text:
15 Must Have Smart Bike Gadgets.
Fly12: Fly12 is a 1080p HD camera and 400 lumen front light that can record and store your ride in case anything happens. You can connect your Fly12 with your smartphone app, review the footage, save it, and even share it on social media.
Varia Rearview Bike Radar: The Garmin Varia Rearview Radar alerts you of vehicles approaching from behind up to 140 meters. And its smart bike lights adjusts as per your speed to keep you visible and safe.
Rideye - Bike Black Box Camera: Rideye is fixed on your bike's handlebars to record any event in full high-definition (1280 x 720) video onto its internal memory, which can hold 2.5 hours of video and comes with 24 hours power backup.
Lumos: Lumos is an innovative helmet that features automatic brake and turn signal lights to keep you visible and safe on the road. It comes with white lights in the front that are arranged in a distinctive pattern, and red lights at the back form a triangle to keep you visible. Using a wireless remote you can activate the turn signals. Lumos features an accelerometer that detects when you are slowing down and automatically activates your rear lights. Its waterresistant, rechargeable and looks just like a regular bicycle helmet until you turn it on.
SmrtGRiPS: SmrtGRiPS are connected bike grips that provide you eyesfree navigation, haptic feedback notifications, and a bike locator. All you need to do is replace the old grips with these smart grips. These connect to your iOS or Android device, and using haptic technology provides you turn-by- turn directions through your left and right grips. Find your bike in no time using its app; you can quickly locate your bike using the distance indicator or by tapping the "Ring your ride" button. Apart from these, it gives you community-sourced information, like bike lanes, trails, popular routing, nearby friends and more
Schwinn CycleNav Bike Navigation: The Schwinn CycleNav is a smartphone powered bike navigation that's compatible with both iOS and Android (4.1 or later) and provides you with turn-by-turn spoken and visual directions.
Stellight Bike Light: Stellight Bike Light's front light has the brightness of 360 lumens to make you safely visible on the road. Its front knob lets you turn on and change the light pattern of rear light. It comes with 6 built-in light patterns, you can download more patterns or use its app (iOS/Android) to create your own.
Cobi: Cobi is a smart connected biking system that comes with over 100 intelligent features that lets you get more out of your riding experience. It allows you to call friends, listen to music, track your fitness, improve your performance, check the advance weather forecast and much more. Apart from these you get auto brake light and turn signal, signature light with auto dimming light, recharging smartphone dock, thumb controller, remote audio control, hub with security system and much more.
Byxee: Byxee is a smart device that's capable of scanning the road up to 80 feet ahead and detecting potholes, tarmac patches, and other issues and alerting you ahead of time. It's also capable of detecting moving obstacles and uses an acoustic system to alert before hand.
Cookee: Cookee is a smart watch for cyclists that makes your bike smarter. It's capable of recording speed and mileage that can be stored on your smartphone and in the cloudserver. It provides you with notifications of incoming calls and messages; lets you reject unimportant calls with a click. It can be placed on the handlebars or worn on your wrist.
Hammerhead Navigation System: Hammerhead is a bicycle navigation system that attaches onto the front of your bike and wirelessly connects to the included app on your smartphone to guide you to your destination using cues and signals similar to those used by pilots and racecar drivers.
Noke U-Lock: This smart lock is exceptionally strong, smartphone compatible, features an integrated alert, and has a full-featured app. Using your smartphone's Bluetooth Smart connection and the Noke app (iOS, Android, or Windows smartphone) you can lock and unlock it. It works similar to your car security system, you can activate it when you want and automatically deactivate with the app or the quick-click code. At the press of a button, the device wakes up and searches for your smartphone and if you are within a few feet, it instantly unlocks. If someone tries to gain an unauthorized access to your bike, it activates a sound alert getting the attention of anyone within about 50 meters. It even works with your Apple Watch, and in future its said to be compatible with other smart watches (Pebble and Android watches).
Lumigrids Bike Projection System: Lumigrids is a concept light projector for bikes that projects a square grid onto the ground, allowing you to see the terrain ahead. On rough surfaces, the grid is broken, allowing you to adjust your bike accordingly.
Helios Handlebars: These handlebars have a built-in headlight and blinkers system for bicycle. It comes with built-in navigation, and can track your bike location via the GPS on your smartphone.
Rearview Camera: The Rearview Camera attaches to a bicycle's seat post while the color monitor attaches to the handlebar giving you rear-facing 75º field of view. On a two-hours of recharge, you get about 10 hours of working and its weatherproof.
15 Innovative and Cool Bracelet Gadgets.
10 Innovative and Cool Bluetooth Necklaces.
15 Cool Water Powered Designs and Gadgets.
15 Cool and Creative Multi Purpose Coffee Tables.
15 Innovative Power Generating Gadgets and Products.
20 Cool Folding Bikes and Creative Folding Bike Designs.


text:
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|Find the best surf spots
This is an interactive map! Use controls to pan and zoom this map.
Datum: WGS84 [ Help ]
Latitude: 43° 28.906' N
User rating (21)
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On the N632, coming from Ribadesella, near La Torre, take a small road on your right. Follow it for a few kilometers.
DistanceTake a car
WalkInstant access (< 5min)
Easy to find?OK
Public access?Public access
Special accessDon't know
Wave qualityNormal
ExperienceAll surfers
FrequencyDon't know
DirectionRight and left
Normal lengthShort (< 50m)
Good day lengthNormal (50 to 150m)
Good swell direction
Good wind directionNorthWest, West
Swell sizeStarts working at Less than 1m / 3ft and holds up to 2m+ / 6ft+
Best tide positionAll tides
Best tide movement
Week crowdEmpty
Week-end crowdEmpty
- Pollution
This beach is excellent as it picks all the small swell. The landscape is beautiful and the village very typical. Few surfers. So what's the problem ? This is the most polluted beach in this area. This pollution comes from the mines on the main road.
It would have been a perfect spot without the pollution !
Don't put a foot in this kind of water, and write to your local congresman/euroMP whatever.... This kind of eco vandalism must be stopped.
Author: Anonymous Contributors (1) They surfed this spot ! (49)
No video available
|Ninguna sesión de surf
|Ningún viaje de surf
By Hutch , 20-08-2006
Lots of gumbys - Waves supposedly but all I saw was lots of gumbys, so look out if your cooling off in the shorey with your tackers when its small and sloppy.
By Flex , 03-08-2005
- I also went to this beach, and i approve of what you have written. It was the best beach I went to during my trip in asturias. Not many people in the water, and good waves! The landscape is more beautiful than in big spots in front of important cities.
By firstname.lastname@example.com , 06-07-2003
about playa de vega... - i'm french & i want for a trip until Galicia (stop at anglet, mundaka,...) but the best waves were here. there were about 3m and a very nice water colored, with only 4 or 5 locals. It was pretty good! I 'll try to send photos of this place. thank you for your help!
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|Parody of The Hunger Games, a cultural phenomenon I don't quite understand
Friday, March 30, 2012
It had to happen
10 comments:
- AnonymousMarch 30, 2012 at 11:28 AM
I did my Ph.D. in the UK in the mid-80s, so my routine and hours probably look rather laid-back compared with what you guys in the States have to do.ReplyDelete
It was something like: In at 8, work till about 5, then off to the pub to sink 8 pints of lager, followed by a vindaloo (or, when I became more adventurous, a "phal", which renders the mouth completely numb after one mouthfull), then off to a nightclub for some more alcohol, followed by a kebab, then back to a colleagues flat to listen to the Bonzo dog doo-dah band until early morning. This was repeated two or three times a week. Astonishingly I managed to get a Ph.D., but was advised that a post doc was probably not for me (!!)
Do I miss late nights in the lab? Well, I didn't do them on a regular basis, but I pulled the odd 36 hr stretch and, no I don't miss them at all. Snack of choice in the early hours? Probably a kebab. Let's face it, at that time in the morning you'll eat just about anything. If I tried that now it'd probably kill me.
- AnonymousMarch 30, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Oh B*llocks! I posted under the wrong thread. All that alcohol must have addled my brain!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 30, 2012 at 6:43 PM
Which company is the movie set? Pfizer?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 30, 2012 at 8:51 PM
I don't understand it either. I think that explains a) why you called it a "phenomenon" or b) how uncultured I am. Possibly a little of column a and b.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 30, 2012 at 8:54 PM
I don't understand this at all, but that doesn't bother me. From what I can gather, this movie is basically the Running Man with teenagers instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger (translation: BOOOOOOORING!!!!!!!!)ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousMarch 30, 2012 at 11:25 PM
The book is not that bad really, I mean it is quite possible to finish it. And if anything it is the Battle Royale, not the Running Man. The Running Man itself is just one of the countless adaptations of the Prize of Peril.Delete
The movie (and book) is actually an interesting critique of the cult of "reality tv", with a whole extra layer about oppressive societies and the importance of rebellion that becomes the dominant theme in the next two books/movies. It might not be your cup of tea, but it's certainly got substance.Delete
*gets off soapbox*
- AnonymousApril 8, 2012 at 2:21 PM
Thanks for the reply Anne. My comment was tongue-in-cheek, but I'm not the only person who drew this parallel.Delete
So basically what you're saying is that every grad school offers up a number of tributes, and then they all have to shove knives into each others guts, snap each others' necks, blow each other up, and otherwise maim and kill one another just to have a small hope at a decent life (a hope that is, in fact, futile, because then all you are then is a pawn of the NIH/NSF/etc). Tributes from some grad schools have advantages because they were able to train with better resources and their schools have scary reputations, so the odds are tilted in their favor. But the fact remains: there can only be one victor.ReplyDelete
I kind of hope that this scenario ends like the trilogy: scorched earth, and a new beginning.
I am 1) young and 2) female, I just also happen to be a scientist, so of course I got this immediately. Planning to see the movie again this week...
- LabDestroyerApril 2, 2012 at 1:05 PM
Surely the odds were in his favor: http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2012/04/somerville-chemist-first-local-winners-claim-mega-millions-prize/uI6BJKEPqHglHtsQWIbU0M/index.htmlReplyDelete
looks like Blogger doesn't work with anonymous comments from Chrome browsers at the moment - works in Microsoft Edge, or from Chrome with a Blogger account - sorry! CJ 3/21/20


text:
Apr 13, 2012
Red Bull Qualifier Event - This weekend!
State Bicyle's Midnight Crit Poster features a photo of Jason Clary from last year's Red Bull Ride+Style, where he cleaned house on his Pake French 75.
The Red Bull Event will be back in SF again on April 28th.
Posted by
Ma and Pa K
Friday, April 13, 2012
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Future of OA
OpenArena Message Boards
OpenArena Contributions
OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
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Topic: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign (Read 90461 times)
In the year 3000
Cakes 49
Posts: 3775
Trickster God.
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #100 on:
August 22, 2009, 09:31:24 AM »
Coming discussion from DM4ISH topic:
Quote from: Udi on August 22, 2009, 04:23:54 AM
Quote from: |TXC| Neon_Knight on August 21, 2009, 07:17:43 PM
With the map style, I've converted this map to castle theme to make it fit in its tier
on the SP
Okay, but forcing a previous map to be something other just to fit into SP reduces variety of the maps. If a map don't fits, why don't you extend your SP? If you need another map to fill the gaps why don't you make another completely new?
You could add a Lava Tier: Forging Volcanos of <insert good sounding name here>, Land of burning souls etc... And then the tiers would look like this:
Steel/Modern Tier
oa_rpg3dm2 - Trial By Error
sleekgrinder (it's a unique map with the most vertical action) (previously oa_mini)
pul1duel1 - Five Steps Ahead
slimefac - Slime Facility
Factory/Abandoned Tier
oa_dm3 - The Abandoned Base
oa_mini - Mini Arena (previously am_lavaarena)
oa_rpg3dm1/am_underworks - Trapped In Mind/Under Working
blitzkrieg3 - Blitzkrieg Sector (blitzkrieg2 please
Space Tier
oa_pvomit (it's again unique, colorful) (previously am_spacecont)
suspended - Suspended
oa_shine - Shine
czest1tourney - The Space Spire
Small and Furious Tier
oa_dm2 (needs a little improvement)
oa_dm4 (needs a little improvement)
dm6ish - The Dark Zone
aggressor - Aggressor
Lava Tier
oa_shouse - Strange House
ce1m7 / Redish (instead of spacecont)
dm4ish (the original size and lava)
Historic/Ancient Tier
oa_dm5 - The Cistern (the Roman Empire had some advanced water facility)
oa_koth2 - Floating Spire
oa_black (it was thought for tourney, but it's enough big for a lot of bots)
Gothic Tier
kaos2 (not oa_nemesis)
oa_dm1 - The Place of Two Deaths
am_galmevish2 - Galmevish Yards
czest1_dm - The Monastery
So, basically only by rearranging there's place for another 4 maps. Spacecont is a great map, but for now it could be a lava map, and you don't have to retexturize dm4ish. You get some free time without this two maps
. The Tiers can be rearranged of course, so it's more interesting, like modern -> ancient -> space -> gothic -> factory etc...
Well, if you take a look at how I've arranged the tiers, both the maps, bots and bio, with the only exception of the first, all the tiers connects themselves in a way or another, mainly thematically. That's why I didn't put, for example, oa_pvomit on the space tier. Plus, the bots were rearranged (and have its own bio) with that (and playercount the map can hold) in mind.
I mean, look at UT3, any map Epic had done for it follows a theme, even the Titan Pack ones, and all the map themes have a connection which have its source/core on the SP. Do you want another example of tier arrangement? Quake 3 itself. Even with the "Vadrigar reunited all the best warriors on the world and made them fight to please their race" all the maps had a kind of visual connection among them. The exception can be the tier 4, which could have been put as T6 for example. You know, "the game as a whole, rather than just a part of it". ALL the gaming developer houses has that in mind, I don't see why we can't/won't/don't.
In other words, as I've told to chaoticsoldier, IMHO we should work together on a single and coherent thing rather than lots of small works which aren't related between them.
BTW, at this point I'll be doing the SP planning only with the maps which are on the
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem.
Want to contribute? Read
Cakes 25
Posts: 536
i do my own stunts
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #101 on:
August 23, 2009, 06:23:12 AM »
Yeah, I know the mantra:
"Look at commercially successful games, who are working with hired professionals 8 hours a day according to a strict schedule. We can and _should_ do the same with volunteers from around the globe working in their free time."
I don't think so. The cathedral and the bazaar cannot be compared. And here's why: you made a story to include all the models unchanged. Not the models were made for the concept, but the concept for the models, which results in a pretty strange story. It's so weird like
the anime world for Popeye
. But ok, we have one, thanks for your effort. And now you choose maps to strictly fit into the concept. Why? Probably because you can make maps, but not models. Don't get me wrong, I neither can make maps nor models, but the argument that classic games like UT and Q3 have also a strict concept in maps is limping on one foot. Because games like UT and Q3 have also models fitting into the concept. Once you told me that OA doesn't have to be überserious. Where's that attitude? Omitting pvomit (no pun intented
) because it doesn't fit, but having four angels of Gandoria who are actually slaves? I don't know...
But okay, I trust you, it's the best for OA
. You haven't said anything about the other changes in the list. Like putting oa_minia next to oa_dm3, because oa_minia and pul1duel are almost as far from each other like pvomit and suspended. And what about the lava tier? And what about oa_uzul3 or oa_black? I didn't see fromhell's announcement of a content freeze. So you can include am_galmevish, am_lavaarena and dm4ishv2 (which has still bugs) but not oa_uzul3 or oa_black which are beautiful maps, just because the author doesn't posted it into the SVN Commits topic? I hope because it's your SP campaign (even the topic says so), your maps don't get advantage over others
And closing down SP maps won't help much to actually provide content for a coherent game fitting into the concept. I agree that we should work together, not making different parts, but the SP story which was made for the models is not a good start. A game on it's own requires a completly blank sheet, and when you have filled the whole page than you can start making GUIs, models, maps, homepage. OA is not like that. No matter if you drop maps or models into the bin and have a good looking themed game, pulchr will come up with clean/modern maps, you would come up with UT/simple/castle maps, fromhell would come up with anime/Japanese style models and so on... There's simply not enough volunteer mappers/modelers/any other artists to make a specific kind of game. OA should be a mixture of high quality content, no restrictions, just quality. Let's concentrate on quality not concept, make the SP flexible, the more maps, the better, the bigger the variety, the better. You will never know when 1.0.0 will come out who will start making oa_pvomit style or UT style games based upon OA. But until then it should have the potential to develop in every directions.
Todo list:
q3dm17 textures replacement (95% done)
Cakes 18
Posts: 372
on a dead horse
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #102 on:
August 24, 2009, 03:53:17 AM »
Udi is right.
Besides: UT2k3 maps are a horrible set of 'themed' places. Everything feels like thrown together in a hasty night. Gameplay is even worse.
It is not a good idea to have same looking spacemaps in one tier. pvomit is a welcome difference. Same goes for reddish with lava. That's what I am trying to tell you, Neon Knight, for month. Same goes for over and over usage of the same textures in your maps. There are more gothic surfaces than the ones used in aggressor. Please be more versatile.
Gothic, industrial, space are no real themes... lets have it another way.
Besides: The last map of each tier has be a 1on1 map!
Hm, we could put some impaled anime characters to the walls...
@Udi: oa_black is not done yet. Please be patient. I am far from finishing it. Do you have any suggestion about oa_koth1? I did not have enough time to talk to any players willing to review it. I can imagine retexturing it and turning it into a rock/industrial basement map although I am not in the mood spending too much time on it alltogether.
- xmpp://firstname.lastname@example.com
Cakes 0
Posts: 25
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #103 on:
November 10, 2010, 01:36:30 PM »
Okey, I've read the thread, and I like to say some words (with broken english )).
It's good idea to make tiers according to map designs. But you mustn't forget about the thing that the whole project should have common design (like the big projects, you know).
What do we have now? Not quite bad weapons, a pack of fan-made player models and pack of several different maps. Any serious quaker would look at it with words: "Emm... You want me to change my Q3 to THIS?! Kid, are kidding me?". That's because ID made all in one way, let's say so. For example - after Ranger we meet not Doom, but Phobos, colored orange. Why? Because it's green uniform would not fit to red-brown-yellow color scheme of starting levels. But later on he appears on cosmic maps, where he looks naturally.
And I think that just with storyline you can't make OA look like it was made with by one team. Remember QIII? It described nothing. But the atmosphere it created made the game unique. The dekadent characters by their view only told stories.
OK, enough talking, lets get down to business.
I totally agree that maps should be devided on tiers by their design. That's the first one.
Second, I always thought about such games, with good multiplayer, that their single player campaign is designed not only to tell story about game universe, but also to prepare player for online gaming. Well, this is good gamedesigned rule - simple at first, hard at last.
Of course, there must be final boss in almost each tier (remember q3 - tier 6 had no Arena Lord, it was Xaero), but also I'd like to see some light defrag training maps (tripple jump, circle jump, rocket jump, plasma jump - smth that is not very hard to do from the first time) - because it's elements are used in online fighting.
And, of course, before placing maps in one tier they should be «synchronized» - the same teleporters, design elements, jumppads, textures (where it is needed) etc...
Models must be changed. What we have now — it's not «quake by spirit», it's «happy tree friends by spirit» - funny unproportional models with bad textures (some of them made anime style) running killing each other. Yeah, and the boobs. Well, that's anime too... And some made as the replacement for Q3 models (Slash, Doom, Major, Klesk...).
Not matter how different were Q3 models, they were united by design. They wasn't funny. Killing each other maybe is cool, but not funny. Maybe evil fun (as some gladiators were maniacs, such as Cadavre), but not laughing. That's killing the «spirit of Q3». Models must be remade, added new etc...
And then — Arena Lords fitted perfectly their Arenas. The demon-looked Klesk (which is religious zealot by story) habited the Cathedral like Arena. Uriel in the hood, hiding his face, hided in the mist — by story the encestor of Vadrigars. Anarki, the flying cyperpunk — in high tech design with vertical architecture.
Ok, the Hunter had have to hunt Sorlag in some jungles, but you got the main point: it must be seen the Arena is the Lord's territory. With his favourites weapons and fetish...
The basic models must be heroic-style. Maybe, decadent heroes, but still — heroes. Or megalomaniacs.
Hello, arms...
This ones should be added one by one, different variation, to train noob how to use them, to switch from one to other... From tier to tier...
Also all weapons must be quite alike — color scheme, form alike. Remember the machinegun and rokit launcha from Q3? The basis — and the barrel(s). The shotgun and GL. The energo weapons... They aren't similar, but have smth similar in design. Btw I think that OA weapons should be redone — shooting nice, looking terrible, at least RL, Rail and plasma.
I'd like to devide weapons to 3 main groups:
Small Weapons
1. Gauntlet;
2. Machine Gun;
3. Shotgun;
4. Grenade Launcher;
Heavy Weapons
5. Rokit Luncha;
6. Chainsaw;
7. Nailgun;
8. Mine Launcher;
Energy Weapons
9. Plasma Gun;
10. Lightning Gun;
11. Railgun;
I think all weapons within one group must be alike, sharing the same elements: for example, small arms could have short butt, high strap sight (like G36c) and cylindrical magazines. One barreled heavy machinegun (not the clone of q3 mini-chainsaw), jackhammer styled shotgun and revolver style GL. And so on.
Small arms for first, earthlike tiers, Heavy — for middle game, Energy — for futuristic designs. Of course, rail and gauntlet are kind of exceptions ))
And — yeah — heil to mines in CTF/Domination (and so on) modes. )
...of speech.
So that's my vision. I hope it would be usefull for those who make maps and models and OA itself.
And I hope this is a joke — that you're going to make anime OA. That's benchy.
But you must think out the general idea — would it be fairy tail with wizards and sorcerers, or horror with necromancers and demons. IMHO, you shouldn't go away from id conceptions too much. But without the id — without the clones of Q3A. Another way OA will always be the copy.
P.S.: Also, I think that only FFA mode should be in tiers, as team work requiers cooperation which is hardly got with the bots...
Cakes 25
Posts: 536
i do my own stunts
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #104 on:
November 10, 2010, 02:20:33 PM »
AmDDRed, OA never wanted to remake the Q3 feeling or style. Eventually
it will shift to an anime-style concept
. More consistency will come, but definitely not «quake by spirit».
Todo list:
q3dm17 textures replacement (95% done)
In the year 3000
Cakes 49
Posts: 3775
Trickster God.
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #105 on:
November 10, 2010, 02:23:51 PM »
Plus, read this:
I'm too "busy" to work with the SP. Oh, and just for the record, the only (or at least, one of the few) reason(s) I'm using the SP is for the visuals of my maps.
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem.
Want to contribute? Read
Banned for leasing own account
Posts a lot
Cakes 73
Posts: 1427
also banned for baiting another to violate rules
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #106 on:
November 10, 2010, 04:20:05 PM »
That said, there are good remarks on your post.
The art direction may never have been very clear (what's the openarena universe ?) and not to arrange things there is also a lack of contributors to provide quality material.
: Walk the cat.
Cakes 0
Posts: 25
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #107 on:
November 10, 2010, 05:00:27 PM »
Yeah, I've understood, that it's not going to be q3, but as smone had written in wiki, it's going to be quake by spirit. I thought it's smth serious and grim, mb without pentagrams, but not rainbowish as hell.
And it's a pity to hear about anime-styled OA. I've never been fan of it, so if it will happen, I would never advise this game to my friends.
Cakes 12
Posts: 694
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #108 on:
November 10, 2010, 06:19:51 PM »
I'm not so for the anime too, but the community is just awesome. What's a game without gameplay and nice ppl? For graphics and sounds you can always say 'oh well', so as oa has both my requirements it's -imo- one of the best games existing
And about your previous post, well sounds all cool but who's gonna make it? (You, maybe?
) And oa isn't really a singleplayer game. It's only fun to set a new (imaginary) time record when your internet is down or something
Or that's what I always do, see how fast you can rush through it at nightmare level.
In the year 3000
Cakes 49
Posts: 3775
Trickster God.
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #109 on:
November 10, 2010, 07:30:08 PM »
Public Medium Ignorance
, indeed.
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem.
Want to contribute? Read
Cakes 0
Posts: 25
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #110 on:
November 11, 2010, 04:06:49 AM »
Quote from: RMF on November 10, 2010, 06:19:51 PM
And about your previous post, well sounds all cool but who's gonna make it? (You, maybe?
No, I won't. Not enough skill and time.
But! There are no conrete ideas yet. There's need to say what do you really need.
Like, "in tier one we need 4 maps, made in this style, first two should be 1 on 1, third 3 on 1 (whatever), the last - 1 on 1; First map should be made with shotgun, second - with shotgun and GL, third - with RL and shotgun, forth - with GL and nailgun. Shotgun map should be made with a lot of short distances, and one long - for machinegun; GL map should be done with two or three floors, usuall distance - medium; RL map should have some space for manevrs, few floors, short distance places; And NG map should be mixing floors, long distance (to have space to move away of nails and machinegun have it's power) and short-medium also - it must be convienient for the boss to kill the player.
When all 4 maps collected, must be a man, "senior mapper" who would overlook these maps and change the textures etc to fit one standard.
Then you can think what kind of characters can habit these places. If you have needed model, "teach" it to use correct weapon and go on. Or otherwise, make map for a great-looking character.
Also the textures of the weapons should be overlooked to fit the style of the tiers...
An I guess, if there would be a little bit more interaction with modders, like HeadHunters, Generations etc, who create their own maps and models, there would be much more profit. But only with concrete ideas:
- Emm, can you help us?
- Ok, what do you need?
- Emm, well, we don't know...
- Well, I don't know it either!
Maybe not the first one would agree, but the forth, fifth and so on. You know it by yourself ( for example, you asked for bot improvement algoryth or smth under GPLv2, you weren't denied).
Quote from: |TXC| Neon_Knight on November 10, 2010, 07:30:08 PM
Public Medium Ignorance
, indeed.
Are you talking about anime? I know what is that. But the best and serious anime films (like "D", "Ghost in the Shell" etc) are drawing humans very naturally. Mb, a little bigger eyes. That's all.
But the anime is mainstream, it's cool now would it be cool after two years? And btw this style killed Disciples game serie...
P.S.: The trainingmap (like the Crash arena) could be this way - you appear nowhere on a platform, without weaponry and you have to flea jumping the platforms away of the bot shooting you.
Or you have to make the race in time before the doors would shut.
And nothing should be explained.
In the year 3000
Cakes 45
Posts: 4385
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #111 on:
November 11, 2010, 02:01:38 PM »
I like animes, but I don't feel OpenArena needs them...
I never want to be aggressive, offensive or ironic with my posts. If you find something offending in my posts, read them again searching for a different mood there. If you still see something bad with them, please ask me infos. I can be wrong at times, but I never want to upset anyone.
In the year 3000
Cakes 49
Posts: 3775
Trickster God.
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #112 on:
November 11, 2010, 02:05:27 PM »
I don't know, maybe the "anime" part is for inspiration and the whole thing ends being entirely different. We have to wait and see...
"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem.
Want to contribute? Read
Cakes 35
Posts: 14520
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #113 on:
November 13, 2010, 09:39:31 PM »
What do you think OA will look like? Warsow?
AS IF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Warsow looks more like French graphic novel than anime. I'm not going anywhere near 'cel-shading' or the popularily misspelled "cell shading" and i'm not rotoscoping either.
The whole anime theory applied to OA is for visual consistency - q3's models were inconsistent because q3 originally had a planned 3 tier player class system (mid-1998 design), so they had light, medium and heavy models. In the end (like around May 1999) they scrapped that system and made everyone 'light' but retained the differently bulked models they did for the system (keel was heavy for example. the player models were all produced around early99/late98). OA doesn't have such a thing in mind... but if you think OA is going to turn into Touhou.... WRONG.
This won't be a first-person cuter
and despite my skimpy anime girl modeling habits, this won't be a first-person eroge arena shooter either.
The anime style would still be highly Bengus influenced.
Last Edit: November 13, 2010, 09:52:33 PM by fromhell
asking when OA3 will be done won't get OA3 done.
Progress of OA3 currently occurs behind closed doors alone
I do not provide technical support either.
new code development on github
Cakes 35
Posts: 14520
Re: OpenArena Tournament: my SP campaign
Reply #114 on:
December 16, 2010, 04:56:31 PM »
Quote from: AmDDRed on November 11, 2010, 04:06:49 AM
And btw this style killed Disciples game serie...
i'm not seeing it, it looks like standard 'korean mmo realism' style where the only exaggerants are in the hair
asking when OA3 will be done won't get OA3 done.
Progress of OA3 currently occurs behind closed doors alone
I do not provide technical support either.
new code development on github
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text:
Mary Patricia Issavi, Democrat
�Age: 38.
�Spouse: Emil.
�Occupation: Attorney.
�Education: Graduated from Manchester High School, cum laude from Western New England College with a B.S. and magna cum laude from New England School of Law.
�Political and community experience: She is an alternate on the New Milford Ethics Commission and a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association. She is a past volunteer with the Animal Welfare Society of New Milford, a past volunteer judge for the Connecticut High School Mock Trial Competition, a past member of Lawyers for Children and a past panel speaker for the Connecticut Bar Association.
�Three most important issues facing our town and proposed solutions:
1) Fiscal management: There needs to be accountability for, and more value added to, each tax dollar spent. Sound fiscal policies need to be set by thoroughly reviewing and deliberating proposed funding so that town residents may receive high-caliber services (e.g., social, fire, emergency and road improvement) and may benefit from an enhanced quality of life (e.g., parks, aquifer protection, and open space).
2) Education: It needs to be a priority. Town Council plays a significant role in promoting and establishing town priorities and policies. Education should be made a top priority. For example, more funding is needed for math and science classes. With proper funding, current academic inadequacies, such as lab rotation, would be eliminated.
3) Diplomacy and civility: It is the key to an efficient and effective town government. Public diplomacy needs to be employed so that town officials can focus on the issues facing the town, and address those issues efficiently and effectively. Every resident would benefit from open and constructive communication between town officials, including Town Council members.


text:
The first mutually agreed upon labor contract between the Metropolitan Police Department and Washington, D.C. police union Fraternal Order of Police in almost two decades was reached Aug. 30, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced last week.
Following more than a year of negotiations, the new contract offers union members increased wages and matches medical insurance benefits with existing District government packages.
Over 3,500 members of law enforcement in the city are set to receive a 3 percent retroactive raise in fiscal year 2018, a 2 percent increase in FY19 and a 3.5 percent raise in FY20 under the latest collective bargaining agreement, according to an Aug. 30 news release. The last agreement reached in 2014 through an arbitrator followed six years without a raise for MPD officers, according to DCist.
In addition, previously independent insurance coverage provided to the union members will be replaced by coverage under the Bowser administration's dental and vision insurance plans.
Bowser emphasized the critical role the law enforcement officers play in maintaining the safety of the District in her introduction of the updated labor contract Aug. 30.
"Members of the Metropolitan Police Department put their lives on the line every day to protect our city," Bowser wrote in an Aug. 30 news release. "This new collective bargaining agreement shows our commitment to the courageous men and women who are helping us build a safer, stronger Washington, DC."
The first to come to fruition without an impasse or arbitration since 2001, the updated contract advances crucial investments highlighted in Bowser's FY19 budget, such as new uniforms for all MPD officers and augmented funds for officer retention programs.
The agreement also supports the Bowser administration's previously announced initiatives to expand the MPD civilian cadet program from 70 to 100 incoming high school graduates seeking to begin a career in law enforcement, according to an April 13 news release.
The larger cadet program increases the pool of talent that would eventually stay on to become sworn officers, MPD Chief Peter Newsham told The Washington Post.
For the past few years, MPD has struggled to replace a growing number of retiring officers following a hiring push in the late 1980s when almost 1,500 new officers joined the department, according to DCist.
An ongoing imbalance between the rate of retiring officers and hiring new recruits led District leaders to implement several incentives to increase the size of the police force in 2017, such as growing the hiring pool among D.C. residents and rehiring retired officers for up to five years, according to The Washington Post.
The more expansive benefits offered by the latest agreement are anticipated to further bolster MPD's recruitment, Newsham said in an Aug. 30 news release.
"This increase will help attract new officers to the Metropolitan Police Department as we continue to navigate the current retirement bubble," Newsham said.
The labor contract must first be ratified by members of the Fraternal Order of Police and voted on favorably by the D.C. Council prior to coming into effect, according to MPD Office of Communications Director Dustin Sternbeck.
"The Union has 30 days for its membership to ratify the contract," Sternbeck said. "Upon ratification, the compensation portions will be submitted to the Council, and will go into effect upon the Council's approval. Ratification and approval are for the contract as is; there is no ability to change the tentative agreement. If the membership does not ratify, or the Council does not approve, the parties return to the table to resume negotiations."


text:
Check out the great new Weekend Project on the Make Blog, the topic is, how to make your own ornithopter. In addition to this fun video, there is a set of instructions in PDF format.
This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com to report an issue.
What is an Ornithopter? It's a flying machine that works by flapping its wings. From the Greek words ornithos (bird) and pteron (wing), it was imagined as the most likely way for humans to fly by early inventors, including Leonardo Da Vinci.
The Build an Ornithopter Weekend Project talks about the history of the ornithopher, talks about the supplies you need and shows you how to make one. With a video by MAKE vlogger Kip Kay (shown above) and a PDF excerpt from MAKE vol. 8 by the awe-inspiring (and fellow Minneapolitan) William Gurstelle, you should have everything you need to get building.
If you don't feel like creating your own, check out these two commercial alternatives by the crazy cats at WowWee, reviewed on the GeekDad blog:
Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.
Spring, and Cute Little Ornithopters, Are In The Air


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Nicola Jones-King, Partner and Deputy Head of our Family and Children Law Department gave evidence to the House of Commons Justice Committee as part of their enquiry into the effects of the Legal Aid and Sentencing of Offenders Act. This Act introduced significant changes to Legal Aid in family cases but was intended to ensure Legal Aid remained available for vulnerable people and children. Legal Aid was taken away from divorce, residence and contact (now Child Arrangement Orders) and financial order proceedings. Unless the individual had been the victim of domestic abuse or the child is said to be at risk of harm. These two exemptions are established by producing specific documents to the Legal Aid Agency and only certain documents will do. Legal Aid remains for mediation, for children who are parties to a case or applications brought by Social Services. The concept of exceptional funding was expanded all allowing individuals (or solicitors on their behalf) to seek Legal Aid, if without it they would be unable to access justice and their human rights would be infringed.
Nicola Jones-King as Co-Chair of ALC and their spokesperson on Legal Aid issues was closely involved in the Association's response to Governemnet and Parliament as LASPO was being considered. Many concerns were raised before the Act came into force, that vulnerable people would be left unprotected, as the system was too narrow and too complex and poorly explained. All concerns were met with the response that exceptional funding would be available to pick up any differences.
One year on, it is clear the LASPO has failed to deliver. Instead of the expected volume of grants of exceptional funding of 1468.applications across all areas of law only 57 have been granted of what only 8 in family law out of 821 applications. Mediation take up has also fallen, and the hundreds of people representing themselves has gone up with resulting increases in the time hearings take and increasing delay.
In giving evidence to the Justice Committee who are reviewing the effectiveness of LASPO, Nicola jones-King said
"It is clear LASPO has failed to deliver, many are left unable to obtain the documents they need to get the Legal Aid they are entitled to due to costs or their own vulnerability or disabilities. Exceptional Funding is too restrictive and the limited number of grants means it has fallen well short of stepping in as Govt promised where an individual's rights are infringed. This issue has been recently considered by the most senior family Court Judge Sir James Murphy (President of Family Association) [see separate article]. Litigants in person face considerable challenge in understanding the legal concepts, case law and then managing their evidence, presenting it to a Court in the best way and marshalling their case to achieve the best possible outcome. That is what lawyers are for, and the consequence of the Act is that those at risk of violence or who have victims or have other difficulties to struggle with, on top of coping emotionally with difficult family breakdown are being failed. Without access to legal advice, guidance, important issues may be overlooked and wrong decisions made for children.
The unintended consequences in terms of significant harm to family relationships, financial vulnerability and being left in ongoing fear of violence are real, and are storing up problems for society in future years. Legal Aid is a key part of the reforms introduced to establish the welfare state as a true mark of a free and just society. This Act seriously undermines an individuals ability to act to protect themselves or their families unless they happen to be rich, if not there is a real disadvantage to them. For the Government to say it has no part to play in private family law, is to deny access to even basic diagnostic legal advice and thus a person a chance of legal redress or protection To say this can be addressed by an inadequate website and the increasingly .reduced free advice services who have also suffered from budget cuts is no alternative. Poverty or being on a low income should not be a bar to getting proper legal advice from a professional who can marshal the facts, advise and present the case. It is akin to suggesting a person who needs a new boiler can sort it themselves after picking one up off the shelf, and reading a few self help leaflets. The danger of doing that is obvious, just because the danger of trying to sort out legal issues oneself is less so, doesn't mean it is any the less dangerous."


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How can I Maintain my Weight During the Winter Holidays?
The winter holidays can be a time of excess, both in spending and in eating. Many people find themselves staring at a scale with uncomfortable numbers on 1 January, and making resolutions to lose the 5 to 10 pounds (2.26 to 4.5 kg) of weight that excess eating has created. There are sensible ways to maintain your weight during the winter holidays so your New Year's resolutions don't have to include promises to lose weight. Instead, set your resolution now and commit to healthy eating and exercise patterns throughout the months of November and December.
You can help to maintain your weight by planning your menus in advance. When holiday shopping and activities get overwhelming, it's easy to decide not to cook dinner each night and go to a fast food or restaurant instead — usually at a high calorie price. Instead, plan meals and commit to a bi-monthly shopping excursion to get what you need. Make sure your meals are calorie conscious, offer you satisfying food in appropriate portions with plenty of vegetables and fruit, and are easy to cook.
Having family meals is also important, since on average, you will consume fewer calories when eating with your family then you would if everyone eats at different times. When this isn't always possible, consider at least preparing meals everyone can eat at different times. Crockpot stews or soups, for instance, can provide lots of vegetables and low fat meat, and the meal can be kept warm for family members on different schedules due to the holidays.
Winter tends to usher in bad weather. This means that you will have to do some extra planning to get exercise to help you maintain your weight during the winter holidays. If you don't want to join a gym, there are a few ways to get needed exercise each day. Buy a few exercise tapes for the home that include 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular activity, like dancing, Tae Bo, or step aerobics. Alternately, if you have a treadmill or exercise bike, commit to a daily workout or at least work out every other day.
Greet every break in the weather as an opportunity to walk or jog outside, in addition to pursuing indoor aerobic activity. Don't forget actual holidays either, since there are many activities you can do with the whole family. There's often plenty of time on Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or Christmas to take a family walk, for example.
On an actual holiday, don't deprive yourself of holiday treats. Treats are great once in a while, and you shouldn't completely deny yourself that piece of pie, turkey and stuffing, cookie, or glass of eggnog. The goal is not to avoid eating on these days, but to eat sensibly and well on all the days surrounding the holidays, so that the occasional treat has less impact on your weight.
If you must attend several parties during the holidays, you may want to start deciding just how many treats you should have. When you're out at cocktail parties every few days, then all of the food presented to you can affect whether you maintain your weight during the winter holidays. Instead of indulging at each of these parties, look for ways to fill up on healthy offerings. For instance, a vegetable platter, fairly common at cocktail parties, can be a great way to fill up on healthy foods. Just skip the dip, which is usually high in fat.
Instead of drinking cocktails or wine throughout the night, drink flat or carbonated water. You might limit yourself to one drink, and then commit to lots of water, which can help augment weight loss. Remember to limit portion size of foods, too &mash; you don't have to clean your plate if you've been served a lot of food, and if you're serving yourself, take smaller portions.
With exercise, attention to diet, and conscientiousness at holiday parties, you can maintain your weight during the winter holidays. Further, you can do so and still enjoy the occasional treat so that you don't feel deprived on the major days. The goal is daily consistency and overall good eating and exercise patterns.


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In Spite of Lapses, Cal Posts Perfect Weekend
Monday, October 18, 2010
Category: Sports > Fall > Soccer (Women's)
After losing to UCLA, 1-0, in the 83rd minute and to USC, 5-4, in overtime last weekend, the Cal women' s soccer team was determined not to give up this weekend' s games against Washington and Washington State in the last minute.
Prior to the games, coach Neil McGuire addressed this issue specifically, and the team had strategized accordingly.
"Tempo is the word. If we keep our offensive movement, sometimes that' s the best defense," sophomore Lauren Battung said. "Keep attacking until the last minute."
On Friday, Battung was attacking until the last second to make up for the Bears' last minute defensive lapses. As the game entered the ninetieth minute, Washington junior Sarah Martinez evened the score, 2-2, off a corner kick.
When Cal kicked off with less than a minute on the clock, overtime seemed inevitable.
But with about 10 seconds remaining on the clock, Battung took an unlikely chance on a free kick. She launched the ball past a pack of Huskies that had barely given her 10 feet, much less 10 yards, and it floated into the upper right corner.
Although co-captain Emily Shibata emphasized the importance of playing the game all the way to the end earlier this week, at that point, the game was over for the Bears. In spite of the four seconds Washington had for its final kickoff, which at that point was, literally, a long shot, Cal had rushed the field to celebrate.
In spite of the euphoric finish, the rest of the Washington game wasn' t a highlight for the Bears' weekend.
"Over the course of the 90 minutes, I think Washington was the better team," McGuire said.
Cal's performance picked up in the second half, but for the first 45 minutes, the team that has outshot opponents by a total 208-117 this season, was virtually unrecognizable. The first half saw six shots on Cal' s net and only one on the Huskies.
"We were just outplayed in every capacity in the first half," McGuire said.
Battung foreshadowed her game-making performance early in the second half, when the Bears changed their offensive system and she tested the Huskies' net with five shots.
Cal played a more complete game in their 2-0 victory over the Cougars on Sunday.
After the scoreless first half, the Bears continued their fairly consistent pressure on Washington State's defense, and in the 51st minute it paid off when midfielder Katrin Omarsdottir volleyed sophomore Sam Walker's cross into the lower left corner for her first goal of the season.
Most of Cal' s best chances were from the periphery of the field. When co-captain Alex Morgan' s cross didn' t find feet on frame, senior Megan Jesolva was on the left to put the ball back in the goal, where it found Morgan's head and the back of the net.
"We knew that we have speed on the outside, we have speed up top," Battung said. "We knew we could win those 50/50 battles if we just got around the corner."
In the spirit of continuing to attack even with an advantage, the Bears continued their dangerous crosses until the clock ran out.
Alex Matthews covers women's soccer. Contact her at [email protected]
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A Solitary Herbivore
A journal of my attempt to change my habits and extend my life. It is a health choice not conscience. Giving up animal products is difficult when you don't want to, no-one else wants you to, and, especially, when there's no-one to talk to. So I talk to the machine.
Aug 20, 2013
Basil in the rain
The rain had been hesitating all day. The sky was darkly overcast, but not a drop had fallen. Even the birds seemed to have given up on it. A kind of sullen gloom seemed top pervade the atmosphere as the weather teetered on the edge as if deciding which way to fall. The porch steps creaked as I descended to the backyard with a pair of scissors and a jar. I knelt by the back of the vegetable garden where a few cilantro plants had decided to give up on life and wither. I stripped the dried stems into my hat then sorted out and discarded the leaves leaving the coriander seed. I scattered some on the ground hoping for another harvest before fall and tipped the rest into the jar. As I screwed on the top, I felt the first drops of rain. I pulled up the cilantro, took it over to the compost pile and went back for the jar and scissors. I was in no rush to get out of the rain, it had been a hot, muggy morning and the cool drops were a relief, so I stood for a moment trying to decide if I had the ambition to make myself a tomato and basil sandwich for lunch. The rain increased in intensity and my shirt was plastered to my body. I just stayed there enjoying it and remembering when I was a child, living in Vermont. We lived on a 150 acre farm (50 acres of meadow and field and 100 of woodlot) in an old white farmhouse near the crest of a hill near Craftsbury. There was a spring, an apple orchard, a raspberry patch, a currant patch, and wild blueberries along the woodlot fence. The spring was a little higher on the hill than the house and the water supply was good, but my mother, with her unique approach to thrift, decided that rainstorms were showers and not to be wasted. Whenever the storm clouds started to gather, she would have us strip to our underwear or less, give each of us a bar of Ivory soap and chase us out of the house. My brother and sister and I would stand in the dooryard, and lather up then rinse off and go stand under a nearby silver maple until Mama felt like letting us back in. Even in the middle of summer, mountain rains are cold and we'd usually turned pale blue with chattering teeth by the time we got back inside. To this day, a summer rain brings with it the memory of the smell of Ivory soap. So there I was standing by the garden as the rain pounded down on my balding head and trickling down my body to sneak beneath my waist band and continue to the ground. I tucked to scissors into my back pocket and was about to turn back to the porch when a wall of scent hit me. Planted next to the cilantro were five huge sweet basil plants, and the raindrops pummeling their leaves had released some of their essential oils. An almost palpable fog of basil odor rose from them and surrounded me. I'm sure that you know the smell of basil, the rich, green, spicy aroma is one of the most distinctive and pleasurable of the herbs. It improves and intensifies the taste of so many vegetables without overwhelming their own flavors. Salads made of any of the nightshades (tomato, eggplant, potato, bell pepper, etc.) are almost always the better for basil. There are many sensual pleasures; the sting of chilis, the resinous taste of sage, The earthiness of cumin and caraway. To derive the intensity of their flavor you have to act on them; grind them, roast them, fry them, brew them. bite them chew them. Basil doesn't bother with that. It will come to you on a breeze under the moon, as you brush by on your way to harvest the chard, or it will rise to you in a mist that your mind wants to color green. One of the most intense and overwhelming sensual pleasures that a plant can provide is when you stand next to a garden full of basil in the rain.
Aug 19, 2013
The Southern Vegetarian
It occurred to me today that, although I posted a review of this cookbook on Amazon, I should post one here too. First, a disclaimer. Although I haven't met either of them yet, Justin and Amy are relatives (my oldest son is married to Amy's sister). Because of that connection, I would normally steer away from the appearance of nepotic favoritism but, in this case, I can't contain my enthusiasm. Let's be clear. "The Southern Vegetarian" is NOT a vegan cookbook. Many of the recipes call for dairy products and eggs. This is not a big problem, in some of the recipes you can just drop those ingredients and in others there are easy substitutes. Recipes that call for cheese, for example, can be tricky. There are vegan cheese substitutes, but they can be expensive to buy and tricky to make. The good thing about this book is that about 80 of the hundred recipes can be easily modified to fit my regimen. That's a much better percentage than I expected. In the near future, I'll post some lists and recipes for the substitutes I use. Another plus is that although the pictures are gorgeous, the food tastes as good as the pictures look. The ingredients used are relatively easy to find, many large supermarkets should have most, if not all, of them. The instructions are clear and straightforward. Best of all, the ingenuity and creativity of the combinations of flavors and colors, make these recipes a pleasure to eat. Of the recipes I have tried so far, my particular favorites are: Collard greens (I used chard) with honey, shallots, and mushrooms; The Chubby Vegetarian gumbo; and the Ratatouille Napoleon. The real joy of this book is through their exploration, Justin and Amy might well inspire you to try your hand at finding unexpectedly happy combinations too. I recommend The Southern Vegetarian highly. (The link will take you to Amazon.)
Aug 18, 2013
How to eat a tomato
When the tomatoes ripen, choose a bright, sunny day when the temperature is above 80F. Prepare for the meal by setting out a bottle of good, flavorful olive oil, a large shallow bowl, a knife and cutting board, and some good sea-salt on the kitchen counter. You can use a tomato shark for coring if you have one. Step off your back porch, and make your way to the garden. Stand there with a self-satisfied smile, surveying the dark green leaves and ruby stems of the chard, the latest crop of radishes popping their shoulders out of the soil, the burgeoning bushes of basil, the beans, the cilantro, the chilis, even the disappointing eggplant. Let it fill your eye and your soul with pride. Cut off a stem of basil with at least 4 or 5 leaves, and pull some garlic if there's none in the kitchen. At the cutting board chiffonade the basil (roll all the leaves into a tight cylinder and slice thinly). Peel, crush and mince a clove or two of garlic. Pour a couple of hearty glugs of olive oil into the bowl and add the basil and garlic. When you're done, take a pinch of salt and step carefully through the garden to one of the tomato plants. (At this point I sometimes pause to think about how much better it is to tie tomato plants to stakes then witches.) Reach out and rub a leaf of the plant between your fingers and smell the scent left on the tips. That distinctive scent of chlorophyll and nightshade is critical to the pleasure of the eater. That scent is in the tomato, but it starts to dissipate as soon as the tomato is picked. Trust me you don't want to lose it. The hot sun beating down on the red, yellow, or brown globes intensifies the flavor of their flesh. So the following steps must be performed expeditiously. Pluck a ripe tomato. Lick the skin. sprinkle a small amount of salt on the wet spot and bite it. You can taste the sunshine. Continue salting and eating until the tomato is gone. Drop the core on the ground. Pluck two more ripe tomatoes and return to the kitchen. Core them (just get rid of the place where the stem attaches). Slice them about 1/4 inch thick and put them in the olive oil bath. Flip them to coat fully. Dust with a pinch of salt. Take the bowl and a loaf of crusty bread to the back porch and eat the tomatoes instantly. Use the bread to mop up the oil as dessert.
Jul 27, 2013
Holy Greens
Chard is the plant that keeps on giving. It's really hard to keep up with its growth. One gardening friend of mine (no doubt still somewhat confused by overindulgence during his hippy daze) calls it the Ultimate Spinach. Another friend was watching me prepare dinner one night and was a little horrified that I was using chard leaves that had holes chewed in them. "How can you do that?" he said, making a yuck face, "something has been eating that already." "I know," I replied, "the insects and animals in my yard are like the royal tasters, keeping me from getting poisoned." The way I figure it is that a perfect plant is a sign that something is wrong. If other animals don't want to eat it I get suspicious. It doesn't mean that I won't knock hornworms off the tomato plants into a bucket but usually I don't mind sharing my produce with other animals if they leave me enough for my needs. The leaves get washed well so no-one has to worry about caterpillar or bunny spit, and they get chopped into pieces anyway. I just gathered some chard and basil from the garden a few minutes ago. Tonight I'll stir fry them with tofu, baby corncobs and mushrooms, and serve it over curried rice.
Jul 15, 2013
Mmm Mmm Mjeddrah
It's probably strange to be thinking about hot food on a day like this (92 degrees fondly fahrenheit), but I've been reading an assortment of recipes for Mjeddrah, and it is interesting to see the variety of interpretations. Mjeddrah is one of my go-to recipes and for years I've used the one I learned from "Diet for a Small Planet" and it has worked well both as a main course and as a base for other foods. You can even use it to make a kind of veggie burger. The recipe was simple, cook rice and lentils together with some herbs, spices and stock to get yourself a mess of pottage. When you have a recipe that works, you can sometimes take it for granted. I did. I recently got hold of an Arabic cookbook and found two recipes in it that were interestingly different. The first one substituted bulghur for the rice, added chilis, tomato sauce, and yoghurt. It is an intentionally soupy mixture rather than the dense starchy mass that I was used to. It was delicious, and I solved the yoghurt problem by blending some silken tofu with lemon juice. I have no proportions for this last since it was done by taste. The second recipe deconstructed the mixture into concentric circles. The outermost circle is rice, within that is a circle of red lentils and at the bullseye a mass of crispy fried onions. I haven't tried this one yet, but what's not to like? Then I found a third recipe. This one boils the lentils until soft then puree them. Add some water and boil the puree then add a mixture of rice and bulghur. Chop some onions into small pieces and fry them in oil until golden and crispy. When the rice is almost done add the onions. Serve it with shredded green onion and radishes. The radishes in my garden are nearly ready, so maybe I'll try that last recipe when the heat wave breaks.
I have always admired G.K. Chesterton. I don't share his religious persuasion, but his thoughtful, intelligent, witty, and philosophical writing style has made him one of my more consistent heroes. On alcohol, he has this to say:
"A modern vegetarian is also a teetotaler, yet there is no obvious connection between consuming vegetables and not consuming fermented vegetables. A drunkard, when lifted laboriously out of the gutter, might well be heard huskily to plead that he had fallen there through excessive devotion to a vegetable diet."
In my recent experience, the use of alcohol as an anesthetic should not be underestimated. We see it used in so many movies when some doctor is extracting a bullet from a gunfighter. that it has become so ubiquitous that it seems to have lost its meaning.
"A modern vegetarian is also a teetotaler, yet there is no obvious connection between consuming vegetables and not consuming fermented vegetables. A drunkard, when lifted laboriously out of the gutter, might well be heard huskily to plead that he had fallen there through excessive devotion to a vegetable diet."
In my recent experience, the use of alcohol as an anesthetic should not be underestimated. We see it used in so many movies when some doctor is extracting a bullet from a gunfighter. that it has become so ubiquitous that it seems to have lost its meaning.
The Attack of the Chard
I have never grown chard before, so it came as something of a surprise when it took over my garden. I bought six small plants this spring, and within weeks was harvesting it almost daily. The tomatoes, eggplants and chilis are moomphing along, but the chard, basil, and radishes are growing faster than I can consume them. In addition to my recent Parrot recipe, I have used it as the greens in a bulghur salad, as a primary vegetable in a green salad, shredded in spring rolls, and in green smoothies. If the temperature were not so high, I'd experiment with using the leaves to make something akin to doulmas.
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I went to the bathroom at work this morning.
Well, when ya gotta go…
And the little cup was no longer in the stall.
He's now on the sink. The sucker is MOBILE!
**sentience in plastics? Is this how you get Skynet???**
I feel as if someone in this odd, work/potty relationship has either dodged a bullet, or just witnessed the beginning of the end of the Human species…and I'm not sure if I should be excited, or terrified.
At least I'll be in the right place if I get the shit scared outta me.


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Sure, there's been a lot of chat about everything that's wrong with Mad Men and why women in general and feminists in particular should hate its unrepentant misogynystic guts. And let's face it: this is a show that glorifies gin, Lucky Strikes and getting laid (by anyone but one's spouse).
What's not to hate, right?
Not so fast. As Stephanie Coontz wrote a year or so ago in the Washington Post: "Mad Men's writers are not sexist. The time period was." And so as a woman and a feminist let me unapologetically admit that I can not wait for the season five premiere on Sunday. Sure, it's great TV, and the attention to period detail is freakishly fantastic. (Pause here to drool over those dresses.) And, as nighttime soaps go, there's one hell of a story going on. But the real reason I love Mad Men – as opposed to, say, its short-lived period clones (read: The Playboy Club and Pan Am) — is because it resonates:
Lesson 1: The Way We Were. Want to know what second-wave feminism was all about? Or why we needed a focused movement? Look no further than the women of Sterling Cooper who, with the exception of Peggy (more later), type their days away in the steno pool or, if they're lucky, move up to the outer office, answering someone else's phone. What's great is that Mad Men doesn't pretend that these "career girls" are empowered – as Pan Am and The Playboy Club tried to do. Instead, we get it right away: these gals are as hemmed in by the intractability of the system as they are by their rigid underwear. Their only defense against what we now call sexual harassment was a giggle and a shrug. And for those who wonder what The Feminine Mystique was all about, may I introduce you to the chain-smoking Betty Draper? She left her husband (as well she should have), ignores her kids, and ran off to Vegas to marry another guy who treats her like a house pet.
Lesson 2. Where We Need to Go. So, yeah, we've come a long way in terms of career. Back when I graduated from college — not that long ago. or maybe it was — it was still legal for an employer to list an administrative job in the "female" classifieds and a managerial one in the "male." Most women who graduated from college were told they had three career options: secretary, teacher or nurse. And prospective employers were allowed to ask women what their husbands did for a living. Ugh. But for all the progress we've made, the workplace still hasn't caught up. Take away the ashtrays and the booze and if you look closely, you realize that the structure of today's workplace isn't all that different from Sterling Cooper's, where every Don had a Betty at home to take care of business. It's still designed by, and for, men. But the reality is that in today's world, Betty puts in 52 hours a week, just like Don, and then comes home to do the laundry. Even when men step up at home in ways their fathers never did, there's still the math: take the current workplace expectations, add in the omnipresence of technology that keeps us uber-connected 24/7, and there aren't enough hours in the day for any of us. Unless, of course, one has a housewife.
Lesson 3: Ask, dammit. In a word, Peggy. She started as a secretary. Ended up a copywriter. Which apparently was pretty unheard of in those days. So how did she end up with a title, an office, and a snazzy new job? She asked. Enough said. All too often, even decades after the days of Sterling Cooper, many of us are afraid to put ourselves out there, for fear we might be labeled as ambitious and thus, less likable. Or that we might get turned down. And so we cross our fingers and wait to get the nod from a higher up – and then are grateful if we do. Sometimes it's the fear of failure that keeps us from taking those risks — the possibility that the answer might be a big fat no or that even if it's a yes, we might fall flat on our face. But as the wise woman told us when we were reporting our book: You'll always get over a failure. But regret? It's not recoverable.
Lesson 4. Beware the personal brand. And then there's Don. Okay, he's a guy and we write about women. But, regardless of gender, he is the embodiment of what we call the iconic self, that image we create to project who we wish we were. Don is an illusionist, a mystery man who invented himself out of whole cloth and, as David Weigand writes in the San Francisco Chronicle, is "on the run from himself." Weigand, who compares Draper to F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby (Fun fact: Fitzgerald got his start as an advertising copywriter), writes:
Fitzgerald, the Midwesterner who went East to reinvent himself, saw both sides of the American "dream." On the one hand, ours has always been a culture of hope and aspiration. On the other, our abiding belief in change and the ability to reinvent ourselves can bring us perilously close to the edge of self-delusion.
In short, Don is a cautionary tale, a desperate example (cue the falling man in the opening credits) of how we can lose ourselves when we work too hard to become our brand. When it comes to Don, we wonder: is there a there there? Who knows. But it definitely makes you ponder what Don might do with Facebook. Scary thought.
Lesson 5. Embrace our differences as our strengths. It's a revolutionary thought, the idea that men and women bring different strengths and talents to the table. After all, we came up thinking that to be successful, we had to fit in — to be "a man in a skirt," as one of our sources dubbed it. But what if we could tap into our authentic, feminine selves and do what we do best: Studies show, for example, that women negotiate in a win-win manner, we're interactive leaders, we're sensitive to subliminal cues; we're multithinkers, multitaskers, and are more comfortable with ambiguity. Not to say one gender is better than the other. Just different. Which brings up one of my favorite bon mots from Man Men, seasons past. The context may have been different, but you gotta love the line: "Don't be a man, be a woman. It's a powerful business when done correctly."


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We inform you that our shops will be opened in compliance with the measures put in place by the government of each country in order to ensure your own security.
Our priority is above anything else to take part in the shared effort to protect the health of all citizens across the globe.
All our staff remain at your disposal to answer any question you may have. Our customer service is dedicated to you.
Take care of yourself and your beloved ones."
Headband paved with diamonds, in yellow gold
The iconic Serpent Boheme collection is now available in diamond and yellow gold headbands. A subtle touch to you hair for a resolutely bohemian style. Can also be worn as a necklace.
Headband paved with diamonds, in yellow gold
Price on request
Hide the price
336 round diamonds 13.57 ct
Yellow gold 750 59.94 g
Ref.: JHB00004


text: My wife got a replacement phone from eBay recently (due to lack of cash) and picked a LG Vortex (Verizon). The phone works great and there are no issues except for 3G. When the phone boots the 3G icon shows in the status bar and everything works but after a while the icon disappears and she cannot get on anything like the Internet, Facebook, or Play Store. I go into settings and everything looks good and there is nothing that I need to change. I had unchecked and rechecked every box I could and still nothing. WiFi works good when on but this 3G thing is getting annoying as I don't know what else to try. Any ideas?


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Travelling around India by train gives one the chance to explore the amazing sights, both outside and within the carriage.
PURCHASING a train ticket in India is an adventure in itself. Of the 25 or so ticket windows in a reservations hall at some train stations, only one is dedicated to tourists. Oh, let's not forget the elderly, disabled, freedom fighters, group bookings and even ticket cancellations also battling for the same elbow space as foreigners, designated to the same queue. However, for a very small fee, any of the numerous travel agencies scattered about each city and town will assist in booking a train ticket for you, avoiding what can often be an overwhelmingly frustrating experience at the ticket desk.
Crisscrossing the country, the train system in India has been hailed as the lifeline of the nation. Commencing its service 160 years ago in 1853, the first train ran in the subcontinent ran between Bombay and Thane. From these humble beginnings, Indian Railways has grown to become one of the world's largest railway networks, comprising 115,000 km of track over a route of 65,000 km and 7,500 stations.
All aboard
Waiting patiently for your train to arrive in India is an experience in itself. People mill about, bidding farewell and greetings, and making last minute purchases from the various vendours on hand. An excited bustle signals a train's arrival to the station, as people begin jumping on and off from the moving vehicle in a mad clamour before it has ground to a halt. Once the line of carriages is motionless, the big push on board of new passengers often results in a bottleneck of arms and legs struggling against each other.
The trains themselves are a packed jamboree of noise, and life in close quarters. Typically, intercity trains are divide into three classes, each offering their own window into Indian culture. First class sees the upper echelons of society relaxing in air conditioned comfort. In sleeper cars replete with their 72 beds, passengers are scattered about every available space. Sellers fill the air with an orchestra of different cries touting tea, soup, samosas, books – even foot pumps and shoe repairs.An army of beggars shuffle through the carriages, parading various ailments in exchange for a coin or two. Meanwhile, third class sees hard wooden benches on offer, without designated seating, with each carriage filling like a can of sardines in no time.
The scenery on offer is frequently breathtaking, as the train weaves its way through a variety of landscapes. Standing in an open doorway, with the wind in your hair as the sundrenched landscape bathes under the afternoon sun leaves postcard-picture perfect memories.
Indian Railways at a glance
• Indian Railways (IR) started its service 160 years ago on 16 April 1853, running between Bombay and Thane.
• IR employs about 1.55 million people.
• IR is one of the world's largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km of track over a route of 65,000 km and 7,500 stations.
• IR carries over 24 million passengers & 2.8 million tones of freight every day, with over 14,000 trains.
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LorenaLoveable11 found a new flyer at Build-a-Bear Workshop that advertises two new peace bears, the peace & smiles bear and the peace & friendship bear, a "Love. Hug. Smile" quest with an emoticon as the prize, and a special offer for a free messenger bag with a purchase of at least $25 USD:
The bears come out on July 29 and the free messenger bag offer is from August 6th to the 15th.
Related posts:


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I sat in the waiting room of my OB's office this morning with a bit of a lump in my throat. I wasn't there for anything exciting. Just a post-IUD-insertion check-up. Nevertheless, I felt a strange sadness as I sat there.
You see, that hospital is where I experienced the best and worst days of my life. It's where I lived out some of my scariest and most joyous moments. It's where I found out I had miscarried baby #2. It's where I learned that Bo was still ok in there, despite my heavy bleeding. It's where I felt the worst pain I've ever endured. And it's where I met the two most incredible little boys in the world (in my humble opinion).
I guess that's why the knowledge that this could be my last visit to this doctor's office made me a little emotional.
I realize that I have some things to work through with respect to the end of our family building. I never thought I wanted more than two kids but now that the baby is almost one year old, I find myself struggling to accept that we are done having kids. Logically, I know a lot of my feelings stem from the fact that I'm about to go back to work. My emotions are all over the place (I cried during Bo's first haircut this afternoon!) and I'm sure (at least, I hope!) that I'll feel differently once we're settled into our new life as a family of four with a working mom.
While part of me worries that I'll always wish that we had another child, I know that I need to focus on our current family right now. Things are about to get a lot tougher for all of us as my time at home ends.
My doctor's appointment ended up being quick and painless. The doc wants to see me again in six months, which means this wasn't, in fact, my last time there. (More to come about my IUD experience in a future post). I felt a bit lighter as I walked out of there, knowing that I'll be returning again. Hopefully by then I'll feel a bit less emotional and be ready to walk away with no regrets.


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This sweet romantic comedy reunites Sleepless In Seattle stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. He's the owner of a bookstore chain; she's the woman he falls for online. Both are unaware that she runs the little shop his company is trying to shut down.
1999 | Nominee: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
1999 | 2 nominations including: Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)


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You were late for Mobile – Don't be late for the Internet Of Things
The newest evolution in technology is known as the Internet of Things (IoT). It has also been referred to as machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and the connected web. According to the Toronto Star, it?s already a $5.6 billion industry in Canada and expected to grow 375% to $21 billion by 2018. – See more at: http://www.climaxmedia.com/you-were-late-mobile-dont-be-late-internet-things#sthash.N1wtdP3K.dpuf
Awareness: The Killer Feature of the Apple Watch?
After giving it a bit more thought however, I?m realizing it?s not about the hardware, nor the demos they showed us. The Apple Watch requires a new way of thinking to really make sense of it.
The State of Social Media: What B2B Marketers Need to Know (Fall 2014)
With Autumn before us, also comes the holiday season. Whether you?re a small business, corporation, or somewhere in between, this means campaigns, 14933499_scontent, and craziness for marketing departments alike.
How to hire unicorns (aka tech-savvy marketers)
Most traditional marketers don?t know how to beef up their digital skills, a recent Adobe study found. But marketing is becoming more and more digital, which means that finding the right people to manage marketing automation, multivariate campaigns, or digital attribution campaigns isn?t always easy.
City of Boston partners with @TicketZen to make parking ticket payments easy – congrats @cortlandt & the team
On Monday, September 22, the City of Boston announced a new initiative aimed at smoothing out the parking ticket payment system. Boston will be partnering up with locally-based mobile payment platform TicketZen so that people slapped with parking ticket fines can submit the cost using just a smartphone.
Exclusive: Two Apple medical trials shed light on how HealthKit will work
HealthKit, which is still under development, is the center of a new healthcare system by Apple. Regulated medical devices, such as glucose monitors with accompanying iPhone apps, can send information to HealthKit. With a patient's consent, Apple's service gathers data from various health apps so that it can be viewed by doctors in one place.
Why Apple Pay could succeed where others have had underwhelming results
A couple of months ago I was visiting New York City and had to catch an early flight out of La Guardia. At 4:30am I hailed a taxi on Houston Street, and the driver and I sped to the airport over dark, empty streets.
How to Graciously Say No to Anyone
"…saying ?no? gets easier with practice and repetition.
And having the right script?a starting point, so you?re not starting at a blank screen?can make all the difference."
How Cities Are Using Analytics to Improve Public Health
From clean water supplies to the polio vaccine, the most effective public health interventions are typically preventative policies that help stop a crisis before it starts. But predicting the next public health crisis has historically been a challenge, and even interventions like chlorinating water or distributing a vaccine are in many ways reactive. Thanks to predictive analytics, we are piloting new ways to predict public health challenges, so we can intervene and stop them before they ever begin.
How to Hook Your Audience in 10 Seconds Or Less
Steve Jobs understood the importance of powerful imagery. When he announced the launch of the MacBook Air on stage in 2008, Jobs wanted to highlight just how thin Apple?s newest laptop computer was. Instead, however, of simply telling his audience the impressive dimensions of the computer, he showed them, using an image of a manilla envelope.


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Project 4W- WWWW (What We Want to KnoW)#
In this project participants learn how to find reliable information on subjects as is necessary for any scientific undertaking, and how to collect them in an optimal searchable fashion using metadata and such. Eventually, a pool of about 300 essays is to emerge under http://austria-forum.org/af/Sparkling_Science.
School students participating in this project propose any topic they are motivated to write a high quality essay. The emphasis is on "high quality". Thus, just using search engines and a "copy-and-paste" approach is exactly what is not permitted; rather, a variety of different sources have to be consulted. To make sure that the process can be appreciated and can be used to learn from it, each topic has an associated list of sources that have been consulted, as basis for writing the essay, but also as potential source for others. This list can be added to by others, thus allowing and indeed suggesting multi-person collaboration. The actual essay is only written after the list of sources is sufficiently large (typically 3 to 5 references). The essay, when made available to the public, is made more valuable by comments from the community, a list of related essays and links, and meta-data to make searching more effective. Also, the relationship between essays is shown graphically.
The software for the described task and the interfaces are developed as joint effort of students, teachers and scientists. In particular, the semi-automatic generation of links, of meta-data, of the list of related essays and the visualization described above and their interfaces are developed collaboratively, both in personal meetings and using modern social communication systems like Facebook and such. Although essays are created collaboratively to some extent, one person who is also the one finally responsible for the result is indeed known by name. Essays can of course contain suitable multi media when applicable and make use of innovative linking of web-pages to pages in e-books, and conversely.


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New Releases
Coming Soon
Author Spotlights
The Tag Cloud (A great way to find what you want)
Adventure Alternate Realities Animals Arthurian Lore Audio CD Christmas Cinderella Coming of age Communicating Detective Dinosaurs Drama DVD Family Fantasy Fiction Ghost Story Historical How To Inspirational Juvenile King Arthur magic Maine Merlin Middle Grades Musical Non-fiction Original Cast Album Parallel Universes Paranormal Play Robert Kirby Santa Claus Self-help Self-Image Speaking Storytelling Suspense Teen Female Hero Time Travel Vocal Coaching Wales YA | Juvenile | Middle Grades Young Adult
"I've been working with Leicester Bay Books for sometime. C. Michael Perry is very responsive, professional and has helped me produce quality publications.
Thank you, Michael and look forward to working with you on many more projects."
Tim Caverly, Maine Author


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Firefighter's Dayton home has heavy damage after fire
Cats, pigs killed in fire
A firefighter's home had heavy damage after a Friday morning fire on Union Falls Road in Dayton.
The fire also destroyed a barn in the fire.
Two firefighters suffered second-degree burns at the scene. They were taken to Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford.
Two cats and two pigs also died in the fire.
Biddeford firefighter and paramedic Ryan Loshaw lived in the home with his wife and two young daughters. The home has been determined to be unlivable because of the damage.
Loshaw had gone off duty before the report of the fire in his house was reported before 9 a.m. The Biddeford Fire Department was one of the mutual aid departments that responded.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
"It's a difficult thing, a feeling of hopelessness, but also it gives me a feeling of gratitude when the incident happened and in 15 minutes, I had hundreds of phone calls and hundreds of messages," Loshaw said after the fire.
"Ryan and Alicia are very resilient people and will recover from the devastating event, but we as an organization feel that we can partner with them during this very difficult time," Biddeford firefighters president Tim Sevigny said.
Crews had difficulty battling the flames because of a lack of water access. There are no fire hydrants in the area, and water had to be trucked in.


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What's in your medicine cabinet? We sat down with Dr. Mark Friedman, First Stop Health's Chief Medical Officer and a veteran emergency room physician, and he said there's a critical item missing from most people's medicine cabinets: a thermometer.
Why You Need a Thermometer
"There are very few objective things you can measure at home that will help a doctor, and temperature is one of them," Dr. Friedman stresses. "A thermometer is very important."
Dr. Friedman remembers when, about 30 years ago, all the affordable and accurate mercury thermometers were thrown away because of the potential risk of mercury poisoning. "Never mind that I'd never seen a single patient with mercury poisoning," he says, noting that people would have to break the thermometer and swallow its contents to get sick. Mercury poisoning is serious, but unfortunately, because digital thermometers were at the time several times more expensive, few people replaced the ones they threw away. As a result, Dr. Friedman says that the majority of his patients cannot tell him their temperature from home.
How to Shop for a Thermometer
The good news is there's now a range of more affordable options on the market. The most accurate are rectal thermometers, which are typically used on babies, as older children and adults don't tend to tolerate them as well. In fact, American Academy of Pediatrics advises using only rectal thermometers in children 3 and under, and advises against under-the-armpit ones, which Mayo Clinic reports to be the least accurate. ConsumerSearch calls Vicks V934 the best rectal thermometer on the market. It costs $11 and is accurate to 0.2 degrees—but be warned, it doesn't display results in Celsius. The runner-up is the Safety 1st Gentle Read, which is $6. (Consumer Reports rates 10 thermometers as well, which range from $4.50 to $80.)
Oral thermometers are also considered highly accurate, and the highest-rated ones tend to cost anywhere from $15 to $50. ConsumerSearch rates the Generation Guard Clinical Digital Thermometer the top of the pack, and it costs $15, is accurate to 0.2 degrees, and switches easily between Fahrenheit and Celsius. The runner-up, Vicks Comfort Flex Digital, is $10. Dr. Friedman recommends avoiding temporal (forehead) ones, which tend to be less accurate.
Beyond the Thermometer: Other useful tidbits
Once you've got your thermometer, the following checklist should cover the basics for your home medicine cabinet:
- Band-Aids and bandage material, like gauze pads and tape
- Fever reducers and pain medicine, like acetaminophen and ibuprofen, including liquid versions for infants and children if you have kids
- Antibiotic ointment for scrapes and wounds, like bacitracin
- An antiseptic to kill germs around the wound (don't put these on the wound), like Betadine, though soap and water are a good option as well
But the best thing to keep handy in the event of an injury or illness is First Stop Health's phone number: 888-691-7867.


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The I-395? New York Avenue Corridor extends from the existing I-395 truncation at 4th Street NW through Washington D,C. NE to the Maryland line, continuing east as the Route 50 (un-signed I-595/Theoretical I-66) freeway. Since the "de-mapping" of the New York Avenue Industrial Freeway, this corridor has come under official re-study. This started with the November 19, 1996 New York Avenue Development Report commissioned by the Office of the D.C. Mayor (then under Mayor Marion Barry). The considerations include possible underground connections to the Washington, D.C. Convention Center to the north of Mt. Vernon Square, and the I-395? New York Avenue Tunnel to connect and presumably continue I-395 easterly beneath that avenue in a cut and cover tunnel extending at least to the vicinity of Florida Avenue. The tunnel would connect I-395 with the general area of interchange "B" that would have connected to northern, eastern and south to west choices.
The recent studies address both this tunnel as well as the New York Avenue corridor further east.
All of the options now officially considered would have the tunnel surface onto a New York Avenue "Boulevard" without connecting to a parallel railroad-industrial highway.
The reluctance of the recent New York Avenue corridor studies to answer the question whether the I-395 designation would be applied make this I-395?
Although these studies fall short in crafting a continuous traffic-light free connection, lest it benefit more people, they include two grade separated options for New York Avenue's intersections with Montana Avenue and with Bladensburg Road: elevated on a berm, or depressed beneath a circular lid that incorporates an SPUI interchange with the lid shape and outer walkways emulating the shape of a classic D.C. traffic circle.
SPUI (Single Point Urban Interchange) with circular lid atop depressed NY Avenue
However, this planning cheaps out by denying this grade separated treatment for Montana Avenue.


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2 min read
The Way This Dog Jumps With A Baby Is Just Simply Fabulous
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires," the late William Arthur Ward, American writer and prolific spouter of maxims once declared.
Consider this dog great, then. With bounding leaps not only does Day the dog conquer shadows, he inspires baby Alexis to bounce to great heights (limited only by bungee string length):
Dogs jump for a variety of reasons, including play and greeting. (Check out Day's graceful bounce at the 0:23 mark.) Of course, always keep an eye on dogs playing with babies, says the ASPCA, and make new introductions with care.


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Note on data encryption for working photojournalists…
In light of my own recent experience, I highly recommend all journalists (photo, video, print or otherwise) begin encrypting your working files and drives as soon as possible – i.e. from today.
It's quite simple to build a workable encryption workflow for your stories, ideas, research and contacts (especially contacts) using free, third party software such as TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt can be used to create encrypted 'containers' on any drive (e.g. a usb drive, thumb drive or your own internal hard disk), that are as easy to open and shut as a usb drive is to put into your machine. These containers can be worked from as a 'mounted' drive, and then 'ejected' and once closed, completely unreadable to anyone trying to see what is inside. They can also be easily hidden on the drive.
Happy to run through this process with anyone who wants to know more or is feeling TrueCrypt illiterate… but SERIOUSLY… do it asap. Your laptop, USB disks or thumb drives can be taken/stolen/lost/confiscated in the blink of an eye, and at that point it will be too late to do anything to protect your data.
Remember, as a journalist your data is not just casual stuff, it contains contacts, it contains ideas, it contains sources, it contains location information, telephone numbers, addresses… you name it. Your data, if compromised, could get you and (especially) many others in very hot water if you don't protect it. Encrypt today!


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An all-in-one suite for communicating, storing and creating
G Suite is a cloud-based communication and productivity platform, including secure, reliable workplace tools for email, calendar, video chat, document creation, project websites, and online storage, as well as the hundreds of applications available in the Google Apps Marketplace.
Going Google makes software updates as easy as refreshing your browser, plus there are no servers to purchase and maintain, reducing cost and complexity. As a Google Cloud Partner, Your Cloud Works provides G Suite for work support and training services, speak to a member of our team for more information.
All you need to work on the go.
Enjoy a consistent experience from your computer, tablet or phone. Draft a proposal in Docs at the office, review it on the train, and then make final edits from your phone just before the meeting. Get more from your working day.
Controls for securing your devices and data.
Manage mobile devices, email addresses, security settings and more from the Google Admin console. Keep all your company data safe, centralised and protected from disruptions such as missing hardware or employee turnover.
More productive meetings.
Schedule events in Calendar at times that work for everyone. Get meeting reminders directly to your Gmail inbox. With one click, join a video meeting through Hangouts and share your Slides to review as a team.
Teamwork that works.
Create a budget tracker in Sheets, share it with team members and edit it in real time. It's automatically stored in Drive, so everyone always has the latest version. No more sending attachments to be on the same page.