Ask a child what they thought of Episode I and they will start smiling immediately, telling tall tales of their best friend Jar Jar Binks and the evil Darth Maul who gets split in two at the end of the picture. Nothing is wrong with the film one bit to them, they love it from start to finish regardless.
Not much can be done about Maul's screen time, I'm sorry to admit. Aside from a few additional scenes that may be included in the Episode I DVD this fall you're about out of luck. The rest? The Phantom Editors may have a solution to your Episode I woes.
Enter the fan-edits of Episode I. People inside the industry at least to some degree are taking their own stab at George Lucas' first return to Star Wars in twenty-something years, creating derivative works that are turning a lot of heads. As of this writing, there are two versions of The Phantom Edit making the rounds. The first, created over a year ago by a couple of guys from New York and a friend in LA, and the second a more recent and simple version by an anonymous LA fan.
Certainly both edits are making the rounds right now and contributing to the feverish hype of creating your own version of The Phantom Menace. Zap2it, USA Today, New York papers and JAM Showbiz are just a sampling of the widespread coverage these adventures are getting. And today here's my look at the picture from start to finish.
The most recent is getting the most attention, and it is called "The Phantom Edit" by "The Phantom Editor" which changes the opening text scroll to explain what it is and why he did it. It was first being noticed early in 2001, but has only received much attention in the past two weeks. It is centered around removing Jar Jar and making the child Anakin more mature. Apparently it is a sharp cut, and much of the attention has been focused on this version.
The second edit, the granddaddy to the entire concept of editing someone else's movie to your personal liking is entitled "The Phantom Re-Edit: Episode 1.1" and has been around subtly since April of 2000. This appears to be a far more extensive edit of the original movie, making Jar Jar into a Jedi, maturing up all of the Gungans and tons of minor cuts, edits and changes to pacing throughout. This is the version we are reviewing this go round (if you can send me a copy of the latest edit, please drop me a line). Both have been sent to Lucas just recently and undoubtedly Lucasfilm will comment on them both in the very near future.
No wonder these folks want to stay anonymous, since there's plenty at stake here. But I'm not going to get into the ethical angle on this much at all. In fact, I'm not even sure where I stand on the whole issue to be honest. There most certainly are copyright infringements involved and cinema has long been considered an art. Adulterating the canvas does stray from the author's intent and purpose in the current edit of a film, and it would seem to the casual observer to be a slap in the face of the artist to change their painting to suit their own wants and desires. This week we'll have a daily series of essays and comments on these issues, but you don't want to read about that right now anyhow, right?
I have to admit it, I really liked it.
It looks and feels like Star Wars, from the very beginning. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the THX sound test and opening crawl all are perfectly identical. But that is just the beginning of the edit to say the least. The Neimoudians have always been unbelievable to me, with their strange accent and poor animatronics masks. Not any more. The editors have scrambled up their seemingly Chinese moniker with a new garbled alien language that must be subtitled. The effort (which improves as the film goes along) is both believable and convincing.
No longer are the Neimoudians bumbling idiots unknowingly aiding the evil Lord Sidious, they are now more apart of the Phantom Menace than before. They have quite a few lines in the movie, so there is a fair amount of time spent reading but it is well worth it. They are both more menacing and evil, their words having to be read also takes time away from looking at the masks I happen to really dislike.
At this point, I think I have to admit that I really did enjoy George Lucas' Phantom Menace. I have watched it many times with many people and think it is a great first instalment to the double trilogy in the Star Wars universe. I have no doubt that Lucas had specific reasons for Jar Jar's antics in Episode I, and the bumbling Neimoudians that are set to return in Episode II. The film is not fundamentally flawed and is precisely the vision that Lucas wanted to create.
But the reaction to new visions like Jar Jar have been less than profound. While a vocal minority loathes the character, others tolerate his personality and the balance are the only ones to truly appreciate the concept that originated in Lucas' mind. In this version of the movie, Jar Jar's role is significantly changed. Not only are his podoo scenes on Tatooine completely removed, but you'll also miss R2 bumping into him aboard the Queen's ship and many other moments of his childlike behavior like snatching the apple at the Tatooine table. He now speaks like a mature member of society, and in the new Gungan dialect.
Jar Jar now speaks in a garbled version of Ahmed Best's voice, with very different subtitles below the widescreen bars. Instead of being his usual stuff you are familiar with, he now takes an active role in the solutions of the movie. Instead of being a casual bystander to the action and direction of the plot, the character now instigates solutions including the alliance between the Naboo people and the Gungans, and mentions how upset the Gungans will be if they disturb their aquatic domain. In one scene that had me laughing out loud, inside the bongo transport Jar Jar actually feels the anguish of the Naboo people in their losing battle with the Trade Federation like a true Jedi. Shades of Obi-Wan having to sit down as Alderaan cried out to him in A New Hope. Now that is a whole new Jar Jar!
Other Gungans get the presto-chango as well, including Boss Nass as a far wiser leader of the underwater race. He also speaks in the new Gungan dialect, and his screen time has also been reduced with that of other Gungan moments like the core journey as well. Gone are the Gungan council scenes which were overplayed to the hilt by Brian Blessed and the Captain Tarpals electric prod scenes as they initially enter the city. Surprisingly enough the last line of the movie ("Peace!") was not translated into his subtitled language, which may have been a purposeful oversight by the editors to show Boss Nass making an effort to relate to the Naboo language after making peace with the symbiotic nation. Or maybe I'm just getting WAY too much into this edit of the film.
Speaking of cuts, the film runs at a fast-paced 119 minutes, so there's been plenty of new deleted scenes though all of the action. Wipe transitions and music has been melted back together so it is hard to tell the difference from how it originally went. There are no new added scenes in the movie, just new cuts, transitions and edits to move the story along a bit faster.
Anakin is also matured a bit in this version of the film, with a few yippees and other childlike behaviors removed for your pleasure. There is undoubtedly some great moments in here worth mentioning, but I was so overwhelmed by all of the changes I'm sure I missed many. Midichlorians are also out the window, with the scene with Qui-Gon testing his blood ending abruptly without ever talking to Obi-Wan about his extremely high count.
The film quality is about right on, though the original was probably just a copy of the widescreen tape, and not the Laserdisc from Japan. It is still sharp and clear in the widescreen format, but there is a generation gap. Undoubtedly some the copies flying around are beyond second generation as well, with third and forth generation copies probably more lacking than the copy that landed in my mailbox this past Friday. Most of the edits are clean and crisp, though some feel forced or leave a scene open-ended. The nature of the beast though, not having the benefit of a cutting room floor and editing an already edited film.
While the picture was still very sharp considering it was not made off of a master or a digital format like DVD, the sound does suffer to a degree. Even though I have a killer Dolby 2.0 Hi-Fi system for videocassettes (VHS), it wasn't nearly as good as the original VHS version of TPM. Of course, nothing like that was expected so no love lost there. It works just fine but feels more like a television airing than the theater version. Of course, until the Dolby 5.1 DVD arrives, I still can't be satisfied even with the official copy of the movie.
So all in all, your typical gripes of Episode I by many older fans has been answered in a resounding way. Simply re-edit the film to your liking, and like a software upgrade give it a new version number. The Phantom Menace 1.1 is an intriguing look at what a fan with a bit of imagination can do with a few tools and a vision for making a movie their own. Or is a message to all of us that perhaps we should take a step back from Star Wars like a child and love it for what it is?
To some degree, I feel like this is almost one of those old Choose Your Own Adventure books that let you choose what you want to see and do next. A typical novel reads start to finish straight through, but this kid's book let you choose the ending and pathways to that destination. But where will it all stop? Perhaps someone wants to see Darth Maul return so they'll make it where he escapes from Obi-Wan at the end of this first movie. Or the fan favorite Boba Fett can't really die in Return of the Jedi so a jetpack scene was added back in for Episode VI - 1.1.
While the edit has been terrifically fun to watch, it is just that. It is not the Star Wars that was given to us by Lucas in May of 1999, like it or lump it. But by the same token I hope Lucas takes some of these ideas into his Star Wars DVD Double Trilogy: 12 Disc set Ultimate Special Edition we're bound to see in 2006.
While Episode I was his definitive vision, he has a tendency to revisit his movies again and again, taking the canvas back off of the wall for another healthy dose of paint. Perhaps the fan versions of his films are breaking new ground, sending a message to the Lucasfilm world what many fans have been saying all along. Or perhaps in a few years we will all understand just how wrong we were enjoying the new cuts, when Lucas is finished showing us all of the paintings in his mind (Episode II and III), how Jar Jar, the Gungans and Midichlorians really are supposed to fit in.
What ever your opinion is on the ethics and legality of chopping up someone else's property, stay tuned to TFN in the coming days for detailed articles of opinion and thought on the Edits of Episode I.
After reading this review, are you desperate to get your hands on a copy? Have you seen any of the fan-edits of "The Phantom Menace"?


We've been up here for ages now. I'm not sure who got up first – Rachel or me, but we waited patiently (not) for the rest of the family to get up and mum to get the turkey ready for the oven. Once we heard our parents downstairs, we went down and waited in our family lounge/dining room.
We didn't dare sneak down earlier. Not with those bells on the lounge door. They jingled when we walked through the hallway so you can imagine what they would do when the door was opened.
Last night Granny and Grandpa Shand and Granny and Grandpa Duncan came to ours for our traditional Christmas Eve meal. Like always, mum made Beef Olive (from scratch) and Roast Potatoes. We ate in the dining room where guests take their breakfast and lit the lovely candle centre-piece on the table.
After supper, we went over to the lounge where the tree is set up (pressies under it, too) and we had tea and coffee along with mum's homemade shortbread and cheese and like always, Rachel and I got to open one present from Granny and Grandpa Shand – Christmas pyjamas.
Seeing all those gifts under the tree made it really hard to sleep last night. Which ones were mine? Did I get some of the things I wanted?
Now we have to wait until Mum gets the turkey in the oven before we can go into the lounge and start with the gifts. The bird is huge! It has to be close to 30 pounds! Dad's in the kitchen helping her because it's so big she can't lift it on her own.
One year she cooked a goose, and the grease caugth fire. She ran screaming through the house waving a wooden spoon in the air. Rachel and I laughed. We thought she looked so funny. Good thing dad was about to put the lid back on the pan and smother the flames. We're back to the traditional turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and sprouts.
Granny and Grandpa Duncan will come about 2:00 and Granny and Grandpa Shand shortly after. We usually eat our Christmas dinner about 3:30.
Hey, here's dad. The turkey is in the oven! Christmas can officially start!
All these traditions. I'm not sure what I'll do when I get married and move out. Will I have to come home every year at Christmas and stay just so I can continue these traditions or do I start my own?
This entry was posted in Aberdeenshire, characters, Christmas, Christmas tree by Sarah Shand. Bookmark the permalink.


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AVA Ballet Theater Presents the Nutcracker
By Danna O'Connor • Dec 12, 2014
The AVA Ballet Theater and the Reno Philharmonic perform Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" at the Pioneer Center, Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th at 8pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. Danna O'Connor chats with Alexander Van Alstyne, director of AVA Ballet about this year's show.
reno philharmonic
AVA Ballet Theater

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


IRA Lawyer John Hyre is the guest speaker. Members will be emailed a link to join the morning of the meeting.
Combining the power off real estate investing with the tax-free environment of a 401k, IRA, Coverdale Education Savings Account, or Health Savings Account is a powerful wealth-building strategy. This monthly webinar focus group is for members who want to more effectively use their tax-free and tax-deferred plans.
Led by REIAGC member Iva Stringfellow, along with COREE member Hubert Bruce, this group will meet online on the 2nd Monday of each month, and will cover topics ranging from basic strategy to in-depth deal analyses.
Members will receive a link to the online meeting each month and will be able to participate via computer or phone.


Fit, strength and beauty that make a differrence.
Give your Patients' the Smile of a Brighter Future.
This dental device is a non-surgical way to treat snoring. It is easy to wear and customized to fit each individual patient.


What would you do if a royal scolded you? For one man in Australia, it will surely be a moment to remember.
As Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are currently on a 16-day royal visit to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, one Australian radio personality made sure they were greeted with a warm welcome on Monday, Oct. 15.
Matt de Groot of Australia's Nova 969 was tasked to give a huge bouquet of flowers to the duchess. While the bouquet was fit for royalty, de Groot told news.com.au that it was also costly for AUS $500 (around P19,000).
As Prince Harry and Markle walked their way to the crowd of people waiting for them, de Groot showed the flowers which the duchess noticed. Someone then reached out to give the bouquet, with Markle looking delighted.
Upon seeing what Markle received, Prince Harry suddenly turned to the crowd and scolded de Groot: "You can't give flowers that big to my wife." The prince then smiled at the radio personality, leading them to shake hands, and for Prince Harry to give de Groot a thumb's up.
De Groot told the news outlet that during his earlier attempt to give the flowers, police warned him of being "crash tackled" by royal security if he got too close.
Luckily, Markle was able to hold the bouquet. "She seemed genuinely excited and flattered by the size of the flowers and her people, who were with her, pointed out that she loved the fact that they were huge," de Groot was quoted in the report.


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Update | Second extension of the prescribed period applies only to retail shop leases
by Chris Drayton and Kristina Jukic
Further to our brief note yesterday (which can be found here) regarding the extension of the NSW COVID Regulation to 28 March 2021, we now summarise the key changes implemented through the Third NSW COVID Regulation.
The Third NSW COVID Regulation repeals the NSW COVID Regulation and Second NSW COVID Regulation.
The NSW Small Business Commission has confirmed, in line with the Minister for Finance and Small Business' media release dated 18 December 2020, that the intention is that from 1 January 2021 the protection of the extended prescribed period applies for the benefit only of retail tenants who meet the eligibility requirements.
NSW Update | COVID-19: Commercial Tenancies Extended to 28 March 2021
The Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation (No 3) 2020 was announced 18 December 2020 and commences on 1 January 2021. This Regulation extends the prescribed period so that it now ends 28 March 2021.
NSW Update | COVID-19: Extension of Commercial Tenancies
In this article we have summarised in further detail the effect of the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation (No 2) 2020 ("Second NSW COVID Regulation"). The prescribed period is extended to 31 December 2020 and some of the uncertainties contained in the NSW COVID Regulation, in particular whether certain clauses are intended to apply only to "impacted lessees" or to commercial and retail leases in general have been clarified.
We are pleased to announce that Makinson d'Apice has been recognised in the 2020 Doyles' Guide as a First Tier Medical Negligence & Malpractice Law Firm (Defendant) in NSW.
COVID-19: Extension of Commercial Tenancies by States and Territories - 23 October 2020
Given the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, the relevant commercial tenancies state and territory based legislation implemented as a result of the National Code has in most cases been (or is anticipated to be) extended. We have summarised in this article the updated status of the relevant legislation in each state and territory as of 23 October 2020.
by Chris Drayton and Celine Truong
A recent decision by the NSW Court of Appeal in the matter of Cooper v The Owners SP 58068 will be of interest to many.
NSW announces extension of COVID-19 rent relief scheme for tenants
by Chris Drayton and Belinda Tzirtzilakis
On 23 September 2020, the NSW government announced that as a result of the continuing impact of COVID-19 on businesses, the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation (Regulation) will be extended to 31 December 2020. The Regulation was due to expire on 25 October 2020.
We are pleased to announce that the Leadership Team of the Makinson d'Apice Charities & Not-For-Profits Practice Group has expanded following the promotion of two experienced lawyers within the team on 1 July 2020.
We are proud to announce a record number of promotions across the firm, effective 1 July 2020.
COVID-19: QLD Leases Regulation
Further to our update circulated on 28 May 2020, the QLD Government that same day after we had finalised the update published its Retail Shop Leases and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Regulation 2020 (Regulation). We have summarised some of the key points of the Regulation in this update.
Would you like to hear from us on legal developments and issues relevant to your business?
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This statistic displays a ranking of factors that influenced mobile shoppers to make a retail purchase after conducting product research on their device in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014. Only seven percent of consumers made a final decision on their purchase based on good product reviews.
* The survey question was phrased by the source as follows: "Which of the following factors influenced your final [category] purchase after you did research on your [device]?"


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Top 5 Things to Consider Before Buying a PC Gaming Gamepad
Home › Blog › Top 5 Things to Consider Before Buying a PC Gaming Gamepad
Aug 21st 2014 - by Fix My PC FREE in: Blog PC Gaming | 0 Comment
PC gaming is the best gaming experience available today.
Unless, of course, you don't like playing with a keyboard and mouse.
Some people have grown used to gamepad gaming over time. And for these people, gaming with a keyboard and mouse simply isn't an option.
You need a gamepad. Fortunately, there are lots of good gamepads available for PC these days. Today, I'm going to list 5 of the most important things to consider while shopping for a PC gaming gamepad:
5) Xbox One controller versus Xbox 360 controller
The two most popular PC controllers on the market today are the Xbox One controller and the Xbox 360 controller, both of which have Windows drivers available for free.
Which one should you choose? Well, the Xbox 360 controller, oddly enough, is wireless, while the newer Xbox One controller is only available in wired format for the PC. So if wireless controller support is important, then you need the Xbox 360 (at least until Microsoft releases the Xbox One wireless dongle).
No matter which controller you buy, however, you get the added benefit of being able to play on your Xbox and PC with the same controller.
Some people like having a PC-only controller that they never need to disconnect. Others would rather save money and use the same gaming controller for their PC and Xbox.
The Xbox One controller is a superior controller in terms of build quality and responsiveness. But some people prefer the classic appearance and feel of the 360 controller.
4) Realize that first-person shooters play very differently on PC when compared to console due to the lack of aiming assistance
First person shooters on PCs and consoles are totally different.
While PC gamers rely on skill and precision, console gamers rely on luck and aimbots (just kidding).
All joking aside, console FPS games include a noticeable amount of aim assistance. Without aim assistance, it's extremely difficult to shoot someone using your gamepad.
PC-based FPS games never include aim assistance. Even if you plug in your gamepad, you're not going to get an aim assist advantage.
Anyways, just realize that first person shooters play totally differently on consoles and PCs – with or without a gamepad.
3) The difference between DInput and XInput controllers
There are two broad types of PC gamepads out there: DInput controllers and XInput controllers.
DInput and XInput are simply two different input formats. Typically, old controllers use DInput libraries while new controllers (and new games) use XInput libraries.
Before buying a controller, make sure it uses XInput. XInput lets you play with 4 controllers on a single PC and it also lets you play newer games.
Some controllers will even have a switch that lets you instantly go between XInput and DInput mode. Why would you want to do that? Well, DInput is less restrictive than XInput and it's required for certain types of games (like flight simulators).
XInput, for example, limits controllers to a maximum of four axes, two triggers, 10 buttons, and 8 D-Pad directions. DInput, on the other hand, has no such limits.
2) How much should you spend?
Today, the cheapest gaming controllers cost between $20 and $30. That's a basic Logitech controller which offers similar functionality to an Xbox controller but lacks the build quality and responsiveness of its pricier competitor.
On the other end of the spectrum, you can buy gamepads for closer to $100. Pricier gamepads like the Razer Sabertooth Elite Gaming Controller typically offer better durability and wireless functionality.
Of course, you can also spend several hundred dollars on joysticks and flight control systems. But if you're only buying a gamepad, you should expect to spend between $30 and $70 on average.
1) Game compatibility
If you're buying an Xbox 360 controller or an Xbox One controller, then you'll typically enjoy easy compatibility with all popular games.
You can expect a similar experience with most Razer and Logitech gamepads.
However, as you move outside of the major brands, that experience drops off. You won't find quite as many compatible games for obscure controllers and you may run into some gaming issues.
Before you buy a controller, check to make sure your favorite games are compatible. If you're using an obscure controller or playing not-so-popular games, then you can't just assume your controller will be compatible.
PC Users Will Receive Xbox One Controller Support "Very Soon"
Microsoft Releases Xbox One Controller Drivers for Windows
How to Use a Wireless Xbox 360 Controller on your Windows PC
Valve Changes Steam Controller to Look More Like Real Gaming Controller
How to Use your Playstation 4 DualShock 4 Controller on PC
gamepads,pc gaming,Xbox 360,xbox one


Meet the New Villain of the Next Mitch Rapp Novel by Kyle Mills!
Back in November I wrote an article listing everything we already know about Kyle Mills' next Mitch Rapp book, taking place after The Survivor. Specifically, I wrote out six individual things that we already know – which you can read by clicking here.
While the next Mitch Rapp novel doesn't have a title or release date yet, though I'd expect both to be announced soon, we do know that it will be the fifteenth book in the series and that it will come out sometime next fall.
On top of that, we now know the name of the villain that Rapp will face off against in 2016.
That guy lives in Costa Rica. So that's why a lot of the scene and setting is on Costa Rica and I'm heading over there in January so I can get all the location stuff right.
Kyle, of course, is right. Mitch has always, always been on top in the past. He's never truly had an adversary that was his equal.
Just quickly think of the many action movies that end with the hero giving the bad guy a shot at him. It's a cheesy, overplayed cliche that is all too common.
Off the top of my head, I can think of several movies where the hero had the upper hand, only to abandon his weapon and fight the man in front of him just to prove he's the best of the two. It's done in Lethal Weapon, The Expendables 2 and 3, Jack Reacher, and many others.
Now think of the Rapp universe, and try to apply that overused concept to the bad guys Mitch has already faced.
Who the heck is honestly going to stand up to Mitch that could give him a run for his money?
Stu Garret? Not a chance!
Without question, the closest person that fits this bill is Louie Gould. So to think that Rapp is going to be taking on someone superior to him is, well, exciting!
I remember when the movie Fast Five came out and Vin Diesel said that the role of Luke Hobbs, which ultimately ended up going to Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, was originally written with someone like Tommy Lee Jones in mind.
Now, no disrespect to Mr. Jones, who is a fabulous actor, but the best part of that movie (in my opinion) is the fight between Diesel and Johnson's characters.
There is always something entertaining about seeing two elite heavyweights slug it out. Mitch is, without question, an elite heavyweight. But he's never really been tested by someone that possessed his same unique skill set and physical abilities as him.
This time around, he will be.
So we know the new villain is awesome, we know that he lives in Costa Rica, and now we know his name!
El Misterio de Salem's Lot. Still brushing up for my location-scouting trip to Costa Rica. It's the home of Mitch's new nemesis, Grisha Azarov. Plus, I love Stephen King. It's amazing how vivid some of the scenes from this book still are in my mind. The last time I read it, I was nine years old!
There it is, GRISHA AZAROV!
Now, I don't normally put a lot of stock into these types of websites, but in this case they might be onto something. To take on Rapp, Grisha will most definitely need to be ambitious, and have the desire to be the best at what he does.
So to recap: His name is Grisha Azarov, he lives in Costa Rica, his skill set is very much similar to Mitch's, and this dude is unlike anyone Rapp has ever gone up against before.
The only think I can think of to say is… I CAN'T WAIT!
Previous BREAKING: Kyle Mills has finished the first draft of the next Mitch Rapp book!
Hmmm… well, the name Mitch is reported to mean, "Who is like God?" 'nuff said.


Rest well, Mr. Martin! And I give you props for doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. No other ALS Challenge video has entertained me more than yours have.
I AM glad to hear you're going to be working on ASOIF again. No rush though... Anyone with a reasonable mind will agree that quality is the most important thing. Not that we're worried ;) So excited though! Good luck! And please don't disappear from here once you get in the zone of writing ASOIF.


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In the Pacific, climate change is happening now
With many countries exposed to sea-level rise, dramatic increases in heat, and extreme precipitation forecast, the Pacific region is already affected by the impacts of climate change. Extreme weather events, displacement, food security issues are all faced by a large number of inhabitants in the region. How are Pacific Island Countries and Territories impacted by climate change and what is their climate response on a regional level?
From shifting weather patterns that threaten critical food systems to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic coastal infrastructure, ecosystems and water security and loss of land, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Scientists estimate that the world has, so far, experienced a global temperature increase of 1.1˚C, while the expected temperature rise, – if emissions of greenhouse gases do not decrease - is 3˚C by 2100 if not more.
There is no doubt that climate change will have a major impact on the Pacific region's natural resources, including the availability of water and growing levels of food insecurity. Increasing temperatures could also cause extreme events leading to flash floods, cyclones, and other natural disasters. Over the past decades, PICTs have been committed to implement climate action at national, regional and international scale.
Discover an overview of climate change impacts in the Pacific region
Cyclones, Floods and Droughts
Photo: Shutterstock - Fijian people runs to get shelter in Matacawa Levu during a Tropical Cyclone.
Increases in the frequency of extreme weather and climate events and the severity of their impacts on the natural environment and society have been observed across the Pacific. In the last decade, there were three times more weather-related natural catastrophes, mostly floods and windstorms, in the world than in the 1960s.
In flash floods after heavy rains in Honiara (Solomon Islands) in 2014, more than twenty people lost their lives, thousands were displaced, infrastructure was compromised, and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed. In 2020, tropical cyclone Harold caused widespread destruction after making landfall as a category 5 storm (with winds of approximately 215km/h) in Vanuatu, before striking the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Tonga. Thirty people died from this tragic event, and people in Vanuatu's most affected province lost their homes.
Displacements
more than 616,000 new displacements were recorded
Inhabitants of island states in the Pacific are most at risk of being displaced by climate-related disasters. Between 2008 and 2018, more than 616,000 new displacements were recorded in 17 Pacific countries and 97 disaster events triggering displacements were recorded. This situation left thousands of people fleeing the devastating effects of climate change impacts, giving up their livelihoods, dreams, and prospects.
Photo: Credit The Ocean Agency / Ocean Image Bank - Fluorescing and bleached reef in New Caledonia (2016)
Ocean acidification results from increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In the Pacific region, declining ocean pH has caused dramatic changes in aragonite (calcium carbonate) saturation, with implications for calcifying organisms, such as corals, some plankton, and shellfish. Almost 50% of coral island reefs are currently considered threatened, with about 20% rated as highly or very highly threatened.
Photo: © Sheridan Rabbit - Coastal Fisheries
In the Pacific, around 70 percent of the gross cropped area is geographically located to benefit from rains in the summer season. Production is heavily dependent on the seasonal rainfall. Thus, flooding and strong winds associated with tropical depressions and cyclones have curtailed agricultural production. For instance, in 2004, Tropical Heta have confirmed to the people of Niue the dangers associated with climate change, causing economic damages equivalent to 200 years of exports. The king tides that have struck Tuvalu and Kiribati since the 2000s are further dramatic examples of how climate change is affected communities. Wells and agriculture were poisoned by sea water, house foundations undermined, and graves exposed.
Due in part to the limited agricultural and mineral opportunities (with New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea as notable exceptions), the region is heavily dependent upon oceanic and coastal fisheries for food security. By 2050, under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario (RCP 8.5), the total biomass of three tuna species in the waters of ten Pacific SIDS could decline by an average of 13%.
Climate response on a regional level
Photo: Shutterstock - The climate change strike. A happy smiling group of South Pacific islander women in traditional dress. Holding a sign reading "make earth great again".
As climate change is a global challenge, PICTs joined forces to ensure a sustainable future for next generations. In 1990, small island states around the world created the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to stand as a coalition and drive thinking and action on climate change. It is one of the few developing country organizations which has been closely linked with climate policy and specifically with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
In 2017, the Government of Fiji – together with the Government of Sweden - co-hosted responsibilities of the first UN Ocean Conference, which aimed to identify ways and means to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14. The same year, the UNFCCC COP23 was presided over by Fiji, which became the first Small Island Developing State (SIDS) to assume the Presidency of this international event.
During the UNFCCC COP 21, Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) had been instrumental in shaping climate policies and the Paris Climate Agreement. SIDS succeeded in securing their particular circumstances as vulnerable countries and demonstrated leadership in raising ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help ensure an ambitious long-term temperature goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5 °C.
Following the Paris Agreement, PSIDS have worked hard to enhance the voice of the Pacific in climate negotiations with the support of the region and a growing international community. Numerous discussions and meetings to identify the challenges and opportunities of the region in implementing climate action have been undertaken guided by Pacific countries and with the support of regional organisations through the OneCROP mechanism and other development partners.
"Through its world renowned science, long standing regional public goods and deep understanding of the Pacific context, the Pacific Community is determined to support its members in the implementation of regional and national responses to climate change. In our 2021+ strategy, resilience and climate action are at the core of our activities: through a wide range of capability, capacity building and technical assistance we will continue to support PICTs towards achieving their climate resilient sustainable development agenda and goals." says Cameron Diver, Acting Director, SPC's Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability (CCES) programme.
Over the last years, the Pacific Community has supported the implementation and work of the Regional Pacific NDC Hub to help PICTs find the data, resources, and expertise needed to implement their climate targets - the 'Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Administered by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and implemented in partnership with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), SPC and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the hub ambitions to deliver a sustainable, low-carbon and climate resilient Pacific.
Climate action training: leveraging Nationally Determined Contributions in the Pacific region
Web Story 18 March 2022
Pacific Islanders: Failure to Commit to 1.5 Degrees at COP27 will Imperil the World's Oceans
Web Story 28 February 2022
The Pacific Community to support "Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and Climate Change Training" in Niue
Web Story 22 December 2021
Do you know what is ocean acidification?
Web Story Did you know? 13 September 2021
Climate Change, disaster, Ocean acidification, food security, UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC-COP), Paris Agreement, Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP), Regional Pacific Nationally Determined Contributions Hub (NDC Hub), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH


awesome collection that you got here my dear keep it up and happy belated Birthday!
Excellent Kosplays on MKX Sareena & MKX Frost. You make them come alive and make make them not feel like NPCs. Sareena & Frost are very underrated characters.


text:
(C) CBS
Nostalgia is a tough beast to tame.
For people in my age range (let's say mid-30s) the entire entertainment industry has us targeted to recapture that feeling from when we were younger, no matter what it is. Virtually every major media franchise that we consumed as children has been brought back, from Star Wars to Ghostbusters to Transformers, He-Man, which begs the question: why not the Star Trek that you knew and loved? Why not bring back Jean-Luc Picard?
Of course, in the case of Star Trek and a lot of other franchises, it's not just confined by generational or age limitations. This is the age where anything that had a following and might make big bucks for entertainment companies is being continued or rebooted. Star Trek saw a long dark period before the JJ Abrams films were released, doing well enough to introduce a new generation to Star Trek, albeit a different flavor of Trek that doesn't quite align with most classic Trek. Then came Discovery, which is complicated.
I've spilled a lot of ink regarding Star Trek: Discovery and my consensus was this: the first season was a tonal and narrative mess, the second season was a lot better and I'm anxious to see what they do with the third season. The original showrunner intended for the show to be done in the vein of FX's Fargo or American Horror Story, where each season followed different characters from different eras of Star Trek only for the network to nix that idea, keep most of his original characters and go from there.
One of my main problems with Discovery was its distinct lack of identity. The show relied so heavily upon nostalgia that it became a muddled mess at times. The show's link to Spock by rewriting his history, then introducing Captain Pike, made it easy to groan at the show's lack of originality. Doing a full prequel as opposed to merely the anthology format creates logistical problems and binds the show to the time period it takes place in during the canon. That's most likely why they've taken to traveling through time and the alternate universe because eventually they were going to run out of room to exist on its own right in the prime Star Trek timeline.
So now here we are with Picard.
Picard is a continuation of The Next Generation and the mainline film series by catching up with Jean-Luc Picard 20 years later. For a lot of fans, TNG was their entry point into Star Trek—I know it was for me—and helped to foster a love for Star Trek that only grows with time. While there have been a lot of great Starfleet captains, none have quite been so beloved as Picard over the years and in many ways, TNG and Picard are safety blankets for many people.
I can't even count how many times I've seen TNG all the way through now, even though it takes a backseat to Deep Space 9 as my favorite Trek. The show remains iconic and a veritable goliath in the world of science fiction, making the return of Jean-Luc make sense but also make a fan like me weary.
Did we really need this?
After one episode it's difficult to say definitively or not but my initial impression is that yes, we kind of needed Star Trek: Picard. Patrick Stewart himself has said that the show is a response to the changing world around us in the age of Donald Trump, Brexit and everything else that's been going on. A bold statement like that is sure to upset a certain portion of the Trek fanbase.
The YouTube channel Renegade Cut went into how Star Trek has appealed to both progressive and conservative sensibilities through yes, being futuristic communism, but also heavily based on military merits. Both of those core pillars of Star Trek appeal to a certain subset of the audience, making Star Trek of the past feel apolitical, even if it wasn't. Star Trek has always been political and, moving forward, will be as well.
Star Trek: Picard is absolutely political. If that upsets you then there's a good chance you'll want to skip out on this show. The show is about refugees, an isolationist government and media and fears about synthetic beings impeding upon organic lifeforms. That's just the first episode. They've more or less made their line in the sand and said what the show is going to be about, the values that it intends to promote and what to expect. This will absolutely not sit well with some folks and that's all I'm going to say about that. Picard also seems divorced from Starfleet and any sort of military in general.
That being said, how was the actual show? I went into this with tempered expectations. After grumbling about needing to resubscribe to CBS All Access and the prices have gone up since the last season of Discovery I was expecting to be ambivalent even if folks seemed happy about the show. Yet there really is something to Jean-Luc in his vineyard that feels special. This will not be a normal Star Trek, that much seems clear. Oh yeah, there's action on the menu and there will be some weighty stuff that needs to be grappled with.
This episode relied heavily upon the death of Data, Picard's guilt over it and his exit from Starfleet after an incident with synthetics destroying a Martian shipyard led to Starfleet taking on a more isolationist role in the galaxy and withdrawing support for relocating Romulan refugees after what I believe is referencing the first JJ Abrams Star Trek film? Or maybe just similar to that? It's not really explained here. Regardless, we see a girl (Dahj) celebrating her acceptance into the Daystrom Institute with her boyfriend only for a group of heavily armored dudes to beam into the room, kill the boyfriend and talk about her "activating." She then promptly kicks all of their asses, sees a flash of Jean-Luc and flees.
All the while, Jean-Luc is having flashbacks to Data by way of dreams where he's seeing his old friend. He agrees to do an interview with a cable news network only for them to push him on his resignation from Starfleet and imply that helping refugee Romulans was not in the interest of humanity or Starfleet. Ouch.
They aren't being subtle about most of this. There are upsides and downsides to that. The downside is that they are not being subtle about the links to modern political settings at all. The upside is that it's easy to understand what they're going for. I don't have a problem knowing what the show is trying to say and how it's going to say it, that's really what a first episode is for: establishing the setting and characters that we're going to be exploring.
Dahj finds her way to Picard's all while Picard has another dream about Data and a painting he wants Picard to finish. Dahj freaks him out but he's Jean-Luc Picard, of course he's gonna take care of her. Only she runs away in the middle of the night. Just when Picard realizes the painting he has hung up is from Data and the face of the figure in it is, well, Dahj's face. He heads to the archives to learn that the title of the painting was "Daughter." Ahh, now it makes sense. Picard dashes off to find the girl who's mother told her to go find Jean-Luc again, much to her astonishment, and they meet up where Picard gives her a touching story about Data, the painting and his theory as to who she is: Data's daughter.
She seems resistant to it at first but just when she starts to understand she senses another hit squad coming after her, forcing a 90-something-year-old Picard to run up a few flights of stairs to a rooftop where a fight ensues. We're given a hint at an unmasked baddie here: a Romulan. Ah ha. She's able to fight them off only for one to swallow some sort of acid, which he spits on her and causes a large explosion that knocks Picard into the next day.
Picard needs to know more about this girl, so armed with just her necklace of two circle charms intertwined he heads to the Daystrom Institute for some answers. A woman there shows him that since the attack on Mars Starfleet shut down any sort of study involving synthetics, including showing us D-4, the android that Data sent his, erm, data to upon his destruction. We saw D-4 at the end of the last Trek film and Picard seemed satisfied with it, but apparently something went wrong since then. Agnes, the nice doctor, explains there was another doctor working on flesh-and-blood synthetics but they shut it down, then Picard showed her the necklace and she reveals that his research involved these beings created in pairs. Twins.
We briefly get a glimpse of her twin, Soji, welcoming a nice Romulan boy onto whatever ship or station she's aboard only for the big zoom out to happen.
It's a Borg Cube.
There's a lot to unpack here, obviously, but the core of it is this: Picard does not follow in Star Trek tradition of being about a starship or a crew exploring the galaxy. DS9 somewhat broke from that tradition, although Benjamin Sisko was given a ship and the title of captain, eventually. This makes Picard a rather unique entry into the Star Trek universe. The previews of the rest of the season show Picard tossing together a crew, boarding a small vessel and heading off to rescue Soji from what he believes to be a Romulan threat to her.
The show deals with refugees from Romulus exploding, with there even being two that help out on his vineyard and take care of Jean-Luc. Jean-Luc is the character we all know him to be: kind, considerate, thoughtful, and a born leader. He briefly reflects on how he had spent the twenty years since his retirement loafing about, writing about history that no one cared about and waiting to die instead of being the good that the world needed. He watched his galaxy deteriorate while he himself sat back and let it happen.
If that doesn't feel current, I'm not sure what does.
So he decides to take action, which we'll be seeing in the next nine episodes.
Picard felt fresh while still feeling familiar. We were allowed to spend time with an old comforting friend and watch him remember what kind of good he could do in his galaxy. Sure, this is nostalgia, but they're at least trying to make this different and special. I have a hard time faulting them for that.
I very much look forward to what Picard brings to the table for the rest of this season.
Note: I use Amazon affiliate links and receive a small percentage of any sales made through said links.
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A transfer of the cultural capital including knowledge from one generation to another in the modern society, where the technological progress advanced to the level of high complexity and defines social stratification, education becomes the most important process in creating and substantiating social inequality and social differences. It is well established fact that the transfer of capital and wealth in a form of inheritance and gifts within families favors individuals for a higher level of education.
Homeschooling and families trading secrets became leading factors of the most influential potency in preserving some specific knowledge and cultural aspects of the financial stability and wealth within relatively small group of people. The support from competency-based education, unexpectedly for its creators and promoters, even increases the gap and allows formalize such transfer in a form of a degree from the most prestigious institutions without an attendance. At the same time, a naturally gifted children might benefit from competency-based education despite of the support from immediate family or community.
In a search for the most effective and efficient education we might ignore the necessity of the sociological research in this regard. Based on a theoretical model of intergenerational solidarity it is possible to weigh risks and benefits and find ways to regulate such processes with the best outcome for all parties involved.
Angel, Jacqueline L. Inheritance in Contemporary America: The Social Dimensions of Giving across Generations.
Davies, James B. "The Relative Impact of Inheritance and Other Factors on Economic Inequality". The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 97, No. 3.
Dubner, Stephen. "How Big of a Deal Is Income Inequality? A Guest Post". The New York Times. August 27, 2008.
Bowles, Samuel; Gintis, Herbert, "The Inheritance of Inequality." Journal of Economic Perspectives Vol. 16, No. 3, 2002.
Clignet, Remi. Death, Deeds, and Descendants: Inheritance in Modern America.
Flippen, Chenoa A. "Racial and Ethnic Inequality in Home ownership and Housing Equity." The Sociological Quarterly, Volume 42, No. 2 .
Miller, Robert K., McNamee, Stephen J. (Edited By) Inheritance and Wealth in America.
Shapiro, Thomas M. The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality. Oxford University Press. 2004.


This workout set is everything you want and more. The bra has a zipper in front with full coverage. The leggings have a high rise fit which creates a slimming look. The fabric has a dreamy stretch for comfort but is not see through.
Small/Medium Bra: Bust- 12", Length- 12", Armpit to armpit- 10.5"
Small/Medium Pants: Length- 33.75", Waist- 12.5"
L/XL Bra: Bust- 13.25", Length- 12.5", Armpit to armpit- 12.5"
L/XL Pants: Length- 35.5", Waist- 12.5"
Bra does not have padding, but fabric is thicker to help with coverage.


An anchoring element with a screw (12) comprising a threaded section (13) and a head (15) designed as a spherical segment-shaped section, and with a receiving portion (1) for connecting the screw (12) to a rod (19), is provided. The receiving portion (1) comprises a first end (2) and a second end (3) opposite the latter and a longitudinal axis (4) passing through the two ends (2, 3). The receiving portion further comprises a bore (5) coaxial with the longitudinal axis (4), a first region adjoining the first end (2) with an essentially U-shaped cross-section (18) with two free arms (8, 9) comprising a thread for receiving the rod (19) to be inserted, a region adjoining the other end (3) for receiving the head (15), and an element which exerts pressure on the rod (19) or on the head (15). In order that the screws can be used in situ for very different lengths, the threaded section (13) and the head (15) are designed as separate parts.
FIG. 11 an enlarged view of the detail X of FIG. 10.
In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the anchoring element comprises a receiving portion  1 of cylindrical construction with a first end 2 and an opposed second end 3. The two ends extend perpendicularly to an axis of symmetry or longitudinal axis 4. Coaxially with the longitudinal axis 4 is provided a first coaxial bore 5 which extends from the first end 2 and which extends as far as a predetermined distance from the second end 3. At the second end 3 is provided a second bore whose diameter is smaller than the diameter of the first bore. In the practical example shown, the second bore is designed as an opening whose edge is shaped as a hollow spherical segment-shaped section whose centre is directed towards the first end 2.
The receiving portion  1 comprises, starting from the first end 2, a U-shaped recess 7 extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis 3, with two free arms 8, 9 ending towards the first end 2. Adjoining the first end 2, the arms comprise an internal thread 10. The bottom of the U-shaped recess extends as far as a predetermined distance from the second end 3. Adjoining the first end 2, the arms 8, 9 comprise on the outside a section 11 whose outside diameter is smaller than the outside diameter of the adjoining section of the receiving portion.
The screw  12 cooperating with the receiving portion 1 comprises a threaded section 13 designed as a bone screw and a spherical segment-shaped head 15 which is connected thereto in the assembled view shown in FIG. 1. The head has a radius which is such that, when the head 15 is received in the second bore 6 as shown in FIG. 1, the head mates with a hollow spherical segment-shaped wall section formed there, wherein the hollow spherical segment-shaped section is designed in such a way that the centre 16 of the sphere is offset towards the first end 2 to such an extent that the section forms an abutment and the sphere or the head 15 is held in the hollow spherical segment-shaped section of the second bore 6.
There is further provided a pressure element  17 which is of cylindrical construction and has an outside diameter which is so large that the pressure element can be introduced into the first bore 5 and moved to and fro in the axial direction in the latter. On its lower side facing towards the second end 3 the pressure element 17 comprises a hollow spherical segment-shaped section which is constructed symmetrically to the longitudinal axis 4 and whose radius corresponds to the radius of the head 5. The pressure element comprises a U-shaped recess 18 which extends transversely to the longitudinal axis 4 and whose free arms extend towards the first end 2. The lateral diameter of this U-shaped recess is selected so that a rod 19 to be received can be inserted in the recess and guided laterally in the latter. The depth of the hollow spherical segment-shaped recess is selected so that it ends at a distance from the second end 3 which is greater than the distance from the centre 16 corresponding to the radius of the head 15, looking towards the first end 2. At the bottom of the U-shaped recess 18 is an adjoining coaxial bore 20 whose diameter is smaller than the diameter of the rod 19 to be received.
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the U-shaped recess  18 comprises, at its end directed towards the first end 2, a section 21 whose inside width is greater than the diameter of the U-shaped recess 18.
On the side facing towards the first end  2, the pressure element 17 is adjoined by a nut 22 which comprises an external thread 23 mating with the internal thread 10 and in addition an internal thread 24. The inside dimensions of the nut 22 are selected so that the inside width is smaller than the diameter of the section 21 and larger than the diameter of the rod 19 and hence of the U-shaped recess 18. Further, an internal nut 25 with an external thread mating with the internal thread 24 is provided. Finally, there is provided a bush 26 which encompasses the free end adjoining the first end 2 and which in the assembled state sits on the annular section 11, as shown in FIG. 1.
As can best be seen from FIG. 2, the nut  22 comprises a slot and the internal nut 25 comprises a hexagon opening for respective separate application of screwdrivers.
As can best be seen from FIG. 2, the head  15 is designed as a sphere flattened at its end which is to face towards the first end 2, and comprises a bore 27 coaxial with the longitudinal axis 4. The diameter of the bore 27 is equal to the outside diameter of the shank 14 and designed in such a way that the shank can be inserted in the bore with frictional locking. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the hollow spherical segment-shaped element shaped in this way is provided, on its side opposite the flattened end, with sections 28, 29 which are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction and extend parallel to the longitudinal axis 4 and extend as far as the end opposite the flattened side. As a result, the edge 30 facing away from the first end 2 is designed to be capable of spring yielding outwards for introduction of the shank 14.
In operation, first the screw  12 is screwed into the bone or vertebra. For this purpose the shank 14 has known engagement possibilities such as a hexagon socket. Then the surgeon shortens the shank 14 to the desired length and first places the receiving portion with the second bore on the shank 14 and then guides the head from the first end 2 onto the shank 14, so that the shank 14 is introduced into the bore 27 from the spring-yielding edge 30 and the head surrounds the shank in the manner shown in FIG. 1. The head 15 and the shank 14 are connected to each other with frictional locking. Next the pressure element 17 is inserted and, by screwing in the nut 22, pressed onto the head 15 in such a way that the latter undergoes desired rotational stabilisation. The bush 26 is fitted and then by means of the internal nut 25 the rod 19 is fixed. The rod 19 exerts an additional pressure on the head 15 via the pressure element 17.
Due to the pressure on the head  15 exerted as seen from the first end 2, the slotted head 15 is on the one hand connected or clamped to the shank 14, preventing movement, and at the same time the head is locked in its rotational position.
The second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 differs from the embodiment described above in a modified head  31. The latter comprises, as in the first embodiment, notches 28 which are offset from each other in the circumferential direction and which end free at the edge 34 facing away from the first end and are at a distance from the edge 32 facing towards the first end 2. However, a notch 33 which extends fully from the edge 32 to the opposite edge 34 is provided, with the result that the spherical segment formed in this way can be compressed by an amount defined by the width of the notch 33. The width of the slot 33 formed in this way is selected so that the head 31 first of all can be compressed to such an extent that it can be pressed in the direction shown in FIG. 3 from the second end 2 into the first bore 5 and that then the shank 14 can be inserted in the head in the same way as described above and in the same way is held in the clamped position.
The shank  14 of the screw preferably has the cylindrical shape shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 or a polygonal shape shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In the latter the cross-section is octagonal. A further preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 8. The shank is cylindrical here and comprises a rough surface which facilitates engagement between sphere 15 and shank.
The further embodiment shown in FIG. 9 corresponds to the preceding practical examples in all characteristics concerning the receiving portion  1, the pressure element 17, the rod 19 and the screws 22 and 25. The only difference lies in that the head 15 is designed as a spherical segment which in its external dimensions corresponds to the two preceding spherical segments, but has no notches 28 or 33. Instead, the spherical segment has an internal thread on the inside of its bore 27. Instead of the shank 14, there is provided a shank 35 with a thread which is designed to mate with the internal thread of the head. The bore is designed as a blind bore which ends at the end facing towards the free end 2 or comprises a stop there, so that the screw can be screwed only so far into the position shown in which it does not protrude from the spherical segment on its flattened side. As shown in FIG. 9, the internal thread of the head 15 and the corresponding external thread of the shank 35 are formed in the direction preferably opposite the direction of the thread of the threaded section 13 of the bone screw.
Operation takes place in the same manner as in the practical example described first, wherein after shortening of the shank  35 the head 15 is introduced into the bore 5 from the first end 2 of the receiving portion 1 and screwed onto the shank 35 introduced from the second end 3.
The further embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 corresponds to the preceding practical examples in all characteristics concerning the receiving portion  1, the pressure element 17, the rod 19 and the screws 22 and 25. Instead of the shank 35 and the head 15 of the embodiment according to FIG. 9, which comprises the cooperating threads, in this embodiment the shank 37 is designed as a corrugated rod in a section adjoining the end opposite the bone threaded section. The outer surface of the shank comprises valleys 38 running in the circumferential direction and ridges 39 in between them. The valleys 38 have, seen in the circumferential direction, a circle segment-shaped cross-section and their diameter halfway up or down is much larger than the corresponding diameter of the crest 39, so that the crests 39 are pointed in relation to the bottom of the valleys 38. The head 15 is designed as a spherical segment which in its external dimensions corresponds to the spherical segments mentioned above, but which has no notches 28 or 33. On the inside of its bore 27, the spherical segment of the head 15 comprises corrugations running in the circumferential direction with valleys 40 and ridges 41 which correspond to the ridges 39 and valleys 38 of the shank 37 respectively. Between the valleys 38 and the ridges 39 of the shank on the one hand and the corresponding ridges 40 and valleys 41 on the other hand is a small gap, so that the shank can be introduced into the spherical segment.
Operation takes place in a similar manner to the practical example according to FIG. 9. Shortening of the corrugated shank  37 is however easier in this embodiment than shortening of the shank 35 with the thread according to FIG. 9, as the valleys 38 allow easy cutting off, whereas with the shank 35 with the thread according to FIG. 9 care must be taken that the thread is not destroyed. After shortening of the shank 37, the head 15 is introduced into the bore 5 from the first end 2 of the receiving portion 1 and pressed onto the shank 37. In the process the corrugations of the shank 37 and the corresponding ones of the bore 27 of the head 15 cooperate, so that the shank is held.
In the practical examples described above, the head  15 is in each case held by an edge designed in one piece with the receiving portion 1. Such an abutment can also be formed in another way: for example, it is possible to drill the first bore 5 completely through the receiving portion 1 and then, adjoining the second end, to mount in it a holding element which receives the head 15.
In the practical examples described above, the receiving portion always comprises the nut  22 and an internal nut 25 as well as a bush 26. This fixing can also be designed differently in a known manner. In particular, if occasion arises only an internal nut can be provided.
In the practical example described above with reference to FIG. 9, the head  15 has no notches 28, 33. In a further embodiment, head 15 and shank 35 have, as in the view shown in FIG. 9, threads mating with each other. The head 15 however comprises in addition the notch 33 extending over the whole length so that, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the head without the shank screwed in can be inserted in the receiving portion from the edge 3 by compression and then fitted on the shank 35 which can also be introduced from the end 3, by screwing in, and connected to the shank 35. As a result of the slot, when the pressure elements are applied or when the pressure is exerted on the head 15, at the same time the head and the shank 35 are compressed more firmly than without such a slot.
In a further embodiment, notches  28 can be provided additionally in the manner shown in FIG. 3, in order thus to cause even greater contact pressure with the threaded shank 35.
1. Anchoring element with a screw (12) comprising a threaded section (13) and a head (15) designed as a spherical segment-shaped section, and with a receiving portion (1) for connecting the screw (12) to a rod (19), wherein the receiving portion (1) comprises a first end (2) and a second end (3) opposite the latter, a longitudinal axis (4) passing through the two ends (2, 3), a bore (5) coaxial with the longitudinal axis (4), a first region adjoining the first end (2) with an essentially U-shaped cross-section (7) with two free arms (8, 9) comprising a thread for receiving the rod (19) to be inserted, a region adjoining the other end (3) for receiving the head (15), and an element (22, 17) which exerts pressure on the rod (19) or on the head (15), characterised in that the threaded section (13) and the head (15) are designed as separate parts.
2. Anchoring element according to claim 1, characterised in that the threaded section (13) comprises a shank (14) at the head end.
3. Anchoring element according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the head (15) comprises a spring-yielding edge on its side facing towards the threaded section (13).
4. Anchoring element according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the edge (34) facing towards the threaded section comprises one or more apertures or recesses (28, 29, 33) which are directed parallel to the axis of symmetry (4) and distributed circumferentially.
5. Anchoring element according to claim 4, characterised in that an aperture (33) extends over the whole wall length, seen in a direction parallel to the axis of symmetry (4).
6. Anchoring element according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the head (15) comprises a bore (27) coaxial with the axis of symmetry.
7. Anchoring element according to claim 6, characterised in that the bore (27) is cylindrical.
8. Anchoring element according to any of claims 2 to 7, characterised in that the shank (14) comprises a rough surface.
9. Anchoring element according to any of claims 2 to 8, characterised in that the shank (14) is polygonal.
10. Anchoring element according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the head (15) comprises an internal thread in the bore and the shank (35) comprises an external thread mating therewith.
11. Anchoring element according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the head (15) is corrugated in the circumferential direction in the bore and the shank (37) comprises a corresponding corrugation on its outer side.
FR2720923B1 (en) 1994-06-10 1997-04-18 Sra Sarl Bone screw.


For the past year and a half we have been using the wrap-around couch and dinette that came pre-installed in the fifth wheel. The couch offered plenty of seating for our family, but like factory RV mattresses, its comfort left much to be desired compared to our residential couch we had prior to moving into the RV. The table was adequate, but whenever we had guests over for a meal the table space became quickly cramped and no place to put any food once everyone's place settings were on the table. Heather has voiced her dislike of the current setup a few times, but we really didn't like our options. Typically we could have a small table with 4 chairs and a loveseat, or a wrap-around like we had. The alternative option really didn't fit the needs of our family, so we left the wrap-around in place. Our current plan is to continue the RV lifestyle for at least a few more years minimum with this fifth wheel, so we would like to have a setup that we enjoy instead of simply tolerating since it will be our home for years to come.
Well, Friday on our way to see the manatees we discovered an IKEA store in Tampa. After viewing the manatees we circled back and browsed the store while the kids played in their free Play Land including a ball pit. We found a third option for our dinette dilemma and after taking some pictures and notes we headed home, escaping the IKEA store with a receipt totaling less than $50. At home we measured, diagramed our space on paper, and discussed the option. Yesterday we returned to the IKEA store, dropped off the kids in the Play Land and headed back to our potential renovation items. After confirming that it would in deed suit our needs for both function and comfort, we made our purchases and picked up the kids.
Back at home we quickly disassembled the dinette, zipping out screws and moving pieces outside. The entire disassembly of the dinette, with the assistance of Pie and Bug who were eager to help, took less than 1 hour from start to finish. The carpet was vacuumed and installation was started. We did lose some under-bench storage space in the process of the renovation, but between our recent underbelly reorganization/clean-out and the recent addition of our Annex, we can afford to lose some storage space under the dinette.
The result of our renovation is a 3-seat sleeper sectional with chaise and a new table. The chaise lifts up to reveal storage within it, so not all of our prior storage space was lost. The bottom of the sofa pulls out and turns into a sleeper of pretty decent size. The table features 6 drawers (3 on each side) and 2 wings that can be used separately or together to create a table size from the minimum 10.5 x 31″ to a max of 31 x 60″ which gives us a great deal of versatility. It is also not fixed to the floor, so it can be turned and moved around as needed. The sofa is also not quite as long as the dinette was before, so we can actually store the table at the end of it and out of the way. We are very happy with our little conversion. I still need to seal the three exterior cabinet doors along the floor a little better now that there is no buffer between the doors and our living space, but that should be easy enough.


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Home 9/11 Families Remains of 72 people found at World Trade Center site
Remains of 72 people found at World Trade Center site
New York City officials say a renewed search this year of debris in and around the World Trade Center site has recovered 72 human remains.
The sifting of more than 800 cubic yards (612 cubic meters) of debris recovered from ground zero and underneath roads around the lower Manhattan site began in April and ended Friday.
The greatest number of remains — 37 — were found from material underneath West Street, a highway on the west side of ground zero. The new debris was uncovered as construction work made new parts of the site accessible.
The city began a renewed search for human remains in 2006. More than 1,800 remains have been found.
Some have been matched to previously unidentified 9/11 victims.
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Stablercake (a.k.a. Mallory Hodgkin) is a painter and illustrator creating critters and monsters with every bright color available, typically all at once. They mainly create their illustrations for their own merchandise to sell at multiple conventions per year, but also work freelance for commercial clients and personal commissioners.


Vote in the Analog Analab reader poll by simply emailing analogsf@dellmagazines.com with "AnaLab Ballot" in the subject and your nomination in the body — or click this handy link to complete a full ballot in your email program, starting with a few of my recommendations. You DO NOT have to be a subscriber.
Hugo nominations come from registered attendees of the current or previous WorldCon, but numerous nominations are required to make the ballot. You can nominate stories by clicking the link sent to you by the WSFA. "Open Source Space" is a novelette, "A Measure of Love" is a short story. Balloting is usually open from January till March of the year.
Neil Clark's FOREVER MAGAZINE publishes reprints by reader recommendation. Anyone can recommend this story.
Are you a SFWA Member?
Science Fiction Writers of America members can nominate works for the Nebula Award.
For All Mankind is eligible as a novelette.
Know of an award or reviewer for which this story might qualify? Use the contact page to let me know.
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by the end of the year to nominate. "Open Source Space" ad "A Measure of Love" are both eligible for the Best Short Fiction award.


Lee Hughes name receives mixed reactions while speaking of football. His illustrious career has been followed closely by sky sports news who were following his career from his days being a semi professional in England C National Football team to his latest position as a striker of Notts County. Lee Hughes began realizing his dream when he became an integral part of the West Bromwich Albion to get a record fee of 200,000, the highest ever paid to a non-league player. His career continued its upward stream until the car accident which he was involved in and held responsible in the 2003-2004 season.
It can be said that it was this crash that changed Hughes life. A passenger, Douglas Graham, in the Renault that his Mercedes hit, died in the crash plus the driver of the Renault was seriously injured. Since Hughes was drinking that night, he fled from the accident scene to avoid the breath analyzer test. Though he turned himself to the police the next day and was arrested for causing death by drunken driving, he was released on bail which allowed him to complete Albions First Division campaign and subsequently become a part of the Premier League. He went on to becoming the clubs leading goal scorer with 13 goals.
Days before his release news surfaced of Hughes signing a contract with Oldham Athletic. He did sign a two year contract upon his release in August 2007 along with them at 1,800 every week, the amount being one tenth of what he earned throughout his stint with Wes Bromwich Albion. However, by the time the season ended, Hughes has reclaimed his position as the highest goal scorer for the club, scoring 8 goals.
on the upswing for Hughes since that time. He joined the Championship Club Blackpool on loan and made his first goal against Charlton Athletic. He was then signed a 2 year agreement for League Two team for Notts County and scored a hat-trick in a victory over Bradford City with 5-0.
Though Hughes finds himself climbing up the ladder of success, he is still haunted by the demons in the past. He still seeks to redeem himself by doing community and charity work with anticipation that his work in a way can help prevent another tragedy from happening.


text:
package org.ohdsi.webapi.report.mapper;

import org.ohdsi.webapi.cohortresults.ObservationPeriodRecord;
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.RowMapper;

import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.SQLException;

public class ObservationPeriodMapper implements RowMapper<ObservationPeriodRecord> {

	@Override
	public ObservationPeriodRecord mapRow(ResultSet rs, int rowNum)
			throws SQLException {
		ObservationPeriodRecord obsRecord = new ObservationPeriodRecord();
		obsRecord.setCohortDefinitionId(rs.getInt("COHORT_DEFINITION_ID"));
		obsRecord.setPctPersons(rs.getDouble("PCT_PERSONS"));
		obsRecord.setCountValue(rs.getInt("COUNT_VALUE"));
		obsRecord.setDuration(rs.getInt("DURATION"));
		return obsRecord;
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


slot game 100 free spins,Baltimore's tribulations were indeed sore; there was no peace for him day nor night. Poor fellow! he was altogether too good-natured. Say what they will about easy-tempered people, it is far better, on some accounts, to have the temper of a wolf. Whoever thought of taking liberties with gruff Black Dan?And now, young gentlemen,He leaped to his feet, and stood before her with such warm, god-like majesty of love and tenderness, that the girl gazed up at him as though he were the one benignant star in all her general night.tots.
there is no need of these argumentative assumptions. You very immensely forget yourself this morning.In a rage I tore off the jacket, and threw it on the deck.It should not. With humane minds, the spirit of distrust works something as certain potions do; it is a spirit which may enter such minds, and yet, for a time, longer or shorter, lie in them quiescent; but only the more deplorable its ultimate activity.This abuse of your own calling in another might make one distrustful with respect to yourself.


This is the best place to be for NWN:EE news and information!
Reading through the forums, I've noticed occasional concerns regarding posts in the Steam discussions. I've been on Steam for a very long time, and as @JuliusBorisov has said, best to check here for the most accurate information and generally disregard many of the Steam discussions. Steam is a great platform for keeping one's game collection together, but the community leaves a lot to be desired at times.
One thing I can say with a fair degree of certainty is that when it comes to negativity on Steam, you'll always see the same names/handles showing up. No matter what the topic, such individuals will always try to incite an argument. I've found ignoring them to be the best policy. A troll will grasp at anything they can to create conflict, I've seen @JuliusBorisov shoot down quite a few. I applaud his patience, he has more than I do.
NWN has always been a VERY popular classic, and the more time passes, the more players will likely gravitate towards the enhanced edition. Just ignore the naysayers and negativity. In time, they'll fade away, go elsewhere, or perhaps go play out in traffic as my father always used to say .
For those of us who enjoy NWN, these forums and the Trello board are great resources for any questions one might have. I really enjoy Trello, as one is able to see what features others are interested in as well and allow the community to help drive the direction of the game. It is an exciting time to be an NWN fan!
I wouldn't vote for setting a standard of summarily excluding and ignoring the malcontent. Malcontentment is one of the most powerful driving forces behind improvement. Some perpetually malcontent people bring up very valid points, and, technically, taking the time to leave a negative comment is still a statement of "This is worth spending some of my limited and non-refundable lifetime on!", which is a compliment again if you think about it. It'd be nice to not have to filter out hate and translate what they're saying into it's constructive forms, though, yes. And, better yet, it'd be nice if they started believing in their own abilities enough to take up investing their time into working for the things they love again, rather than complaining about the things they hate. Best thing about NWN - if you don't like something, you change it, or build something you like better.
Sometimes people make the experience that their words and actions have no impact on the world around them, so they may as well do whatever makes them feel better, and lashing out at others serves to reassure us of our own strength. Volatility is generally more an expression of insecurity than anything else; I think that's why we, ironically, tend to violently reject others offering us reassurance when we're in that state, as that would mean having to acknowledge our own weakness, which we are trying to escape at least within the sanctuary of our own minds. Life's scary. We're all very very small and fragile things, and the entire situation is messed up and terrifying and we're all going to die and be forgotten. It's not pleasant to contemplate. Poor self-esteem can even lead to life-threatening self-harm. Making ourselves believe in our own worth and ability to navigate life is a life-and-death level matter of self-preservation.
And sometimes people come to believe that kindness is just a lie and a front and a facade people use to get their own way, and, frankly, they've got a point. The vast majority of people will be kind to you as long as they want something from you, or as long as you're providing them with something that benefits them (such as praise and validation, for instance). But if you don't have anything they want, you might as well not exist - see typical social treatment of beggars and welfare recipients. A lot of people experience broken romantic or familial relationships, having been promised True Love (TM) and Forever And Always (TM), only to be thrown away without a second glance over minor points of conflict, often resource-motivated. The "We're all a big happy family!"-narrative looks dishonest when you've made that experience. I've got some people that'd elicit a quite bitter laugh from me if I saw them advocating prosocial values and behaviours, too.
People tell you what they see, not what is. Don't disdain somebody for being unable to see anything worth loving. They've got reasons to be that way, and they didn't get to choose the circumstances that made them them any more than anybody else did. It's tempting to conclude that we're 'better' than somebody else for whatever reason and whatever qualities it is we've personally got - more attractive, more wealthy, more intelligent, more kind, more hard-working, more proactive, more calm, more cheerful, more generous, more proficient at (Insert Skill Here), more humble (which is just the height of irony). But in practice, that's just the same kind of self-soothing they're doing; reassuring ourselves of our own worth and worthiness by belittling somebody else.
Life's the biggest, most insanely complex and amazing and exciting story there is. Appreciate your antagonists. What would LotR have been without Sauron? :-) One may wonder what the hobbits looked like from his perspective.
Bit silly to hate on Beamdog enhancing NWN, though, yeah. It's not exactly as if they're strangers to the franchise, or as if NWN hasn't been a great big tinkery lego box game that anybody gets to mess with from the get-go. Give it time, I suppose. The campaigns and modules BD and the community produce will matter in the long run, but... well. We'll never be without critics, no matter what we make. Even the greatest works of art have been verbally ripped apart. It's not avoidable, and it's not really desirable to avoid it anyway - as a crafter, you want to be criticized, and learn from the criticism, in order to improve.
We need to be able to see what's wrong with something in order to make it better. A lot of the stuff I've crafted has been crappy just because I'm too easily satisfied; I don't polish enough, and put out imperfect things because I operate on a "(makes thing) -> Yay! This is the best thing I've ever made! -> (makes next thing)"-basis. It's a good attitude for continuing to practice enough to improve, but not a good one for achieving true mastery of a skill, or producing truly high-quality work. Ironically, I think malcontentment with something might be the prerequisite for becoming a master of it - but if you try crafting something and then hate it so much that you never craft something else again you can't improve your crafting skill to be at the same level of your skill level at perceiving and judging that thing. So I'd say, optimally, you'd want to combine people who really enjoy crafting stuff and people who care enough about the stuff's quality to criticize it until it's perfect, not separate them.
In NWN's case, sincerely inviting malcontents to start modding seems like a good idea. Sharing knowledge and resources is one of the real, practical advantages of prosocial mentality. Maybe that can even give some deeply disillusioned folks a bit of hope for humanity back. "You don't have to be a Yay-we-are-happy-flower-people-and-we-like-eachother!-cultist, just put some minor degree of effort into not acting like a jerk because (insert string of good reasons here)", is a much more reasonable thing to demand of somebody in return than "Yo, why don't you just stop disliking things you total downer?". "Adjust your behaviour a little because that is beneficial to you as well as everyone around you" versus "Invert your entire perception of reality and personality because it doesn't please me".
But I say that as someone who isn't really keeping up with the Steam parts of the community. X_x How bad is it? Can I see? Is anyone getting death threats yet? Do they have lions? Would they set lions loose on us / NWN / Beamdog if they could? Do they need some butterfly pictures? I can draw them some butterfly pictures. Or lions! If they don't have lions, I can draw them some lions. We can have a Steam forum arena fight for the honor of NWN using pictures and pantomime. It'll be fun.
Every forum/community has a use.
I like these forums because posters tend to be more experienced with NWN-specific subjects. So when I talk about a specific feature request or bug it doesn't need a lot of explaining about the context.
I like Steam's because it's a good place to get a gauge about what new players are looking for or run into. I can never be a new player again but those forums give me a lot of insight into a new players' thoughts. For PW/module makers and guide writers it's very useful.
Since the Bioware forums' Sundering the community has been scattered across the planes. I don't think they'll ever come back together so this fragmentation is something we'll have to live with.
Personally I don't like forums, my stance is that in this day and age someone shouldn't have to sign up for an account just to participate. It's like an artifact of a bygone era that just wont go away.
I also think that while some users may not be so articulate about their concerns it usually stems from something valid. For example I've peeked at a few twitch streams of the game and found that it often stutters while ppl are streaming sometimes to the point the streamer decides to play something else. Every time when ppl transition to another area the text area with the name of the area flickers incessantly. So a perception of NWN EE as rough around the edges is probably fair and justified but most folks aren't in the mood to go somewhere and make bug reports.
Others get upset that Beamdog didn't deliver what they never promised they would do and I think that's both unfortunate and a bit frustrating at the same time.
@FreshLemonBun Personally I don't like forums, my stance is that in this day and age someone shouldn't have to sign up for an account just to participate. It's like an artifact of a bygone era that just wont go away.
Surely that is a twitch problem that occurs across many games. Anyway, don't people check out the "Let's Play" videos on YouTube anymore?
It may be a perception but to me it is neither fair or justified.
It's a fact that because there are registrations there is something for trolls and hackers to get or use in the first place. One account often leads to the next and that's generally speaking how things like identity theft occur, these places aren't totally secure and that is the actual real world unfortunately. A search confirms for example that BioWare had 18,000 accounts compromised through their forum before they shut it down.
The problems with the game isn't with twitch, it's with the game freezing. I think ignoring those things is detrimental to the game's future either way. The other problem even sometimes occurs on the live stream and on my own desktop, and I don't think I've seen an NWN EE that doesn't have flickering loading screens. There are numerous other problems too that people have noticed with the game, probably more than what gets reported as bugs.
You may think things are unfair but then again if the product is not functioning well people will notice and they wont always be forgiving.
Intriguing thought. What do registration-free places of discourse look like? What are the pros? What are the cons?
I imagine it'd be harder to clean out spambot attacks. When spam messages are linked to user accounts, you can delete the user and everything they've posted in one swoop. And, making people's actions on the internet untrackable mightn't exactly reduce it's usability for real-life crime... although, to be fair, it's not exactly as if it's not being used for such as is, so who knows whether removing registration and accounts from the picture would increase or decrease total amount of (expletive)y stuff being done online. Good time to raise some awareness for avoiding password reuse?
Makes a lot of sense for people to stress problems more loudly than lack of problems, anyway. Communication-wise, sending out constant calls of "EVERYTHING IS FINE!" isn't as sensible as being silent by default and going "THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG HERE!" when something's wrong. I think criticism mostly just puts people on edge because it's much more widely used to undermine and ostracize people rather than to improve the overall situation in some way. Poisoning the well and all that.
People who aren't emotionally invested in this game and it's community the way we are aren't going to be comparing the EE and it's ongoing improvements to 1.69 and earlier, or to be patient and trust that the bugs will be followed by bugfixes, they're going to be comparing it to all the other games they could be spending their time playing just then. So it's... overall, probably actually pretty fair for them to be judgmental of the problems they encounter. They're just viewing it all on a bigger scale. If negative Steam reviews and such contain mention of specific bugs, that alone makes them pretty dang constructive and valuable, since it shows which bugs are particularly noticeable and annoying to players.
(Sorry TB, I just love that quote).
Generally it depends on the community that is attracted to such places, and the various tools that are in place. For example captcha seems to do a better job overall at keeping spam out of discussions than registrations do, and short term user identification is enough for moderators to keep threads clean and ban troublemakers. Generally speaking the more information a user has out there the more at risk they are, if all your user accounts don't have different passwords, and all your security question answers aren't different then you're at risk. Furthermore with an e-mail address you can find if a user is registered on some sites or not. Nothing is truly untraceable on the internet but security really isn't an argument in favor of forum registration, including trolling and spam, neither of which are eliminated with registration.
My personal objection to "forums" has more to do with the kind of behavior I think such places encourage in the sense of being used as a soap box and a tendency to become insular communities of cheerleaders. Nay saying valid criticisms is one of the things I commonly see in such communities and I agree with TheBarbarian it's less useful to try and somehow invalidate product criticism because if left unaddressed they continue to remain. In the threads preceding the launch on Steam, in response to raised concerns some users commented the reasons why they're perfectly happy with NWN EE as is. It doesn't seem that those comments here alleviated some of the negative reactions elsewhere, after all why would it?
It's better to leave your own opinions of the product to the side and try to understand the criticisms if you wish to improve the product and appeal to a wider audience. As long as you want them to buy the product then their criticisms (within reasons / if it's realistic and not a personal attack) is always valid.
I personally think things like the flickering of the text area in loading screens while not a show stopper does help set the tone of quality of the product lower than it has to be, and it's like why does that even happen and why have they not fixed it in half a year. If you haven't noticed it you can see it briefly each time an area loads for example in the April 20th stream at time 1809, or 30:09, if you go back and watch other past streams it happens there too, and if you use NWN EE for real you probably experience it too, and it's on every NWN streamer's playthrough, except for Diamond Edition users. Small things and little glitches like that just look totally unpolished and it's hard to defend that.
Couple of silly questions here: What's twitch? And "Let's Play"? Is that some kind of game video on youtube? Do these both allow you to watch others play NWN?
"Let's play" are just videos where the player plays through the game.
Yes, you can watch other people play NWN as well as use the modding tools to make their own adventures. It can also be used as a way of promoting games and gauging their impact on contemporary audiences.
The load screen flickering is fixed in the current beta build (8170).
I am so late in getting in on this train but as a fun little aside.
A Let's Play involves the player adding their own commentary and input which marks it as a transformative performance.
A Long Play is just raw gameplay with nothing added by the player.
I found that out last year when I discovered a channel dedicated to Let's Play/Longplays of old point and click adventure games.
Thanks Void.... I can see the appeal of both. I was able to get Twitch working on my TV, but there is no fast forward, so it's a bit clunky.


text:
import string
import sklearn
import numpy as np
from titleParse import *
import os
from sklearn import svm

#testStringList = getTitles("test_data" + os.sep + "merged.txt")
#testStringList = getTitles("test.txt")
"""This is a function designed to extract an attribute vector out of the text of
a Craigslist posting. These attribute vectors will be fed to the SciKit Learn
module to determine the quality of the posting itself."""

clf = svm.SVC()

def extractVectorsFromListOfPosts(postList):

    def extractVectorFromPost(postText):
        upperCaseText = string.upper(postText)
        count = len(postText)
        whiteCount, letterCount, symbolCount, lowerCaseCount = 0, 0 ,0, 0
        for i in xrange(count):
            if postText[i] in string.whitespace: whiteCount += 1
            elif postText[i] in string.ascii_letters:
                letterCount += 1
                lowerCaseCount += (1 - (upperCaseText[i] == postText[i]))
            else: symbolCount += 1
            #Python boolean arithmetic casts True to 1 and 0 to False.
            #If a char was lowercase, the count will increase
        upperCaseRatio = 1 - float(lowerCaseCount)/letterCount
        symbolRatio = float(symbolCount)/count
        whiteRatio = float(whiteCount)/count
        return [upperCaseRatio, symbolRatio, whiteRatio,count]

    result = np.array(map(extractVectorFromPost,postList))
    #print result
    np.set_printoptions(precision=3)
    np.savetxt('long_run.txt',result)
    return result

def writeFile(filename, contents, mode="wt"):
    """This is a function taken from the 15-112 website. It writes
    the string contents to the path defined by the string filename"""
    # wt stands for "write text"
    fout = None
    try:
        fout = open(filename, mode)
        fout.write(contents)
    finally:
        if (fout != None): fout.close()
    return True

def predictScoreForArrayOfVectors(vec_arr):
    for vec in vec_arr:
        print clf.predict(vec)
    return

def getLearningModelFromArray(data_array, scores):
    clf.fit(data_array,np.array(scores))
    return True

(scores,titles) = getTitles('output3.txt')
vectors = extractVectorsFromListOfPosts(titles)
getLearningModelFromArray(vectors,scores)


text:
Home Fear of Twine: Workers in Progress
Fear of Twine: Workers in Progress
Play Workers in Progress
Apparently, Greece is in debt; lots of it. Billions of euros of it.
Despite promises of better wages, fairer taxation and social justice, you are now expected to work even harder and earn less in order to help your country repay its debt.
Greece is in crisis. Austerity, racism, and crushing debt have brought the nation low. In this political climate, Konstantinos Dimopoulos writes about revolution.
A part of the Fear of Twine exhibition, Workers in Progress is almost a simulation game. You choose how you would like to react to the current political climate in Greece. Do you revolt? Do you blame the public sector? Do you resist? Each has their strengths and weaknesses. A call to arms could be detrimental to your health, a vote could bring the people who were once in charge back into power. With each play through lasting about five minutes, there's plenty of time to go through several iterations.
The weakest part of the game is in choosing which political party you would like to vote for. In creative writing, they often stress "show, don't tell." In this, Dimopoulos falters. The parties are explained in a broad strokes kinds of ways (and there are a lot of them), but the user is supposed to gather a lot of information from the attached Wikipedia entries. There's little sense of self-discovery, and in some ways it feels like an educational assignment. One of the times, I selected a political party that was just in power without realizing it. The successful path seems to be leading Greece away from the Euro, and as such, the EU.
At its heart, the game thrives in information and empathy, giving insight into a crisis that is currently being overshadowed by the conflict in Ukraine.
The ending that struck with me was not the one of carefully chosen political parties, of ending the people's struggle. It was the one where I called for Revolution and the people answered. Where I charged with red flag high and demanded to have my rights. It was the ending where I died.
Gone Home Coming to ConsolesTWINE: MANGIA
Twine: Capsule
Twine: Skulljhabit
Link5 years ago	Review, TwineFear of Twine, Greece, Konstantinos Dimopoulos, political games, Richard Goodness79