text:
This influencer's swimwear collection will be all over your Instagram feed this summer
Well it was designed by the OG fashion blogger.
By Charlie Teather
@weworewhatswim / Instagram
She was one of the world's first full-time fashion influencers, so news that Danielle Bernstein - of WeWoreWhat fame - has launched a swimwear collection shouldn't shock you. What might, however, is how brilliant it is.
Her first foray came last May, with a capsule collection for swimwear brand Onia. Back for round two, Danielle is capitalising on the success of her debut by creating a second line - and it's even better than the first.
The 10 things we'll all be wearing this season now that summer has finally arrived (touch wood)
Gallery10 Photos
Acknowledging last summer's obsession with the belted swimsuit, high legs and frills, the 26-year-old has fused such details with next season's biggest trends - with her cow-print one-piece proving one of the collection's biggest success stories already.
With 2 million loyal Instagram followers, it's should come as no surprise that social media is already rife with women - both celebrity and us mere muggles - wearing Danielle's designs...
Not the first time Danielle has dipped her toe in the fashion design pool, she also has two of her own brands, Second Skin Overalls and Archive shoes, which she launched in 2016, as well as a very successful capsule collection with 7 For All Mankind.
Call us Mystic Meg, but we're predicting great things for this swimwear.
This is the surprising trend you'll see all over Instagram this spring
Gallery9 Photos
Ranging in price from £70 for the separates, and £150 for one-pieces, Onia X WeWoreWhat is available to buy online
TopicsInstagramSwimwearShoppingFashion


Standard results - The amount is dependent on your personal circumstances.
Enhanced results - Whether you qualify for an enhanced plan depends on your health and lifestyle conditions.
Thank you for your enquiry. One of the team at Key will be in touch to discuss your calculation.
Interested in a Home reversion? We'll be happy to discuss this with you.


text:
upper tennessee river roundtable
Working to improve the Clinch, Holston, and Powell rivers in Virginia.
Our Annual Giving Campaign is underway to raise much-needed funds for our river programs. Each and every contribution makes a difference in our work! Just click on the donate button above, or if you prefer to mail a check, send it to UTRR, P.O. Box 2359, Abingdon, VA 24212. Many thanks for your support!
UTRR awards outstanding work
It is our delight to announce the Roundtable's 2021 award winners, even more so because we cancelled our 2020 awards program. We presented awards to these deserving and dedicated community members:
Local Group: Stream Sweepers for their hard work and perseverance in cleaning up the Clinch River, removing hundreds of tires and other debris.
Educator/Citizen: Maddie Gordon shown at left, owner of Clinch Life Outfitters in St. Paul, who leads the Stream Sweepers and also takes time to educate others about the Clinch as an important natural treasure.
Agency: VA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation for all the efforts in launching the Clinch River State Park, an asset to our region for residents and visitors to enjoy.
Soil and Water Conservation District: Tazewell SWCD for providing outstanding alternatives for education and outreach during a pandemic. When education events had to be cancelled, educator Elizabeth Bennett began developing her filming skills through training and practice. She produced several videos that are posted online for schools and others to view. She also assisted the Roundtable director with alternate ways of safely hosting outdoor events, including the showing of the film, Hidden Rivers, with the assistance of the town of Tazewell.
Business Awards: We presented two, one to Abingdon Vineyards for hosting our successful art auction fundraiser (this is the second year) and allowing us to post art a month in advance to promote the event and the artists. The winery also partnered with us last year on a successful canoe/kayak river cleanup. The second award went to Tumbling Creek Cider Company for hosting our first fundraiser at their production facility. The outdoor event raised much needed funds and provided a fun evening for all.
Two Special Recognition Awards: The Virginia Highlands Festival received the first award for hosting a variety of environmental activities planned through Merry Jennings' committee, including a showing of the film Hidden Rivers, with the Master Naturalists, Upper Tennessee River Roundtable, Hungry Mother State Park, and the Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Center.
The second award went to the Holston Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists for their work on the Highlands Festival film showing, as well as another showing with the same partners in 2020 at a drive-in movie theater in Marion.
UTRR accomplishments in 2021
As we kick off our annual giving campaign we want to tell you how grateful we are for you.
Your support is beneficial in our continuing quest toward cleaner rivers as you can see from theses highlights of our 2021 accomplishments where we:
· Built rain barrels for water conservation for 100 citizens with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) support;
· Developed curriculum, "Teach The Clinch 2.0," for the Clinch River Valley Initiative, edited by Carol Doss and Christopher Anama-Green, with Virginia Department of Forestry support;
· Funded high school student projects at their schools following their participation in the Clinch River Valley Initiative Youth Summit with Virginia Department of Forestry support;
· Provided citizens with safe disposal of their hazardous waste in partnership with Tazewell SWCD, Tazewell County Sheriff's Dept., SATIRA, with Tennessee Valley Authority support;
· Prevented minerals from polluting the Clinch by assisting Tazewell Soil & Water Conservation District create livestock mineral feeders for farmers;
· Interacted with citizens after the film, "Hidden Rivers," at Virginia Highlands Festival with Holston River Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalists. Showed the film earlier in the year with Tazewell Soil & Water Conservation District, Tazewell, SATIRA with DEQ support;
· Regrouped when a project site was no longer feasible and moved plans to the Saltville Outdoor Classroom and the 4-H Center for 2022 work with Dominion Charitable Foundation support;
· Engaged a dozen excited children in their discovery of tiny macroinvertebrates in Clear Creek and other adventures in our summer camp with Norton Parks and Recreation Department;
· Involved 24 volunteers who removed 18 bags of litter, recycling 6 of those, from Wolf Creek at the historic Muster Grounds through our partnership with Sustain Abingdon; and
· Reduced pollution entering the Clinch River through projects done in partnership with Tazewell Soil & Water Conservation District, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Partners Program, and Canaan Valley Institute with DEQ support (see details on page two of the enclosed newsletter).
As we plan for even more accomplishments in 2022, we would really appreciate your support during this season of giving. We wish you and yours a very happy and healthy holiday season.
Click here to see 2020 Reflections
Campaign invites residents to raise awareness for their favorite rivers
UTRR In THE NEWS
Welcome to our watershed
The Upper Tennessee River Roundtable is a non-profit organization with an overall interest in improving water quality in the Upper Tennessee River Watershed. Don't let the name confuse you: the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable is based in Southwest Virginia and covers from the very tip of Virginia, Lee County, toward Wythe County. The Roundtable represents a total of seven counties and two cities. Our major rivers include the Clinch, Holston (pictured at left), and Powell. (Left image: USDA, top image: CRVI)
The Upper Tennessee River watershed covers three rivers in Virginia: the Clinch, Holston, and Powell rivers. The Roundtable is active in water quality improvement efforts in all three of these rivers. The greater watershed is host to numerous species of fish, mussel, and other aquatic life species. In fact, according to the Nature Conservancy, the Upper Tennessee River watershed greatly exceeds all other watersheds in the lower 48 states in terms of species richness and diversity!
At last count, our watershed had 48 imperiled and vulnerable fish and mussel species. This includes 21 federally endangered or threatened species! The Roundtable has been active in efforts to improve the numbers of individuals of threatened and endangered species in our region. Most recently, following a localized project undertaken by the Roundtable, the Lee County Isopod (pictured at left), at the time in danger of extinction, rebounded in greater numbers. (Image: Shane Hanlon, US Fish and Wildlife)
Click to become a member?
For other ways to help
or get involved,
click here.
330 Cummings St
Phone/Fax:
© Upper Tennessee River Roundtable. All rights reserved.
WebDesignByStreet

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Python: Saving a file before loading it(Windows 7) Basically, I am looking for a way to tell my program to save a file before opening it. Say the situation is that I have a text file that is constantly being written on manually, yet my program is also constantly reading it. How do I tell my program to save the file BEFORE opening it every time?
I'm not 100% sure I am making much sense, if any clarification is required I'd be happy to provide it.
Edit: I am using excel files, basically I am going to be getting constant user data into excel from users logging in to meetings with their IDs.
Below is my while loop where I constantly open my workbook(excel file) and then update it if it changed. Later I write to an output file where I keep track of my users logging in to meetings.
 try:
     while True:
            book2= open_workbook('IDS.xlsx')
            sheet2=book2.sheet_by_index(0)
            IDs2=UpdatePoints(value,IDs2)
            writeBook.save("Counted.xls")
            time.sleep(0.5)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
     print 'interrupted!'

I would like to be able so save "book2" before I open it if it makes any sense.

A: If the file is open by another process, you cannot tell that process to save it's changes before your program opens the file.  Your process can only read the changes that the other process has chosen to write.
What it sounds like you are describing is that there is a file that is open in one process that is making changes to the file -- say a text file that the user is editing in a text editor.  At the same time you want your process to open the file that is being changed and be able to read the pending changes to the file.  Thus, you want the other process to "save" or write out it's changes before your process opens the file.  That way your process will see the changes that have been made to the file.  So you want your process to "save" the file before it "reads" the file.
Unfortunately, this is not how programs and files interact.  Your process will only be able to see the changes when the other process decides to write the changes to the file.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text: require 'wow/rails'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Home tips unlocking Is Vodafone R215 Huawei Mobile WiFi Router Unlocking is Possible?
Is Vodafone R215 Huawei Mobile WiFi Router Unlocking is Possible?
If you will ask me that can Vodafone R215 Huawei Mobile WiFi router is unlock-able? My answer is yes. I have yesterday unlocked Huawei R215 which was locked to Vodafone Portugal network. Vodafone R215 is actually Huawei E5372 and it has branded by Vodafone as R215 and launched in the market by locking his network. So, that no one can use another network provider sim in Vodafone R215 mobile wifi router.
What is the benefit of unlocking of Vodafone R215 Mobile WiFi Modem?
Since, everywhere is not Vodafone network is available. Also, you may be in such a place where Vodafone network is so poor. Then you will be not able to get the desired internet speed. So, if your device is unlocked, then you can use another network provider sim as per the choice.
What is the procedure of unlocking of Vodafone R215 Mobile WiFi Router?
Just put another network sim in your router. Plug it to PC using USB cable. Browse in internet explorer and press enter from the keyboard. Now, you will see the unlocking screen as in above image. Put the correct unlock code and your Huawei R215 is unlocked forever.
What is the price of Unlock Code of Vodafone R215 WiFi?
Unlock code charge is 6 USD (E5372, E5373, R215, E3272, etc, few models unlocking charge is high).
How to get correct unlock code of Huawei R215 Vodafone MiFi WiFi Router?
Pay through PayPal and mention the IMEI in the transaction. Before making payment, make sure the device is asking for SIMLock or unlock code. Because maybe in your country, Vodafone has locked the unlocking part.
Will you get a refund for Huawei R215 Vodafone unlocking code, if unlock code does not work?
Refund is available if code not working. I will personally check it remotely.
How much time have you to wait for unlock code after making the payment?
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In this case, low price means slow. I bought this Centon Datastick Pro 16GB USB Flash Drive Memory stick at the CompUSA Store in Ft Lauderdale so it could take a VirtualPC image I have. Its a development environment that is custom crafted to allow me to do all sorts of things that you would need to do in a software development office. I would have put a direct link to the model stick but the page wouldn't load in Firefox - always a good test for me personally whether to interact with a company or not.
First problem was that the stick was formatted FAT32 like the old Windows 98 Hard Drives. The problem is that the environment image was 10.2GB of space. Ok, not really a big deal, just logistics, right? Newer versions of Windows use NTFS, and 10GB files are no problem there. Had to reformat that little stick and now I have to remember to eject the stick under pain of death of data. FAT32 you can just pull out of the USB slot but you really *should* eject it.
The second problem then hit me in the face. Or rather rubbed itself slowly in my face. I started the copy dinner time and thought that it would take maybe an hour, two tops.... BZZZT! WRONG! I'm writing this at 930AM the next morning and it has just finished copying. So now I have this big ol' copy of a Virtual PC image sitting on a stick that I can run like another computer and I'm wondering whether it was worth the effort.
The eventual start up time was 10 minutes, with 1 minute alone to play the default Windows XP start up sound. It took over 20 minutes to get quiet enough to interact with it and shut it down. I will copy it onto the host PC's Drive in the future. Running from my laptop with adequate memory it starts in 2 minutes and runs "well" enough for me.
The moral of the story is that if you need extra storage for important papers and pictures, recipes and music, a low end low cost USB Flash drive will be fine. Store your papers on one, then drop it somewhere safe.
If you need one with high speed, don't go low end. Either spend some extra after doing your homework and finding a high speed drive, or get yourself an external Hard Disc with a real internal Disc that hooks up to USB and you'll be fine.
Even CDs are faster than this little guy for big files. I think I'll put my E-Books on there.
I find the Centon Stick to be my least favorite to use. I eventually found a stick that allows me to convert a SDHC memory chip to USB. That runs at a much higher speed due to the SDHC chip being a class 6.
I should have done my research!
Global Warming or just a truly bad movie?
Home Churned Butter Recipe - In 5 minutes?


text:
Javier Manquillo Gaitán (Chinchón, Madrid, 5 de maig de 1994) és un futbolista espanyol. Actualment juga al Newcastle United.

Trajectòria esportiva
Format a les categories inferiors de l'Atlètic de Madrid, ha estat campió de la Supercopa d'Europa el 2012, de la Copa del Rei el 2013 i de la Primera Divisió espanyola el 2014 amb l'equip madrileny.

Atlético de Madrid
Manquillo va debutar amb el primer equip de l'Atlètic de Madrid el 8 de desembre de 2011 en partit de setzens de final de la Copa del Rei contra l'Albacete Balompié, que l'equip madrileny acabaria perdent per 2-1.

Posteriorment, a principis de la temporada 2012-13, com a vigent campió de l'Europa League, l'Atlético es va enfrontar amb el Chelsea FC, campió de la Lliga de Campions 2012, en la final de la Supercopa d'Europa. Javi Manquillo va ser convocat i inscrit en aquesta competició, tot i que finalment no va jugar cap minut en la victòria del seu equip per 4-1, convertint-se així en campió de la Supercopa 2012. Durant el resta de la temporada, Manquillo va entrenar els entrenaments amb el primer equip i amb el filial, disputant alguns partits de Lliga, Copa i Europa League amb l'Atlético. El 6 de desembre va debutar en competició europea com a titular en el partit contra el Viktoria Plzeň txec, que va finalitzar amb derrota de l'equip matalasser per 1-0. Tres dies després, el jugador espanyol també va debutar a primera divisió, en la victòria per 6-1 davant del Deportivo de la Coruña. Manquillo va saltar al terreny de joc al minut 74 en substitució del jugador brasiler Filipe Luís. El 17 de maig de 2013 l'Atlético va proclamar-se campió de la Copa del Rei al vèncer al Reial Madrid a l'estadi Santiago Bernabéu, després de guanyar el partit a la pròrroga per 1-2.

De cara a la temporada 2013-14, Manquillo va passar definitivament a ser jugador del primer equip de l'Atlético, passant a portar el dorsal 17. A més a més, el 3 de setembre del 2013 va ampliar el seu contracte amb el conjunt madrileny, renovant fins al 2018. L'11 de desembre d'aquell mateix any va debutar en partit de la Lliga de Campions al sortir com a titular davant del FC Porto, enfrontament que acabaria en victòria matalassera per 2-0. Pel que fa al campionat de lliga, l'Atlético es va proclamar campió del torneig domèstic gràcies a un avantatge de 3 punts davant del segon classificat, el Futbol Club Barcelona, i després d'empatar 1-1 al Camp Nou en l'última jornada. Tot i ser jugador de la primera plantilla, al finalitzar la temporada Manquillo havia disputat menys partits que la temporada anterior, en part a causa de la lesió que va patir en un xoc amb el jugador del Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo, que el va tenir aturat pràcticament 2 mesos.

Liverpool
El 6 d'agost de 2014 es va anunciar que Manquillo abandonava l'Atlético de Madrid per fitxar pel Liverpool en qualitat de cedit, durant les dues temporades següents. El club anglès va incloure al contracte una opció de compra per al jugador de 15 milions d'euros aproximadament.

Palmarès
Amb l'Atlètic de Madrid
 Supercopa d'Europa (1): 2012.
 Lliga espanyola (1): 2013-14.
 Copa del Rei (1): 2012-13.
Amb la Selecció Espanyola
 Campionat d'Europa sub-19 (1): 2012.

Referències

Futbolistes de l'Atlètic de Madrid de la dècada de 2010
Futbolistes del Liverpool FC
Futbolistes del Sunderland AFC
Futbolistes del Newcastle United FC
Futbolistes madrilenys
Persones de Chinchón
Naixements del 1994

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
100 up for Luke Marshall after being frustratingly close to Six Nations
October 25, 2022 0 By JohnValbyNation
SO NEAR AND yet so far.
The cruel double-edged sword of being an international squad reserve can be a tough one to handle.
Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
For Luke Marshall, an experienced centre despite his ever-youthful face, the Six Nations was a frustrating experience even before the results were taken into account.
Marshall was a travelling squad member for Ireland's opening two fixtures in the Championship. He made the journey to Edinburgh and Rome, held tackle bags, ran lines in the warm-up and kept those infamous details brushed up. All the work you would expect of a Test rugby player, but without the perks. No matchday jersey, no chance to shine, no addition to the nine caps he carried into the year.
"It's tough to watch those games," Marshall tells The42. His frustration, like any self-respecting rugby player, comes from not playing.
"You sit and watch the Ireland game the Saturday, Ulster have played on the Friday – so you end up missing two games and you don't play at all.
"Those first two weeks I didn't play any games at all. That's the way it is, professional rugby: someone's got to sit and cover. At the same time, it's good to be as close as I am. It's just the next step for me is trying to push on and make a harder decision for Joe."
While his 10th Test cap eluded him in the weeks before his 26th birthday, Marshall did get back to his province to help them rediscover the winning feeling. So as his team-mates try to notch a sixth win on the trot away to Dragons this Saturday, Marshall will become a provincial centurion.
James Coughlan welcomes Marshall to the big time. Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO
Casting his mind back 99 caps to his very first Ulster appearance in 2010, Marshall's memory remains vivid.
"I was on the bench for Munster at home. I think Mark McCrea pulled up after about 20 minutes and I ended up getting 60 minutes. It was a very good experience and something I wasn't expecting. The year before I had struggled with injuries – I had a couple of games for Ballymena that season, but Brian McLaughlin came in and put us on the bench."
Source: Presseye/Angus Bicker/INPHO
Over the seven years since, Marshall''s highlights in the white jersey are what you might expect: the nights and days when Ravenhill (latterly Kingspan Stadium) was turned into a cauldron for wins over the likes of Leicester or Clermont. The big days on home turf have always pretty much looked after themselves for Ulster.
It's the away record that has weighed their campaign low of late with just two wins from their last nine trips. The rich vein of form tapped against the Italian sides and an under-strength Glasgow during the Six Nations has Ulster in fourth place in the Pro12. But it's a perilous position when you look at a run-in that includes trips to Munster and Ospreys before round 22 brings Leinster to Belfast.
"But we know we can go those places and win," Marshall says with a touch of defiance, "we went to the Liberty Stadium last year and got a bonus point win. We beat Munster away two years ago.
He adds: "For us, after that dip we had. We almost have to win every game now until the end of the season."
Sustaining their winning form into the business end of the season may well need Marshall to reach three figures in another stats column. The centre has burst through for 19 tries for Ulster to date, 95 points, he doesn't need to think long about his favourite. It wasn't the most flourishing move or a breakaway from 50 metres, it was just his first.
Source: TheUAFC/YouTube
"It was a very special moment for me, my mum's got a picture of it in the kitchen," he says with a laugh when recounting his 2011 score against Cardiff Blues.
"Ian Humphreys put me free, it was overlap ball. I'd say I had five metres, max, to go."
Source: Darren Kidd
The soft-spoken, smooth-passing, hard-hitting, tactical kicking centre seems to some up his century succinctly.
"Hopefully there's a few more to come."
For country as well as club.
Ultan Dillane unlikely to be fit in time for Ireland's summer tour
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The Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate sometimes act like the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Each side understands that it could use a number of parliamentary procedures to wipe out its opposition, but the Senators also know they will only be in power for so long and that payback's a…you know.
After years of threats, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid finally triggered what the Chamber has referred to as the nuclear option to force a de facto rules change over a relatively obscure Senate procedure known as "suspension of the rules." Unfortunately for Reid, the radiation is likely to poison the little remaining comity there is in the Senate.
Before we dive into the details, let's just posit that this is a confusing topic fully appreciated by only a handful of parliamentary experts and insomniacs.
Precedents are a critical aspect of Senate procedure. Precedents can be created by a simple majority vote – as was done on October 6. A precedent can be changed when the Presiding Officer (usually an acting president pro tempore) makes a new ruling that is upheld by the Senate, or makes a ruling that is overturned by the Senate. Usually, when the minority disagrees with a particular ruling it could appeal the Presiding Officer's decision. The majority would usually move to table the motion. A motion to table is non-debatable, voted on immediately, and requires only a simple majority to pass. Thus, if the majority of the Senate upholds the ruling, the ruling becomes a new precedent. The opposite is also true. If the majority opposes a ruling, and defeats the motion to table an appeal, the chair's ruling is rejected, and that rejection becomes the new precedent. (Confused yet?) Thus, a majority is able to secure its preferred outcome without having to go through the arduous process of changing a rule.
The Majority Leader, in an effort to protect his politically vulnerable colleagues from taking a potentially embarrassing vote, objected to the Republican motion as a dilatory tactic that should not be allowed once cloture has been invoked on a bill.
The Presiding Officer, a Democrat acting on the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian (the body's procedural referee), ruled that the precedent of the Senate was to allow these motions, up until the 30 hours of debate after the cloture vote expired. Reid immediately appealed the ruling of the Presiding Officer and gathered 51 votes – a simple majority – to overturn the previous precedent. In effect, Reid had forced through a change in Senate rules by a simple majority vote.
Republicans had threatened to use the same legislative tactic in 2005 to force an end to the Democrats' filibuster of President Bush's judicial appointments. The plan was for then-Majority Leader Bill Frist to move to immediate consideration of a nomination, and when the minority objected, have Vice President Cheney issue a ruling that it was unconstitutional to require a supermajority vote on nominees. Once Cheney made the ruling, the minority would object, and Frist would have moved to table the appeal. If he had 50 votes (with the Vice President breaking the tie), a new precedent blocking filibusters on nominations would have gone into effect. At the time, there was no greater opponent to this "abuse of power" than the Minority Leader—Harry Reid. But cooler heads prevailed, and as has always been the case with other unusual ways to effect rule changes, an agreement was worked out to proceed.
The difference is that this time, Reid actually detonated the nuclear device. The incident that occasioned its use was itself rather small: The Republicans had only used the tactic in question once this year and a handful of times last year. The more consequential issue is that the majority used this tactic to force a rules change by a simple majority vote depriving the minority of their right to offer the amendment of their choosing once cloture had been invoked. As discussed earlier, the Senate has traditionally been very protective of its rules, to the point of requiring a bigger two-thirds supermajority to end a filibuster on rule change resolutions.
What does this all mean? It could mean a new round of parliamentary battles between the two parties. If a Republican is elected President next year, and if, as most pundits believe, the Republicans win control of the Senate in the 2012 election, they could point to Reid's actions and change the filibuster rule on nominees as they had threatened in 2005. Perhaps they could eliminate the filibuster all together. Who knows? And that is the problem. No one does know what the future now holds. Normally precedents would be a guide, but if majorities are now more willing to overrule them, that may no longer be the case. The Senate rules have been governed by a kind of mutually assured destruction doctrine when it comes to the filibuster. Every Senate majority sees the filibuster as an anti-democratic threat to the nation, and every Senate minority swears it's the only thing saving the Republic from destruction and damnation. Yet Senate majorities have always been reluctant to be too aggressive in eliminating the filibuster, because they might find themselves in the minority after the next election.
Majority Leader Reid has lobbed the first nuke, and he did it over a fairly inconsequential amendment that 95 percent of the country would probably have never heard of had he allowed it to proceed. Now he gets to reap the whirlwind.


Editorial Note: One of the best parts of working on the Magenta project is getting to interact with the awesome community of artists and coders. Today, we're very happy to have a guest blog post by one of those community members, Parag Mital, who has implemented a fast sampler for NSynth to make it easier for everyone to generate their own sounds with the model.
NSynth is, in my opinion, one of the most exciting developments in audio synthesis since granular and concatenative synthesis. It is one of the only neural networks capable of learning and directly generating raw audio samples. Since the release of WaveNet in 2016, Google Brain's Magenta and DeepMind have gone on to explore what's possible with this model in the musical domain. They've built an enormous dataset of musical notes and also released a model trained on all of this data. That means you can encode your own audio using their model, and then use the encoding to produce fun and bizarre new explorations of sound.
Since NSynth is such a large model, naively generating audio would take a few minutes per sample, making it pretty much a nonstarter for creative exploration. Luckily, there is plenty of knowledge floating out there about how to make the WaveNet decoder faster1. As part of development for my course on Creative Applications of Deep Learning, I spent a few days implementing a faster sampler in NSynth, submitted a pull request to the Magenta folks, and it's now part of the official repo. The whole team was incredibly supportive and guided me through the entire process, offering a ton of feedback. I'd highly encourage you to reach out via GitHub or the Magenta Google Group with any questions if you are interested in contributing to the project.
If you are interested in learning more about NSynth, WaveNet, or Deep Learning in general, I highly recommend that you join our growing community of students on Kadenze. We cover everything from the basics, to Magenta, NSynth, and plenty more, including some interviews with members of Magenta.
Everything I show here is also included in the Jupyter Notebook located in the Magenta demos repo. Have a look there for more details on how these sounds were created.
First, I explored resynthesizing sounds: simply encoding and decoding them without changing the encodings. Here's an example of what an encoding looks like using NSynth's pretrained model. This example shows a drum beat. You can see that the encoding seems to follow the overall pattern of the audio signal.
Notice how much character these have! They are really weird. They are certainly not perfect reconstructions, as they are very different than the training data, but that is what makes them so interesting and fun to explore. Also, remember that NSynth was trained to use 8-bit mu-law 16kHz audio, so there is naturally a gritty lo-fi quality to the sound.
Next, I explored a fairly simple manipulation of the embedding space of NSynth by stretching it in time. The idea here is to perform a fairly established technique in audio synthesis called timestretching. If you were to try the same thing naively on the raw audio signal, you'd get a pitch shift. So making an audio signal longer would also reduce its pitch, and that might be undesirable. But what if you want to keep it the same length? There are plenty of other techniques out there like granular time stretching. But I found NSynth can also perform time stretching even though it was never designed to do so, simply by scaling its embeddings. What you do is take the encoding, so a 125 x 16 dimension matrix for a 4 second sample, and you stretch it like an image in any direction. Then you can synthesize the stretched embeddings.
This is really the magical part of working with a neural audio synthesis technique. Much like word2vec's linear representation of a verbal semantic space, NSynth's encoding should similarly have a good representation of its dataset in its embedding. It would be great to see the community explore things like t-SNE visualizations, vector-based arithmetic of embeddings, and further manipulations of the embedding space that produce interesting results on the synthesized sound.
There are a few ways we could think about combining sounds. Magenta's release of an NSynth instrument inside Ableton Live already demonstrates a really powerful way of interpolating between many different instrument sounds used in the training of NSynth. Also their collaboration with Google Creative Labs shows how to interpolate between any two sounds using NSynth.
Now we can explore interpolations of our own sounds! In the Jupyter Notebook, I show an example of mixing the breakbeat and the cello from above by simply averaging their embeddings together. This is unlike adding the two signals together in Ableton or simply hearing both sounds at the same time. Instead, we're averaging the representation of their timbres, tonality, change over time, and resulting audio signal. This is way more powerful than a simple averaging.
His composition really demonstrates how well NSynth can be used alongside more typical elements of a musical practice. If you are interested in learning more about sound production in Ableton Live, definitely check out his free Kadenze course on Sound Production.
There is a lot to explore with NSynth. So far I've just shown you a taste of what's possible when you are able to generate your own sounds. I expect the generation process will soon get much faster, especially with help from the community, and for more unexpected and interesting applications to emerge. Please keep in touch with whatever you end up creating, either personally via twitter, in our Creative Applications of Deep Learning community on Kadenze, or the Magenta Google Group.


text:
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Home / Curious Communications / Exclusive: This Special FX Team Hoaxes Paranormal Activity at Haunted Locations, and Business is Booming
Exclusive: This Special FX Team Hoaxes Paranormal Activity at Haunted Locations, and Business is Booming
Paranormal investigators have a rough gig. Not only is it pretty tough to catch genuine anomalies on film, but once you do, you have to hope it will stand up to the scrutiny of your peers, not to mention face the unwavering cynicism of Skeptics. Well, ghost hunters' jobs just got way harder thanks to a new professional service that promises to provide untraceable hoaxing of paranormal activity.
Mike Bisch runs Kentucky Special FX, a company that specializes in building movie prop replicas, haunted house attractions, and realistic animatronics to name a few things. According to Bisch, custom orders account for nearly 70% of his company's revenue, and they're responsible for the special effects in the 7th Street Haunt, a highly-reviewed haunted house with over $850,000 in movie grade illusions at work.
It's safe to say that when it comes to scaring the pants off people, Mike Bisch knows his stuff. But when he's not creating replicas of Ghostbusters II's dancing toaster or rigging up terrifying animatronics in theatrical haunted houses, Bisch offers another service that's sure to scare ghost hunters in a much different way: professional paranormal hoaxes in the legendary haunted location of the buyer's choice… and according to Bisch, he's already pulled it off over twenty times.
In a package named "Real Ghost And Unexplained Phenomenon And Apparitions", Bisch offers up the covert operations of he and his team as they set to work creating everything from equipment malfunctions, sudden temperature fluctuations, and appearing and disappearing apparitions for unwitting ghost hunters in haunted buildings. They claim they can even make an entire group of people feel ill at the same time.
By arriving in unmarked vehicles and blending into ghost hunting groups, Bisch promises the owners of allegedly-haunted locations a "helping hand in making sure your guest or ghost hunters get to see or experience some pretty cool stuff on demand to help keep you in business." They'll perform all these services and more without ratting you out, either. In fact, the only way they'll spill the beans is if law enforcement comes knocking with a warrant.
With such far-reaching implications for the field of paranormal research, I couldn't help but wonder: what drives a special effects artist to offer a service like this? I reached out to Mike for answers, and it turns out, he sees his job as a challenge to ghost hunters.
"I started offering the haunting package not long after my father passed away," Bisch told Week in Weird. "When he was alive.. we did the same pact the Weiss's did [referring to Harry Houdini and his wife, Bess]. We had a simple code word that would be solid proof of the others' existence in the after world and when we passed we would try in any way possible to reach out. Well guess what? Never heard a peep from either of them and no mentalist, psychic, or anyone for that matter has even guessed close."
A magician since age twelve, and an escape artist since fourteen, Bisch decided to put his skills to use fooling "fakers, spiritualists, and those ghosty hunters" using a combination of state-of-the-art technology and good old fashioned misdirection.
"I'm not a hardcore paranormal believer," Bisch says. "I'm a man of science."
Mike says that so far, his clients have been a fifty-fifty split of private individuals and big name companies, both eager to manifest all manner of spooky activity.
"Every place is different, as is every budget. One place might want something simple to fly or float by, another might want a full blown hologram to appear and disappear completely untraceable. There's a lot of hours that go into planning on the bigger-scale projects. A lot. There's a lot of paper work to be done before we show up."
Mike wouldn't tell me exactly how many hoaxes he's pulled off, but hinted that the number is over two dozen. He's even said no to a few, but only when he's certain someone might get injured or his team can't get away with the illusion.
"Yes, we have turned down opportunities that we thought would cause physical harm to people, and we've turned down a couple because of [mental health risks]," Bisch says. "Some projects we were able to salvage with alternatives, and some we flat out lost out on. The biggest question is, 'does the customer have the means for us to fulfill the request but not get caught?' If not we won't even attempt it. We don't get caught, ever."
For ghost hunters, a service like this is alarming news. Not only does it call into question the validity of evidence they've previously collected, but it's casting doubt on which haunted locations they choose to investigate.
"We pay a lot of money to travel to haunted places in search of answers," Sue Nielson, a long-time paranormal investigator told me. "If we wanted a fake haunting we would stay close to home and wait for the haunted houses to start up in October."
Todd Manoli-Smith, a ghost hunter from Seattle, says hoaxes in properties with haunted histories are an insult.
"Not only is this degrading to the field it's so disrespectful to the deceased who may actually be trying to reach out," he wrote.
Even Chip Coffey, a famed psychic medium known for his appearances on shows like A&E's Paranormal State, weighed in on the subject.
"If there is reliable, substantive, irrefutable PROOF that such activity is occurring, then it should be made public," Coffey wrote. "No blind accusations, suppositions or conspiracy theories. PROOF ONLY!"
But it isn't just paranormal investigators who are upset by the idea of professional hoaxers. For the owners of spooky locations with honest reputations, the fears of being lumped in hoaxers are scarier than the resident spirits. Jesse Leimkuehler, who owns the Belvoir Winery, a castle-like building noted for its paranormal street cred, including an appearance on SyFy's Ghost Hunters, sees the rise of haunt-for-hire services as another challenge in the uphill battle of maintaining a haunted property.
"I don't know about ghost hunters, but as the owner of a haunted location that goes out of its way to make sure nothing is faked, that pisses me off," he says. "It creates more questions by guests when they know that kind of stuff is being done at other locations. All it takes is one falsified haunting to allow people to blanket all locations as not legitimate."
Robbin Terry, who owns and maintains the well-known Ashmore Estates property featured on Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures, says that operations like Mike's and the fear of potential hoaxing accusations have been enough to make him think twice about the kind of renovations he performs on his own building.
"As a venue owner I can't imagine anyone doing this, but I suppose greed takes over," Terry says. "I was going to put a sound system throughout the building for personal use when working or events but have refrained just so someone doesn't think I'm trying to 'fake' things."
The struggle to make a buck in the paranormal industry is a real one, and while there's no doubt that unscrupulous property owners have resorted to scheduling a few extra bumps in the night in hopes of bumps in ticket sales, many locations offer up their ghosts for more practical reasons. For Leimkuehler, the motivations for events at the Belvoir Winery have less to do with raking it in, and are more about the necessity of providing a safe alternative to researchers gone rogue.
"If we don't do the events," he says, "we have people (mostly kids) who break into our property to search for paranormal stuff, which is a HUGE liability to our family/business. We do the paranormal events because it gives those people a safer outlet for that paranormal interest where we can control the risk to participants. By the time I pay investigators/staff/maintenance, we don't make that much on the paranormal events."
As for Mike Bisch and his bag of supernatural special effects, the motivation to hoax hauntings is a direct response to what he sees as a lack of proper effort on the part of the ghost hunting community.
"Way I see it, if they're worth their weight, they'll know it's us [behind the fake paranormal activity]."
But even if Bisch wasn't compelled to fool paranormal investigators out of a sense of moral commitment – or just cold hard cash – he'd probably still be doing it anyway because, he says, he's gotten pretty good at it.
"If you're gonna be good at something, be the best you possibly can be, give it your all," Bisch told me. "Live it, breathe it, become it, and by God, you can best believe if we don't take the job someone else will."
Maybe he's right. In fact, according to many insiders, these kinds of tricks have been occurring at a growing rate since the paranormal television boom took ghost hunting to the mainstream. After reaching out to investigators for opinions on this story, my inbox was flooded with responses from ghost hunters who say they've discovered sneaky supernatural hoaxes happening at some of the most famous paranormal hotspots in America.
One man, who didn't want to be named, claims that he and a business partner discovered hidden speakers in one of these legendary haunts, devices that are still completely unknown to the public, but intended to replicate paranormal activity with low-frequency sounds. Having a degree in audio engineering, his partner recognized what was happening "almost immediately."
One of the most common responses from ghost hunters is that, if they were to discover that such a hoax had been perpetrated at their expense, they would sue. Indeed, many of these investigators spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to attend events in allegedly haunted locations, most of them setting out to capture genuine evidence of the paranormal. The question is, do they have any legal recourse if they find themselves at the center of a hoax?
Turns out, in most cases, probably not very much.
While there doesn't appear to be a good legal precedent for a case in which paranormal investigators sued a haunted building for fake ghosts, the fact that ghosts themselves are so hard to prove in court makes situations like this pretty murky.
The real issue, though, is proving quantifiable damages to ghost hunters, a community of people who have spent the last decade setting themselves up as non-profit entities. While the famous ghost hunters of the 1970s were all too happy to charge for their services, these days, the act of receiving payment for a paranormal investigation is a cardinal sin in the wider ghost hunting community. This makes establishing damages a whole lot harder.
Additionally, if the "haunted" location in question offers no guarantees of genuine paranormal activity, they're probably off the hook. As long as the property owners are merely offering up access to their building – and nothing else – they're more than likely free to hoax all the ghosts they want. In fact, they've got the most money to lose in the deal, which means that any investigation team bringing suit had better be prepared for the potential of a countersuit.
Of course, I'm not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. With a situation as strange as this, we'll never know exactly how a case of hoaxed ghost hunters will play out until someone brings it to court.
At the end of the day, there's only one reliable way for ghost hunters to be sure that the evidence they're collecting is legitimate: investigate well and when in doubt, throw it out. Just as it was during the heyday of fraudulent seances and mediums pulling cheesecloth from their nether-regions, the hallmarks of a good paranormal investigator remain in knowing to look for a hoax first and a haunting second, being willing to admit it when you've been fooled, and telling the world as much.
Unfortunately, this shifts the moral responsibility to the ghost hunter. When even the most respected paranormal investigators have to sing for their supper, do the risks of exposing phony phantoms outweigh the financial gain of using them to your advantage? In that respect, Mike Bisch, and the countless others like him, are the devil sitting on the shoulder of the ghost hunting community, gleefully whispering about how its not wrong if no one finds out.
As for Mike, he wouldn't have it any other way.
"I can't apologize.. or I guess I could, but I won't," he says. "I'm an asshole, I know, but a lovable asshole though."
I'm sure the paranormal community would agree with him on at least one of those descriptions.
For more of the best in-depth articles on the paranormal, like Planet Weird on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
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Spirits do not even look like those doorway ones ! This is really annoying to real paranormal investigators.and makes a mockery of our work ,stick to haunted theme parks
Meh Lab
Mike is an Asshole
I identify as a Skeptic most of the time (capital S – don't think I wouldn't notice). In the past, I was more of a supernatural believer, but years of faked Youtube apparition videos, Reddit embellishers, and over the top faked-out ghost hunting shows, I seem to have creeped into the Skeptic category. It's hard to believe anything when so many clowns have falsely been crying ghost for so long.
Your use of Scooby Doo imagery in this article is spot on. ZOINKS. I love how this guy claims he's trying to keep the paranormal community real, but in reality he's just interfering with legitimate investigations and being a general nuisance. The only thing worse than this guy might be the operators of allegedly haunted premises using this guy to up their game. C'mon, projected apparitions and computerized knocking? Oy. If you are gonna fake it, it is best to go low-tech (a creepy old doll here, a fan knocking a broom around there, maybe a window left ajar so it makes whistling noises). Shame on these places (unless of course they make appropriate disclosures).
urkotic
While I have no doubt that the occasional hoax mars the otherwise scrupulously upright, professional and drama free world of paranormal tourism and 'investigation', I must admit I find myself agreeing with Chip Coffey on this one. Sure, I'll never feel clean again, but he does have a point here when he, possibly for the first time ever, demands PROOF. We just have the fairly braggy word ("…a full blown hologram to appear and disappear completely untraceable" – really? and no reports of ghost investigators soiling themselves at that sight have surfaced? no photos or audio captures from people who are pretty much by definition outfitted with recording devices at all times?) of a guy who admits to making his living by pulling people's legs? Don't get me wrong please Greg, this is a great story and thank you for surfacing it, but I'm not convinced that the professional head faker is not ladling in some bullshit on this one.
That said I think hoaxes, possibly more half assed rather than the product of hours of planning and a lot of paper work, were if I recall right called out at Poasttown Elementary and 'Black Moon Manor'; I've had my suspicions about at least one other dump with a grandiose name. Where else has this happened?
Really though why bother paying someone to fabricate a haunting? Plenty of ghost hunters already want to believe. Given the properly suggestive environment many will undoubtedly cast a wide enough net to find something to satisfy them.
I believe it is an error to react uncritically to Mike Bisch's claims. Perhaps he has done all he says, perhaps he is winding us up.
Hayley Stevens
Hahaha. Someone (Mike) thinks very highly of themselves.
Robbin Terry
When people visit my locations I sit in my office or staff room. I've even offered to allow someone to sit with me just so they know there is nothing going on. I don't think Mike is an asshole I think the venue owners, not haunted attractions, are the assholes for hiring him to come in and do this to their property.
Here we go again, be it Bigfoot, UFOs, or ghosts…we keep collecting REAL EVIDENCE on all these phenomenon and then the tricksters and frat boys that never grew up have to muddy the waters so everything gets made fun of and the subjects get generalized as a waste of time and a bunch of lies. They think this is fun because they don't buy it, and really it's a quick buck, and blast to laugh about it on the weekends after they fool everyone.
In Bigfoot we may be trying to save a real creature from extinction…but let's fake it, so no one cares
UFOs…oh sure they toy with our global military, maybe take people when they want, and can do as they please. Let's fake it and get everyone to ignore it!
Ghosts…oh do we die, do we live after death? Tell you what, lets intentionally fake all the evidence so everyone gives up trying! Brilliant.
It would be terrible if these individuals were hacked and had their computers, emails, and lives toyed with for a few days…or would it? Maybe then they might get it that someone else's "fun", isn't your idea of fun.
there are such things


Indo-West Pacific: Pakistan through Southeast Asia to New Guinea. Elsewhere extending to the Chinese coast.
الأشواك الظهرية (المجموع): 4; شوكة شرجية 3; أشعه شرجية لينه: 9. Greenish dorsally; flanks and abdomen silvery (Ref. 9812). First dorsal fin with black margin, other fins dusky (Ref. 9812). Pectoral fins with dark spot dorsally at origin (Ref. 9812).
A shallow-water, schooling species which enters estuaries and freshwaters. Spawn at sea. Juveniles may be found in rice fields and mangrove swamps (Ref. 9812). Feed on small algae, diatoms, and other organic matter, both living and detrital, taken in with sand and mud. Fries feed on copepods and floating algae. Oviparous, eggs are pelagic and non-adhesive (Ref. 205). Marketed fresh, boiled (Thailand), canned or frozen (Australia); roe marketed salted (Ref. 9812).
Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 24.9 - 29.1, mean 28.3 (based on 1336 cells).
مستوى غذائي (Ref. 69278): 2.2 ±0.00 se; Based on food items.
عرضة للخطر (Ref. 59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (35 of 100) .
تم تعديلها بواسطة Casal, Christine Marie V.


NATIONAL REPORT — Today's retailers know the power of the mobile phone when it comes to connecting and communicating with customers, and knowing how consumers utilize mobile to interact with retailers is key to creating a successful mobile strategy.
There are five major groups that customer interaction fall into, according to Charlie Lang, executive vice president of product and marketing at Koupon Media, provider of a digital promotional platform for small-format stores. They are: buying, saving, discovering, paying and communicating.
When it comes to buying, consumers look to either utilize mobile payment with a convenience store, or order ahead. The number of consumers utilizing mobile payment continues to increase, with 59 percent of e-commerce purchases happening via mobile, noted Lang.
"People are spending money and buying from their phones more than ever before, and mobile ordering and order ahead are part of this," he told Convenience Store News.
When it comes to saving money, offering discounts, coupons and savings when using a mobile app or being part of a loyalty program that runs through a mobile app is an incentive for customers to interact with retailers in this way.
Using mobile phones for discovery is centered on finding out about products or services. This may include checking prices for products or fuel, or finding the nearest location of a store.
Mobile payments continue to grow and are happening in a variety of ways, including via an app, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Chase Pay and more. Walmart even created its own branded payment option called Walmart Pay.
"The emergence of Apple Pay and Google Pay continues to take hold, and some c-stores are using mobile payment in conjunction with a loyalty offering or cashback offering around fuel purchases. This will certainly be a player in the decades to come," Lang said.
The final way consumers are using mobile to interact is through direct communication with retailers — whether it's sending feedback, asking questions or looking for other kinds of support.
This includes recent developments with artificial intelligence.
Click below to download our full report, "On the Move," for additional insights on all things mobile.


Dogs are one of the most popular domestic pets in the UK. If you are thinking of buying a dog it is really important to think carefully about all aspects of the choice before going ahead. The type and breed of dog you choose is likely to have a big influence on the care it needs so make sure that your dog is suitable for your lifestyle. A dog needs lots of love and care, including regular preventative treatment for worms and other parasites, vaccinations and dental care. You will also need to keep an eye out for potential health problems, including ticks, fleas and ear mites. If your new puppy or dog hasn't been neutered contact your vet to make discuss this.
Although most dogs do not often wander off on their own it is important that it carries some form of permanent identification to identify it if it is lost or stolen. In dogs the simplest form of permanent identification is a tiny microchip inserted under the skin in the neck which carries a unique number which idenitifes your dog's details on a central database. If your dog is not yet microchipped you should contact your vet to arrange for this to be done. Microchipping will become compulsory for dogs from April 2016 so there is little point delaying.
Dogs love human company and, unlike cats, often seek constant human contact. Don't forget that dogs need somewhere warm to sleep, a constant supply of water, daily feeds, toys to play with and regular exercise. You will have to take into account the cost of care for a dog, including food, veterinary care and pet insurance. You will also have to pay kennel charges when you go on holiday.


text:
September 14, 1950 -- Loop Elevated Line's End Is Near, Mayor Says
transitchicago.com
September 14, 1950 – Mayor Martin Kennelly observes that the old Wabash Avenue elevated tracks may be torn down sooner than people think, adding that the new Dearborn-Milwaukee subway will siphon off substantial amounts of traffic from the line. Chicago Transit Authority officials concur, estimating that the eastern half of the Loop elevated structure, running form Van Buren Street to Wabash Avenue and from there to Wells Street, may be removed within four years. The executive secretary of the Wabash Avenue Association, George W. Swanson, says, "The sooner the better. Then we can put up new street lights and outshine State Street." [Chicago Daily tribune, September 15, 1950]. Not so fast … not only is the Loop elevated still very much in use, on August 31, 2017 a brand-new Washington/Wabash station replaced century-old stations at Randolph and Madison Street with new elevators, a street to mezzanine escalator, wider platforms, real-time train tracker displays, 100% LED lighting, security cameras, and a gleaming modern canopy. [transitchicago.com]. With that expenditure of $75 million it appears that the elevated will be around for a long time to come. The new station is pictured above.
September 14, 1939 – The Chicago Housing Authority is notified that its application for $7,719,000 of Public Works administration funding for the construction of a public housing complex has been approved. This will be the fifth federal housing project in the city, following the Jane Addams houses, Julia Lathrop homes, Trumbull Park apartments, and the Ida B. Wells project that is under construction at Vincennes Avenue and Pershing Road. Although the location is not disclosed so as to forestall real estate speculation, it is most likely that the new project will be near the Jane Addams homes and will comprise the Robert Brooks Homes with 835 row houses. Elizabeth Wood, executive secretary of the Chicago Housing authority, says, "We will definitely be in competition with the lowest slum area houses. We particularly want to afford accommodations for those families who now live in $15 a month flats." [Chicago Daily Tribune, September 15, 1939]
September 14, 1934 – United States marshals seize the excursion boat Florida at its dock east of Michigan Avenue, pending a court hearing and settlement of the claims of 21 crew members for $2,000 in back pay. The Florida has a fascinating history, as it turns out. As far as I have been able to determine the boat is still taking up space at the bottom of the river just east of Goose Island, opposite the north end of 600 West Chicago, the old Montgomery Ward's warehouse building. What eventually became the S. S. Florida was originally the City of Mackinac, built in 1882 as a side-wheeled cruise boat on Lake Michigan. The latter part of its service was spent providing lakefront excursions to the 1933 Century of Progress. In the mid-1930's it was sold to a scrapper at which time its upper decks were removed, its engines stripped, part of a conversion into a barge. The Columbia Yacht Club bought the vessel in 1937 to serve as its club house. On Friday, May 13, 1955 a galley fire caused the ship to sink at its dock. Members raised the funds and raised the ship, which was used until 1982 when the club acquired the former Canadian ferry, the Abegweit, as its new base of operations. A trucking magnate, Joe Salon, bought the ship in 1985, renaming it the Showboat Sari-S II, using his daughter's name in its new appellation, and moved it to the river a few blocks north of Ontario Street, before selling it. The Showboat Sari-S II might be confused with another paddle-wheel steamboat that Salon ran as a restaurant, beginning in 1962. They are two different vessels. The last reference to the boat that I can find is in the "Metropolitan" section of the Chicago Tribune on August 28, 1992. This brief item reports, "The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has ordered the owner of a 215-foot boat that sank last month in a little-used part of the North Branch of the Chicago River to remove the vessel or face legal action . . . The owner of the vessel was ordered to install markers around the boat until it is removed. The vessel sank in 16 feet of water on the east side of Goose Island just north of Chicago Avenue, said Lt. Col. David Reed, commander of the Corps District . . . Only the cabin portion is now above water, and the sunken craft obstructs about half of the navigational channel, Reed said." Kind of a sad story of a once proud vessel that was very much a part of the city's history. The photo above shows the boat when she was the clubhouse for the Columbia Yacht Club.
September 14, 1908 – Work begins on the laying of trolley tracks in Garland Court on the west side of the Chicago Public Library. Elaborate preparations have been made for the project, which will ultimately allow the removal of the tracks of the City Railway on Michigan Avenue and on Madison Street.. The City Railway has agreed to pay the expenses for changes in the public library building that are required because of the railway that will pass adjacent to it. These alterations to the building will be completed according to plans prepared by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, the original architects of the structure. The top photo shows the tracks turning south off Randolph Street and ducking down Garland Court with a streetcar on Randolph making the turn onto Garland Court on the west side of the library, today's Chicago Cultural Center. The second photo shows Randolph Street as it appears today.
Posted by Chicago Old and New at 12:30 AM
Labels: 1950, Chicago Elevated, Madison Street, Public Transportation, Randolph Street, Wabash Avenue
September 30, 1947 -- Chicago Transit Authority Be...
September 29, 2004 -- Cubs Fade in the Stretch
September 28, 1943 -- Marshall Field III Gets Richer
September 27, 1991 -- Fourth United States Army Pl...
September 26, 1979 -- Rock Island Reaches the End ...
September 25, 1961 -- Michigan Avenue's Water Towe...
September 24, 1992 -- Michigan Avenue Bridge Yiel...
September 23, 1931 -- Post Office Celebrates 20 Ye...
September 22, 1959 -- Chicago River Properties Giv...
September 21, 1950 -- Columbus Hospital Dedicates ...
September 20, 2004 -- Spertus Institute Announces ...
September 19, 2006 -- Wallenda Crosses the River
September 18, 1982 -- Chicago Tribune Prints Last ...
September 17, 1974 -- Mercantile Exchange Approves...
September 16, 1974 -- Marriott to Build Michigan A...
September 15, 1971 -- Apollo Astronauts Spend Two ...
September 14, 1950 -- Loop Elevated Line's End Is ...
September 13, 1977 -- South Shore Country Club Rec...
September 12, 2006 -- F.B.I. Opens New Chicago Hea...
September 11, 1981 -- Chicago River "a Venomous Sn...
September 10, 1925 -- Chicago Plan Commission Urge...
September 9, 1968 -- Mayor Daley Blasts Protestors...
September 8, 1969 -- Reverend Jesse Jackson Jailed...
September 7, 1948 -- Brach Candy Explosion Kills 15
September 6, 1970 -- Chicago Beach Hotel Gone, But...
September 5, 1990 --- Crate and Barrel Opens on Mi...
September 4, 1983 -- Chicago Jazz Festival Draws R...
September 3, 1982 -- Governor Dan Walker Loses Sta...
September 2, 1973 -- Marquette and Joliet Tricente...
September 1, 1924 -- Loop Draws 1,252,096 Daily


fbi displays the specified file(s) on the linux console using the framebuffer device. PhotoCD, jpeg, ppm, gif, tiff, xwd, bmp and png are supported directly. For other formats fbi tries to use ImageMagick's convert.
framebuffer device to use. Default is the one your vc is mapped to.
name of the video mode to use video mode (must be listed in /etc/fb.modes). Default is not to change the video mode.
be verbose: enable status line on the bottom of the screen.
gamma correction. Can also be put into the FBGAMMA environment variable. Default is 1.0. Requires Pseudocolor or Directcolor visual, doesn't work for Truecolor.
select resolution. PhotoCD only, n = 1..5.
set scroll steps in pixels (default is 50).
Set font. This can be anything fontconfig accepts. Try fc-list for a list of known fonts on your system. The fontconfig config file is evaluated as well, so any generic stuff defined there (such as mono, sans) will work as well. It is recommended to use monospaced fonts, the textboxes (help text, exif info) look better then. -a Enable autozoom. fbi will automagically pick a reasonable zoom factor when loading a new image.
Randomize the order of the filenames.
create backup files (when editing images).
preserve timestamps (when editing images).
Display comment tags (if present) instead of the filename. Probaby only useful if you added reasonable comments yourself (using wrjpgcom for example), otherwise you likely just find texts pointing to the software which created the image.
The Return vs. Space key thing can be used to create a file list while reviewing the images and use the list for batch processing later on.
fbi also provides some very basic image editing facilities. You have to start fbi with the -e switch to use them.
The delete function actually wants a capital letter 'D', thus you have to type Shift+D. This is done to avoid deleting images by mistake because there are no safety bells: If you ask fbi to delete the image, it will be deleted without questions asked.
The rotate function actually works for JPEG images only. It does a lossless transformation of the image.
fbi needs rw access to the framebuffer devices (/dev/fbN), i.e you (our your admin) have to make sure fbi can open the devices in rw mode. The IMHO most elegant way is to use pam_console (see /etc/security/console.perms) to chown the devices to the user logged in on the console. Another way is to create some group, chown the special files to that group and put the users which are allowed to use the framebuffer device into the group. You can also make the special files world writable, but be aware of the security implications this has. On a private box it might be fine to handle it this way througth.
fbi also needs access to the linux console (i.e. /dev/ttyN) for sane console switch handling. That is obviously no problem for console logins, but any kind of a pseudo tty (xterm, ssh, screen, ...) will not work.


28B.12.040 Student achievement council to develop and administer program—Agreements authorized, limitation.
28B.12.050 Disbursal of state work-study funds—Criteria.
28B.12.055 Work-study opportunity grant for high-demand occupations.
28B.12.070 Annual report of institutions to office of student financial assistance.


The Instagram's new sticker tool allows Story makers to add emoji and seasonal stickers (snowflakes, anyone?) to Stories, along with location tags, the temperature, and the time. The location tags will be especially handy for giving context to Stories, especially when you're traveling.
1. Swipe right on the screen to start a Story.
2. Tap the happy-face icon at the top of the screen.
If you don't see the icon, you don't have the update, and you should head over to the App Store.
3. Choose "Location" from the menu of stickers.
You can tap the sticker to change its visual style, and use your fingers to move, expand, or shrink it. If you want to get rid of a sticker, just press on it and drag it down into the trashcan at the bottom of the screen.
And that's it — You've added your location! While you're at it, go ahead and deck out your Stories with some holiday cheer. For a limited time, you can add holiday stickers (Christmas trees! Ugly sweaters! Dreidels! Go wild!) to your Stories, in addition to your normal emoji.
Images courtesy of Instagram (3).


The Jewels of Cerro Torre : Laguna Torre, Patagonia, Argentina. : Michael Anderson Landscape & Travel Photography Gallery.
The light of sunrise reveals the crystalline jewels of ice that sparkle under the frozen spire of Cerro Torre.


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A Galeria das Necessidades é uma das galerias de distribuição pela cidade de Lisboa da água proveniente do Aqueduto das Águas Livres.

A Galeria das Necessidades sai 236 m a montante da Mãe d'Água das Amoreiras e desce para o actual Palácio das Necessidades. Um ramal atravessa a actual avenida Infante Santo e desce para o Palácio das Janelas Verdes.

Tinha 3217 m de comprimento. A abertura da avenida Infante Santo levou à destruição em 1949 de uma grande extensão de galeria.

Chafarizes:
 Chafariz da Estrela (1778)
 Chafariz das Necessidades (1752)
 Chafariz da Praça da Armada (1779)
 Chafariz das Terras (1791)
 Chafariz das Janelas Verdes (1775)

Bibliografia
 ROSEIRA, Jaime. "Passeios em Lisboa". Edições ASA. 2001
 PINTO, Luís Leite. "História do Abastecimento de Água à Região de Lisboa". EPAL, Lisboa 1989

Património edificado em Lisboa
Aqueduto das Águas Livres


I have to agree, the K-1 makes the most of a high IQ lens from the film-era.
None of you'll are helping. I've seen the details that K-1 gets from flowers taken using it, think eaglem, here, guy's and gals. And I'd have to shelve my idea to sell my FF lenses, and think about getting rid of my DA lens. Sell my other two cameras, the K-50/K-30. My little K-x too. None of which would bring in enough to buy a K-1 or the K-1ii.
Well, maybe next year after Jeep is paid for, I can't think about that K-1 buy.
Doctor day. Will let you know how it goes.
Count me in as a Full Frame fan girl! Everything is better on the K-1 versus my old K-30 and K-S2... Almost. I do occasionally find myself missing the fully articulated screen of the K-S2.
Why would you need to upgrade the RAM? How much memory does the K-1 files use? I have 16GB in this computer now. Or are you talking about Harddrive instead? Some people confuse RAM with Harddrive space because of Virtual Memory. I'm not trying to question your intelligence, I'm just curious, Dave.
I'm running an SSD 250GB and a 1TB storage unit in this computer I built not long ago, I have two external drives for backups.
Software, I don't use LightRoom, either. Never appealed to me. And the latest PhotoShop Elements, 2019 should be up to par for the K-1.
Okay. And DDR3 is more expensive than DDR4 now days. Or was last time I looked, and my present motherboard can only take up to 32GB but two slots are blown out, so I can't upgrade without buying a new motherboard, that's why I ask about how big the files were and why you needed more RAM and/or how much RAM is needed for K-1 files.
To be honest Mar, I think you should stick with crop.
36 megapixels is extremely unforgiving of camera shake, and the extra reach and depth of field of a crop system suits your style far better.
I have 16GB of memory at this moment Light Room is open and two browsers with about thirty tabs. It is using 11.2 GB of memory. Lightroom is using much less than each browser.
And I was asking for my benefit too. How does the K-1 affect memory? Does that make more sense?
So when is Ricoh going to give us crop sensor users a 36Mpx camera? I'm working on getting that Essential Tremors gone, Sandy. Doctor today has changed how I take the Primidone and I see the neurologist next month, will talk there about the other things I've learned from two members here about that too. Maybe by the time I've saved enough money to buy that K-1, my tremors will be under control.


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December 1, 2020 6:06 pm AEDTDate Time
Budget delivers Queensland's plan for Economic Recovery
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning The Honourable Dr Steven Miles
The Palaszczuk Government's Budget handed down today continues Queensland's Economic Recovery plan, creating economic development opportunities and jobs across regional Queensland.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning Steven Miles said today's Budget was a jobs budget.
"The global COVID-19 pandemic has put immense pressure on our regional economies," Mr Miles said.
"This Budget reflects our continuing efforts to support and promote job creation in getting our economy up and running and to ensuring more Queenslanders get back to work.
"We're investing more than $62 million ($62.4 million) to continue the Building our Regions program for 2020-21 as part of the overall $332 million program to deliver infrastructure grants to local councils," Mr Miles said.
"The Palaszczuk Government is investing $42.5 million to help build the East Bundaberg Flood Levee to protect the people of Bundaberg who have suffered enough through devastating floods in the past.
"Construction of the levee is expected to support 679 jobs over three years of construction.
"The budget includes key components of Queensland's Economic Recovery Plan.
"Including, $200 million over two years ($180 million in 2020–21) for the COVID Works for Queensland Program which provided funding to 77 local governments for 520 projects to build productive infrastructure,
"And, $100 million over four years ($45 million in 2020–21) for the SEQ Community Stimulus Package to fast-track investment in new infrastructure and community assets.
"This is in addition to $34 million in 2020–21 for the government's signature Works for Queensland program that is delivering infrastructure and creating jobs across regional Queensland
"These programs are supporting jobs and providing economic stimulus to local economies right across the State."
Assistant Minister for Local Government Nikki Boyd said the government was committed to supporting local councils after a difficult year through COVID-19.
"This budget includes funding to support Local Governments, deliver key local projects and create jobs," Ms Boyd said.
"We are delivering on our election commitments including more than $3 million for the Douglas and Mareeba Splash Parks and $50,000 for one of the Far North's premier gathering places – the Cairns Showgrounds – to assist its planning efforts," Ms Boyd said.
"We're also providing funding to improve water supply and security in regional councils.
"This year we're investing $ 7.5 million toward the Haughton Pipeline Stage 2 now being delivered with an overall four-year budget allocation of $195 million.
"This project will see the existing pipeline extended from the Haughton River to the Burdekin River and will include the construction of a pump station, high voltage power supply infrastructure, and includes proof of performance testing of the combined pipeline stages to create a complete water transfer system.
"The Haughton Pipeline project will improve water security in Townsville and is creating hundreds of local jobs.
"Additional funding of $10 million has been provided to the Burdekin Shire Council to improve Ayr Water Supply by building new infrastructure and more than $4 million for the construction of new drinking water storage reservoirs for Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council.
Other major capital grant programs with 2020–21 funding include:
$26 million in 2020–21 for the Local Government Grants and Subsidies Program
$15.5 million in 2020-21 for the Indigenous Councils Critical Infrastructure Program
Tags:Aboriginal, Australia, Ayr, Bundaberg, Cairns, Cherbourg, drinking water, Government, infrastructure, Investment, local council, Local Government, Mareeba, miles, QLD, Queensland, Townsville, water storage
Kempsey says G'day to a COVID-safe Australia Day Awards
No stone has been left unturned – or unsterilised – in the effort to ensure…
Australia Day Long Weekend – Bass Point Reserve, Reddall Reserve, Shellharbour Village & all foreshore areas
Shellharbour City Council Regulation Officers will be conducting regular patrols at Bass Point Reserve, Shellharbour…
New Shellharbour mural festival to celebrate Australia Day
Shellharbour City Council will celebrate Australia Day 2021 with a new program that will see…
Work starts on parenting facility and region's first Changing Place
The City of Launceston has started work on a $600,000 redevelopment of the public toilets…
Events to mark Australia Day across Region
Australia Day is fast approaching, and residents looking to mark the day can look forward…
Minister for Local Government visits Baw Baw Shire Council
Entrepreneur announced as Australia Day Ambassador
Know your limits by water this long weekend
Local producers, makers and creators on show for Victoria
Batter Up this weekend with Sydney Blue Sox
A decade of consumer protection under ACL


The 2018 Spring Semester playgroup schedule is here! Children birth to 5 stay and play with their parents, grandparents or caregivers. Free play lasts about 45 minutes then a brief clean-up time and then storytime with fingerplays, songs and books. This is a PTA member only event.


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Andreas Petropoulos, Greek professional basketball player
Antonis Petropoulos, Greek professional footballer
Elias Petropoulos, Greek author, folklorist and urban historian
Jonathan Petropoulos (born  1961), American historian
Georgios Petropoulos, former name of Peter G. Peterson  (1926 – 2018), American investment banker
Georgios Petropoulos (1872 – 1937), Greek fencer and shooter
Kostas Petropoulos, Greek former professional basketball coach, and a retired professional basketball player
Lakis Petropoulos, former Greek football player and manager
Renée Petropoulos, contemporary artist

Greek-language surnames


An opportunity has arisen for the States of Jersey Development Company to buy the Waterfront Leisure Complex from the existing lease holder. The Treasury and Resources Minister, Deputy Susie Pinel, has signed a Ministerial Decision approving the purchase of the 3.6 acre site, which includes the swimming pool, cinema complex, gym, arcade and various food and beverage outlets. The decision gives authority for the Jersey Development Company (JDC) to procure commercial funding to buy the site.
The Waterfront Leisure Complex, which was completed in 2003, was the first commercial development on St. Helier's waterfront. This unexpected opportunity to acquire this site opens up the potential for a future upgrade of the site, while ensuring the current leisure facilities continue to be managed for the benefit of the community.
Any future redevelopment plans will maintain current facilities either on the existing site, or at an alternative location. This opportunity secures the site for the long term and allows consideration of future redevelopment. However there are no immediate plans to make any changes.
The Jersey Development Company's Managing Director, Lee Henry, said: "It is widely accepted that the quality of the architecture and buildings at the Waterfront Leisure Complex are not of the highest standard and resemble an out of town retail park, rather than a prime Waterfront site.


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Qualcomm-NXP Semiconductors Could Create A Behemoth In The Automotive Semiconductor Space
Trefis Team Contributor
Great Speculations Contributor Group
According to a report by Wall Street Journal, leading chipset maker, Qualcomm is reportedly in talks to acquire NXP semiconductors, in a deal likely be valued at more than $30 billion. This could be potentially the largest acquisition in Qualcomm's history. Though there is no official press release from either of the company, stock price of both Qualcom and NXP surged following the acquisition report, by 6% and 17%, respectively. In this analysis, we investigate the reasons as to why it makes sense for Qualcomm to acquire NXP Semiconductors.
Qualcomm To Gain An Edge In The Automotive Semiconductor Market
NXP Semiconductors is a leading provider of High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product semiconductor solutions, which respectively account for 85% and 13% of the business. Mixed signal devices are so called because they comprise both analog and digital circuits, typically engineered together to achieve a specific application. NXP focuses on designing high performance devices used in automotive (36% of revenues), secure identity (9%), secure connectivity (22%), secure interface and infrastructure (18%) applications. Standard Products (13% of revenues) comprise and range of basic circuits, including diodes, thyristors, rectifiers and transistors. The company manufactures the bulk of its products and possesses a range of CMOS, radio-frequency, mixed-signal and analog process capabilities. The possible acquisition of the company would significantly diversify Qualcomm's offering and provide it an entry into multiple markets outside its core mobile chipset business. Further, it must be noted that NXP Semiconductors acquired Freescale Semiconductor for over $10 billion in 2015, as a result of which, it became the largest semiconductor supplier to the automotive industry. The companies were originally the captive semiconductor businesses of Philips and Motorola, respectively.
Given that Qualcomm is also targeting the automotive infotainment market with its family of advanced processors, a potential acquisition of NXP semiconductor should help the company become the largest supplier of chips used in cars. Qualcomm's existing automotive solutions equips the cars with features that include: 1) advanced smartphone quality connectivity; 2) 3D connected navigation support: 3) facial and voice recognition features that personalize car settings; 4) wireless device charging; and, 5) parking assistance features.
As more and more customers look for improved digital experience in the car, in addition to other parameters, car companies are banking on technological advancements in their interiors to compete with each other. This has led to an exponential increase in the semiconductor content per vehicle. The growth in the semiconductor content in automotives is likely to further increase with the rise in autonomous car market. According to a research by Boston Consulting Group, the autonomous car market could be a $42 billion market by 2025, which could be around 12-13% of the total auto market. [1]The Semiconductor Industry Is Undergoing A Wave Of Consolidations
Demand for cheaper chips and a surge of new products – from PCs to smartphones to the Internet-of-Things (IoT) – has intensified competition in the semiconductor market, which in turn has put downward pressure on chipmakers' bottom line. As a result, the semiconductor space has seen a number of consolidations recently and is likely to see some more in the near future. The acquisition of NXP semiconductors could be one of the largest acquisitions in the semiconductor space happening in recent years. Further, the acquisition should help Qualcomm improve its bargaining position with customers.
Tax Advantage For Qualcomm
Qualcomm has cash worth $31 billion on its balance sheet, almost all of which is outside the U.S., according to Wall Street Journal. Though the U.S has third highest general top marginal corporate income tax rate in the world at 39.1 percent, its corporate tax law allows U.S. companies not to pay taxes on foreign profits, if the income was to remain outside the U.S. forever. This provides another incentive for Qualcomm to acquire NXP Semiconductors. This comes from the fact that NXP semiconductors is a Dutch company, and Qualcomm can use its cash stashed outside the U.S. to fund the acquisition.
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Our Rating Systems
Two Different Systems –
New and Existing
When it comes to energy- and resource-efficient homes, building a new one and upgrading an existing one are very different processes. That's why we offer two different rating systems: GreenPoint Rated New Home and GreenPoint Rated Existing Home. Both rating systems are available for both single family homes and multifamily buildings of two units or more.
Energy Performance: Older homes use more energy than new homes, so they have different energy efficiency targets.
Health and Safety: GreenPoint Rated Existing Home ensures that older homes meet basic health and safety requirements which are automatically assumed in new construction, such as a solid foundation, leak-free plumbing, and a well-sealed building exterior with no holes.
Point Allocation: The Existing Home rating system provides a pathway for making continued improvements over time, so it awards points for partial improvements like a bathroom upgrade. The New Home system requires green building best practices throughout the entire home upon completion of construction.
The Existing Home Rating System
The Existing Home rating system verifies the green features of a home that has been upgraded. This Rating is usually used by homeowners to showcase their green remodel or to certify their home as green at time of sale. Studies show that if you're selling your home, you can get up to 9% more on the sales price with a green label.
Under this Rating system, a house can receive two different labels:
Elements Label:
Recognizes green building best practices for a small remodel or addition. It's a great stepping stone for homeowners making small improvements over time.
Minimum Requirements: 25 points (capped at 49), a combustion safety test and other basic safety measures, and an energy survey to assess performance.
Some common measures for single family homes include: Installing a built-in composting and recycling center in the kitchen; water efficient and native landscaping; using faucet aerators and replacing all water fixtures with high-efficiency versions; installing an EnergyStar® bathroom fan.
Whole House/Building Label:
Recognizes green building best practices for a large renovation, gut remodel, or cumulative improvements made over time. A home with this label has significantly better energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact compared to homes of a similar vintage.
Minimum Requirements: 50 points, an energy performance improvement that depends on the home's age, recycling 100 percent of all cardboard, metal, concrete and asphalt waste created during the remodel.
Some common measures for single family homes include: High performing heating and cooling systems; insulating the building envelope with 30% post-consumer recycled content insulation; low emitting interior products (including insulation and patins); using environmentally preferable materials for interior finishes (FSC-Certified cabinetry, recycled tile and countertop materials, reclaimed or local products); replacing appliances with EnergyStar® versions.
The New Home Rating System
The New Home rating system is for designing and building brand new homes. It's usually used by architects, builders and developers who work with independent third-party GreenPoint Raters to give home buyers proof of a home's green features. Homebuyers can differentiate between green homes and conventional homes by looking for homes that have earned the New Home label.
Minimum Requirements: 50 points, an energy performance target of 15 percent above the current California energy code, and 50 percent construction waste diversion.
Some common measures for single family homes include: High-efficacy lighting, EnergyStar® appliances, FSC-Certified lumber, insulation with 75% recycled content, water efficient fixtures, solar electric panels, solar water heaters, and low or zero emitting interior paints, varnishes, cabinetry and carpeting.
View all GreenPoint Rated checklists for more information.
Take the GreenPoint Ready Survey
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Alec Bradley Tempus Now Offered at CigarFox.com Online Cigar Store
CigarFox.com adds Alec Bradley Tempus Cigar Brand to Online Store's Premium Cigar Selection.
CigarFox.com
The long period of time in developing this tobacco and cigar became a central theme in naming the cigars Tempus, Latin for 'time'. That theme is equally a tribute to the precious little time we take for ourselves … we've created Alec Bradley Tempus to make the most of it
Free Tatuaje Black 3 Pack Cigar...
Drew Estates' founder Jonathan...
CigarFox.com Supports American...
Troy, Michigan (PRWEB) December 5, 2008 -
CigarFox.com, owned by entrepreneur Dan Jenuwine, announces that premium Alec Bradley Tempus cigars are now available for purchase at the website: CigarFox.com (http://www.cigarfox.com).
"We are excited to provide our customers Alec Bradley Tempus cigars," commented Dan Jenuwine, Sr., President of Liaison Sales & Marketing, the parent company of CigarFox.com.
Tempus represents a new flagship cigar for Alec Bradley. "I decided to put our company's name on Tempus, because I know this cigar is something special," said Alan Rubin, founder and president of Alec Bradley Cigar Company. "When I saw this wrapper tobacco on a small Nicaraguan farm in 2001, I could see it was extraordinary, something memorable. Finally in 2003, I knew it was ready, and was thrilled by its appearance, flavor, and strength."
Two more years followed to complete the exhaustive process of sorting and selecting only the finest tobaccos and ageing the limited amount of wrapper to produce the Tempus line. Cigar enthusiasts will be equally impressed with the immense flavor and complexity, and the robust but very subtle power. "Tempus is full-bodied but smooth … its strength sneaks up on you," said Rubin.
Tempus is available in 5 popular Cuban shapes including 5-1/2" x 42, 5" x 50, 7-1/2" x 41, 7" x 49, and a 6-1/8" x 52 Torpedo. Alec Bradley Tempus was released in April 2008 with retail prices ranging from $6.25 to $8.50. Alec Bradley has hosted retailer parties nationwide to introduce the new Tempus line following its release.
"The long period of time in developing this tobacco and cigar became a central theme in naming the cigars Tempus, Latin for 'time'. That theme is equally a tribute to the precious little time we take for ourselves … we've created Alec Bradley Tempus to make the most of it," Rubin said.
CigarFox.com provides users the ability to create their own cigar sampler by hand-selecting individual cigars and adding them to a box. Web site guests have the opportunity to mix and match the specific cigar brands, flavors and sizes that they want; in place of pre-made samplers that contain items the smoker may not wish to purchase. For every five premium cigar singles that are purchased, the visitor has earned a free premium cigar. Full cigar boxes, cigar tins and cigar accessories are also available at the web site.
About CigarFox
CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters. For more information, please visit CigarFox.com.
Tommy Paull
CigarFox


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Story: Wellington region
Creation stories and landscape
Early Māori history
European arrival
The struggle to survive: 1840–1865
From town to city: 1865–1899
Boom and bust: 1900–1940
New growth and attitudes: 1940–1975
Economic fall and rise: 1976 to 21st century
Māori buildings and marae
By the 1870s it was clear that Wellington's future as a trading centre rested on farming. A government-sponsored railway line to Wairarapa was completed In 1878, but a government scheme to build a railway to Manawatū stalled due to rising costs. Several Wellington businessmen took over the project, which was completed in 1886. This 1885 plan, drawn by the railway's promoters, shows the route. The line required the construction of several tunnels and one of New Zealand's largest wooden viaducts, the Belmont viaduct near Johnsonville.
Reference: MapColl-832.4gme/1885/Acc.2705-01
Ink and watercolour sketch by A. Falkner
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
Three arms of government
Chris Maclean, 'Wellington region - From town to city: 1865–1899', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/13242/railway-map (accessed 18 January 2020)
Story by Chris Maclean, updated 1 Aug 2015


Maree woke up all worried that Zach would be freezing in his tent, so she got up to check on him. When she went, she left the van door open, and you could feel the temperature dropping by the second as the warm air fell out of the caravan, being replaced with icy cold outside air. She came back announcing that Zach was warm, but now we were cold. Somehow we managed to fall asleep again. Once up and ready we went for a quick walk around the block before heading back down some beautiful country back roads to get to The Great Ocean Road. Once on it we found ourselves stopping at every little turn-in to look at a new piece of this stunning coast line. Zach and Jessie were struggling to understand why I had to stop at every single one. I got caught out turning into one before seeing a sign that said "no vans/buses", but it was too late, we'd already turned in. Would have made more sense to have the sign on the main road BEFORE you turn in, but the sign was probably installed by the same crew that fixes the roads down here. We finally stopped in at the 12 Apostles. Last time Maree and I did The Great Ocean Road there was a sea fog which made seeing anything near impossible, so I was glad for today's clear weather. At this point today Maree was overcome by the shear number of tourists, which really detracts from being able to enjoy nature's beauty. We had some lunch and then continued east towards Apollo Bay and Lorne. Beautiful seaside town after beautiful seaside town. It really is such a stunning part of the country. One minute you're driving along the coast, and then your driving through a tunnel of forest, driving over rolling green hills with grazing stock, and sometimes all three at once to really take your breath away. We were worrying about not getting in anywhere in Melbourne as the Melbourne Cup is on tomorrow. We decided to stop the at the Geelong showgrounds were we can have a cheap stay and maybe catch up with my nephew Liam, and his wife Jemma and their daughter Lucy. They came around and we caught up with a few beers (thanks Liam). Zach hadn't met Lucy before, and both he and Jessie loved playing with her. Zach's wearing PJ's tonight in anticipation of another cold night.
London Bridge – where my friend John Burgess was involved in the helicopter rescue of two people left stranded out on the end when the middle collapsed into the sea in 1990.
The Twelve Apostles (even though there isn't twelve any more). Still stunning despite the huge numbers of tourists.


Ankara, the capital city of Turkey has been divided by development into old and new sections. Ullus, the old section contains ancient buildings of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman heritage along narrow winding streets. A cultural and trading center during Roman times and situated on the caravan routes during the Ottoman Empire, there has been a settlement on this site since the Bronze Age. The oldest parts of the city are overlooked by the ruins of the old castle. Near the gate of the castle is the Museum of Anatolian Civilization. Here you can see priceless artifacts from thousands of years of history in a beautifully restored portion of the old bazaar. The Aladdin Mosque is found inside the walls of the Castle and many restored old Ottoman Empire houses, art galleries and fine restaurants grace the environs.
Yenisehir, the newer section of Ankara reflects bustling, modern life. It was after the War of Independence in 1924 that Ataturk declared Ankara the capital of the new Republic. Now it is filled with banks, shopping malls, high rises and government offices and is the center of Turkey's highway and railway networks. Ankara is the gateway to many of Turkey's tourist regions. People often come here for business, but stay for pleasure, visiting the city's rich historical sites, its museums and fine restaurants and touring the outlying areas. Come for a doner kebab and stay for the sights!