark Explosion and Spell Crystal.
Incidentally, the Bang Ball was the same, only without the Power Overwhelming, and the Mass Panic Spell Crystals were referred to simply as Boo Balls. It's true that, technically speaking, they weren't actually balls, but the Mimic didn't really sweat the small stuff. Besides, there was no way in hell it could actually say something like 'dodecahedron,' no matter how many times Xera tried to teach it.
Speaking of which, Boxxy was still unsure as to one aspect of her anti-adventurer plan, but it was hard to argue with tasty results like these. Therefore, it decided to accept that jamming the 10-centimeter wide crystal up the succubus's asshole was probably for the best.
|General Information
|Job Information
|Boxxy T. Morningwood
|Mimic (Greater)
|3 months
|314/900 (+1.1/sec)
|Skill List
|Cadaver Absorption
|Sword Mastery
|Projectile Mastery
|Natural Armor
|Dagger Mastery
|Summon Familiar
|Ruin Mastery
|Power Overwhelming
|Domination Mastery
|Crystallize Magic
|Spell List
|Mass Panic
|Dark Infusion
|Dark Explosion
|Mind Blast
Support "Everybody Loves Large Chests"
- Chestiest Chest That Ever Chested
Bio: I'm a programmer, a mythical creature that survives completely on beer and cynicism. We skulk in the dark, secretly cursing and despising everyone else. Especially other programmers.


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Directed by John Schlesinger
Written by Frederic Raphael
(number 260)
I had no idea what this was going in. In actuality it's a movie about a woman, a model, who's absolutely determined to get ahead in her career. She does this in a string of love affairs, being rather ruthless about cheating on her partners, moving around and up and ignoring her own feelings.
Diana: Oh it should be so easy to happy, shouldn't it? It should be the easiest thing in the world. I wonder why it isn't?
It's an amazing time capsule of the sixties. In black and white but utterly sparking with kitten heels, go go dresses, fashionable suits and beehives. Julie Christie is charming as Diana, bored to death of things staying the same for more than five minutes, beautiful and with that gorgeous low voice.
Homosexuals exist in this movie! They're creepy ! But they're there! Well. The creepy ones are in Paris. There's a very nice gay photographer in Italy who's actually a decent person so that's good. Apparently no homosexuals in London though.
And the french have whacky parties where everyone strips and puts on other people's clothing and then they all are horrid to each other. Oh those swinging sixties. I have no context for if this is realistic for the society at the time.
Does it make me love the people? This is a tough one, really. I mean I'm definitely on Diana's side, but she's also a bit of a jerk. Like, it's hard to really worry about her or hope that she finds happiness. I really don't like Robert, which is I think, a lot of the point of him. He's an asshat, but his actions do make sense after what she's done to him. But I don't like him. The other men (maybe aside from Miles) are barely present much of the time – which I'm sure is an intention of the script.
Bechdel test: Yes, a couple of times. Although mostly what we see is Diane talking to men, there are a couple of scenes. When she's in the baby shop with her friend and she speaks to other named women at a dinner party.
Best line:
Diane: Do you have parents? I can't imagine you with parents.
Miles: I do, two of them.
D: Imagine if.. it took three
M: it took three?
D: sexes. To make a child.
State of Mind: I did get bored part way through. I feel like there's an edited version one could make, cutting out 30 or 45 mins and it'd be tight and entertaining. As it is I like as a time capsule, and it's so refreshing to have a movie off this list which is entirely about a woman and her story. I'm not sure about if I'd watch it again, the ending is not exactly a happy one and it's a little too long, but overall an interesting film.

subset: commoncrawl


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Most of us think of Sabbath as simply not working on Sunday. But the framework of the Sabbath calls us to live intentionally mindful of the gifts God has given us and our response to them. During this season of Lent, we will consider several aspects of Sabbath living and look at ways to incorporate them into our everyday lives, during Lent and beyond.
Our Lenten reflections begin on Ash Wednesday, February 13, and continue through Holy Week.
Other Resources for your Lenten Journey:
The brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist have created a video series on prayer as a Lenten resource. A short video from the series, Praying Our Lives, will be available each day in Lent through Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfSSJE> , Twitter <http://twitter.com/ssjeword> , YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/user/SSJEOnline> and Pinterest <http://pinterest.com/ssje/praying-our-lives-lent-daily-videos/>
Or sign up to receive the daily videos at ssje.org/prayer <http://www.ssje.org/prayer> .
CREDO, the Episcopal Church's health and wellness initiative, offers Feeding and Fasting, a series of reflections for Lent. The series invites us to a holy Lent both by taking on those disciplines that bring us closer to God, and shedding those indulgences, habits, and practices that steal our attention.
Click here for more info and to sign up.
Parishioners at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Wimberley, Texas, post daily reflections based on the Episcopal Church Daily Office readings. To read them, click here: http://www.ststeve.org/content/documents/devotionals.pdf
Read morning and evening devotions offered by the Mission of St. Clare


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Despite being around for more than a decade, Pokémon is a popular franchise worldwide. Kids of all ages still line up to get the latest adventure starring their favorite trainable creatures. To a lesser extent, the Nobunaga's Ambition stories and games also have a devout legion of fans, even if the fan base doesn't extend beyond Japan. Despite the two franchises having nothing in common, they've teamed up for Pokémon Conquest, a game that works surprisingly well despite bringing both series out of their comfort zone.
The plot certainly feels like a typical Pokémon game but with a stylized historical slant. You play the role of a damiyo, either male or female, with a loyal Eevee at your side. As the newest damiyo in the Japan-inspired land of Ransei, you swear to unify the land under your banner to awaken a legendary Pokémon and bring peace to the region. To do so, you go to the 17 other regions with your Pokémon army to challenge and defeat the other damiyos until you reach Nobunaga, the man who initiated the unification of Japan but wants to harness the power of a legendary Pokémon to destroy Ransei.
Though gameplay is still turn-based, the game plays much differently than any other Pokémon title, both in and out of battle. Instead of going with a more traditional RPG battle system, the game switches to something similar to a strategy RPG system. After selecting up to six Pokémon and their respective warlords, you're sent into a battlefield against up to six other Pokémon and their warlords to fulfill the goals necessary for a win. Some of those goals include capturing a set of war banners first or surviving a number of turns, but most involve defeating every enemy before all of the turns are used up.
The battlefield contains your standard grid with elevation differences, and there are other environmental hazards, such as falling rocks, pillars of flame, and pits. At the beginning of each turn, you can move your Pokémon to any space within its reach or use an item to cure ailments, replenish energy or temporarily augment abilities. You can also call upon the abilities of the selected warlords to further augment the abilities of the individual Pokémon or the whole team. Combat is also governed by the given attack's reach and environmental factors, such as land elevation and the position of the Pokémon you're attacking. Such factors determine the likelihood of an effective attack as well as the amount of damage you'll inflict.
These simple battle mechanics are simplified even due to some restrictions. The warlords can only carry one item per fight, and their personal ability can only be used once per fight. The Pokémon only come with one attack, and it can't be swapped out for another ability, though they have a non-attack ability that automatically triggers under certain conditions. Combos are nonexistent, and the leveling system is replaced by a bonding system. The more you fight with that Pokémon, the stronger the bond becomes between Pokémon and warlord, which, in turn, automatically increases their stats.
Amazingly enough, the simplicity of the battles actually makes the battles more exciting. The item limitations make you focus on which essential items you need to bring into battle since you can't just grab healing potions at any time. The limited move is better suited for aggressive players since you can't spend every turn belting out defensive maneuvers, but that omission doesn't feel like a detriment once you start playing. You get the feeling that the game is actively trying to avoid battles of attrition, and at a time when strategy RPGs feel overly complicated, the simpler approach feels new and will hopefully bring more people to the genre.
Outside of battles, Pokémon Conquest retains the traits of a strategy RPG rather than a traditional Pokémon title. There are kingdoms you can visit, but you don't get to walk through them. You also can't go into the wilderness between the kingdoms and expect to run into foes. Instead, you're limited to direct travel from one kingdom to another, and travel within the kingdoms is restricted to specific shops for items. There also happen to be food shops where you can give your Pokémon a quick strength boost to help foster the bond between warlord and Pokémon.
The non-combat segments of the game serve a greater purpose: kingdom management. You'll eventually have enough warlords following you around that you can't have them go into every battle. Once this happens, you can assign these warlords to preside over the conquered portions of the kingdom to protect against invasion and automatically harvest things, like gold. They can also be called on as reinforcements when you invade neighboring kingdoms, similar to the Empires spin-offs of the Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors series. That's really the extent of it, but it provides another layer outside of army management for strategy fans.
For the strategy fan, all of this sounds like fun, and even though it lacks the complicated mechanics of the other console strategy RPGs, the simplicity doesn't make it any less engaging. Even the game's length seems perfect. The main mission doesn't take that long to complete, but several bonus missions make up for that by giving players the chance to play without being shackled by the main tale.
However, there are a few things that will disappoint the more dedicated Pokémon fans simply due to their expectations. Even though the creature roster covers the gamut from the original Red/Blue games to the more recent Black/White games, there are only 200 Pokémon available in this title. Each warlord can only carry one Pokémon at a time, and the very limited move set on the Pokémon means that classic strategies may be thrown out the window. Also, the innate desire to catch every Pokémon just isn't there. Doing so fills up a gallery in the main menu, but since it abandons the idea of collecting the creatures to help a professor's research, there's little motivation coming from the story, only die-hard fans will partake in the collection endeavor.
Like a good number of Pokémon titles, the game has a multiplayer mode where you'll pit your army of warlords and Pokémon against another player's army. As expected, the multiplayer battles are quite good, but it is still limited to local play with multiple carts. Despite having the Wi-Fi logo on the box, online is limited to content downloads only, so those who are hoping for online combat will have to wait for the next game in the series to hopefully support it.
Graphically, Pokémon Conquest does well. The sprite-based graphics appear more detailed, and the Pokémon look a little more detailed than before, but the attacks carry more frames of animation and more effects, making them stand out more and become more meaningful. The backgrounds also benefit from the added detail, and even though the battles adopt the standard floating polygon plane such as games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea, the battlegrounds feel rich thanks to the little things, like rushing water in the rivers, plumes of fire and smoke in the lava lands, and the leaves of the bushes rustling in the wind. Armed with the bright colors most Nintendo games have been known for, it may not boast graphics that push the system, but it does remain a good-looking title on the old portable.
As far as sound is concerned, it's no different from the other Pokémon titles that have come before. The music still carries a whimsical tone to make the traditional Japanese-themed score feel familiar to longtime fans. The score is comprised of completely original works, though, so don't expect to hear any reimagined pieces from other Pokémon titles here. The effects are just as good as they are in the main game, with the volume and pitch coming out just right from the system's speakers. The game still stays away from voices when the Pokémon appear on the field and when any of the warlords speak, but that's been a trait of the games for so long that few will mind.
Pokémon Conquest ends up being a fun title thanks to its simple but effective take on the strategy RPG genre. The presentation is done nicely, and the game manages to stick to some of the tenets of the series well enough to not alienate longtime Pokémon fans. Though the game feels like it breezes by rather quickly compared to the other series spin-offs, the bonus missions, the promise of downloadable content, and the prospect of local multiplayer give the game some legs and should appeal nicely to those who want to test their strategy chops with familiar characters. It's a very solid and fun effort that is possibly one of the last standout titles for the aging DS system.
Score: 8.5/10
More articles about Pokémon Conquest


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Hyderabad, India : vCentric Technologies, a leading CMMI Level 3 and an ISO 9001:2015 accredited Information Technology Services and Technology Consulting Company, with major focus on SAP, today announced that SAP has recognized it as a finalist for an SAP® Pinnacle Award in the SAP S/4HANA Partner of the Year – Small and Midsize Companies category.
The SAP® Pinnacle Awards is SAP's premier global partner recognition program. It aims to highlight and appreciate the outstanding partners that have excelled in developing a partnership with SAP while growing mutual business by helping customers run better. Finalists and winners in 19 categories were chosen based on recommendations from the SAP field, customer feedback and performance indicators, including a Customers' Choice award, which recognizes a customer-nominated SAP partner.
Speaking on the occasion, Venugopal Uppalapati, Chairman,said, "We are delighted and are privileged to have been recognized as a finalist for SAP® Pinnacle Awards 2017. We would like to thank SAP for extending to us unprecedented support and guidance. With this acknowledgment, I am confident, vCentric would gear up to attain even bigger challenges in future. With innovations, we believe in serving our customers with the right technology solutions for making the customer transform into being a next-generation enterprise. vCentric shall be looking to concentrate on growth markets, being Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in near future."
SAP S/4HANA is designed to drive business innovation with simplicity by connecting people, devices and business networks in real time to support the development of new business models. Over the two months Feb-March 2017, vCentric enabled six customers across Automotive, EPC, FMCG, Aviation, and Infrastructure Service Providers, Glass Manufacturing to Go-Live with SAP S4/HANA. The simplified data model allows customers to reimagine their IT, helping to drive lower costs and aiming to help deliver IT efficiency.
About vCentric
vCentric is a leading CMMI Level 3 and an ISO 9001:2015 accredited Information Technology Services and Technology Consulting Company, with a major focus on SAP. vCentric is known for customer centricity, commitment and outcome based solutions with strong credentials in Implementations, Rollouts, Developments, Support, Consulting and System Integrations. Serving over 120+ customers in varied industries with a seasoned team of 650+ consultants predominantly SAP, supported by robust methodologies and quality frameworks, strives to deliver value to customers.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Media Contact
Company Name: vCentric
Contact Person: Shobana Sai
Email: email@example.com
Phone: 91.40.4455 9999
Country: India
Website: http://www.vcentric.com/


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Sterling gives up gains as Johnson joins Davis and quits
Jonelle Slocum (2018-07-20)
Mr Johnson's resignation sent the pound tumbling into the red, down 0.1% against both the dollar and euro at 1.32 and 1.12 respectively in afternoon trade.
The British currency had been riding high earlier in the session after Mr Davis resigned, with traders interpreting his departure as increasing the chances of a so-called "soft Brexit".
Boris Johnson
But the departure of Mr Johnson plunges Prime Minister Theresa May into a fresh leadership crisis.
Connor Campbell, financial analyst at SpreadEx, said: "With that being two Cabinet resignations in less than 24 hours, the pound began to fret about the chances of a formal challenge to Theresa May's leadership from inside the Tory party, and the subsequent potential for another general election.
"To be fair to sterling, however, it avoided falling off a cliff like http://jasadomino.net/ it might well have done, instead producing a more measured reaction to the day's twists and turns."
Cabinet meeting
The resignations of the two Cabinet "big beasts" comes just days after Mrs May secured senior ministers' agreement at Chequers for a Brexit plan about which both men had expressed reservations.
In explaining his resignation, Mr Davis warned that the UK is giving "too much away, too easily" in the Brexit talks, claiming that the Government had gone further than it should have in the negotiations.
Staunch Brexiteer Dominic Raab was named as Mr Davis's replacement as Secretary of State for Leaving the EU.
"The big question now is, how much of a domino effect will this Davis/Johnson double have in the coming days (and indeed hours), and whether or not May has the support to climb onto her job," Mr Campbell added.
Teléfono: (+598) 2359 5478
Fax: (+598) 2354 2052


text: Secret Bandit 52 Report post Posted July 7, 2014 Hey guys and girls, I have chronic lung disease and therefore am on and off steroids a lot! This is why I am now a bandit in the first place - pre steroids I actually had an eating disorder and weighed only about 39kgs. But after being put on these nasty drugs for years and years I now have the other end type of weight problem which is very hard mentally to go to such extremes. I have avoided steroids now for a year and found organic ways to help myself but with this cold weather my little lungs couldn't cope and now I'm back on the drugs. But! What's different this time is I am a proud (secret) bandit and have all of you to help me. So how to avoid the nasty 10+kg weight gain that a 2week course of steroids normally comes with? I barely eat now I'm just a night time snacker. But I get extremely hungry on these awful drugs and any advice you have to give me will be appreciated! I don't really have room for more fill as I'm sitting between perfect and too full right now. Any other advice? Half of this must be head hunger.... Thanks in advance and please no nasty comments. You got nothing nice to say then say nothing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Here's an elegant and refreshing dish that features a wine syrup drizzled over grapefruit segments (skip the syrup on the kids' portions) and served in hollowed-out halves.
- Yield
- Makes 8 servings
- 10 red grapefruit
- 3/4 cup dry red wine, such as Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon
- 3/4 cup sugar
- Cut peel and white pith from 6 grapefruit. Working over bowl, cut between membranes to release segments. Cover and chill segments at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.
- Cut remaining 4 grapefruit in half. Using juicer, juice grapefruit. Pour 3/4 cup juice into heavy medium saucepan. (Reserve any remaining juice for another use.) Using spoon, scoop out membranes from grapefruit halves and discard, reserving grapefruit cups. Add wine and sugar to juice in saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Cool wine syrup to room temperature. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover grapefruit halves and wine syrup separately and refrigerate. Bring wine syrup to room temperature before using.)
- Arrange grapefruit cups on large platter. Divide segments among cups. Drizzle each grapefruit cup with wine syrup and serve.


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We are happy to announce the creation of a new World Faith Chapter – World Faith Tanzania! World Faith Tanzania – YOPA (Youth Power in Action), is a program established in partnership with the International Development Fraternity (IDF) Tanzania. YOPA focuses on providing college students in Tanzania with the skills they need to prevent and control the spread of HIV, and to initiate their own micro-enterprise businesses. Additional project focuses are capacity building programs, the creation of self employment as well as youth empowerment. Under the leadership of Julius M. Limbitu, National Director of World Faith Tanzania, YOPA will pursue World Faith´s mission of interfaith cooperation through community service projects. We are excited to welcome our new chapter and look forward to a fruitful cooperatio
For more information visit: https://worldfaith.org/africa/45-tanzania


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It's a somewhat gross but sad fact of life—people shed, we get dirty, and we clog drains. Instead of buying a drain-declogging tool like the Zip-It, you can quickly make your own with a plastic drink bottle.
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All you need for this quick project is a two litre bottle, some masking tape, and some newspaper. After cutting a thin strip of newspaper, you can wrap it around the bottle to guide the spiraled lines you'll need to cut along. After cutting the bottle into one long strip of plastic, you'll want to make some "teeth" by cutting small incisions along the sides of the strip, that will grab any debris inside your drain. Hit the link for more detailed instructions and lots of helpful pictures, and check out the video above to see it in action (warning: it's a little gross, but really demonstrates how awesome this thing can be).
Recycled Plastic Drain Declogger | Dollar Store Crafts


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https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=17436 Summary: move text/javascript to application/javascript Product: HTML WG Version: unspecified Platform: PC OS/Version: Windows NT Status: NEW Severity: normal Priority: P2 Component: HTML5 spec (editor: Ian Hickson) AssignedTo: email@example.com ReportedBy: firstname.lastname@example.com QAContact: firstname.lastname@example.com CC: firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com In the specification: http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec-LC/infrastructure.html#dependencies The default type is specified as: "text/javascript" which is obsolete and I think it would be better to be: "application/javascript" Despite its lack of Internet explorer adoption I see that less of an issue as it will hinder the adoption of the correct mime type. I feel a note explaining the differences and that "application/javascript" is the correct usage and also the default would preserve the integrity of this document and be in tune with what IETF are specifying. -- Configure bugmail: https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.Received on Thursday, 7 June 2012 11:45:30 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Thursday, 29 October 2015 10:16:23 UTC


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As a small law firm we view every case as important and give the full attention and consideration required. This is our commitment. Personal service is a top priority.
We believe your reputation, liberty and livelihood – including your right to drive – are of the utmost importance. Our representation will be of the highest standard and aimed at achieving the best available outcome.
We provide quality, cost effective legal representation, and are committed to providing personal attention and assistance to each client for their particular case while ensuring their legal rights are protected.
We listen closely to concerns and will take the time to explain the legal process.
We always keep clients informed of the progress of their matters.
Our clients receive realistic and accurate advice.


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The Food Pantry is a parish ministry dedicated to helping those who are falling short and may need some extra food. It feeds both the low-income and the homeless; the former are defined as those who have access to cooking facilities, while the latter do not. Each is provided with the most appropriate types of food.
This ministry relies entirely on volunteers, who are needed at two times per week. On Monday morning, Fr. Leo supervises the unloading of the delivery truck and the stocking of the shelves/freezers with the donated food. On Saturday, our coordinator, Nancy Stellos, oversees the preparation of food packages and the actual distribution of these to clients who show up and are certified as being in need.
Operating hours on Saturday are 8:00am until noon when the Pantry closes.
Volunteers are welcome at either time. If you are available to help with the unloading on Mondays, please contact Fr. Leo Prengaman,SJ or call: 323-462-6311. If you can assist on Saturdays, please contact Nancy Stellos.
~Matthew 25:35
For I was hungry and you gave me food."


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Our semi-regular Ottolenghi potluck club had its first meeting for 2016 on the January 26 public holiday. With warm weather forecast and a whole day to prepare food, I decided to whip up a couple of salads from Plenty More as our savoury contribution to the spread (the full feast is on display over on our facebook page). My first choice was pumpkin with chilli yoghurt and coriander sauce (pictured above), at least partly because it was pitched as the simplest recipe in the whole book. Given I was turning the oven on to cook the pumpkin, I stuck to the 'roast' section of the book and added the roasted cauliflower, grape and cheddar salad as dish #2.
The pumpkin dish was indeed easy - you roast up some cinnamon-coated pumpkin wedges, whiz together a herby sauce and stir some Sriracha into yoghurt and you're done. The results belie the relative simplicity of the recipe - the sweetness of the pumpkin perfectly complements the tangy yoghurt and the slightly salty coriander sauce.
The cauliflower salad also proved to be relatively simple (I'm pretty amazed that each of these recipes just have one fresh herb and leave it at that). Again, the pay-off easily exceeds the effort put in - roasting cauliflower really brings out its sweet nuttiness while adding some slightly smoky hints (if you get the charring level right). The remaining ingredients - grapes, cheddar, hazelnuts, raisins and parsley - are just about a perfect combination of flavours and textures.
Making these two recipes in one hit is a relatively efficient way to get stuck into Plenty More - all the miscellaneous prep can be done while the pumpkin and cauliflower are roasting, so the whole process should take less than 90 minutes. We've already remade the pumpkin dish once, and I reckon both of these will slip into our semi-regular Ottolenghi rotation.
Pumpkin with chilli yoghurt & coriander sauce
(very slightly adapted from a recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty More)
1 large butternut pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
90ml olive oil
1 small bunch coriander
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
200g Greek yoghurt
1-2 tablespoons Sriracha chilli sauce
salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Halve the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. Cut the pumpkin into thin wedges (about 2cm thick and 10cm long). Leave the skin on. Put all the wedges in a bowl and mix through the ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Lay the pumpkin wedges out on a baking tray (or two) with the skin down. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the pumpkin is cooked through and starting to brown up.
Combine the coriander (leave a few leaves aside for garnishing), garlic, the remaining olive oil and another pinch of salt in a small food processor and blitz to a smooth paste.
When you've got about 10 minutes left on the pumpkin roasting, pop the pumpkin seeds in on another tray to roast. Keep a close eye on them and pull them out when they've just started to blister and crisp up.
Swirl together the yoghurt and the chilli sauce.
Allow everything to cool a bit. Lay the wedges on a platter and drizzle over with the yoghurt sauce and the herb paste and then scatter the pumpkin seeds and reserved coriander leaves on top.
Roasted cauliflower, grape & cheddar salad
(very slightly adapted from a recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty More)
(very slightly adapted from a recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty More)
1 head of cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets
90ml olive oil
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and roughly crushed
100g crumbled cheddar cheese
100g red grapes, halved (and seeded if necessary)
1/2 bunch parsley, roughly chopped (about 3/4 cup)
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Toss the cauliflower with half the oil and some salt and pepper. Spread them out on a baking tray and roast for 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times. You want them to come out golden brown. Set aside to cool.
Whisk together the rest of the oil, the mustard, the vinegar, syrup and some salt. Add the raisins to the dressing and let them marinate for 10 minutes or so.
When you're ready to serve things up put the cauliflower in a large mixing bowl, along with the hazelnuts, cheese, grapes and parsley and then pour over the raisins and the dressing. Toss everything together gently and serve.


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Pregnancy is anything but predictable. Some women do not experience any problems, while others are simply miserable. Whether you are one of the lucky ones or not, this article has some tips to help you through your pregnancy.
Having a baby? Have you decided to breastfeed your baby? Planning on breastfeeding in public, but you want to do so discreetly? Nursing clothing can help you! There are stores and companies that specialize in discreet, comfortable and fashionable nursing wear. With this sort of clothing, people can't see that you are breastfeeding. You might practice breastfeeding before a mirror to get the hang of doing it discreetly.
Don't touch your cat's litter box after becoming pregnant! Litter can have chemicals that are harmful to a woman, while she is pregnant. Ask a friend or family member if they can take care of this chore for awhile.
To get rid of an upset stomach when you're in your first trimester, eating smaller meals more frequently is recommended. Always having food in your stomach can ease stomach problems. Try keeping the foods you're eating fresh and light, too. Lean meats, vegetables and fruits do wonders.
Take a trip to the hospital that you plan to have your baby at. You should plan a tour and introduce yourself to staff members. This will allow you to get some of your questions answered so you won't be as stressed out. This is especially important to expectant fathers, who will likely be dealing with the staff more when the mother goes into labor.
Pregnancy has a limited time span; it won't last forever. When it is over, you will have something to cherish for the rest of your life. The advice provided in this article can help the pregnancy process run as smoothly as possible so that you can look back on your pregnancy with a smile.


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To find your nearest after school mini-media creative workshop, or if you would like an after school workshop at your school please email us for more information:
For examples of our creative workshops, please visit our Gallery.
After school based workshops
Holiday Workshops
Creative, fun workshops where we make & create with both indoor and outdoor activities!
For information on our latest creative holiday workshops, please subscribe to our email list.
See our gallery for previous workshop projects.


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You Won't Believe What Kind Of Ride This Man Took To The Pub
When police were called to the scene of the Purple Pub in Newman, Western Australia – a small, relatively quiet mining town with a population of only about 4,000 people -- surely, they were not expecting to find what they did. Nestled between the many cars of the pub's patrons in the Purple Pub's parking lot sat a small plane. Apparently, the owner of the two-seat Beechcraft plane taxied the plane down the main thoroughfare of Newman, traveling through the whole town, before reaching the pub and stopping there.


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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
- July 14, 2010 at 10:50 am
"Your Twitter class has been very helpful to me. I now know where to find the people I REALLY want to connect with and am steadily adding people. That has had an immediate affect on more people following me too. So I am finding my way with Twitter! Thank you so much for a great class."
- October 19, 2010 at 6:24 am
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- May 30, 2018 at 5:01 am
"Your Twitter class has been very helpful to me. I now know where to find the people I REALLY want to connect with and am steadily adding people. That has had an immediate effect on more people following me too. So I am finding my way with Twitter! Thank you so much for a great class."
Leave a Comment


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The Client
With clinics on 3 continents, this organization is a world leader in hair restoration and scalp disorders. Their web based sales and service launch brought them to us.
The Challenge
The client came to Launch Team looking for a rapid and strategic launch of a new US website with architecture to support their global expansion. Wanting to break into the highly competitive US market with a different approach, they sought a marketing mix that would build brand awareness and loyalty while upholding their company philosophy of transparency, evidence-based education, and personalization.
How We Helped
Understanding the tight time to market and need to self-fund, Launch Team acted as their marketing department, designed a new website and applied an inbound marketing strategy, choosing earned and social media to promote the brand. Customer success, case studies, and education on the technology were key. Blogs, ebooks, and social media posts were implemented by our team to drive traffic. Working in phases, we have built an e-commerce and service infrastructure that allows them to scale fast. From a media tour to consulting on e-commerce operations, we function as a true partner to the company's CEO.
The Results
In 4 months working with Launch Team, traffic grew 250% and leads 300%.
Key Component
Establishing credibility and trust in an online market filled with false promises had to be managed in order to make the complete marketing strategy work. By developing client profiles, building third-party testimonials, and honing in on the company philosophy, we were able to construct content that conveyed the appropriate message. Through our strategy we created a two-way dialogue to increase, clients, loyalty, referrals and awareness. A well-trained customer support system available to guide clients through the hair restoration process was also assembled in order to build trust.


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If you would like to explore and appreciate the landscape surrounding our territory, don't hesitate to join us on our cycling- tours!
The family-meant itineraries we propose do have different difficulty level each, in order to allow everybody to find a suitable option according to their needs.
For expert bikers, who love challenges, instead, TOPbike will be pleased to match specific requests and design customized tours.
Proposal n° 1: Riding Pineto - Scerne – Pineto, and aperitif with typical local products (difficulty level: easy)
Proposal n° 2: Riding Pineto – Mutignano – Pineto, stop in the BORGO ANTICO and aperitif with typical local products (difficulty level: 6 km uphill to get to Mutignano)
Proposal n° 3: On Streetstepper along the seaside!(fitness for everyone)
.....and even more!
Via de Titta - 64025 Pineto (TE)
Tel. 349 39 08 628 - 338 29 98 601
Summer (from April to October):
8:30 - 13:00 15:00 - 19:30 Monday to Saturday
Winter (from November to March):
9:00 - 12:30 15:30 - 19:30 Tuesday to Saturday
Sunday Closed


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To make a mark in our chosen area, by being ever abreast of new possibilities. To anticipate the needs of our customers and end users and to translate their requirements into meaningful products. To create, innovate and produce excellence through a philosophy of uncompromising dedication at every level of function. To nurture a lasting relationship with our distributors- our partners in growth, through empathic understanding and mutual respect. To leverage our human resources by recognizing and rewarding talent, to create an ethos of perfectionism.
What has earned us the loyalty of the most demanding customers in the world? What gives us the edge to deliver greater value to customers? Firstly, our experience (over 60 years) in understanding a patient's need and a doctor's requirement. Secondly, our first-hand knowledge of designing and developing products. Thirdly, the unquestioned integrity of our products. But most importantly, our ability to serve the emerging needs of our customers with speed and agility. Little surprise that Romsons products are being exported to developed and emerging markets in over 65 countries.
We have the largest product portfolio in the industry (100 products in over 600 sizes), which caters to almost the entire spectrum of patient need. Designed and manufactured to deliver maximum performance and safety, Romsons is the last word in quality. Most significantly, the name Romsons continues to inspire trust for unsurpassed quality, innovation & safety of its products.
You can download our product catalog for detailed information about our products. We manufacture disposable medical devices, ranging from Syringes to Oxy Masks, including devices used in Anesthesia, Surgery and Transfusion.DOWNLOAD CATALOG
Our sales and marketing motto is based on the motto as under:


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For a company that makes jeans, it's strange to see Levi Strauss & Co launch a mobile phone. Then again, everyone's making phones these days. If you like novelty products, then the Levi's phone won't disappoint, but don't expect all the bells and whistles.
It's available to buy from the Carphone Warehouse for free on a monthly contract or around £200 on pay as you go.
Designed by ModeLabs, the company behind the Hummer phone, the Levi's phone is very similar to Samsung's P300 but looks less like a calculator and more like a cigar case or a fancy lighter.
It's relatively small and thin, making it perfect for stuffing into a pair of jeans. The stainless steel casing is sturdy and features the Levi's logo on the back plus small screws on the edges to give it a more industrial feel.
As if that wasn't enough to remind you that you're holding a Levi's phone, it comes with a chain that you can attach to your jeans. When attached, the chain protects the phone against getting smashed on the floor but it looks slightly out of place if you don't normally wear a chain.
Thanks to its design, using the Levi's phone isn't a horrible experience. The keypad is small but very usable and the screen, while petite, lets you read out text messages fairly easily. Viewing pictures on it isn't exactly enjoyable, so don't buy it if you like showing off photos to friends. Equally, the 2-megapixel camera on the back isn't spectacular and produces average shots.
The Levi's phone is much more about style than it is substance and while it is easy to use this is a fashion focussed phone and not meant for gadget freaks.
The Levi's theme continues on the inside with a variety of Levi-based icons and screensavers. The user interface isn't as snazzy as we expected but it's easy to understand.
The menu is made up of nine uninspiring icons giving you access to all the phone's features, which as expected aren't cutting edge.


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The former SKT and Invictus Gaming coach PoohManDu has officially joined Misfits as an Assistant Coach.
He'll join Jesiz, who has been announced to be Head Coach for the 2019 season a couple of weeks ago.
PoohManDu's most notable achievement was winning Season 3 Worlds together with SKT T1. The Support player won Korea's first World Championship title together with Impact, Bengi, Faker, and Piglet.


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While I normally stop at five groups for these assignments, I decided to keep going and feature one more group of great submissions.
Hope you don't mind! I kept finding new ones.
FINALISTS from this week's six groups will be posted Monday morning!
By (sam I am). Uh…the puppy snarl gets me every time.
By RachelNBond. Did anyone see the movie "Donnie Darko?"
Just asking.
By ashleyrthompson. This is very fun. And a very nice pic!
By burgderb. Ho ho ho. Ha ha ha.
By arimophoto. Awwww. Sleepyhead!
By andromeda521. How'd you do that? Cute!
By AmandaPfeifer. The kid on the great grandmother's lap. Oh my.
By Wall Meadows. Great capture! One could assign so many captions to this.
By heather_joy. I love this! He actually looks like he's in pain…(and I love the frilly border.)
By K Couser. This is my favorite kind of staged moment. Ha!
By Lis' photos. This really made me laugh.
By suprasheera. He was trying to turn his sister's head toward the camera; she thought he was giving her something to eat.
I love little kids.
See you Monday for the finalists!


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Our middle school "Collège Victor Hugo" is located in the city centre of Narbonne, a city of 53,000 inhabitants which used to be the Roman capital of Southern France for several centuries. The city is on the eastern side of the Aude département, on the Mediterranean Coast of the new Occitanie region. With its access to the sea, the Aude département has always been a major European crossroads between southern Europe and northern Europe. Agriculture, especially wine-growing, is one of the main resources of its hinterland. However, the département is the third poorest département of France. Locate Narbonne.
Our secondary school is the oldest of the city; it was founded in 1887 and has about 750 students aged 11 to 16 -the age when compulsory education ends in France.
More on the school's history. See [ PHOTOS ]
Our school has 25 classes, but also a unit of 5 Special Education classes called SEGPA (section d'enseignement général et professionnel adapté) for students with learning difficulties (and sometimes behavioral problems) and 2 Special Needs classes - ULIS (Unité Locale d'Inclusion Scolaire) for students with intellectual disability.
Our school also individualizes the curricula of pupils with high intellectual potential (EIP, Elèves Intellectuellement Précoces).
There are also special classes dedicated to music (CHAM) and rugby (Section Sportive), the most popular sport in the region, in partnership with the local music conservatory and the city's professional rugby team.
All our students learn the English Language from year 7 to year 10. (6th grade to 9th grade)
All our students also start learning either Spanish or German as a second modern Foreign language from Year 8.
We also offer a bilingual curriculum from year 7 (English and Spanish) to students who have generally studied both English and Spanish in primary schools.
Our pupils can also attend Latin or Greek lessons if they want to.
Our staff and students are engaged in some European mobility programs. More info on our ERASMUS + mobility actions
Therefore, our school aims at welcoming and helping the most fragile students as well as providing curricula of excellence for others. Boarding is offered in the school to 32 of them on social criteria.
Most of the students that the collège welcomes are socially disadvantaged. 54% of them come from socially disadvantaged families and 41% receive school grants on social criteria. (Figures: 2017)
Our school also welcomes many students who belong to minorities:
- numerous students come from the Spanish gypsy community who has settled down in the region after arriving from Spain, sometimes for several generations now. They speak both catalan and/or castillan and French. Unfortunately, because of their cultural values, they often leave school at an early age.
- every year, some students arrive from foreign countries but do not speak French. They come from E.U countries (Spain, Poland…) or much further away (Morocco, Ukraine, Russia, Brazil, Iraq, Mali, Liberia Taïwan…). Their families settle down in the region to work or to seek asylum (or both). They sometimes come to join some members of their families who already live here. These students have to follow compulsory classes of French when they arrive: they go to a nearby partner school where French as a Second Language is taught to them between 6 and 10 hours a week. They also follow traditional classes with their age group for the rest of the school week.
- isolated foreign minors are sometimes welcomed too: the SAE (Service d'Accueil à l'Enfance) is the local institution which sends these minors to our school which is the only one in the city to welcome them. Students from Sub-Saharan Africa are frequently received.
Our school aims at including all types of students in order to promote the social and cultural cohesion which is of great importance in our school agenda and in the values upheld by the French Republic and the European Union. Moreover, our school wants to prevent early school leaving among students, and minorities in particular, because they are among the most concerned with this issue.
Our school was awarded with the E3D Label in 2019, as its contributions to sustainable developments is an integral part of the School policy. It has implemented practices and actions that preserve the natural environment.
For example, our school is engaged in reducing the consumption of papers for photocopies.
We do no longer use plastic cups, cutleries and straws. We recycle our food waste from the school canteen (mainly vegetables and bread) to feed horses. We also have a food composter, a rainwater reclamator and a local garden.


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New research by Professor Bart Lambrecht of Cambridge Judge examines the interaction of investment, payout and debt – and the key role of managerial preferences on a firm's capital structure.
A new research paper co-authored by Bart Lambrecht, Professor of Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School, examines the interaction between investment, payout, and debt at public companies.
The paper looks at how this interaction can "change dramatically" depending on managers' preferences regarding "intertemporal consumption" (also known as the "utility function"). These preferences determine, for example, whether managers adopt a target debt-to-asset ratio. The research develops a model that encapsulates both "trade-off" and "pecking-order" theories of financing.
Here's a closer look at the ideas explored in the paper – "The dynamics of investment, payout and debt" – co-authored by Professor Bart Lambrecht of Cambridge Judge Business School and Professor Stewart Myers of MIT Sloan School of Management. The paper is forthcoming in the Review of Financial Studies.
Why is it important to consider the investment, financing and payout policies jointly, and what are the basic rules on how these decisions interact?
Finance textbooks often treat these three key policies separately and sequentially, but it's important to look at them in interaction because that's the way corporations are effectively managed. In simple terms, each dollar or pound held by a corporation can be invested, saved or paid out, so these three policies are inextricably linked. Sources of funds (meaning income and net borrowing) must equal a company's use of its funds (in the form of capital expenditure and payouts, such as dividends, bonuses or share repurchases) because funds cannot be created out of thin air, nor should they vanish in thin air. This fundamental equality implies that the firm's financing, investment and payout policies are linked. Changing one of the three policies has implications for the other two. For example, if corporations want to keep payout smooth then this has implications for borrowing, saving and investment.
Who sets the key corporate policies relating to these factors in public corporations?
In the typical Anglo-Saxon firm with dispersed shareholders, these policies are determined by the top management team – but shareholders can intervene if they don't like how managers run the corporation. Such intervention is costly, creating some space for managers to extract "rents" (including their salaries, bonuses, pensions and other monetary benefits) – but for managers the threat of being sacked forces rents to move in lockstep with payout to shareholders – for example, managers who seek to raise their own compensation may have to increase the dividend to keep shareholders at bay. The threat of collective action by shareholders creates a link between payout and managerial compensation – and perceived breach of such a link can result in highly publicised shareholder revolts against large CEO payouts.
Why do managers seek to smooth payout?
Managers are risk averse and want their compensation to be smooth (and uncut) over time. But payout (in terms of dividend or share repurchases) and managerial rents move in lockstep, so payout ends up being smoothed too – generating a steady or rising dividend to shareholders. Payout and rents are usually linked to the firm's long-run sustainable income (known as "permanent" income), with transitory income shocks such as a one-time windfall or foreign currency shift having very little effect on payout and compensation.
How can payout smoothing be achieved given that income is volatile?
Primarily through borrowing and saving. Money is set aside in good times to save for a rainy day, and extra borrowing may be needed if savings are depleted.
What are the implications of payout smoothing for investment and capital structure, and how can large capital expenditure be achieved without cuts in payout?
As long as investments have a positive net present value (the difference between the present value of net cash inflows and outflows), it should be possible for the firm to borrow against the investment's future net cash flows and finance the investment without having to cut payout. This assumes the company has easy access to capital markets, which may not be the case in some developing markets or for distressed firms.
The paper discusses how a firm's capital structure depend on managers' preferences, modelled through the so-called "utility function", how does this work in practice?
For certain preference structures, managers adopt a constant net debt-to-asset ratio. If a company experiences a positive income shock, a manager who prefers such a constant ratio invests more and finances the investment by extra borrowing to keep the leverage ratio on target; similarly, after a negative income shock this manager sells assets (disinvestment) and uses the proceeds to reduce debt in order to get the leverage ratio back on target. The leverage ratio depends on managers' degree of risk aversion: highly risk-averse managers may decide not to take on any debt; such a firm may be all equity financed and the firm's assets may include some cash, causing the firm to have a negative net debt level. For other types of preferences, managers do not maintain a constant debt-to-asset ratio, but keep the capital invested in risky projects constant. Debt becomes a shock absorber: a good income shock does not increase investment but reduces net debt, whereas a bad income shock leads to more borrowing. Profitable firms therefore turn into cash cows, whereas unprofitable firms become heavily indebted and may go out of business.
How does your research paper's model reconcile different theories of capital structure?
The model in effect incorporates both the "trade-off theory" of capital structure (which says companies choose an optimal leverage target determined by the costs and benefits of debt) and the "pecking-order theory" of financing (in which companies typically use first internal funds, followed by debt, followed by equity). The model in this research paper can generate optimal target leverage ratios, as well as pecking order style financing, depending on managers' preferences (utility function).
Find out more
Visit Professor Bart Lambrecht's faculty webpage
Read "The dynamics of investment, payout and debt" by Lambrecht and Myers via the SSRN website