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Thoughts, photos and news stories of life abroad
In the News – August 3, 2010
Deportation order for Filipina
A Filipina beautician, who was charged with maintaining illicit relations with an "unknown" man, has been sentenced in absentia to a year's suspended imprisonment and immediate deportation.
The woman, 29, landed in trouble when she arrived at Hamad Hospital to give birth in January 2009 and failed to produce her marriage certificate.
She told the interrogators that her "husband" had visited Qatar and stayed here for one month (March) in 2008 and that he was the father of the baby. When she failed to provide documents to support her claims, she was presented to the court.
A policeman testified that the Filipina had fled the hospital after a few days of delivery, leaving her baby behind. Her trial was held in absentia.
Judge Mamon Hamour ruled that the failure of the accused to bring the necessary document from her country and her escape from the hospital were sufficient reasons to prove that the baby was born out of wedlock.
via Gulf Times – Qatar's top-selling English daily newspaper – Qatar.
This entry was posted in In the News on August 3, 2010 by Justin.
Followup – "Misrepresented by the Press"
As a followup to the recent post of the NY Times article about the tensions between locals and expats here in Qatar, here is a blog post by one of the men quoted in the article. Word on the street is that this guy was on a business trip when the story was published, and he was called and told to return to Doha immediately. The next day, he was fired.
MISREPRESENTED BY THE PRESS
Journalism Bias, Unethical Reporting, and Hidden Agendas…
The Holy Quran has two verses that we recite to illustrate how an intended meaning can be changed or reversed if the statement is incomplete or out of context. The initial fragment of each verse warns that we must not pray: "O you who have believed, do not approach prayer" and "So woe to those who pray". But when the complete verses are read, the meaning becomes clear and logical:
"O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are inebriated, until you know what you are saying […]" (Surat An-Nisa, 4:38-44)
"So woe to those who pray [but] who are heedless of their prayer" (Surat Al-Ma'un, 107:4-5).
What the journalists of the New York Times did with the quotes attributed to me in their article dated 14 May 2010 is similar to the aforementioned sentence truncation and decontextualisation. Mike Slackman's and Mona El-Naggar's approach was friendly and indirect. They requested to meet us to talk about obesity and diabetes, but after the formal interview they casually discussed national demographics and economics, then they wrote an article on bitterness between expats and citizens, twisting interviewee statements and painting the words with sarcasm and disrespect. The reporters had agreed to send us the articles or quotes for comments prior to publication – as has been the case in all my previous interactions with the press and media – yet we did not get to read nor discuss any quotes or statements prior to publication.
The first quote attributed to me, "Qataris are very spoiled"* is short and maliciously framed to convey the sense "become bad/ruined" rather than "treated kindly/generously". Furthermore, the context in which I made this statement was in comparison to neighbouring countries that have similar wealth but unequal social benefits. It came to my surprise that an Egyptian newspaper translated my intended meaning into Arabic in a more accurate way than in the original article.
The second quote attributed to me, "They are only valuable in this cultural and political context" is phrased implying a generalisation to Qataris, whereas the remark was about professionals (locals and foreigners alike) who quickly shift their careers from their scientific or engineering background to management positions. The idea I tried to convey was that scientific knowledge acquired in academia or industry is valuable in a wider geographic/economic scope than managerial experience which may be specific to local laws, customs and cultures. The phenomenon of non-transferability of skills or knowledge applies a number of professions that depend on knowledge and customs specific to a country or a region. I happened to suffer from this phenomenon in 2006 when my parents forced me to renounce the scholarship I had earned six months into my PhD at the University of Bologna (the world's oldest, established in 1088). My PhD was in design of orthopaedic implants using finite element analysis and experimental biomechanics. The idea at the time was that I would be too specialised in a field that is extremely limited in the Middle East and my parents' fear was that I may not be able to return to work in Qatar. A few years later, they look back and realise how short sighted they were, because the jobs in medical devices and technology have increased several fold in Qatar due to the government initiatives to diversify the economy and to deploy its intellectual capital.
The reporters went further, reshuffling words I had used with reference to a key challenge highlighted in the Qatar National Vision 2030 ("Size and the quality of the expatriate labor force and the selected path of development") to infer that I contend that Qataris often lacked the skills, education and qualifications to be competitive in many other economies. They omitted my mention of the positive trends of the last decade and the initiatives of QF that expanded the academic arena as well as the high-tech industry.
Slackman and El-Naggar fuelled the tone of my quotes further by referring to me as 'a non-Qatari Arab', thereby placing me on the expat side of the battle they were painting, and omitting any mention that my siblings and I were raised in Qatar. But I had made that point quite clear to the reporters, and added that I have always considered Qatar as home (despite my two other nationalities), and that Qataris have been close childhood friends, class mates, neighbours, colleagues, and the most sincere friends of my family. This is the reason why within 48 hours the article going online, I received countless emails, phone calls and text messages from family, friends and colleagues, expressing shock and astonishment from the quotes attributed to me. People who knew me well knew the quotes could not have come from me, or that I did not intend the meaning conveyed therein. The most interesting remarks I received from residents in Qatar are:
"I know what Mo honestly thinks. Mo doesn't make such statements, end of story.
I told everyone who talked to me about it: the guy would feel bad enough just THINKING about it, let alone saying it out-loud and to the press. He's that
good-hearted. I truly believe that and feel bad about the consequences."
– H.G. (Qatari Manager)
"Mo, did the NY Times article capture you correctly?"
– A.B. (German Management Consultant)
"Hello Mo, I saw this article and was shocked to see your name after the
Quotes. […] These are very harsh quotes. The problems are with the
foreigners that are hired." – M.M. (Arab-American Scientist)
"I look forward to everyone moving forward with mutual respect, understanding and tolerance. And I know you to be a person who firmly manifests all those ideals."
– E.S. (American Lawyer)
The reporters, Slackman and El-Naggar, contacted my institution on 4 April 2010 requesting information and contacts for a investigation they are writing about obesity and diabetes. I was asked to provide them with the necessary contacts and provide them with information on our medical research initiatives that may be of relevance to their investigation. I provided them by email details of a ten or so contacts from local institutions including the Ministry of Health, Qatar Diabetes Association, Aspetar Sports Medicine Hospital, Sidra Medical Research Centre, Shafallah Medical Research Centre and Hamad Medical Corporation. I then met with them to share my knowledge about the prevalence of diabetes and obesity in the country, emphasizing that I am not an expert in this field. None of the content of my formal interview was reported, but instead they misquoted things that I had said casually after the interview in response to their questions on our population demographics and economic development.
I feel a victim of journalist distortion, especially considering the similarly critical and sarcastic tone of their recent article of 27 April 2010 about the people and culture of Qatar. The article of 14 May 2010 is obviously very highly valued by the New York Times – it made it to the front page of the printed International Herald Tribune – a great success for Slackman and El-Naggar, much at my expense.
"All one can ask of history, and of the history of ideas in particular: not to
resolve issues, but to raise the level of the debate." – Albert Hirschman (1996)
Mohammed Saffarini
Paris, 16 May 2010
via http://web.me.com/don_saffarini/Victim_of_the_press/Mohammed_Saffarini.html
This entry was posted in In the News on May 24, 2010 by Justin.
Why Dubai's Islamic austerity is a sham – sex is for sale in every bar | World news | The Observer
Couples who publicly kiss are jailed, yet the state turns a blind eye to 30,000 imported prostitutes, says William Butler
Dancers in a Dubai hotel. Photograph: Rex Features
The bosomy blonde in a tight, low-cut evening dress slid on to a barstool next to me and began the chat: Where are you from? How long are you here? Where are you staying? I asked her what she did for a living. "You know what I do," she replied. "I'm a whore."
As I looked around the designer bar on the second floor of the glitzy five-star hotel, it was obvious that every woman in the place was a prostitute. And the men were all potential punters, or at least window-shoppers.
While we talked, Jenny, from Minsk in Belarus, offered me "everything, what you like, all night" for the equivalent of about £500. It was better if I was staying in the luxurious hotel where we were drinking, she said, but if not she knew another one, cheaper but "friendly". I turned down the offer.
This was not Amsterdam's red-light district or the Reeperbahn in Hamburg or a bar on Shanghai's Bund. This was in the city centre of Dubai, the Gulf emirate where western women get a month in prison for a peck on the cheek; the Islamic city on Muhammad's peninsula where the muezzin's call rings out five times a day drawing believers to prayer; where public consumption of alcohol prompts immediate arrest; where adultery is an imprisonable offence; and where mall shoppers are advised against "overt displays of affection", such as kissing.
Ayman Najafi and Charlotte Adams, the couple recently banged up in Al Awir desert prison for a brief public snog, must have been very unlucky indeed, because in reality Dubai is a heaving maelstrom of sexual activity that would make the hair stand up on even the most worldly westerner's head. It is known by some residents as "Sodom-sur-Mer".
Beach life, cafe society, glamorous lifestyles, fast cars and deep tans are all things associated with "romance" in the fog-chilled minds of Europeans and North Americans. And there is a fair amount of legitimate "romance" in Dubai. Western girls fall for handsome, flash Lebanese men; male visitors go for the dusky charms of women from virtually anywhere. Office and beach affairs are common.
But most of the "romance" in Dubai is paid-for sex, accepted by expatriates as the norm, and to which a blind eye is turned – at the very least – by the authorities. The bar where "Jenny" approached me was top-of-the-range, where expensively dressed and coiffured girls can demand top dollar from wealthy businessmen or tourists.
There are lots of these establishments. Virtually every five-star hotel has a bar where "working girls" are tolerated, even encouraged, to help pull in the punters with cash to blow. But it goes downhill from there. At sports and music bars, Fillipinas vie with the Russians and women from the former Soviet republics for custom at lower prices. In the older parts of the city, Deira and Bur Dubai, Chinese women undercut them all in the lobbies of three-star hotels or even on the streets (although outside soliciting is still rare).
It is impossible to estimate accurately the prostitute population of Dubai. The authorities would never give out such figures, and it would be hard to take into account the "casual" or "part-time" sex trade. One recent estimate put the figure at about 30,000 out of a population of about 1.5 million. A similar ratio in Britain would mean a city the size of Glasgow and Leeds combined entirely populated by prostitutes.
Of course, there are other cities in the world where the "oldest profession" is flourishing. But what makes Dubai prostitution different is the level of acceptance it has by the clients and, apparently, the city's Islamic authorities. Although strictly illegal under United Arab Emirates' and Islamic law, it is virtually a national pastime.
I have seen a six-inch-high stack of application forms in the offices of a visa agent, each piece of paper representing a hopeful "tourist" from Russia, Armenia or Uzbekistan. The passport-sized photographs are all of women in their 20s seeking one-month visas for a holiday in the emirate.
Maybe young Aida from Tashkent – oval-eyed and pouting – will find a few days' paid work as a maid or shop assistant while she's in Dubai, and maybe she will even get an afternoon or two on the beach as her holiday. But most nights she will be selling herself in the bars and hotels and the immigration authorities know that. So must the visa agent, who gets his cut out of each £300 visa fee.
The higher you go up the Emirati food chain, the bigger the awards. All UAE nationals are entitled to a number of residence visas, which they routinely use to hire imported domestics, drivers or gardeners. But they will sell the surplus to middlemen who trade them on to women who want to go full-time and permanent in the city. The higher the social and financial status of the Emirati, the more visas he has to "farm".
Thousands of women buy entitlement to full-time residence, and lucrative employment, in this way. Three years in Dubai – the normal duration of a residence visa – can be the difference between lifelong destitution and survival in Yerevan, Omsk or Bishkek.
With a residence visa changing hands at upwards of £5,000 a time, it is a nice sideline, even for a wealthy national. And it also ensures a convenient supply of sex for Emiratis, who form a large proportion of the punters at the kind of bar where I met "Jenny". Arabs from other countries are high up the "johns" list, with Saudis in particular looking for distraction from life in their austere Wahabist homes with booze and sex-fuelled weekends in Dubai's hotels.
The other big category of punters is Europeans and Americans, and it is remarkable how quickly it all seems normal. A few drinks with the lads on a Thursday night, maybe a curry, some semi-intoxicated ribaldry, and then off to a bar where you know "that" kind of girl will be waiting. In the west, peer group morality might frown on such leisure activities, but in Dubai it's as normal as watching the late-night movie.
Male residents whose families are also in Dubai might be a little constrained most of the year – you could not really introduce Ludmilla from Lvov, all cleavage and stilettos, as a work colleague with whom you wanted to "run over a few things on the laptop". But in the long, hot summer it is different. Wives and families escape the heat by going to Europe or the US, and the change that comes over the male expat population is astounding. Middle-aged men in responsible jobs – accountants, marketeers, bankers – who for 10 months of the year are devoted husbands, transform in July and August into priapic stallions roaming the bars of Sheikh Zayed Road.
Tales are swapped over a few beers the next night, positions described, prices compared, nationalities ranked according to performance. It could be the Champions League we are discussing, not paid-for sex.
I've heard financial types justifying it as part of the process of globalisation, another manifestation of the west-east "tilt" by which world economic power is gravitating eastwards.
In my experience, many men will be unfaithful if they have the opportunity and a reasonable expectation that they will not be found out. For expats in Dubai, the summer months provide virtual laboratory conditions for infidelity.
Above all, there is opportunity. There is the Indonesian maid who makes it apparent that she has no objection to extending her duties, for a price; the central Asian shop assistant in one of the glittering malls who writes her mobile number on the back of your credit card receipt "in case you need anything else"; the Filipina manicurist at the hairdresser's who suggests you might also want a pedicure in the private room.
Even though selling sex is haram (forbidden) under Islamic law, the authorities rarely do anything about it. Occasionally, an establishment will break some unwritten rule. Cyclone, a notorious whorehouse near the airport, was closed down a few years back, but then it really did go too far – a special area of the vast sex supermarket was dedicated to in-house oral sex. When the authorities ordered it to be closed, the girls simply moved elsewhere.
There are occasional stories in the local papers of human trafficking rings being broken up and the exploiters arrested, but it is low-level stuff, usually involving Asian or Chinese gangs and Indian or Nepalese girls. The real problem is the high-end business, with official sanction. Even with the emirate's financial problems, Sodom-sur-Mer is flourishing. But would-be snoggers beware – your decadent behaviour will not be tolerated.
William Butler is a pseudonym for a writer who lived in Dubai for four years and recently returned to Britain
via Why Dubai's Islamic austerity is a sham – sex is for sale in every bar | World news | The Observer.
Qatar's World Cup bid: A mirage in the desert? – CNN.com
Qatar's World Cup bid: A mirage in the desert?
By Mark Tutton for CNN
May 14, 2010 7:38 a.m. EDT
* Qatar hopes to host the 2022 World Cup in temperatures of over 40 C
* It plans to use solar power to air condition its stadiums
* If the bid is successful Qatar will be the first country in the Middle East to stage the event
London, England (CNN) — In the tiny desert state of Qatar the locals know better than to brave the scorching summer sun.
As temperatures soar over 40 C (104 F), those who can flee the country for cooler climes. The stragglers spend their time ensconced in air-conditioned homes, offices and shopping malls.
To them, the idea of playing football for 90 minutes in these conditions would seem nothing short of crazy.
And yet, Qatar will present its bid to host the 2022 World Cup, staged at the height of summer, to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, in Zurich Friday.
So, are their plans nothing more than a mirage in the desert?
Well, perhaps not quite. Qatar has a high-tech secret weapon.
Their bid proposes to build nine new fully air-conditioned open-air stadiums, both on the pitch and in the spectator area, that work using solar power.
Solar thermal collectors and photovoltaic panels on the outside the stadiums and on their roofs will mine energy from the blazing Qatari sun.
It will be used to chill water, which in turn will cool air before it is blown through the stadium, keeping pitch temperatures below 27 C (80 F).
Qatar 2022's bid book director Yasir Al Jamal told CNN it would be the first time these technologies have been combined to keep a stadium cool.
"Stadium seats will be cooled using air pumped at the spectator ankle zone at a temperature of 18 C," he said.
"The same air will also be projected from the back and neck area of the seats, ensuring that each seating row of each stadium provides maximum comfort and enjoyment to fans."
Jamal said the photovoltaic panels will export electricity to Qatar's national grid, which will make the cooling system carbon neutral.
He added that the same system would be used to cool the competing teams' training facilities.
Qatar has grown rich on the back of its extensive gas and oil reserves but it is trying to diversify its economy and promote itself as a cultural destination.
Becoming the first nation in the Middle East to host the World Cup would be seen as a coup for a country with a population of less than one million and currently placed 95th in the FIFA world rankings.
Qatar has previously hosted global sporting events — but never in the summer.
It staged the Asian Games in December 2006 and the World Indoor Athletic Championships earlier this year.
But, Doha's bid to host the 2016 Olympics, which proposed holding the games in October, when temperatures would be slightly more forgiving, was rejected.
And with the World Cup having to fit in around the European football season, there's no choice but to hold the competition in June and July — Qatar's hottest months.
One man who knows about building stadiums that are used in extreme heat is Jack Boyle, principal and senior architect with Populous. He designed the University of Phoenix stadium, in Arizona.
Arizona endures similar summer temperatures to Qatar and like Qatar's proposed venues, the Phoenix stadium is cooled by air conditioning — although it is powered by conventional energy.
Boyle told CNN that while it wasn't economically viable to use solar power at the Phoenix stadium, it could work for Qatar.
"I think if you've got a tremendous amount of solar radiation on the site, as you would in Qatar, and plenty of vacant land, there's no reason not to do that," he said.
"First cost [initial expenditures] on creating all these alternative energy systems can be fairly high, so you just need to look at what your payback is going to be. But in Qatar, they may not be concerned about payback at all."
Having been involved in projects in Qatar, Boyle said the World Cup stadiums would also have to contend with the country's high humidity, which would put an extra strain on their cooling systems.
Qatar plans to use 12 stadiums to host the competition and German architects AS&P have produced conceptual designs for nine new stadiums, and upgrades to three existing venues.
As well as using solar power to cool the stadiums, AS&P partner Joachim Schares told CNN their designs include retractable roofs, to keep out the blazing sun.
"We will close the roof in the days before the match so the temperature cools down before the match," he said.
"The roof could stay closed [during matches] so that every seat in the stadium and the pitch is fully shaded, or if FIFA requires teams to play with an open roof we could open it and still guarantee a temperature of 27 C."
Qatar's 2022 bid faces competition from Australia, England, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, as well as joint bids from Belgium and the Netherlands, and Portugal and Spain.
via Qatar's World Cup bid: A mirage in the desert? – CNN.com.
In the News 5-14-2010
I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, so here's an interesting story for you from the NY Times.
Memo From Doha
Affluent Qataris Seek What Money Cannot Buy
Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times
A Lebanese salesman showed a Qatari cars. Citizens make up about 15 percent of the population.
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
DOHA, Qatar — Citizens of Qatar appear to have it made. They tend to drive big cars, live in big houses and get big loans to pay for big watches and an outsize lifestyle. They have an army of laborers from the developing world to build a sparkling skyline and to work whatever jobs they feel are beneath them. And their nation has enough oil and gas to keep the good times rolling for decades.
Foreign workers in Qatar. There is tension, anger and frustration between Qataris and foreigners.
So why do so many people here seem so angry?
The problem, many Qataris say, is that they resent being treated as a minority in their own country, which is what they are. Citizens make up about 15 percent of the nation's 1.6 million people — a demographic oddity that fuels a sense of privilege and victimization.
"The priority always goes to the foreigner," said Ali Khaled, 23, who is finishing his government-financed education in London.
His cousin, Omar Ali, 24, a high school dropout who works as a technician in an electric company, readily agreed: "They always think the foreigner is better at any job than a Qatari, even if the Qatari is perfect at the job."
In many ways, they appear to be right about how they are perceived.
"Qataris are very spoiled," said Mohammed Saffarini, a non-Qatari Arab who serves as research director for health science at Qatar's Science and Technology Park. "They are only valuable in this cultural and political context," he added, contending that Qataris often lacked the skills, education and qualifications to be competitive in many other economies.
On the surface, Qatar appears to be on a roll. This peninsula of sand jutting into the Persian Gulf has leveraged its oil wealth and unbridled ambition to garner a world-class reputation on many fronts: international relations, art, higher education. But at home, there is tension, anger and frustration between Qataris and foreigners.
"It's all a sham; it's all a veneer," said Dr. Momtaz Wassef, who was recruited from the United States to serve as the director of biomedical research for the Supreme Council of Health. Now he says he is disillusioned with Qatar and is planning to leave. "They never admit they make a mistake," he said. "They only say they are the best in the world."
Dr. Wassef's wife asked that he not be quoted until he left Qatar, but Dr. Wassef would have none of it. "I don't give a hoot," he said, clapping his hands together for emphasis.
Qataris do not see themselves as coddled. Sure, they do not have to pay for electricity, water, education or health care, and they are given land and low-cost loans to build houses when they marry. They are eligible for public assistance if they do not have a job, often receive generous pensions and acknowledge they will not take any jobs they do not consider suitable for them.
But they also complain that they do not get paid as much as foreigners, and that foreigners get most of the top jobs in critical industries, like finance, higher education and the media. There is also pervasive frustration that English has become the language of employment, not Arabic, and that local hospitals, restaurants, markets and streets are always crowded with foreigners.
"There is a crisis here," said Muhammad al-Mesfer, a political science professor at Qatar University. "The foreigners are crowding us out."
The tension in Qatar is similar to what has surfaced in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where local people are also vastly outnumbered by foreigners and are sometimes likened to colonial rulers in their own land.
"There are about 300 employees at my work and only 4 or 5 Qataris," said Mr. Ali, the technician at an electric company. "I walk into work and I feel like I am in India."
He said that the foreigners were never willing to teach him new skills, so he had lost motivation.
"I have been working there for three years, and I still haven't fully grasped the work," he said. "I go to work to drink tea and read the paper."
During a seven-day visit to Qatar, conversations with expatriate workers and Qatari citizens almost always turned to the topic of distrust, even during the most mundane of encounters.
"I am Qatari, and this country is for me," a driver shouted as he forced his way into a parking space that a Canadian driver had also been trying for. "This is my country."
Part of the frustration appears to stem from the lack of an effort to address the differences. People here said that when complaints had been raised, those who spoke up got punished. Foreigners get sent home and local people lose their positions, they said.
Qataris and foreigners alike described a social contract that offers material comfort and financial reward in exchange for not challenging the government's choices. Qatar is a constitutional monarchy led by Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his council of ministers. For many, the bargain is worth taking.
"To be honest, I'm comfortable and the salaries are good," said Ibrahim al-Muhairy, 29, a Qatari high school dropout who said he earns about $41,000 a year working for the government as a security guard in a mall. "Everyone is getting what he deserves and more."
But there are plenty of others who are unwilling to ride away silently in their Mercedes sedans, like Ahmed J. Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Malik, a former news anchor. He said he was furious that he had not been hired to read the news on Al Jazeera, the popular satellite news channel that broadcasts from here. He has written opinion pieces for a local newspaper complaining that Qataris are now treated as second-class citizens in their own country.
"I met with my friends last night, we joked, we are all 'ex,' that means unemployed," he said, as he climbed into the driver's seat of a Mercedes sedan. His diamond-crusted watch glistened beneath the parking lot lights.
Moza al-Malki, a family therapist, said she was angry, too. She said that she had lost her teaching position when she complained that an Indian woman was hired to run a counseling center that she said she had set up. "We are all angry for staying at home," she said.
A moment earlier, she turned to the Filipino woman walking one step behind her — a servant carrying bags — and told her to go look around the mall they were in while Ms. Malki ordered breakfast. Ms. Malki ordered a croissant with cheese, sent it back because it was too hard, and then settled on an omelet.
Mona El-Naggar contributed reporting.
Memo From Doha – Affluent Qataris Seek What Money Cannot Buy – NYTimes.com.
In the News 11-22-2009
Unease over men selling lingerie
Source ::: The Peninsula . / By ABDULLAH ABDULRAHMAN
DOHA: Many in the Qatari community are unhappy that over 30 months after the Central Municipal Council (CMC) urged the government to ban men from working in outlets selling lingerie, nothing has changed.
The CMC referred a proposal to the civic ministry urging a ban early in April 2007 after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait enforced such laws.
In Saudi Arabia, local women are now said to be trained so they could work in shops selling intimate female apparel.
Being a GCC state, Qatar has similar culture and traditions, but there is no law that bans the employment of men at stores selling lingerie.
Dr Amina Al Jaber, a famous Qatari woman who teaches Islamic jurisprudence at Qatar University, told The Peninsula yesterday: "I sincerely urge the higher-ups to take necessary steps to help protect the dignity of women."
She said it was quite upsetting for women to confront men at shops selling intimate women's clothing. And especially embarrassing is to see undergarments displayed prominently outside these shops. "It's really awkward for a woman to walk into any of these outlets with her young son or daughter," she said.
Asked for comment, lawyer Mohsin Thiyab Al Suwaidi, said not all problems could be resolved by putting a law in place. "This is an issue linked to our religion, culture and traditions…We must refuse to buy from shops that have men as sales assistants," he said.
But sources in trade and industry said a ban is easier said than done as that would complicate things.
First of all, not all such shops are actually owned by Qatari nationals. There are proxy expatriate owners who hire sales staff on their own.
Secondly, the Ministry of Labor does not issue visas for single women to work in independent shops as sales assistants. And even if the visas are issued, it is not cost-effective for an employer to hire female workers.
Additionally, providing housing to single women workers and managing their affairs is full of hassles, said a source.
Contacted for comment, a source at the Ministry of Labor said the responsibility for framing a law banning men from working in female undergarments outlets was the responsibility of the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning.
He said if the owners of such shops applied for work visas for single women sales staff, the ministry would gladly provide approval. "I don't think we would have problems approving such visas," said the source.
via The Peninsula On-line: Qatar's leading English Daily.
This entry was posted in In the News on November 22, 2009 by Justin.
Sony Ericsson WTA Championship
New post! Pics from the Sony Ericsson WTA Championship tournament http://www.justinharbor.com/blog/2009/11/10/sony-ericsson-wta-championship-2009/
This entry was posted in Photography on November 10, 2009 by Justin.
Lumen Dei Pictures
I've finally posted pictures from the Lumen Dei trip. Soon, I'll be adding some captions and writing a little more about the trip, but at least for now you can see what we saw 🙂 I'll also be doing some more post-processing on pics to add to the portfolio gallery.
http://photos.totheeast.com/lumen-dei
This entry was posted in Lumen Dei, Photography, Pics and tagged Lumen Dei, Photography on October 3, 2009 by Justin.
Back in Doha
Well, I'm back home in Doha, and I hope to start posting about the trip soon. It was a blast. I learned a lot, and I got some great pictures. I'm going through pics right now to post with some little anecdotes. Watch for a new post in the next couple of days!
This entry was posted in Announcements and tagged Lumen Dei on September 28, 2009 by Justin.
Postcards from Delhi
Well, we're getting ready to start day two of the tour. Yesterday was an intense day of walking the crowded streets of Old Delhi, dodging auto rickshaws, motorcycles, and cars while trying to capture some good images of the people and all of the shops along the side of the road. We also spent some time at Jama Masjid and Nizamuddin photographing the scenery and the people there. Here are a couple of fun pictures from the day.
Today will be a lot like yesterday, and then we leave for Leh tomorrow morning at 4:00 am! This could be my last post for a while, because the internet is not as reliable up there. Until then!
This entry was posted in Lumen Dei, Photography and tagged Delhi, Lumen Dei, Photography on September 15, 2009 by Justin.
Trey on Why Dubai's Islamic austerity is a sham – sex is for sale in every bar | World news | The Observer
Justin on Why Dubai's Islamic austerity is a sham – sex is for sale in every bar | World news | The Observer
Sarah Brown on Lumen Dei Pictures
B Lee on Lumen Dei Pictures
Lumen Dei

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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1:55. Wow, what a photo!
Scarry! Very nice picture. Thanksgiving dinner was at my foster child's home. Dieabets nightmare, and four of are.
Jaffy - The last cruise I was on the piano player only played dead musical numbers. I loved it.
That didn't make sense. I going back to bed!
2:36 Hello everyone - what a great photo!
Bright, brisk sun shiny day here in Central Texas.
Still not moving too fast from yestersdays feast, but that will soon change since now it is time to prepare for MILs Thanksgiving feast this weekend.
Another example of nature at its most beautiful, great picture.
Also, a very fitting picture today with what's happening in the Antarctic with the cruise ship Explorer that is listing badly and has been evacuated after striking an iceberg.
Very wonderful view .Good shot and beautiful picture.
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go. Hope everyone has a great day/night where ever you are.
Nice picture. You don't need to be as far north as the Arctic to encounter such ice-bergs these days.
2:07 A great picture! Sunny, crisp day here, so I'll be out walking for sure. Enjoy your weekend, everyone.
What a slow day, especially after the last few. All the United States folks must be sleeping off the feasting. I, on the other hand ate reasonably and skipped the evening meal!
But I did eat turkey, Rayray. Couldn't find any ostrich.
Today was my lucky day! Since we dined at the home of friends yesterday, we don't have any turkey leftovers, so I went to the store to buy my own bird to cook this weekend. They overcharged me, so (thanks to Harris-Teeter's policy)I got the turkey free! And that's the very best kind of turkey!
Hooray for you Jane--Don't you just love those overcharge policies?
Well I must make the sacrifice and return to that room where you prepare food. I personally cannot think about food for a while longer, but for some reason the girl is saying she is hungry. Thank goodness the girl likes Cheerios.
Way to go, Jane! Good luck cooking the bird. I have about decided to take my first stab at smoking a turkey on my gas grill. I have used a smoker for smaller things before, but never used the gas grill for long, slow cooking.
Oooohhhhh, have I the Thanksgiving dinner hangover! Too much eaten, too much preparation work, too much the hostess. Argh! Now the clean-up. Ooooohhhhh! I'm getting too for this.
Rather a ironic photo for today as a cruise ship has hit an iceberg in the Antarctic today.
shosho - you should have help cleaning up!
Anyone with too many turkey leftovers is welcome to send them my way--otherwise I'll just show up at Jane's place.
Oh BTW, I had a great time! Hope everyone's day was wonderful as well full of great food, loving relatives, and happy cheers! Even had a conference call with my younger son in NC.
I will NEVER go shopping on "Black Friday!" Many of the stores here opened at 4 or 5 AM this morning!
Jamie: Apart from pulling a leg that someone asked for, I ate the whole ostrich myself in one session. I feel bloated and want to bury my head in the ground after a marathon run at 70mph, but it was delicious and the feathers gave a beautiful flavour and aroma to the meat.
2:20 What a wonderful photograph, would love to see that up close as long as it was safe of course.
Judy - I, too, avoid shopping the day after Thanksgiving. One of these years, however, I do want to go to Fernandina Beach to shop on "Black Friday". If you wear your pajamas, you get a discount at all the stores. It has become quite a festive occasion - lots of pictures in the papers. Think it would be a fun group event!
We've had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren left this morning. My dad is still here and will leave this weekend. Our other daughter and her husband, who live nearby, will be coming over in a bit and we're all going wine tasting today. After the debauchery of the past couple of days, starting a diet tomorrow actually sounds like fun!
Ensign: HERE take mine Mr. Goldstein.
Cathy - Come on down! We'll have the turkey on Sunday!
Jane: If you are having turkey 'down' there on Sunday, I shall be going 'up'.


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Deal: Burn Notice: The Complete Series DVD Box Set
By Empress Eve | @ | April 1st, 2014 at 10:48 am
The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day today over at Amazon today is Burn Notice: The Complete Series for only $50.99 (that's 66% off the list price of $149.98).
This 29-disc DVD set comes with all seven seasons of the USA television series Burn Notice, which starred Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, and Sharon Gless.
Topics: Deals, DVDs, News, Television
Tags: Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice, Gabrielle Anwar, Jeffrey Donovan, Sharon Gless
DC Comics Powers Up With USA Network For 'Burn Notice' Comic
By The Canadian Titan | July 2nd, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Are you a fan of DC Comics? Great! Do you love Burn Notice? Even better!
It was recently announced that USA Network is teaming up with DC Comics to bring us a new series of comics that will piece together what happens between seasons four and five of Burn Notice. The title of this new series will be called "A New Day."
The show's creator Matt Nix and the creative team for Burn Notice are writing the comic book series. It contain ways to interact with the comic, offering the readers the chance to experience interactive games, as well as hidden ciphers and artwork peelaways, among other things.
Leave a comment: 1 Comment »
Topics: Comics, News, Television
Tags: Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice, Gabrielle Anwar, Jeffrey Donovan, USA Network
Contest: 'Burn Notice' Prize Pack
By The Geeks of Doom | @ | November 1st, 2010 at 12:36 pm
The USA Network series Burn Notice returns with all new episodes on Thursday, November 11, at 10/9c, and to celebrate we here at Geeks of Doom have two (2) prize packs to give away to some lucky readers!
Two (2) winners will each receive:
Burn Notice Season 3 DVD Set
Logo Hat
Burn Notice "Chuck Finley T-Shirt
Burn Notice Book: The Getaway
Topics: Contests, News, Television
Tags: Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice, Gabrielle Anwar, Jeffrey Donovan, Sharon Gless, USA Network
Deal: 'Burn Notice' Seasons 1 & 2 DVD
By Empress Eve | @ | September 17th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Today's Goldbox spotlight item of the day over at Amazon is the Burn Notice: Seasons 1-2 on DVD for only $39.99 (that's 60% off the list price of $98.98).
This is the Season 1 and 2 DVD bundled together for the hit USA series starring Jeffrey Donovan as a Michael, a spy who was given a "burn notice," which means that he's been blacklisted from intelligence work and has lost his work history, money, and even identity. Michael lives in Miami, where he takes on freelance work while trying to find out who burned him. Helping Michael out is his pyro happy ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), as well as another intelligence agent, Sam, (Bruce Campbell), Michael's only connection with the spy world.
Tags: Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice, Gabrielle Anwar, Jeffrey Donovan
Quick Contest: 'Burn Notice' Prize Pack
By The Geeks of Doom | @ | August 5th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Tomorrow night marks the season finale of the USA Network show Burn Notice, starring Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, and Sharon Gless. In conjunction with the conclusion of Season 3, we here at Geeks of Doom have a Burn Notice prize pack to give away to one (1) lucky reader!
Note, the contest ends tomorrow night and we will be picking a winner soon after, so be sure to enter right away for your chance to win.
One (1) Burn Notice Season 1 & 2 DVD
One (1) Burn Notice T-Shirt
One (1) Burn Notice Novel
One (1) Burn Notice Beach Umbrella
One (1) Burn Notice Beach Boogie Board
One (1) Burn Notice Frisbee
What do you have to do to get a chance to win? Glad you asked 'cause it's really easy. Just make sure you're a subscriber to our email digest, and then go ahead and fill out the handy dandy form below. Done.
TO ENTER: There's just two simple steps: (1) Make sure you're subscribed to the Geeks of Doom email digest. If you're not then click here and sign up. (If you're already a subscriber, then go right to the next step.) (2) Fill out the entry form here below and submit. (Form is here after the jump.)
Topics: Contests, DVDs, News, Television
By The Geeks of Doom | @ | June 4th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Tonight at 9, the USA Network show Burn Notice, starring Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, and our featured dude of the week Bruce Campbell, returns for its third season. In conjunction with this event, we here at Geeks of Doom have a Burn Notice prize pack to give away to one (1) lucky reader!
One (1) Burn Notice Tote Bag
One (1) Burn Notice Season 1 DVD
One (1) Burn Notice Suntan Lotion Pack
Topics: Contests, News, Television, Week of Geek
Catch Up With 'Burn Notice' Before This Week's Season Premiere
By The Geeks of Doom | @ | June 1st, 2009 at 8:57 pm
By Cultural Learnings
Burn Notice, premiering its third season on Thursday, June 4th on USA Network at 9/8c, is a show that started out as something very small. The story of a CIA operative who suddenly finds himself burned (blacklisted from government work, stuck with no passport, no money, etc.) and dropped off in Miami, the show may appear on the surface to be a traditional formula: with the help of his "trigger-happy" ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) and his former colleague Sam (the week's honoree, Bruce Campbell), Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan) helps out people in the community who need someone who knows how to handle a gun, is able to rig a bomb out of just about anything, and who's street smart enough to get the job done without involving the authorities.
At that basic level, the show is a procedural like any other, but it was first boosted by two primary elements that raise its quality. First, the presence of Anwar (who despite being a polarizing figure is damn fun to watch due to her sadistic streak) and Campbell (who is both the heart and humor of the show, usually simultaneously) help to give the show a nice banter, along with Michael's connection to his mother and brother who also happen to live in Miami. Second, the missions themselves take the form of Michael offering narration as to his MacGyver-like abilities with hardware store purchases — he takes us through the missions piece by piece, allowing us to see the inner workings of the process. It takes missions that are good to begin with thanks to their populist streak (everyone likes to see a good guy helping out the little guy) and gives them an added point of interest for the viewer, especially those who enjoy geeking out at some ingenious engineering. Combined with the beautiful Miami setting, and the bikini-clad women who somehow always seem to populate the streets, and you have a show with something for everyone.
Topics: Features, Television, Week of Geek
Tags: Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice, Gabrielle Anwar, Jeffrey Donovan, Tricia Helfer


Mohammed Al Rajhi & family was born in Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Abdulaziz Al Rajhi, with his brothers Sulaiman, Abdullah, and the late Saleh, founded Al Rajhi Bank, one of the largest Islamic banks in the world, with $49 billion in assets. His share of the bank accounts for the majority of his fortune. His conglomerate Mohammed Al Rajhi & Sons has interests in various industries, including plastics, steel and water.


text:
Q: Blender Python module import At Blender I can use Python to develop a game...
But can I also use Blender in Python?
Is it possible to import Blender into a Python script? Here I made an overview:
Python ->
    Blender ->
        import Models -> create the game

Is this possible?
Thank you

A: Technically yes that is possible.
First you need to compile blender from source yourself - see the blender wiki and this little bit of information here
Basically when you first setup the configuration for building blender there is an option called WITH_PYTHON_MODULE which is described as Enable building as a python module which runs without a user interface, like running regular blender in background mode (experimental, only enable for development)
If building using cmake this option is listed under Advanced options so you need to enable advanced options to see it. Not certain if scons has a similar option.
This appears mostly undocumented, but sounds like you import bpy and have access to what you would normally use in a blender script just with the limitations of not having a gui.

A: This package link is a module which gives you access to Blender colors, objects etc
Just have a look!

A: Sorry it is not possible,
Many softwares and platforms support for python and they have their own implementation which are completely isolated.
However I liked what @sambler proposed however doing that you have to be familiar with Blender source codes which is in C and I bet if someone could extract Blender's python object outside the project will do the rest in C not python, Theoretically you are able to do that but actually it is not a good idea!

A: You can use the old Blender 2.79  to develope a game in the game engine. Or you go to the fork of the Blender Game Engine: https://upbge.org.
Another solution is the Armory Project: https://armory3d.org which integrated their engine capabilities into Blender.
And yes you can built Blender as a python module: Blender as Python Module
If you want to dig deep into the topic, you might be interested in Tensorflow or Torch. Tensorflow is a neural network. If you want to build a game in 3 clicks, you first need to integrate the game development process into a Tensorflow or Torch model.
Torch-Project-Website
Tensorflow-Project-Website

A: I don't know concretely I just know that you can import 3D-models with the fileending .obj into pygame with this script:
script

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Juno's Science – What do we hope to learn?
Future blog entries will look at specific examples of the science being done at the University of Leicester that is related to Juno's exploration of Jupiter. But to set this work in context, today we'll briefly summarise the overarching goals of the Juno mission, the experiments on board, and what we hope to learn from hurling this spacecraft into the unknown. More detailed information can be found on the Mission Juno website (www.missionjuno.swri.edu). Juno aims to go right back to the beginning, to understand how the formation and evolution of Jupiter might have influenced the development of our planetary system. It will map the magnetic and gravitational fields of the planet to understand the interior structure and, possibly, reveal the presence of a solid core. Given that the most favoured theory of Jupiter's origin involves the accretion of a 'proto-planet' (a massive rock/ice object) before hydrogen and helium gas collapsed onto it, measurements of the internal structure hold the key to establishing whether this scenario is the right one, or whether we need to return to the drawing board. In addition, Jupiter's composition was shaped during its early formation, with many of the 'heavier' elements (like nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, sulphur and phosphorus) expected to be delivered trapped in ices of water. Juno's microwave radiometer will be able to measure Jupiter's water abundance deep below the observable clouds to assess whether this theory is valid. Through microwave remote sensing and gravity mapping, Juno should reveal the interior structure and bulk composition of Jupiter to constrain our theories for how the giant planet formed in the first place.
Juno's gravity mapping will unlock the secrets of Jupiter's interior.
Juno's suite of instruments also paves the way for new discoveries in its atmosphere and magnetosphere. Remote sensing instruments in the microwave (MWR), near-infrared (JIRAM), visible (JunoCAM) and ultraviolet spectrum (UVS) will allow researchers to piece together a 3D picture of Jupiter's atmosphere, where all of the main cloud decks and weather phenomena reside. Crucially, the microwave instrument can probe the distribution of ammonia and water (two key cloud-forming species) at depths well below the top-most clouds for the very first time, to see what's driving all the complex variability we see. Juno will reveal Jupiter's polar atmosphere like never before, allowing us to assess whether it hosts a polar vortex like Saturn, or some equally strange dynamical phenomenon.
Furthermore, Juno's unique orbit will allow it to access the charged environments and magnetic fields above Jupiter's poles for the first time. Juno carries a magnetometer (MAG), plasma and energetic particle detectors (JADE and JEDI) and radio and plasma wave experiment (Waves) to sample this environment in situ. The unique vantage point will allow the ultraviolet and near-infrared instruments to observe the powerful auroras that result from the magnetic field sending charged particles crashing into the planet's upper atmosphere, creating the brightest auroral emissions of any planet in our solar system. Taken together, Juno's study of Jupiter's interior structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere will permit a comprehensive characterisation of this archetypal giant planet like never before. It's also interesting to note what Juno won't be doing – it will not be conducting any exploration of the satellites and rings, apart from brief glimpses early in the mission. Exploration of Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto must wait for the next big missions to Jupiter in the 2030s.
The Juno spacecraft is the first solar-powered mission to travel as far as Jupiter, where the energy from sunlight is 25 times lower than that received by a solar panel at Earth. We've not done it before, because the technology for the development of efficient solar panels hasn't been available to us. But the solar panels are still big (8.9 metres long and 2.7 metres wide) and there are three of them, creating a spacecraft diameter of 20 metres. And it is spinning at three rotations per minute, sweeping the plasma-sensing instruments and remote sensing fields-of-view over the planet. That means reconstruction of mosaics from lots of successive images is a challenge, but one that experts in image processing are rising to – the images of Earth from the Juno flyby in October 2013 were spectacular, and whet the appetite for what is still to come.
In the next blog post, we'll explain how the University of Leicester came to be involved in this exciting NASA mission.


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Photographed in the Spring of 2016 for a limited time promotion for CRAVE American Kitchen & Sushi. The Mexican Poke Bowl was based off of the popular Mexican Roll, which is a part of CRAVE's core menu. This poke bowl was part of a promotion that ran nationwide at each location and lasted through August of 2017.


I've written a few articles about how IHG has one of the most valuable best rate guarantees among all hotel brands. You can get a free night at an IHG hotel if you find the same room on an OTA (online travel agency) at a lower price.
Over the last month I have been actively racking up BRGs, some by luck and some by, err skill. During this time, I posted a question on FlyerTalk's BRG thread about getting reimbursed for a successful BRG claim at the InterContinental Singapore, then soon after I received a number of private messages asking me which site I used.
After responding to a few private messages I figured that there has to be a better way of sharing this information. There are obvious reasons as to why it would not be a good idea to make some of the more sensitive information available in plain sight on the web.
Then I thought, why not create a private place for discussions to take place sharing some of the best travel hacks and tips. There are obvious benefits of creating small and cohesive groups to discuss some of the best travel hacking deals available. The result? A private discussion group to share best rate guarantees secrets, manufacture spend methods, mistake fares, and so on.
This private discussion group will be limited to a number of people and eventually access will be decided on by the members. This way it's out of the public eye and can be a place for people to share deals and tips without the bottom falling out or causing the deal to dry up. I'm not trying to limit anyone from the information, but rather creating an active community to share and help each other out.
While traveling for a good part of the next year, I will be actively searching for BRG matches and I am more than willing to share the websites I find success with. I have already created an IHG best rate guarantee master list thread with a handful of websites that work for specific countries (read: match currency). The goal is to create a great resource based on community input to help people find more Best Rate Guarantees, learn manufacture spend methods, and get in on mistake fares. All the while out of the public eye.
The bottom line is that this private group forum will be a friendly and helpful place for others to get the most out of their miles and points. I'll be around every now and again to answer questions and can hopefully appoint a mod or two in the near future.
If you would like to join this new discussion group, you can create an account here to get access to the private threads. Some general threads are visible to all within the discussion page, but to see the best rate guarantee threads you will need to become a member.
Let me in on the fun!!!!!


text:
The Water of Life - A Whisky Film
Scotland's Master Distillers and their ongoing quest to create the worlds best whisky
Scotland's Master Distillers and their ongoing quest to create the world's best whisky
As whisky has exploded in popularity (and price) around the world, new customers are educating themselves and are demanding more complexity and innovation from every new dram they try. They'll spend the money but you have to knock their socks off. Distillers have huge creative opportunities and immense pressure to stand out in this robust marketplace.
Our film tells the stories of a handful of whisky masters and how each has learned to paint masterpieces using only barley, water, and yeast.
Using a process that is nearly universal, distillers learned long ago that the magic is in the details. They coax their flavors from the barrels, the fires, the stills, even the warehouses themselves.
Some turn to the past, some invent the future, but all of them create incredible spirits and the world cannot seem to get enough.
With hundreds of distilleries across Scotland (and more popping up almost weekly), it's impossible to tell all of their stories. Instead, we will focus on a handful of distillers and craftspeople who are at the forefront of today's global whisky explosion.
At the center of our story is the legendary Jim McEwan.
Born next door to the Bowmore Distillery, Jim has spent his life in whisky and he has never stopped breaking new ground. With his latest venture Ardnahoe set to open in a matter of weeks, Jim has completed a dream of helping build a new distillery from the ground up.
He began working at Bowmore as a cooper's apprentice as a teenager (after some unofficial work sweeping floors as a boy). He went on to hold nearly every job that a distillery has to offer, even leaving at one point to become a master blender. He returned to Bowmore as the master distiller for 12 years.
After expressing sorrow that the Bruichladdich Distillery, visible across Loch Indaal from Bowmore, was closed, destiny came calling for Jim. He was part of the team that revitalized Bruichladdich and shook the whisky world. With award after award, they signaled a bold new era in what could be done with a drink that, by law, only has three ingredients.
Jim had managed to create truly groundbreaking expressions, hiring dozens of locals who may have otherwise had to leave Islay, and he grew a once mothballed distillery into a powerhouse in less than 15 years.
But Jim is master at something else too: storytelling. His ribald and passionate tales about whisky and life on Islay are the stuff of legend and they serve as the perfect complement to the drams he makes.
The new Glasgow Distillery, its name as inconspicuous as its location in a suburban industrial estate, is commercially releasing its first whisky as this is being written. But it's already creating a buzz and, in fact, sold out its entire pre-production run.
Created by transplanted Irishman Liam Hughes, the small outfit has created a large following for its Makar Gin and the whisky has started winning awards at trade shows, led by their Prometheus.
We tell the story of the Benromach Distillery, which was brought back to life by the Urquhart family, and is one of only a few distilleries in Scotland that uses no automated machinery, relying on the distillers' sense of touch, sight and sound to handcraft their whiskies.
We also visit family-owned Gordon & MacPhail, the Elgin grocer that, over more than 120 years, has grown to be the curators of the world's oldest and rarest stock inventory, maturing casks from more than 100 distilleries.
The list goes on and on, but you'll have to follow along to learn more.
As this is a format that doesn't allow the viewer to taste the drink (more on that in a moment), we must use the tools of cinema to emulate one of the most complex and nuanced sensory experiences known to humankind. With immersive shots, sounds, and stories, we hope to give viewers an experience as visceral as being there in Scotland, enjoying these spirits in person.
However, to take that experience one step further, we're planning to create an interactive experience that will instruct the viewer, should she or he choose, to taste the right whisky at the appropriate time during the film. The viewer can then enjoy the dram right along with our master distillers (via subtitles about provenance and tasting notes).
With all these elements working in concert, we hope to deliver an endearing love letter to the Blood of Scotland, its craftsmen and women, and the country itself. We hope you'll join us on this journey!
A Front Row Seat
Kilchoman & Port Askaig Whisky Tasting (June 12, 2018)
Peated Whisky
Nothing But Yes
Copyright © 2019 Water of Life Film


Butler's Den is now permanently closed. Take a short drive to nearby Penta instead.
One thing I love about Melbourne is if you wait long enough to go to a restaurant, the restaurant will eventually come to you – or it's little sister will! Glass Den in Coburg has been on my to-visit list for months, so imagine my delight when they decided to put their new addition to the family, Butler's Den, a 15 minute walk from my house.
Taking over the old La Porchetta unit (thank God!) they were already on to a winner with the great beach-side location and sea views. There's a real lack of anywhere to get a good coffee near Elwood beach without venturing into the village, so it's a bit like all my dreams have come true! The refit is simple – they've painted a couple of walls, and generally prettied up the place a little but I doubt anyone would notice the decor with the beautiful ocean just outside.
It's a good sized unit and boasts a reasonable outside seating area. Internally the endless windows keep it bright and vibrant. The atmosphere was buzzing with a mix of locals stopping by after a walk along the beach and foodie tourists clearly desperate to try out this new spot. People tended to flood over to the tables offering the sea views, so choose the opposite side of the cafe if you want a quieter atmosphere.
Service still had a little bit of a stilted feel that you get with a new place and you saw occasional flashes of panic across the staffs faces when they nearly took food to the wrong table, but all that's forgivable, everyone has to learn. We received a prompt, bright and vibrant welcome, and despite their obvious inexperience staff were attentive, knowledgeable and eager to please. It will be lovely to watch the staff fall into their stride over the coming weeks as their confidence grows. I feel Butler's Den could potentially become a force to be reckoned with.
He liked how his sourdough came separate to his scrambled eggs.
The scrambled eggs were good as they had a subtle cheese flavour.
The bacon was very flavourful.
I ordered the Sweet Garden Board and it did not disappoint. The French toast churros were crisp and light and offered something different from the typical French toast/hot cakes sweet breakfast option. The simple accompaniments worked well, and by having it on a sweet tooth section of the menu it allowed them to make it unreservedly sweet and dessert like without having to try and shoehorn in those "breakfasty" elements that some places do (and that so often ruin an otherwise good dish).
The presentation was exquisite, and the raspberry coulis filtered through so all my french toast churros were nicely covered, not just the top one! The meringues were a little chewy and I would like to have seen these a little more crisp but they added a pretty element to the dish and I'm glad they were there. The green stuff (not sure what it was, I didn't really pay attention) was a bit excessive and didn't really bring anything to this dish – although I do see how it fitted in with the "garden" theme one or two pieces would have been fine. The Artisan ice-cream was top notch, and was the highlight of the dish for me. Overall, it was one of the more enjoyable sweet breakfasts I have enjoyed lately and despite having a lot of sweet elements it didn't tip that balance into sickly or over-complicated, and felt like a decadent treat.
The menu is fresh and creative. It includes those breakfast standards like eggs your way, but throws in a few creative dishes such as the Crab Benny Crumpet. Both breakfast and lunch are served all day and the eclectic menu offers something for everyone. At $23 for my Sweet Garden Board it is a little pricey – but then it's Elwood and it's a prime location so I suppose this is to be expected – however, it may stutter its success among locals with so many excellent and more affordable options nearby.
To be honest, they could have replaced La Porchetta with Starbucks and it would have been an improvement, however Butler's Den is a great fit with the location and the area. What would bring me back: the friendly service, the gorgeous location and the choice of good food available. What would stop me returning: the price – while the food is undoubtedly very good, the price is also undoubtedly over-inflated (Hardware Societe's fried brioche is $18, Penta's Panna Cotta is $18.50, I could go on…). Overall, Butler's Den will be a hit for those looking for a treat, an instagrammable dish and a lovely view (or for those not concerned with their bank balance), but I fear without a few changes, it could ultimately lose out to the other big dogs in the Melbourne brunch world who do better for less. The food was pretty good – Butler's Den more than holds its own, but if you're charging me $5 more than the best I'm expecting better than the best!


For users 160 lbs or less, consume 1 scoop mixed in 8 oz of water 30 minutes prior to training. For users over 160 lbs, consume 1–2 scoops mixed in 8–12 oz of water 30 minutes prior to training. Do not exceed 2 scoops per serving.
This product is only intended for healthy adults 18 years of age or older. Do not use if you are taking erectile dysfunction medication. Do not take additional nitrates in the form of medication or dietary supplements along with this product. Before using this product consult with your physician, especially if you are using any prescription or over the counter medication or if you have or suspect you have any pre-existing medical condition including but not limited to: high or low blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, stroke, heart, liver, kidney or thyroid disease, seizure disorder, psychiatric disease, diabetes, difficulty urinating due to prostate enlargement or if you are taking a MAOI ( Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor) or any other medication. Discontinue use and consult your health care professional if you experience any adverse reaction to this product. Do not use if pregnant or nursing. Discontinue use 2 weeks prior to surgery. Do not use if safety seal is broken or missing. Shake tub before each use. Store in a cool, dry place. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.
Citric Acid, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Silicon Dioxide, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, Beet Juice Concentrate.
The pump and performance supplement to end them all! High Volume is an absolutely loaded stimulant-free pre workout supplement made for incredible nitric oxide pumps, true muscle growth, and serious gains in the gym!
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PES purchased the rights to High Volume from Athletix, and has reformulated the product so that it's stronger than ever!
They're going to prove it soon enough with free samples!
On this page, you can sign up for price drops. We'll also shoot you a message when PESHighVolume.com is ready to go with free samples to try before you buy!
Note: The ingredients are likely to be reformulated, but here's where you can get an idea of what is to come... the Athletix formula was strong as it was, so we're really excited to see what PES is up to here!
We took a long hard look at the supplement industry. We noticed a lot of workout supplements are heavy on the stim and low on the pump. So we created High Volume. A Non- stimulant pump preworkout that does what it says. Gives you all the pump and endurance without a stimulant complex. This allows you to pair it with your favorite stimulant or train without stimulants all together. The pumps on High Volume are incredible featuring 3 proven pump ingredients paired with additional performance ingredients. Try High Volume Pump Supplement Once and You won't ever go back!
As a dietary supplement, take 1-2 scoops mixed with 8-10 ounces of cold water, 30 minutes prior to your workout. Do not exceed2 scoops in a 24-hour period.


Across the globe, people are challenging the agro-industrial food system and its exploitation of people and resources, reduction of local food varieties, and negative health consequences. In this collection leading international anthropologists explore food activism across the globe to show how people speak to, negotiate, or cope with power through food. Who are the actors of food activism and what forms of agency do they enact? What kinds of economy, exchanges, and market relations do they practice and promote? How are they organized and what are their scales of political action and power relations? Each chapter explores why and how people choose food as a means of forging social and economic justice, covering diverse forms of food activism from individual acts by consumers or producers to organized social groups or movements. The case studies embrace a wide geographical spectrum including Cuba, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Mexico, Italy, Canada, France, Colombia, Japan, and the USA. This is the first book to examine food activism in diverse local, national, and transnational settings, making it essential reading for students and scholars in anthropology and other fields interested in food, economy, politics and social change.


text:
Champions League Quarter-Final Draw: It's Liverpool Vs Man-City
1 year ago BencoNews
Chilean players celebrate after winning the 2016 Copa America football championship final against Argentina.
Liverpool face Manchester City in an all-English Champions League quarterfinal after the draw in Switzerland on Friday.
Juventus take on defending champions Real Madrid while Barcelona — the first team to emerge from the draw — play Serie A side Roma.
Sevilla, who knocked out Manchester United to reach the quarterfinals of the competition for the first time, face Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich for a place in the last four.
The draw means Liverpool, who eased past Porto to reach this stage of the competition, play a domestic rival for the seventh time in European competition.
They were thrashed 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium in September but inflicted City's only Premier League defeat of the season so far in a 4-3 thriller at Anfield — where City have won just once in their last 30 visits.
Juventus have the chance to gain revenge on Real, who beat them 4-1 in last season's Champions League final in Cardiff.
Bayern, meanwhile, have been knocked out of the Champions League by a team from Spain in the last four seasons.
The first legs between Sevilla and Barcelona and Juventus and Real Madrid take place on Tuesday April 3, with Barcelona vs. Roma and Liverpool vs. Manchester City the following night.
The second legs see Manchester City and Roma play their home games on April 10, with Bayern and Real in action the evening after.
The Champions League final takes place in Kiev on May 26.
Tags: barcelona, champions league 2018, liverpool, mancity, real madrid
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It was the last time that Benedict XVI appeared before his studio window to lead the Angelus as Pope. It's estimated that about 200,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square to thank the Pope for his eight year Pontificate.
"The Lord is calling me 'out to the mountain' to devote more time to prayer and meditation, but this does not mean I'm abandoning the Church. In fact, if God is asking this of me, it's precisely to continue serving the Church with the same dedication and love with which I have served so far, but in a way that's more suited for my age and strength." Click here to read the full text of Pope Benedict XVI's final Angelus address, 24 February 2013.


Devic's neuromyelitis optica is an uncommon but severe monophasic or relapsing demyelinating disease. Current evidence supports the concept that it is a distinct disorder from multiple sclerosis, with some specific imaging characteristics. The aim of this paper is to report the clinical and imaging features of this rare entity and to discuss its differential diagnosis.
VandeVyver, V, M Lemmerling, R De Potter, and Koenraad Verstraete. 2007. "DEVIC'S NEUROMYELITIS OPTICA: CLINICAL AND IMAGING FINDINGS." Jbr-btr 90 (4): 284–287.
VandeVyver, V., Lemmerling, M., De Potter, R., & Verstraete, K. (2007). DEVIC'S NEUROMYELITIS OPTICA: CLINICAL AND IMAGING FINDINGS. JBR-BTR, 90(4), 284–287.
VandeVyver V, Lemmerling M, De Potter R, Verstraete K. DEVIC'S NEUROMYELITIS OPTICA: CLINICAL AND IMAGING FINDINGS. JBR-BTR. 2007;90(4):284–7.
VandeVyver, V, M Lemmerling, R De Potter, et al. "DEVIC'S NEUROMYELITIS OPTICA: CLINICAL AND IMAGING FINDINGS." JBR-BTR 90.4 (2007): 284–287. Print.


text:
Another botanical William Jack
http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00722092
One of the most talented Scottish surgeon-botanists ever to have worked in Asia was the Aberdonian William Jack (1795–1822), who, before succumbing to fever aged only 27, acted as physician and naturalist to Sir Stamford Raffles. Raffles had met the young prodigy through Nathaniel Wallich, while Jack was recuperating at the Calcutta Botanic Garden from an earlier illness caught in the Nepal Terai. The story of the Jack herbarium specimens now at RBGE was told in my Raffles' Ark Redrawn: these were sent to Robert Jameson's Edinburgh University Museum at the request of the Governor-General's wife, the Marchioness of Hastings, in a spirit of light-hearted mockery that appears to have been somewhat unfair. In any case the joke turned sour, as these trifles are virtually the only specimens of Jack's to have survived, his main herbarium having posthumously gone up in flames with the rest of Raffles's collections on the Fame. In fact the Scottish Marchioness (and Countess of Loudon in her own right) had serious intellectual interests, and RBGE benefitted from numerous donations of seeds that she sent from India to Professor Robert Graham between 1817 and 1823.
While recently laying away a specimen of Carex maritima into the British herbarium, I was extremely surprised to find one of the same species in Archibald Menzies's herbarium labelled 'Aberdeen Links Mr Wm. Jack'. As Menzies's Scottish specimens were collected in the 1770s and '80s, this was clearly not the Sumatran man. In fact, it turns out to be his father, the Rev. Dr. William Jack (1768–1854), Principal of Aberdeen University. That great biographical work on the Scottish clergy, the Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, reveals that Jack senior had studied medicine at Edinburgh, and that he was the son of yet another William Jack, the Church of Scotland minister of Northmavine in Shetland. This sent me scurrying for my list of the men who attended John Hope's lectures, and, sure enough in 1786 – the last year that Hope taught as he died in December of that year – is 'William Jack (son to minister in Shetland)'. On the recommendation of Professor MacLeod (doubtless Hugh MacLeod, Aberdeen graduate, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Glasgow, and a founder member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh), and as the son of a minister, Jack did not have to pay Hope's lecture fee of 3 guineas and a class ticket of 2/6.
So, as a result of finding that specimen we have gained not only another collector for the herbarium, but the fascinating fact that the famous William Jack had botany in his upbringing and can be counted as a botanical grand-pupil of John Hope.
It is worth saying a bit more about Carex maritima, as it is a plant with which Hope had a close connection. The name that appears on the Jack sheet, Carex incurva, was first described in 1777 by the Rev John Lightfoot in the second volume of his pioneering Flora Scotica. Lightfoot stated that the plant had been 'communicated' to him by 'Dr Hope, the present ingenious professor of botany in Edinburgh', and cited specimens collected at the mouth of the Naver (in Sutherland) and near Skelberry (in southern Shetland). In fact these plants had been collected for Hope by his pupil James Robertson on (respectively) the first and third of the remarkable tours of the Highlands and Islands. These were undertaken in 1767 and 1769 for the Commissioners of the Annexed Estates. Robertson realised he had found something interesting, as in his detailed 1767 diary his field identification was 'Carex, capitata an nova species [i.e., or an undescribed species]'. Robertson here, as elsewhere, made astute practical/ecological observations (his was a survey of potential economic resources, with a Cameralist agenda), noting that the plant grew 'among loose sand which it seems very proper for binding, as it has creeping roots & always surmounts the sand blown over it by the wind'. It would indeed have been a new species if Robertson's boss Hope had troubled to describe it, but by the time that Lightfoot did so a decade later under the name Carex incurva, he had been pipped to the post by the Norwegian naturalist-bishop Johann Ernst Gunnerus, who had published it in 1772, in his Flora Norvegica, with the name Carex maritima.
Posted by Henry Noltie on August 18, 2017
Categories: Science, Herbarium
Tags: John Hope Archibald Menzies Aberdeen William Jack Nathanial Wallich Carex maritima Robert Graham Robert Jameson
Maura C Flannery
Thank you for another great linking of botany and history.


text:
Al camp tecnològic, el rendiment d'un sistema (màquina, dispositiu...), també expressable com l'eficiència d'un dispositiu, és la relació entre l'energia aportada per al seu funcionament i la que realment s'aprofita. És adimensional, i en termodinàmica es representa amb la lletra grega eta minúscula (η).

Les màquines senzilles (engranatges, politges, etc.) permeten obtenir un rendiment del 100%. Reben energia mecànica i alliberen energia mecànica (no canvien el tipus d'energia) i no tenen mecanismes.
Les altres màquines transformen un tipus d'energia en una altra (calor en energia cinètica, elèctrica, etc.) i els seus rendiments s'allunyen del 100% a causa de les friccions de les seves peces i la impossibilitat d'aprofitar tota la calor per transformar-la en energia mecànica en els motors (impossibilitat de la màquina ideal).

 L'energia obtinguda (energia útil) del seu funcionament i l'energia subministrada o consumida per la màquina o el procés.

Si es vol en percentatge, cal multiplicar el coeficient per 100. El rendiment sol ser sempre inferior al 100%, excepte en les màquines de refrigeració, que és superior.

 El treball obtingut (treball útil) del seu funcionament i el treball subministrat o consumit per la màquina o el procés.

Vegeu també
 Eficiència tèrmica

Referències

Física

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
COOL AS ICE
Every Dancing on Ice winner EVER – from James Jordan to X Factor's Ray Quinn
Tilly Pearce
DANCING On Ice is back tonight for a brand new series fresh out of the oven for 2020.
With the first elimination looming, let's take a trip down memory lane and look back on who's made it to the Dancing on Ice hall of fame so far...
Who will win Dancing on Ice 2020?Credit: Rex Features
2019 - James Jordan
James Jordan and his skating partner Alexandra Schauman were crowned winner.
They beat Wes Nelson who came in second and Saara Aalto was third.
Lifting the trophy, James - who was nursing a shoulder injury, said as he fought back tears: "I can't believe it. Oh my Gosh. I couldn't have given it any more."
He said the only reason he had to work so hard was to beat Wes, who came second in the ITV competition.
The three final contenders each had to skate two routines, one new and one favourite from earlier in the 10-week series.
Wes and Saara both scored top marks of 40 out of 40 for their first skate while James was just behind on 39 out of 40.
However, he pulled it back up for his second performance, which saw all three receive 40 from the panel.
Credit: Rex Features
2018 – Jake Quickenden
Jake Quickenden and partner Vanessa Bauer triumphed in the final over Brooke Vincent and Max Evans.
In an action-packed final, the pair won over fans and the judges with a series of stunning routines.
Speaking about the win, Jake, who has appeared on The X Factor and I'm A Celebrity, joked: "I might not have to do any more reality shows now!"
Jake was crowned Dancing on Ice champion in 2018
All Stars 2014 - Ray Quinn
Ray Quinn became the first person to win two series' of the show after taking part in the All-stars version.
Nearly every winner came back to win back their title, as well as fan favourites including Bonnie Langford, Todd Carty and Gareth Gates.
Repaired with Maria Fillipov, the pair proved to be unstoppable and even beat all the other winners taking part to become the ultimate winner of Dancing on Ice.
2013 - Beth Tweddle
The Olympian gymnast proved she was fancy-footed on the ice as well as the gym floor as she took the crown in 2013.
That year's line-up was the smallest of any series of far - but included a series of much-loved names such as Pamela Anderson, Anthea Turner and Keith Chegwin.
Samia Ghadie also met her husband, Sylvain Longchambon, on the ice that year.
However Beth went home with the gold after beating boxer Luke Campbell and actor Matt Lapinskas in the final.
2012 - Matthew Wolfenden
Emmerdale star Matthew Wolfenden continued the trend of soap stars bagging the victory when he took the crown in 2012.
In the competition, he battled against Corey Feldman, Heidi Range and Jennifer Ellison to keep his place.
Matthew beat X Factor's Chico and Hollyoaks star Jorgie Porter in the final round.
2011 - Sam Attwater
Eastenders actor Sam Attwater was the next star to become victor in the 2010 series.
In the final, he fought off fierce competition from Chloe Madeley and Laura Hamilton to become the champion.
2010 - Hayley Tamaddon
Coronation Street's Hayley Tamaddon hit the jackpot with Daniel Whiston as her professional partner - and together they bagged his second series win.
It was the battle of the soaps in the finale as she fought off Hollyoaks stars Gary Lucy and Kieron Richardson in the grand finale.
They would later come runner up on the All-stars season as well.
2009 - Ray Quinn
After finding fame on Brookside, actor Ray Quinn has proved he is a jack of all entertainment - coming in third in X Factor in 2006.
Adding Dancing on Ice to his CV, he stormed to victory over Donal MacIntyre and Liberty X's Jessica Taylor.
Other participants that year included Melinda Messenger, Roxanne Pallett and Coleen Nolan.
2008 - Suzanne Shaw
Hear'Say star Suzanne Shaw proved she was pure and simply magic in the rink during the third series of the show.
Suzanne beat Hollyoaks actor Chris Fountain and actress Zaraah Abrahams to be crowned the winner.
She was paired with skater Matt Evers.
2007 - Kyran Bracken
In the 2007 series of the show, rugby player Kyran Bracken surprised everyone by showing a stunning ability on the ice.
He beat the likes of Boyzone's Stephen Gately, Blue singer Duncan James and Steps' star Lisa Scott-Lee to the top spot.
In the final, he came out on top over Duncan and actress Clare Buckfield.
He was paired up for the competition with American professional Melanie Lambert.
2006 - Gaynor Faye
The soap actress was the first star to take home the crown all the way back in 2006.
In the finale, she was up against actor and singer Stefan Booth and TV veteran Bonnie Langford.
She was partnered with professional performer Daniel Whiston.
Gaynor Faye was the first champion of Dancing on IceCredit: Rex Features


This entry was posted on May 19, 2014 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Astrology, Cinema Symbolism, Esoterica, Freemasonry, Gnosticism, History, Illuminati, Mysticism, Occult History, Philosophy, Royal Arch of Enoch, Symbolism with tags Freemasonry, Gnosticism, History, JamesBond, Occult, Philosophy, RoyalArch.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


text:
Q: Server Client in Java only displays message when I press enter I have this server and client code. If i send a message from my server to my client it wont display unless I send a message to my client back first or I press enter, the same problem occurs when I try the other way around. How can I fix this?
Server:
   public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        ServerSocket sersock = new ServerSocket(3000);
        System.out.println("Server ready for chatting");
        Socket sock = sersock.accept(); // reading from keyboard (keyRead object)
        BufferedReader keyRead = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in)); // sending to client (pwrite object)
        OutputStream ostream = sock.getOutputStream();
        PrintWriter pwrite = new PrintWriter(ostream, true);   // receiving from server ( receiveRead object)
        InputStream istream = sock.getInputStream();
        BufferedReader receiveRead = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(istream));
        String receiveMessage, sendMessage;

        GossipServer gs = new GossipServer();
        gs.initalisePieces();
        gs.displayBoard(pwrite);

        pwrite.println("Welcome to my Chess Game - Designed by Robbie Singh");
        while (true) {
            if ((receiveMessage = receiveRead.readLine()) != null) {
                System.out.println(receiveMessage);
            }
            sendMessage = keyRead.readLine();
            pwrite.println(sendMessage);
            pwrite.flush();
        }
    }

Client:
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        Socket sock = new Socket("127.0.0.1", 3000); // reading from keyboard (keyRead object)
        BufferedReader keyRead = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in)); // sending to client (pwrite object)
        OutputStream ostream = sock.getOutputStream();
        PrintWriter pwrite = new PrintWriter(ostream, true);   // receiving from server ( receiveRead object)
        InputStream istream = sock.getInputStream();
        BufferedReader receiveRead = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(istream));
        System.out.println("Welcome to my Chess Game - Designed by Robbie Singh");
        String receiveMessage, sendMessage;
        while (true) {
            sendMessage = keyRead.readLine(); // keyboard reading
            pwrite.println(sendMessage); // sending to server
            pwrite.flush(); // flush the data
            Timer timer = new Timer();
            timer.scheduleAtFixedRate(new TimerTask() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    try{
                    System.out.println(receiveRead.readLine());
                    }catch(Exception e){}
                }
            }, 0, 5000);
        }
    }
}

A: That's way in the server side you are waiting for a keyboard input in the main loop.
    while (true)
    {
        if ((receiveMessage = receiveRead.readLine()) != null)
        {
            System.out.println(receiveMessage);
        }

        //PUT THESE LINE IN OTHER THREAD AND SHOULD FIX THE PROBLEM
        sendMessage = keyRead.readLine();
        pwrite.println(sendMessage);
        pwrite.flush();
        //////////////////////////////////////////
    }

By the way i do suggest you to read the chat application example in this links: http://cs.lmu.edu/~ray/notes/javanetexamples/


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text:
Black Mirror and Star Ocean: The Last Hope 4K and Full HD Remaster are now available
November 28, 2017 John Papadopoulos 4 Comments
THQ Nordic and Square Enix have announced that Black Mirror and Star Ocean: The Last Hope 4K and Full HD Remaster are now available on the PC. Developed in partnership with tri-Ace, the prequel to the original STAR OCEAN game has been remastered in full high-definition. This basically means that the game comes with added 4K support and PC keyboard/mouse and controller support.
The action-packed role-playing game takes players on an epic journey across the universe in an immersive story of survival. Players can enjoy quintessential STAR OCEAN features, including strategic real-time combat. The game also features a deep Item Creation System and Private Action system. These systems explore character relationships and subplots for a richer and more rewarding story. Furthermore, it packs an exhilarating Blindside battle system, which fuses evasion and offense.
On the other hand, Black Mirror is a modern re-imagining of the acclaimed gothic-horror adventure series. The new protagonist, David Gordon, must deal with the mysteries of Black Mirror castle. Furthermore, he must find out if there is an ongoing curse on his family. Like in the original graphic adventure trilogy, the Gothic Horror genre and its unique atmosphere of madness and psychological distress remain at the heart of Black Mirror. The point-and-click gameplay of the original trilogy served as the basis for the re-imagined gameplay, which focuses on close-up investigation and interaction with nightmarish visions that plague the protagonist of the game David Gordon.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope 4K and Full HD Remaster – Launch Trailer
Black Mirror - Gameplay Trailer - US
Black MirrorSquare EnixStar Ocean 4: The Last Hope RemasterTHQ Nordic
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