Dell is looking ahead to Windows 10 and planning to release a tablet with the OS and other new technologies in September or October.
A refreshed Venue 11 Pro will have the USB Type-C port, which first appeared in Apple's 12-inch MacBook and in Google's Chromebook Pixel last month, said Kelli Hodges, a manager at Dell.
Although Microsoft hasn't given a specific release date for Windows 10, Dell's plans shed light on when PCs and tablets might start shipping with Windows 10 pre-installed. One thing is clear: PC makers are eager to move away from the unpopular Windows 8. Windows 10 will run in smartphones, tablets, PCs, wearables and other devices.
The USB Type-C port replaces chargers for the MacBook and Chromebook Pixel, but also serves as a connector to monitors, external storage and other peripherals. The Type-C connector is identical on both ends, making plug orientation simple compared to previous USB cables.
The usability of the Venue 11 Pro will also be tied closely to a docking station, Hodges said. The dock will turn the tablet into a PC replacement, and provide more connectivity options with additional networking, display and USB ports.
Hodges didn't share additional information about the Venue 11 Pro. But the device could have Intel's Atom X5 or X7 chip code-named Cherry Trail, which was just introduced in Microsoft's Surface 3. The existing Venue Pro 11 is based on an older Intel Atom chip code-named Bay Trail, which started shipping more than one year ago.
Dell is also putting Intel RealSense 3D cameras in more devices, and the new Venue 11 Pro could offer it as an option. The 3D camera is an important element in Microsoft's effort to kill passwords with Windows Hello, a feature which lets users unlock PCs through biometric recognition. The 3D camera will allow users to log in to Windows 10 through face recognition.


text:
The United States Supreme Court limited the scope of federal trademark protection yesterday, saying that rival companies in some cases can use proprietary terms even when that might cause confusion among customers.
The justices said that companies accused of infringement need not show a lack of customer confusion when they invoke the "fair-use" defense to trademark lawsuits. The fair-use doctrine lets competing companies use trademarked terms for descriptive purposes.
"Some possibility of consumer confusion must be compatible with fair use," Justice David H. Souter wrote for the unanimous court in Washington.
The ruling clarifies an area of trademark law that had divided lower courts. In the case before the justices, the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had said that defendants invoking the fair-use doctrine needed to show that customers probably would not be confused.
The ruling came in a case involving Lasting Impression I Inc. of Englewood, N.J., a maker of liquid pigments that permanently change skin color to cover up scars and mask pigmentation disorders. The company, which sells its product under the name Micro Colors, sued a competitor, KP Permanent Make-Up Inc., a California company, for using the word microcolors on product bottles and fliers.
KP argued that its use of the word predated Lasting Impression's trademark registration in 1993 and that the term was widely used in the industry. KP also contended that Lasting Impression's trademark only covered a Micro Colors logo, not the term itself.
A federal trial judge threw out Lasting Impression's trademark suit, saying KP was making fair use of the term. The 9th Circuit reversed that ruling, establishing a conflict with the 2nd Circuit United States Court of Appeals in New York, which had reached an opposite conclusion in a similar case. The conflict between the circuits set the stage for Supreme Court intervention.
Trademark experts say companies can still protect their products from infringing uses that truly confuse consumers.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Knowing the homes are so tightly constructed in Safford, proper ventilation is key to keeping out contaminants and preserve a healthy home environment. Insufficient home ventilation means that all of the contaminants that are already in your home are staying there, along with moisture and mildew.
Because of this, ventilation issues are becoming a more common problem. That's where B&D Air Conditioning can help. In Eastern Arizona there are a number of ventilation systems to address all your indoor air quality needs, no matter the climate.
Home ventilation in cooler climates can be a little more complicated. It's not like you want to wake up and put on six layers of clothing so you can keep the windows open. At least we wouldn't want to. That's why Lennox® created the Healthy Climate Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV). It takes your home's stagnant air and switches it out with the fresh air outdoors.
Okay, you can stop thinking about a breezy meadow now. But that's sort of how the HRV will make your home feel. And when you know you're getting absolute comfort with a system that locks in the heat from your indoor air before it can get outside, you'll feel even better about its efficiency.
Ok, so your climate is a little warmer than normal but you still can't determine what to do to solve your home ventilation problem. Worry no more, you're in the right place. With a Healthy Climate Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) from B&D Air Conditioning in Safford you can finally take back control of your home's comfort.
Crafted so that you have little or no energy loss, the ERV offers you a home where fresh air abounds. By taking the moisture and heat from your indoor air and directing it outside, your home is able to retain great humidity levels, providing you the environment you've always wanted.
Eastern Arizona, determining the ideal ventilation system doesn't have to be hard. Let us know if you have any questions about our home ventilation systems, we'll be happy to help figure out the best option for your home and budget. Set up an appointment online with our online scheduler or call us at 928-432-6018 today.


I keep hoping to get back to regular posting; I'm working on it and I really appreciate you sticking with me in the meantime. Thank you! I received my August Illumicrate box last week so thought I'd share it with you. If you aren't familiar with Illumicrate, it's a quarterly book box subscription service. Four times a year their signature white and yellow box arrives on your doorstep to brighten up your day.
In fact, Daphne is also curating a one-off Grisha edition box which is on sale now. If you'd like to see what arrived in previous boxes just click here.
As always, I'm going to pop the unboxing in a spoiler section below. So if you don't want to know what arrived in the box don't click below!
Let's start with this Shakespeare zipped pouch with artwork exclusively designed by Miss Phi.
It's a great size and a lovely design. I'm very pleased with it.
Next up we have The Red Church tea, a Nevernight-themed exclusive item from T-ology.
This tea smells incredible and I can't wait to try it.
Hannah Hitchman Art designed this alethiometer coaster for the box.
I love the detail. I really need to get on with finishing that series!!
Next we have a wisdom journal designed by Hey Atlas Creative.
Now I just need to find some wisdom to fill the pages!!
Onto two of my favourite things (book aside) – a book money jar and sticky bookmarks from Blossom Books.
I'm looking forward to filling this jar and doing some guilt-free book shopping!
I really don't need to comment on the cuteness of these bookmarks do I?
This quarter we received an Illumicrate special edition book, as well as an exclusive pin.
… complete with red sprayed edges!!
and an exclusive advanced reader copy of Nyxia by Scott Reintgen!
I'm so pleased with it and am particularly delighted with the exclusive edition of Warbringer (which incidentally is out TODAY)!
Once again Daphne has done an incredible job with this box. If you'd like to sign up to Illumicrate for the November box then check out their website. Also, remember the Grisha edition is a one-off so even if you are a subscriber you need to order this separately!
Did you get the August Illumicrate?
What are your thoughts on the box?


Zelis is excited to collaborate with Microsoft on innovative solutions to help control the rising cost of healthcare across the country. With the next-generation Zelis Intelligent Claims Routing Platform based on Microsoft Azure, Zelis improves efficiency, effectiveness, and accuracy of the processes necessary to help control the rising cost of healthcare.
Zelis Healthcare, a healthcare technology company and market-leading provider of integrated healthcare cost management and payments solutions, is focused on helping to reduce healthcare spending by $1 trillion. The company is using Microsoft Azure to help control the rising costs of healthcare across the country.
Read the full article on Microsoft's customer stories blog.


The Sydney Chapter Committee invites you to attend a Masterclass breakfast with Neil Kendall on Friday, 10 June 2016.
Neil is Managing Director of Tupicoffs, an award winning Financial Planning practice, and brings a wealth of knowledge developed during his 25 years of industry experience. Tupicoffs also have a specialist pro-bono practice called Financial Rescue, assisting people who have received poor advice. Neil is currently the Chair of the Financial Planning Association of Australia.
At this practice management session Neil will share the journey he went on to build Tupicoffs into the success it is today. You will learn valuable tips and tools that are applicable to growing and developing your own practices. Neil will cover key areas including his value proposition to clients and how that has changed over the years, his succession planning process and significantly how he attracts and retains award winning members of staff.
Be sure to book early to avoid disappointment as tickets to this exciting event will be extremely popular!
The Sydney Chapter Committee look forward to seeing you at the event!


STAM, the City Museum on the Bijloke, provides the perfect introduction to Ghent. STAM 's permanent circuit tells the story of the city. Yesterday, today and tomorrow converge to give visitors a feel for what exactly it is that makes Ghent Ghent. The temporary exhibitions take a more universal approach and look at what makes a city a city. STAM 's showpiece? Ghent itself, the living city.
Weekends, public holidays, school holidays: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.


text:
Measurement of the refractive-index structure constant,C2n, and its profile in the ground level atmosphere by moiré technique
Author(s): Saifollah Rasouli; Mohammad Taghi Tavassoly
Atmospheric turbulence may have strong impact on astronomical imaging, aerial surveying, terrestrial geodesy, optical ranging, and wireless optical communication. Major effects are beam broadening, irradiance fluctuations (scintillation), and angle-of-arrival (AA) fluctuations. The interesting effects of atmospheric turbulence for optical propagation studies are the variation (gradient and fluctuations) of refractive index. The corresponding refractive- index structure constant, Cn2, is the parameter most commonly used to describe the strength of atmospheric turbulence. Besides, the Modulation Transfer Function of the atmosphere is measurable by Cn2. Good image quality requires Cn2 being as small as possible. In this work we present an easily applicable and accurate method, based on moire technique, for the measurement of Cn2 and its profile in the ground level atmosphere. In this method from a low frequency sinusoidal amplitude grating, installed at certain distance from a telescope, successive images are recorded and stored in a computer. By rotating one of the image by +θ, say 4°, and multiplying its transmission function by the transmission functions of the other images which have been rotated by -θ, a large number of moire patterns are produced. By finding the traces of the moire fringes in the patterns, the fluctuations of the image grating lines are obtained. Which correspond to AA fluctuations distribution. From the AA fluctuations distribution in successive patterns, Cn2 and its profile in vertical direction are deduced. This technique renders to measure some other atmospheric parameters which are discussed in the report.
Date Published: 28 September 2006
Proc. SPIE 6364, Optics in Atmospheric Propagation and Adaptive Systems IX, 63640G (28 September 2006); doi: 10.1117/12.683873
Saifollah Rasouli, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (Iran)
Mohammad Taghi Tavassoly, Univ. of Tehran (Iran)
Optics in Atmospheric Propagation and Adaptive Systems IX
Anton Kohnle; Karin Stein, Editor(s)


What do you know about your cost per bushel? Most of us know the cost of raising one bushel of corn or soybeans across an entire farm operation. And maybe some of us even know what it cost to raise one bushel on each individual field. But most of us don't know what it cost in each different area across each field.
Elite Crop continues to evolve with your needs and is now focused on an in-depth look at your Return on Investment. Elite Crop is geared to help growers measure the everyday decisions that are made in their operations and determine ways to drive down their cost per bushel. Profitability is crucial in finding long-term success and throughout the year, decisions are made with profitability in mind. When we use variable rate technology or change management practices across the field, we affect the placement and amount of dollars we invest on each acre. Elite Crop wants to help the grower take the next step and explore a way to see not only the variance of different agronomic attributes across a field, but also look at the variance of profitability across the growers acres. Getting a true spatial cost per bushel map is a different way to look at how to manage long-term profitability on growers operations.
Elite Crop is built with your data and gives you the ability to make more informed agronomic and economic decisions from a whole operation level all the way down to management zones and each 60' x 60' cell in the field. This is achieved by pairing a cost to all inputs and spatially looking at ROI across each field and what affects it. With this information, more informed decisions can be made with seed, fertilizer, lime, manure, seed treatments, fungicide, etc. In certain situations, you will find that you are investing too much in some areas of your field and not getting the best ROI on that part of the field! With this deep insight, we will be able to assist you in making adjustments across your operation to help improve your ROI and increase your profitability. These reports might also be very useful during conversations with bankers or landlords and provide added information.
Along with the focus on economics, Elite Crop still provides many other aspects to the program. Grid soil sampling and yield data are the building blocks of Elite Crop. Pairing your personal knowledge of each field along with utilizing grid samples, soil types, yield, historical information, trial and Learning Block results, etc. we are able to develop management zones from which we can build VR nutrient and seed recommendations. Many layers of different attributes are added to each 60' x 60' cell in a field and finally overlaid with yield data. From there we are able to query the data and look for different factors that affect ROI and yield, giving you the opportunity to implement changes that directly affect your bottom line.
Easy access to your data whenever and wherever you want is very important in today's world. Elite Crop provides a mobile app called DATAVIEW. DATAVIEW gives you the ability to access spatial soil test, applied nutrient, soil type, management zone, seed rate, yield, past yields, variety/hybrid, cost/bu and other cost attribute maps from your mobile device. DATAVIEW can also be accessed through a web browser on a computer along with Optix. Optix is an online tool that allows you to view group data in graphical form. This allows for a different way of viewing the data and trying to pick out trends.
If you are currently grid sampling and collecting yield data, Elite Crop could be a great fit for you! If you have questions or are interested in learning more about Elite Crop, contact your local agronomist or give me a call at 712-348-4064 and we would be glad to help.


Members of All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC, came to the stage to offer the fourth and final "Breakthrough Congregation" presentation. The members explained how the congregation's membership has been through dramatic increases and losses over the years: in 1998, 160 people attended and now there are over 500. The congregation "chose to change to meet the background of their parishioners." Music and other elements reflect the members' Latin American and African American roots. The congregation has the Jubilee Singers and the Washington, DC, Children's Choir, composed of members from the church and neighborhood, sings regularly. The momentum of worship builds as lay worship associates ask congregants to greet each other, preferably someone they don't already know. A cantor leads music and the prayers.
"If worship brings you," the presenters said, "it is the ministries of connection that keep you there. They know that people need to find a home within the larger congregation or they don't stay very long." The congregation has many opportunities to connect with others, to the spirit, and the holy. They run a six-week new person curriculum, "Roots and Wings," and this past year 232 people participated in the congregation's 28 adult religious education classes. The congregation also offers many cross generational opportunities such as the KUUMBA players theatre group that presents works of justice, equity and compassion.
After the departure of a minister in 1998, the congregation had deep wounds and divisions. They sought to help heal the wounds, said Meredith Higgins, by listening and caring for each other. They prepared each other to be partners in shared ministry. They received help from the Unitarian Universalist Assocation and from General Assembly, conferences and workshops. Facilitators met to help resolve conflict and dismantle the racism present, and to help them keep open minds. The congregation listened to the interim ministers who showed them how to love again, and who led them to smoother governance in the congregation.
They listened in dialogues on race and relationships, and created affinity groups, pastoral care, and a softball team, the "All Souls Survivors." They listened to each other's dreams for the congregation. It took almost three years after that divisive departure to be ready to call a new senior minister, times during which they transformed themselves from broken relationships to new healthy relationships with a new minister.
The congregation's senior minister, the Rev. Rob Hardies, said that "prophetic ministry has always been central to All Souls' history. The congregation was first built from contributions across the country to create a flagship church to speak for progressive religious values in the nation's capital. They bear witness to values in a city whose values are being threatened. This was true in the aftermath of September 11th, and during the March for Women's Lives last year." Last June, Hardies testified at the House and Senate briefings against the Federal Marriage Amendment.
In the end, everything that All Souls Unitarian Church does is inspired by vision, a vision inherent in their name: All Souls. They are a church where "all people are welcome, where divisions disappear, and where we recognize ourselves as one human family." Their mission is clear: to create a diverse spirit-growing, justice-seeking community, true to the dream of All Souls.


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People who love activities and desire to enjoy and get income may possibly look for websites where games related to sports are available. They can select any type of game including chess, baseball, cricket, soccer or some other game. If you can find users who're absolutely crazy about football, they ought to find a bandarq online site.
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Users may take a look at the site any time they wish to play the matches. It is guaranteed that users will never feel tired as they can choose from one of many games. If users cannot win money the first time, they always have the ability to try again because they could certainly win at one time period or the other.


I am really excited about the crafts for this month. They turned out really fun. Several of the crafts are reversible, so some of the options were offered last month too. But they are still on sale for a great price, so I am showcasing them again this month.
face or word they want and we simply stick it on the pumpkin and we are done.
I love how simple it is and the kids love that they get to have the pumpkin the way they want.
In the end we are all happy!
This set of three Jack-O-Lantern Faces can be put on your pumpkins or even used to dress up your candy buckets. Quick and Cute! I love this!!
This one you could leave out until after Thanksgiving!
I love to make (and receive) personalized gifts.
With that in mind I thought it would be fun to offer these personalized monograms. I love that these showcase the first and last name.
You can choose to purchase an 8×10 unfinished wooden board ($3) and an unfinished wooden stand ($3).
Now if your kids think they need something personalized, or you want to get a little bit more simple version of the above monogram for a gift (or for yourself), then this is a great alternative.
You could put your child's first name thru the center, or you could put a last name thru the center for a family gift.
This is also made to fit an 8×10 frame.
or you can opt to purchase an unfinished wooden board and a stand if you choose.
If you choose to pick a different color of vinyl than black, white, cream or brown then add $1.50 to the price.
There are over 20 vinyl colors to choose from so you can personalize it to your space.
I love how simple this sign is, but how great it looks with the vibrant colors of the pumpkins.
Another quick and simple craft!
Most of the months this year we have offered a new plaque. Well this month we have two different ones to offer. One is a Fall theme and the other is for Thanksgiving.
These plaques are sold separately. We offer one layout at a time, so you can make your plaque reversible by simply buying two different layouts.
This next craft is a bit fancier than the other crafts. I really like how it looks with the vibrant fall pumpkins.
This is simple yet a bit more elegant.
This next reversible craft blocks turned out really cute.
We have offered several different grooved boards too.
These grooved boards give the look of several different blocks of wood stacked together, but it is just one single board.
These new ones are just perfect for the upcoming months.
This next craft is so simple and so cute. I love these fun layouts!
This craft you can decide if you want to make it reversible or not…if you want it reversible, then purchase two vinyl layouts and only one board.
These reversible block sets have been a big seller the last several months…and the sale price is still going!
This next craft is so fun, and has been a great seller for two years. It is on sale at a great price too!
We called these 4 sided stackers. You rotate the blocks a quarter turn and on each side is a new layout, so they have 4 different layouts on the same set of blocks!!
These blocks feature the next 4 holidays/seasons and you get to pick which 4 layouts you want!
This last craft is also reversible and you can pick the two layouts you want on this craft as well.


Normally the manufacturer keep these in succession as the bikes come off the production line.
The Ford Territory was launched in 2004 as Australia's homegrown SUV.
Electricians are trained to one of three levels: Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master Electrician.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Arresting Attention
June 7, 2017 June 6, 2017 Shannon
The topic of the hour is superheroes, so I am going add my two cents, or less, to the conversation swirling around this cultural and cinematic phenomenon.
I was never that into superheroes.
On to a new topic. Good openings, endlessly emphasized in modern fiction, are defined by being evocative, and it doesn't really matter of what. What counts is arresting the attention of the reader, whether through humor, originality, mystery, or a felicitous turn of phrase. Here is a list of beginnings that showcase the art of the good opening, being not only evocative but memorable. You will note that famous, immortal, and timeworn first sentences, such as "Call me Ishmael," are omitted from this list. You will also note that other famous, immortal, and timeworn first sentences are included. There is no good reason for this.
Please share in the comments any book openings that would complete this list, or whether any opening included makes you want to pick up its book.
There is a young legend developing on the west side of the mountains. William E. Barrett, The Lilies of the Field
Marley was dead: to begin with. There was no doubt whatever about that. Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
I dreamed of Goliath last night, strangely enough, considering it was Joab, David's general, who died yesterday. Eleanor Gustafson, The Stones
The young prince was known here and there (and just about everywhere else) as Prince Brat. Not even black cats would cross his path. Sid Fleischman, The Whipping Boy
These tales concern the doing of things recognized as impossible to do; impossible to believe; and, as the weary reader may well cry aloud, impossible to read about. G. K. Chesterton, Tales of the Long Bow
April is the cruellest month. T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land
I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of gods. I have no husband nor child, nor hardly a friend, through whom they can hurt me. My body, this lean carrion that still has to be washed and fed and have clothes hung about it daily with so many changes, they may kill as soon as they please. The succession is provided for. My crown passes to my nephew. C. S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces
In a hole in a ground there lived a hobbit. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
The universe is infinite but bounded, and therefore a beam of light, in whatever direction it may travel, will after billions of centuries return – if powerful enough – to the point of its departure; and it is no different with rumor, that flies about from star to star and makes the rounds of every planet. Stanislaw Lem, "The Seventh Sally"
Monsters do, of course, exist. Matt Mikalatos, Night of the Living Dead Christian
The only possible excuse for this book is that it is an answer to a challenge. Even a bad shot is dignified when he accepts a duel. G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Technically, the cucumber came first. Phil Vischer, Me, Myself & Bob
I don't remember one thing about the day I was born. It hasn't been for lack of trying either. I've set for hours trying to go back as far as I could, but the earliest thing I remember is riding in the back of Floyd's wagon and looking at myself in a looking glass. Jonathan Rogers, The Charlatan's Boy
Had he but known that before the day was over he would discover the hidden dimensions of the universe, Kit might have been better prepared. At least, he would have brought an umbrella. Stephen Lawhead, The Skin Map
Literature, Writing	fun, openings, writing	Leave a comment
Review: Power Elements of Character Development
January 11, 2017 Shannon
What is it that makes a sympathetic hero, a compelling villain, a persuasive and realistic character? I can sum it up for you in one golden word. But you really should read the book for yourself.
Power Elements of Character Development is the second book in the Power Elements of Fiction series, written by Rebecca LuElla Miller. Some time ago I read and reviewed the first book, Power Elements of Story Structure, and I knew then that I wanted to read this one, too. Characters are my favorite part of stories, and I am a writer. I knew I'd enjoy this book about writing characters.
Power Elements of Character Development is only 138 pages long, but it is divided into 45 chapters, plus an introduction and a conclusion. These chapters organize the book effectively, moving easily over many different facets of characters, their creation, and their overall place in fiction. Minor characters, dialogue, inner conflict, antagonists, character arcs, character death, and what qualities make characters memorable or compelling are all considered.
Most importantly of all, this book emphasizes that characters should drive the story rather than be driven by it, and their actions must, in turn, be driven by – and this is the golden word – motivation. It may be a beginner's lesson that characters shouldn't be passive, but even experienced writers can get lost in the blurred distinction between an active character and a reactive one. A character can be very active in his reactions, especially if what he's reacting to involves live ammunition, but heroes should do more than just respond, and I appreciate how clearly this is established.
I found the emphasis on motivation invaluable, and how it must be present not only as the story's end goal (what the character ultimately wants) but also as every scene's purpose (what he is trying to do right now). The insight regarding motivation helps to focus plots and scenes and characters, a prevention and cure of writer's block.
I enjoyed Power Elements of Character Development as a lucid, concise, broad-ranging review of the creation, use, and role of characters. Its points, especially about motivation, help me to focus and evaluate my own writing. Recommended to writers of all stripes.
I invite you to check out Power Elements of Character Development on Goodreads and Amazon, and I highly recommend you visit Becky Miller's writing blog Rewrite, Reword, Rework.
Writing	becky miller, power elements of story, reviews, writing	Leave a comment
A Notable Lack
October 31, 2016 October 25, 2016 Shannon
A notable lack in speculative fiction, and one that cuts across the divide between Christian and secular, is that of genuine, fully-realized religion. There may be religious belief and religious feeling; in Christian speculative fiction, there usually is. There may be scraps of religion – vague expressions of faith, a benevolent priest, a fanatic, a cross or a stray invocation of the gods. But genuine religion – religion that possesses a structure, doctrines, holidays, customs, stories and rules, and all the physical artifacts from temples to jewelry? That is rare.
This lack is hardly crippling. Great speculative fiction may exist without practical religion and even be deeply spiritual. Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia exhibit little of religion as it is practiced in actual life and possess spiritual depths rarely matched. Complete religion isn't necessary. But its scarcity in our novels is a loss.
You may ask, Why Snoopy? And I answer: The other images Google gave me were too ugly.
To gain an idea of the loss, let us consider Halloween, because 'tis the season. There are surely people in this great nation whose favorite holiday is Halloween, and I frankly worry about these people. At best, it's a half-holiday. There is a version of Halloween for children, and a version for adults, but no version for everyone. As a popular holiday, it makes no pretense of religion or meaning; it has no songs and most Halloween stories could be told without Halloween and probably would be.
And out of even this poor half-holiday you could dig a tale that teaches us who we are. The origin of Halloween is taken to be Samhain, the Celtic holiday that marked the journey of the dead into the otherworld. Ghosts were near on Samhain, too near for anyone's comfort. The inhuman, both demons and fairies, were also believed to be abroad with power, perhaps because the journey from this world to the next suggested a general weakening of boundaries. A spiritual anarchy hangs about the whole day, and to the extent that there was real belief there must have been real fear.
The Catholic Church later established All Saints Day and All Souls Day, days that commemorate the dead without fear of the dead, or horror of death. It's long been said – very plausibly, though I admit I don't know on what evidence – that the Catholic Church did this to replace Samhain. And Samhain did fade away, leaving only vestiges of customs and superstition where powerful belief once ruled. Yet All Saints Day and All Souls Day never replaced it. These are just days on the church calendar, occasionally observed but never celebrated.
Much can be gleaned from the history of Halloween – the revolution of a civilization changing from one religion to another, humanity's elemental horror of the dead who do not stay properly dead, the dread of the inhuman, the evolution and mixing of beliefs and practices. It is strange that, although many people believe the saints are happy in heaven and few think ghosts travel on Halloween, Halloween has so much greater a presence than All Saints Day. An empty holiday with concrete practices has more power than a holy day with abstract joy, and we see how instinctively humanity demands, and perhaps even needs, physical expression of spiritual things.
What can be illustrated through a holiday – from the history of a civilization to religious beliefs to fundamental human nature – is extraordinary. Holidays, and all the expressions of a whole and genuine religion, offer a wide and rich opportunity to speculative fiction authors. I don't demand that they take it, but – well, would you consider it?
Culture, Literature, Writing	Halloween, holidays, religion, speculative fiction	Leave a comment
Fame is Fugacious
Not long ago, I took a vocabulary quiz. In the process of it, I learned two new words, avulse and fugacious. It struck me as unfortunate that I would have to look long and hard for an opportunity to use avulse, and I would probably never get a chance to use fugacious at all. They're just too obscure.
We stand heir to a vast accumulated vocabulary, with words that range from everyday to rarefied to absolutely arcane. This has spawned one of those perpetual debates among writers and editors and agents, and in which readers have their own well-deserved opinions. The never-resolved question is: What words should writers use? What words are too old, too different, too long?
At the heart of the debate is a tension between two competing, legitimate principles. The first principle is that the ultimate aim of writing is to be understood. Far more than self-expression (because then why not just keep it to yourself?), writing is communication. You are not communicating if people cannot understand you.
The second principle is that writing cannot be reduced to the lowest common denominator. Some words are more apt than others, and sometimes the long word or the old word is the one that sings. Although writers should not, on the risk of being obnoxious, consider it their duty to expand their readers' vocabularies, neither have they failed if they send their readers to the Dictionary.
The tension between these two principles is worked out book by book, sentence by sentence, word by word. There is no universal rule to lay down. I think it worth stating, however, that the thing really to be avoided is not the unknown word but the odd-duck word. These are the words that sound awkward or weird or (perhaps worst of all) funny. These are the words that jolt readers out of a text, and that is something all writers strive devoutly never to do.
Words often dro p out of use because language evolves and culture changes, and they don't fit anymore. Consider the word "oxblood," a shade of red that is not actually what you would imagine ox blood to be. Ox blood was once used as a pigment in creating dyes and paints. This would explain why oxblood is a dark color, and not the bright red we normally associate with blood: It was originally associated with ox blood that had dried or been mixed with other ingredients or soaked into materials such as wood or leather.
In our own day, when these associations have been lost, oxblood has lost much of its power. Even people who can define the word do not possess the images that first inspired it. Writers develop literary crushes on words, but it is good to consider whether those words, transplanted from the soil where they first grew, will truly thrive.
With most obscure words, the trouble is not dead cultural associations but simply the sound. Some are so unusual, so odd, that your eyes trip over the syllables. Others don't sound like what they mean. This is the trouble with fugacious. It means fleeting, but to modern ears it only sounds silly, and I would sound silly, too, if I tried to used it ("Fame is fugacious"). Possibly, though, I could play it for humor: "My lunch hour was fugacious."
By contrast, I have more hope for avulse ("to pull off or tear away forcibly") because similar, well-known words like repulse and convulse also have vaguely violent meanings. Encountering an unknown word does not, in itself, jar readers out of a book. But the unknown word must flow, must give an impression in tune with its actual meaning. This is why you will not go wrong with words like invidious and deleterious: They sound as bad as they are.
There is a time, Solomon wrote, for everything, and probably a place for every word. No word should be summarily rejected, or uncritically accepted. In a living language, words fade away and sometimes ought to, but it takes a long time for a word to fade beyond all use.
Literature, Writing	words, writers, writing	1 Comment
Appendix of Names
During the earliest development of The Valley of Decision, I established this pattern of naming: of Gaelic origin, unusual enough that the names would not be common in our own world, but not too unusual. I avoided names like Ruairidh because it just looks too foreign. Who would care to guess how to pronounce it? So I ended with names like Torradan and Artek and Belenus – different, but easy enough.
I made various exceptions to this pattern – none without rhyme or reason, except perhaps naming the capital city of Alamir Ataroth. The rhyme and reason of the other exceptions will become clear.
This appendix is not a dramatis personae, listing the characters of the drama, but a compilation of the origins and meanings of many names in the book. Because of this, and how I began the naming process, there are some notable omissions. Neither Caél nor Keiran, the book's heroes, appear in this appendix; absent with them are other lesser (but still important!) characters – among them all three lieutenants of the Hosts.
The reason for their absence is this: As part of my preliminary research, I made lists of Gaelic names that struck me as fitting the story. With the exception of the Fays (Fays are always an exception), the earliest-existing characters were named from this list without regard for the name's meaning. Keiran, Caél, Torradan, Artek, Lachann: the cream of those lists.
Other patterns emerged. A majority of the Fays share names with Celtic deities, and several place-names are just two words with the space between them deleted: the Coldlands, the Wildheath, the Northwood. A few names, such as My'ra, have neither a particular origin nor a particular meaning, but the longer I worked on the story the more I rejected these. Even minor characters like Emain and Labras have names of Gaelic origin, and so of a certain flavor.
Achadh: A Gaelic place-name meaning 'field'
Ailill: 'Elf'; the name of several Irish High Kings
Alaunos: The Celtic god of healing
Ataroth: An obscure Canaanite city conquered by Joshua and Israel
Brandr: A Norse name, meaning sword; Brandr was, after all, an earl of the northern Coldlands
Belenus: 'Bright, shining one;' the Celtic god of the sun
Dochraitay: A slightly more phonetic rendering of dochraite, a Gaelic word meaning 'friendless, oppressed'
Droheda:: A slight alteration of Drogheda, an Irish city cruelly subdued by the English under Oliver Cromwell
Glahs (Forest): Glahs is Gaelic for 'green'
Hrolfr: Norse, meaning sword
Jarmith: An alteration of the Gaelic name Jarmin, which means German – a foreigner in Ireland, as Jarmith was among the Dochraitay
Kobuld: This elder blacksmith of the Trow was named after the Kobold, a race in German folklore who were said to live in mines and be expert metalworkers
Morrigan: The Celtic goddess of, among other things, war
Muireach: A diminutive form of the Gaelic name Muireadhach, meaning 'lord, master'; this is the least majestic name owned by a Fay
The Northmen: An old name for the Vikings, on whom the Men of the Coldlands were loosely based
Nuadha: 'Protector'; the Celtic god of the sea
Sgrios: Gaelic word meaning 'ruin'
Tullach: A Gaelic place-name meaning 'little hill'
Volund: Of Norse origin; in legend, the name of a great smith
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July 14, 2015 Shannon
As usual when I have trouble alighting on a topic, I'm going to talk about myself today.
This past April I finished the raw draft of The Shameful Years, which I've (nearly) re-titled The Time Door. This manuscript has been different, and in some ways more difficult than what I've done before. I didn't quite understand, when I began, what challenges I was setting myself with the premise. I was pleased with the manuscript when I finished it, but as every writer knows, that's not the gold test.
The Time Door is sci-fi, and the first book of the Eternities series – of which my novella Cards is, to date, the only published work. I have planned Eternities as a series of free-standing novels, each book a complete story and each a significant episode in an imagined history beginning in the middle of the twenty-first century and continuing into the twenty-second.
Such a history holds innumerable stories in potential, and I hope to be mining them for years to come. But not any more this year. I decided, on completion of The Time Door, that I liked it and wanted to write something different, ideally with dragons. After exploring various ideas for a new project, I am now writing about …
A painting emperor. And his half-wild brother. And space pirates.
In this manuscript, I'm taking the characters of the Sons of Tryas series and giving them a much broader drama on a much larger stage. Since spring, I've been dividing my writing time between that and editing my raw draft to a polished draft.
Finally on the writing front, a young reader recently gave me this picture. He drew it after reading The Valley of Decision; I recognize the characters, the scene, the quotations. It is incredibly cool to see a moment of my book brought to life by another person. So, with appreciation for the gift that it is, I present the meeting of Keiran, Captain of the Hosts, with Kobuld the elder blacksmith of the Trow, as drawn by Christian.
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Express Review: Power Elements of Story Structure
June 13, 2015 Shannon
Regular readers of this blog – and I appreciate you both, by the way – are no doubt saying to yourselves, "What is an 'express review'? There has never been an 'express review' here before!" And you are absolutely right.
An express review, briefly put, is not a real review at all, but would like to be one when it grows up. It is – and this is the defining quality – too short. I never wrote short reviews until I joined Goodreads, and it is that, and not a shortened attention span due to excessive video games, that has led to this abbreviated review.
So here is my express review of Becky Miller's Power Elements of Story Structure, which luckily is longer than its own introduction.
But not by much.
In this brief instruction book, Becky Miller examines the 'bare bones' of a story – beginnings, middles, and endings, and the basic elements of tension, plot, backstory, and foreshadowing. She carefully defines and explains each of these, and then advises authors how to create them.
This book is spiced with excerpts from contemporary novels and (what is more fun) fairy tales, used for illustration of various points. Becky also weaves in quotations from a plethora of authors, all interesting enough to make the bibliography she provides at the end noteworthy.
A few writing exercises are included. I didn't do them, actually, but they did make me stop and think. In fact, I paused, throughout the book, to consider it and (I admit it) to evaluate both my most recent manuscript and my newest effort.
Power Elements of Story Structure is written with great clarity and lucidity, cutting a clean line between the lowest common denominator and esoteric heights. Most helpful to new writers, but interesting to any writer who enjoys the study of his craft. I finished wanting to read the next book, Power Elements of Character Development.
And the story of the monkey and the crocodile.
And that, readers, is an express review. But the question remains – what happened to the monkey? I hope he didn't get eaten, but fairy tales are vicious like that, sometimes.
Culture, Writing	becky miller, power elements of story, reviews, writing	2 Comments
New Release: Power Elements Of Character Development
May 18, 2015 Shannon
Power Elements of Character Development
(book two of The Power Elements of Fiction series)
Rebecca Luella Miller
Power Elements Of Character Development, second in the series Power Elements Of Fiction, offers practical instruction for fiction writers about how to create engaging characters. This manual covers such topics as the character arc, a character's inner as well as outer goals, qualities that make a character compelling, how character development fits with plot, how setting affects character development, character flaws, character voice, well-developed minor characters, realistic antagonists, and more.
This guide provides helpful reminders to the seasoned author, tips to help the intermediate writer raise the level of his storytelling, and instruction for the beginner. The occasional writing exercises offer writers an opportunity to apply what they are learning to their own works in progress.
Finally, Power Elements Of Character Development includes a list of resources for authors who wish to dig deeper in any given topic.
In total, this manual is a succinct blueprint for fiction writers to create characters that intrigue, entice, and compel readers to follow their story.
Best known for her aspirations as an epic fantasy author, Rebecca LuElla Miller has been working as a freelance writer and editor since 2004. She has covered high school sports for a Los Angeles area newspaper group, published articles and short stories in several print and online magazines, and placed in the top twenty-five in the 2006 Writer's Digest Short, Short Story contest. She currently blogs Monday through Friday at A Christian Worldview of Fiction.
Her editing credits include non-fiction and fiction alike, most notably four titles in the Dragons in Our Midst and Oracle of Fire series by Bryan Davis. You can learn more about her editing services and read her weekly writing tips at Rewrite, Reword, Rework.
Until Tuesday, May 19, Power Elements of Story Structure – the first book of the The Power Elements of Fiction series – is free on Amazon.
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The Northmen
March 10, 2015 Shannon
I am bringing down hobgoblins from the mountains, Men from the Coldlands. The Valley of Decision
The Men of the Coldlands were barbarians. That is the first thing to understand. They wore animal skins, sang of their war gods, and knew nothing of letters or runes. They forged bronze rather than iron into weapons, and decorated their chiefs' tents with colored cloth and animal skulls.
And they were light-haired and light-eyed and fair-skinned, true children of the cold North.
The Men of the Coldlands are loosely based on the pre-Christian Scandinavians. The Roman Empire had conquered the British Isles, bringing civilization by the edge of the sword; many centuries later, long after the Roman Empire had turned to ashes, Winston Churchill declared, "We owe London to Rome." In time, Christianity followed Rome, and it, too, taught and civilized.
But not in Scandinavia – at least not for centuries yet. The Viking Age began when the Vikings attacked the Holy Island, off the coast of England, from which missionaries had gone into Europe. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that "the ravaging of wretched heathen people destroyed God's church at Lindisfarne." At Charlemagne's court, the scholar Alcuin lamented, "The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar, and trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God."
Heathen and wretched are minor insults compared to the judgment given by the Muslim scholar Masudi in the tenth century. After describing "the people of the northern quadrant", with their "excessively white" coloring, he wrote: "The farther they are to the north the more stupid, gross and brutish they are." Those in the "sixth climate .. are reckoned among the beasts." (source: Bernard Lewis, The Muslim Discovery of Europe)
In L.P. Hartley's immortally wise words: "The past is a foreign country."
When I wrote The Valley of Decision, this notion of the pale barbarians from the north guided my characterization of the Men from the Coldlands. I called them the Northmen, an old name for the Vikings, and gave the three chiefs Norse names: Volund (in legend, the name of a great smith), Brandr (meaning sword), and Hrolfr (meaning wolf).
Volund was the leader, and he called Brandr and Hrolfr his earls – a detail inspired, I admit, by the Viking earls of Chesterton's The Ballad of the White Horse. These names were also a kind of inside joke: Hrolfr was the earl who draped himself in the pelt and fangs of a wolf, and when Volund passes the iron sword to Brandr … yes, that was a deliberate pun.
The Northmen had little presence in The Valley of Decision, being the coming stormclouds of the story: growing nearer, darkening the landscape, but not yet here. When I finally made their acquaintance at the end of the book, I wished they had arrived sooner. There was no space left in the story to do justice to the pale barbarians and their collision with the more sophisticated – but still so fallibly human – southern people.
But such unexplored side-paths are what sequels are for.
Through the Valley (of Decision), Writing	fantasy, history, personal, the valley of decision, Vikings, writing	Leave a comment
February 9, 2015 Shannon
When I was writing one of the earliest scenes of The Valley of Decision, I came – while hastening to the main point, which was the introduction of Keiran, the Captain of the Hosts – to a bit moment where an officer clears the way for the army's highest commanders: "Way for the …"
For the what? My first thought was lords of the army; I added to the notebook masters of the army. In the end I chose the latter title. True, both words mean essentially the same thing, but master seemed the less-used. Better, it seemed more visceral; in America, at least, our strongest cultural memory of addressing men as "Master" is of the slave-holding South.
So they – the five highest officers of the military, my principal heroes among them – were masters. I soon extended this principle of address to their society as a whole. I knew the Dochraitay, ruled for as long as they could remember by Belenus, would be a strongly hierarchical society, well inculcated with the idea of mastery. People could be owned. Didn't Belenus own them?
When you read The Valley of Decision, you can learn a great deal about the characters' relationships, and their estimation of each other, by what titles they use. Master was not a mere honorific in Dochraitay mouths, but a recognition of the speaker's inferiority and a pledge of submission. Hence Keiran addressed the Fays, but only the Fays, as master. All the soldiers, even the three lieutenants of the army, called him master in turn. The lesser soldiers called the lieutenants master, and in their own turn assumed their absolute superiority over the Alamiri captive, and so the hierarchy went …
Caél, as the Captain's right hand, was second in command of the army. It's telling of his closeness to Keiran that he alone of all the Dochraitay never called him master. It's telling of his subordinate rank that he frequently addressed Keiran as Captain. By contrast, Keiran never addressed Caél by his own title, though he might refer to him by it when speaking with others.
When dealing with foreign rulers – such as the leaders of Alamir, and even the King of the Others – the Dochraitay used the honorific lord, as their way of paying respect while subtly declaring their own freedom. The Sovereign and the King of the Others were lords because the Dochraitay did not have to obey them.
Even the fact that the Dochraitay incessantly call Jarmith Alamiri or the Alamiri tells its own tale. That was the most salient fact about him. When they referred to him as our Alamiri, it was wholly without sentiment: They meant only "our Alamiri, to keep and to do with as we like".
My decision, in the beginning, to use masters of the army instead of lords was a little thing; I did not foresee then that I was sounding a note to be sounded again and again, throughout the book. But of such little things stories are made.
Literature, Through the Valley (of Decision), Writing	fantasy, personal, the valley of decision, writing	Leave a comment


text:
Abd al-Rahman III pdf download
Posted by Jibril S | Dec 26, 2020 | History | 0 |
Abd Al Rahman Iii
ABD AL-RAHMAN III – book Sample
THE FOURTEEN DAYS OF HAPPINESS OF 'ABD AL-RAHMAN III (r. 912–61)'
dynasty in al-Andalus unprecedented strength inside and influence abroad during the first half of the tenth century (he reigned from 912 to 961), was said to have kept a daily written record of his forty-nine years' reign. It revealed, after his death, that he had had only fourteen days of happiness.
He did not say which ones they were. Were those days connected with the most successful campaigns against his foes, on which we have so much information? Was one of them the day he received the oath of allegiance as ruler without meeting any opposition from the rest of his family, in spite of his youth?
Or the day he returned victorious to Cordoba after the first military expedition he commanded in person? Or the day when Bobastro, the fortress where his enemies the Hafsunids had managed to resist for years, was conquered? Or the day he proclaimed himself caliph, the title borne by his Umayyad ancestors when they ruled the Islamic world from Damascus?
Or the days the rebellious towns of Toledo and Zaragoza were finally overcome? Or the day the magnificent hall he built in Madinat al-Zahra', the town he had founded near Cordoba, was finished? Were those days of happiness connected with his private life, about which we know so little?
Whichever they were, the point of the anecdote is that those days were but few for a man who enjoyed power, authority, wealth, military success, beautiful women, and many children. Were they few because his personality or character precluded him from enjoying life?
Were they few because most of his life was spent under the pressure of continuous fighting in order first to maintain the unstable rule he had inherited, then to expand and consolidate it? Or were they few because the responsibility of a ruler, a caliph, was such that happiness, both regarding this life and the other, necessarily became a rarity?
The anecdote, in fact, might just belong to the repertoire of things that are said about rulers and that make the stuff of ancient moral tales and modern soap operas.
A hugely success- ful soap opera that was shown with equal success in Mexico and post-Soviet Russia had the telling title "The rich also cry," and many in their deprivation took comfort from this.
An anecdote telling that a caliph only had fourteen days of happiness was intended to teach that happiness is not dependent on the things one owns, but on the way one lives one's life. Consequently, the poor man and the rich man have equal opportunities of achieving happiness.
Such an anecdote could have been told about any other powerful man. The fact that 'Abd al-Rahman III is the protagonist is an indication that he had acquired literary and symbolic dimensions.
And this was also helped by the fact that his triumph was closely connected with fall.'Abd al-Rahman III's pacification of al-Andalus, his consolidation of Umayyad rule, and his relationships with such powerful political and religious figures as the Byzantine emperor, the Fatimid caliph of North Africa, and the German emperor, were all achievements destined to be of short duration.
Some fifty years after his death, the caliphate he had established was crumbling, never to recover, and Madinat al-Zahra' was lying in ruins. The fourteen days of happiness might also stand for the brevity of 'Abd al-Rahman III's success. And yet al-Andalus had been changed by him forever.
Among the changes brought by the first Umayyad caliph in the Islamic west, and developed under his successors, a not unimportant one was the impulse given to the emergence of a dis- tinct identity for al-Andalus.
But what exactly was al-Andalus?
AL-ANDALUS BEFORE THE SECOND UMAYYAD CALIPHATE (EIGHTH–NINTH CENTURIES) -WHAT WAS AL-ANDALUS?
Al-Andalus was the name given by Muslims to the Iberian peninsula, and in a more restricted sense, the name given to the territory under Muslim rule.
That territory was not always the same.
Until the eleventh century, most of the Iberian peninsula was controlled by Muslims, except for the northern regions, where small Christian kingdoms emerged.
That the core of Muslim settlement and rule lay in the south is indicated by the location chosen for the capital of al-Andalus.
The Visigoths, the former Germanic rulers of the Iberian peninsula, who had entered from the north, had established their political and religious capital in Toledo, situated roughly in the middle of the peninsula.
Toledo fell into Muslim hands when Muslim armies conquered the Iberian peninsula in the second decade of the eighth century and it had a crucial role in frontier politics,
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I Have Been Busy With My Addictions – What about you?
Alright folks back to the point that I wanna discuss today. Every day I am feeling guilty of spending too much time on internet reading things that interest me. I am finding it hard to control myself and I am unable to divert my mind. Who to blame? I mean come on what's wrong in surfing things that not only quest your intellectual thirst but also help you to learn loads of new things. The kind of platform Google offers is extremely fascinating for all those people who just love to read and write. There are innumerable things which are yet to be explored- And I want to know it all. I know I know it's impossible to know everything.
Whenever I don't have access to internet I go crazy like a maniac bull! Surfing is an integral part of my daily life. I am spending far too much time on internet. I switch on to one website then from that website I land to another website and it leads me to a yet another website . Jesus! It's taking all my time. Are you also one of those millions people who are addicted to internet? Don't worry you have company of millions and millions of people who feel exactly like you.
Every day I say to myself that I will surf internet for a limited time. But then it's me!!!!!! "addicted to internet ". My addiction is resulting into many other things that I feel guilty about. First of all, I am not getting enough time to write, not spending quality time with hubby, my eyes pain a lot (scared of wearing specs) and I have started munching junk food all the time. I know this "Emotional Eating " Sux! I am innocent – I am helpless!!!
Internet has provided an overwhelming platform to access any kind of information you want to read. But sometimes what we end up doing is before we instill one set of information – we tend to switch over to something different. As a result we are not grasping the complete info to the fullest. It is just because of one reason that "you feel like grasping everything in a short period of time" I know I am greedy! It's alright to be greedy when it comes to learning new things. But we should give enough time to ourselves to nourish our intellectual thirst. I know we are overloaded with so much info on internet that we feel like becoming master of all traits.
Therefore, when you face this kind of situation it becomes essential to realize that we need to know how to devote our time wisely. In order to have a win-win situation we need to realize that other things in life are also important. I guess I need to focus on "Time Management " (As if Anger Management was not enough for me;) Anyway, I have been planning to learn Italian language for a long time, but not finding enough time. I will again try to plan my day sensibly!
Good luck!HIGH 5 to all of you who are also addicted to internet. Let's try to tackle this issue!
Why Do Guys Hate To Loose From Girls?
•	Let's face facts here, guys find it hard to accept any kind of defeat from girls. Basically, guys consider sports to be their kingdom and when they find girls to be a part of their kingdom it hurts their ego badly.
•	Why do guys think that they are invincible when it comes to Girls Vs Guys. I know lot of guys who think that guys dominate girls in sports.
•	I personally love playing badminton and I take it very seriously! Whenever I play badminton against guys and take points from them. I notice guys passing comments at my apposition group saying "oh a girl is taking points from you shame on you" Or "A chick beat you" The intension behind this is simple that it's degrading for guys to loose from girls.
•	I do accept the fact that guys participate more in sports than girls. The place I play badminton you will hardly find 3-4 girls compared to over 40 guys. But whatever the statistics suggest, still you will find some female competitors who have what it takes to make their presence felt.
•	Needless to say, guys hate it when they see girls overpowering them in sports. Why do guys think that girls are not competitive enough to be taken seriously? Why a guy find it hard to believe when they get defeated by a girl.
•	The kind of perception towards any game shouldn't be categorized based on the gender. Why it's hard for guys to take girls seriously? The only factor that appeals to me is the challenge posed by the competitor.
•	Irrespective of the gender, I enjoy playing with anybody no matter it's a male or female, younger to me or elder to me. I have no qualms in saying that the majority of the guys are stereotypes and they are not willing to give respect and credit to female competitors who have what it takes to pose competition.


average-mph had the most liked content!
I have a standard 18' x 9' garage and my Evora fits in no problem, I can also get in and out😊.
Hi Kurt, my car is a GT410 Sport and for me it's just as much fun as the Exige V6 but a lot easier to get in and out of. Don't get me wrong if Me and the wife was younger we'd probably have an Exige 410 or 430 and still go on track days.
The 400 is not ugly, it's just a matter of taste. I've owned all the Evora's except the GT430 and I have no complaints. Ponded on the V8 Vantage but just not as enjoyable as the Evora and I would not consider an R8, nice looking car but not British.
Phil you are a perfectionist, I say no more.
Lead acid batteries are pretty much all the same, they have a limited life span. When buying one you need to get from a supplier that has a good stock turn over, you don't want one that as been sitting around for a few months. Halfords is a good buy, but if you want a brand then Varta and Exide are also good. You could also go Lithium Ion but they are expensive.
I'd like to take part in this, especially the Indian part.


text:
LIndian Pacific est une voie de chemin de fer en service qui relie les villes de Perth et de Sydney en Australie. Elle a été inaugurée le  après que les lignes déjà existantes ont été harmonisées à l'écartement standard. Elle a une longueur de  et traverse trois États.

Ligne

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La ligne quitte la gare de Perth et se dirige vers Kalgoorlie à l'est. Ce tronçon était construit en voie étroite et a dû être transformé en voie standard en 1968. Malgré cela, il y a toujours un changement de locomotive et de personnel à Kalgoorlie, passage de la Westrail (compagnie de l'ouest Australien) à l'Australian National Railways.

De Kalgoorlie, la ligne traverse ensuite la plaine de Nullarbor en empruntant la Trans-Australian Railway jusqu'à Port Augusta. Cette ligne de chemin de fer, directement construite en voie standard, achevée en 1917 a permis, en partie, d'accélérer l'intégration de l'Australie-Occidentale à la fédération en 1901. Cette section contient la plus longue ligne droite de chemin de fer au monde () à la hauteur de Cook. Lorsqu'elle a été construite, il y avait des changements d'écartement de voie à ses deux extrémités.

La ligne continue ensuite vers le sud jusqu'à la ville côtière de Port Pirie, avant de  rejoindre Crystal Brook à l'intérieur des terres, puis d'aller vers Adélaïde, la capitale de l'Australie-Méridionale. Le train remonte ensuite jusqu'à Crystal Brook d'où la ligne se dirige alors vers l'est en passant par Broken Hill. Le tronçon de Port Pirie à Broken Hill a été reconstruit en voie normale en 1970 (avant les rails étaient en voie étroite). Celui reliant Crystal Brook à Adélaïde a été construit en 1982.
Avant cela, l'Indian Pacific n'allait pas jusqu'à Adélaïde et les passagers devaient changer de train à Port Pirie.

Depuis Broken Hill, le train continue à travers la Nouvelle-Galles du Sud jusqu'à Parkes, il traverse ensuite les Montagnes bleues et arrive à Sydney.

En 2005, le train fait des arrêts de trois heures à Broken Hill, Adélaïde et Kalgoorlie et d'environ une heure à Cook.

Conditions de voyage

La durée de voyage entre Perth et Sydney est de quatre jours. L'allure de l'Indian Pacific est en moyenne de 85 km/h, la vitesse maximale atteinte par le convoi est de 115 km/h. Les passagers peuvent choisir entre des cabines simples ou doubles ou des fauteuils inclinables. Le train peut transporter aussi les véhicules des passagers. La voiture-restaurant propose un service de table d'hôte. Enfin, il y a aussi un salon-bar.

Le train de Noël
Depuis quelques années, l'Indian Pacific organise un train spécial à Noël avec des chanteurs célèbres à bord.

Le train s'arrête dans différentes gares du parcours où les chanteurs se produisent, créant ainsi une animation locale et permettant de remercier les habitants pour leur aide au maintien de la ligne. Ces arrêts comprennent les villages isolés de la plaine de Nullarbor que sont Watson, Cook et Rawlinna.

Parmi les artistes qui ont participé à cette manifestation, on peut citer : David Campbell (2007), Human Nature (2006), Guy Sebastian (2005), Jimmy Barnes (2004), John Paul Young (2003), Marcia Hines (2002), John Williamson (2001) et Nikki Webster (2000).

Accidents
 Le , quatorze des vingt-cinq wagons du train allant vers l'est ont déraillé à cause d'un effondrement du bogie du  entre l'arrêt de Haig et Turina. Trois des deux cents passagers ont été blessés, les passagers ont pris l'avion de Forest pour Adélaïde.
 Le , le train de l'ouest fut aiguillé accidentellement vers la mauvaise voie lors d'un passage à deux voies permettant le croisement des trains en temps normal. Le train entra en collision avec le train venant de l'est à Zanthus.
 Le , un train de la CityRail a heurté l'arrière du train à Glenbrook dans les Montagnes bleues, à l'ouest de Sydney. Sept personnes à bord du train de la CityRail sont mortes.

Galerie

Notes et références

Liens internes
 Services ferroviaires voyageurs les plus longs

Liens externes

  Trans Australian/Indian Pacific railway ephemera - recueilli et mis sur internet par la Bibliothèque Nationale d'Australie.

Transport en Australie-Occidentale
Transport en Australie-Méridionale
Transport en Nouvelle-Galles du Sud
Transport ferroviaire en Australie

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The History of Bronze
A Chinese Dagger Axe. Eastern Zhou Dynasty – Warring States Period (475 – 221 BCE).
Techniques for making metal alloys date back over 2000 years. Once the Chinese people discovered that they could add lead and tin to copper to create a stronger, more workable metal, the Bronze Age began. Bronze became increasingly popular because the tools and weapons made out of it were far more durable. Bronze also melted faster, making it easier to pour into casts and molds.[1]
Weapons that the Chinese designed from bronze included dagger-axes, which had a hooked blade that resembled a small sickle; spears whose spearheads were perpendicular to the shaft (see picture below); halberds, which were spear shafts with a dagger-axe on the end; and swords, which were long blades for close fighting. The spears and swords were usually engraved with elaborate decorative patterns, so they were works of art as well as deadly weapons. Bronze crossbows were also invented during this period, but their drawback was that they required so much energy to shoot that the archers became quickly exhausted during battle.[2]
The earliest bronze gun that archaeologists have excavated. It dates from the early Yuan Dynasty.
Bronze handheld guns first showed up during the early Yuan Dynasty in China. Other types of weapons using metal barrels actually appeared earlier in the Tang Dynasty. These were specifically used for fire lances (flamethrowers) that propelled bombs filled with gunpowder into the enemy territory. These would explode, causing tremendous damage and catching the targets on fire.[3]
The next generation of weapons after the fire lances, was the hand cannon. This weapon is considered the first true firearm because it used the explosion from the gunpowder to launch a projectile or object from the weapon instead of just fire. The first bronze handgun was invented during the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. These handguns could not shoot far or accurately, but they had the same psychological effect on the enemy as earlier fire weapons.[4]
Throughout the millennia leading up to today, bronze has also been used to make such items as large ceremonial bells, bronze statues, machines, gears, pumps, pipe fittings, ship propellers, turbine blades and even coins. Depending on the use for the finished product, different ratios of metals are mixed in with the bronze to enhance specific characteristics needed for that particular use.[5]
1. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/81000/bronze
2. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/focus/weaponry-bronze.htm
3. http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/miltech/firearms.htm
4. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/weapons/the-11-most-important-guns-in-history#slide-1
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Birdman did really well with 9 nominations including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actress, and Actor. The one surprise was that it missed best editing. The movie was made to look like one take so the editing was had to be really good to make it feel seamless. But apparently they did too good of a job and made it look like no editing was done.
The Grand Budapest Hotel proved that even though it came out early in the year there is still a lot of love for it. People expected it to do well but probably no that well. It could be the dark horse for Best Picture.
Boyhood, Imitation Game, Whiplash, and The Theory of Everything did about as expected. No big surprises with them.
Guess the first surprise after the announcements was that for the first time there are 8 nominees for Best Picture. There can be anywhere from 5 – 10 but since that rule went into effect it has always been 9. So it was a surprise to see only 8 movies and a lot if questions of what that 9th movie would have been.
American Sniper had been building up momentum but still felt like a surprise that it got 6 nominations including Best Picture and Bradley Cooper for Best Actor. Not many people saw him getting that nomination. Despite that it did not get the coveted Best Director Nomination for Clint Eastwood. Which if one place I thought it might breakthrough would be for Eastwood since he is a beloved Hollywood Icon.
This could go as a snub but since the movie wasn't well received I will just say it was a bit of a surprise that The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies missed out on Best Visual Effects. All three Lord of the Rings movies won the award and the first two Hobbit movies were nominated. So it was almost a given that it would get the nomination.
Inherent Vice is a movie that didn't seem like it was going to resonate with the Academy so it was a bit of a surprise it got two nominations including one for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Here is where I got to some serious grievances.
First how did The Lego Movie not get a Best Animated Film nomination? It was one of the best reviewed animated movies of the year and was expected to win the category so a major shocker.
Speaking of major shockers Life Itself was not nominated for Best Documentary. It was never expected to win but a movie about a Roger Ebert seemed like a movie that the Academy would eat up. It was also one of the best reviewed docs of the year. The other documentary that was shocking to not appear was The Overnighters. I have heard a lot about the movie and it was fully expected to get a nomination.
Foxcatcher got 5 nominations including 2 acting nominations, Best Director, and Best Screenplay but missed out on the Best Picture nomination.
A minor snub but worth mentioning is Force Majeure for Best Foreign Language film. Definitely had the momentum so not sure what happened.
Nightcrawler was high on the list of movies people wanted to see nominated but it wasn't too surprising it got passed up. Although it would have been nice to see Jake Gyllenhaal get an acting nomination. But the movie will have to settle with a Best Screenplay nomination.
There are two movies that got snubbed in multiple categories, Selma and Gone Girl.
I was totally shocked when Gone Girl only got one nomination for Best Actress. It was one of my favorite movies and totally expected to get multiple nominations including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. But the biggest snub for Gone Girl has to be for best Score. It was one of the most original scores of the year and by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who won for the score of The Social Network. Guess they figure one win for them is enough.
Selma is another story. I haven't seen the movie yet but it has got high praises and was expected to score multiple nominations. Despite getting a Best Picture nomination it was snubbed Best Director, Screenplay, and Best Actor. With only two total nominations (the other is for Best Song) it is the least nominated movie to be nominated for Best Picture.
The biggest controversy revolves around the lack of diversity of the big nominees. No women in the director or screenwriting categories. And no person of color in any of the big nominations. Not entirely surprising but it does fan the flames that the Academy is made up of old white guys that don't think out of the box. Selma is at the center of the controversy as many expected Ava DuVerney to get a Best Director nomination which would make her only the 5 women to be nominated for Director and the first Black Female. It is also the first time since 1998 that no person of color was nominated for an acting award.


Electron microscopic heteroduplex analysis of avian RNA tumor viruses has been undertaken by using 35S viral RNA and long, complementary DNA synthesized in vitro. In this initial study, heteroduplex molecules were formed between complementary DNA from Rous sarcoma virus [Prague B strain (Pr-B)] and RNAs from Pr-B and Rous sarcoma virus [Prague C strain (Pr-C)] and from their transformation defective (td) derivatives, td-Pr-B and td-Pr-C. In the case of heteroduplexes with the td viruses, a deletion loop was observed of the order of two kilobases in size and less than one kilobase from the 3' terminus of the RNA. This deletion probably spans part or all of the sequences of one or more genes in the nondefective sarcoma virus which are essential for cell transformation. The sizes and the positions of the deletions in the td-Pr-B and td-Pr-C viruses were slightly, but significantly, different. No nonhomology features were observed in the Pr-B· Pr-C hybrids, thus confirming the close genetic relatedness of the two viruses. All heteroduplexes contained a proportion of circular and dimer molecules. This observation is a direct demonstration that (-) strand DNA transcription begins at an internal position of the RNA genome, proceeds to the 5' end, reinitiates at the 3' end of the RNA, and copies the remainder of the viral genome. Other implications for models of RNA tumor virus replication are also developed from these data.
Copyright © 1977 by the National Academy of Sciences Contributed by Norman Davidson, November 8, 1976 We wish to acknowledge the expert technical assistance of Valerie Ng and Yu-Sun Liu. We thank Peter Duesberg for his interest and valuable discussions as well as for supplying cells and viruses. We wish to thank Welcome Bender for critical reading of the manuscript prior to publication and William Haseltine and Harold Varmus for sharing unpublished data with us. The major portion of the electron microscopy was performed by one of the authors (S.H.). R.J. is a post-doctoral fellow of the Helen Hay Whitney Society. This work was supported by Grant no. AI 00634 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (to C.A.K.) and by Contract NO-1-CP-43306 with the Virus Cancer Program of the National Cancer Institute (to N.D.).


text:
Snyderville Planning Commission Approves One Silver Creek Project, Votes Down Another
KPCW | By Rick Brough
Published March 12, 2021 at 1:42 PM MST
During their meeting on Tuesday, the Snyderville Planning Commission looked at two projects in lower Silver Creek.
For one of them, the Planning Commission sent a negative recommendation to County Council for the second time in recent months.
During a non-voting work session, the Snyderville Commission was introduced to a proposal from Anaya's Market, which is moving from Park City's Bonanza area to a site in lower Silver Creek northeast of the Bell's gas station.
The two-building project which would include a market, café, deli, small retail, offices and affordable residential units, is looking for a plat amendment, low impact permit and conditional use permit.
Commission Chairman Ryan Dickey said his group was receptive to the plan. However, he said the proposal would combine two lots, and he has some concern about what an approval might lead to in the future.
"That's a concern I continue to have any time we talk about combining lots, is that we're creating an attractive target for a big-box store when we do that," he said. "And generally, we'd like a greater diversity of commercial where we have it. So what we asked is that staff, when it comes back, to include a specific condition related to an inability to put one single large structure on the parcel. So I expect it to come back with that condition next time."
Next, an application for the Whileaway Ranch Indoor Riding Arena and Horse Boarding Facility came back to the Snyderville Commission.
In November, they voted against a conditional use permit for the project. The applicant appealed to the Summit County Council. Last month, the council sent the project back to the planning commission, after Whileaway's owner agreed to make some changes to colors and material.
But on Tuesday, the planning commission again sent on a negative recommendation. Dickey said they found that the plan didn't comply with a "human scale" required from county code. He noted that is a subjective concept.
"There is a provision in the code that buildings and structures 'shall provide a human scale, consistent with adjacent development, and appropriate to residential uses and consistent with other development in the zone," he said. There's a question about this one of, when we talk about adjacent development, what are we talking about? Are we talking about just residential development in the Snyderville Basin. Or are we talking about adjacent, the neighborhood, the street, a true adjacency. And then we talk about human scale. What do we mean. It's something that's obviously very subjective. And it matters where you're standing—if you're standing in the street, if you're standing next to the building, what do you see, how does the scale feel?"
He said it's a narrowly decided issue, and the Snyderville Commissioners came down with a divided vote, 4-2. The dissenters in favor of the ranch were commissioners Joel Fine and Bruce Carmichael.
"Probably the through-line of those who said 'no,' meaning the barn provides a scale that's just too large compared to the neighborhood, was that we felt that this part of the code is talking about adjacent development," Dickey said. "It's talking about this part of Silver Creek. There are parts of Silver Creek that have much larger parcels, where scale could be quite a bit different and where adjacent development is different, but that what was being proposed here as an accessory building was just really quite different and at a much larger scale than what's up and down the street, and around that part of the neighborhood."
Local NewsSnyderville Planning CommissionRyan DickeySnyderville Basin Planning Commission
Rick Brough
Known for getting all the facts right, as well as his distinctive sign-off, Rick covers Summit County meetings and issues. KPCW snagged him from The Park Record in the '80s, and he's been on air and covering the entire county ever since. He produces the Week In Review podcast, as well a heads the Friday Film Review team.
See stories by Rick Brough
Snyderville Planning Commission Has Mixed Feelings on Colony HOA Expansion Proposal
A development request from the Colony Homeowners Association is headed to the Summit County Council. But it's going there with a negative recommendation…
State Law Prohibits County Government From Investigating Development Impacts on Schools
During public hearings before the Snyderville Planning Commission, speakers have, on occasion, asked planners to consider how a proposed development will…
Group Home For Teenage Girls Granted Permit to Put Down Roots in Snyderville Basin
The Snyderville Planning Commission on Tuesday night voted to grant a conditional use permit for a group home in Highland Estates intended to help teenage…


BLACKPINK Is Making Their US TV Debut! - MYX | YOUR CHOICE. YOUR MUSIC.
BLACKPINK Is Making Their US TV Debut!
Blackpink stays winning, this time in the US area!
Good Morning America has announced the K-Pop girl group's upcoming guesting and Times Square performance on February 12. This will be the quartet's American TV debut! WHO'S EXCITED?


HA NOI (VNS) — Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises (MEs) are facing barriers in accessing trade financing, despite their remarkable contribution to the economy.
Cao Sy Kiem, the chairman of the Viet Nam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises claimed that Vietnamese SMEs accounted for 95–97 per cent of the total businesses and employed more than half of the labour force in the business sector. They also produce 40-50 per cent of the consumer goods exported by the country.
Speaking at the conference on APEC Public–Private Dialogue on Addressing Impediments of SMEs and MEs in Accessing Trade Finance held in Ha Noi yesterday, Kiem noted that SMEs have been an important factor, actively contributing to social stability and poverty eradication in all regions of the country, especially in the remote and mountainous areas.
However, majority of the SMEs and MEs lacked the required capital to expand their production and businesses. It has been a difficult task for the enterprises to mobilise capital from the market through stocks, shares, and bonds, as most of them were not qualified to be listed on the stock exchange.
In addition, joint mobilised capitals were rare among the businesses due to the high interest rate, while the possibility of using external loans, such as ODA, was still limited.
"It is this reason that most SMEs and MEs had to depend on bank loans, which accounted for 80-90 per cent of their capital," he emphasised.
Most of the bank loans provided to the businesses were short term and were not linked with businesses and production circles.
SMEs and MEs have also had to go through complicated procedures in order to access the loans.
"Another barrier faced by the enterprises is a lack of clear and concrete guidance for implementation of policies relating to finance, money, trade, and investment, though the Government has issued several policies to promote the development of SMEs," he remarked.
The law on SMEs has not been issued, thus creating a differential treatment without equality with other sectors.
He recommended to swiftly develop and approve the law regarding SMEs and specify current viewpoints, policies, and mechanisms, such as tax extension and prioritised export credits for SMEs.
Sharing his viewpoint, Dinh Manh Hung, the deputy director of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that in 2013, the access of businesses to bank loans was more difficult than it was in 2012, although they had expected it to become easier by December 2012.
"In fact, the bank interest rate in 2013 had decreased by about 2-3 per cent as compared to that during the end of 2012, but still rather higher than other businesses, especially SMEs," Hung reported.
He suggested that SMEs and MEs should regularly update government policies to make use of incentives in order to overcome the barriers.
They were urged to continue to implement the Business Process Re-engineering program as well as differentiating capital sources in order to reduce the risk rather than depend solely on the credit offered by banks.
Hung also requested the government to provide enterprises the opportunities to borrow loans by continuing to implement non-performing loans' solutions, to categorise debts, and to streamline the payment period.
Hongyeol Lee, the head of South Korean the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA)'s international marketing department shared the country's experiences in providing support to SMEs.


It's true. I can't remember my fourth-grade teacher, my eighth-grade science teacher or several others along the way. But I remember all my coaches – some, however, not so fondly.
So if you are going to be remembered, how do you want to be thought of? The parents I talked to provide some good advice on the topic.
It really should come as no surprise that parents are concerned about the way coaches act and behave around their children. Appropriate language and no off-color jokes is not too much to ask. Proper behavior, however, goes beyond the obvious.
"Sportsmanship and integrity come from the coach," said one mom. "It should start at home, but many kids learn it through their coach. I remember one of the best coaches my son had. He preached integrity on and off the field. Players were to be respectful of their parents, teachers, coaches, referees and each other.
The kids, whether you realize it or not, are watching.
Parents also want their coach to exhibit class. The kids, they say, will remember their actions in difficult times, and they will definitely notice how the coach treats people. Not just players on his or her team, but referees and the opposing team and coaches.
"Showing respect to a team you have beaten is extremely important," said one dad. "Whether a close win or a blowout, those kids just lost, and they deserve good treatment for their efforts.
The bottom line? Parents want their child's coach to understand that as a coach you are influencing the lives of impressionable youngsters. Your behavior in front of them, in moments big and small, is important. The kids are watching you.


As the Federal Trade Commission celebrates its centennial year, it reminds associations of the antitrust principles that still guide modern-day trade group collaboration.
Antitrust enforcers have always been concerned about the potential for harm arising from the activities of trade groups made up of competitors. The FTC's new blog post reminds associations that the Commission remains watchful about association activity that restricts competition. In future blog posts, the FTC will address other aspects of trade association activity that have long been the subject of antitrust enforcement, such as group boycotts, advertising restrictions, information exchange, and exclusive membership benefits.


Learn to paint quickly with master artist, Dean Gioia, who is well-known in the region for acrylic paintings that skillfully interpret light and atmosphere. Learn new techniques by completing a painting alongside Dean Gioia, applying his signature style of joining nature and humans with a path or road through an illuminated landscape.
OTHER: Source photo provided. Supply list provided upon registration.