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Fall is here, and that means camping season with my son's Boy Scout troop has begun. For our first outing the troop headed east, to the Wind Caves in Anza Borrego State Park, about 100 miles east of San Diego. We were due to set out early Saturday morning and stay overnight. Wednesday and Thursday were absolutely gorgeous in San Diego, sunny and warm, perfect weather. Then on Friday the clouds rolled in. And I'm thinking, of course, it's going to rain. Because we are going camping.
Saturday arrived, cold and overcast. We hopped in the cars and headed east. This is the view from my friend Tony's windshield, as we were making our way over the Laguna Mountains.
Foggy, rainy, and an outside temperature in the 40's. I was having a flashback to a desert camping trip the troop did last year. The view out the windshield on our way out then was not rain, but snow (see post http://samscout.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/desert-camp-out-a-rainy-windy-rocky-adventure/). If you look very carefully in the last panel above, through the raindrops, you can see a bit of clear sky. And if you can believe it, in about 20 minutes we were out of the rain and fog, with blue skies and sunshine overhead as we hit the desert floor.
In tiny Octillo Wells, just across from the airport, we turned right down Split Mountain Road. The road lived up to its name. It quickly turned into a dirt road, that wound its way up Fish Creek Wash, in between two opposing cliffs of sedimentary rock. On one side is Fish Creek Mountain and the other Vallecito Mountain. (For all photos in this post, double click on them for a larger view)
The geology was really interesting, with bulging, lifted layers of sedimentary rock pointing in all different directions. There were huge boulders sandwiched into the layers at random places, some of which we drove directly under. Hope you aren't in the car underneath one of those boulders when it finally erodes its way out of the rock wall.
We worked our way into the park, our destination the trail head for the Wind Caves. The hike up to the wind caves is less than a mile, with an elevation gain of a few hundred feet. We shouldered our packs, as we planned to spend the night sleeping in the caves, and headed up the trail.
When we arrived at the Wind Caves it was a free for all, as everyone scrambled to find a cave. Sam and Matthew, our two scouts, snagged this beauty for me and Tony. Thanks boys!
The caves, tunnels, and alcoves have been eroded out a sandstone formation by the wind. The scouts had endless fun scrambling around the caves, poking their heads out of holes, and even playing a moonlit game of hide and seek later that night.
The view out over the Anza Borrego desert was incredible. Mountains in the distance, and in front of those the Carrizo Badlands, washes, and a formation called the Elephant Knees. Here are a few panoramic pictures of the view looking out from the caves. Matthew is posing in the bottom photo, looking like he is part of an ad campaign for the Boy Scouts.
Now for some geology! Those flat hills in front of Matthew are called the Elephant Knees. They, and the badlands and mudhills that we will hike out into later are the remains of a tropical sea that existed here from six million to under a half million years ago during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. The park has many fossils that illustrate the quite different habitat and life forms that used to live in what is now a desert. The fossil record from the park includes many marine invertebrates (clams, oysters, sand dollars, sea urchins and corals) vertebrates (sharks, rays, bony fish, and baleen whales) as well as terrestrial vertebrates like mammoths. The marine environments that were fossilized are part of the 'Imperial Formation', and are made up of shelves, reefs, beaches, and lagoons. As the seas became more shallow over time, estuarine and brackish environments prevailed, and the Elephant Knees formation is made up of thick deposits of oysters and pecten shells from this ancient environment (thank you Wikipedia).
After lunch we headed out on what would turn out to be a 7 mile day hike out to Elephant Knees and back. Andrew, Ted, and a few of the older scouts wanted to take the trail straight up the face. Mr. H., our scoutmaster, opted to go around the back instead. Have a mentioned how much I like our Scoutmaster?
We made our way to the backside of the Elephant Knees and then up, up, up, past barrel cacti and creosote bushes. The rock was pretty easy to walk on, it was grippy and sharp and all glued together. The view from the top behind the Elephant Knees into the badlands was spectacular. The Y-shaped wash you can see is on the map at the beginning of this post.
We hung out at the top for a bit. We drank water, had some snacks (Ted brought Oreos!), the boys threw about a million rocks over the edge, and Mr. H. got out his binoculars. We posed the boys for a photo near, but not too near, the edge.
We got back to camp at around 4:30, and we set Matthew and Sam to cooking dinner, as they were working on finishing one of their rank requirements for 2nd Class. They wanted to run off and play, but Tony and I insisted they cook while we still had daylight, which I hope is a camping lesson they remember. Everything is easier when the sun is up!
After sunset, dinner, and the moonrise over the hills behind us, Mr. H. gathered the boys on top of one of the sandstone formations for a dramatic reading of Flash Gordon. He found scripts from two old radio episodes on the internet, and we were all regaled by the adventures of Flash, the delectable Dale Arden, the evil Ming the Merciless, Flash's friend Prince Thun the Lion Man of Mongo, and a host of other characters.
After Flash Gordon, the group scattered. Some scouts started up a game of hide and seek under the light of the full moon. It was amazingly bright, but running around, especially after hiking for 4 hours, was not on my itinerary. The adults sat for awhile star gazing and chatting, then gradually headed off to bed. I don't sleep terribly well when I am camping, so I got to see sunset, moonrise, moonset (took the picture below from the snuggly comfort of my sleeping bag), and sunrise. That has never happened to me before!
And about 45 minutes later…
After breakfast we packed up, gathered for some final words and a group photo, and got ready to head back to civilization.
A line of scouts trekking out…
Until next time, we bid farewell to the quiet beauty of the desert.
Post Script
Mr. H. took this video as we drove into the desert. It gives an idea of the wild scenery we enjoyed all weekend.
Also, Mr. H. took his GPS info and created this map and graph of our hike.


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Are you thinking about, or have you already made the decision to move to another city? Possibly in another state? Here are some tips to help make the big move go as smoothly as possible.
When looking for a new house or apartment, make sure there is enough room for all your furnishings.
Once you have found your new home, you need to book an experienced and trusted interstate or intercity removalist company.
Book your removalist company as far in advance as possible.
When will your furniture arrive? There's a good chance you will be at your new house a day or two before your belongings, so arrange some temporary bedding if need be, or shout yourself to a hotel for the night.
Do you need to arrange secure storage for your possessions? Either in the new city or the one you have just moved from? There are plenty of options for both long term and short term leases for storage units.
Keep a folder of any paper work and documents involved with your inter-state move. Lease agreements, house and storage, names and phone numbers for real estate agents, new keys, insurance documents, any other paperwork such as invoices for any payments made involving your move. Keep it with you during the move should the need arise to refer to them or to use reference numbers etc
Do you require any of your possessions to be professionally packed? Maybe you have some antique furniture or valuable art works, or items that may require more specialist attention such as a pool table. If you do need a professional packing service, make sure you also book this well in advance.
Don't forget to arrange amenities and utilities like power, water, phone and internet services. These can often take up to 2 weeks for a technician to come and set things up, so again, get your booking in a good 2 weeks before you are due to arrive.
Don't leave your packing to the last minute. If you can, start packing as soon as you have set your moving date, a good month is a good time frame to start packing if you have moving inter-state or to a new city. There is a lot to organise, so packing a few boxes each day is a good idea. If you feel you don't have the time, you can hire a professional packing service to do the job for you.
It's also a good time to de-clutter your house. Donate any unwanted items to a charity or think about holding a garage sale.
We hope this guide has been useful in planning your interstate move. Good luck and best wishes.

subset: commoncrawl


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Sign Magazine Europe February now online available
01.02.2016 | Delmenhorst, Germany – The hot, new February issue of Sign Europe can now be viewed online and brings on the latest news from the industry.
In the past few weeks, the erotic industry has seen a lot of exciting events, especially with a closer look to the USA, where the most important domestic trade shows have just come to an end. They were hotspots for industry representatives from around the world and they brought along a lot of innovations to continue the year with. For example at Lovehoney, who are planning a lot of new items and additions for the near future. Among others, there are new Nookii games and FSoG accessories in the pipeline.
There is also news from the adult film industry, especially from the German-based film distributor VPS Film Entertainment. The company will soon have a number of new fetish and gay labels on offer for their customers, with names like Checky, Hammer Entertainment, Alex D and Daring Pure. After the US shows, show naturally must go on – and it will at the Scala Fair next month. Following the motto "Extravaganza", there will be many opulent decoration elements and naturally the newest items from Scala's own and third-party brands.
In our February issue, you can also read how Joydivision is going to expand the marketing range of its new toys like the Xpander and what is special about the Vive line which has been recently made available at Shots. You can further learn what is new at Tonga, ABS Holdings, The Screaming O, Sportsheets, Bathmate and many more.
You can find the new issue here (after login):
Sign Europe February


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Ages ago, I said something – seemingly innocuous – about how Marie Bilodeau's writing style would lend itself to a serialized novel. Imagine my surprise when the acknowledgements of Nigh's first volume called me out, by name, for that recommendation.
"Adam Shaftoe…This is on you!"
A portent to be sure, and while it's not usually my role to play the Haruspex, I dare say that Nigh's first installment bodes simultaneously fantastic and terrifying for the balance of the novel.
Even though Nigh's inaugural entry only amounts to sixty pages (or so my Kindle tells me) it has already managed to throw this reader for a few loops. Case in point: the balance of the preamble mentions faeries. Naturally, I braced for fantasy. The novel opens, however, with an introduction to Alva Taverner, an automotive mechanic and amateur horologist. And as quickly as I settled in for day one of Shadowrun, an all-consuming mist shrouded the small town of Lindsay, Ontario, and Nigh turned my thoughts toward Stephen King.
The stopover in King's territory, however, is a brief one. Rather than housing monsters, the mist itself is a monster. It smashes cars, manifests soul reaving avatars, and twists the terrain into a series of organic bear traps. Whatever presumptions a reader might have about Nigh being a "faerie story" of the pedestrian variety should immediately but locked in an iron box and cast into the sea. In but a turn of the page, the tedium of the small town gives way to the sort of brutality one would expect to find in the pages of an Andrezj Sapkowski Witcher novel.
Bilodeau also seems intent on keeping Nigh reasonably far removed from the usual (i.e. boring) high-fantasy tropes. Nigh's protagonist may be of exceptional lineage, but she isn't about to go on a Skywalker-esque journey of self-discovery. Granted there's a mystery to unravel, but there's no reason to believe Alva and her over-sized wrench aren't capable of meeting the challenge before them. The absence of the heroic cycle's prelude further suggests Nigh will more likely follow the pattern of a survival story; in this case it's Robert Kirkman meets the Brothers Grimm.
I think it's also fair to presume there will be a considerable environmental theme to the story. As I mentioned before, the violent nature of Nigh's apocalypse is decidedly aimed at the edifice of human civilization. Cars are smashed under the fist of an impossibly powerful force. This same force splits and shatters roads as if they were made of cardboard. At one point, a car gets knocked off a jack, bisecting an unwary mechanic in the process. The mist rages against the humanity's products, but people, save for the aforementioned mechanic, appear as fodder to be consumed by the mist.
Similarly, the eventual weaponization of the natural world strikes as an immediate contrast to the professional background of the central players. Consider how mechanics and watchmakers labour to maintain the artificial systems that make civilization function. In the case of watch makers, they go so far as to impose an absolute order on nature through the conscious and exacting measurement of time. I can't imagine these pieces of character development being coincidental to the apocalypse.
While there's much more of Nigh to come, its introduction is nothing short of fantastic. Despite Marie Bilodeau's existing and well-deserved reputation for doing terrible things to her characters, Nigh reflects a darker turn from her previous books. Where those works were a slow burn to various horrors and cruelties, Nigh offers no such gentle warm-up. Red shirts are introduced, humanized, and then mercilessly killed in a way that would make George R. R. Martin raise a concerned eyebrow. Though thematically appropriate, here's to hoping we don't have to wait until spring for Nigh's second installment.
Nigh Book 1
Author: Marie Bilodeau
Publisher: S&G Publishing


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I tried to ignore it. I wanted to go back to sleep and let my dreams tell me the true meaning of my final Research Methodology report, but before I could even set the phone down, it exploded again.
It was Leo, the breakfast shop owner's son. I knew it was a mistake to call that phone one morning to place an order for food. Now the 15 year old had a direct line to a friendly laowai. I've created a monster!
Rather than wait for another barrage of texts I decided it was as good a time as any to head down for breakfast. I made my way across the street and ordered the usual, slumping into my favorite spot against the wall... and waited impatiently for my coffee to arrive. Leo was working the grill while his Dad was on a smoke break, but the second he was done he came rushing over to sit with me.
"我們玩個遊戲!" he said as I placed my phone on the table. Ever since I showed him some of the games I had on my smart phone he has been obsessed. Instead I pick up the news paper and glanced at the first article... it was perfect. I glanced over the article and couldn't help but ask Leo if he knew what "低頭族" was.
"當然", he replied. "就是你啊! It's true, most mornings you will find my head facing down (低頭) and I guess that would make me a part of the "head down group," but I was shocked that Leo, who spent ever second playing games on his tablet PC until it broke, had the audacity to call me a part of the group without including himself among the ranks!
And then it hit me... this kid looks up to me (maybe). He thinks it is okay to sit around while he is "at work" playing his games because he sees me doing it every weekend. We continued to chat for a while about the article, and a few other things we found in the paper, but the whole time I was thinking to myself, this is a test.
See, Leo is a gamer, and a self-proclaimed poor student. He doesn't like to study English, he doesn't do well in school, and he spends just about ever minute of his weekend at home playing Counter Strike with his friends. But, he looks up to me. So what if I could change that, what if I could figure out a way to make learning fun for him? This will eventually be my job as a Chinese teacher, so why not try it with a kid who already speaks Chinese?
So after about an hour of chatting and messing around on Skritter together I told him it was time for me to get going. And then I added... "我明天不會帶我的手機來吃早餐". He gave me a look of sheer terror, but I pressed on "要帶一本書,我們可以一起看!" He was puzzled, but intrigued.
Now I just have to figure out what a kid like Leo would actually enjoy reading. Perhaps it is time to start that Chinese version of Lord of the Rings that has been sitting on my shelf for months!


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[Game] Olympus Rising
free apps android
Olympus Rising : Join the epic battle for Mount Olympus and unleash the power of the Gods! Conquer distant lands with an army of heroes and monsters, build an impenetrable base to keep rival players at bay, and proclaim your glory across the world in this breathtaking, addictive action MMO.
Command epic armies and conquer countless island empires
Collect legendary heroes and upgrade them into god-like warriors
Summon mythical creatures and defend Mount Olympus
Turn the mountain of the gods into your own impervious fortress
Expand your territory in a world where greater risks bring greater rewards
Harness your hero's unique abilities and tailor your strategy
Build a spectacular acropolis to showcase your glory
See the grandeur of the gods come to life thanks to stunning 3D graphics
Forge alliances with fellow players and rule over Olympus together
Contact flaregames
Ideas, praise or problems? Join in the discussion now!
More about flaregames
This game requires an internet connection to play
Terms of Service: www.flaregames.com/terms-service/
Parental guide
Olympus Rising is free to download and play, however some game items can also be purchased for real money. If you don't want to use these features, please disable in-app purchases in your Google Play settings. According to our Terms of Service, Olympus Rising is allowed for download and play only for persons 13 years or more of age, or with explicit parental consent. You can read more here: http://www.flaregames.com/parents-guide/
Olympus Rising user reviews :
Super good game at the moment. Haven't seen any problems yet.
simply awesome love it excellent graphics
Yes it might be same game mechanics Royal revolt but what game doesn't copy others
The best game Nothothing bad to say just play the game and enjoy
I love Greek mythology games
Last Update February 9, 2017 :
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See the following link for an interesting paper on the ability of the womb to discern between a cloned embryo and an embryo made by means of fertilization. See this link for the article.
Embryonic stem cells from cloned embryos are indistinguishable from those made from embryos made by fertilization. They express the same genes (see DJ Guo et al., Proteomics. 2009 Apr 22, and this article), show the same biological behaviors (see this link for this paper), show normal embryonic stem cell morphology, express key stem-cell markers, and can differentiate into multiple cell types in vitro and in vivo (JA Byrne, Nature 450 (2007): 497-502).
Since embryonic stem cells are made from the internal cells of the embryo (the inner cell mass), the inner cell mass cells from cloned embryos are rather normal (ML Condic, Cell Proliferation 41, suppl 1: 7-19). However, the outer layer of cells (trophectoderm) that engage the endometrium and work with it to implant the embryo into the inner layer of the uterus do not differentiate normally in cloned embryos (DR Arnold et al. Reproduction 132, no. 2 (2006): 279-90). Trophoblast cells in cloned embryos are normal at the early stages (S. Kishigami et al., FEBS Letters 580, no. 7 (2006): 1801-6), but they go on to make abnormal placentas (DR Arnold et al, Placenta 29 Suppl A (2007): S108-10).
Now this paper shows that the differentiating placenta of the cloned embryo does not interact normally with the surrogate mother's uterus. This is probably one of the main reasons why cloned embryos and fetuses tend to die prior to birth. The endometrial cells of the mothers who were carried the cloned embryos showed substantial variation in the genes they expressed in comparison to endometria that carried in vitro fertilized embryos (S. Bauersachs et al., PNAS 106, no. 14 (2009): 5681-6). Thus cloned embryos fail to properly communicate with the mother's uterus.
Implantation is a very complex process. It requires cross talk between the embryo and the uterus. Without this cross talk, implantation does not occur successfully. Without successful implantation, the embryo perishes.
Here again we find another reason to not clone humans. We are subjecting them to a process that is less robust than fertilization. The chances of the embryo surviving are far less than an embryo concieved in the usual manner (fertilization). We should simply ban this process in humans overall.


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PostgreSQL Transaction System
This is a gem .
via NoSQL databases
This is a gem .
via NoSQL databases
About me: Software architect, Web Aficionado, Cloud Computing Fanboy, Geek Entrepreneur, Speaker, Co-founder and CTO of InfoQ.com, Writing also about NoSQL on the myNoSQL blog
myNoSQL a NoSQL blog featuring the best daily NoSQL news, articles and links covering all major NoSQL projects and following closely all things related to NoSQL ecosystem. Everything you need and want to know about NoSQL.


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The Tim Donahue Selva Fretless Guitar is going back into production after a break of nearly thirty years. Originally eighteen guitars were made and they rarely come onto the market so this will be great news for anyone who hankers after one of these fine instruments.
In Tim's own words….
Here is my 1986 TD fretless Model, sounding better than ever after all these years. I'm happy to announce that these models are going to be produced once again in 2016. For guitarists who love Jaco Pastorius' fat fretless tone, this is the guitar for you. Anyone interested please drop me a line at email@example.com
Here is a chance to listen to Christophe Godbile playing his Tim Donahue Fretless Selva on the track "Avec Certitude" from the album "Les Mouvements"
Unfretted's review of the Tim Donahue 1986 Selva


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"Life is a flower of which love is the honey" ~Victor Hugo There is an estimated 7.1 billion people on this planet, and out of that horde of individuals, 46% are looking for that one other person that they want to spend the rest of their life with. Easy. Not exactly, although the maths are in your favour, it has never been harder to find 'the one' and with stories of 'childhood sweetheart' filling our timelines, it seems like there is no hope.Perfect Partners seeks out someone who will compliment your personality, share your dreams and ambitions and who has similar interests with you. Ultimately, it seeks to find someone who will be your perfect partner. This is not online dating, this is online matching. An Irish Matchmaker from Perfect Partners will meet both individuals and we get to know your likes and dislikes and life ambitions. If we think you are a good match, we can arrange a time and place for you to meet. Giving you a safer, secure, faster way to meet your dream partner.
Robert, 29
Membership Subscription


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In Photography, there are a lot of rules, especially in portraiture. I used to be a strict rule follower. Never crop her at her feet! Place her at the exact thirds of the picture! Make sure her eyes are above the upper thirds! Make sure to get that catch light in her eyes! And so on.
Even though I followed those rules, I noticed pros who I admire rarely followed them. I began to realize that the rules weren't always to be followed. In fact, if the content is solid, the rules don't matter. They're minor distractions.
Before, I would critique other photos based on those rules. I now cringe at the stuff I said. Nitpicking photos on those rules isn't constructive. It's just an ego booster. But that's another post.
Other clueless photographers critiqued me with those nitpicky rules as well. Over time, no matter how perfect I try to make the photo, someone has something irrelevant to say to boost their ego. I got tired of it and decided to just break the rules.
You Can't Have Shadows In the Eyes, That is Unflattering
A common rule in portraiture is to have catchlight in the eyes. That is supposed bring soul and life into the eyes. In fact, they hate shadows in eyes. They say it make women look unflattering. These girls look ugly don't they?
You Must Always Point the Face Towards the Light
In addition to the rule above, you should just have the model face the light. These images below are crappy since the light isn't shone on the face.
Don't Crop At Fingers, Toes, Feet, Under Elbows, Tip of Heads, etc.
We all know the proper body cropping rules. Don't chop off the limbs. But this is the rule that all top photographers break.
Honestly, if you control the contrast at the crop, it isn't as bad. Also if the brightest part of the image draws the eyes away from the crop, it's okay too. Heck some top photographers blatantly do it. It's like they don't even know about this rule.
So here are my crappy images since I break cropping rules:
The Eyes Must Be Razor Sharp
The eyes are the soul. You must focus on them and have them razor sharp.
I used to follow this rule pretty religiously. Lately, I've been lazy about keeping this rule. One reason is because I have heard one photographer blurs his pics! You don't need to have a super sharp picture. Would my pictures be any better if the eyes were razor sharp?
As you can see, some of these break more than 1 rule. These aren't the best photos I've taken. But I don't think they're that bad. Would they've been better if I followed the rules? I don't know. Maybe.
Also, I know there are photographers out there reading this post cringing at my photos above. Oh well, I can't win them all.
I'm not saying we should not follow the rules. I try to follow them most of the time. In fact, getting a good photo becomes easier when you follow the rules. However, I will break them when it requires me to have the right expression, feeling, and emotion at that moment.


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ECHO Asia Note Articles Seed Saving in the Tropics: Lessons Learned from the Network
This article is from ECHO Asia Note #28
For both farmers and researchers in the tropics, seed saving can be very frustrating. In Mondulkiri province, farmers are rarely able to keep seed for more than the six months between harvest and the new planting season. Seeds stored longer than this tend to either pick up moisture from the extra humid air during the wet season and lose viability, or suffer from insect pests that proliferate and destroy the seed. At our resource center, we had wanted to build up a seed inventory of many useful plant species without having to grow out each variety every year. However, similar to the farmers, our seed had often quickly lost viability or was destroyed by pests while stored.
Refrigeration and freezing of most orthodox seeds are well known methods for extending seed life, (See ECHO Asia Note 14 "Vacuum Sealing versus Refrigeration"), but don't offer an appropriate solution in areas like Mondulkiri province, where electricity, if available, is unreliable and expensive. In partnership with ECHO Asia and with funding from the Presbyterian Hunger Program, staff members at Ntuk Nti have been conducting research over the past year to design and test appropriate options for seed saving. In this article we share some of our findings - useful methods to improve seed storage without electricity that even the poorest and most isolated farmers can use.


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Vouchers to be won!
We all know that the internet is important to local businesses these days. To assist us in spreading the word about what we do, we are asking existing customers to review us online.
If you have enjoyed your experience at Riviera Wellbeing, and believe that we do good things, we would love it if you could help spread the word. We fully appreciate that these things take some time, and a little effort, so are offering a chance to win a £30 voucher to spend in our clinic.
Each month we will randomly select a reviewer to receive a voucher which can be redeemed against any of the products or services on offer.
The Rules
Simple really –
Go to our Google+ page here or our yell.com page here and write us a review!
At the end of every month we will randomly select one of our new reviewers to win a gift voucher for £30 to spend on any of our products or services.
You must be a patient or customer of ours (we do not want 'fake' reviews).
Only one review per person per site (you can do one on our Google+ page and one on our yell.com page – but remember to do them in different months to increase your chances of winning twice!).


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Life and death are inevitable and even the best of technology and science can't stop neither. And so is the change inevitable. As much as it is applicable to human life, it is equally applicable to automobiles. Like some of the legends who died and left the memories to cherish, so are some cars who even after retiring from service, leave us wondering and remembering, what deep and meaningful impact they created in automobile arena.
One such car and the greatest example of human endeavour to create the best is the late Bugatti Veyron, whose last unit was sold a couple of weeks back. And a car like a Bugatti Veyron deserves something special which Bugatti knew and they unveiled the 450th and last Veyron in the form of Grand Sport Vitesse "La Finale" edition at the Geneva Motorshow. The sale of the last and final piece of Veyron marked the end of 10-year run as the pinnacle of the automotive industry.
According to Wolfgang Durheimer, President, Bugatti - "The Veyron didn't have to be pretty—it had to slice through the wind at 100 mph faster than a 747 takes off." And that is why the car was priced hefty at around $2.6 Million per piece after adding all the options, which to an extent can't be avoided. The destination charges alone cost around $ 100,000. But as Wolfgang says - Veyron is "unique in many respects" and "a masterpiece of modern automobile design."
But what is that makes Bugatti Veyron such a reverence in the industry? To start with, we are not sure if it's a car or a supercar or a hypercar. Infact, it was Bugatti which came up word like hypersport, and why shouldn't it be called one? After all, it was the quickest, fastest, most expensive and most sought after thing on four wheels when it was launched. Owned by the Volkswagen group, Bugatti Veyron never was in profit, and Volkswagen ends up losing money on every car. But that's the small price of what they got in return - a brand image like none other!
The idea of having such a mammoth of a car was first conceived by Ferdinand Piech, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche (the man behind Porsche and Volkswagen). The 77 year old stalwart is famous for getting for he wants, be it the modern day Beetle or the Le Mans dominating Porsche 917 racer. And when he first showcased the concept car with top speed above 400 kmph and power in excess of 1000bhp, everyone went nuts and Piech decided to go ahead with the idea and make the car a reality.
You don't see such metrics in a car every day. Infact, the most sophisticated of all - Formula 1 cars don't produce such amount of power figures, let alone a street legal car. But Piech's insistence to get these figures up and running forced the engineering team to do everything out of the box. So much so is the effort gone into the car, that 12 radiators are used to cool down the car, that can reach a top speed of 434 kmph and that powers come by an ingenious quad-turbo W16 engine.
"When Bugatti bumped the engine's horsepower from 1,000 to 1,200, the car had to be completely reengineered, from the wheels to the roof. You could double the power of any other car and it'd be fine. It wasn't too expensive because they sold every one they built. And the Veyron didn't have to be pretty—it had to slice through the wind at 100 mph faster than a 747 takes off." said Jason Cammisa, senior editor of Road and track, one of the few people who has driven all variants of this car.
How much engineering has gone into the car can be known by the fact that not only the manufacturer, but also the parts suppliers had to be on their toes all the time to deliver products matching the Veyron's capability. Like Michelin for example, is known to bring some of the innovative technologies in tyre manufacturing. But for the Veyron, they had to develop a set of street-capable tyres that could withstand the load of 430 kmph and they cost $25,000 a set.
Another such example of how Veyron saw various stages of development is a very interesting story indeed. Once, during a triple-digit testing, a bird strike shattered the aluminium grille upfront completely, forcing the developers to use titanium, so that animals can without damage at speeds upward of 430kmph. Similarly, the earlier prototype wasn't able to exceed 320kmph, a special top-speed mode was developed that lowered the suspension and reduced the drag. The end result was a car so computer controlled that it set new standards for the industry.
But if everything was so hunky-dory for the hypercar manufacturer, why did they have to close the project? The Bugatti Veyron was limited to 450 units only, and all of them are sold now. Though is still to deliver many cars, the production will stop within 2 years and they already have started working on the next project which supposedly is named Chiron. While nobody knows why such a brilliant and technological advanced car was stopped, there are few theories related to it.
The most dominant theory of them all is - since Bugatti was 10 years old and many competitors like the Hennessey and Koenigsegg are continously pushing their limits to topple the world record set by Bugatti, they decided to move ahead and make another hypercar. Also, Ferrari and McLaren are pushing their boundaries to manufacture hybrid hypercars like the Ferrari LaFerrari and McLaren P1 which are the things of the future.
But these are some glitches in the stature of the Veyron, which will be sorted out in the coming generation cars. The thing that nobody could take from the Bugatti is the fact that they essentially gave the world - the first car to touch 400kmph. Like we said in the opening remark, the world is moving fast and change is inevitable. Nobody builds fast car now-a-days without giving emphasis to the environment. The Bugatti Veyron was the last automobile that was designed without compromise, without any regard to the cost, and with the sole purpose of being the best. We will never again see anything like it.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that Bugatti Veyron was the last gas-powered no-nonsense, non-hybrid hypercar and this is why, it holds a sheer importance to us and this is why we will miss the dinosaur of cars.
Rest in peace, you beauty. We'll miss you!


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It's looking like Penn State is going to have to look for another head coach. ESPN reports that the Houston Texans have come to terms with Nittany Lion head coach Bill O'Brien to be the NFL franchise's new head coach. O'Brien has been the head coach at Penn State since 2012.
There's been no official word yet from either the school or the Texans, but you should probably expect one in the next day or two. Meanwhile, expect Penn St. to be duking it out with Texas for potential coaching candidates like Vanderbilt's James Franklin.
(via ESPN)


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Qwintry.com integration
For our own website, we decided to go with pretty simple integration for now. This integration consists of two parts:
- Anticarder indicator on each registered user (carder / not carder)
- The shortcut to add user as carder (just an A HREF tag)
Registered customers list
Customer profile
How It Works?
How It Works?
For image indicator, we use /api/v1/carders API call with format=img. This approach is super-simple in terms of integration, but for each indicator your server generates request to Anticarder server. To see how it looks like in real PHP code, go to our docs page and click on /api/v1/carders section, and then click on the PHP example:
For "Add to Anticarder.com" quick link (which leads to Anticarder.com carder creation form, with all the fields pre-populated), we've used an /api/v1/carders/new API call, so the code on Qwintry side looks like this ($acc is current viewed profile object):
function qwintry_anticarder_create($acc) { $api_host = "http://anticarder.com"; $username = "[email protected]"; $apikey = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"; $nonce = md5(rand(), true); $created = REQUEST_TIME; $digest = base64_encode(sha1($nonce.$created.$apikey,true)); $b64nonce = base64_encode($nonce); $query1 = http_build_query(array('carder' => array( 'firstname' => $acc->field_first_name[LANGUAGE_NONE][0]['value'], 'lastname' => $acc->field_last_name[LANGUAGE_NONE][0]['value'], 'mail' => $acc->mail ), // WSSE Authentication 'username' => $username, 'digest' => $digest, 'nonce' => $b64nonce, 'created' => $created )); $a_href = $api_host."/api/v1/carders/new.html?".$query1; return "Add to Anticarder.com"; }
So, in the profile template, we use this function as "echo qwintry_anticarder_create($user_profile);"
More sophisticated setup
This is a simple client-side integration, where browser of Qwintry operator makes GET requests to Anticarder.com. But, it's possible to integrate your website to Anticarder project on a lower level, for example, when your customer places an order, you can use your backend script (for example, PHP+Curl library) to make API call to Anticarder, using order details, and, if the name (or shipping address) of the customer is suspicious, send an email to your administrator. Just read our docs and contact us the you have any questions, we'll be glad to help you.


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Going Beyond – Eliane Sadler
With a passion for Mathematics and Science, Year 12 student Eliane Sadler plans to study Engineering/Science degrees at Monash University.
"I have always loved Mathematics, Science and problem solving and the course structure at Monash allows me to take a more directed approach to my studies, which is what I am looking for," Eliane explains.
Discussing the importance of more girls opting to undertake Science and Engineering degrees Eliane says, "although Science and Engineering may be more traditionally known as male dominated degrees, I have never once let this preconception hold me back. I enjoy Mathematics and Science and I have found a degree that suits my interests. I am determined to pursue this career even if in the future I may be the only woman in certain circumstances. It is important for women to study what we find pleasure in and never let any statistics hold us back.
"I think that the opportunities are endless for women in the Science and Engineering sector. Science and Engineering have such great importance in today's world as we continue to advance and grow, therefore the career options from these degrees are endless."
Contemplating her plans for the future Eliane hopes to complete her degree and find engineering work that complements her interests and skills. Eliane is also considering further degrees after her undergraduate degree.
Commencing at St Catherine's as a three-year-old in our Early Learning Centre, Eliane has enjoyed the life long friendships she has made at St Catherine's, "some of us have been together since we were three. It has been amazing to see how we have all flourished and grown up," Eliane says.
Offering advice to future Year 12 students, Eliane believes the girls should go into the year with confidence, "Year 12 can be built up to seem so daunting, but attending such an excellent School, you are more ready than you think."


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We're sharpening our guns and fidgeting with our machete triggers because it's time for another PUBG Family Dinner. Once again, we're hosting a little get together to shoot and maim one another in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. This is the megasuccessful Battle Royale shooter that has established itself as the game of the summer with more than 10 million copies sold since March and more than 1 million concurrent players on Steam earlier today.
The #PUBGFamilyDinner VI starts this evening at 8 p.m. Pacific time. If you want a reminder, follow us on Twitch and make sure you choose to get notifications.
For our Family Dinner nights, we try to get developers, composers, artists, journalists, critics, and other people from the gaming industry together in the same match so they finally can have a chance to shoot one another. We'll see how well that still works now that Destiny 2 is out. But even if we only have a small crew of "insiders," we're still going to open up most of the games to all of you.
If you want to play or just watch, tune into our Twitch channel by pressing play below:
I'm also going to try to have a PUBG Extended Family Dinner Discord server, which you can join by clicking here.


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Stanczyk — has a great-grandmother, Aniela Major / Majer who was the daughter or Marcin Major and Katazyna Ozarowicz. I have found some Major in church records. But, as yet I have been unable to locate Ozarowicz records that connect to my family tree.
At the top is an image, of the OZAROWICZ (aka Uzarowicz) name as written in Russian/Cyrillic. My Ozarowicz were from Biechow parish (of Stopnica area in the old wojewodztwo Kielce). So today, I am announcing in this blog that I am searching for Ozarowicz from Biechow area.
Click on my Stanczyk image and drop me an electronic missive if you are one or know one. Thanks!


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Ride-Rite helper kits available from All Air Suspension assist leaf spring suspensions in diesel vehicles, enabling excellent ride and load carrying capabilities.
Diesel vehicles are often great towing and load-carrying rigs because of their torque outputs; however their capacity is compromised when the heavy loads affect the safety and stability of standard suspensions.
This problem can be exacerbated where uneven loads are involved, which can place more weight on one side of the vehicle, or where loads such as liquid tanks subject the suspension to widely varying loads over the same journey. Sometimes the problem is as simple as a heavy weight on the towbar forcing the vehicle's tail down, pointing headlights into the trees, and disrupting the stability of steering and brakes.
Air helper suspensions, which can be easily adjusted to cope with changing loads, offer an excellent solution. Ride-Rite helper kits are designed to assist the existing leaf springs, providing hard-working vehicles with excellent ride, load carrying capacity and adjustability, while helping to maintain the correct vehicle design height and avoid any spring sag. These kits also have the option of onboard air controls, allowing the user to vary the pressure in each airbag without having to get out and adjust valving manually.
Manufactured by Airbag Man using Firestone air springs, these helper kits are designed to fit between a vehicle's chassis and the axle/ leaf spring to provide levelling control, front-to-rear and side-to-side, when a vehicle is under load. The heavy duty double convoluted airbags are two ply, reinforced rubber bellows.
All-Air Suspension General Manager Mr James Maslin explains that the kits offer benefits regardless of whether the vehicle is loaded or empty, towing or not towing, because the air pressure takes the strain off existing metal springs, preventing sagging and helping them last longer.
According to Mr Maslin, the Ride-Rite kits are robustly engineered by Firestone to exactly the same durability standards as the airbags used by 40-tonne semi-trailers, radically improving the ride, handling, stability and durability of hardworking 4wds, utes, light trucks and vans.
The airbags can be adjusted for varying loads and road conditions by simply inflating or deflating, similar to a tyre. Airbags are used for front-to-rear and side-to-side levelling control of a vehicle, allowing the vehicle to level up when carrying heavy, uneven loads or towing caravans, boats and trailers.
Air springs do not increase the vehicle's load capacity; they are designed to optimise the performance within the vehicle's limitations. Users should not exceed the Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM).
Ride-Rite kits are available for a large range of major work vehicles such as the Toyota Hilux, Holden Colorado, Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50, Volkswagen Amarok and Nissan Patrol as well as a number of smaller worksite vehicles.


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Harry Potter Gryffindor TieItem #: 24670
9,99 €incl. VAT, plus shipping
Delivery until 16.08. possible**
Fitting for this:
Add the product directly to your basket by clicking the checkbox
Add the product directly to your basket by clicking the checkbox
Harry Potter Gryffindor Tie
Licensed tie from the Harry Potter moviesThe claret-colored tie is an important part of the school uniform of every Gryffindor student in the magic school Hogwarts.Combined with a white shirt, wand and school robes in Gryffindor colors you are perfectly equipped for your Harry Potter costume.
The claret-colored tie with yellow stripes painted in the typical Gryffindor colors.You can use the licensed Harry Potter product to the super Harry Potter Set 4 pieces combine thus proving that you are a true Harry Potter fan.
Delivery: 1 x Harry Potter Gryffindor Tie
- Content: 1 x Tie
- Color: violet, yellow
- Size: approx. 122 cm long
- Material: 100% Polyester
- Robe, glasses and wand are available seperately
- Harry Potter license Costume Accessories
Caution: This item is a fancy dress accessory for adults and is not a toy.Not recommended for children under 3 years.May contain small parts that could be swallowed.Thus, there is danger of suffocation.keep away from fire and flames


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Find us
The menu is simple: jazzy, post-Ottolenghi salads, quiches, soups, sandwiches and cake (banana bread is a bestseller)…executed with care.
-Tony Naylor, The Guardian
The Dressing Room Cafe is an award winning cafe bar and arts space based at The Edge Theatre in Chorlton and is also a dedicated catering and restaurant training facility for adults with learning disabilities. Our trainees have the opportunity to learn skills which can be applied in a real working environment and also transferred and applied to other areas of life.
A space to relax with a coffee while you wait for a class, grab a pre-theatre meal, or enjoy a piece of cake while enjoying the surroundings. Based in the heart Chorlton, we hope that The Dressing Room Cafe Bar is an inspiring and tranquil haven. We have a large selection of food options including vegetarian, vegan and gluten free. All of our meals are made fresh in the cafe by our Chef.
In October 2018 we won the award for Local Food Hero in the Observer Food Monthly Awards 2018. The Observer asked their readers to nominate their local food hero. From entrepreneurs to producers, innovators to activists, they wanted to know about people who had made a difference in the food industry in communities around the UK. We are beyond thrilled that The Dressing Room Chorlton was chosen as the winner by the OFM judges from a voted shortlist. For our project to win an award that, in our eyes, the highest accolade in the food industry, is a huge honour and testament to our wonderful staff, partners and of course trainees.
Do you or someone you know have a learning disability? Would you like to learn to work in a cafe in Chorlton?
We have a range of training opportunities available tailored to individuals needs, from short term part time hours to longer placements.
Our trainees develop skills in:
- Customer Service
- Working Safely
- Food Preparation
- Serving Food & Drinks
All of our trainees are supported by a learning mentor and receive a personal plan with individual goals to make sure we know how to support their learning in the best possible way.
For more information contact firstname.lastname@example.com
Download the flyer: here
The Dressing Room Cafe opened in April 2015 and is based at The Edge Theatre in Chorlton and has gone from strength-to-strength.
With thanks to funding from The Big Lottery Fund and The Oglesby Charitable Trust, The Dressing Room Cafe is also a dedicated catering and restaurant training facility for adults with learning disabilities, providing training is hospitality with opportunities to also get involved in the arts through our other projects at The Edge, including drama and dance.
As well as being a wonderful place to get a coffee, The Dressing Room Cafe in Chorlton is also a training facility for adults with learning disabilities. Our trainees have the opportunity to learn skills which can be applied in a real working environment, and also transferred and applied to other areas of life.
We are passionate about what we do.
By becoming a Sip to Support member you will be supporting this vital training. The annual membership of £30 includes 50 pence off every coffee you buy for a year!
Ask your barista about becoming a member or email firstname.lastname@example.com
You can sign up online below, however please show your Barista your confirmation email to get your card.
Breastfeeding-Friendly Manchester
We are delighted to be part of the Breastfeeding-Friendly Manchester Scheme.
The scheme supports breastfeeding mothers across the city – making a real difference. By providing welcoming and supportive environments, venues who are a part of the scheme help to reduce the barriers that can prevent mothers from breastfeeding.
It's great to see other cafes in Chorlton and across Manchester getting involved in this scheme too.
Here's a full list of breastfeeding-friendly places in Manchester: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/…/breastfeeding-friendly_man…/6


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Thank you for visiting Domu.com. We appreciate that you trust us as a partner in your search for a new place to call home, if you are renter, or in your search for a tenant, if you are a landlord. We value your privacy. Please read this Privacy Statement to understand our information gathering practices and your ability to selectively opt out.
You consent to the information collection, usage, disclosure, and storage practiced described in this Privacy Statement when you use the Domu website.
Why does Domu collect personal information from its users?
Domu collects information from users in order to make the housing search process more personal and efficient.
What information does Domu collect from its users?
Some information you provide to us automatically, and other information you provide in order to utilize certain features of our website. Any information that you provide to us we may collect. For example, we might collect information about the type of apartment that interests you.
- Automatic Information: When you visit the Domu website, you disclose your IP address and certain information about your computing, such as the type of browser and operating system you are using and the page that referred you to our site.
- Mobile Information: When you use Domu's mobile site, you have the option to disclose your location to Domu. Domu collects this information only after you give explicit permission for Domu to do so.
- Information You Provide to Domu: To take advantage of certain functionalities offered by the website, you will need to supply additional information. For example,
- To save your searches, you must share your e-mail address and create a password;
- To contact a landlord about a listing, you must share your e-mail address;
- To send a listing to a friend, you must share your e-mail address as well as your friend's;
- To post an apartment for rent, you must share an e-mail address, create a password, and provide a valid credit card number with name and billing address.
Any e-mail addresses and passwords received through Domu and stored by Domu are encrypted. This includes not only your own e-mail address, but any other address that you transmit through a web form.
Does Domu Share the Information it Receives?
Domu does not sell any of the information that it receives from its users.
Domu shares information when it is directed by you to do so. For example, if you use a Domu web form to share a listing with a friend or to contact a landlord, any information you place in the web form will be visible to that friend or landlord.
Any information that you supply in the course of a credit card transaction is transmitted to our payment processor, Chase Paymentech, through its orbital payment gateway using Secure Socket Layer technology. Chase Paymentech is subject to the detailed rules and regulations of the various credit and debit card organizations and networks relating to the security and safeguarding of cardholder data, including the payment card industry data security standards (PCI DSS). For more on this, please visit Chase Paymentech, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the link to its privacy policy. Credit card numbers are not stored with Domu, although Domu maintains the name and address associated with the credit card, as well as the transaction amount and transaction identification number. Domu may access credit card numbers through the Orbital payment gateway, but those numbers remain with the payment processor.
How does Domu use the information it collects?
Any time you supply an e-mail address (or a friend's e-mail address), Domu may use it to communicate with you about matters believed to be of interest to you. Should Domu ever do so, it will provide you the opportunity to opt out of future communications.
Domu may also use your e-mail address to communicate with you regarding specific transactions you engage in on the site. For example:
Whenever you establish an account, Domu will send you an e-mail confirming that the account has been created.
If you save a search, Domu will periodically alert you to newly-listed Chicago apartments matching your search criteria, although you have the option to set preferences on how often you would like to be notified of new search results, including the preference not to be contacted at all.
If you activate a listing for a Chicago apartment, Domu will confirm the receipt of your credit card payment and may later alert you when your listing is about to expire or remind you of your ability to renew it.
If you choose to share your location when using Domu's mobile feature, Domu will use your location to data to show you listings in the vicinity.
Domu might also utilize your search history in order to serve you advertisements that meet your requirements (see "Marketing," below).
Domu does not accept advertisements (other than listings) and does not disclose e-mail addresses to third-parties, subject to the exceptions set forth in the next paragraph.
Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, Domu reserves the right to disclose any data or information in its possession (or to use your e-mail address) when required by law or legal process or when Domu believes in good faith that such disclosure (or use) is necessary to (i) enforce the terms of service, (ii) respond to claims that any user-generated content violates the rights of third-parties, or (iii) protect the safety or property of Domu, its users, or members of the public.
Cookies and Google Analytics
A HTTP cookie is an identifier that a website transfers to the user's computer or mobile device and that is stored in the user's web browser. Domu uses cookies to identify the user and enhance the user experience, and also to understand the way in which the website is used. If you object to Domu's use of cookies, look to your browser's help feature for information about how to disable or clear cookies.
Domu also uses Google Analytics as a tool for tracking and analyzing its web traffic. Google Analytics runs on the Domu server and uses a combination of first-party cookies and Javascript code to compile information that is synthesized into reports about page visits, referring sites, user habits, and the like. Google is not provided access to any user information other than IP addresses.
Google has created an "Opt-out Browser Add-on" for users who wish to use websites while preventing their data from being accessed or used by Google Analytics. If you want to opt out of the features on Domu.com that rely on Google Analytics, please follow the directions provided by Google here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/ features
Domu uses Google's "remarketing" service to advertise Domu on the Internet. Google's remarketing service allows Domu to show users advertisements that are specifically tailored to them based on their prior usage of Domu. For example, if a user searches on Domu for two-bedroom apartments in Lincoln Square, Domu's remarketing campaign might cause that user to see an advertisement on a third party website for a Domu listing of a two-bedroom apartment in Lincoln Square. These advertisements might appear on a Google search result page, or on a site in the Google Display network.
The remarketing service relies on cookies placed on your computer or mobile device. The cookie does not identify you or give access to your device, nor does it collect any personally identifiable information such as an e-mail address, name, or any credit card information. The cookie simply identifies which types of listings or services interested you in the past, so that Domu may show you advertisements about those listings or services in the future. Domu utilizes this type of marketing in order to show you only the advertisements that are relevant to you.
You may opt-out of Google's remarketing services by visiting https://privacy.google.com. You may also opt out of Interest-Based Advertising by visiting http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/.
E-mail addresses, passwords, credit card information, messages transmitted in web forms, and other user-generated content of a confidential nature in Domu's possession will be accessible only to authorized personnel at Domu. The Domu website is hosted at Rackspace, and Domu cannot guarantee that information will not be intercepted from the website or that security breaches will not occur.
This Privacy Statement applies solely to your dealings with Domu. Once you leave the Domu domain, your online actions will be subject to the privacy policy, if any, of the new website you enter, even if you reached that website by following a link from Domu. This Privacy Statement may be updated from time-to-time, and Domu recommends that you periodically revisit this page to keep yourself apprised of any changes.