← Caption Contest 73 Vote!
To coincide with our last RPG Corner, your challenge this week is something completely different -- if you come up with the best weapon design, you'll win either any item you like or a portrait of yourself, to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 Alpha program! And bragging rights, of course.
The idea here is to create just the weapon, using any pieces from any sets you want except for anything in the Body slot. I don't want to see androids or ninjas ("But their whole BODY is a weapon!"), I want to see something a character would use that exists outside of him or her self to cause damage. Otherwise the rules are as usual, only there's no limit of three this week -- knock yourselves out and submit as many designs as you think are good.
Just make sure you post a link to your weapon creation image hosted somewhere free on the web (the UGO forums, PhotoBucket, etc.) as a comment to this post, and you're good to go. I'll judge the winner next Monday.
Good luck! Bonus points and special consideration given to weapons that have a name and/or a brief description of them, similar to some of what was posted in the RPG Corner.
Are we at least allowed to have a hand holding the weapon so that we can show its scale?
No hands! Well, unless your weapon is a power gauntlet or something. But not a whole suit, that's cheating.
I'd prefer you use something else like a pre-existing handgun or the wrench or whatnot.
I just mean, half of what made Cloud's sword was how big it was in comparison to him. You see what I'm getting at? Half of what made the Noisy Cricket from Men in Black so awesome was how tiny it was. This is going to be a lot more difficult without a sense of scale.
Can we use a body part within the design of the weapon, say like a fist as the pommel?
@Jake: I don't want this to turn into someone adding a character or a bit for scale, then "well, he's there, I might as well dress him", then quickly instead of a "design a weapon" contest you have a "design a guy who uses a weapon" contest, you dig? If you feel like the scale of the weapon compared to an actual person is critical to the design, then I won't stop you, but the intent of the contest is to focus on the weapon and not on the character. So if you decide to do it, keep the figure as generic as possible. Like, just the basic outline.
Ok, that's what I was looking for. I was just going to have a disembodied hand anyway.
Oooh! Does that mean I can enter my guantlet that was on the creation I was going to send a while ago?
Also, could we include a robotic arm type weapon thingy?
I'd say yes on the gauntlet, no on the whole arm. An arm isn't a weapon, it's a body part. A gauntlet can be worn on an existing hand, so it passes. Of course you realize I am making this up as I go.
Basically I don't want people-characters or stand-ins for people, I want weapons.
OK, here goes the last effort!
The Jaguar Blade gives it's wielder incredible speed ,stamina and durability.One of six animal spirit blades each giving the wielder a diferent power depending on wich animal spirit.All six animal spirit blades are indestructible.
Weapon forged by Hephaestus for the Greek Titan Erebus, God of Darkness. Found in Tartarus (the darkest section of the underworld), this weapon of darkness corrupts the soul of it's weilder, giving them power over the shadows of the world. It has an axe on one side and a sword on the other, with shurikens along the sword blade, magically controlled by whom ever possesses the staff. The Staff of Erebus can only be defeated by a weapon of pure light.
shuriken shooter or shuriken staf.f can be used as mellee or ranged weapon. i cant say much more now cuz i hav 2 go.
@Hebert-san: Can it be a biological/genetic weapon, or do you want something composed of man made inorganic materials?
This is a Hell's Fire Light Saber.
It doesn't have to be technological, but it has to not be a person or a person-shaped object masquerading as a weapon.
Ooo, I like that Kaldath!
Hi all! Here is my first entry.
The Devil's Hand was made by a Satanic alchemist in the 12th century A.D., and grants the wearer invulnerability, precognition, superhuman strength, and fearlessness. The gauntlet also will eventually drive the wearer insane. Once put on, the gauntlet can only be removed by A) cutting off the arm at the elbow or B) the wearer killing him/herself.
OK, it did not work in Facebook. BUMMER!
Let us see in Picasa.
Named the Ziyashir(Lightning Spear) in the Elder Tongue, this weapon was forged by Auleodhir, The Titan Smith, for Venthir, The Titan Lord of Wind and Storm at the Beginning of the Elder War. Venthir used it when , the fallen Titan Beanos attacked the Gates of Pardishos, and he held them, it is said, for seven days. When he fell it Beanos' hands, Tulmeakos, his dearest friend among the Titan Lords took it up and was able to drive Beanos from Pardishos. It is said that the spear could be used to summon prodigious storms in the heaavens.
Named Grumashtik in the Dark Tongue and Tartaratsos in the Elder Tongue, The Hell Axe was forged by the fallen Titan Lord Beanos when he declared war on his brothers. The axe was said to burn with fire that could cut through anything. Other weapons were known to metal when they came to close to the axe. In truth, it was said only those weapons forged by Auleodhir stood any chance against the Hell Axe.
Please do NOT try to post links to Facebook, if you can find somewhere else to host it!
Heck, post it in the HeroMachine Forums, if no where else!
Named Caelaton in the Elder Tongue, The Celestial Blade was forged by Auleodhir at the instruction of Ildhir, The Creator of the Cosmos, for Melrevir, High Lord of the Titans. Melrevir used it in battle with Beanos, during the Elder War. However, when Beanos finally slew him, the sword broke. It is said that The Sword Luaton, wielded by the Elven Lord Vissir was forged from pieces of this sword.
The most popular weapon of the year 2110, the B.A.D.A.S.S. fires balls of plasma energy, killing anyone or anything. Before one can us this weapon, one must have a brainchip implanted. The brain sends a message to the chip, which in turn translates and sends a command to the rifle to fire, eliminating the need for a trigger. The rifle is powered by millions of nanotech batteries located within the stock.
If the rifle is more than five feet from the brainchip, the rifle will not activate, which means the rifle cannot be used against the owner. A brainchip from one person will not activate the B.A.D.A.S.S. of another. Implanted in the gun is a GPS chip so they user can always locate his weapon. Sensors in the gun can sense if the user is hurt and relay this knowledge to a hospital.
Yes folks, I'm an idiot.
Folks, I apologize for all those muck-ups. I don't know how I could have screwed-up the same thing so many times.
I tried to post a B.A.D.A.S.S. and ended up looking like a dumbass!
I forgot to mention that the sight on the B.A.D.A.S.S. is telescopic, infra red, and x-ray.
The year,1834. While his contemporaries are satisfied using traditional firearms, Professor Erasmus Persofficus chooses to build an air powered rifle. The rifle fires lead bullets and can also fire a grappling device. The bayonet is always sharp, and because of the telescopic sight the professor always hits his target. A gauge allows the professor to check the air pressure in the air tank.
Forged in the dark days of the Shadow Empire, Soul Drinker was the chosen weapon of the Undying Emperor's personal bodyguard, Malek Mal'Moriak. After the Empire's fall, the weapon vanished into the mists of antiquity and was thought lost forever, only to be return in modern times in the hands of a new champion of Darkness. A blood-thirsty spirit is bound within Soul Drinker by runes etched in its blade. Whosoever wields Soul Drinker becomes unstoppable in battle, but is doomed to become a slave to the will of the evil spirit imprisoned within it.
The Shield gives the wielder the Eagle Eye the ability to see over vast distances the Sword is super light, super strong and will return to its owner no matter how far away you are.
The weapons themselves are part of a larger set of armour created by the ancient Avian race but like the race the armour is long lost.
If you're just removing dudes and not actually changing the weapon that's fine MartianBlue.
Martian Blue… I'm not trying to speak for Jeff, but maybe you can just go in and recolor the person to a single color, right down to the line color. So, the figure would stay there, but you'd basically have an undetailed silhouette.
Thanks, William. I already posted it on Picasa.
Thanks a lot again, friend!
Thanks Jack, the only problem with that is I don't have them saved on the program anymore (was on another computer). Just the upload on photobucket. Like I said a minute ago, if I do use them, I'll remake them.
Jeff, this is unrelated to the contest, but where on a PC are the characters saved in HM3?
Here is the Skullblade, the sword of an undead general.
Gentlemen, you ask a weapon of me, and I present to you the Saw Staff!
This close combat weapon has been fitted with special monomolecular blades, allowing them to cut through any substance with ease. And no, your eyes are most definitely not decieving you, that is a rocket propeller attached! Yes, with a mere touch of a button, you can eviscerate your opponents from up to a hundred metres away!
There is no blade throughout the land that is more famed than the Lektriss.It has been stolen and used by countless men and creatures for it's power. After all who wouldn't want a blade that could control electirity. They say it changes for each user, it's various gems and electricity different every time. It's current wielder is Mazar Nerroti, the most renouned thief of our time.
One of the most prestigous and well known families among the elves is the Lamora Family. Their oldest ancestor, Arrias Lamora had a spear, so powerful, that it soon became myth. This spear is a perfect channel for magic, in fact it increases any spell casted by it tenfold. It has been passed down the family, finding the right bearer. It's current wielder is Dakaa Lamora, a knight in the elven army.
Note: HM3 crashed before I could give it color. That would be why it's not altogether shadowy.
Entry #5: The Dagger of Kilmar.
This Sacrificial dagger is a soul drink that absorbs the souls of those who are scarf iced on its deadly blade.
Martian, how on earth did you make a repeating rifle? That's amazing!
With alot of hard work, haha. I choose a pic off the internet and tried to reproduce it. I put hours into custom items like that. I actually made that along time ago, for one of my characters in the duo competion.
Air powered gun that launches small wooden stakes from a revolver style chamber. The chamber can be swapped out with extra's for quick reload. The weapon can be chambered for a high pressure long distance shot, or low pressure, short range, rapid fire. A Blessed silver blade in case the Vamp gets too close.
Was going to add a background item to these, but wasn't sure that would be kosher so I kept it simple.
This pair of weapons (a shield is a weapon, at least if your using it right) was once wielded by a paladin of legend, a great crusader across the land. Famous for her deeds in the war of the kelp, and eventual martyrdom at the hands of the arch daemon Amsodea. Her great weapons, said to be imbued from their long standing use channeling her holy energies have taken upon aspects of the wind and sea. The swords blade is nigh translucent when swung, moving with such speed no eye can trace its path. The shield crashes upon opponents with a force similar to the pounding waves, wearing down any it is used against. They have appeared a few times through out history, always near the sea shore and in times of great strife. They are fated to return in the times of the Chaos Storms in the hands of another champion, only to be destroyed defeating Amsodea, avenging their original wielder's loss.
Hope that backstory makes sense, I've got an idea of what I'm meaning to say, just not sure if I'm conveying it a'tall well.
Backstory written in the caption of the weapons.
According to legend, the Kirian Gauntlet is an ancient artifact that grants its wearer great power. As usual, the true story is a little different. The gauntlet is not a source of power, but a prison. Trapped within it is an elder evil, an ancient and wicked thing created by the gods themselves to be used as a living weapon against unimaginable enemies. After the end of the Age of the Gods, the nameless thing was locked away within the gauntlet where, its power muted, it slumbers and dreams unspeakable dreams. Heroes have guarded the gauntlet throught the ages for fear the forces of Chaos will gain possession of it and release the terrible thing imprisoned within. Even asleep, the evil within the gauntlet is aware enough to try to control anyone foolish enough to wear it, offering them gifts of power but eventually overwhelming and enslaving them to its insidious will.
Here are a few old ones.
The Angel's Wrath was forged in the heavens.
Nazi scientists attempt to counteract Captain America's shield with their own shield. When thrown the shield tracks its victim and fires sharp blades at the target. If the shield should run out of blades, the sharp edges of the shield can wound and/or kill the victim. When finished, the shield returns to the user.
Made for a ruthless Greek general by a sorcerer, the magic shield entangles the limbs of the opponent and pulls him into the sharp spikes. The spikes easily penetrate the opponent's armor.
While investigating a newly discovered tomb in Egypt,archeologist John Matheson is attacked and left for dead by tomb robbers, who seal up the tomb's entrance. Trying to find a way out, John discovers a secret room containing a bow, quiver, and arrows. A tablet next to the archery set explains that the archery equipment was made by a priest and blessed by the god Osiris. The tablet also explains that when the arrows are fired from the bow, they never miss their target. While holding the bow the wearer is invulnerable and can fly. Desperate to escape before the air is depleted, John takes one of the arrows from the quiver and strikes it against the tomb wall. To John's surprise a hole appears in the wall. Realizing he has a good thing, John takes the archery set and escapes through the opening in the wall. John believes the archery set can be used to right wrongs and fights crime as the Phantom Archer.
The Soul Sword absorbs the soul of it's target and transfers the target's knowledge and fighting skills (if any) to the user.
The Doom of Men was the great cleaver wielded by the black knight Faschal when he served as champion of Lord Devoris, the legendary Bringer of the End of Days. Centuries after the final conflict between Devoris and his half-brother, the holy Incarnate, Faschal was resurrected by the lich-king Nazgoth to lead his undead hordes. To make Faschal even mightier, Nazgoth cast many dark enchantments on his weapon, the Doom of Men, the last of which bound Faschal's own soul to the blade. As a result, Faschal cannot rest until his soul is freed by his master.
A suit worn by a martian from the planet Pluto that visited earth. The martian was killed and the suit was taken under the control of the Russian government. The science behind the suit was too high tech. to be comprehended by human mind, but its basic function had been discovered. Such as flight, underwater breathing, space travel, cloaking, super strength, and the ability to freeze an object it touches in solid ice.
The Vampire Slayer 1889 stood the test of time for over a century. No other weapons smith was able to build a weapon capable of firing a wooden stake with power and accuracy.
The Slayer 2000 was developed by Vampire hunter and Weapon smith Nicolai Harris. He developed a round that utilized a sabot around the wooden stake to protect it from the Gunpowder blast. Once the Powder in the shell is ignited, the sabot propels the wooden stake out of the weapon, then the shells of the sabot fall away leaving the hard wood stake to travel at high velocity. Giving the weapon Power, accuracy, and range never seen before in a Stake Launching Weapon.
This one is decorated with the fang of first Vampire Nikolai slew with it.
The Ultimate in Sniper Rifles. The MagnaTrexic system enables perfect shots everytime, and The improved UltraSniper 2.0 automatically reloads, zooms, autolocks and can fire at multiple targets at the same time. The K-Type is the most advanced in the X-VXF gun range, with 15 miniguns and 30 barrels, with each barrel compatible for many different types of bullet as it can change thickness to suit it. The Periscopic zoom in front of the trigger enables you to shoot round corners, and two detachable flamethrowers for those tricky situations.
@Fyzza: How many different kinds of bullets will that thing hit you with when you pull the trigger? Talk about overkill!
This weapon of legend brings to the battlefield all the light of a miniature sun. If you plan on wielding it, be sure to wear sunscreen.
Long after the Great Collapse, guns and bullets made in the 21st century no longer worked, so people improvised weapons to protect themselves from the scavengers and the warlords.
When the masked crimefighter the Angry American twists the handle on his baseball bat it transforms into a blaster! The Slugger is made of tough composite materials. To fire the weapon the user squeezes the pressure sensitive handle.
Gero, theres individual triggers there if you look closely.
my third entry, a two barreled blaster.
Forged by the goddess of fear, Arachne, the Spider Blade increases the wielder's strength and sense of touch dramatically. It also enables them to control spiders.
a posion dart launcher, you may have to turn your heads, because when i tried rotating, it screwed it up.
Favored side arm to the B.A.D.A.S.S., the Dominator is powered by millions of nanotech batteries located within the grip.
The Gauntlet of Kell. In the hands of anyone, it is capable of creating massive blasts of Eldritch energy.
In the hands of someone that knows it' s secrets, it is capable of manipulating the elements, light, gravity, and shadows.
Baseball Bat with a dagger at the striking end and a pistol at the side.
Didn't post properly last time!!
I am resubmiting the Vampire Slayer Model 1889. It was bugging me.
@The Atomic Punk: The Hate Bug?
@Danny: Everyone's got to have an evil twin. I thought Doom Buggy would work better in a 1960s "Gidget" / MST3K-inspired theme song.
o/~ Yeah, yeah, yeah… Doom Buggy!
Okay, a couple more blades.
The first is Deaths Kiss – She is a sentient and powerful Rune Sword as well as a Soul Drinker. When Deaths Kiss strikes, the victim feels Pleasure instead of pain. Which usually stunned them into allowing further strikes…until the sword had fed well…..
Next up is the Witch Slayer. Killing witches and trapping their spirits withing the blade, giving it more power…and it's wielder access to the Witches knowledge to aid in the hunt….
and lastly…..Well I'll just say that this is the Nameless Blade. For even uttering it's name might drive you to insanity. It may look like it is more dangerous to it's wielder…but as long as it is well fed, everything should be fine.
The Burler– It's all very well to be loaded for bear, but with the contraption nicknamed the Burler, you're loaded WITH bear.
I'd like to add that I'd really like to own one of Fyzza's BaseballBatDaggerGuns. And I'm guessing Axe Cop feels the same way.
@spidercow2010: I can't "bear" such a "grizzly" device as the Burlur, although seeing it in action would be a true "Kodiak" moment! Perhaps some "cub" reporter will report about the Burlur.
With function : gun, flame thrower, retractable bayonetta and sonic weapon.
I seriously DO NOT stand a chance against some of these entries, especailly some by Gene, with the tremendous amount of detail in them.
@spidercow2010: Thanks 🙂 Tbh it started out as a guitar case machine gun with a dagger at the end, but it didn't work so I turned it into a baseball bat dagger gun instead.
A.W.E.S.O.M ARSENAL a weapons tower.
Dragonslayer is a mystical weapon used for killing dragons.
The Excaliber is a long range riffle.
I bring you…or it comes on it's own, it's hard to say…. Demon Seed.
Demon seed was from an Old Shadowrun campaign I ran back in first edition.
Demon Seed appears and feels like it is made from something other than steel…Bone perhaps? It is hard to say, as it is still as strong as steel. When the victim….er…Character uses Demon seed in battle, he is more sure of himself, and tends towards going for the kill shot…even if the situation does not demand it. On a killing blow, the victim of the blade is absorbed into it, leaving nothing (Not even it's soul) behind.
After the blade is plunged into it's sixth victim it holds on and begins to burrow in. The victim transforms, skin splitting, bones reshaping, skin turning red, and giant bat like wings sprouting out on back.
If the demon is slain, then the body erupts into flame, leaving the Demon seed blade behind in a pile of ash.
Oh, and @ Fyzza – Thanks!
Remember those old Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials and comics? Remember how the future was supposed to look? We were all supposed to be living in domed cities on Mars. We were all supposed to have flying cars. And the weapons were supposed to be mind-numbingly scary! Disintegration rays, shrink rays, freeze rays, etc…and of course, the Death Ray!!!
So this is my concoction. Something with a bit of a "Golden Age" twist to it. I know it's a bit different than what most people have posted, but it was a lot of fun to make. Hope you get a kick out of it.
Here is a last minute entry, a Volden War gauntlet. The Voldens are a warrior race who has access to the best weaponry around. One of their most fearsome weapons, however is the war gauntlet. It allows them to manipulate and fire energy blasts.
I know this isn't much, but here goes.
This, the Gattling Geist, is a jetpack with two gattling guns and a forcefield.


Recording video & snapshots using a web cam or other.
1) Recording video using a user specified Cam Recorder if any found.
2) Taking snapshots at regular intervals or a single snapshot using a device selected by user if any found.
user can define the interval for the shots to be taken.
user can specify the delay before the shots are taken.
user can specify the time between the shots.
shots are saved at a location specified by user, at the location a folder will be created to hold all image data.
image data are saved as jpeg images.
user can choose to make an AVI file from all this images at the rate that they were taken.
memory is managed better than any other tool that is currently available (auto).
program stops the acquisition if memory is low and will alert user.
AVI file is created and if the size of file to be saved is greater than 2GBYTES then if user has specified it will create MAT files to hold image data. the video is then played via user action from this file.
if size of file to be saved is too big then 2 MAT files are created.
program will automatically sets the required memory and IT WON'T CRASH.
in case of error due to acquisition all recorded image data will still be saved in hard disk.
user can preview and stop preview at any time.
program will give the user the amount of RAM that the images are occupying and an indication on the amount of load on memory.
all data will be exported to Matlab base workspace if user wanted.
from then do your analysis.
I am using this and the current info that it gives me to synchronize my data collection using data acquisition tool box.
works PERFECT if you have Matlab 2010 or later and have lots of RAM!


text:
Scottsdale PD: Ex-Cardinals player Michael Floyd had .217 BAC when arrested
Posted: 10:58 AM, Dec 21, 2016
By: Clayton Klapper
The Scottsdale Police Department says former Arizona Cardinals player Michael Floyd had a blood alcohol content level of .217 when he was arrested recently.
Floyd was arrested after being found allegedly asleep at the wheel at a Scottsdale intersection on December 12 at around 2:30 a.m.
RELATED: Body camera video of Michael Floyd being arrested released.
He was arrested on obstructing a roadway, DUI impaired to the slightest degree, DUI BAC over .08 and failure to obey an officer charges.
The Cardinals released Floyd just days after the arrest, and he has since been signed by the New England Patriots.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Great starter job, bakery Clerk (Current Employee) Harrisburg, NC June 29, 2018.
Compare Lowe's Food Stores, Inc.'s gender breakdown against similar employers.Opportunities for Advancement, pART-time benefits: Dental/Vision Benefits, group Life Insurance, short-term Disability.Gender, female 56, male 44, hourly Rate 8 -.You can't really make a living working here without another job.Pays its employees an average.92 an hour.I worked with some very dedicated people.Average Hourly Rate for Lowe's Food Stores, Inc.Employee Discount discount on private label game reward points unavailable products purchased at Lowes Foods double gas rewards.Business Travel Accident Insurance, short-Term and Long-Term Disability, direct Deposit.Truliant Federal Credit Union Membership Privileges "At Work" Bank Membership Privileges, education and Development Tuition Assistance and Scholarships.This job is definitely just a starter job.Employees with the job title Field Service Engineer, Refrigeration make the most with an average hourly rate.78, while employees with the title Cashier make the least with an average hourly rate.90.The pay is low and really you don't get paid what cheap carnival gift cards you should for the work you.Hourly pay at Lowe's Food Stores, Inc.
Menu, logout, united States, companies, lowe's Food Stores, Inc.
Pension Plan "Time Away from Work" Benefits (vacation and personal days).
Opportunities for Cross-Training, all Employee Benefits are subject to change).
Enjoyed working there very much, there was a lot of different work to do everyday.
Hourly Rate 7 - 12, job Satisfaction, highly satisfied, rated 4 out of 5 based on 42 votes.


Grandma ain't the only one who got run over by a reindeer. With their homes no longer safe, four friends reluctantly team up with their bitter enemies to seek safety from the holiday scourge.
2 Thumps Way Up for this set up. Have you considered going the Rollplaying Public Radio route, and trying to sell/ publish the scenarios ya'll cook up for the podcast?


text:
Video: Knicks' Dennis Smith Jr. bulldozes his way through Blake Griffin
Jack Winter
It's been easy to forget Dennis Smith, Jr. this season. Usurped in the Dallas Mavericks' long-term hierarchy by rookie sensation Luka Doncic, the sophomore floor general seemed to elicit less excitement after his trade to the New York Knicks than the team's newfound ability to sign two max-level free agents this summer.
That makes sense. Mere dreams of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving wearing orange and blue, after all, is probably enough to keep long-suffering Knicks faithful up at night.
But Smith could be an integral part of New York's future, too, especially if he consistently plays with the fire and intensity he's showing on Friday against the Detroit Pistons. What's Smith supposed to do here – just let a man the size of Blake Griffin level him with a backcourt screen?
DSJ just trucked Blake… pic.twitter.com/2NemXnVx7l
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 9, 2019
Unfortunately, giving the Pistons star a hard, two-handed shove probably isn't the right approach, either. Smith was called for a flagrant-1 foul on the play, and rightfully so. Next time, perhaps he'll take the path of least resistance, scurrying around either side of Griffin with narrow shoulders and flipped hips.
Smith, in one of the finest performances of his young career, had 31 points and eight assists on just 15 shots against Detroit. It wasn't enough for the Knicks, though, who lost to the Pistons, 120-103.
JUST IN: Warriors' Draymond Green explains reaction to Jazz's Rudy Gobert crying over All-Star snub
Related TopicsBlake GriffinDennis SmithKnicksPistons


Backpackers Travel Agency, Istanbul City Tours - Private Tours For Cruise Travellers, Partner of Turkey Travel Planner offering budget or luxury Turkey tours, Turkish train and bus tickets, flight ticketing for Turkish airlines and Turkey hotels.
Istanbul is an amazing stop during the cruise journies and hundreds of cruises visit Istanbul during the year including Seabourn Odyssey, Imperial River Cruises, River Duchess, River Princess, MS AmaCello, Wind Spirit, Oceania Nautica and Wind Star cruise ships. Istanbul welcomes the cruise travellers with a lot to see remained from two huge empires of the history, Byzantine (Eastern Roman) and Ottoman Empires. The cultural and architectural heritages of Istanbul are breath taking such as Hagia Sophia Museum, Blue Mosque, The Mosque of Sultan Suleyman The Magnificient, Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahce Palace, Chora Church Museum and Basilica Cictern. Natural beatuies are exceptional as well spread over 2 continets along Golden Horn, Bophorus and Black Sea. Despite the fact of so many places to see, cruise travellers visiting Istanbul mostly having limited time in the city. The tours provided by the cruise companies or by their local suppliers operate the tours by leaving only a short time at sites either because of logistic necessities or to spend more time at the contracted local shops. If you do not want to join crowds of regular tour groups of very commercially designed and drawen from one place to another, you must put your self aside and visit the city in freedom and cool.
Just at this time point, Backpackers Travel offers private tours for cruise travellers visiting Istanbul. Our tours are only private by providing you a professional tour guide and an air-conditioned van. That is all you need to save your money and time for exploring Istanbul in a short time. Your advance questions will be replied by our professional travel agents to form the best daily programme. Your vehicle will be a Mercedes Vito or Sprinter depending how many people you are. You will be picked up from the cruise port and drop off at the port again after the tour. Our guides are licensed by The Ministry of Culture and they are quite experianced in their work. All have a university degree in tour guidance with a long term education on history, archeology, geography, art history and religons history. A guide will not give you only documental information and introduce you the local life and people. They also know best what to find or where to buy.
Our private tours for cruise travellers in Istanbul operate all year and provided in almost every language. You can see the prices below up to 6 people and we offer special discounts for bigger groups.
- Rates are for the no of adult people indicated above. We offer special rates for the larger groups, please contact for the details.
- Child aged 0-2 years old are free, 2-7 years old childs are 10 eur for each.
- Transportation with a private air-conditioned van with 50 km limit on half day or night tours and 100 km on full day tours. Fuel included.
- Professional Tour Guidance in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Russian and Arabic. Please ask for other languages. Only English guide option available for half day tours. For other languages should be booked full day or paid full day fee.
- All other expenses such as parking and entrance fees not included and payable at site in cash.
- Advance reservation required with a down payment to secure your booking.
- We give free of charge support to build the best itinerary for your tour. Please contact with us for taking advise.


text:
Rink & Robinson,PLLC has 58 plus years of guiding clients through an ever- changing landscape.
Rink & Robinson, CPA's was started as Hoffman and Rink founded by Francis M. Rink and the late George A. Hoffman in Hickory, NC.
Rink & Robinson, CPA's grew to a staff and partners of seven.
After Hoffman's retirement, Bobby Robinson joined the firm as a partner in 1972, thus the name Rink & Robinson, CPA's.
Michael E. Rink, Partner, introduced computers to the firm. He was the first to bring computers to an accounting firm in the Western North Carolina area.
Bobby Robinson retired and Francis M. Rink along with son Michael became partners and decided to keep the Rink & Robinson, CPA name.
The firm experienced exponential growth. It increased its staff members and tripled its revenue. Rink & Robinson, PLLC became a limited liability partnership and was known not only as certified public accountants but also as business management consultants. Rink & Robinson, PLLC became a driving force in the medical industry by providing a specialized consulting division that assisted physicians and medical specialty practices in growing their business. Co-Founder of Rink & Robinson, CPA's , Francis M. Rink retired at the age of 75.
The firm added two partners, Justin D. Rink, son of Michael E. Rink along with long-term staff member Richard F. Cardiff.
Rink & Robinson, PLLC suffered a tragic loss of one of their partners, Justin D. Rink. The staff members of Rink & Robinson, PLLC will greatly miss their colleague. Justin was a partner in the firm and a beloved son of Michael E. Rink.
Rink & Robinson, PLLC continues to grow and expanded its services to fill the needs of specific industries. The partners participate in multiple industry oriented seminars as a part of their continuing education. The additional training is to meet the needs of the specialty clients.


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Maya Mikhaylovna Plisetskaya () (Moscou,  — Munique, ) foi uma bailarina, coreógrafa, diretora de ballet e atriz russa, considerada uma das maiores dançarinas de balé do século XX. Dançou durante ao mesmo tempo que a famosa Galina Ulanova, tomando dela, em 1960, o título de prima ballerina assoluta do Teatro Bolshoi. Fez parte de uma geração de grandes figuras da dança que incluía Margot Fonteyn, Alicia Alonso e Yvette Chauviré.

Biografia
Maya Plisetskaya entrou na dança aos 3 anos, na Escola de Dança de Moscovo e, apesar de um difícil ambiente familiar (o seu pai Mikhail Plisetski, judeu, foi executado por ordem de Stalin em 1938 e a sua mãe, a atriz Rachel Messerer, também judia, deportada com o seu irmão para um gulag) destacou-se rapidamente na escola do Teatro Bolshoi, sob influência dos seus tios Asaf e Sulamith (Salomé) Messerer, bailarinos desse teatro; foi essa a companhia à qual Maya se uniria em 1943 e da qual se converteu em prima ballerina com apenas 18 anos; começou a sua carreira profissional interpretando A morte do cisne.

Depois de anos de veto, fez digressões internacionais durante as quais visitou países como os Estados Unidos, França, Reino Unido, Itália (onde foi diretora do Ballet da Ópera de Roma), Argentina (atuou com êxito clamoroso no Teatro Colón em 1975–1976 onde regressaria várias vezes) e Espanha (onde dirigiu a Companhia Nacional de Dança), que lhe permitiram conhecer e colaborar com grandes personalidades e obter reconhecimento internacional nos mais importantes teatros.

Atreveu-se a romper a rotina soviética incorporando dança moderna e trabalhando com os coreógrafos Alberto Alonso, Maurice Béjart e Roland Petit, que criaram várias peças para ela, como por exemplo «Carmen», «Isadora» e «La rose malade».

Em comemoração dos seus 80 anos celebrou-se em Moscovo em 2005 uma semana de actividades.

Ela morreu no dia 2 de maio de 2015 aos 89 anos de idade. A causa da morte foi um ataque cardíaco.

Distinções
Recebeu numerosos prémios e distinções, entre os quais
 Artista do povo da União Soviética (1959)
 Prémio Ana Pavlova de Paris (1962)
 Prémio Lenin (1964)
 Heroi do Trabalho Socialista (1985)
 Legião de Honra (França) (1986)
 Medalha de ouro de mérito em Belas-Artes (Espanha) (1991)
 Medalha de Serviço da Rússia (duas vezes: 1995 e 2000)
 Praemium Imperiale do Japão (2006)
 Prémio Príncipe das Astúrias das Artes (2005)
 Doutora honoris causa pelas Universidades Lomonosov de Moscovo e Sorbonne de Paris.

Vida pessoal

Maya Plisetskaia casou com o compositor e pianista russo Rodion Shchedrin. Tiveram uma filha que morreu aos 15 anos, Reychel Meri Schedrín, (1968-1983).

Juntos fundaram uma fundação artística denominada Fundação Internacional Maya Plisetskaya e Rodion Shchedrin.

Bibliografia
 Autobiografia: Moi, Maya Plisetskaya. Gallimard, coll, 1995, 492 pp. ISBN 2-07-074111-7
 Maya Plisetskaya, Diva of dance (DVD), EuroArts, 2054938
 Maya Plisetskaya, Katia et Volodia, Doriane Films, Ref: MUDA-7-200
 Maya Plisetskaya, Assoluta
 Maya Plisetskaya, Iconothèque russe et soviétique.

Naturais de Moscou
Bailarinos da União Soviética
Bailarinos da Rússia
Coreógrafos da Rússia
Mortes por infarto agudo do miocárdio
Atores da Rússia
Prémio Princesa de Astúrias de Artes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Marvelous Might Consider a PC Port of Uppers if Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni Performs Well on Steam
Azario Lopez
May 4, 2017 2:15 PM EST
There are a few games that western Vita owners often request a localization for: one of these game is producer of Senran Kagura Kenichiro Takaki's action title Uppers.
Originally release in July of 2016 in Japan, Uppers features a group fighting starved males battling it out for the fun of it. The game takes place on an island called "Last Resort Island" where there are no consequences for fighting or rules on how you can win. So in theory, if you wanted to pick up a barrel and use it as a weapon, you could.
In addition to the fighting, players are able to impress girls that are watching the fight, and this includes the option to motor boat the members of the crowd for a power bonus.
Recently, Marvelous announced that Valkyrie Drive -Bhikkhuni- will be making its way to PC, remastered in 1080p and 60FPS, this Summer.
The announcement got many fans talking about a possibility of Uppers receiving the same treatment, and DualShockers took the opportunity to ask Marvelous Europe if this could happen, to which the team replied:
"When speaking about remasters to Japan we did speak about Uppers. We were informed that the game was developed differently to VALKYRIE DRIVE and as such there would be a much larger cost and time investment involved in remastering the experience for PC, and that isn't even accounting for the cost of localisation. Obviously with a much higher cost it comes with much more risk. Perhaps this is a discussion we can bring up again in the future pending the results of VALKYRIE DRIVE on Steam."
Stay tuned for the full interview where we discuss bringing Valkyrie Drive -Bhikkhuni- to PC and the game's reception outside of Japan.
Uppers by Senran Kagura Producer Finally Coming West for PS4 and PC
In what seems like a miracle, the fanservice-filled brawler Uppers by Kenichiro Takaki is actually coming west, but it's skipping the PS Vita.
Assault Gunners HD Edition Gets PS4 and PC Release Date in the West; New Screenshots
Senra Kagura: Peach Beach Splash Receives Two European Limited Editions, One With Extra Large Oppai Mousepad
Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni Receives PC Release Date and New Introduction Trailer
Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni PC Preview — Spending the Summer on Bhikkhuni Island
Valkyrie Drive -Bhikkhuni- Interview — Marvelous Europe Talks Porting the Game to PC and Western Reception
Valkyrie Drive -Bhikkhuni- Brings Action and Waifus to PC in Glorious 1080p and 60FPS This Summer
Fate/Extella Coming to Europe and Australia With Possible Limited Edition


Sunday's article, Titanic: The HMS Hawke, The SS New York, & Captain Smith, will introduce you to a side of Captain Smith no one has seen for 100 years.
Walter Lord said that "… ships had gotten too big for Captain Smith." The celebrated Titanic author said that Captain Smith wandered away in a daze after the disaster, and described Captain Smith as indecisive.
One blogger on wordpress wrote such a tirade on Captain Smith it hurt my eyes just reading it.
For 100 years Captain Smith has been maligned. Now you will discover the rest of Captain Smith's story, and you will discover why so many have gotten Captain Smith wrong.
The evidence has been right in front of our eyes for 100 years. It needed a mariner and researcher to identify the clues and point them out for the rest of the world to see.
Nothing surmised or made up, just connecting the dots of over looked and seemingly meaningless actions, misunderstood evidence, and testimony.
Authors and researchers describe Captain Smith as a man admired and respected by subordinates, peers, seniors, and passengers alike. They describe how Captain Smith never raised his voice with subordinates, and yet was always, willingly, and enthusiastically obeyed by juniors. Then they proceed to describe him as outdated and indecisive during the disaster.
There is a reason professional mariners admired, respected, and enthusiastically followed Captain Smith; and this Sunday's article will reveal those reason's to you.
The conclusion of, Report Into the Loss of the SS Titanic – A Centennial Reappraisal, is that First Officer Murdoch waited for 30 seconds after Frederick Fleet rang the crow's-nest bell three times (signalling an object directly in front of Titanic). My review is based on Samuel Halpern's article 30 Seconds Lost, which is based on his book, Report Into the Loss of the SS Titanic – A Centennial Reappraisal.
The article's conclusion is based on testimony by Robert Hichens and supported by testimony from other men on duty at the time, men who gave testimony at the 1912 investigations. Unfortunately, as stated for the record in the transcripts, the officials of the Wreck Commissioners' Court (the 1912 British investigation) found Hichens testimony conflicting. If you read his testimony from both investigations I am sure you will agree. The commissioners concluded that Mr. Hichens statements as to the events that took place was accurate, but his timing was off. Yet, none of the conflicting information is presented in the new report.
Mr. HITCHENS. I would like to make a little statement as regarding Mrs. Mayer's statement in the newspapers about my drinking the whisky sir, and about the blankets. I was very cold, sir, and I was standing up in the boat. I had no hat on. A lady had a flask of whisky or brandy, or something of that description, given her by some gentleman on the ship before she left, and she pulled it out and gave me about a tablespoonful and I drank it. Another lady, who was lying in the bottom of the boat, in a rather weak condition gave me a half wet and half dry blanket to try keep myself a little warm, as I was half frozen. I think it was very unkind of her, sir, to make any statement criticizing me. When we got to the ship I handled everyone as carefully as I could, and I was the last one to leave the boat, and I do not think I deserve anything like that to be put in the papers. That is what upset me and got on my nerves.
As if this were not enough, Hitchens was on his way back to Southampton and his family on the steamship Lapland when he was put into the pilot boat and sent back so that he could testify before the senate. Hitchens did not know, at the time of his testimony, if the White Star Line would pay for his return passage or if he was on his own. Add all of this and the disaster he had just survived and it is understandable if some of his testimony was contradictory.
1314. You were given the order to hard-a-starboard? – Yes.
1315. Was that the only order you had as to the helm? – Yes.
Mr. Holmes: Because, if your Lordship will remember, the evidence of the Witness Scarrott on Friday was quite the contrary, when he came up on deck.
The Commissioner: What did he say?
Mr. Holmes: He said that the ship appeared to be under a port helm, and appeared to be going around the iceberg towards the starboard side.
The Commissioner: Did he say so?
The Attorney-General: Yes, I think so.
1316. (Mr. Holmes.) It is Question 354. (To the Witness.) She never was under a port helm? – She did not come on the port helm, Sir – on the starboard helm.
Obviously this was not true, others had witnessed Titanic on a port helm and the scientific evidence bears this out. If what Hichens said was true, Titanic would have been damaged along the entire starboard side of the ship.
Mr. Halpern also quotes lookout Lee, who was on duty with Fleet, to bolster his assertion that Mr. Murdoch waited 30 seconds to turn Titanic.
As soon as the reply came back 'Thank you,' the helm must have been put either hard-a-starboard or very close to it, because she veered to port, and it seemed almost as if she might clear it, but I suppose there was ice under water.
Clearly, Lee was saying that the helm must have been put hard-a-starboard soon after Moody's reply of "thank you" was given to Fleet, not before. And we know from Hichens that Moody repeated what Fleet had just reported on the phone to First Officer Murdoch who then gave the order to put the helm hard-a-starboard and then rushed to the engine telegraphs to ring down orders to the engine room.
From their vantage point high up in the crow's nest, Fleet and Lee watched as the ship veered to port "a little over a point, or two points…until the iceberg was alongside of her." The iceberg then seemed to strike "just about in front of the foremast" on the starboard side.
Clearly what Mr. Lee testified to was not physically possible. If Titanic had been put hard-a-starboard after Mr. Moody said "Thank you" it would have taken approximately 10 seconds before Titanic would have "veered to port." If Titanic veered to port as soon as the reply came back "Thank you", then clearly the order was given as least 10 seconds before.
Also, with tests on the RMS Olympic it was determined to take 37 seconds from the time the order hard-a-starboard is given for the ship to turn 2 points (this was on a continuous left turn, with no turn to the right). This is supported in the ship handling tables of the United States Navy for ships of this size at the speed of 22.5 knots.
When I was doing this bit of duty I heard three bells rung up in the crow's nest, which I knew that it was something ahead; so I looked, but I did not see anything. I happened to be looking at the lights in the standing compass at the time. That was my duty, to look at the lights in the standing compass, and I was trimming them so that they would burn properly. When I heard the report, I looked, but could not see anything, and I left that and was just entering on the bridge just as the shock came. I knew we had touched something.
Senator BURTON. Do you know whether the wheel was hard-a-port then?
Mr. OLLIVER. What I know about the wheel – I was stand-by to run messages, but what I knew about the helm is, hard aport.
Senator BURTON. Do you mean hard-a-port or hard-a-starboard?
Mr. OLLIVER. I know the orders I heard when I was on the bridge was after we had struck the iceberg. I heard hard-a-port, and there was the man at the wheel and the officer. The officer was seeing it was carried out right.
Senator BURTON. What officer was it?
Mr. OLLIVER. Mr. Moody, the sixth officer, was stationed in the wheelhouse.
Senator BURTON. Who was the man at the wheel?
Senator BURTON. You do not know whether the helm was put hard-a-starboard first, or not?
Mr. OLLIVER. No, sir; I do not know that.
So, let's look at the events as Fleet and Hichens describe them, add what we know (according to physics) must have happened and see what we get.
Fleet said the ship turned about one point to port and Hichens clearly stated the ship turned two points to port (one point is 11.5 degrees). We know Titanic was, at some point, turning to starboard because only 300 feet of the ship was damaged.
2. 10 seconds (at T-0 + 10 seconds) later the wheel is hard over, and the ship will have turned about 2 degrees to port.
3. 23 seconds (at T-0 + 23 seconds) Titanic has turned one point to the port ( 11.5 degrees to the left). Hard-a-port order is given.
4. 35 seconds (at T-0 + 35 seconds) the rudder passes through the center position on it's way to hard-a-port.
5. About 3 seconds after that (at T-0 + 38 seconds) Titanic's bow stops swinging to the port (left) at about 19 degrees, or almost 2 points. From this point on the bow will be turning towards the right (starboard) and the stern will be swinging towards the port (left).
6. 43 seconds (at T-0 + 43 seconds) the rudder reaches hard-a-port, and has now been completely shifted from hard-a-starboard to hard-a-port.
Hichens was looking at the compass and could see nothing outside of the wheelhouse, which is inside the enclosed bridge. Hichens testified that the blinds in the wheelhouse were closed, and were always closed at sunset. Fleet had no compass. Fleet's statement of heading is a rough estimate. It is possible that what Hichens remembers is the maximum swing of the bow of the ship before it started to come back to the right, but this is only a guess.
Remember also, Mr. Murdoch was not looking at a compass. He was watching the approach of the iceberg, he was trying to time his right turn based on the position of the iceberg to the ship.
The six steps I gave above are based on tables from the United States Navy on handling characteristics for a ship the size of Titanic at the speed Titanic was going. They do not represent the exact times as they happened on the Titanic on the night of 14 April 1912. But they are close and we know this sequence of events must have happened. Scarrott saw Titanic's stern moving to the left away from the iceberg (Titanic turning to the starboard on a port helm). We know that only 300 feet of Titanic was damaged.
One other point. Before the 3 bells were rung by Fleet, Mr. Moody was in the wheelhouse (Hichens testimony) and Mr. Murdoch was on the bridge wing. If Mr. Murdoch was thinking for those 30 seconds as Mr. Halpern suggests, Mr. Moody would have immediately picked up the bridge phone answering the lookouts. As Hichens stated in his testimony, everyone knew what 3 bells meant. As the junior officer in the wheelhouse, that was one of Mr. Moody's duties. As I stated in my article Titanic: "Iceberg Right Ahead!" – Conventional Chronology Wrong (http://wp.me/P1MLkF-70) Mr. Moody could not answer the phone when it rang because he was already standing behind Hichens to ensure Hichens was carrying out the hard-a-starboard order.
Fleet was on the phone for about half a minute as he stated, because Mr. Moody could not pick up the phone on the bridge. Moody was watching Hichens turn the wheel. Moody reports the wheel is hard over, hears Mr. Murdoch acknowlegde his report, walks to the phone answers and relays the lookout report to Mr. Murdoch. Mr. Murdoch orders hard-aport. Fleet is off the phone and Titanic's bow has turned one point to the port (left). The bow continues to swing to the left while Hichens is turning the wheel to hard-aport. Before the wheel is over hard-aport, the bow begins to swing back to the right and Titanic hits the iceberg.
Everyone, on the bridge and in the crow's-nest, would have adrenalin coursing through their veins at this time. Not only were these 30 seconds stressful, but there were many things happening in quick succession. How well do you think your memory would hold up?
If you look once more at those 6 steps again you will notice that 23 seconds after Murdoch gave the order hard-a-starboard Titanic would have turned about one point. When you do not have a watch (the lookouts testified they did not), and with the stress of the moment, 23 seconds could seem like "half a minute". Also, if we take into account the errors in his testimony that we can prove, and we look at the 6 points again. We notice that at about 23 seconds Murdoch would have given his hard-a-port order. It is possible, this is a guess, that those 23 seconds seemed to be half a minute as Hichens testified and he was remembering the hard-a-port order that came after "half a minute" and not the hard-a-starboard order. Hichens clearly stated no hard-a-port order was given, physics clearly shows there was a hard-a-port order given, as does the testimony of other crewman.
Clearly Mr. Halpern's chronology is wrong. We will never know if Mr. Murdoch gave his "hard-a-port" order 21, 23, or 25 seconds after he gave the "hard-a-starboard" order. But, we know he gave it. We also know that if Mr. Murdoch had waited 30 seconds after Fleet rang the bell before giving the hard-a-starboard order, Titanic would have still been turning to the left and the stern would have been swinging to the right, into the path of the iceberg when the iceberg struck. At Titanic's speed, even if Murdoch would have ordered "hard-a-port" when the iceberg struck, Titanic would have taken about 38 seconds before Titanic's bow began to turn to the right (step 5 above). At Titanic's speed she would have traveled more than 1,000 feet in 38 seconds, Titanic would have been opened to the sea along the entire starboard side.
I could go into more detail, however a 3,000 word article is quite enough for now. Look for my upcoming article on Murdoch's "hard-a-port" order for the conclusion on this topic.


If you want to file for divorce, here are a few steps you should take before you move forward with the formal paperwork in order to protect yourself and your children during the process.
One of the first things that you need to prepare is your financial paperwork. Your finances are going to be a big focus of the formal divorce process, so you are going to want to make sure that you have copies and information on all of your and your spouse's financial deals and interests. Having all of this information together will help you reduce your attorney's fees as well—by presenting the information to your divorce attorney, you save them from having to spend time digging to get the financial information they need to move forward with your divorce.
All of your financial paperwork is meant to determine the overall value of the estate that you share with your spouse. That means you are going to need access to your tax returns over the past few years, as well as current statements on all of your different investments, retirement accounts, savings, and even checking account. The more financial statements you can gather, the better. If you own a business or investment properties with your spouse, you are going to want to gather the information on them as well.
It can be easy, when you are married, to just pay your bills and other expenses every month, especially if you have the money to do so, and not really think about what your overall budget is. When you get divorced though, it is important for you to understand your monthly expenses and your monthly budget. This will help determine if you might get spousal support or if you are going to have to pay alimony to your spouse.
Look back over your bank and credit card statements over the past few months or over the past few years, and use that information to create a budget that shows your household bills and expenses. This will help your attorney determine what your expenses should be for each of you after you divorce.
Finally, you need to create a plan for your children. For this step, you are going to want to talk with your spouse. If you have been separated or have talked about separating before, this should not come as a surprise to your spouse. If possible, it is best to figure out a plan for your children before you get together with an attorney. If you can shield your children from a drawn-out court custody battle, that is often the best approach.
You are going to want to establish a plan with your spouse for telling your children about the divorce and for taking care of your children as you go through your divorce proceedings. Be a united front on what you are sharing with your children and on how you will handle disagreements so your children don't get caught up in your divorce.
Gather your financial paperwork, figure out your monthly budget for your joint household, and create a plan for your children before moving forward with the formal divorce process will help protect you and your children.


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Q: iPhone UINavigationController Passing Parameter Back To Main View i m new to stackoverflow and this is my first question.
My question is : I have a UINavigationController and have a UITableView inside it. I pass parameter to another view when a cell is clicked in tableview with didSelectRowAtIndexPath method, and i show the cell information in a label in another view which I called SecondViewController. Inside SecondViewController i have another label and i want to pass it's value to the selected cell's subvalue. As a conclusion i want to pass a value back to navigationcontroller's mainview.
Thanks for all your incoming responses.
Regards,
ae

A: would suggest you to use the delegate concept to sorted out you probelm...
Check the useful SO link .
How do I create delegates in Objective-C?
How does a delegate work in objective-C?
Delegation pattern

A: In your secondviewcontroller, the method which was called for popping to the main controller,inside that method pass the value to the mainview property.
For e.g.
One view :---mainview
Second View : secondcontroler
Now Inside secondcontroller:--
-(void)getbacktomainview
{
  mainview *mn ;
  mn.someproperty = yourvalue;
[navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES];
}
Hope it helps you.....

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Top 6 Trending Travel Destinations For 2023
Last Updated 7 hours ago
Need inspiration for where to travel in 2023? Here are some of the top trending travel destinations for next year!
With more than 150 countries back to normal with no travel restrictions, including vaccine or Covid testing requirements, it's safe to say that the world has opened up once again.
Although some of the destinations on this list still have Covid-related entry requirements in place, that may change in 2023.
And even with restrictions in place, tourism is beginning to recover in these sought-after destinations, many of which were fully closed to all travelers for over two years.
Japan finally reopened for tourism on October 11 after over two and a half years of forced closures.
In order to enter the country, travelers will either need three doses of a Covid vaccine or take a pre-arrival Covid test. While masks are not legally required in Japan, the majority of the population still voluntarily wears them in almost all circumstances.
However, travelers who don't mind these restrictions will be able to explore the vibrant city of Tokyo and all it has to offer once again.
2. Bali
Bali has reopened for vaccinated travelers only after extremely strict closures and entry requirements for over two years.
This island paradise in Indonesia is known for being a digital nomad hotspot with plenty of trendy cafes and coworking spots.
It also attracts visitors with its beautiful scenery and sights, from lush terraced rice fields to laidback beaches to stunning temples.
Top 5 Travel Insurance Plans For 2023 Starting At $10 Per Week
3. Sydney
After some of the strictest lockdowns and closures in the world, Australia finally reopened to international tourists and dropped all entry requirements in July.
Sydney, Australia's largest city, is one of the top trending destinations for 2023 now that the country has reopened.
The best time to visit Sydney for pleasant weather is February to May, making early 2023 the perfect time to plan a visit.
4. Seoul
Seoul, South Korea is a bustling mega-city that is one of the best destinations in Asia to visit.
This city is known for its great food, nightlife, entertainment, and shopping. There are also many cultural sites in Seoul to check out, including temples and museums, making it a great destination for any kind of traveler.
South Korea also experienced extremely harsh lockdowns and closures for over two years, but the country finally fully reopened for tourism in October with no entry restrictions.
However, despite removing its outdoor mask mandate in September, South Korea still has an indoor mask mandate in place until at least March 2023. If it's actually removed in March, then Seoul will be a great destination to visit next year once things are finally back to normal.
5. Rio De Janeiro
Brazil has been back and forth on Covid restrictions, and as of December 2022 still requires proof of vaccination or a negative Covid in order to enter.
The country also reinstated a mask mandate in December in some locations, including airplanes and airports.
Despite the lingering restrictions, travelers have been eager to explore the vibrant city of Rio De Janeiro, which will once again host one of the best Carnival celebrations in the world in February 2023.
6. Málaga
Málaga, Spain is known for being one of the best destinations in southern Spain, with great beaches and nightlife, as well as food and culture.
Although it gets extremely crowded in the summer months, Málaga is a great place to visit any time of year. It's a popular winter sun destination in Europe, and although it might be a little too cold for a dip in the ocean, you can certainly enjoy sunbathing and pleasant weather here, even during the winter and spring.
Now that Spain has finally dropped all travel restrictions as of October 2022 (one of the last countries in Europe to do so), it's at the top of the list for many travelers.
Traveler Alert: Don't Forget Travel Insurance For Your Next Trip!
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
This entry was posted in Travel Guide and tagged Destinations, Top, Travel, Trending.
Quebec City – Hop On Hop Off Red Bus City Tour
Immigration au Canada 2021-2022


These MREs have amazing shelf life up to 5 years or more! MREs or Meals Ready to eat are a convenient option for food storage among other uses. Just eat it straight out of the package with no preparation necessary or heat up your entree to 100+ degrees if you desire with the flameless, water activated heater included with each entree.This 6-month supply comes with a self-heating unit for the entree, sides like crackers, desserts, a beverage mix, condiments, utensil and a towelette! Think how secure you'll feel, knowing that you and your family are taken care of with these tasty, easy-to-prepare meals!
The 6-Month Supply of MRE Self-Heating Full Meals now contains 35% reduced sodium in order to maintain a healthy heart and body in any situation. Enjoy peace of mind knowing that you have a 6-Month supply of delicious and convenient MREs on hand in any situation. Our MRE's are manufactured by the same company the government uses for our military. Each meal is individually packaged and will store up to 5 years under proper conditions.


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Deep Sea Red Crab
Zar Imperial Caviar
Rich in nutrients
Our Iranian Beluga caviar comes from the species Huso huso, a huge fish that can weigh 1000 kg and measure 5 meters in length, from which the best caviar in the world is obtained. The female has her sexual maturity at 15 years of age to start producing her medium-large size roe and her color varies between different gray tones. At tasting level, the Beluga Zar Imperial has a smooth and intense flavor with a really unctuous texture.
The Osetra Caviar can come from two species: the Acipenser gueldenstaedtii or Russian Sturgeon and the Acipenser persicus originating from the Caspian Sea. We only work with the Russian Sturgeon, obtaining an elegant caviar, long in flavor and very creamy, with medium-large roe and a color that varies from light gray with golden nuances to gold.
Imperial caviar is a hybrid between the sturgeon Huso dauricus and the sturgeon Acipenser schrenckii also called Japanese sturgeon. Our product from the Amur river, we obtain a firm roe caviar with a grayish color and golden shades. It has an extraordinary flavor and is highly valued for its large size roe and soft wrap.
Siberian caviar comes exclusively from the Acipenser baerii species, which is the highest-producing sturgeon (Spain, Italy, Germany, Israel, etc.) due to its great adaptation to different media and its rapid growth. The medium-sized roe vary from dark gray to black and have an elegant nutty flavor, which makes this caviar a perfect variety for pairing with other foods, providing unique nuances that can enrich any dish.
Caviar are the sturgeon roes, from which we have selected the most interesting species for our clients' delight. The sale of wild caviar has been banned since 2009 and currently aquaculture is the best way to assure the species preservation and to guarantee the traceability and quality of the final product.
In nature, there are 28 varieties of sturgeon, but only 7 species are used to make caviar.
For the manufacture of ZAR IMPERIAL products, we use only the traditional Russian method Malossol (low salt), with a maximum of 3% salt to preserve the texture and the smooth flavor, unique and authentic.
anewday © 2023


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Tags: Money | Federal Reserve | taxes
Does the Federal Reserve Pay Taxes?
By Andrea Billups | Saturday, 20 June 2015 10:28 PM
Federal Reserve banks are exempt from paying taxes at the federal, state and local levels, except on real estate holdings, according to the government website, federalreserve.gov, which outlines rules on taxation set forth in Section 7(c) of the Federal Reserve Act.
According to FederalReserveEducation.org, post-tax profits after expenses are transferred from the Federal Reserve to the Department of Treasury. In addition to real estate taxes, other taxes related to personnel matters — Social Security withholding taxes, income tax and workers compensation taxes — are also paid by the Federal Reserve.
Watch Now: Steve Forbes Slams the Fed in This Video
The Federal Reserve bank was founded in 2013 by Congress, according to Investopedia. It is led by a Board of Governors and divided into 12 geographic districts nationwide. It receives its income from interest on securities holdings, primarily, along with some investments in foreign currencies, some loan interests and other related service fees including check-clearing, Federal Reserve Education said.
The bank is an independent entity from government, meaning Congress and
the president cannot guide it. This set-up was intended to keep politics out of its decision-making. However, members of its board are appointed by the president and also require Senate confirmation, Degreed.com notes. Its current chairwoman is economist Janet Yellen, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014.
While the Federal Reserve does not pay taxes, it earns profits through the purchase and selling of bonds. In 2014, for example, it turned a record profit of $98.7 billion, with funds going to the U.S. Treasury, Forbes reported. Previously it earned $79.6 billion in 2013 and $88.4 billion in 2012.
What Are the Responsibilities and Functions of the Federal Reserve System?
How Is the Federal Reserve System Structured?
Federal Reserve, taxes
Saturday, 20 June 2015 10:28 PM


Jim Dunlop Heavy Core electric strings are manufactured at their factory HQ in Benicia, California. With 50 years of experience and a developed understanding of a guitar players' needs, Dunlop has a produced a string that sings with tone and plays with perfect tension and flexibility. As a guitarist, you want a string that feels comfortable to play but delivers power and nuance, Jim Dunlop Performance+ strings are your new string. Trust me. Heavy Core strings designed specifically for drop tunings, so you can maintain a good playing tension even when tuning to doom territory!
"Heavy Core guitar strings are uniquely designed with Dunlop's proprietary core-to-wrap ratios that are meticulously calculated so the guitar player can really "dig in" while retaining sound fundamentals. Heavy Core strings (like all of Dunlop's replacement guitar strings) are manufactured with the highest quality materials and are engineered for great tone, balance, and feel. Dunlop Heavy Core® electric guitar strings are made with great pride in Benicia, California and specially designed for the player that plays in dropped or lowered tunings. The Heavy Core strings incorporate a unique core wire and proprietary wrap ratios to offer players the ability to really "dig in" while retaining a tight low end, focused midrange and smooth top-end when playing clean or distorted. Every set of Dunlop Strings come packaged utilizing three levels of moisture protection and sealed in a VCI Fresh Technology (Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor) bag to guarantee that your strings arrive as fresh as the day they were made."


Located in the relatively new Rochedale Estates housing development, Flying Pepper is something of a hidden gem - even to those living in Rochedale and surrounding suburbs. But once you've discovered this cafe, you may just find yourself spreading the word.
Overlooking the estate's resort-style pool area, Flying Pepper has a decent amount of indoor and outdoor dining. We chose a table outdoors and were impressed by the relaxed atmosphere and the amount of space between tables. With a noise-making, food-flinging toddler in our dining party, it's always nice to have a bit of extra room. There's a range of table sizes available, making it suitable for both couples and big groups.
The cafe has breakfast, lunch and dinner options, but we decided to drop by for a Saturday morning breakfast. While there's a range of bigger and fancier breakfast options (such as the halloumi bruschetta or Flying Pepper big breakfast), the two adults in our party opted for our eat-out breakfast staple of scrambled eggs on toast (with the addition of some hash browns for one of us). For $10 we got a couple of slices of sourdough toast, and some fluffy, herb-infused eggs with homemade (and delicious) tomato relish. The toddler devoured the fruit toast ($4.50) which had three pieces per serve and was laden with plump fruit. To wash it all down we shared a banana smoothie and chocolate frappe, which proved to be a most refreshing accompaniment to the meal.
If you'd rather dine out later in the day, the menu includes such diverse items as the twice-cooked pork belly, black Angus beef burger, a range of rice burgers, plus Korean fried chicken. There's also a decent selection of gluten-free and vegetarian options, and most items are available as takeaway too. Flying Pepper is licensed, so there's also a range of alcoholic beverages on offer to complement your meal.
Although eating out is not always possible with a tantrum-ing toddler, we rather fancy the prospect of picking up a takeaway coffee, grabbing a tasty treat from the cake cabinet, and letting the youngster roam free on the nearby playground. Of course, if you've got the time, all the sweet treats and hot beverages can be made to eat in as well.
The only downside I could see is that the pool areas may become noisy at certain times of the year, but if you pick your time wisely, you should be able to avoid the noise while making the most of those lovely water views.
Flying Pepper Cafe & Restaurant is easily accessible at the Rochedale Estates Lifestyle Centre, and boasts plenty of visitor parking. The cafe is open for breakfast and lunch daily, and dinner from Thursday to Monday.


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Q: VB Classic Poker. Detecting a winning hand using modulo I need to create a poker game in vb as work for my class using mod13 for each suite to evaluate the winning hand... but I am at lost here. I just can't get how to use modulo.
I really need an hint how to do it.  (this is what I have coded so far....)
Public Class Form1
    Dim Cards(4) As PictureBox
    Dim Hand(4) As Integer
    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Creat_poker()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Creat_Poker_interface()
        Dim i As Integer
        For i = 0 To pic.GetUpperBound(0)
            Cards(i) = New PictureBox

            With Cards(i)
                .Visible = True
                .Width = 130
                .Height = 200
                .Left = 20 + (i * 160)
                .Top = 20
                .BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Fixed3D
                .SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage

            End With
            Me.Controls.Add(pic(i))

            AddHandler Cards(i).Click, AddressOf CardsSelection

        Next
    End Sub

    Private Sub cmdNewGame_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles cmdNewGame.Click
        Dim i As Integer
        Dim hasard As New Random
        For i = 0 To main.GetUpperBound(0)
            Hand(i) = hasard.Next(52)

        Next

        For i = 0 To main.GetUpperBound(0)
            Cards(i).Image = imaCards.Images(Hand(i))
        Next

    End Sub
End Class


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← With Wolves on a Losing Streak, Expectations Evolve
KAT = Great. Wolves = Bad. What to think? →
by Andy Grimsrud | December 13, 2015 · 2:27 PM
Timberwolves Quarterly Report
After a pair of overtime games this week — a home win over the Lakers followed by a road loss to the Nuggets — the Timberwolves are now past the season's quarter point. They have a record of 9-13, which sets a pace to win about 35 or 36 games; more than people expected before the season began, but perhaps a little bit worse than people feel the team is capable, having had the chance to see them play. Managing expectations is funny that way: exceeding them early can lead to raising them too high later on.
This is one of the most interesting Timberwolves teams in history. It has the much-talked-about combination of veteran leadership and athletic young talent. It has the franchise's all-time great, Kevin Garnett, playing his twenty-first season. It has the franchise's pair of great young hopes, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, playing their first and second. This Wolves team has a version of Ricky Rubio that seems both more comfortable with who he is (and isn't) as a player, and more dissatisfied with his team losing more than it wins. This team has a lot of players — too many, really — who have a valid expectation of playing time. Managing that long and complicated rotation is Sam Mitchell, an interim head coach whose promotion from the assistant ranks came about by the worst circumstances imaginable when his boss, former coach, and friend Flip Saunders died from cancer.
Through each of the 9 wins and 13 losses have emerged themes for the season that have structured the discourse of Timberwolves pundits. Some are positive and celebratory: the awesomeness of KAT, and the team's improved defense. Some are negative and cause knee-jerk reactions: Mitchell's outdated offensive system, the continued deployment of Zach LaVine at point guard, and blowing big leads to lose in disappointing fashion.
Here's a list of letter grades for each player through the season, to date. Grades take role and expectations into account, so an A doesn't necessarily mean a better player or overall performance than a B or C. We'll do this by position, starting with guards, then forwards, then centers.
Ricky Rubio: B+
Last year, Ricky Rubio's season involved sitting out of games so that the team would lose enough to win the draft lottery, and working out with special shooting coach Mike Penberthy to see if he could build some confidence in his shot; a flawed part of his game that many believe to be fatal, at least insofar as Rubio could potentially be the point guard on a championship-contending team.
This year, Penberthy is gone, Ricky is shooting the worst percentages of his career (34.8% on all field goals, 20.7% on threes) and yet he continues to positively affect his team's performance more than most point guards in the league. (And more than any of his teammates.) Rubio's net rating of +4.9 is now second best to Tayshaun Prince, and his "off" rating (how the Wolves do when he sits) is -5.0. In other words, the Wolves are a good team when he's on the floor, and a bad one when he is on the bench.
It's the same story. He's a bad shooter who happens to be a good player. Or a good player who happens to be a bad shooter. However you want to put it.
Ricky's still good, he's just not perfect. His per-36 assist assist-to-turnover ratio of 10.2 to 2.9 is the best of his career on both sides of it. Throughout his 4.25 NBA seasons, the Wolves have never come close to reaching the point anticipated by some where Rubio's shooting woes limit their team's potential. Some believe that may happen in the playoff setting, when opposing defenses have better scouting reports more specifically tailored to highlight weaknesses like Rubio's shot.
I would love to find out if that's the case.
Zach LaVine: B+
Depending on who you ask, Zach LaVine's rookie season was either an abject disaster or a reason for excitement. Without repeating all of the details, LaVine the rookie made spectacular highlights and showed off all sorts of skills, but lacked awareness or discipline required to help a team win. His basic stats were sometimes good, but his advanced ones — especially those that take team performance into consideration — were awful.
He is playing much better this year. Mitchell is still playing LaVine out of position at backup point guard — and for almost 25 minutes per game — and LaVine is unable to initiate good half-court offense. But he has improved his defense, and is making fewer mistakes. In some short samples at shooting guard next to Rubio, LaVine has looked very good. Statistically, his most significant improvement is in scoring volume. Shooting roughly the same percentages as last year, he's posting over 20 points per 36 minutes, compared to last year's 14.7. He's turning it over one half fewer times per 36 as well. These have his PER up from 11.3 (significantly below average) to 16.9, which is a great leap. If he ever plays shooting guard and takes advantage of his athleticism with stronger drives to the hole, he might become a pretty special player.
Based on my conversations and the commentary I observe online, I think LaVine is much less polarizing than he was a year ago. His performance has stabilized a lot in a short amount of time. The next step is trying to tap into his enormous potential as a playmaker off the dribble.
Andre Miller: A-
Miller grades high because he is almost 40 years old and still manages to help the Timberwolves second unit, in the rare instances in which he has been able to play backup point guard minutes. He is a statistical outlier for the team, in terms of the on/off rating stats. When Miller plays, the Wolves pace slows way down to 92.5 possessions per 48 minutes (second lowest to Rudez) compared to the team average pace of 98.8. When Miller plays, the offense plays incredibly well (116.5), and the defense plays incredibly poorly (113.6), but it all shakes out with the Wolves outscoring opponents in the time he mans the point.
It's too bad that Miller has only played 138 minutes this season.
Tyus Jones: Incomplete
Jones is playing in the D-League now, where he belongs. It will be at least a year, and probably more like two, before we know what he can and cannot do at the NBA level. Writing him off or forming any conclusions about Jones based on his lack of playing time this year would be silly. Nobody paying attention thought that he'd play this year.
Kevin Martin: D+
Martin is having his worst season since he was a rookie in 2004-05. This is for a pretty simple reason: he hasn't made shots. His field goal percentage is at a miserable 37.3 right now, despite a big 37-point outburst against the Lakers on Wednesday night. Martin holds the ball too much on offense, and when his shots don't fall, the team performance really suffers. I hope the Wolves trade him to a contender – not for any sort of player to jam up the rotation so much as to lighten the rotation and allow more minutes for young players like Shabazz Muhammad and Zach LaVine.
Andrew Wiggins: B
Wiggins has had a pretty good season, so far. He's by far and away the team's scoring leader, averaging 21.0 points per game. His field goal percentage is still pretty low (42.8) and his three-point shooting has been mostly non-existent (0.7 makes per game) but he continues to draw tons of fouls. He's shooting 7.6 free throws per game. If Wiggins improved his shaky foul shooting — he's connecting on just 74 percent of them now, and has missed multiple game-deciding free throws already this year — that would boost his efficiency a bit. The biggest drawbacks to Wiggins performance right now are his lack of rebounding and his assist-to-turnover ratio which remains on the wrong side of 1.0. I think his passing game will open up over time, if the Wolves ever hire a coach who spreads the floor on offense. As for rebounding, I'm not sure. He takes his defensive assignments seriously and contests a lot of perimeter shots. That probably takes him out of rebounding position more than some players, who get beat to the basket more often, or require more help from teammates. But that seems like making excuses, too. He needs to rebound more.
The best parts of Wiggins season have been the close fourth quarters where he creates his own offense. Those go-to guy plays are the biggest signs that he will become an All-Star in the future. He has been good this season.
Tayshaun Prince: B
There seem to be two camps of people, regarding how to feel about the 443 minutes that Tayshaun Prince has already played; more than both Nemanja Bjelica and Shabazz Muhammad: (1) there is a camp who likes Prince playing because of the way his careful offense and intelligent defense help stabilize an otherwise young team. This camp points out that Prince has the best net rating (+5.0) on the team, right now. (2) There is a camp who hates the Prince minutes because he produces nothing offensively (4.5 points per 36 minutes) and is cutting into important minutes that would be better invested on Muhammad.
I understand both arguments, but so far have tended to fall in the former camp. With so many young players out there trying to learn on the job, I think it's been helpful to have a guy who knows where he is supposed to stand on both ends of the floor, and mostly just stays out of the way. The Muhammad minutes are a cost, no doubt, and I think we'll see this change as the season progresses toward April. But for now, I've been okay with how Prince has been used. I don't think the net rating is a coincidence, either. On a team like the current Timberwolves, he helps them play better.
Shabazz Muhammad: C-
A major theme of Shabazz Muhammad's young career has been improvement. He improved dramatically throughout his rookie season, and then took another major step forward last year, when his consistent scoring production landed him an unexpected spot in the Rookie/Sophomore Game (whatever they call it) at All-Star Weekend. Before this season, one of the NBA GM's (in the always-interesting anonymous poll) selected Muhammad as the most likely to have a breakout 2015-16 season.
Through the season's first quarter, that has not happened. Unfortunately, he has taken a slight step back from how he was playing last season.
First, Muhammad is only playing 17.4 minutes per game. As mentioned above, regarding Prince, there is an argument to be made that this is a problem that should be fixed. Muhammad is still producing — just less efficiently than last year — and his future in the NBA is obviously more significant than the 35-year old Prince's. But still: if Shabazz was playing like an improved version of what he was last year, he'd be playing a lot more. He hasn't, so he isn't.
Second, Muhammad's scoring is down both in terms of volume (17.2 pts/36 vs. last year's 21.3) and efficiency (47.9 FG% vs. 48.9%; and from three, it's 27.3% down from 38.2%).
Third, Muhammad's assists have gone back down to "nonexistent" levels. Last year, he showed some improvement in passing, upping his assists to 1.8 per 36. Not great by any stretch, but not nothing either. This year, he's assisting just 0.7 per 36. That happens to be the exact career average of DeAndre Jordan, to understand the company it puts Muhammad in as a non-passer.
One excuse that I have been willing to make for Muhammad is that he has had to play a lot with the Zach LaVine point guard lineups. Anyone watching this year's team knows what I mean when I say that that unit can sometimes look really dysfunctional, as the point guard dribbles the air out of the ball from 35 feet out and the defense never has to move in order to contest what ultimately becomes a very difficult shot, late in the shot clock. Some of that dysfunction may have impacted Bazz, who moves well without the ball and is probably not being rewarded with good passes as often as he should be.
Muhammad still ranks right atop the NBA's leaders in "points per touch," (0.469, right behind Kevin Durant's league-leading (among high-minute players) 0.478) but his touches per game are down to 17.6. Last year, he touched the ball 25.1 times per game, and scored a whopping 0.541 points per times touched. He'd probably benefit from getting his hands on the ball a bit more, preferably dished from a good playmaker like Rubio or Miller who might find him near the hoop with a head of steam.
Kevin Garnett: A-
KG gets the same "old age" grading curve as Miller. He's played limited minutes despite his ostensible "starting power forward" status. In those minutes — 15.9 per game, appearing in 20 of the team's 22 games — Garnett has been outstanding on defense (particularly defensive rebounding where his defensive rebound percentage of 31.2 would rank second in the entire league, if he qualified by playing more minutes) and has a pretty incredible assist-to-turnover on offense: per 36 minutes, he gets 4.0 assists to just 1.2 turnovers. He is almost as much of a non-scorer as Prince (7.2 points per 36) but hey, we're talking about a 39-year old player here. Per the minutes he's playing, KG has been great. When he's on the floor, the Wolves outscore opponents by a couple points per 100 possessions, and that comes from great defense.
There is a lot going on with KG as a mentor that cannot be measured, but only observed during games and read about in stories. A few weeks ago, ESPN's Jackie MacMullan wrote the definitive piece about Garnett's basketball psyche and his ways as a teammate. That is an outstanding and fascinating story that you should read (in case you missed it). I tend to believe that the KG depicted in that story — the one whose intensity bordered on abusive at times — is not the same one that is mentoring Karl-Anthony Towns right now. Garnett has conceded that his career is now in a different place, and he certainly knows that a title (this season) is unrealistic. With that in mind, I doubt he borders on insane in the ways that he did when he was focused more on short-term success, and a more active participant in the playing-games process. In yesterday's New York Times, there was a story about Towns (because he is returning to the East Coast to play at New York and Brooklyn, this week) and I found the part about KG's mentorship to be interesting:
His education has continued with the Timberwolves, who commissioned Kevin Garnett to act as Towns's mentor. It was viewed as a gamble — Garnett can be abrasive — but he has embraced Towns and the team's young core. After a recent practice, Garnett remained behind to counsel Andrew Wiggins on post moves for at least a half-hour. Towns has attached himself to Garnett as much as possible.
"Talking, watching, learning," Towns said. "It's an all-day thing."
He has mimicked Garnett's preparation, going so far as to shoot additional baskets after he lifts weights in hope of building his muscle memory. Garnett also advised Towns to keep their tutorials private. Pressed to offer a couple of morsels, Towns shook his head.
"I don't want to say," he said. "There are some things he does that I think we're all accustomed to seeing, but there are some that are kind of unusual."
Karl Towns, his father, said he could sense Garnett's influence. He said there was no doubt that Garnett had accelerated his son's growth.
"K. G. is an architect," Karl Towns said.
The entire concept of Garnett taking on a true mentorship role, working hands-on with Towns and Wiggins, was met I think with some degree of skepticism among fans. Garnett has been outspoken and adamant that he will never be a coach. By saying that so loudly and definitively, it called into question how much interest he would have in acting as a quasi/player coach this year with Towns. The early evidence is that KG has not only accepted the role, but has embraced it fully with the same type of pride and intensity that he has put into playing his own career. If it continues, it will have an immeasurable, positive impact on this team and its young players.
Nemanja Bjelica: C+
This might be an unfair grade, because Bjelica is technically an NBA rookie. But he's not really a rookie in the sense that Towns is; Bjelica is 27 years old and was the best professional player in all of Europe, last season. Also, he has demonstrated plenty of NBA-ready skills, like perimeter shooting, passing off the dribble, and surprisingly-decent rebounding. Since we know that he can do those things, it is somewhat frustrating to see him look so tentative to shoot at times (he's hitting on 39 percent of 3s — many of them behind the line by a few feet — and still passes up a few open ones every game) and instead opt for dribbling into traffic for what usually becomes a more difficult shot for either himself or a teammate. In some of the Wolves best performances this season — wins at Chicago and Atlanta — Bjelica has logged big minutes and been a key factor. Lately, his minutes seem to be dropping. I've watched this guy shoot before games, and he makes at least 80 percent of his threes, most of them swishes. He's got an effortless motion that explains how he's able to flick it up there from about 28 feet without any trouble. The Wolves will play better if and when Bjelica gains enough confidence to become a bigtime perimeter shooter. If you imagine both he and Towns posing that type of threat as big men teamed up with Rubio, the future looks bright.
But when Bjelica goes to the free-throw line and shoots an airball — this same guy who was canning three after three in pregame shootaround — you wonder what's going on inside his head. We saw Alexey Shved struggle with confidence in NBA games after starring in Europe, and hopefully there is a good system of support here for Bjelica to prevent that from happening. He's a talented player.
Damjan Rudez: B
Rudez doesn't get to play. He's out of the rotation, barring foul trouble or an injury — such as the games when Bjelica was out with a knee contusion. When he's played, he's been solid. He makes threes and makes quick decisions with the ball. He's the type of role player that you want on the end of your bench, sort of like what Robbie Hummel used to be, only with more shooting range. I wouldn't mind seeing him play more to help boost the team's three-point shooting, and its overall understanding of floor spacing and ball movement.
Adreian Payne: B
Payne benefits from low expectations after his poor rookie season. He has played better this year, but his playing time is very low (for good reasons, I think). Giving him credit where it's due, Payne has upped his field goal percentage from 41 to 47, and upped his per-36 rebounding from 7.9 to 9.1. He's improved from last year, but probably won't factor into the Wolves rotation much, unless they shut down KG at some point and have more power forward minutes to go around.
Gorgui Dieng: B+
There's a bizarre thing where Sam Mitchell seems to believe that Gorgui Dieng is a better defensive player and more reliable crunchtime option than Towns. It's led to maddening substitutions and 4th Quarter rotations, and has probably led to Dieng being subject to unfair criticisms. Because he's actually having a pretty good season. He's just not (nearly) as talented as KAT is.
Dieng is shooting career-high percentages of 52.0 from the field and a crazy/unsustainable 90.9 from the free-throw line. His PER and win shares per 48 are both above league average (16.8, 0.139). His net rating is positive (+0.3) whereas both KAT and Wiggins are negative. And, despite us fans bitching about it, he has gained a lot of trust from his coach who obviously sees certain things that we don't. Whatever the players are being told to do, he must be doing it, because he's earning more minutes that most anticipated; 22.2 per game, despite sharing the center position with Towns.
My gripe with Gorgui is that he tries to do too much with the ball. He head fakes and pivots a lot, often resulting in turnovers. His 2.7 turnovers per 36 minutes is too high; his career-high, actually. He's not a good enough offensive player to take on so much risk with the ball. Where he's been solid is in mid-range shooting, where he's got a nice touch and saves a lot of Wolves possessions by being a last-resort scoring option. He's also been better than I remember him looking at defending heavy centers. His defense on Nikola Vucevic of the Magic was outstanding and almost helped them steal a win after the first unit played terribly.
Dieng's playing pretty well right now.
Karl-Anthony Towns: A+
There isn't much to say here that hasn't already been said, and won't continue to be said as Towns turns in one of the best rookie-season performances of the "One and Done" Era of NBA Drafts. Towns just turned 20 years old, but frequently looks like the best player on the floor. Despite what Kristaps Porzingis has been doing in New York, I think most people anticipate Towns to win Rookie of the Year despite playing on a team that doesn't feature him like most top picks get featured (ala Wiggins last year) and despite the rookie class itself appearing very strong.
The only thing I'd like to see of Towns is more minutes for Towns. I know that 28.3 minutes per game is pretty high for a rookie, but most rookies don't play like superstar veterans. Towns is ready for a 33 or 34 minutes per game role, splitting time at the 4 and 5. If Dieng continues to play well, KAT can play the perimeter role on offense as they share the floor, at times. He's just so good, so immediately, that I don't see any reason for the team to hold him out of games; particularly games when he's not in foul trouble and the team is not on a back-to-back. That's happened many times already this year, and it doesn't make much sense.
I'm digressing here: KAT has been absolutely outstanding, the best Timberwolves rookie in history, it seems. More than anything else, he is reason for fans to get excited about this team's future.
The Wolves are about to tip off at Phoenix in a Sunday matinee, so the numbers listed here will probably be a game outdated by the time you read this. Chime in, in the comments section and let me know where I screwed up in handing out these grades.
5 responses to "Timberwolves Quarterly Report"
Dave Grimsrud
The NBA shot clock pretty much dictates that teams have offensive shooters like Martin who can create their own shots. He will move up in your rankings to a "B" before the season ends. Martin is good even though PDW has never appreciated his defense. If it's with another team, that's fine. Then move LaVine to the two position and back up Rubio with Miller or T. Jones. Jones needs to study Miller, learning to use his brains to compensate for any lack of size and quickness.
jumbob
Do you realize Kevin Martin has a career average -2.3 defensive BPM and a DRtg of 111? Those stats aren't PDW things. Those stats are a long history of bad defense.
Yes, but Coach Mitchell said that Martin is playing good defense. Apparently, the coach was justifying using Martin in closing minutes.
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