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Author Interveiws
Steampunk according to Shelley Adina
November 17, 2018 L.J. Longo	Leave a comment
I had the great pleasure of attending some of Shelley Adina's lectures on creative writing. In addition to being a phenomenal teacher, Shelley is an extraordinarily kind woman who will let weirdos with websites interview her. I didn't even have to take any chickens hostage (though apparently, "The Silkie Mafia" comes armed with lightning pistols, so…)
Shelley Adina is the author of 24 novels published by Harlequin, Warner, and Hachette, and a dozen more published by Moonshell Books, Inc., her own independent press. She writes steampunk, contemporary romance, and young adult fiction, and as Adina Senft, writes women's fiction set among the Amish and other plain communities. She won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award® for Best Inspirational Novel in 2005, was a finalist in 2006, and in 2009 was a Christy Award finalist.
When she's not writing, Shelley is usually quilting, sewing historical costumes, or enjoying the garden with her flock of rescued chickens.
Her latest Magnificent Devices story comes out on the 19th and it looks like this:
Here's my full interview with Ms. Shelley Adina:
L.J.: What brought you to Steampunk?
S.A.: Would you believe the Wild Wild West TV show back in the 1960s?
L.J.: YouTube says it's like James Bond on horseback. I can believe it.
S.A.: I loved the adventure in the Wild West, the trick gadgets, the derring-do of it all. Because I was the oldest, when we recreated the episodes after school, I always had to be James West. But I wanted to be Artemus Gordon because he got to invent the cool stuff. Carry that forward several decades, and I'm inventing cool stuff in my imagination now.
L.J.: I've been making people define Steampunk all month, but you've actually defined it in the past really succinctly as "high technology in the Victorian age," but you write in the Regency as well. Does the era matter?
S.A.: Since the steam engine was invented by Richard Trevithick in 1807 or thereabouts, the age of steam falls both in the Regency and in the Victorian age. For writers focusing on both eras, steam matters. But what also matters is the punk element—the element of subversion of authority and fighting for independence, especially among women. While it may be easy to imagine Victorian ladies getting up to subversive activities in a time that saw the likes of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Viscountess Amberley, the Regency had its share, too, like Ada Lovelace (born 1815), the first computer programmer. Steampunks know this, and celebrate it in the characters and art we create for ourselves.
L.J.: What do you think caused the Steampunk movement?
S.A.: In a world that's so high-tech, where you can have relationships with people you never meet in person, the hands-on, "I made this" aspect of steampunk is very appealing. The maker communities are large and active, sharing a community build of a steam-powered motorcycle or a particularly attractive bustle design for a dress. The art of it brings like-minded people together, and there's a real appeal in sharing a common weirdness 🙂 That speaks to me as a writer, too, because I'm building a community around characters who embody that brave, punk aspect of the movement.
L.J.: As a reader, do you think Steampunk leans more dystopian or utopian? As a writer which way do your books tend to swing and why?
S.A.: I've read steampunk in both flavors. Being an optimist at heart, I prefer the utopian. My heroines get what they want because they're clever, brave, and compassionate. My worlds, while they might be broken in some ways, still have room for happiness if one is brave enough to create it. Maybe that's a bit of my life philosophy, too.
L.J.: I really like that as a life philosophy. Can you tell us more about your books?
S.A.: The Magnificent Devices series numbers 12 books, followed by four "manor house" novellas that continue the adventures in a much smaller, more domestic way. Because, you know, the adventures don't stop after the wedding 🙂
Then there is my spinoff steampunk mystery series, Mysterious Devices, which follows the adventures of Daisy and Freddie Linden, two young ladies from Bath who are searching for their father. He went missing in Book 11 of the larger series. Along the way they solve murders, missing persons cases, and espionage cases. As one does, in steampunk.
L.J.: Last thing, because I don't want your chickens to get out and start robbing banks without their mom keeping an eye on them, what are your top five Steampunk favs?
S.A.:
The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld
The Clockwork Century series by Cherie Priest
The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger
The Baskerville Affair series by Emma Jane Holloway
And a delightful French movie called Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec that is based on a comic book series
You can find Shelley's work here.
The Fantasist is a quarterly online magazine that publishes three original Fantasy novellas on the third Thursday of every third month.
And this month, while they celebrate Steampunk, one of them is mine!
Support these guys. They have good stories for free.
#fantasy#feminism#lgbt#romance#scifi#ShelleyAdina#TheFantasiststeampunk
Steampunk: How to Feed People Underground?
November 15, 2018 L.J. Longo	1 Comment
So this is less to do with Steampunk in general and more to do with my story in specific. One of the primary images I was working with was a huge number of people trapped underneath another city. And one of the main problems was figuring out how they were still around after being effectively buried alive.
I turned to science for my fiction and let me tell you, the future is coming fast and it's actually rather encouraging for those of us afraid of climate change.
Aerofarms is a real company in New Jersey; they grow salad in a warehouse.
Aerofarms
Obviously, this is hugely important stuff. The technology they use allows them to produce huge amounts of crops without soil or sunlight (aka land in New York); their website can tell you better than I could about the technology they use and how it gives reliable crops with better growing seasons using less water, and all that other really cool, hippy crap.
I've eaten the salad and it's as good as salad is ever going to be for me (I'm a pizza and burger person). I think this is an awesome company and it needs all kinds of support.
I grew up in farm country and I've worked in warehouses. So that image above is hugely jarring to me. There's something so out-of-place about plants growing indoors that I immediately started thinking about science-fiction Dystopias. Of course, this is closer to a Utopia because more food, produced with less waste and cheaper, is the stuff of a good society. It feels strange to us now, but this is the way we will be fed in the future, at least those of us who eat salads.
Personally, I will be eating this:
Clean meat, grown in a lab, with no harm to animals.
Honestly, I'd totally eat that. It looks like raw hamburger meat and I bet it tastes the same. Once they make it cheap and shape it like nuggets, I'll never kill an animal again.
#clockwork#fantasy#lgbt#romance#scifi#TheFantasiststeampunk
Steampunk: How does Clockwork…Work?
While I was writing The Scribbling Windhund, I made the inventor/terrorist very aware and a little embarrassed when he started going into technical details, so he'd cut himself short and not over explain science that I couldn't explain. However, I do know a thing or two about clockwork mechanisms and if you're interested, I'm going to indulge.
One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was take apart my older sister's wind-up music box collection and clean the insides. Partly it was fun because she couldn't put them back together and it terrified her to see her beloved music boxes in pieces, but mostly I enjoyed it because it let me pretend to be an inventor.
I'd have my tweezers, a little copper bowl of Brasso, some q-tips, rubbing alcohol (which was absolutely not necessary and probably shouldn't have been mixed with other chemicals), and a tiny screwdriver. Then I'd set to work dismantling the movement.
This is a "movement." Clockwork speech for the shit inside.
The way these music boxes work is really painfully simple and extraordinarily beautiful. The round part in the upper left of the image is either called the main spring or the spiral spring. If you take it out of the case (and be very careful you don't hurt yourself when you do), you'll be holding a flat band of metal wound very tightly. That's were the energy of winding the music box comes from and the longer and thinner the wire was the longer the box would play (the shorter and thicker the faster it would play). This is basically the battery of the mechanism. After you put in the energy turning the key to the music box, it tightens the spring. This is slowly unleashed and turn the wheels, gears, and eventually causes the revolving cylinder to turn. The raised bumps hit the tuned teeth of a steel comb (or lamellae) and "Music of the Night" or "Romeo and Juliet" begins to play.
I'd take great delight in carefully unscrewing the comb, and dismantling the gears, cleaning them of the little bits of dust and hair that somehow got into the device. I'd talk to myself pretending to either be inventing the thing for the first time, or defusing a bomb, or discovering a piece of old technology lost to the ages.
And of course, I'd reassemble it by the time my parents came to yell at me for messing with my sister's toys. They'd find nothing except a perfectly functional music box and the strong scent of rubbing alcohol and Brasso in her bedroom.
The only time I ever really got in trouble was when I took to un-making my Great Uncle Wes' pendulum clock. The piece was much more complicated, with a lot more small moving parts (pinions, the escapement, the damned pendulum, a chiming train, and a movement train) and after I'd taken it apart I was terrified I wouldn't be able to put it back together before someone caught me.
In the end, I stole the clock and all it's parts and hid in the clean field (which was actually a very dirty hill) next to my Aunt and Uncle's house. I can vividly remember skidding down the rocks and past the snake burrows to hide among the staghorn sumac. I spent the rest of the day figuring out those gears and wheels and pinions, watching the sunlight cutting through the leaves and the bars growing longer and longer as I ran out of time.
I was particularly frustrated when I realized I had put the hour hand where the minute hand needed to be and I had to take it all apart and reassemble it again.
I was there for about four hours, lying among the rocks and the grass on my belly trying to piece the thing back together. In the end, I couldn't figure out the chiming mechanism (I suspect I lost some pieces on my flight to the field).
I don't know if my Uncle Wes ever figured out exactly why the clock stopped chiming, but I know whenever my Aunt Annie would remark on how he ought to go and get it fixed he would just shrug and cast me a wry little smile.
It was like this clock, but not as ornate:
Steampunk Music: Dresden Dolls
Another one of my favorite bands is The Dresden Dolls. I find it incredible the variety of sounds these two people are able to make. According to Wikipedia, the style of music is actually Brechtian punk cabaret, but given their encouragement for all kinds of artistic expression (there are living statues, fire jugglers, and all kind of busking at their live shows) I don't think they'd mind being showcased with some steamy punks.
#Dresdendolls#fantasy#feminism#lgbt#m/m#romance#scifi#TheFantasiststeampunk
Steampunk according to Elizabeth Spencer
Elizabeth writes YA Fantasy and has published through EvernightTeen, (which is the innocent little sister of Evernight Publishing who releases most of my smut…I mean stories.)
Anyways, Ellie wrote Justice Unending—a YA fantasy/steampunk novel with a lot of really cool mystic elements as well. So I thought I'd reach out and see if she would talk to us dirty birds about Steampunk.
According to Elizabeth:
Since I'm coming in at the tail end of steampunk month, I'm sure all your readers would agree that steampunk can almost be anything! I think the only universal in steampunk is the aesthetic—the steampower, the industrialism, and some maybe-historical-maybe-fake-Victorian feel. But there's alternate-history steampunk and steampunk that's basically Victoriana science fiction. It can be based in the real world or just set in one that's up to its nose in airships and steam trains. It's all good!
Top Steampunk books/movies/etc. that influenced you?
• The entire Parasol Protectorate series is am-AAAAAAAAA-zing!
• Bioshock Infinite is a steampunk videogame, and it absolutely blew me away.
• The Something Strange and Deadly series is rough around the edges, but it has zombies! Steampunk and zombies!
• Agatha H and the Clockwork City is a novelization of a webcomic, and I admit that I haven't read the comic (and the second book wasn't my favorite.) So while I can't say I know much about the actual series, this book did come at an opportune time for me. I read it just as I was really getting deep into editing Justice, and the world-building was just so quirky. It really inspired me on my journey with my own fantasy-steampunk.
I first got into steampunk for the aesthetic, honestly. I love corsets, lovely dresses, and ridiculous hats (and yes, yes, I know the largest and most glorious hats are Edwardian!) All this led me to steampunk festivals. And then, because I wanted a costume, the first thing I ever learned to sew was good ol' Simplicity 2712
(Note to everyone else: don't try to make something like that for your first pattern. Really. Don't.)
Then it was books like Something Strange and Deadly and Agatha H and the Airship City, and then… well, I wanted to write something myself!
Steampunk just falls into a really cozy place for me. On one hand, it lets you play with a lot of really modern, familiar-feeling concepts, with a technology-rich world and some modern conveniences. On the other, it's still distant enough that you don't have telephones or television, which really make the world feel… small, I guess. Like it's all known, and all visible, and all discoverable.
And since Justice Unending is essentially a steampunk-fantasy with corsets and trains and crazy inventors (and possession!), it just hits on a really fun mix of industrial but not modern, technological but full of magic. It's fun!
I've read a lot more dystopic steampunk than utopian ones. (I'm… not sure I've read any, actually. I'd love to!) And that's not too hard to understand—the real Victorian age was brutal, so it's easy to get caught up in the "no workers' rights, child labor everywhere, robber barons galore" elements.
And as much as I'd like a chipper steampunk, mine isn't! I'd describe Justice Unending is a false utopia. Brittany Bastion, where the book is set, is genuinely a pretty nice place: it's a completely sealed-off country, protected from the mysterious, Wilds that lie beyond its walls. And while the Wilds are lawless and savage—and obviously not a topic of polite teatime conversation—Brittany is a genuinely peaceful, prosperous place. It's just one that expects sacrifices, and one of the most important relates to the spirits called the Unending. These bodiless, immortal spirits are the lifeblood of Brittany and keep it safe from harm. And since they don't have their own bodies, they have to incarnate in a human's—and then they're sharing the body and fighting for control of it. When you get chosen, the only socially acceptable thing to do is to march yourself down to the capital, where you'll be gently, kindly, asphyxiated to death so that the spirit can use your body for themselves.
Brittany's society accepts this as the price of peace—that sometimes your friends and families get chosen, and that this is sad, but ultimately good for everyone—so it's only when the main character, Faye, is possessed that she starts to learn about why this system was put in place and what it means to all the people who were killed before her. And she learns that it's not what it seems, and that this seemingly fundamental part of their society is rooted in a lot of unpleasant, dark history. It's not exactly a raging dystopia, but it's definitely a world built on ugliness.
In Justice Unending, Faye, a stubborn, tomboyish teenager has her sister chosen by one of the Unending. This is supposed to be a joyous occasion—and her family and neighbors all try very hard—but Faye, being stubborn, refuses to accept that her sister has to die. So she goes to try and see her before the ritual is completed.
Instead, she instead bumbles right into the middle of a murder and is promptly chosen as the next body by the Mad Immortal, Aris, an Unending who has spent the last several hundred years trying to bring the Bastion down from within, mostly by committing horrible murders. And this leaves Faye with two equally awful choices: she could turn herself in and let herself be killed (which is obviously not a great choice) or she can try to escape, even though just about everyone in the Bastion would turn her in to the capital if they knew who was inside her.
And she has to do all of this with a murderer inside her who is fighting her for her body and very much wants to continue their fight against the Bastion. It's very much an action-adventure!
You can find more Ellie here.
#ElizabethSpencer#fantasy#feminism#JusticeUnending#lgbt#romance#scifi#TheFantasiststeampunk
Steampunk Music: Disturbed covers "Sound of Silence"
November 8, 2018 L.J. Longo	Leave a comment
Okay, definitely more punk than steam.
So much of Steampunk is taking what we find interesting about the past and reshaping it to our own tastes. I understand Simon and Garfunkel and 1964 are not the same thing as the per-electric era, but… damn it I love this song.
#fantasy#feminism#lgbt#m/m#romance#scifi#steampoweredgiraffe#TheFantasiststeampunk
Whatsits
Images from the Past: Research into Prussian Fashion
I've said before, and I'll say it again, I don't like to research. I have a terrible head for dates and years and things.
For example, I don't remember if I've mentioned that Scribbling Windhund isn't based off the Victorian era… or even the Regency. Prussia was a nation-state in the 1700s. So when I write the story of a fashion critic in a Steampunk version of Prussia this is the height of fashion:
Friedrich the Great and Voltaire in Sanssouci (If you want to spread salacious rumors about 300 year old men, these two were totally banging.)
Since I have such a terrible memory (or such a penchant for anachronism), I have to keep really good notes. Normally, since that takes time away from actually writing the thing I want to write, I tend to be rather sloppy about it and let actual fact be damned. But Otto Lang is obsessed with fashion so, for once I couldn't cut corners. So I actually tried to do this correctly… for you.
From what I can gather (and it's mostly from Wikipedia) the idea was to look at tall and narrow as possible, to wear pale but bright colors, and to have curly white hair. I think, the 1700's was the last time when men were as vulnerable as women to the whims and trends of fashion since they were peacocking it up as much as the ladies.
Men in court, at balls, and on the job would wear a three piece ensemble. Breaches (the tight shorts that stop at the knee) a waistcoat (the fancy vest) and a justaucorps (which is the really long jacket). The actual shirt and stockings were considered like underwear and probably only had to be changed when they got dirty.
The cravat, which I mention a lot in The Scribbling Windhund, is basically the forerunner to the necktie only a lot fancier. I read on one of the fashion blogs that it was, like much men's fashion, originally based on military clothing. Apparently, wearing thick fabric around your neck protected you from spears, bayonets, and daggers. Maybe it was psychological.
For those philosophy buffs watching at home, that last image is of Voltaire. He came up a lot when I googled Fashion and 1700s.
My favorite images, by far, are the Prussian army. Keep in mind, these fellas were one of the fiercest fighting forces in history. Lead by the junkers (the nobles who were trained from birth to lead the army) and comprised of mostly peasants who could expect to become middle-class if they survived the battles and the discipline of army life, one of Fredrich the Greats ministers quipped that, "Prussia was not a country with an army, but an army with a country."
Infantryman's uniform
Fredrich's own uniform
Storming of the breach by Prussian troops during the Battle of Leuthen, 1757, Carl Röchling
The final bit of research I suffered through was basically to find out what these fuckers wore at home when they were relaxing. I'm so glad I did, because I was rewarded with these sexy, sexy gems:
Ward Nicholas Boylston by John Singleton Copley, 1767
Sir Issac Newton painted by James Thornhill, 1709–12
Apparently, formal dress was too restrictive for intellectuals and it was very common for studious men (like Sir Issac Newton on the left) to have their paintings done in their libraries wearing banyans.
Here's the kicker for me. He's still wearing breeches, stockings, a waist-coat and cravat. Basically, when you went home to relax you took off one jacket and replaced it with another, less tight, jacket.
Oh, and you also took off your wig.
My take away from all research is a loud and joyful, "Thank God for jeans and sneakers!" Though, if I were asked to be more profound:
Sassy never goes out of style.
#art#coolimages#fantasy#lgbt#m/m#romance#scifi#TheFantasistColonialFashionPrussianfashionsteampunk
Steampunk Music: Steam Powered Giraffe
I think the general reaction to the live Steampunk culture when you first encounter it is… "what?"
Followed quickly by a "I want to do this too…"
No band personifies that quite as much as Steam Powered Giraffes. I really don't have any way to describe these guys except to show them to you.
Same band. Different day.
And that, my friends, is what counterculture is all about.
Steampunk according to Michael Butcher
November 3, 2018 L.J. Longo	1 Comment
Michael Butcher is also being published in the Fantasist this month. He says he writes fantasy stories somewhere in the blasted wastelands of Western Australia and that he's bee successfully avoiding roaming packs of raiders, but I think we all know better. He's leading those damned packs which is why I'm afraid to Americanize his spelling.
According to Mike:
Although I don't consider myself a steampunk writer, I enjoy the potential for storytelling the genre provides. It's a genre that revels in the idea of exploring new frontiers of the physical world and of science, and perhaps magic. For readers, it may be a sort of interest in history, of alternate timelines or simply the aesthetic. It's a genre that can perfectly blend fantasy and science fiction with a strong spirit of adventure. I can see why it is so popular.
Steampunk is an aspect of the retro-futurism art movement, a movement that basically imagines how certain eras of the past might imagine their own future. In steampunk's case, typically the future with a distinctly Victorian or Edwardian flavour. The genre is ripe for criticising the class distinctions of the era along with unethical scientific endeavors and the hubris of inventors, entrepreneurs, "captains of industry" etc. Frankenstein could be considered a precursor to Steampunk because of the way Mary Shelley worked fantastical science fiction elements into a cautionary tale of arrogance in a world where advances in science seemingly make everything possible. Also there's lots of gas powered lamps and steam powered everythings.
One of steampunk's primary real-life influences was the industrial revolution, a period of growth and possibility but also of wealth inequality and labour exploitation. I can't help but imagine that underneath a glittering, marvelous, steam-powered metropolis, there wouldn't be a vastly exploited working class. I think that tension is one of the more appealing aspects of steampunk, or retro-futurism as a whole concept. For me, there's a cautionary aspect to it, a just-cos'-you-could warning about pushing the limits of science into the unknown and what horrible things that might reveal to us.
A steampunk city is a city built on the idea of limitless potential, the underlying feeling that it could collapse into a dystopic nightmare at just the right push is one of my favourite things about it, and it is what I will enjoy writing about the most as I continue to tell more tales in this world I'm building with this work!
The Thief's Darling is a novella I started writing late in 2017. I didn't actually set out to write a steampunk story.
[L.J. exclaims on first read: What! But it has gas lamps? It's totally steampunk.]
Originally, it was going to be much more of a classical fantasy setting, with the weird science aspects replaced with more traditional, occult magic shtick, but I was doing quite a lot of research into the practices of alchemists in preparation for the writing process and was really interested in alchemy, in the early modern period, as a precursor to modern day chemistry and the effects it had on science as a whole. Also, I do like the aesthetic of gas lamps.
It is the story of five sisters who are master alchemists living in the run-down town of Wadlock, a once vibrant place that has fallen on hard times. The sisters, led by Enith, are attempting to create the perfect man by distilling the essence of romance novels down and transmuting them into a man who is sort of the amalgamation of a whole range of pulp romance novel "hunks". His name is Troy.
[L.J.: As someone who writes these romance novels, I am all about this premise. But if we get this technology IRL, I think we have to name him "Chris" because of the inordinate amount of sexy Chrises.]
Most of the sisters are partaking in the project for a laugh and to spend time together, but it certainly seems to mean something entirely different for Enith.
They have hired a thief, a young woman named Cady "Nine-Lives", a scrappy sort of sixteen-year-old who is trying to pull together enough money to skip town. One night, during a raid on the local library, she runs afoul of the librarian, an old man with an affinity for classic romance novels who also hides a bloody and tragic past. Cady accidentally burns down the library which puts her life and the life of Troy into jeopardy.
My intention was to create a story that subverts the reader's expectations. There seems to be a sort of culture of disdain surrounding women who read romance novels (or just anything women enjoy en masse).
[L.J.: you said it, brother!]
Most of the story is told through the eyes of Cady, a teenager who carries that same disdain, and so she tends to view the sisters as "gross" or "wrong" for their reading habits, but as we explore the character of the sisters more, it is suggested that not only do some find a sense of comfort in reading and appreciating romantic fiction, but also find good-natured community and sisterly bonding.
You can find Michael's story here.
#fantasy#feminism#lgbt#m/m#michaelbutcher#romance#scifi#TheFantasiststeampunk
Images from the Past: Completely Inaccurate Images from the 1800s
So, I said before the Victorians had some interesting ideas about what the future would bring. Here's some of the ones that really missed the mark:
So not only were we supposed to have hover-boards by 2000, we were supposed to be walking on water with the aid of balloons, weird shoes, and… a unicycle.
Seconds before a futuristic collision. Still less wait time than the Path.
Here's another flying machine. That apparently hovers while the exceptionally well-dressed rural person greets his mailman.
I love this image, because conquering the depths is not complete until we can gamble underwater.
I love this image because … I have no idea what they are doing.
#art#coolimages#fantasy#lgbt#m/m#romance#scifi#TheFantasiststeampunk
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February 15, 2019 - Schoolgirl Mary Strips From Uniform And Rides The Sybian.
February 14, 2019 - The Sybian Is Probably One Of The Most Terrifying Devices That We Own Here At Insex On Demand.
February 11, 2019 - Cassandra Nix's Live Show Part 3 - Cassandra Is Mounted Onto A Sybian Where She Can't Escape.


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Birds are a very hard creature to photograph. They can move very quickly, and are generally pretty startled. The lens of choice to photograph birds is a 400mm+, I only have a zoom lens with up to 135 (Times 1.6 for a crop, but still...) Still, I did try again, powered once again by whatbird.com, and I found a few more little guys. I hope I did them some justice... This whole exercise has taught me to be more more attentive to the beauty that surrounds us each and every day. Hope you enjoy!


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Late Pledges Open for Resident Evil: The Board Game
Steamforged is becoming the place to get your board games based on popular video game series. Their latest, Resident Evil: The Board Game, is now in the late pledge/pledge manager phase. If you missed
Steamforged is becoming the place to get your board games based on popular video game series. Their latest, Resident Evil: The Board Game, is now in the late pledge/pledge manager phase. If you missed out before, now's your last chance to get all the cool deals and extras from the campaign.
From the announcement:
It's a big day, Survivors! The pledge manager for Resident Evil: The Board Game is now officially OPEN.
Already pledged? An invite with full details will arrive in your inbox today. But if you've not yet joined the nightmare, you can late pledge right now on Gamefound
Board Games Resident Evil Steamforged Games
Resident Evil 3: The Board Game Now Available From Steamforged
Horrifying mutants. Dangerous monsters. Limited ammunition. The hit video game, Resident Evil 3 is set to hit your tabletops as Steamforged releases their Resident Evil 3: The Board Game to the genera
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Scared? You should be. Nemesis won't go down without a fight.
Resident Evil: The Board Game Up On Kickstarter
Steamforged Games is looking to bring you another board game adaptation of a hit video game. This time around, it's Resident Evil. The Kickstarter campaign for the project is up and running.
The campaign's well far and away over its funding goal with 15 days left to go.
Board Games Crowdfunding Kickstarter Resident Evil Steamforged Games
Steamforged Previews Encounters in Resident Evil: The Board Game
Steamforged has become the go-to company when it comes to creating tabletop versions of your favorite video games. Their next offering in the realm will be Resident Evil. In this preview of the upcomi
Steamforged has become the go-to company when it comes to creating tabletop versions of your favorite video games. Their next offering in the realm will be Resident Evil. In this preview of the upcoming game, we get a look at how exploring the board and encounters with enemies will work.
From the preview:
We're creeping ever closer to the Resident Evil: The Board Game Kickstarter launch on October 26 and, with it, our first foray into the Spencer Mansion as an open world campaign.
But before we can set food inside that sinister place — the place where Umbrella's horrific experiments first broke loose — we'd better prepare with some gameplay blogs.
We've already met Rebecca Chambers in Character Design and covered the gameplay basics in the How to Play blog.
Now, Sherwin Matthews, Lead Designer, is here to tell us about some of the brand new mechanics you can expect in Resident Evil: The Board Game — mechanics you won't have experienced even if you've already played the Resident Evil 2 & 3 board games.
Starting, of course, with exploration and encounters....
Steamforged Posts Resident Evil: The Board Game Details
Excited about the upcoming Resident Evil: The Board Game Kickstarter campaign from Steamforged? I'm guessing the answer is, "Hell yeah!" Then you'll want to check out this new article they've posted.
Excited about the upcoming Resident Evil: The Board Game Kickstarter campaign from Steamforged? I'm guessing the answer is, "Hell yeah!" Then you'll want to check out this new article they've posted. It's got all manner of info about the game, about the campaign, and some more. Head through and check it out.
Hey, Survivors! The news has broken and, like a virus, it's already spreading:
Resident Evil: The Board Game is coming to Kickstarter on October 26 this year, with a campaign unlike anything you've seen before — our first ever open world Kickstarter campaign!
That's right. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first Resident Evil video game, our love for this incredible series, and the awesome (and growing!) tabletop Resident Evil community, we're turning the campaign itself into a survival horror experience.
But wait — what does 'open world Kickstarter' actually mean? (And how did we let Sherwin convince us to do it?!)
Well, we've got Sherwin himself, Lead Designer and self-proclaimed Resident Evil superfan, here to explain…
Steamforged Announces Resident Evil: The Board Game Kickstarter
Steamforged is looking to bring another video game adaptation to your tabletops. This time, they're headed to the world of Resident Evil. Resident Evil: The Board Game is slated to hit Kickstarter thi
Steamforged is looking to bring another video game adaptation to your tabletops. This time, they're headed to the world of Resident Evil. Resident Evil: The Board Game is slated to hit Kickstarter this autumn... which we're in now (assuming they mean the northern hemisphere, which I think is a safe bet). So, it could launch just about any time now.
Raccoon Forest
"The S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team is flying around the forest zone, situated north-west of Raccoon City. We're searching for our compatriots in the Bravo team, who disappeared in the middle of their mission…"
You've heard the rumours. You've seen the signs. You may even have received a mysterious note, many months ago.
And now, we are sickeningly excited to officially confirm:
Resident Evil: The Board Game is coming to Kickstarter in Autumn, 2021.
Prepare for the ultimate cooperative survival horror experience for 1-4 players.
Steamforged Taking Pre-Orders For Resident Evil 3 Board Game
The menace grows. Monsters are killing innocents left and right. Will you be able to make it out alive? One of the most popular video game series is coming to your tabletops with Resident Evil 3: The
The menace grows. Monsters are killing innocents left and right. Will you be able to make it out alive? One of the most popular video game series is coming to your tabletops with Resident Evil 3: The Board Game. Steamforged Games has started taking pre-orders for this new installment now.
Experience the spine-tingling horror of the original Resident Evil™ 3 video game in a brand new way — this time, on your tabletop.
In a series of nail-biting scenarios, you'll explore iconic locations like the Raccoon City Police Department and Saint Michael's Clock Tower, searching for parts to repair the cable car that will see you to safety — all while managing your precious resources and keeping Zombie Dogs, Drain Deimos, and other monsters at bay.
This is a cooperative campaign board game for 1-4 players. You'll need to work together to survive the horror. Unless you're brave enough to go it alone in solo mode...
Play as Jill, Carlos, Mikhail, or Nikolai, each with unique special rules. Explore the city as an open world, searching for clues and items and discovering new scenarios and locations. Make meaningful choices that define your enemies, affect your objectives, and can even change the course of your campaign. Or, play each scenario as a terrifying one-shot.
Every decision counts. The city danger level is rising. And Nemesis is never far behind…
Resident Evil 2: The Board Game Sale Happening Now at Steamforged
Well... this makes me feel old... Resident Evil 2 is 25 years old. Yeah... yeah... So... in light of that, Steamforged is having a 25% off sale their entire Resident Evil 2: The Board Game line over i
Well... this makes me feel old... Resident Evil 2 is 25 years old. Yeah... yeah... So... in light of that, Steamforged is having a 25% off sale their entire Resident Evil 2: The Board Game line over in their webshop.
It's official - Resident Evil is 25 years old!
To celebrate, we're taking 25% off the ENTIRE Resident Evil 2 board game range.
You've got 'til 23:59 GMT on March 28 to get your Raccoon City fix.
Can you survive the horror?
Board Games Resident Evil Sales event Steamforged Games

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This page allows to download the excel sheet of the National Cyber Security Framework Core. The excel sheet can be used to create Framework's Contextualizations. The create contextualizations can be sent to staff@cybersecurityframework.it to be evaluated and published in this website upon request.
Other support material can be requested using the e-mail address staff@cybersecurityframework.it The same e-mail can be used to communicate errors on the documents. The Framework will be updated, any proposed amendament or any collaboration proposal will be accurately considered.


Why you need to think of writing as both a mean to improve the quality of your writing, but also as a means to make money.
Writers love to write and love to show what they learn in the format of the written word. Like any artist they aim for quality and also for writing in terms of making enough money for a living. This is simple, and yet it is also complex. One must follow a set of rules.
There are many rules which must be followed and learned. There are those which are sometimes so hard and true and then they are not. Writers need to know all of these things. Writing is a changing beast.
We all love to write. If you write and publish a book you are an author, and you are a writer the moment you set pen to paper. This is the challenge of writing. There is another challenge that many writers do not think about when they write that first draft. There is only one word which defines writing.
Quality is needed to make money with writing, but it is also the cornerstone to the art and craft of writing.
What does writing with quality mean?
1) You care about what you are saying to your readers.
2) Your readers are exactly that—readers.
3) You continue and strive to improve on your writing.
4) You understand that there is no such thing as perfect but you are going to aim for that anyways.
5) Your final goal in writing is publishing. A definition of publishing is up to you but for the most part, writers will define publishing as publishing a book.
How writing and money will improve your business and make you a happier writer.
With the advent and rise of self-publishing and DIY programs there are a lot of new things to learn about when it comes to writing and publishing.
Making Money? Is That a Part of Writing?
Making money is a part of writing but it is not the reason that one needs to write. In fact, this is the reason to continue to write full-time or write, while working part-time.
Money with your writing means that while you will not be a millionaire you will see that there are more "perks." Quality comes first since without quality writing your work will be judged badly and this will affect your money making ability over time.
This is one of the hardest things to do as a writer, as it takes time and effort to improve your writing but also make a go at publishing. If you plan on self-publishing the challenge is knowing how much money you need for budget and how long it will take you to write, and edit your work.
1) You never know when unexpected expenses will arise.
2) You must always do your research: When it comes to money or publishing your writing never assume that things will happen as quickly as you would like.
3) Spend only as much money as you have, and do not expect more money coming in. Publishing online really tells someone this story. You might make money with one article, only to have other ones bottom out and you are dealing with less money than you thought. The same goes with a self-published book. One success does not mean "always" a success.
Money is a part of writing and it is something you need to consider only, after you have quality writing.
When you are writing, whatever you are writing and publishing plan on both. This means that you aim for quality articles or books, but you also market these things so that you do continue to grow and earn.
Your plan means that you will spend money on books, but it also means that you have to begin somewhere. That some "where" can be online. This might give you some extra change (money) until you do publish your first few books.
Never doubt for a moment your potential as a writer and a published author, but understand that you need quality writing to make money that you want.
thanks for stopping by Katiem2- happy to see you.
Really good stuff, time tested and a great plan of action. Thanks for sharing your insights.
Great article. I have only been doing this online writing thing for a few months now. I have really enjoyed it and feel like the money will come if I keep on writing good quality content. I recognize you from Hubpages. Welcome to the world of Wizzley.
hi all great to see you here as well.
RebeccaE Nice to see you at wizzley. I just found out about the site. I joined up a s well. I like I like. Many Blessings for your sister at the Wizzley. See you around. Loved your wizzley your information is a keeper indeed. Hugs to you girl.
that's teh general idea in my mind the better quality you have the more money you will make long-term.
Use this article to learn how to increase your online writing income if you are struggling to make money online.
Want to know why as a writer you should be writing an eBook for the Kindle? Find out how the Kindle can kick start your writing career in this article.


Another beautiful event celebrating Woman in Mining.
What a privilege it was to be part of this event to see even if you are a woman working in an overall, working underground or in an office, that you are special and unique in each way and still makes a difference no matter what. With lots of laughter and delicious snacks, the day could not end better.


Clever puzzles with brilliant solutions hand crafted in Japan.
Beautifully designed and crafted for timeless fun.
What started as an obsession with wonder became a collection of magical objects and now, "the most elegant curiosity shop in the world."
Art of Play supports sustainable production practices in collaboration with non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting the earth.
If you're not happy with your service, or something is wrong with your order, just let us know and we'll do whatever we can to make it right.


text:
UK jobless rate falls to 11-year low and wages edge up
The UK unemployment rate has fallen to an 11-year low of 4.9%, while wages have grown by around 2% year-on-year.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there were 1.65 million unemployed people for the period between March and May, 54,000 fewer than for the three months to February.
Average weekly earnings increased by 2.3% including bonuses and by 2.2% excluding bonuses compared with a year earlier.
However, these figures reflect pre-referendum conditions and some analysts suggest the unemployment rate could rise.
Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Brexit has added a significant amount of uncertainty, and it is perfectly possible that firms will delay hiring decisions until they have greater confidence.
"In a survey of more than 1,000 business leaders conducted by the Institute of Directors, a quarter of respondents said they would freeze recruitment and 5% said they expected to lay workers off.
"As such the current unemployment rate of 4.9% could be the lowest we see for a while, but if the forecast downturn in the labour market does materialise, at least we start from a position of relative strength."
David Morel, managing director of Tiger Recruitment, said: "For us, the most noticeable change in the jobs market since the vote to leave the EU has been a spike in demand for temporary staff.
"We fully expect the temp market to continue to be the biggest beneficiary of a lack of clarity surrounding the implications of Brexit.
"Permanent recruitment activity has by no means dried up, especially among bigger companies where demand for staff is more or less what it was pre-Brexit.
"But until there is a greater understanding among employers about the wider implications of Brexit, particularly concerning future free-trade agreements with the EU, we would expect the permanent jobs market to remain fairly static."
UK wages growing at fastest rate in 11 years
Pound sinks due to Brexit worries
UK economy returned to growth in May
Tagged: bonuses Brexit EU Referendum jobs unemployment wages
Investor confidence sinks to new low post-Brexit
Investor confidence has plummeted to record lows following the results of the EU referendum, according to a survey by Lloyds...


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The Atlanta Falcons have made some outstanding first-round selections in their NFL Draft history. Here are their 15 best first-round picks of all-time.
It's that time of the year again. The NFL Draft is upon us with all 32 teams aiming to build a better team. The Atlanta Falcons are no different. After making the NFC playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017, Atlanta stumbled into a disappointing 7-9 campaign in 2018.
Injuries were clearly an issue, but if there is a positive besides a potential return to good health, it is that the Dirty Birds should have a great opportunity to land an excellent collegiate player picking at No. 14. This is an NFL Draft deep in offensive and defensive line talent, as well as capable playmakers in the secondary. Atlanta has needs in all three departments heading into 2019.


The current level of American prices appears to be noticeably lower, compared to what it would be if the Fed had delivered on its 2% inflation objective. St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard considered the given tendency to be quite worrisome.
In slides specially prepared for delivery in Tokyo, the American major banker told that in the USA prices are currently 4.6% below the price level path established in 1995-2012, when inflation was ascending close to the Fed's objective of 2% annually.
Of course, it's not as tough as the 1990s Japanese experience. Nevertheless, it happens to be worrisome enough. That's what Bullard told. By the way, he won't vote on American monetary policy this year.
Too-low inflation has kept the Federal reserve from lifting interest rates more than three times since the Great Recession, though since late last year the vast majority of Fed policymakers have seen faster rate lifts ahead, citing definite improvements in the labor market.


text:
El Temporal de O'Higgins de 1986 se produjo en Chile entre el 12 y el 26 de junio del año 1986, con fuertes precipitaciones que cayeron en las regiones de Coquimbo, Valparaíso, Metropolitana de Santiago, del General Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, del Maule, del Biobío. Los vientos llegaron a alcanzar magnitud 11 en la escala de Beaufort.

Damnificados
Durante el temporal hubo alrededor de 8 millones de personas afectadas, de ellas 109 570 fueron damnificadas, aunque el Comando de Pobladores anuncia una cifra de 500 000 afectados. Hubo 3522 albergados, 236 heridos, 534 muertos y desaparecidos. Como consecuencia de este frente de mal tiempo, se erradicaron a pobladores desde la ribera del río Mapocho hacia zonas más seguras, como por ejemplo, se dio inicio al poblamiento y urbanización del cerro 18 en Lo Barnechea, con la construcción de viviendas sociales para familias provenientes del Campamento Quinchamalí, de la misma comuna.

Problemas
Las fuertes lluvias inundaron grandes extensiones en la ciudad de Santiago de Chile, toda la parte poniente de la ciudad quedó inundada, es decir, las comunas de Maipú, Pudahuel, Cerro Navia, Lo Prado, estación Central, Quinta Normal, Cerrillos y Renca.

Se producen decenas de aluviones, se destruyen puentes y casas. Hay cortes inminentes de luz y agua, el tránsito es un caos según la televisión, radio y periódico y se cancelan las clases y los viajes interurbanos en buses, trenes, aeropuertos y puertos.

Por las calles de los cerros de Valparaíso corren verdaderos ríos de agua, que inundan el puerto y el casco histórico.

Ciudades afectadas
Las ciudades afectadas fueron: La Serena-Coquimbo, Ovalle, Illapel, La Ligua, San Felipe, Los Andes, Quillota, Gran Valparaíso, Gran San Antonio, Colina, Santiago de Chile (Puente Alto, San Bernardo, Maipú, Peñalolén, Quilicura), Talagante, Melipilla, Rancagua, Rengo, Pichilemu, San Fernando, Curicó, Talca, Linares, Cauquenes, Parral, Cobquecura, San Carlos, Gran Chillán, Gran Concepción, Los Ángeles y Lebu.

Referencias

Enlaces externos

 Página oficial de la ONEMI

Desastres naturales en la Región de Coquimbo
Desastres naturales en la Región de Valparaíso
Desastres naturales en la Región Metropolitana de Santiago
Desastres naturales en la región de O'Higgins
Desastres naturales en la Región del Maule
Desastres naturales en la Región de Ñuble
Desastres naturales en la Región del Biobío
1986
Chile en 1986
Inundaciones del siglo XX

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text:
Articles, tagged with "bliss", page 1
Complete and Accurate Planning for New Year with 2012 Calendar
By goyalchaman in Arts-and-Entertainment
Due to hectic schedule in personal and professional lives, people normally find it harder and harder to schedule their time. Even children are also busy with academic and social schedules for whole year. Everyone seek the time to recreation generally duri...
Deep Seating - A Twin Pleasure For Guests And Gardens
By Winston Jenkins in Product Reviews
Are you prepared to welcome a fancy guest without notice? Does not matter, if we are talking about fancy, then you don't have a choice for it always comes without notice. Now please don't object at calling fancy a guest because it is better that it remain...
What Creativity Can Do For Your Life
By Kimberley Cohen in Arts-and-Entertainment
Creativity is a wonderful thing! It allows imaginations to soar, ideas to manifest, passions to be lived, houses to become homes, books to be written, songs to be sung or played, discoveries to be made, and so much more. One of the greatest benefits...
Cheap Phones-Stay Happy and Save on Money
By Mobile Phone Deals in Communications
Cheap phones help you stay happy and at the same time you can save on your personal money. Mobile phones are important irrespective of which line of business one is in. But what is the point of manufacturing awesome and classy gadgets when more than half ...
Watch Friday Night Lights Season 5 Episode 8 - Fracture
By Dana Bennett in Arts-and-Entertainment
If you are interested to understand a single thing ahead of Friday Night Lights season 5 episode 8 download therefore, it's time and energy to look at spoilers of the identical! This appears you are desperate to learning your episode named 'Fracture' supp...
Lara Dutta Hot Gossips
By aravind reddy in Arts-and-Entertainment
Bollywood sexy siren Lara Dutta is all set to enter wedlock with tennis player Mahesh Bhupati on 19th of February. Recently, the couple got engaged in a hush-hush manner. The couple has chosen Goa as their venue for marriage. Lara Dutta and Mahesh Bhup...
Don't Rain on My Parade How to Deal with Difficult People
By Idoinspire in Communications
Have you noticed negative or difficult people around you are affecting your otherwise cheerful disposition (and how unfair is that)? Someone who knows nothing is making your life miserable. Why do Negative Nellie's feel they need to unload their pent up v...
Nokia N8 Deals - Assures You a Life of Bliss and Techno Comfort
When it comes to a brand new mobile phone being launched in the market as well as worldwide, it is practical to go in for a contracted deal and obtaining it in case of any discrepancies in the near future. Warranty is important and this deal assures you a...
The Best Ways To Improve Your Life With Contemporary Fine Art
By greatar4 in Arts-and-Entertainment
Contemporary fine art are pieces of artwork which have the ability to stop you in your tracks and cause you to see the world anew. A lot of artists would share a common opinion that they make art to enrich the everyday life of every individual who comes i...
Samsung Galaxy S Contract - Devoid of Any Complications and Offers a Pleasurable Gadget of Entertain
Some gadgets are just a true visionary and one would not know how much of a difference it can actually make in their life until they avail of it. One of the latest handsets to be launched in the UK consumer market is the Samsung Galaxy S Contract. It is d...
Contract Phones : The Best Deals Possible
By SAMPAL in Communications
Pay as you go phone provides its users with the complete freedom to either remain constant customers to the Networking company whose services they have been availing or just to quit it and join another one which may satisfy their needs and comfort them in...
Top Gear episodes: In a class of its own!!
By EddyArcherd in Arts-and-Entertainment
Those who are crazy about cars love to watch Top Gear. The show is hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, whose original vision is unmatchable. He, along with co-hosts, Richard Hammond and James May, takes you on a tour, into the world of cars. Hammond actively parti...
Upgrade Your Phones and Get Your Contract Deal Renewed with Your Existing Number
By Adam Jaylin in Communications
If the period of your contract deal is going to be completed then you need not to worry. You can upgrade your phones with the help of different websites. In that case you get your deal renewed and that too, keeping the same number. Apart, you get a new ha...
Success stories about QuantumTouch the powerful Healing modality
By qtacademyehie in Beauty
Scoliosis of 40 years healed in one session. I was invited to run a Quantum-Touch workshop in Shanghai. A lady flew in from Tokyo to join the class. On the first day of the workshop during the first practice session, I asked for students to be the the...
Think about Cellulite Products ......
By sad in Beauty
Cellulite products are becoming the new big thing. Moms-to-be are discovering the magic of these products and finding they don't have to suffer with stretch marks throughout their pregnancy. The two most favored Cellulite products include the Bliss Fatgir...


Are you looking for a motivational speaker for a conference or event? The right speaker can make a big difference in the success of your event. Participants are often inspired by individuals who excel in business, athletics, and other achievements. People in charge of hiring speakers usually look for a list of motivational speakers to find the perfect speaker for a specific event, message, or audience.
When searching for a speaker, you want someone who will provide inspiration to the audience with a message that has a lasting impact and helps to improve performance. Although many performers and speakers are entertaining, all do not have an inspiring message. Rather than choosing someone based on popularity, look for a speaker with a powerful message that will resonate with your audience.
Although speakers all have a different method and approach, there is one thing the best and most effective have in common. Speakers such as Dr. Meghana Dikshit & Tony Robbins & Eric Thomas have powerful messages that are relevant to the audience.
The message or theme conveyed at a meeting or event should be broad and universal. The speaker should customize the message to address the specific needs or goals of your organization. What do you hope to achieve, inspire, or convey to your audience? Is your purpose team building, changing attitudes or behaviours, resolving conflict, or improving communication? Knowing your purpose and goals can help you find a speaker to meet your unique needs.
Dr. Meghana Dikshit is among the most sought after motivational speakers in Mumbai. For more than 21 years, she has provided coaching, consulting, and speaking services for individuals, organizations, and Bollywood celebrities. Dr. Meghana uses a results oriented approach and proven curriculum to help people transcend fears and limiting beliefs, increase performance in all areas of life, and accomplish their goals.
Over the past two decades, she has helped more than 15,000 clients and countless others in speaking engagements. She has the ability to convey powerful messages and lessons that your audience can take with them and use to improve their lives, both at home and at the office. She offers high energy interactive events for business conferences, corporate training, schools, and other events.
Regardless of the challenges facing your organization, Dr. Meghana is a catalyst for transformation. She uses innovative and effective strategies to generate radial and permanent changes in all areas of life for participants who are committed to success. She has provided training for a large number of companies, including TCS, Essar, Glenmark, and many others.
The best speakers have strong and powerful messages that can be tailored to help you achieve your organization's gaols and drive your participants toward success. Dr. Meghana continually exceeds client expectations by addressing specific company needs and industry outcomes for an immediate improvement in morale, performance, and business operations. Please contact us today to learn how Dr. Meghana can help you provide an inspiring message for your employees or event participants.


Now, this is a bit extreme. Still, there`s no doubt that products designed for mail-order catalogues are, as the book`s authors suggest, ''a salute to the longevity and ingenuity of American entrepreneurialism.'' The merchandise is intriguing, as Blake points out, because of the fact that there are people, somewhere out there, who design it all.
as Ralph Caplan once defined ''design.'' Here, the materials are virtually anything; the circumstances, how far an affluent society will go in order to amuse itself.
As seen in ''Spaghetti Fork,'' a compendium of the wackiest items available by mail, culled from hundreds of different catalogues, it`s a jungle out there--of personalized lunch bags, portable steam baths, dog waterbeds, spring-activated fly-shooters, air-conditioned hats, ceramic tissue-holders in the shape of kissable lips, automatic toothpaste dispensers and ''two potato'' clocks (the current sustained by the potatoes` acidic content, natch).
''Insane and marvelous,'' Peter Blake says.


If you really want to stand out as a Pharm.D., consider adding a pharmacy concentration or a minor to your course schedule.
As a student in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, your coursework will focus on developing the knowledge and skills you need to deliver outstanding patient care. With careful planning, you can also graduate with a concentration or minor that can enhance your personal development or give you an edge in the job market.
Nesbitt School of Pharmacy is the only pharmacy program in the country to offer Spanish and Independent Pharmacy Owner concentrations. These allow you to pursue specialized learning within the pharmacy discipline.
A minor can provide you with skills in an area other than pharmacy, help your résumé stand out or give you a chance to learn just for the love of it. Business management, neuroscience and psychology are popular minors with our Pharm.D. students, though you can pursue any of the wide variety of minors Wilkes offers.


The goal was to provide a spike with the higher strength of the high carbon spike and the impact resistance and ductility of the low carbon spike. This specification has a minimum yield strength requirement of 46,000 psi; high for a low to medium carbon product. Thus, the resultant spikes for sale have the advantage of improved impact resistance and improved ductility, while maintaining a relatively high strength. Buy railroad spikes today!


It's human nature to be concerned about the issue of aging. Perhaps the most frightening of thoughts centers on the possibility of having to move into a nursing home and how to pay the exorbitant bills associated with cost of living as we age. If you are over 65 or are permanently disabled, you may qualify for Medicaid to cover doctor visits, hospital stays, prescriptions, nursing home care and other healthcare needs.
You can reduce stress and save money by planning ahead. Speak with a knowledgeable lawyer at Bratton Law who will review your situation and discuss ways to reduce tax liabilities and preserve your assets.
When you apply for Medicaid, even if you appear on paper to qualify, information will be collected in an effort to determine your final eligibility. Medicaid will want to determine the full value of your assets including your home, investments, IRAs, life insurance, and bank accounts. (Note that your car, personal items, and household items are exempt up to a pre-set limit, depending on in which state you reside.) Medicaid will also review your expenses including mortgage, taxes, medical bills and credit card balances.
Simple calculations will determine your eligibility. If your assets are valued over the set limit in the state you reside, you will be turned down for Medicaid.
Be a U.S. citizen or a qualified immigrant.
Since just one year in a nursing home can cost over $120,000, it doesn't take long for most people to deplete their assets. As such, they turn to the government for help. In many cases, Medicaid will pay for custodial nursing home care for someone age 65 or older who is able to prove that level of care is medically necessary.
However, Medicaid and nursing homes have become more aggressive in requiring nursing home applicants to pay for at least a part of the bill — sometimes over $10,000 a month! Each state has its own Medicaid guidelines subject to some federal standards. Additionally, each state has various government-facilitated programs that may be available depending on your age, disability, alien status and disease. Our lawyers will discuss the various programs available in your state.
Those wanting to keep as much of their money and assets in the family as possible often consider financial vehicles such as gifting trusts, etc. to preserve assets and possibly qualify for Medicaid sooner. If you are considering these as options, please speak with a qualified lawyer who can make sure your documents are well-drafted and can stand up to scrutiny by Medicaid.
Medicaid has gotten wise to these spend-down techniques. If fact, during your application process, you should expect that Medicaid and nursing home administrators will review the last five years of your financial transactions. If it can be proven that you or your spouse did not receive fair market value for any transfers of assets, you may be penalized and prevented from applying for Medicaid for a specific time period.
In the best case scenario, it's a good idea to have a skilled lawyer review your assets and put a plan in place that takes possible future needs into consideration. However, it's never too late to have a lawyer from Bratton Law review your assets, income, family situation and recent transfers to best determine which assets you can save and how to manage your income and expenses.
We invite you to contact us to find out how to apply for Medicaid and maximize your chances of eligibility. Call us for a consultation at 856-857-6007 or fill out our convenient online form. Here to help clients in areas such as Cherry Hill, Princeton, Mount Laurel, Medford, Voorhees, and Moorestown.


Students should conform to the rules and discipline of the College. They should be respectful to the teachers and other staff members of the College. They should regularly see the notice on the Notice Board and act accordingly. They should also scrupulously avoid all political activities and demonstrations. Collection of any sort of funds from among the students or holding of meetings in and around the premises is not allowed without the prior permission of the Principal. Any breach of discipline will be seriously dealt with and the decision of the Principal in all such cases shall be final.
The use of lungi and pyajama by the students are strictly prohibited inside the College campus. All the students are expected to use sober dress avoiding off-colours, printed logos, etc.
Students seeking admission to this College should be very regular in attendance at classes. For all the students, the promotion to next higher class will depend on a very regular class attendance for theory and practical separately in each subject and securing qualifying marks at all the examinations held during the year. Similarly in case of re-admission, any student who has failed to attend the classes regularly, his case will not be considered for re-admission. All the guardians are requested to be careful about their wards in connection with attendance, promotion etc.
Any newly-admitted student found remaining absent for three consecutive working days w.e.f. the date of commencement of classes without the permission of the Principal will forfeit his seat.
A student to be sent-up for the University Examination must have attended the classes regularly (theoretical & practical classes taken separately in each subject) and secured qualifying marks in all the examinations held during the year.
A student failing to attend the classes regularly will be treated as non-collegiate and subsequently may not be allowed to appear in the Examination.
The College is under the management and supervision of the Ramakrishna Mission Boys' Home. The students are, therefore, expected to participate in all religious and social functions and activities of the Mission. The special feature of the College is to impart religious instruction of a very broad and catholic nature as preached and practiced by Sri Ramakrishna and propounded by his disciple Swami Vivekananda. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature is available in the library and students are expected to make effective use of it.


I know EXACTLY how this all feels . . . Des Moines was as weird and unexpected for us as Philly will be for you and yours, and that last month of Hidden in Suburbia rides was pretty melancholy (http://indiemoines.com/?s=hidden+in+suburbia) as I waved to things that I did not expect to ever see again.
But it has worked out extraordinarily well for all three of us (with some bumps, but that's to be expected) . . . and my continued association with American Institute for Economic Research gets me back through ALB airport at least two or three times per year, so I have appreciated the chance to occasionally catch up with friends or check things out that I've missed. I have only driven by our old house once, though . . . and I don't think I will do so again.
I tend to be very digital in the sense that I respond to things in an ALL or a NONE fashion . . . so when we came out here, I really focused on all of the good things about coming to Iowa (and they are plentiful), while focusing on all of the bad things that I was happy to leave behind in Albany. Part of the reason that I put Indie Moines on quiet for awhile for to adjust that mental paradigm . . . Iowa and Albany are both great places, in their own ways. I know this seems obvious, but it took me some time to get into that head space, and I didn't feel like working through that in public on my blog!
All best to you and yours in the new digs . . . it's a big adventure, but I know you're up to that, and look forward to reading about "Your Urban Life" in Philly!
Thanks . . . I figured you'd know how it feels. Good advice on what to focus on, as well. I'm finding the prospect of figuring out WHERE to live more than a little daunting, and the first step is finding a temporary base (apartment) down here, which is reminding me of just how much I'm not suited for apartment living, and even less for apartment hunting.


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Knee Arthritis Has Doubled... And It's Not Because of Running
Analysis of ancient skeletons sheds light on the sudden increase in arthritis rates.
by alex hutchinson Published: Aug 16, 2017
Westend61 / Getty
One of my pet topics on this blog has been the persistent myth that running will ruin your knees. In truth, as numerous studies over the years have suggested, runners are no more likely, and perhaps even less likely, than comparable non-runners to develop osteoarthritis, the wear-and-tear form of arthritis, in their knees.
Still, there's a widespread sense that osteoarthritis is getting more common, which is often blamed on the fact that people these days are heavier and live longer than they used to. Is that really true? That's what a new study from Dan Lieberman's group at Harvard University, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (press release here), sought to determine.
The methodology of the study was fascinating. One of the researchers traveled around the country to examine collections of old and new skeletons, looking for signs of "eburnation," which is a polished surface on the bones of the knee joint that occurs when the bones rub against each other because of the loss of cartilage associated with osteoarthritis.
RELATED: Marathon Training Doesn't Harm Knees, Even in Beginners
In total, he examined almost 2,500 skeletons from three distinct time periods:
"Prehistoric" skeletons from archeological digs in Alaska, California, New Mexico, Kentucky, and Ohio, from hunter-gatherers and early farmers between 300 and 6,000 years ago. All of the people were at least 50 years old when they died.
Early industrial skeletons from Cleveland and St. Louis, from people who died between 1905 and 1940 and whose bodies were used for medical education and research.
Postindustrial skeletons from Albuquerque and Knoxville, from people who died between 1976 and 2015 and donated their bodies to medical research.
The results showed that knee osteoarthritis occurred with roughly similar frequency in the prehistoric and early industrial skeletons, but was much more common in the postindustrial skeletons.
Of course, that's exactly what you'd expect if you subscribe to the old-age-and-obesity theory. Fortunately, in many of the early industrial and postindustrial skeletons, age and body mass index (BMI) at death were recorded, which allowed the researchers include those factors in their analysis. The surprising result: Even accounting for age and BMI, knee osteoarthritis was still roughly twice as common for people born after World War II than it was for people born before it.
RW IN YOUR INBOX: Have the latest news, advice, and inspiration sent to you every day with our Runner's World Newsletters.
So if it's not obesity or age, what explains the apparent rise in osteoarthritis rates? This study can't answer that, but the researchers do float a few hypotheses in their discussion.
One possibility is that walking around on hard, paved surfaces all the time isn't good for our knees. In support of that possibility, they cite a 1982 paper in which sheep spent 2.5 years living either on concrete and tarmac or on wood chips and pastures. The sheep in the concrete jungle had noticeable changes in the cartilage and bone of their knee joints, and maybe we do too.
Another possibility is shoes—and they're not talking about trainers. They cite a 1998 study showing that high-heeled shoes generate abnormally high forces on the knee joint, and note that, in their analysis, women were about 50 percent more likely to have knee osteoarthritis than men.
But the biggest factor, they suspect, may be physical inactivity. Joints, like muscles, have a use-it-or-lose-it aspect. If you sit at a desk all day, you end up with thinner, lower-quality cartilage in your joints, and weakness in the muscles that would otherwise take some of the load off your joints. The problem, in other words, isn't too much running; it's not enough running.
In real life, of course, things are never that neat and tidy. As the authors are careful to point out, there's lots of work remaining to explore some of these hypotheses. And even if the theories are confirmed, the fact remains that some runners, despite doing everything "right," will still get osteoarthritis.
Still, the results are significant because they join a growing body of evidence that argues against osteoarthritis as a wear-and-tear disease, in which your knee are delicate instruments that will wear out if you use them too much. Your knees were made to be used, and are healthiest when used regularly. So use them!
Discuss this post on the Sweat Science Facebook page or on Twitter, get the latest posts via email digest, and check out the Sweat Science book!
What Every Runner Should Know about Fascia
Is Running Bad for Your Knees? Here Are the Facts
Should I Stop Running After a Joint Replacement?
What's Osgood-Schlatter Disease?
What's the Best Solution for Runner's Knee?
The Difference Between Flexibility and Mobility
5 Products for Knee Pain That Actually Work
Here's How I Returned to Racing After Knee Replacement
I Tried a $120 Product for Knee Pain Relief. Here's What Happened
7 Athletes Reveal How They Manage Chronic Knee Pain—and Still Stay Active
Why You Should Absolutely Skip This Common Knee Pain Treatment
How Long Does a Meniscus Tear Take to Heal?


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Parliament has approved the buyer credit and commercial contract agreements between the government and some companies to develop the Kumasi and Tamale international airports.
Source told to Research Analyst-PAGE that the issue of rationalization of relending policy surfaced after Economic Affairs Division (EAD) conveyed to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) the terms of relending of buyer credit loan Agreement of $150 million at 17 percent interest rate.
Shaunna Durham, a Windermere Real Estate broker in Springfield, said that while the first-time buyer credit generated a lot of buyers, they were primarily in the lower end of the market.
A buyer underwriter would effectively provide an outsourcing of buyer credit review until the exporter's credit department could develop its own due-diligence procedures and track record.
Greenstein cited changes in the passive loss tax allowance, a continued mortgage deduction, a first-time home buyer credit, and the ability to use IRA or 401(K) money without penalty as measures to stimulate home buying and the economy.
To apply, the buyer must complete FTB Form 3549-A, Application for New Home / First-Time Buyer Credit, and fax it, along with the final settlement statement, to FTB at 916.
Jointly, Deutsche Bank and the Dubai branch of Lebanon's Bankmed have funded the loan in an 8-year US$75 million buyer credit, in conjunction with Coface, an export credit agency branch of the French government.
Jay Shakford, vice president of the National Association of Home Builders, said they strongly supported the economic recovery package that included the $5,000 first time home buyer credit, the modification of the passive loss rules, and allowed removal of IRA money for down payments.
Industry, who speaks for you in Washington?
The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) announced today that it will stop accepting applications for the First-Time Buyer Credit at midnight Sunday, August 15, 2010.
The European Investment Bank is partnering with Northstar Europe and Office du Ducroire Luxembourg in the first ever EIB facility to provide buyer credit financing for European SME and Midcap exports.
The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) announced today that it has received applications claiming 80 percent of the State's First-Time Buyer Credit.
These credits include the first time home buyer credit of up to $8,000 and the repeat home buyer credit of up to $6,500.


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By cortex on August 12, 2008.
Some new research sheds light on why chili plants are spicy:
It has been thought that the chemicals known as capsaicinoids, which surround the seeds and give peppers their characteristic heat, are the chili's way of deterring microbes. But if so, then microbial infestation should bring selective pressure on chilis -- the more bugs, the hotter the peppers should be.
That has never been shown in the wild. Now, however, in a study of wild chili plants, Joshua J. Tewksbury of the University of Washington and colleagues show that the variation in heat reflects the risk that the plants will be attacked by a seed-destroying fungus.
My own little vegetable garden has been hard hit by fungus this year, but the hot peppers are in full bloom. Now I know why - capsaicin is the original fungicide.
Of course, that still doesn't explain why capsaicin tastes "hot," and why spicy food "burns" our tongue. For that, we need to investigate the physiology of taste. It turns out that capsaicin - this plant protectant - binds to a special class of vanilloid receptor inside our mouth called VR1 receptors. After binding capsaicin, the neuron is depolarized, and it signals the presence of spicy stimuli.
But here's the strange part: VR1 receptors weren't designed to detect capsaicin. They bind spicy food by accident. The real purpose of VR1 receptors is the detection of heat. They are supposed to prevent us from consuming food that is too hot, in the thermal sense. (That's why our VR1 receptors are clustered in our tongue, mouth and skin.) So when they are activated by capsaicin the sensation we experience is that of excessive heat. We start to sweat and get the urge to drink lots of water. But that pain is just an illusory side-effect of our cell receptors. There is nothing "hot" about spicy food.
The Evolution of Spice
If you like spicy food - and I love spicy food - then you'll find this report from Harold McGee's blog rather interesting. It concerns the evolution of capsaicin, the pungent chemical that makes chilis so spicy: Levey, Tewksbury and colleagues tested the theory that capsaicin selectively repels…
The fiery taste of chillies is a defence against a fungus
Food from countries all over the world owes a lot of its flavour to a fungus. The species in question isn't one of the many edible mushrooms used for cooking, the baker's yeast that gives rise to bread, or the moulds that spread through blue cheese. It's a little known species called Fusarium…
Hot Peppers - Why Are They Hot?
Some plants do not want to get eaten. They may grow in places difficult to approach, they may look unappetizing, or they may evolve vile smells. Some have a fuzzy, hairy or sticky surface, others evolve thorns. Animals need to eat those plants to survive and plants need not be eaten by animals…
(First posted on July 21, 2006) Some plants do not want to get eaten. They may grow in places difficult to approach, they may look unappetizing, or they may evolve vile smells. Some have a fuzzy, hairy or sticky surface, others evolve thorns. Animals need to eat those plants to survive and…
I suppose the next question would be 'why does capsaicin bind to the heat receptors?' Some sort of analysis what it does to the fungi would play a part there :)
Interesting stuff!
~Lab Rat
By Lab Rat (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink
VR1 receptors weren't designed to detect capsaicin
"Designed"? Tsk. (nitpicking, yes, but still)
By jope (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink
A funny aside to this topic -- I saw a show during Discovery channel's Shark Week recently (I think it was MythBusters) during which the hosts tested the myth that sharks are repelled by chili peppers (evidently there's an old Indian tradition of carryting a bag of chilis in the water when swimming where sharks are present). The end result was, even when the sharks swallowed a balloon full of chili peppers, there was absolutely no effect. I gather now, after reading this post, that's because sharks lack the receptors to respond. I wonder how many folks learned that the hard way? :)
By David (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink
Strange that the VR1 receptors detect food that is too hot. I would think that for almost all of our evolutionary history, that would never happen. I wonder how long we have actually been cooking our food?
By Chris King (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink
A friend grew habanero peppers in her yard as ornamentals, for the strong green and the bright orange. She gave me the ripe peppers because she knew I liked them. They were great.
The next year, she planted again, but in a different spot with different soil. The entire crop was mild, far less spicy than jalapenos or serranos.
Clearly, the 'heat' has something to do with what minerals are available in the soil. In their native land, the plant's ability to defend against fungus would depend upon soil chemistry.
By 6EQUJ5 (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink
... a special class of vanilloid receptor ...
Is capsaicin chemically similar to vanilla?
It would take a world-class chef to blend those flavors successfully.
By Pierce R. Butler (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink
"It would take a world-class chef to blend those flavors successfully."
I wonder if jalapeno jelly bellys have vanilla in them.
By jvanpelt (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink
So, any pepper fan who cooks has probably had the experience of chopping up those compact packets of gustatory pleasure. Then he or she may be brushing wayward hair away from the face and touch the edge of an eyelid. As Gollum would say of the Sun: it burns!! Other heat receptors outside the mouth are just doing their jobs.
And where does the delicious factor fit in with spicy food? Is that another dopamine link... Stravinsky, Montague's trust game, it never ends. How about an fMRI look at people eating a really good curry vs a bland but tasty dish.
And do the garden pepper plants also ward off insects, rodents, deer and other non-fungal consumers?
By Luci (not verified) on 12 Aug 2008 #permalink
If you love the smell of fresh gingerbread baking in the oven, cinnamon, or other spices that you use especially in this time of the year, then you should know that they may be the key to a healthier life and you`re on the right track. I read about this at http://www.projectweightloss.com.
By Alex Baran (not verified) on 13 Aug 2008 #permalink
I'm with Chris King above. I can't buy steaming hot food as any kind of evolutionary pressure. Does the author expect us to believe that this capacity evolved in the last couple of thousand years? Pooh. It makes you wonder what possible basis in research this claim could have.
By Texan99 (not verified) on 13 Aug 2008 #permalink
Humans have been cooking with fire for at least 250,000 years, judging by hearths found in caves.
The ethical implications if this research are troubling. Capsaicin binds to pain receptors. Fungi are susceptible to capsaicin. Therefore, fungi can sense pain, and those who do not eat meat for ethical reasons should consider dropping fungi from their diets as well.
By Mustafa Mond, FCD (not verified) on 15 Aug 2008 #permalink
The VR1 receptors are quite old. If I'm not mistaken, all mammals have them. However birds do not (the research even points out that birds are the main dispersers for peppers seeds and aren't affected by the heat). So now the evolutionary question comes down to "Did early mammals often eat food that was too hot?"
By The Science Pundit (not verified) on 16 Aug 2008 #permalink
Stuck in a rut: Ocean acidification locks algal communities in a simplified state
Goodbye Scienceblogs
NOTE: This blog has moved. The Frontal Cortex is now over here. I've got some exciting news: Starting today, the Frontal Cortex will be moving over to the Wired website. Needless to say, the move comes with the usual mixture of emotions, as I've greatly enjoyed my four years as part of the…
Twitter Strangers
Over at Gizmodo, Joel Johnson makes a convincing argument for adding random strangers to your twitter feed: I realized most of my Twitter friends are like me: white dorks. So I picked out my new friend and started to pay attention. She's a Christian, but isn't afraid of sex. She seems to have some…
I've got a new article in the latest Wired on the science of stress, as seen through the prism of Robert Sapolsky. The article isn't online yet (read it on the iPad!), but here are the opening paragraphs: Baboons are nasty, brutish and short. They have a long muzzle and sharp fangs designed to…
Over at Sciam's Mind Matters, Melody Dye has a great post on the surprising advantages of thinking like a baby. At first glance, this might seem like a ridiculous conjecture: A baby, after all, is missing most of the capabilities that define the human mind, such as language and the ability to…
Political Dissonance
Joe Keohane has a fascinating summary of our political biases in the Boston Globe Ideas section this weekend. It's probably not surprising that voters aren't rational agents, but it's always a little depressing to realize just how irrational we are. (And it's worth pointing out that this…
A month in dinosaurs (and pterosaurs): 1, therizinosauroid fuzz
First of all, many many thanks to everyone (both here and at SV-POW!) for the congrats regarding baby Emma. I am, shall we say, a little tired right now, but as you'll know if you've visited SV-POW! this morning, the good news as goes blogging is that I've been able to get lots of stuff prepared in advance. In theory, therefore, things won't be so different here on Tet Zoo. The one thing I haven…
A Note To My Readers
Dear Reader(s): This is Ethan, and I'm writing this to you to let you know that I owe you an apology. I have gotten so excited with the idea of bringing the story of the Universe to you -- to tell you how we got from the birth of the Universe to the present day, to tell you what the world, galaxy, and Universe is like and how it got to be that way -- that I've gotten carried away. You deserve the…
Goat Girl, or, The Milking Life
(Our new buckling, Cadfael, bred by our friends Jamey and Carol at Weathertop Farm (who are a great place to start if you are looking for little goats.) We arrived at their place recently about three minutes after he was born! Note: This is a repeat from last year, since we've got visitors and family coming and the spring planting rush upon us. The baby goats in question are now bred teenagers…