Battle Arena Melbourne 8 This Weekend – Feature roundup!
Where: CQ Functions, 123 Queen St Melbourne.
BAM8 returns this weekend for an exciting weekend of top level tournament play and celebration of the fighting game community. The annual Major celebrates the Australian fighting game scene. The Melbourne community is proud to host a national platform for players across the country to come together and compete.
With international attention from global leagues Capcom Pro Tour, Dead or Alive Battle Royal, or to compete with our massive Smash Bros community, BAM8 will be one of Australia's biggest gaming events – not just in fighting games but in all LAN or esports events.
After a record breaking 2015, where BAM7 saw 628 attendees play and spectate some incredible moments (BAM7 Results, Photos and Replays), BAM8 is on track to handily surpass it. At the close of early registration, BAM8 has 574 registered players, which will increase with on day signups and spectators.
International players are also attending, from 8 top Smash 4 players, and two Street Fighter World Champions, RZR.Xian and EG.Momochi, participating in our Street Fighter V Capcom Pro Tour event.
Capcom Pro Tour Ranking Event. Part of the prestigious global event. In addition to earning Ranking Points for Capcom Cup, the SFV Winner will be sponsored with travel and accommodation to the 2016 Capcom Pro Tour Asia final in South Korea. The winner of that CPT Premier event will earn a direct qualification to the Capcom Cup Finals.
Over $30,000 in cash and prizes, including cash pot bonuses to more games.
Additional streams as listed on schedule.
We look forward to seeing all the players who had a great time at previous events and welcome new players and spectators to our amazing community.


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WFP Scandal: Distributed substandard in quality nutrition-boosting porridge mix was detected
The World Food Programme is investigating how up to 50,000 tonnes of nutrition-boosting porridge mix it purchased for distribution to nursi...
Sexual health nurse and activist, Hoda Ali, was 'cut' aged seven in Somalia but she survived and now campaigns against FGM
A survivor of female genital mutilation has described how her family threw a 'party' the day she was maimed to make it "feel l...
Khat-related liver disease in sub-Saharan Africa: neglected, yet important
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New diagnostic test for malaria uses spit, not blood
"Spit here, please." Will this become the instruction we receive upon entering clinics, schools, apothecaries and ports of ent...
A doctor returns home after 20 years outside the country
Medical care and providing assistance to refugees is a life-long passion for Dr Sohur Mire, a Somali-Swedish medical professional and ...
Medical care and providing assistance to refugees is a life-long passion for Dr Sohur Mire, a Somali-Swedish medical professional and board...
WHO warns of Measles making a comeback with cases of the infection rising
The World Health Organization warned Thursday that efforts to halt the spread of measles were "backsliding", with case numbers wo...
Opinion: For women in conflict settings, family planning services are often first to go
It's no surprise that International Condom Day coincides with Valentine's Day. What other day of the year overtly promotes love and sex?...
Mayo, HealthFinders partner in women's improved health care for Somali women
Through an innovative and evolving partnership with HealthFinders Collaborative (HFC), Mayo Clinic Health System women's health providers h...
WFP Scandal: Distributed substandard in quality nu...
Sexual health nurse and activist, Hoda Ali, was 'c...
Khat-related liver disease in sub-Saharan Africa: ...
A doctor returns home after 20 years outside the c...
WHO warns of Measles making a comeback with cases...
Opinion: For women in conflict settings, family pl...
Mayo, HealthFinders partner in women's improved he...
Germany and UNICEF hand over 30 vehicles to suppor...
Witness in female genital mutilation case 'had his...
Ministry takes over 8 Billion Kenyan Shilling KU h...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Tag: Major Kira
Deep Space Nine: s06 e26 – Tears of the Prophets
This is one of the points I've known about all along, going back almost twenty years. It's been a long long time coming, in both senses, and when it came, despite the opinions of many, I found it disappointing, if still emotional. Terry Farrell's last episode, Jardzia Dax's death, a death foretold yet in its arrival perfunctory and meaningless, a side-issue in an episode that wanted to engineer a reversal for Captain Sisko.
In terms of guests stars, this was one of the fullest episodes of them all, with practically every recurring character popping up somewhere or other, including Vic bloody Fontaine in the most seriously ill-thought out idea of the whole script, wasting time crooning to Bashir and Quark, who'd chosen to have themselves serenaded as 'The Losers' (oh, you bet) after Jardzia announces that she and Worf are going to try for a baby.
As if that wasn't a glutinously cheesy bit of melodrama in itself.
It had been known for no little time that Farrell wasn't renewing her contract, having burnt out on the long days of filming. What wasn't known then was the disgusting sexual harrassment the actress had been experiencing from day 1 from co-Showrunner Rick Berman, who'd pretty much put a stop of Farrell's willingness to stay on as a recurring, not cast member. No, it was pretty much decided that Jatdzia had to be written out by dying, and originally it was supposed to be heroically, of course.
But with all that time to think it out and get it right, there was a colossal failure of imagination as Jardzia just gets ambushed by Gul Dukat, who's possessed by a Pah-Wraith, and blasted with no-one there to even be horrified by the assault on her. Except the audience, of course.
For the season finale, the show wanted to kick Sisko in the teeth. The set-up was that the Federation had finally agreed to his urging to switch to an Offensive War, striking at the Cardassians in a weak system, under-defended. Gul Damar is having it seeded by automated defence platforms, so there, but the nutcase Dukat turns up out of nowhere with a plan to open up the Wormhole to enable Dominion reinforcements to flood in again.
The Prophets warn Sisko not to leave Bajor but Admiral Ross makes him choose between the Federation and being an Emissary, which is all stuff and nonsense anyway. Sisko leads the assault, leaving DS9 under Jardzia's command and vulnerable to the possessed Dukat beaming aboard into the Bajoran temple (how? Just like that, into the Federation's most important centre?).
Jardzia goes down, the nearest Orb gets carbonated, the Wormhole vanishes, Sisko falls ill on the Defiant's bridge, the attack succeeds, the Dax symbiont is saved, Worf mourns, Sisko mourns then he buggers off to Earth on indefinite Leave of Absence (Supreme Tactical Commander of the Federation and he can just nip off on holiday like that?). And, to make it all seem so serious, he takes his baseball.
No, this one fell flat on its face in so many respects. It failed to provide even a half decent send-off for Farrell, it spilled dross over everything else, it was completely unconvincing, and if I'm in a minority again, sobeit. After six seasons, they should know how to do better than this.
Six months from now, give or take the odd double-episode, I'm going to be coming to the end of this long run of Deep Space Nine Tuesdays. I'd like to hope the show finale is better than this was. For once, I'd accept a spoiler warning that it is.
By mbc1955in The Goggle-Box June 19, 2018 June 11, 2018 611 Words2 Comments
Deep Space Nine: s06 e25 – The Sound of her Voice
The penultimate episode of season 6 worked out in the end as not working for me. It was an A/B story episode, with the B story centred upon Quark, which was enough to mar any hope the episode had of impressing me. You're all aware by now of my antipathy towards Ferenghi, but that twenty-one carat disaster of a story two episodes back has finished things: this was too soon and too Quark. I couldn't care about it, I could barely keep my eyes on the screen when it was on.
Unfortunately, a lot of that seeped back into the A story, to the extent that I'm not sure how much of my ultimately cold response to it is the poisoning by the B story, and how much was down to that element's failure in its own terms.
Half the station staff – Sisko, Worf, Bashir and O'Brien, plus Kasidy Yates – have completed a mission escort a freight convoy when the Defiant picks up a distress call from Captain Lisa Cusack, a Federation officer stranded on a hostile planet after a crash that destroyed her ship and all her crew. The Defiant sets off on a rescue mission that will take them six days to arrive. Unfortunately, Captain Cusack is on a planet with a high CO2 atmosphere and it will be touch and go whether they can arrive before she dies.
This late in the season, it seems an odd, irrelevant concept for an episode, but Captain Cusack turns out to be just a McGuffin. She's a voice on a radio (guest star Debra Wilson was a voice actor and chosen on that basis), in need of someone to talk to whilst she waits. Sisko, Bashir and O'Brien take it in turns to engage her in conversation, which rapidly reveals that Captain Cusack is a device to get various cast members to talk about what's bothering them, what effect the Dominion War is having on them.
It was all a bit too mechanical, too blatant for me to actually feel that much involvement in the cast's issues, especially as most of them seemed to have been invented for the episode, without grounding over previous weeks that would make them look an organic development.
And ultimately the Defiant arrived in the nick of time only to find that Captain Cusack had been dead for three years and the radio conversations had been bouncing forward and backwards in time in a very convenient manner that sounded completely artificial and a cheap ending, even though the concept of conversations across time was the initial concept that grew into this script.
As for the B story, it starts when Quark realises that Odo can be distracted from his duties by his love for Kira so he edges the Constable towards an Anniversary date to celebrate their first month. This enables him to set up a profitable smuggling deal, free from interference. Jake Sisko breaks character to go along with observing every detail of the deal on condition he doesn't tell anyone else anything. The scam is set to take place Saturday evening but Odo plans to celebrate Sunday evening instead. Odo despairs of yet another, this time ruinous failure and after all he did for Odo in finally pushing him into Kira's arms. Odo overhears this and abruptly switches his date back to Saturday night. Quark celebrates beating Odo at last but Odo's only done it because he did owe Quark one, but only one. There. I'm sure that to the right fan, that was delightful but I've had it way past here with Quark and that's not going to change.
I'm afraid I found the finale a bit too mechanical as well. The Defiant crew hold an Irish Wake for Captain Cusack, speaking about how she has changed them. Jardzia Dax is present with Worf. O'Brien talks of staying close with friends "because someday we're going to wake up and we're going to find that someone is missing from this circle." And the camera pans to Dax.
It's not exactly subtle and it's far from impressive. Had this episode been half a dozen weeks ago, that would have worked far better, as a reminder that this is a War and sometimes even important people get killed in wars, but it's like putting up a neon sign here.
So, one that might have been much better, but in the end wasn't. And, next week…
By mbc1955in The Goggle-Box June 12, 2018 June 5, 2018 750 Words2 Comments
Deep Space Nine: s06 e21 – The Reckoning
Gunfight at the OK Promenade
Researching last week's episode and the brief pre-synopsis of 'The Reckoning' has brought home to me that we are now approaching Deep Space Nine's endgame, and that its writers and producers are fully aware of this and are now starting to lay markers for the ultimate conclusion. Thus this episode, directly relating to Sisko's role as the Emissary, to one of the Prophecies, and foreshadowing the role Kai Winn will be playing.
It's a simple enough story. An ancient tablet is found on Bajor, covered in old, difficult to translate, inscriptions, one of which refers to the Emissary. When Sisko touches it, he has a Prophet-vision, telling him that The Reckoning is at hand, and that it will be the end, or the beginning. He's thrown across the cave.
Sisko has gone from being the complete sceptic over his Emissaryship to a true believer, whereas nobody else, except Kira, can take it seriously. Jake is concerned at what this is doing to his Dad, a subtle reversal of roles that prefigures what is to follow.
The Captain has had the tablet brought to DS9, where it is rapidly followed by Kai Winn (Louise Fletcher once again at her best), demanding its return. Sisko wants to study it until he understands both it and what he is supposed to do. Dax's translations are pretty much all doom, gloom and despair. But when Starfleet order Sisko to hand it back, his frustrations and confusions mount into a Prophet-sent rage in which he smashes the stone, releasing two shades of energy wisps, one red, one blue, that vanish into the station.
Winn's underlying resentment of Sisko, after much time spent developing a more conciliatory relationship with the Emissary, is analysed by Kira as being ultimately her resentment that, after believing all her life, after rising to become spiritual leader of Bajor, she is nevertheless out-ranked, and by a non-Bajoran. So much is true, but it ignores an underlying factor, which Fletcher brings out in her studied, quiet, seemingly undemonstrative way: that there is a crack in her faith, because the Emissary exists.
This will play out overtly in the endgame. Much of the middle of the episode is static in terms of the plot, is about reactions and opinions, which makes the ending all the more dramatic, when a Prophet possesses Kira.
It's very effective: Nana Visitor stands more erect, her face is lit by a pale light, her voice is made more mechanical in tone and, most disconcerting of all, she is given pale blue eyes. The Reckoning is here, the Sisko has completed his task. Winn recognises the Fifth Prophecy: good will confront evil, the Prophet will confront the Pah Wraith Kosst Amojan: if successful, this will usher in a Golden Age for Bajor, 1,000 years of peace and plenty.
But the battle will probably destroy DS9.
Sisko orders a general evacuation. He is determined that The Reckoning shall go ahead, and he will stay to see it through. Especially after Kosst Amojan possesses Jake.
It's a battle of special effects, as the combatants stand and glare at each other (apparently it took ages to shoot because Naba Visitor and Cirroc Lofton kept collapsing in giggles). The battle is going to the Prophet but the energy build-up means the station could blow up at any second. Dax has proposed a solution, flooding the Promenade with Chroniton particles to force both possessors to leave, and strangling The Reckoning at birth. Sisko has refused this all along – but in the confusion of the final evacuation, Kai Winn slips into Ops and sets the Chroniton working.
Prophet and Pah Wraith flee in agony. Kira and Jake survive (the latter bringing the circle around again from Jake visiting his dad in the infirmary to Ben visiting his son). Bajor is safe again. Kai Winn is preening herself. But Kira confronts her over her decision, understanding completely that it was born of ambition, not of faith. The Prophecy has not been fulfilled, and even the Prophets may not know now what the future holds.
Seeds are implanted. It's a non-ending, on one level a cop-out, but perhaps a necessary one – if a thousand years of peace were to be secured, who needs another 31 episodes of Deep Space Nine. But it's an episode that deals with major concerns, and it's brilliantly acted.
Of course, the luvvy-duvvy cosying up between Kira and Odo was totally out of place – I had not realised just how wrong that would look – and Colm Meaney got the week off, but let us not nitpick. From hereon in, everything we see is on the road to the End. Everything is a signpost. Look for what direction it points.
By mbc1955in The Goggle-Box May 15, 2018 May 8, 2018 800 Words2 Comments
Deep Space Nine:s06 e20 – His Way
Changeling in a Tuxedo – wasn't that a Morrissey song?
My parents loved Frank Sinatra and Nat 'King' Cole. I grew up, as a little boy, on sounds like these, on the BBC's Light Programme. It was a little terraced house, with the radio on and the music was inescapable unless I went and hid in my bedroom, or was playing outside. They hated pop music, so both there, and at the semi-detached we later moved into, I heard virtually nothing of the music of the Sixties whilst it was rolling out. Pretty much all my love for that music is retrospective.
As a result, I am virtually completely inoculated against music of that ilk. It belongs to my parents. It isn't, and can't be, anything of mine. It's ineradicably severed from the music that influences me. And it has always seemed that the only music you ever hear on American TV programmes is this relic of a past now long since gone: light, snappy, a bit jazzy, light. Lacking in energy, passion and raw enthusiasm. As if the audience can't take anything later in style than maybe 1961-62: the Rat Pack era. Frank and Dean. And Vic. Vic Fontaine, that is.
Which is why an episode of Deep Space Nine built upon that music, that style, that retrograde ethos, showcasing the kind of songs that take me back to Brigham Street and playing with plastic soldiers on the floor, with drying clothes hung on the folding maiden in front of the fire, was never going to fly with me. Four hundred years in the future and we are still aping Frank and Dean.
My great criticism of The Original Series is that I find it impossible to believe in a galaxy run according to the mores of mid-Fifties midwest America. It's ironic to see it's darkest and deepest sequel sinking into the music of that time.
Basically, guest star James Darren (guest? It was practically his show) plays Vic Fontaine, nightclub/lounge singer and self-aware hologram in Bashir's latest programme. Vic sings and tells cheesy jokes but he's also a master of love. Odo, still mooning over Kira, who's off to Bajor to see ex-boyfriends, Shakaar, asks Vic for advice.
Put like that, you can see what a bad idea it is. Played out over 45 minutes, Odo is every bit as inept and awkward as you'd expect him to be. I was a bit surprised though, not to get any frissons of recognition from my own ineptitude and awkwardness, though it was probably the unreality of the situation that kept me from feeling too much of myself in things.
Vic teaches Odo to unwind, relax, cool it, have fun, not that Odo changes too much. He introduces him to torch singer Lola Christoff (Nana Visitor in a red sheath dress, breathily singing 'Fever'), and having a definite thing for Our Changeling Friend, but Odo can't take that step because though she looks like Nerys, she doesn't act like her.
So the ever-resourceful Vic (he manages to get his hologram self everywhere) gets Kira to come for dinner in the holosuite, cons Odo into thinking this is a perfect hologram duplicate, and serves them up the perfect cliche Fifties dinner, dance and shag date.
Of course we only get the first two, because when Odo realises that this is the Kira, the real Kira, everything blows up in a perfect storm of embarrassment. Leading to the cliche ending: Odo avoids Kira, Kira decides to settle it by asking him to dinner, a real dinner, they start shouting at each other, on the Promenade, over the sequence of events: dinner, dancing, kissing, why bother with the preliminaries, lets have the massive passionate snog right here, in public, with the crowd practically holding up scorecards: 9.1, 9.6, 9.3…
Both Nana Visitor and Rene Auberjonois thought this development wrong for their characters, and so do I, but the season 7 finale was already in mind, including Odo's resolution, if not quite yet its title, and there had to be something to lose. The story had been played out since season 2, and the showrunners wanted it to progress towards that end (the rationale is somewhat male-centric: give the guy a girl so he's got something precious to sacrifice, but what about her?) even if the actors felt it wrong.
For once, I seem to be in with the majority, who didn't like the episode, though they're not as alienated by the music as I am. The showrunners still defend it, but this was one for them and not the audience. Mam and Dad would have liked it, though.
By mbc1955in The Goggle-Box May 8, 2018 May 1, 2018 777 Words2 Comments
Deep Space Nine: s06 e17 – Wrongs Darker than Death or Night
Bajoran comfort women
Though this is a highly-respected episode, once again I'm more ambivalent than many in my response to it. 'Wrongs Darker than Death or Night', a title taken from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem Prometheus Bound is a Kira Nerys solo vehicle revisiting her past during the Bajoran Occupation, refining her 'relationship' with Gul Dukat, but from a completely different angle, albeit one whose beats were a little too predictable, even down to the angle on which the greatest moral ambiguity turned.
In an initially comic open in which Worf and Dax provided the set-up, we learn that today is what would have been Nerys's mother's 60th birthday, to be celebrated with Bajoran lilacs. Nerys lost her mother aged three, and her only memories are those her father gave her, of a strong and brave woman.
So we're not in the least surprised when Nerys is woken in the night by a mystery transmission from Dukat, undermining said memories by claiming Kira Meru (Leslie Hope) was his lover and left her husband for him.
Nor are we surprised that, despite Nerys' steadfast rejection of this as a blatant lie, she's still undermined by this claim, so much so that she uses the Orb of Time to go back in time to see the truth.
Immediately she finds her starving family, including her three-year old self, and effectively meets her beautiful-if-strained looking mother for the first time. Just in time for Meru, Nerys and a dozen other unaccountably still beautiful, shapely, sexy Bajoran women to be seized as 'comfort women' for Cardassian officers on, guess where, Terak Nor, aka Deep Space Nine.
So that explains it. But the episode was set on a greater moral ambiguity than that. Yes, Gul Dukat has his eyes on Meru, impresses her by having her facial scar dissolved, cuts her out from the 'herd' with a much-used ploy. And seduces her even further by offering her both limitless food and the promise that her husband and children will be taken care of, in their own comfort. The fact still remains, and it's not belaboured, that Meru has no option but to allow herself to be taken to bed by Dukat.
Nerys, whose moral absolutes have been formed by a long career with the resistance, as well as the example of a mother turn away by the Cardassians, finds it impossible to forgive Meru. She is a Collaborator, and in one sense worse than the occupiers themselves. What is worse though is that Meru is enjoying herself. She has plenty of food and pretty clothes, the things she dreamed of as a child. Sure, she openly and bitterly acknowledges the irony of how she's come by them, and how horrible it makes her feel, and she is doing all this – betraying her husband, abandoning her children, fucking a Cardassian – because this will aid her family. But she's also enjoying the luxury, and Nerys cannot forgive her for that. As far as Nerys is concerned, even the tiniest fraction of enjoyment is ultimate: like in America in pre-Civil War times,where a one hundredth part of black blood in someone's heritage made them black, not white.
So Nerys joins the Resistance, exploits her mother's liking and affinity for her to gain access to Dukat's quarters and plants a bomb that will kill not just Dukat but Meru. But after setting its irreversible 'fuse', Nerys sees Meru watching a transmission from her father, Taban. Everything Dukat has promised is true. They have gone home, are well looked-after, the children are healthy and happy, all because of the sacrifice Meru is making. And Meru's response is sobbing.
Nerys's certainty breaks. She warns Meru, gets her out. Less explicably, she also warns Dukat, who is further in and who could easily have been left to die (a choice we have to attribute to the Will of the Prophets and the principle of not drastically buggering about with the Past). Everyone survives and Nerys bounces back to the present.
The close is interesting, thanks to Nana Visitor's insistence on a re-write of a scene that originally had her openly forgiving her mother. Ms Visitor was insistent that Nerys would not be so unequivocal, and of course she was right. The episode doesn't judge, and Sisko explicitly says that no-one can judge Meru's decision but Meru herself. Nerys still wants to condemn Collaborators. In a way, it's a cop-out ending that all she does is acknowledge that it's not as simple as she always thought it was, but the morality is truly ambiguous, and ultimately there is no right or wrong answer, only the choices we ourselves would make if we were to find ourselves in such extreme circumstances, which we hope we never will.
It ties into the greater good question: can harm to the few be justified by relief for the many? Meru ensures safety and security for her family. What would you or I do? When I was married, I would have sacrificed myself in a heartbeat for them, without a shred of doubt as to whether I was doing 'the right thing' or not. 'The right thing' was their sanctity.
Having thought it over, I'm more impressed by the episode now than in actually watching it, when I was too aware of the mechanics of its construction and the predictability of its component elements. But, as I've often had to remind myself, if not recently, this was a prime-time entertainment drama of twenty years ago, with the inherent restrictions on time, budget and leaving things how you found them for next week that the form required.
And I've just now realised that, only three years after this guest appearance, Leslie Hope played Teri Bauer in season 1 of 24! She looks a lot hotter here…
By mbc1955in The Goggle-Box April 17, 2018 April 10, 2018 975 Words2 Comments
Deep Space Nine: s06 e14 – One Little Ship
Tiny spaceship time
We're already into the back half of season 6 and, whilst there were a few things about this episode that aren't going to escape critical comment, I enjoyed this rather more than I've done for some weeks. 'One Little Ship' was something of a comedic episode, helpfully signalled to the audience in the open by having Major Kira burst into hysterical laughter over the premise, but the humour was more in the playing by Colm Meaney, Alexander Siddig and Terry Farrell, as the three who shrunk, because the story was otherwise completely serious.
There was a certain amount of disguised playing to the open as well. Everybody's off on the 'Defiant' doing a scientific mission as a break from the ongoing War that's ongoing exceedingly slowly and mostly everywhere else except near Deep Space Nine. Point of criticism #1: I'm very disappointed in DS9's failure of nerve over the War, which they've started but don't really have any commitment in pursuing, taking every opportunity they can to run away from it into a one-off story. 'One Little Ship' set up shop to appear to be doing that again. But it didn't.
And there was a point when I thought that, for the first time in quite some time, we were going to have the old A-story/B-story set-up, with Dax, O'Brien and Bashir having one adventure in the Accretion Anomaly that was going to shrink them to about half a centimetre in height, and Sisko, Kira, Worf and Nog having another when the 'Defiant' was attacked and captured by Jem'Hadar. I was proven wrong on both points.
What happened was that, because it exited the anomaly on a different course from its entry (the anomaly being the MacGuffin, the scientific gobbledegook required to create the situation), the runabout Rubicon was stuck at 4cm long. So the tiny ship had to fly into the 'Defiant' and use all manner of sneakiness to zip here and there, lending a next-to-invisible hand to the Sisko-led response to the invasion.
In this, the shrunken warriors were aided by an intriguing new plot development that was never mentioned again, because nobody bothered to follow up on it. After the Jem'Hadar fleet was destroyed in the Wormhole, the Founders decided not t try to bring in any more Jem'Hadar but instead breed a new Jem'Hadar race on the spot (shades of the Mekon's 'New Treens' in my favourite Dan Dare story, 'All Treens Must Die!').
These 'Alpha's are specially bred, genetically redesigned to thrive on war in the Alpha Quadrant, which has created a friction between the new, upstarts Alphas and the long-established but now overshadowed Gammas. The First is an Alpha, the Second a Gamma, and a well-respected Elder who was himself First until just two days ago. The Second has a great deal of experience, the First has practically none, and not only does he ignore the Second's advice, he openly resents it and is even more determined to go his own way, with the arrogance of (assumed) natural superiority.
Needless to say, the Second is right at every turn, though his reward is a death that overcomes him before he is able to complete the Jem'Hadar mantra, 'Obedience is Victory: Victory is Life'.
Point of Criticism #2: everyone agrees this Jem'Hadar division should have been taken further, but it never was. That relegation to a one-off weakens what was, ultimately, a fundamental plot-point, makes it look as if it's a gimmick that was invented as a 'Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free' card, and you know how often I've complained of cheap, shoddy writing in the last thirty months. That it was intended as a permanent development redeems it a little, but it should still have been woven into the overall storyline.
Then again, in way way could this have been used that wasn't basically a repetition of this episode? The answer is, I Don't Know, but I'm sure a bank of screenwriters could have come up with something.
'One Little Ship' was filmed before last week's 'Far Beyond the Stars' but airedafter because of the increased post-production time, adding the shrunken 'Rubicon' in Special Effects, which brought the episode an Emmy nomination. It may not have been of great significance overall, but I personally had a better time than I've had for many Deep Space Nine Tuesdays.
By mbc1955in The Goggle-Box March 27, 2018 March 20, 2018 729 Words2 Comments
Deep Space Nine: s06 e11 – Waltz
Who will love Aladdin Sane?
By and large, I've been pretty successful at avoiding spoilers, considering I'm watching a series from twenty years ago. I should distinguish that as being specific spoilers, however: there is one about Odo I'd really rather not know given its circumstances, but that's not bad after nearly two and a half years of doing this.
However, it is much harder to avoid more generalised spoilers, especially when it comes too my post-watch research: Memory Alpha is invaluable to me in one sense, but when it considers how a specific episode relates to a character in the round of their overall arc, it can give away more than I'd like to know.
I've long since been aware of the controversy among DS9 fans over the degeneration of Gul Dukat's character over the last two seasons. Dukat is, I am led to believe, reduced to a one-dimensional, mad, wholly evil character, with none of the multi-level facets he's displayed thus far, to the benefit of the series as a whole. This is where it starts.
I'll return to that aspect in due course. The episode is structured as a two-hander, much the most effective approach, with minimal use of other characters. Dukat, officially recovered from his post-Ziyal's death breakdown, is being transported to a Federation prison to await trial as a war criminal: Sisko is there to give evidence. Dukat is already visibly disturbed at being considered in such a light, though he minimises this.
Then the starship is attacked and destroyed. Sisko is injured, with a broken left arm and plasma burns down all that side of his body. He wakes to find that he and Dukat are marooned on an inhospitable planet, their shuttle damaged, a distress beacon going (these last two points are lies on Dukat's part). They are stranded until someone arrives to rescue them, when they will once again be hero and prisoner (villain). Which is which will depend on who gets there first.
But that's not the point. The point is to isolate Sisko and Dukat, Emissary and Adversary, and let them unravel. Or rather, let Dukat unravel, for Sisko is only weakened by physical issues and Dukat is mentally unstable. He hallucinates, holds conversations with Weyoun, Dumar, even Major Kira. Dukat fully intends to kill Sisko, but not until Sisko admits that he respects Dukat.
Plainly and simply, Dukat is going mad, or actually is mad. The hallucinations, the gradually increasing degree of mania in his talk, amplified by the gradually increasing submissiveness of his imaginary debaters, feeding his monstrous ego, and his overriding delusion that he is and always has been The Good Guy, are overt manifestations, but the most powerful sign that Dukat's grasp on reality is no longer of this earth is that he seriously believes that he will get Sisko to admit that he secretly does respect Dukat.
Which Sisko will never do, not in a million years.
Beaten, battered, bruised, a visibly weakening Sisko finally stops temporising in the knowledge that he's going to be killed soon and directly confronts Dukat. The Gul believes himself to be innocent, to have been the victim of misunderstandings all along, the Bajorans were responsible for everything he had to do whilst Prefect under the Occupation. If onlythey'd accepted he was their friend, was trying to assist them. That Cardassians were their superiors and the Bajorans an inferior race, fit only for subjection. Dukat was the Good Guy.
It's a testament to Marc Alaimo's abilities as Dukat that he can sell this so powerfully and convincingly. It's self-deluding twaddle, and it's in a sense overly-simplistic. The episode is gearing itself towards its pay-off, in Sisko declaring Dukat simply and purely evil, in a child-like sense. Alaimo's intensity and range enables us to believe this.
In a way, Sisko's actions do lead to what follows for the remainder of DS9. It's that familiar old tactic of getting the mad villain onto a roll and feeding him until he blurts out the truth, which is that Dukat basically hates all Bajorans and wishes he had killed them all. This is the moment when Dukat steps over the line that brooks no retreat. It's consciously done: after all, Gul Dukat is supposed to be the Villain, the Big Bad, Deep Space Nine's Public Enemy No. 1, and here were fans loving the character, even to the extent of defending his crimes.
So this is a reset, a firm exercise in button-pushing, in pushing the character into a position from where he becomes indefensible, strait-jacketed into what the Plot demands he be. Dukat's been lying. The distress beacon isn't working. The shuttle isn't damaged. Now he's faced the truth within himself,that he's been avoiding acknowledging all this time, Dukat has embraced his true nature fully. Now, once and for always, he is Bajor's enemy, and will destroy them all (when the villain's motivation reduces to a Chris Claremont X-Men schtick, you know there's something wrong).
But when Dukat escapes, he sends a signal to the rescue ship that enables them to rescue Sisko. After all, there's no point in winning if your beaten enemy isn't there to show off to. Even Sisko now admits it's personal.
To go back to the overall character arc, I will wait to see how things develop. On the one hand, I can see the dramatic necessity of this move, but on the other I can easily understand the lack of subtlety involved in reducing a character to a single characteristic. Psychologically, it is plausible: a person who has been denying an essential facet of their character will frequently absorb it to the point of obsession once they are forced to confront it. It's still a cliched move, especially in how it's brought out. And it is far better to have a multi-faceted villain, one whose actions may not be unrelievedly evil, and whose degree of villainy can be debated. On the other hand, when the fans start justifying the villain as Supreme Dictator of a Subjugated Planet, then it is time to do a bit of drastic course correction.
We'll see. As for the rest of the cast, they have minimal roles to play in a rescue give artificial time-limits in order to crank up a degree of melodrama, but that's artificial bullshit and is so underplayed it can be ignored.
None of this would work at all without Marc Alaimo 'being' Gul Dukat to the fullest extent, and all praise to him. For all this episode's pre-fabricated aspects, he made it work, made it tense and gripping, and made this the best episode to date since the return to Deep Space Nine. I just wish I didn't know when he and Sisko have their next, and final meeting…
By mbc1955in The Goggle-Box March 6, 2018 February 27, 2018 1,139 Words2 Comments


text:
Katya Reimann (born 1965) is an American writer of fantasy novels.

Biography
Reimann is an author of high fantasy novels. Her debut novel, Wind from a Foreign Sky, is set in a world similar to the Dark Ages. She has cited her literary influences as T. H. White, 18th century writers, and Rene Goscinny.

Reimann has a PhD in 18th Century Literature from the University of Oxford, which she achieved in 1995 after six years of study and teaching in England. She also has a bachelor's degree from Yale University.

She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Bibliography

The Tielmaran Chronicles
 Wind From a Foreign Sky  (1996)
 A Tremor in the Bitter Earth (1998)
 Prince of Fire and Ashes (2002)

Rulers of Hylor
Upon the death of Cherry Wilder, Reimann completed the final book in the series:
 The Wanderer (2004)

Nominations and awards
 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (1997, nominated)

References

External links
 Official website (archived)

 Bibliography at SciFan
 A Review of Wind from a Foreign Sky at FantasyLiterature.net

1965 births
Living people
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American fantasy writers
American women novelists
Women science fiction and fantasy writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Brian K. Kim
brian.kim@stoel.com Download vCard
Brian Kim is an associate in Stoel Rives' Corporate group. He counsels his clients in buy-side and sell-side deal negotiation and structuring through closing for middle market mergers and acquisitions. Although Brian works with clients across a variety of industries, he has significant M&A experience in deals involving the dental and other healthcare fields, as well as the food and agribusiness industry. Brian also assists business clients on general corporate matters including formation, restructuring, corporate governance, joint ventures and capital raise.
Before joining Stoel Rives, Brian was an associate with Dickinson Wright PLLC. Prior to practicing law, Brian gained experience in the business sector working for a publicly traded specialty apparel retailer in its brand protection division. Brian also speaks Korean fluently.
Represented an international private equity fund in its cross-border majority equity investment in a Pacific Northwest-based orchards company group.
Represented Label Technology, Inc., a manufacturer of flexible packaging and preformed pouches for consumer products, in connection with its sale to Fortis Solutions Group.
Represented an East Asia-based strategic acquiror in connection with a proposed acquisition of a U.S. privately held food processing business.
Represented a vertically integrated U.S. agribusiness, processing and retail business in its cross-border public strategic transaction with an international special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Represented a market leader in care management and health improvement, in a private equity recapitalization.
Represented a Southwest-based ophthalmology practice group in connection with a private equity sponsored management service organization (MSO) roll-up transaction.
Represented a Southwest-based ophthalmology practice group with retina specialty in its sale to an MSO.
Represented a multistate dental service organization (DSO) supporting 40+ locations in a recapitalization by a private equity fund.
Represented a private equity fund in a control investment in an East Coast-based multi-state dental practice group.
Represented a West Coast-based multi-location orthodontic practice group in connection with a private equity sponsored DSO roll-up transaction.
Represented a DSO in an acquisition of statewide 10-practice locations of another DSO.
Represented a California-based DSO in connection with formation, private offering, regulatory compliance and expansions into 10+ U.S. states.
Represented various regional dental and orthodontic practice groups and DSOs in the Midwest and Southeast in sale transactions with national DSO buyers.
Represented various dental, orthodontic and oral surgery practice groups and DSOs based in California, Texas, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York in connection with DSO formation, restructuring and add-on practice acquisitions and DSO-to-DSO acquisitions.
Represented an East Asia-based wireless IoT manufacturing company in connection with its sale of Asian and European operating subsidiaries to a U.S. publicly traded strategic buyer.
Represented a publicly traded lawn and gardening industry leader in its strategic acquisition of a hydroponics technology company.
Represented a privately held software company in its strategic acquisitions of real estate SaaS companies based in Texas and Florida.
Represented a Southwest-based fluidization technology company group in a restructuring and venture capital equity issuance.
Represented Midwest-based SaaS and biotech startups with formation, bridge financing and venture capital raise transactions.
Represented an industry leading insurance plans and employee benefits management group in a recapitalization by a national insurance brokerage group.
Represented a Midwest-based private equity firm and its portfolio companies in strategic acquisitions of a fire suppression company and an electrical construction company.
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, J.D., 2013
The Ohio State University, B.S., Business Administration (Information Systems; Risk Management & Insurance), 2006


Hair is a protein fiber (as are nails), which means you need to eat protein to grow new strands and keep the existing ones strong. Protein is also required to produce keratin, a key structural component of hair.
Hair loss can occur after a significant physiological strain, such as a prolonged illness or crash dieting, which may leave you deficient in iron, B12, or protein—all vital to healthy hair growth. An emotionally trying event, like a divorce, can also lead to allover thinning three to four later, when the hairs that were forming under the scalp at the time finally make (or don't make) their appearance. Usually the hair will grow back in a few months. If a nutrient deficiency is the cause, your doctor can help you supplement your diet.


Skúli segir í tölvupósti að eðlilegt sé að flóknar viðræður og stórar fjárfestingar taki lengri tíma en búist var við.
Skúli Mogensen, forstjóri og eigandi WOW air, skrifar í tölvupósti til starfsmanna sinna að viðræðurnar við Indigo Partners gangi vel. Ósannir orðrómar um WOW air verði áfram á kreiki.
"Veturinn hefur verið erfiður en ég get fullvissað ykkur um að viðræðurnar við Indigo Partners ganga vel og samkvæmt áætlun eins og þið sem takið beinan þátt í þeim vitið. Það er fullkomlega eðlilegt að flóknar viðræður og stórar fjárfestingar taki lengri tíma en búist var við," skrifar Skúli í tölvupóstinum.
Þá skrifar Skúli að reksturinn hafi gengið vel á nýju ári. Til að mynda hafi tekjur í janúar verið umfram áætlun. Hann hefur ekki séð betri stundvísistölur í mörg ár og segir það skipta miklu máli hvað varðar kostnað og ánægju farþega.
Ætla má að tilefni bréfsins sé fréttaflutningur Túrista, byggða á heimildum miðilsins, þar sem fram kom að stjórnendur WOW air hefðu farið fram á frest fram í miðjan mars til að gera upp ógreidd lendinga- og farþegagjöld á flugvöllum út í heimi.
Hér að neðan má lesa tölvupóst Skúla í heild sinni.
I am glad to inform you that we have started the new year on a positive note and we are exceeding our expectations on all fronts. Revenue in January was ahead of budget, load and bookings into Q1 and Q2 are ahead of our goals as we continue to see improvements in our sales, marketing and PR efforts. Our Valentines promotion was a great success generating a lot of interest in all of our major markets. On the operations side we are seeing record On Time Performance both to and from KEF where we are now for the first time in years exceeding our OTP targets. So far in February we are at 87% OTP!, the highest I have ever seen during the dark winter months. Our OTP performance is hugely important as it has a big impact both on our underlying cost but not least on our passenger satisfaction.
This improved performance in all areas of WOW air is especially impressive given the difficult restructuring that we went through in December. All of you have demonstrated incredible persistence and endurance rising up to the challenges put in front of you. This winter has been tough but I can ensure you that our discussions with Indigo Partners are progressing well and according to plan as those of you who are directly involved in the negotiations know. We have built a solid business plan going forward and are now executing ahead of that plan thanks to your great performance. It is completely normal that complex negotiations and large investments take time and sometimes longer than expected. In the meantime I know you have to endure questions on a daily bases and there is no doubt that there will continue to be false rumors about WOW air but I am convinced that as long as we continue to execute and stay focused on offering great prices, good service and getting our passengers safely and on time to their destinations we will prevail and succeed.
I want to thank all of you for your great efforts and dedication in making WOW air a reality and I look very much forward to celebrating with you during our annual ball on March 9th!


A picture of the smiling dog and his new owner spread around the internet in joy – and now the pair is embroiled in controversy around breed specific legislation.
At issue is Diggy (or Sir Wiggleton), a dog that was adopted out by the Detroit Dog Rescue as an American Bulldog but Waterford Township Officials say is a "dangerous dog/pit bull" after visiting Tillery's home on Friday and so the dog needs to leave that city.
Complaints were filed by township residents once they saw the viral photo, even though Detroit Dog Rescue called township officials before adopting the dog out.
Tillery says that he has no intentions of giving Diggy up. As of this writing, an online petition on Care2 has garnered nearly 23,000 signatures to change the law in Waterford Township, which has a population of about 72,000 people.
On Monday, the situation will be reviewed; but in the mean time, it's pretty clear that singer Dan Tillery and Diggy are trying to keep their smiles on the best they can. Check out their little duet below. Dan does the singing, and Diggy does the licking.


I was looking for more contact info for Luther Lowe and noticed his tweet about a blog post explaining Yelp's Review Filter. Luther does a good job of explaining the Yelp Review Filter and Yelp has commissioned a video which tries to explain it in a friendly way. The review filter, Yelp's legal woes and the general state of Yelpdom have been the topics of many conversations lately.
While in Portland last week presenting on Facebook Marketing at SEMpdx SearchFest I had a couple great dinners with some really smart people. One of those dinners included the aforementioned smart person Luther Lowe who is part of Yelp's business outreach team.
From what I could discern, that the most critical component of the review filter is one which looks at a users yelpish tendancies to see how active a yelper they are. In other words, if you just created your account, or have a very thin profile you might get filtered.
I can see it. I understand it, but I think the position Yelp takes regarding small businesses requesting reviews is unreasonable. And, their system presumes guilt which is downright un-American.
I'm assured by some of Luther's colleagues with whom I spoke at SMX West that there are semantic elements too. But, it looks like the biggest factor is how "real" you look by virtue of your history on Yelp.
But, as we learned at SMX, Yelp has 180 in Sales & Marketing as compared to 40 Engineers.
New post on the Search Influence Blog in response to a post on the Yelp Blog.


Credited for BetterPonymotes for Safari on my site carson-shook.github.io/BetterP…. Thanks!
Cool! Glad you could use it!
Credited in the description of i-animate-ponymotes.tumblr.com…! Thanks for supplying the working file!
Kudos for giving episode and time index!
Is it okay if I base this?
There is a mylittlepony subreddit emote is named "twibeam."
The longer you stare, the bigger your smile gets.
And I thought MY vector was adorable, hahahah.
Excellent job on the vector .
This is such an adorkable face.
lol if she saw her face in a mirror, she'd have a hnng attack.


text:
Home / Cricket / Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon respond to Sandpapergate rumours: 'Did not know foreign substance was taken onto field'
Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon respond to Sandpapergate rumours: 'Did not know foreign substance was taken onto field'
Sandpapergate: Aussie bowlers who played in the Newlands Test said in a joint statement that they were not aware about any foreign substance taken to the field to alter the condition of the ball.
Australia bowlers Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon. and Mitchell Starc. File(File)
Byhindustantimes.com
Australian bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon on Tuesday made their stand clear on the infamous Sandpapergate controversy as they issued a joint statement to the 'Australian Public'. In the statement they made it clear that they were not aware about any foreign substance being taken to the field to alter the condition of the ball.
Australian player Cameron Bancroft, who was reprimanded and suspended for 9 months for his role in the ball tampering incident in the 2018 Newlands Test against South Africa, in a recent interview with the Guardian, had hinted that bowlers might have known about the ball-tampering.
This has led to the incident being brought back into the forefront. Then Australian captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned for a year for their role during the incident, which led to big changes in the way Australia approached the game of cricket.
A post shared by 7Cricket (@7cricket)
"We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the conditions of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands," the statement read.
ALSO READ - If I was Steve Smith, David Warner or Cameron Bancroft, I'd want the others publicly recognised: Ian Chappell
The Australia bowling brigade also added that even the umpires were unable to detect any damage to the ball after it was rubbed with Sandpaper.
"And to those who, despite the evidence, insist that we must have known about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this: The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Long and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage," the statement said.
Here is the statement in Full:
To The Australian Public,
We pride ourselves on our honesty. So it's been disappointing to see that our integrity has been questioned by some journalists and past players in recent days in regard to the Cape Town Test of 2018.
We have already answered questions many times on this issue, but we feel compelled to put the key facts on the record again:
We did not know a foreign substance was taken onto the field to alter the conditions of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands.
And to those who, despite the evidence, insist that we must have known about the use of a foreign substance simply because we are bowlers, we say this: The umpires during that Test match, Nigel Long and Richard Illingworth, both very respected and experienced umpires, inspected the ball after the images surfaced on the TV coverage and did not change it because there was no sign of damage.
None of this excuses what happened on the field that day at Newlands It was wrong and it should never have happened.
We've all learned valuable lessons and we'd like to think the public can see a change for the better in terms of the way we play, the way we behave and respect the garne. Our commitment to improving as people and players will continue
We respectfully request an end to the rumour-mongering and Innuendo, It has gone on too long and it is time to move on
Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon


The existance of public land is one of the most unique and persistant traditions in the United States. Whether you're a hunter or a hiker, stewardship of the remaining rugged, natural beauty and majestic wildlife is close at heart. Every one of us are public land owners and we at MTN Man Toy Shop are sending the signal that we're watching.
A flat brim hat shape with a smooth crown in wool blend, the US Flag and "KEEP PUBLIC LAND IN PUBLIC HANDS" text are embroidered. The back features text that states "MTN MAN TOY SHOP JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING" just above the snap back opening.
Here it is. This durable, wool blend is great for the mountain climate. Look styly while charging hard.
The • Stylish • Quality • Classic • Snap Back. While supplies last.


What is covetousness and what exactly does it entail in our society today?
Where is the "Glorious Land" mentioned in Daniel chapter 11?
Is atheism the unpardonable sin?
What will happen to people during Jesus' 1000 year reign?


Imagine, all the information your shoppers need, within 3 clicks of a mouse.
How do you improve conversion? How do you convert your visitors into clients?
Landing Page Optimization, and Search Engine Optimization can help you improve your site's worth and ranking, as well as your website's traffic. But how do you improve conversion? How do you convert your visitors into clients, subscribers, or members, of your site? How do you get them to say 'yes' to your products or services? You can do that by hiring us to help you with Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Website development, and Landing Page Optimization.
So, what is "Landing Page Optimization"?
Landing page optimization works closely in tune with your marketing and PPC campaigns; its main goal is to stop your pay-per-click money drain, as quickly as possible. Page optimization is about creating the viable product experience your visitors want, which must be achieved within three clicks of their mouse. Yes, three clicks, no more.
Landing page optimization funnels all your visitors to a single page, the landing page or pages in your site that will provide all the information your visitor is really looking for; this page will include a conversion form that will help you track your visitors post-click experience and behavior. The goal of this page is to guide your visitors buying experience, or to persuade them to fill-in your email subscription form for example. The main focus of this page is always to covert your traffic into happy and willing visitors or clients.
Send us your website url ('www.my-site-name.com') and we'll give you a website analysis for FREE!


All workers are entitled to be reasonably safe while at work. Suitable training, risk assessments and protective equipment should be in place, preventing needle stick/Sharps injuries in the work place, failing this an employer could be seen to be negligent.
When an employee's skin is punctured/pierced whilst acting during the course of their employment by a needle/syringe/blade. The skin may be pricked or cut. There may in fact be little by way of physical injury and pain however the psychological impact of the potential for exposure to blood-borne virus such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C can be major.
At Curtis Law our employers and public liability solicitors will provide you with legal representation if such events occur.
People who work in health and social care including those that directly handle needles and scalpels. Many other workers could suffer when inadvertently put at risk when sharp object are not stored or disposed of correctly.
Thankfully the chance of developing the full blown disease is rare, however the distress, anxiety and worry of waiting for the results of tests or having treatment/injections to boost immunity to the condition can be traumatic.
Even if the actual injury itself is minor, compensation can be awarded for any psychological reaction. If a Claimant requires counselling/guidance from experts, this may be arranged privately if appropriate.
A claimant can also be reimbursed for any loss of earnings suffered, travel expenses and care and assistance from loved ones.


What does the baby name Glenda mean? Learn about what Glenda means, its history & origin, popularity in our random name database, pronunciation, similar names, nicknames & spelling variations.
G-L-E-N-D-A, is a 6-letter female given name.
Secluded valley or glen, holy and good, nothing but goodness, clean and good.
Glenda currently has 78 likes, and is in the top 7% of liked girl's names. The name Zina is slightly more popular than Glenda.


Long been obsessed with all things Scandi? You'll likely find the Danish concept of Hygge appealing. Pronounced 'hue-gah', it is best described as the philosophy of enjoying life's simple pleasures, and is now the latest buzzword in wellness thanks to a new crop of books and blogs.


"Turn your bathroom into an oasis with this fingertip towel that features a calming collage of leaves. 100% cotton terry colorful leaf stripe pattern Cotton. Measures 13x18". Washable. Made in America."
Take your classic look to the next level with this Bacova Guild fingertip towel.Features 18'' x 17'' Palm leaves design Construction & Care Cotton Machine wash Imported Size: Finger Tip. Color: Green.


text:
Aulogymnus is een geslacht van vliesvleugeligen uit de familie Eulophidae. De wetenschappelijke naam van dit geslacht is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1851 door Förster.

Soorten
Het geslacht Aulogymnus omvat de volgende soorten:
 Aulogymnus aceris Förster, 1851
 Aulogymnus albipes (Askew, 1959)
 Aulogymnus arifaokhani Özdikmen, 2011
 Aulogymnus arsames (Walker, 1838)
 Aulogymnus balani Pujade i Villar, 1991
 Aulogymnus bicolor (Askew, 1975)
 Aulogymnus bivestigatus (Ratzeburg, 1844)
 Aulogymnus bouceki Schauff & Gates, 2005
 Aulogymnus caelestis (Girault, 1913)
 Aulogymnus california (Gordh, 1977)
 Aulogymnus defrizi (Storozheva, 1995)
 Aulogymnus elevatus Zhu, LaSalle & Huang, 1999
 Aulogymnus euedoreschus (Walker, 1839)
 Aulogymnus flavimaculata (Girault, 1916)
 Aulogymnus flavitibiae (Girault, 1916)
 Aulogymnus fumatus (Ratzeburg, 1852)
 Aulogymnus gallarum (Linnaeus, 1761)
 Aulogymnus gallicola (Ashmead, 1904)
 Aulogymnus gorditus Schauff & Gates, 2005
 Aulogymnus hyalopterus Zhu, LaSalle & Huang, 1999
 Aulogymnus indicus (Arifa & Khan, 1992)
 Aulogymnus insculptus Zhu, LaSalle & Huang, 1999
 Aulogymnus io (Girault, 1916)
 Aulogymnus japonicus (Ashmead, 1904)
 Aulogymnus kelebiana (Erdös, 1958)
 Aulogymnus longicalcar Zhu, LaSalle & Huang, 1999
 Aulogymnus minyas (Walker, 1847)
 Aulogymnus obscuripes (Mayr, 1877)
 Aulogymnus purpurascens Schauff & Gates, 2005
 Aulogymnus purpureus (Girault, 1913)
 Aulogymnus pygmaeus (Szelényi, 1980)
 Aulogymnus skianeuros (Ratzeburg, 1844)
 Aulogymnus smithi Schauff & Gates, 2005
 Aulogymnus testaceoviridis (Erdös, 1961)
 Aulogymnus trilineatus (Mayr, 1877)
 Aulogymnus virginiensis Schauff & Gates, 2005

Eulophidae


text:
<?php

namespace Colada\Europeana\Tests\Test\Payload;

use Colada\Europeana\Payload\AbstractPayload;

/**
 * @author Matthias Vandermaesen <matthias@colada.be>
 */
class MockPayload extends AbstractPayload
{
    private $foo;

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function getMethod()
    {
        return 'mock.json';
    }

    public function setFoo($foo)
    {
        $this->foo = $foo;
    }

    public function getFoo()
    {
        return $this->foo;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Indexing and retrieving data using index for a 3D grid for interpolation in c++ I have a 3D Cartesian grid data that needs to be used to create a 3D regular mesh for interpolation method. x,y & z are 3 vectors with data points that are used to form this grid. My question is, how can i efficiently give 2 index to these points say,

where c000 is indexed as 1 point (1,1,1), c100 is indexed as 2 for (2,1,1) for (x,y,z)
coordinate points and another index to identify the 8 points forming the cube. Say if I have a point C, I must retrieve the nearest 8 points for interpolation. so for points c000,c100,c110,c010,c001,c101,c111,c011 point index and cube index. Since the data available is huge, the focus is to use faster implementation. pls give me some hints on how to proceed.

A: About the maths:
Identifying the cube which a point p surrounds requires a mapping
U ⊂ ℝ+**3 -> ℕ:
p' (= p - O_) -> hash_r(p');

"O_" being located at (min_x(G),min_y(G),min_z(G)) of the Grid G.
Along each axis, the cube numbering is trivial.
Given a compound cube number
n_ = (s,t,u)

and N_x, N_y, N_z being the size of your X_, Y_, Z_, a suitable hash would be
hash_n(n_) = s
               | t * 2**(floor(log_2(N_x))+1)
                 | u * 2**(floor(log_2(N_x)) + floor(log_2(N_y)) + 2).

To calculate e.g. "s" for a point C, take
s = floor((C[0] - O_)/ a)

"a" being the edge length of the cubes.
About taking that to C++
Given you have enough space to allocate
(2**(floor(log_2(max(N_x, N_y, N_z)))+1)**3

buckets, a std::unordered_map<hash_t,Cube> using that (perfect) hash would offer O(1) for finding the cube for a point p.
A lesser pompous std::map<hash_t,Cube> using a less based on that hash would offer O(log(N)) find complexity.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Deno Adkins, FACHE, serves as the vice president, ambulatory network. This includes strategy, development and operations of outpatient facilities throughout Cone Health. Facilities include Cone Health's MedCenters, clinics, urgent care centers and other places that provide health care outside of a hospital. Adkins joined Cone Health as an administrative fellow and completed his fellowship training in 2005.
Adkins earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French studies with a concentration in business administration from Furman University. He holds both a Master of Business Administration degree and Master of Health Administration degree from the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.
An avid United Way supporter and volunteer, Adkins has chaired the Greensboro United Way African American Leadership Advisory Board and the Cone Health employee campaign.
He was previously named one of Triad Business Journal's "40 Leaders Under Forty" and Volunteer of the Year by Big Brothers Big Sisters. Adkins is a certified management coach, a member of the Medical Group Management Association and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.


BROOKLINE, Mass. - The Nighthawks offense was off and running, starting the game on a 19-4 run in the opening 5:25, on their way to their highest point differential win of the season, a 104-61 victory over the Lesley Lynx on Thursday night in New England Collegiate Conference play.
Nighthawks senior Omar Williams (Queens, N.Y.) led all scorers with 29 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Senior Pierce Weatherspoon (Hartford, Conn.) finished with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Tim Deng (Portland, Maine) added 19 points and 16 rebounds.
Lynx sophomore Chase Howard (San Diego, Calif.) finished with a team-high 13 points. Sophomore Jack Wadleigh (Glastonbury, Conn.) added nine points in 15 minutes off the bench.
Weatherspoon was the catalyst of the opening surge for the Nighthawks, scoring 10 points, including 3-for-3 from the floor, in the 19-4 run.
The Nighthawks widened the margin by as many as 27 in the first half with the help of a 7-0 run late in the first.
Newbury added to their lead in the second, shooting 50 percent (16-for-32) while holding Lesley to 31.6 percent shooting (12-for-38) en route to the 43-point win.
It's the largest margin of victory in program history. The previous best was on Feb. 9, 2008, when Newbury defeated Presque Isle by 37 points, 75-38.
The win moves the Nighthawks to 4-9 (2-5 NECC) while the loss drops the Lynx to 1-14 (0-7 NECC).
Both teams return to play this Saturday with the Nighthawks traveling to Becker for a 1:00 p.m. game while the Lynx host New England College at 1:30 p.m.


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Boost My Business
The peaks and troughs of Agritech business Terra NutriTECH
Updated / Wednesday, 9 Sep 2020 15:27
A fully automated system which disperses the required amount of minerals into animals watering system.
By Fiona Alston
The loss of International travel has really impacted the plans of many businesses who had 2020 pegged for new markets.
Agritech company Terra NutriTECH tells Boost My Business how their plans for expansion were thwarted by the restrictions on overseas travel.
CEO Padraig Hennessy spoke to Fiona Alston about the peaks and toughs of the family business he owns with his brother Tom.
Terra NutriTECH was founded in 2012. It evolved from Terra Services, a farm water pipe laying service, after customers kept looking for a more accurate way to give minerals directly to animals.
It is now a fully automated system which disperses the required amount of minerals into animals watering system.
"We were lucky enough, we're animal feed so we're essential," says Hennessy as he explains the impact Covid-19 had on the business.
"We were just on the cusp of going to launch in a couple of European countries and a South American country," he says.
But those plans were halted when the country went into lockdown.
"We were lucky as our Irish business kept growing this year. We can't complain from that perspective," he continues. "Compared to many businesses out there, you know, we certainly can't complain."
They are currently in two markets, Ireland and in Germany but Hungry, Denmark Czech Republic and Uruguay are next on the list and should be on board by the end of the year. "We are also in discussions with four other markets, as well, at the moment, there's quite a lot going on," says Hennessey.
Tom and Padraig Hennessy
The company has received help from their Local Enterprise Office over the years before now moving on to Enterprise Ireland as they look towards Europe and beyond.
"We've gotten a lot of help from Kildare LEO, Jacqui McNabb has been brilliant. We've had everything from business expansion, grants to mentoring, being training to website development," he says.
When the Brexit vote was announced that kicked the Hennesseys in to action, most of their minerals were sourced from the UK so they decided to expand the business and build their own manufacturing plant on the family farm at Moone, in Co Kildare.
This also prompted them to upgrade their technology and they built their own fully automated system, which can be controlled on a mobile or tablet interface. It reduces the stress out of reordering, calculating minerals and manual labour for the farmers keeping their livestock healthy.
One thing that will have an impact on their business this year is the loss of the annual ploughing championships.
"The ploughing championships has always been a huge event for us," explains Hennessey.
"It gives us a chance to meet up with our existing clients because they all drop in for quick chat," he continues. "It gives us a chance to meet new clients as well.
"We'd always get a significant amount of new business from the Ploughing championships, it's certainly something that will be missed this year," he says.
Terra NutriTECH mineral storage tanks
The business is not only looking to step into new markets, but they also have several research projects and trails on the go.
One trial which is just finishing up, with the product due to launch in four weeks' time, is adding the minerals directly to the feed. In larger farms the feed is mixed and distributed via a feeder wagon, the new system will spray the minerals over the feed as it is mixing.
Other research projects they are getting involved in are the use of seaweed in the animals diet to reduce methane and real-time data during the milking process to calculate the levels of calcium, magnesium and iodine in the milk in order to target mineral consumption in herds more accurately.
"Everything has been delayed probably by six months because people weren't in offices," he says, "it was hard to get deals across the line.
"I've seen a big difference there in the last two weeks, from both research and the International side," he says.
"I think people have realised they need to start living with Covid. It's been here for a while and we've got businesses back on track," he adds.
Small And Medium Sized Businesses
Kildare LEO
Terra NutriTECH
Moone
Startup Nation
Fiona Alston
FitPass - offering the gift of fitness
Business networks to lean on during these uncertain times
Beauty reviews made simpler with Beauty Buddy app
Tech start-up offers better communications in nursing homes


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Collected by Doreen Hoff
Traditionally, it's the world capital of tango. These days, thanks to a vibrant urban art scene and nightclubs spurring on musical innovation, cool kids from all over the globe look to Buenos Aires as a style capital of Latin America. The Argentine metropolis is as colorful as you'd expect and porteños are as proud and effortlessly hip as you'd imagine. While there are sights to be seen, half the joy in visiting is drinking up the intoxicating blend of the romantic past and trendsetting present.
La Recoleta Cemetery
Junín 1760, C1113 CABA, Argentina
La Recoleta Cemetery is one of the most visited cemeteries in Latin America, mainly because Evita Peron is buried there, among other notable figures. The cemetery is built around a convent and a church, Our Lady of Pilar (Iglesia de Nuestra...
Av. de Mayo 1370, C1085 CABA, Argentina
It's a guidebook staple: most visitors to Buenos Aires read about Palacio Barolo, the architectural marvel on Avenida de Mayo that's based on the structure of Dante's Divine Comedy, and they stop by to see it from the outside. But Palacio Barolo...
Niceto Club
Av. Cnel. Niceto Vega 5510, C1414 BFD, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Buenos Aires' nightlife is famous, and rightly so - but unless you're a serious club-goer, it's unlikely you're going be trekking out to the Costanera Norte to hit up the string of superclubs at four in the morning. Perennially cool Niceto Club...
San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The attractive San Telmo barrio began as an upscale area before tenement living took over. It's back big-time now, helped by its famous antique flea market. On Sundays tourists and locals descend upon the Plaza Dorrego and its side lanes for...
Gorriti 5870, C1414BKJ CABA, Argentina
Olsen is, first and foremost, a supremely stylish and (expensive) Scandinavian restaurant and vodka bar. But not to worry. You won't break the bank having brunch here, and you won't have stiff drinks for breakfast - unless, of course, you're in...
Bar Seddon
Defensa 695, C1065AAK CABA, Argentina
It's true: picturesque old corner cafes are practically a dime a dozen in the bohemian barrio of San Telmo. But Bar Seddon, distinguished by the city as one of the bares notables (notable historic bars) of Buenos Aires, has a few things going for...
Confitería Las Violetas
Av. Rivadavia 3899, C1204AAD C1204AAD, Buenos Aires, Argentina
On weekends, the line to get into Las Violetas stretches halfway around the block. (A little much, you say, in a city that's filled with lovely cafes?) No, in fact, the locals know what they're doing. This gem of a corner cafe may be the most...
Biking Buenos Aires
Perú 988, C1028 CABA, Argentina
Okay, okay. Unless you're a serious cyclist who travels with his own custom-made helmet - or an adventurous traveler with some local friends - you're probably not going to be joining the nighttime Masa Critica group bike ride through Buenos Aires'...
Sueno Porteno Milonga - Av. San Juan 3330
San Cristóbal, Buenos Aires, Argentina
To get a real feel for the Tango culture in Buenos Aires then you must go to a Milonga (Tango club). As I walked into Sueno Porteno Milonga I felt as if I had walked back into a cheesy disco in the 70's. But instead of the BeeGees, the speakers...
graffitimundo
Graffitimundo is dedicated to increasing awareness of the bustling street art scene in vibrant Buenos Aires. Beginning in 2009, the non-profit organization began connecting people with the artists of this unique movement and increasing knowledge...
Bar el Federal
Carlos Calvo 599, C1102AAK CABA, Argentina
For a little old-school San Telmo atmosphere, you can't do much better than this classic corner bar. Dating from 1864, the antique building started out as a pulpería (general store), the seedy center of a gambling ring and even a brothel before it...
Feria de Mataderos
This Sunday street fair provides a glimpse into traditional Argentine gaucho culture. Wander the stalls and you'll find scarves, leather goods, and authentic souvenirs by local artisans. For the September, 2012 issue, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim...
Restaurante i Latina Buenos Aires
PEDRO DOMINGO MURILLO 725, C1414 CABA, Argentina
The only way to improve on a leisurely feast of several courses in Buenos Aires is to pair the food with wine. Sommeliers at many of the city's finer restaurants offer wine pairing options, typically pairing the entrada (appetizer) with a...
500, Av. Juan de Garay, C1114 CABA, Argentina
'This isn't for everyone,' as the bar's slogan goes, and it's true. (If you're looking for a cold beer, for example, you'll be out of luck at Doppel - this is probably one of the only businesses in all of Buenos Aires where cerveza is pointedly...
Photo courtesy of Felix
José María Freire 794, B1870 Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cotton tees pay tribute to such rockers as Joey Ramone or are emblazoned with sayings: NEVER LET ME DOWN, for one. The stylish men in your life will appreciate the modern button-down shirts in a variety of colors and patterns. For kids, go around...
Photo courtesy of 878
Thames 878, C1414DCR CABA, Argentina
Maybe you've heard of Buenos Aires' restaurantes a las puertas cerradas (closed-door restaurants) - but a closed-door bar? That's how 878 started out: an unmarked door on a quiet residential street in the Villa Crespo neighborhood, a...
Milion
Paraná 1048, C1018 ADB, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Even if you're not a Spanish speaker, you can put two and two together: Milion means 'million.' It's not clear, in this case, exactly what the name refers to - it could be the fact that you tend to feel feel like a million dollars when you're...
Floreria Atlantico
An observer from the sidewalk might puzzle as groups of people march into this pretty flower store—and don't emerge shortly with bouquets. The customers are not here for the blossoms but for what lies below. A door at the rear of the...
Caminito is about a 10 minute cab ride from San Telmo (the old charming district in Buenos Aires) in La Boca. It is a tourist trap - but it is hard not to be taken by the beautiful colors of the buildings. You won't see these colors throughout BA,...
Photo by Graciela Cattarossi
El Mercado de las Pulgas
Av. de Mayo 1222, C1085ABP CABA, Argentina
Wander through an old-fashioned flea market filled with unusual lamps, old Atari games, and cool radios. The items here have been preserved in perfect condition and the pricesare fair. Av. Álvarez Thomas and Av. Dorrego, 54/(0) 11-5382-6234 This...
San Telmo Market
Bolívar 970, C1066AAT, C1066AAT CABA, Argentina
Nothing better than to walk amidst the stalls of San Telmo market on a crisp Sunday. The smell of parrilla wafting through the air, inter tangled with the ever-present sound of tango. And chatter. Nothing you need to buy. Everything you need to...
Fundacion Silataj
Vuelta de Obligado 1933, C1428ADC CABA, Argentina
So you didn't have time on this trip to visit Salta, Jujuy, or other breathtakingly gorgeous destinations in Argentina's north - put it on your list for next time. At least you can go home with some beautiful handcrafted objects produced in the...
Tigre, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
To get from point A to B on the river delta, you'll need to board a water taxi. These polished wood boats cruise the canals day and night, dropping passengers off and picking them up at rental houses, cabin complexes and restaurants along the way....
La Becasina Delta Lodge
Arroyo Las Canas, Delta, Buenos Aires, Argentina
There's nothing to do at La Becasina. And that's exactly the point. Arrive at this gloriously remote delta getaway by motorboat - included in the overnight package - and step into the treehouse-like complex, a series of private cabins set on...
70000 Colonia del Sacramento, Colonia Department, Uruguay
Remember: it's a river, not the sea, it's a river, not the sea. It's easy to forget this fact when you're gazing out at the still horizon of water, and even more so when you realize that the river has tides, too. The ebb and flow of the Rio de la...
Colonia del Sacramento Lighthouse
De San Francisco, 70000 Col Del Sacramento, Departamento de Colonia, Uruguay
Careful if you're claustrophobic: the spiral staircase of Colonia's historic lighthouse is narrow, indeed, and you have to climb through a hatch door at the top before emerging onto a tiny circular platform. But the views - the views. You'll look...
Foto Ruta
We've all been there. You get back from a trip and you're desperate to describe to your friends that life-changing sunrise, to explain how impossibly charming that little cafe was - to casually upload a striking photo album to Flickr or Facebook...
Photo courtesy of Tarquino
Tarquino
C1020ADU, Rodríguez Peña 1067, C1020ADU CABA, Argentina
Even if you chose not to stay at Hub Porteño, a dinner at its tiny restaurant, Tarquino, is worth a visit. Its up-and-coming 36-year-old chef, Dante Liporace, who studied in some of Spain's finest restaurants, reinterprets classic Argentine...
Photo courtesy of Aramburu
Aramburu
Salta 1050, C1103ACY CABA, Argentina
The unmarked door at an unremarkable address might have you thinking you're in the wrong place—but you're at Aramburu, one of the city's most talked-about dining venues, and the location is a reminder of the chef's humble start in the business....
Hernán Gipponi Restaurante
Soler 5862, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The hot-right-now Fierro Hotel bills itself as the 'Hotel for the Gourmand,' and it's no wonder - the boutique hotel is famous on the foodie scene for hosting special events like 'One Table,' the biweekly TFIF Happy Hour brings in the talent of...
Photo courtesy of El Baqueano
El Baqueano
Chile 499, C1098AAI CABA, Argentina
We know, we know - when you first arrive to Buenos Aires, all you want to eat that juicy steak you've been dreaming about ever since purchasing a plane ticket. But after several nights of bife de chorizo, widen your meat-eating horizons and head...
Guerrin
Av. Corrientes 1368, C1043 CABA, Argentina
Busy Corrientes is one of the city's primary thoroughfares; the most famous stretch of the avenue is located around its intersection with Avenida de Julio, also known as Buenos Aires theatre district. In some cities, people go out for dinner and a...
Buenos Aires in Photos
San Nicolás, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Young Argentine chefs trained in Europe's top kitchens are returning home to reinvent their national cuisine. Dante Liporace, the el Bulli– trained chef of Tarquino is one of the leaders of the movement, known as La Nueva Cocina Argentina. His...
NOLA Buenos Aires
Gorriti 4389, Buenos Aires, Argentina
It's a springlike Thursday evening at an elegant apartment in Palermo - but instead of white linen, the tables are spread with newspapers. In the kitchen, New Orleans native Liza Puglia is putting the finishing touches on a southern-style feast of...
2 Travel News This Bistro Was Just Voted the Best New Restaurant in the United States


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The Rectory Hosts New Art Exhibit by Award Winning Artists
Staff Reports | GwinnettCitizen.com Staff Reports | GwinnettCitizen.com
A group of talented artists come together to not only put their art on display but to also help a great cause.
Norcross is excited to announce our next art show at The Rectory! Featuring four award-winning artists (Jane Carroll, Linda Hanks, Sherry Needle and Mozelle Funderburk), the show will not only exhibit amazing work in a variety of mediums but also serve as a fundraiser for Focus + Fragile Kids to help children with medical conditions and serious ailments.
The exhibit will run from September 21st through October 26th with an opening reception on the 21st from 6 - 8 p.m.
Linda Hanks: Hanks uses her unique art as a form of raw self-expression. After a brief career in microbiology, Hanks rediscovered her childhood love for art. She continues to keep that passionate spirit by experimenting in every realm of her work, and through this has seen her traditional style transform into impressionism and abstraction. Although Hanks prefers working with oils, she has made masterpieces with graphite, charcoal, ink, watercolor, and pastels.
Sherry Needle: Sherry Needle has studied with some of the best painters across the country, from Yugi Wang, Armand Cabrerra, and Marc Hansen to David Leffel, just to name a few. Needle tends to paint with an old world style but is learning other styles to become a truly versatile artist. No matter what style the artist uses she is always trying to connect with her viewers. "I try to form a connection with the viewer in my paintings and sculpture, either to evoke a memory or to stir an emotion," says Needles, "I feel very fortunate to have a passion that I can share with others." | sherryneedle.com
Mozella Funderburk: Funderburk has used her talents to develop exhibits at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History for over 30 years. She has also illustrated books and articles ranging from plant identification to ancient Chinese astronomy. Being a former scientific illustrator, she says she incorporates her experience in her more recent art by using three-dimensional elements. Although Funderburk has a large and impressive history in scientific art, she admits that her favorite pieces have a humorous twist or a pun. | mozellefunderburk.com
FOCUS + Fragile Kids is the product of two nonprofits merging together in 2017. This foundation is dedicated to helping families with children who are medically fragile or have significant development or physical disabilities. FOCUS + Fragile offers support and information for parents, and fun, inclusive events for the whole family.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. Artwork is for sale and will benefit the Focus + Fragile Kids cause.
Visitors should call ahead at 678-421-2048 (also 2049 and 2025) for entry.
Learn more about our featured artists and Focus + Fragile Kids at aplacetoimagine.com!
Mona Lester by Jane Carroll Fall Still Life by Sherry Needle Utah Vista by Mozelle Funderburk Sapelo Oaks II by Linda Hanks


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Exposure IssueFeatures
Marianne Olaleye's photography celebrates black and minority ethnic women
By Ayiba Team	• 2 years ago
Marianne Olaleye is the London-based portrait photographer whose stunning work is on the cover of our latest issue. She is currently studying full-time for her master's at London School of Economics. Her work is focused on black and minority ethnic (BME) women, whom she aims to bring to the forefront in order to challenge mainstream beauty ideals.
When did you discover photography? What does it mean to you?
I've never felt like I had the typical inspirational story of how I started photography. I was a bored 16-year-old who spent a lot of time on Tumblr, and I would always come across stunning, high-quality photos and think, "wow, I wish I could take those." I was lucky enough to receive a camera shortly after, and I started off capturing flowers in my garden (thanks to my severe social awkwardness at the time). As my confidence grew, I took photographs of my friends at school.
Photography has taught me more than I expected, and I have grown as a result. When you're a photographer, a massive part of your job involves meeting complete strangers and making them feel comfortable in a matter of seconds. Prior to photography, I wasn't the most extroverted person, but I've certainly come out of my shell. I can now confidently walk into a room full of people and get the job done. Sixteen-year-old Marianne would never be able to do that. I've been a photographer for as long as I've been a university student, and I've always said that I would never have survived university so far without photography. It's incredibly difficult to balance the two, but photography takes me away from academia sometimes, and it allows me to express myself more freely. There's no better feeling than going to a photoshoot after a long lecture or taking a break from essay-writing to catch up on editing.
How did you master your craft?
Lots and lots of practice. There were times I took my camera out with me every day, as I started off doing street photography. I also watched a lot of YouTube videos from other photographers and I follow many incredible photographers on social media. The one thing that changed a lot for me was reading Ways of Seeing by John Berger and On Photography by Susan Sontag. I picked them up at the Tate Modern bookshop and they made me think of photography in a completely new light. Berger taught me the importance of training my eye to any form of art, and that's something I still practise today. Before I click the shutter, I know what shot I want to take, and how I want the final result to look.
When did you realize that photography was more than a hobby?
For the longest time, I took photos for fun and never thought much about it. Then in 2013 I was about to start university and I figured it would be good to earn some money on the side. I had worked in retail a few years back, but didn't enjoy it. I have always been clear about my professional ambitions: I knew I wanted to be in a job that would meet my high standards, while allowing me to be creatively engaged. Coincidentally, around the same time, my photography had picked up on social media and I had people contacting me for work. That was the moment photography became a commercial prospect for me – the moment people paid for my work. I've always said that no one would pay hard-earned money for a mediocre service. So the moment people were willing to pay for my services, I realised that it was worth taking it to the next level.
How would you describe your aesthetic? Where does your inspiration come from?
I focus on the natural beauty of women. I tend to photograph people outdoors, mostly in parks, so you'll find lots of greens and browns in my photos. I feel like it's important to portray BME women in soft settings, as they are rarely represented in the media and even when they are, they are often sexualised or fetishized. As such, I photograph women in their natural settings, as everyday women, to present a counter-narrative that re-tells the story of the marginalised. Inspiration comes from various places—sometimes from the person I'm photographing. I'm very much inspired by the beauty of the women I photograph, and not only in the physical sense, but in the various roles they undertake in their lives.
Where do you hope your photography takes you?
My parents are very entrepreneurial, so I definitely grew up in an environment that fostered creativity. As such, I've always tried to look beyond taking photos only for my own enjoyment, and instead wondered what impact my work could have. I feel as though my desire to reach commercial success with my photography business is always coupled with my creative ambitions and the political content of my work. I am very happy with how far I've come so far, as I have achieved so much, but of course, I plan on growing my business further.
I plan to travel across the world someday and work with brands and on personal projects. Also, my sisters and I hope to open a school in our hometown in Nigeria someday, and I'd love to teach the kids photography.
What is your advice for young African photographers who want to make a living with the creative arts?
I'd say have an action plan and be business-savvy. It's not enough to have talent, you must know how to execute your ideas and how to present your ideas in a way that demands respect from others. It's important for people to value you and your work. Surround yourself with a supportive network, people who can help you move forward, people who sing your praises to others. My friends and family have been absolutely incredible from the very beginning, and it's rewarding to share every success with them.
Tell us about any projects you are working on.
I'm currently working on a project called "The Coloured Lens." It's essentially a series of photos portraying the diverse beauty of Black and Minority Ethnic women photographed in London. The long-term goal for this project is to publish my very first photo book. The project emerged from the realisation that the women I work with lead interesting lives that reflect the complexity of womanhood. I feel like this is often ignored in visual representations such as those in the media, which often fetishize women of colour or portray them as homogenous. I decided to reverse the trend of the objectifying gaze of the photographer by giving voice to their rich social lives. While shooting, I get to learn more about these women, and I am constantly amazed by their many talents. I feel it's no longer enough for me to simply photograph them and share pretty photos, but to inspire others by highlighting their stories, too. They are more than just women and they are more than just their race. They are drummers, physicists, dancers, artists, mothers, and so much more. And that's what I find so compelling in my work.
Follow Marianne on Facebook and Instagram!
Ayiba Team
The Ayiba Magazine team is dedicated to bringing you quality content about Africa and the diaspora.
Freedom IssueSociety & CultureFeatures
Cultivating Africa's Next Generation with Rachel Nyaradzo Adams
Exposure IssueEventsBusiness & Tech
Seedstars World Summit: The Entrepreneurship Forum for Emerging Markets


Tax fraud is a serious federal charge that could threaten your freedom, your reputation and your future. No one should face these charges without the help of an experienced, aggressive defense lawyer. Attorney Frank Rubino can take your case and fight for your freedom.
With decades of experience and a successful track record, Mr. Rubino can provide you with the criminal defense you need against tax-related criminal charges. Call 866-718-3994 to learn more.
Because the IRS offers a reward to people who report criminal tax fraud, criminal tax investigations usually start when an acquaintance — an ex-wife or disgruntled employee — informs the IRS of a failure to file a tax return.
Failure to file a tax return is a federal crime. The government has six years from the date a tax return was due to criminally charge you. If you are convicted, you could face prison time as well as enormous civil tax penalties and interest assessments, on top of the taxes you owe.
Attorney Frank Rubino handles federal criminal defense for white collar crimes, including tax crimes. While handling the criminal portion of your case, Mr. Rubino accesses skilled tax experts to advise and represent you in negotiations with the IRS or other taxing authorities.
Frank Rubino has developed a national and worldwide reputation as an aggressive white collar crime lawyer with the experience and knowledge to help high-profile clients avoid serious punishments. When you need serious defense against criminal tax charges for failure to file a tax return, contact Mr. Rubino's defense office. From his home office in Miami, Florida, he represents clients across the nation.
The defense against charges of failure to file a tax return must be twofold: the first goal is to convince the IRS not to bring criminal charges and the second to address repayment of back taxes. Better to pay with money than with the loss of freedom and years of your life.
We then work in conjunction with a tax attorney to eliminate tax penalties, to minimize tax assessments, and to work out a repayment plan. The IRS has a voluntary disclosure program that stipulates that if a taxpayer voluntarily admits a tax error and makes an effort at repayment, the IRS will typically avoid criminal prosecution.
If you need a federal white collar crime lawyer, experience makes the difference. If you have been charged with or are under investigation for tax fraud or other charges, call attorney Frank Rubino at 866-718-3994 or complete our contact form.


XFINITY Voice requires special MTA enabled Voice Cable Modems.
Telephony modems are currently speed limited and do not support extreme and Gigabit Speeds. You will need to purchase two modems if you have both telephony service and Gigabit 1000 Mbps service. For 250/300 Mbps, NETGEAR CM500V works well and for 400 Mbps services you will need NETGEAR C7100V or ARRIS SVG2482AC.


You have excellent Project management skills? You have an expertise in CTS? You are results & patient oriented and you have good communication skills? You want to work in a dynamic and human size company? This job is for you!
Our client is a pharmaceutical company (CMO), who is focus on clinical trial supplies (packaging, labeling, shipping, etc.). To reinforce his team, he is looking for a Project Manager with an expertise in CTS.
Design and implement solutions sold by Business Development Department to answer customer's request.
Coordinate projects effectively across the operational departments.
Act as primary contact and final accountable person between the customer and operational departments company's to ensure customer satisfaction.
Ensure that company's services are delivered on time, within budget and according to the agreed quality standards.
Take part in the overall improvements of internal processes and systems.
Familiar with clinical trial processes.
Knowledge of packaging & labelling or supply chain in clinical trials.
High organizational and planning skills.
Fluent in English + French or Dutch. Any additional language is an asset.
GMP - GDP - GCP knowledge.
Team worker and team spirit.
Our client is an international company with human size in Belgium. He provides innovative solutions for clinical trial supplies. You will join a company who is growing and a dynamic team. You will receive a permanent contract with competitive compensation and benefits package.
Receive new 'Engineering' jobs in Hainaut, Brussels, Eastern Flanders, Antwerp, Walloon Brabant, Limburg, Luxembourg, Western Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Namur, Liège straight to your mailbox.


Thank you for being a part of our 2018/19 Summer Reading Programme Around the world in 40 days.
Please complete this survey and add your comments. Your responses to these questions help us to develop and improve the programme.
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February 8, 2017 / Press Release
Andrew Shapiro to be honored by Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Andrew Shapiro will be honored by the Law Project of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) on March 2, 2017 during the CCH's Law Project's 20th Anniversary Celebration. Shapiro served as a member of the CCH Board of Directors from 2009 to 2016 and was a founding member of the Law Project's Justice Circle.
The CCH leads strategic campaigns, community outreach, and public policy initiatives that target the lack of affordable housing in metropolitan Chicago and Illinois. The Law Project is the only legal aid program in Illinois dedicated solely to legal assistance and advocacy to homeless or at-risk individuals, youth, and families. Since 1997, the Law Project has been working tirelessly to protect the rights of homeless youth in schools.
Shapiro, who is also an adjunct professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, is a graduate of Miami University (B.S. Finance) and received his law degree, magna cum laude,from the University of Illinois College of Law.
Andrew D. Shapiro


China-based component makers have recently started competing for orders from PC ODMs with their advantages in product quote, which is about 10-20% lower than the market's average, and the moves could greatly impact Taiwan component makers' performances, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Since many PC players have already turned to adopt components from China makers, Taiwan makers are currently focusing on strengthening their technologies and automation production in hoping to keep their orders.
There are already several China-based component makers that have established offices in Taiwan for the convenience of contacting ODMs and competing for orders.
With China-based brand vendors' nurturing, most mid-range and entry-level component orders were taken by China-based component makers, leaving only few high-end orders for Taiwan makers.
Since pricing has already become the main shipment growth driver of the PC industry, most vendors are now focusing on acquiring cheap components in order to stay competitive, which relatively helped China-based component makers to rise.