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Rebecca Sugar Apologises For Steven Universe Racism Controversy
Posted on July 16, 2017 | by Joe Glass | 0 Comment(s)
Rebecca Sugar, the creator of popular cartoon Steven Universe, has issued an apology in light of online controversy sparked by the recently released Steven Universe: Art & Origins artbook.
For those unaware, the controversy sparked off when a character concept sketch for an unused Gem character that didn't make it into the show was included. The character, named Concrete, was deemed to be racially insensitive for a number reasons.
Many felt that the character looked plainly inspired by minstrel aesthetic, or like the many offensive variations that came from this racist art-style (I live in Wales, UK, and grew up at a time when Robertson's used to use these characters to advertise jam, so it was everywhere). Others also noted the character description beside the art note, saying that the character 'Can't read :('.
As mentioned earlier, Sugar has come back to apologise for the artwork's inclusion within the artbook.
Regarding Steven Universe, Art & Origins: pic.twitter.com/NXRzFAnMXh
— Rebecca Sugar (@rebeccasugar) July 15, 2017
Many have called out Sugar, and in fact continue to do so, claiming that she is evidently racist.
Now, even the most cursory look at Steven Universe would show that she is not, nor is the show. It should be noted that this character of Concrete was not even designed by Sugar, nor did it make it through to inclusion in the show itself. It merely slipped past into an artbook that collects hundreds or more of minor sketches and notes, and could easily have gotten lost in the mix.
What's more, Sugar gives is a damn good apology, as well as another apology by Lamar Abrams, who is in fact an African-American storyboard artist on Steven Universe. Whilst she does offer some explanation, it is more an explanation for her failing here, and not trying to explain away the piece of art. As she points out, the artwork was certainly not created with racism in mind, but she openly admits that it does clearly call racist stereotypes to mind. And no matter what, she admits to failure, apologises profusely and promises to correct this oversight in the future.
Whereas other artists recently have not been so magnanimous in their apologies.
This is not to say that any upset caused by Concrete in the book is undue or even overblown. I think it is clear the kind of feelings that this art can ignite, especially given the history and wider context. But to see the creators admit their failure, give context for how it was created and included and emphatically and sympathetically apologise should not be discounted either.
Steven Universe: Art & Origins is on sale now, admittedly controversial sketch included.
About Joe Glass
Joe Glass has been contributing to Bleeding Cool for about four years. He's been a roaming reporter at shows like SDCC and NYCC, and also has a keen LGBTQ focus, with his occasional LGBTQ focus articles, Tales from the Four Color Closet. He is also now Bleeding Cool's Senior Mutant Correspondent thanks to his obsession with Marvel's merry mutants.
Joe is also a comics creator, writer of LGBTQ superhero team series, The Pride, the first issue of which was one of the Top 25 ComiXology Submit Titles of 2014. He is also a co-writer on Stiffs, a horror comedy series set in South Wales about call centre workers who hunt the undead by night. One happens to be a monkey. Just because.
Posted in Movies, TV | Tagged concrete, Rebecca Sugar, Steven Universe, steven universe: art & origins
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Q: Best way to import coordinates from .gpx file and display using Google Maps API I am a mountain biker and I track my rides on my Samsung S3 Galaxy using programs such as Endomondo and Strava.  Everything regarding my ride is saved on these 2 websites.
I have my own personal website where I display mountain routes in various areas where I stay. The route data recorded via GPS using Endomondo and Strava I have exported to a .gpx file.  I need this data in the .gpx file to display on my own personal website. So I started to look for a solution using the Google Maps API and importing the .gpx file without using an external tool.
I struggled to find an answer. I came across this post where the guy uses jQuery to extract the data in the XML file and to display this data on his Google map:
http://www.jacquet80.eu/blog/post/2011/02/Display-GPX-tracks-using-Google-Maps-API
This is how implemented it into my HTML markup:

It works. But is this the correct way to do it? Is there a better a way to implement this?

A: Update for 2020
Works with Google Map's latest API:
<!DOCTYPE html>

    <title>Add Map</title>

My Google Maps Demo

A: If you use PostgreSQL database, I'd suggest you to use PostGIS and import your records to the database. Then you can easily generate kml files (ST_asKml) and display them on Google Map. If your gpx is huge, you can use ST_Simplify on a database query so that the page is loaded faster and you still have full detailed route in your database.
You also have a lot of possibilities:

*

*search for rides in a specified area

*measure total distance in a month

*and much more

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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News » Bar news
Bar Guide Bangkok
World's 50 Best Bars editor Hamish Smith has been to Bangkok - here is his bar guide.
IT'S A GENERALISATION to say things move more quickly in Asia, but certainly there are few cities in the world that have grown an international-class bar scene as quickly as Bangkok.
Three years ago, there might have been only a handful of bars in Bangkok taking the art of cocktails and hospitality seriously. But a visit to Bangkok now is a serious endeavour. Don't think you can do the circuit in a weekend – there are about 20 bars that could reasonably expect to be included in a guide such as this, and by the time you are reading this, a few more will have opened. It is moving that quickly.
The mark of a bar culture's development is often the advent of bartender-owned bars. It shows that the market has confidence in and respect for drinks and their makers. In Bangkok bartenders are not just forging drinks but serious careers too.
This guide is not definitive, but it's a good mix of places, from old to new, that shows the strength and diversity of the scene. We'll start with one of the new breeds.
BAMBOO BAR AT MANDARIN ORIENTAL
Oriental Ave, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500
mandarinoriental.com
With bladed, ceiling-mounted fans gently whirring to the easy, jazz-filled atmosphere, this is the colonially-themed bar that lives up to expectation. It is steeped in history, tropically clad, and serves outstanding locally inspired drinks – Bamboo Bar is what Raffles of Singapore should be like, without the monkey-nut shells.
Bamboo Bar has been based in the Mandarin Oriental for 65 years but in 2014 was refurbished to glittering effect. The original rattan armchairs have been restored and tiger-print patterns top the bar stools, but dark marble and leather bring a contemporary edge, without meddling with the colonial outpost identity.
Behind the bar is Khun Ball, who has retained a couple of house classics from three-decade barkeep Sompong Boonsri, but has also introduced contemporary drinks that draw on the Thai flowers, fruits, herbs and spices. The Magic of Thai Herbs (Tanqueray gin, bianco vermouth and flowers from Thailand's Royal Project) is a good example of his elegant modern Thai bartending style.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Bartolomé Román (c. 1587-1647 ou 1659 ), né à Montoro dans la Province de Cordoue est un peintre baroque espagnol connu pour sa série d'archanges.

Biographie
Il s'installe rapidement à Madrid et étudie probablement avec le peintre italien exerçant en Espagne Vincenzo Carducci, bien que l'historien d'art espagnol Antonio Palomino ait découvert un contrat de 1614, pour le règlement d'une œuvre destinée au Pardo, dans lequel Bartolomé Román indiquerait ne pas avoir de lien avec le maître.
Cependant, la Parabole du mariage, dans la sacristie du couvent de l'Incarnation de Madrid, montre une relation évidente avec le style de  Vincenzo Carducci.

Il est sans doute, également influencé par le style de Diego Velasquez nouvellement arrivé à Madrid et dans l'atelier duquel il aurait brièvement travaillé.

La série des archanges a probablement été inspirée par des gravures flamandes de Pieter de Jode l'Ancien et Hieronymus Wierix mèlées à une influence vénitienne, culture et inspiration acquises au contact des collections royales, alors qu'il travaillait pour les fondations royales. Cette série d'archanges connut un grand succès, et plusieurs exemplaires furent envoyés en Amérique latine.

Il travaillera pour le Monastère bénédictin de Saint Martín à Madrid ainsi que pour le Monastère des Déchaussées royales, l'Archidiocèse de Tolède et le couvent des carmélites du Diocèse de Calahorra et La Calzada-Logroño.

Il appartenait, comme de nombreux peintres madrilènes, à la Confrérie des sept douleurs.

Juan Carreño de Miranda fut son élève.

Collections
 Pinacothèque de l'église San Pedro de Lima.
 Musée du Prado,
 Monastère de l'Incarnation,
 Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle.

Œuvres principales
Représentations des sept archanges:
 Michel (archange)
 Gabriel (archange)
 Raphaël (archange)
 Selaphiel (archange)
 Archange Jéhudiel
 Archange Barachiel
 Archange Uriel .

Références

Bibliographie
 Angulo Íñiguez, Diego, y Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E.: Pintura madrileña del segundo tercio del siglo XVII, 1983, Madrid: Instituto Diego Velázquez, CSIC,
 Palomino Antonio (1988): El museo pictórico y escala óptica III. El parnaso español pintoresco laureado. Madrid : Aguilar S.A. de Ediciones. .
 Pérez  Sánchez, Alfonso E. (1992): Pintura barroca en España 1600-1750. Madrid : Ediciones Cátedra. .

Liens externes

Naissance en 1587
Décès en 1647
Peintre espagnol du XVIe siècle
Peintre espagnol du XVIIe siècle
Peintre baroque

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


- All kids are fine, no any big problem and casualty and all children are safe in home with family. All families are in contact with LSA.
- Office room is damaged.
- Some kid's house is damaged but not confirms yet who are victim because most of the kids home is far from school. All children are out of telephone contact. We are daily updating with LSA.
- CLASS center office and school both damaged.
- All kids are safe.
- Most of the kids house is damaged they want for help tent, food, medicine etc.
- Our one supported kids, Anusha magar (066/07-17/SIN/CP-11) (SIN01026) her younger 3 yrs sister died.
- Our office also totally damaged.
- No contact with LSA in Banepa we are trying to contact.
- Not contact with LSA yet because of network problem.
- But according to Kamal sir (commander) there are all kids safe.
- Gorkha also midpoint of earthquake but that area is safe.
- Some kids and our office home are damaged.
- We are regular trying to phone LSA but no contact yet.
- Sindhupalchok also midpoint of earthquake so we think there is problem.
- If we connected with LSA or Any related person we update information.
- Dabal Pandey have said that all kids house is damaged.
- There are 150 kids support and they from different VDC and area so not confirm how many kids are in big problem. We are regular connecting with LSA. If they found any problem contact us. No family children teacher is in contact with CPCS.
- It may be children/ family was victim of earthquake we are trying to collect information.
- Not contact with LSA and Head master yet because of network problem.
- According to Chalnakhel LSA in Pharping area there is no more effect of earthquake we are trying to contact with LSA.
- School and office is safe. LSA and head master house is damaged.
- Most of the children are safe.
- LSA and Head master regular contact with us if they found any problem they inform to us.
- LSA home School and office almost damaged.
- Almost children are stayed rented house. Some kids are in contact with LSA and they inform safe.
- All children are contact with LSA they are safe.
- School and all kids are safe.
- But most of the family are out of valley may be there house damaged.
- LSA and kids home damaged.
- Most of the kids are local family so they need tent and food.
- LSA mobile is switch off so not contact.
- According to Bijesh sir, Holchok areas almost house is damaged.
- There need help because most of the kid's families are local (Putuwar family).


Going to fight a ticket and recieved diclosure. The radar unit was a Eagle II Kustom Signals unit. They sent me the calibration cetertificate for the same model but the serial numbers are different. But on the certificate it says "No Expiration Date" which I find weird. I know Laser has to be recertified. The owners manual says they recommend peroidic maintenance and check with judicial districs for requirements. I've searched the internet and cant really find any recommenations or laws. Does anyone know any requirements in Canada? They also will not release the tuning fork certification and there is no record of the radar being tested at the end of the shift.
Radar and Lidar only need to be calibrated when originally shipped to the police agency and after repairs are done. There is no requirement for annual calibration. Tuning forks (which are not required for most radar) are also not required to have calibration. In fact by using a tuning fork with a radar you are actually doing more of a test on the accuracy of the fork and not the radar itself. Radar/Lidar must be tested prior to any enforcement and after the end of enforcement. (generally start and end of shift) This may be something that you can clear up if you cross examine the officer on the stand.
Thanks for the reply. Some of the handheld lidar rerquires yearly by the maunufacture. I think thats how I got off on one last year The certification was out for a few months. I'll try it on it wasnt checked after the shift and also the officer was trained back in 1990. Radar has changed since then so I'll give that a try. I'll point out that they gave me the wrong radar cetification so hopefully that might help.
Radar requal in Ontario is every 36 months for an Operator. If 1990 is his original date, I'd question them about their most recent requal.
bad10r wrote: 1990. Radar has changed since then so I'll give that a try. .
Modern units will also not function when they detect harmonics or a level of RFI that is too high. Moving radar equipped with a VIP will also eliminate shadowing and batching by comparing the vehicle speed and the low doppker that is received.


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Q: Matlab :Model fitting and optimization error I have a defined values of input (time samples) output (concentration), I would like to fit a model in order to estimate the Parameter values of rate constants(here in this case rate constants were defined as K1 K2 K3)
I have used lsqcurvefit for optimization but i am incurring errors in my usage of lsqcurvefit solver
First the values of x variable(t) and y variable(c_tot)
c_tot =[0,0,0,396.979609003375,503.769614648079,285.408414510699,137.309948090421,...
        63.0089145454838,28.2076980338446,12.4169874862731,5.39698687726493,...
        2.32247111168307,0.971427824475975,0.396298705702665,0.154518313562792,...
        0.0563350826881436,0.0175309433420762,
         0.00589400762862266,0.00199918527022414];%Loading Sampled Mat file values for fitting the Estimates of K in it

t=[0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.5 2 3 4 9 13 18 23 28 33 38 43 48 53];%time samples

now the model which needs to be fitted
%-----------Model to be fitted-------------------------------------
k1_r=0.014;%reference tissue rate constant

a1=17501;a2=28500;a3=65000;%Values of a1 a2 a3 of Arterial input function

b1=0.9;b2=0.2;b3=0.5;%Values of b1 b2 b3 of Arterial Input Function

td=0.3% Indicates delay time

tmax=0.8% maximum peak time concentration

A = ((K(1)*K(2))/(k1_r*(K(2)+K(3))));
B = ((K(1)*K(3))/(k1_r*(K(2)+K(3))));

model=@(K,t)conv((a1 * exp(-b1 * (t - tmax))+...
               a2 * exp(-b2 * (t - tmax))) +...
               a3 * exp(-b3 * (t - tmax)),...
               (A*exp(-(K(2)+K(3))*t+B)),'same');

Now i have used initial estimates of the parameters(k1 k2 k3) which i would like to fit
and called the solver
%----------------Assignment------------------------------------------------
K=[0.1 0.08 0.4];%  Initial estimates of K1 K2 K3

%----------------Least-square curvefitting---------------------------------

K_est=lsqcurvefit(model,K,t,c_tot);

plot(K_est,'o');

xlabel('Time(mins)');
ylabel('Concentration(Bq/ml)');

Following is the error that i am incurring
    Undefined function 'tomlablic' for input arguments of type 'double'.

Error in tomlabVersion (line 45)
[x1,x2,x3,x4,x5,x6,tomV,OS]=tomlablic(1);

Error in GetSolver (line 72)
[TomV,os,TV] = tomlabVersion;

Error in lsqnonlin (line 415)
   Solver = GetSolver(checkType([],Prob.probType),...

Error in lsqcurvefit (line 298)
[x, f_k, r_k, ExitFlag, Output, Lambda, J_k, Result] =...

I am not experienced enough to know what I could do in order to perform model fitting.
Does any other solver will help me in this or is there any Global optimization tool box with which i can fit in initialized values
Any tips are welcome...

A: You are missing some TOMLAB files (looks very much like a missing license file).
Please make sure you have a complete installation of TOMLAB (which is sold by a company different from Mathworks) and try again.
As an alternative to TOMLAB, you can try Matlab's Global Optimization toolbox.


text:
romping regrets
Vicky Pattison cries as she reveals she 'hated herself' for having sex on Geordie Shore
The reality star burst into tears as she confessed she felt 'under pressure' to behave badly on the show
louise randell
Updated: 20:56, 27 Feb 2018
VICKY Pattison burst into tears as she revealed she "hated herself" for having sex on Geordie Shore.
The reality star burst into tears on I'm A Celeb Australia as she confessed she felt "under pressure" to behave badly on the show and now has huge regrets about romping on TV.
Vicky Pattison cried as she spoke about having sex on TVCredit: Ten
Vicky, who won the British I'm A Celeb back in 2015, is now appeared on the Australian version and she lost her cool in last night's show.
She was being quizzed about her past by one of her campmates, and she started crying when she spoke about her time on Geordie Shore.
On the show Vicky dated Jay Gardner and was engaged to Ricci Guarnaccio, and she admits she regrets getting drunk and romping on camera.
She said: "I hated myself on Geordie Shore. I hated the person that I ended up becoming and I have no one to blame but myself...
She was seen in bed with GS Lothario Gaz BeadleCredit: Instagram
She said she regrets romping on camera and felt 'under pressure' to behave a certain wayCredit: Ten
"And I don't try and put blame on anybody else...
"You are under an awful lot of pressure to act a certain way, to constantly out-do the outrageousness that's happening around you.
"Say you had five Jaeger bombs and kissed someone you shouldn't have on a Tuesday in Series 1, by Series 2 on Wednesday, you're going to be expected to have 10 Jaeger bombs, have sex with someone and have a huge argument and trash the house.
"It's an escalation."
Vicky, who quit the show in 2014, confesses her time on Geordie Shore wrecked her relationship with her mum Caroll.
Vicky's wild ways were all caught on cameraCredit: MTV
She has now turned her life around and made up with her mumCredit: PA
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The pair have finally made up, but Vicky is convinced Caroll will never forgive her for her bad behaviour.
She said: "My mum, she never really forgave us I don't think. She was very disappointed, quite rightly...
"In the last couple of years, me and my mum have managed to rectify the gulf that Geordie Shore created between our relationship.
"I've grown up, I've matured. I've essentially become someone that I don't mind looking at in the mirror. I quite like who I am growing into, and I think my mum does too."
Vicky now has a thriving TV career and a fiance, John Noble, who she had been due to wed this year, but pushed the wedding back to appear on I'm A Celeb.
Got a story? email digishowbiz@the-sun.co.uk or call us direct on 02077824220.
We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
Vicky Pattison


Summary: Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy, talks about adding a description to variables.
Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. There is a "water feature" outside that keeps running and running and running. It is a bit strange, and to be honest, it makes me think that it is raining all the time. In central Florida in the summer, it is generally a safe bet that it will rain, but even when the sun is outside, without a cloud in the sky, the giant frog keeps spitting water into a pond. I don't get it. It is not relaxing like a Zen pond, and it does not keep bugs at bay like a real frog would do. It just sits there.
Sometimes I run across things on my computer that are bit like that ceramic frog, and I just don't get it. I see a user account and wonder, "Why was that created?" Or I see a group that causes the same question.
On the network, it is even worse, because there are multiple admins, and often a bit of turnover, so no one knows why something was created. Unfortunately, the old technique of "delete it and see who complains" does not work for today's fast-paced environments. I mean, who in their right mind wants to create additional work for themselves.
And unfortunately, "see who complains" might not complain for several months—in which time you forget what you deleted in the first place. So it means hours of troubleshooting (because if I really knew the app in the first place, I would know what the "thing" I was getting ready to delete would do).
Luckily, with Windows PowerShell, I can fix some of that.
In my profile last week, I added two variables that I want to always be available to me. These are global variables (meaning I can use them in functions, modules, and the like), and I really don't want them changed. In fact, the reason I created them was so that I would have a consistent environment.
But unfortunately, when I created them, I did not ensure any of that. To make matters worse, I did not even document why I was creating the variables in the first place.
PS C:\> Set-Variable a -Description "my variable"
Note When using Get-Variable or Set-Variable, I do not use the dollar sign ( $ ) in my variable name.
That is all there is to using a variable description. Join me tomorrow when I will talk more about Windows PowerShell profiles.


Alessandro Bertoni hails from Treviso, Italy. He took up classical piano at the Conservatory of Castelfranco at an early age, received his diploma there, and moved onto jazz studies in Milan and Padua. He then moved to the high energy environment of Los Angeles, where he now lives and works as a performer, session keyboardist, and music educator. His musical style is defined by intense instrumental technicality and heavy arrangements blended with improvisational jazz fusion elements. After completing his studies at Musician's Institute, his first major project was Aphelion, with whom he released "Franticode" in 2008, an album produced by the keyboard guru Derek Sherinian.
In 2013 he released his debut solo album "Keystone,"published by German label Generation Prog Records. "Keystone" includes performances by such luminaries as guitarist Brett Garsed, bassist Ric Fierabracci, and legendary drummer Virgil Donati, and Alessandro's forthcoming recordings will feature drummer Thomas Lang and bassist Stu Hamm. Alessandro has recorded and produced keyboards for more than 20 albums by artists all around the world. He is an endorsing artist for Nord and Studiologic, and frequently performs live with various prog rock, metal, and pop rock bands in the industry as a hired musician. He considers himself a guitar-oriented keyboardist, and cites his main influences as Jon Lord, Keith Emerson, Derek Sherinian, Jan Hammer, John Medeski, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, Allan Holdsworth, and old school progressive rock.


text:
Q: Converting MERGE into T-SQL commands I have got a T-SQL MERGE command that works fine on my SQL Server 2008. Unfortunately, the code has to work on a SQL Server 2005 database, too.
What would I have to change, to make the following code runnable in SQL Server 2005?
Thank you for your help.
DECLARE @CNVAL varchar(100) = 'xyz' DECLARE @ATRBT varchar(100) = 'abcde' DECLARE @CON varchar(100) = 'fgh'
MERGE into CNEXTR as target
USING (VALUES( @CON, @ATRBT, @CNVAL))
     AS source([Name], ATTR, CNVAL)
     ON (target.[Name] = source.[Name])
     AND (target.ATTR = source.ATTR)
WHEN MATCHED THEN
     UPDATE SET
         CNVAL = source.CNVAL
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN
     INSERT([Name], ATTR, CNVAL)
     VALUES(source.[Name], source.ATTR, source.CNVAL);

A: Change this to
BEGIN TRAN

   UPDATE CNEXTR
   SET CNVAL = @CNVAL
   WHERE [Name] = @CON AND ATTR = @ATRBT;

   IF @@ROWCOUNT = 0
       INSERT CNEXTR ([Name], ATTR, CNVAL)
       VALUES(@CON, @ATRBT, @CNVAL);

COMMIT TRAN

Each statement will be far simpler than the MERGE


Are you interested in the The Beast with birds (Beauty And The Beast) Funko Pop figure ?
The Beast is one of the main characters in The Beauty and the Beast, one of the most popular Disney classic cartoons. This story has many versions but this cartoon is more particularly adapted from the 18th century version of Jeanne-Marie Le Prince De Beaumont. It tells the story of a young, handsome and arrogant prince who finds himself transformed into a horrible beast by a woman after he refused to open the door of his house during a storm. This curse will be lifted only on the day when he will succeed in making himself loved in this form. Years later, the staff of the castle, also under the curse and transformed into various objects, opens the door to a man during a storm. The Beast is furious and makes him prisoner. Then comes his daughter who proposes to take the place of his father and become servant. But Belle is a sweet, intelligent and compassionate young woman and she will eventually become attached to the Beast. From there, the inhabitants of the castle will do everything possible to bring them closer, seeing there a chance to break the curse.
The Beast is represented here when he leaves the castle in winter accompanied by Belle. They observe small birds on the ice that finally land on his arm and horns. So we can easily recognize his outfit made of black trousers, a white tunic and a light blue belt, worn with a large dark blue cape, his favorite color. You can also see his hooked feet and his tail. About his head, one can easily recognize his very specific face which is a mix of several animals: his wild boar fangs, his hairy face and goat horns, all beautifully reproduced. As in this famous scene, the Beast holds in his hands a small bright blue bird and another yellow one is placed on his head. This shows that even these fragile creatures are not afraid of him and don't care about his terrifying appearance like so many others.


The "Ladies" of this album's title are an impressive batch of female guest singers serving as the voice of the Infamous Stringdusters for the space of a song, lending a softer edge to the group's already smooth take on modern string band music. They come from not just bluegrass circles but rock, soul, folk and country, sending each track in a different direction that's still anchored by the instrumental dexterity of the Stringdusters. The band itself takes a back seat throughout to the singers and the songs - content to throw in a run here, a solo there and let the voices of the titular ladies shine.
Some pairings are more successful or interesting than others, a danger of such a laundry list of guest stars on a project such as this. Aiofe O'Donovan smokes "Run to Heaven," a fast-paced bluegrass tune, but Mary Chapin Carpenter's clear tone renders the bluesy "Coming Back To You" in antiseptic fashion. Joan Osborne and Joss Stone fare better with the blues on "Listen" and "Have a Little Faith," respectively, reining in their more bombastic tendencies to fit the occasion.
Sarah Jarosz is stunning on "Won't Be Long," aided by Stringdusters-supplied harmonies and an insistently strummed tempo, and her star turn is echoed in the closing track, a jaunty "Rock and Roll" featuring Abigail Washburn that's the closest thing to a traditional string band number.
The Infamous Stringdusters are perfectly capable of singing their own songs, of course, which is what makes this wide-ranging collection of cameo performances such a fun diversion, though one wonders how practical it will be come tour time. A show featuring all or even some of these singers would be a wonderful evening of music, however, for both ladies and gentlemen alike.


Archaeological exhibitions at Berlin's Pergamon Museum have had an unprecedentedly successful year. "Tell Halaf" attracted 750,000 visitors, "Pergamon" sold 250,000 tickets in just two months and "Roads of Arabia" opened on January 26th. The more confusing the political conflict situation in the countries of the exhibits' provenance, the more national borders blur in the globalised world and the more uncertain the future future feels, the more visitors look to the past for orientation, revelling in the treasures of fallen cultures.
"Roads of Arabia" - the exhibition that opened in late January in the Museum for Islamic Art in the Pergamon in the presence of His Royal Highness Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities - is proof that this cannot work. It will be a magnificent show, a true visitor magnet: the objects from the Kaaba and the history of Mecca and Medina have never been shown in Germany before. The roads indicated by title refer to the millennia-old trade and pilgrimage routes that brought traders and pilgrims to the Orient during antiquity and the early Islamic period. This spectacular show has already toured the Louvre in Paris, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and Barcelona. According to Arab News over a million people have already visited the exhibition. Ali bin Ibrahim al Shaban, vice president of the Antiquities Commission, estimates that another half million will see it in Berlin.
So a flying carpet is lying in wait in Berlin, and yet it cannot really transport us into the worlds of dreams. A glamourous past and a brutal present, art and politics are not so easily separated. Prince Sultan is the unofficial No. 4 in the hierarchy, topped by the 87-year-old King Abdullah - in a country under Sharia law where women's rights are violated, political opposition suppressed and there is no freedom of press or expression. When Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowerweit travelled to Saudia Arabia a year ago with a business delegation, he was sharply criticised at home. Not long afterwards, as if to validate the warnings, Saudi Arabia dispatched 1,000 troops to Bahrain to nip the uprising there in the bud. And the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recently announced that the number of people condemned to death in the country had risen sharply in 2011, to 79.
It begs the question of whether it is acceptable to enter into cultural co-operations and hold joint exhibitions with such a country - with dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and rogues states. Stefan Weber, director of the Museum for Islamic Art and host of the "Roads of Arabia" exhibition answers yes. When he was leaned on by the Saudi embassy in an attempt to use the Berlin exhibition as an image campaign, he warded off potential propaganda by consistently emphasizing that the exhibition was about art and science. But one look through the catalogue reveals texts that present the royal house in a distinctly official light. The exhibition itself is an attempt at compromise: it traces the history of the country up to the 1930s, when the new Kingdom of Saudia Arabia was founded.
Stefan Weber defends his project. "If we push everything onto a political level, we've lost before we've even started," he says. He and Michael Eissenhauer, general director of Berlin's State Museums, were part of Wowereit's delegation. At the time Weber not only signed the loan contract with the authorities, he also courted sponsors in Saudi Arabia. The city of Berlin shelled out 820,000 euro for this costly enterprise with help from the lotto funds, but German business refused to get involved. It took Weber a long time to find sponsors, and the exhibition opened much later than planned.
One of his motivations for presenting the Arab treasures is to show support for the fledgling Antiquities Commission, which has been supervising the systematic excavation, safeguarding and documentation of archaeological sites, in particular from the pre-Islamic age. Religious hardliners in the government would rather see these destroyed. As president of the commission, Prince Sultan belongs on the liberal vanguard and holds his hand protectively over the project. The commission's aim is the inclusion of key sites on the Unesco Heritage List – and to open them to tourists.
International archaeological campaigns, scholarly exchange, joint exhibition projects, these are the elements of an intercultural dialogue that ultimately aims to liberalise the country. This at least what the partners in the West hope. As President Hermann Parzinger proudly explains in the foreword to the catalogue, this exhibition is a valuable contribution by the Foundation for Prussian Culture to German cultural foreign policy.
Within the context of the 2011 "Art of Enlightenment" exhibition in Beijing, this policy backfired badly. Culture as "soft power" was given a thorough dressing-down: Ai Weiwei, China's most prominent artist and regime critic described the exhibition on Tiananmen Square as "a form of currying favour". Two days after the opening he was abducted and detained for 3 months, and no information was given as to his whereabouts or the reason for his arrest. A storm of indignation erupted. Nobel Prize laureate Herta Müller berated the curators of exhibition for making Kant an accessory of bad state theatre. Solidarity campaigns for Ai Weiwei went hand in hand with demands for the closure of Germany's most expensive exhibition abroad ever, the 10 billion euro bill having been footed by the Foreign Ministry and German business.
The three museum directors from Berlin, Munich and Dresden did what they could to keep damage to a minimum. Klaus Schrenk, director general of the Bavarian State Painting Collection declared truculently that culture had to brave these acid tests: "We have to face them." Michael Eissenhauer admitted that at the start of the planning phase the mood in China had been liberal – but with the Arab rebellions the Chinese regime started to get nervous about protests spreading their way. Only Martin Roth of the State Art Collection in Dresden attacked "these intellectually one-dimensional blinkers when it comes to looking at China and ourselves." Today he is the head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and is helping out his colleague Neil MacGregor at the British Museum, who opened an exhibition in Tehran together with Ahmadinejad.
Where do you draw the line? How much collaboration is acceptable within a cooperation? When does "change through rapprochement" become jumping through hoops? The exhibition in Bejing will run until the end of March but at 230,000 to date, visitor numbers are far lower than expected. And the Year of Chinese Culture will be launched in Berlin at the end of January with plenty of song and dancing. In a joint letter the three beleaguered museum directors explained that dialogue should not be left to business and politics alone. But if culture is leading the discussion, whether it be with China or Saudi Arabia, the question of freedom weighs all the heavier.
This article was originally published in Tagesspiegel on 23 January 2012.


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The Hotel, Restaurant, Bar-Tenders, and Gambling Casino workers, in some places, have a so-called Union. For many years there have been stories how that union was controlled by the Mafia. The union boss has been Edward T. Hanley. And the union was always tight with Jim Thompson, going back to the time he was Illinois Governor, as well as tight with Paul Simon as U.S. Senator from Illinois and Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware.
And highly corrupt Dan Rostenkowski, when he was a Congressman from Chicago, naturally, praised this union. Members of the union were reportedly cheated out of proper wages and pensions, and by the union bosses padding their own payroll with their cronies. Before he was elected as a Congressman from Chicago, Jesse Jackson, Jr. reportedly was a heavily paid so-called organizer for this gangster union. He was asked if he knew Hanley. Jesse Jr. said he did not know.
Maybe Jr. also did not know that his father, Jesse Jackson, Sr., for many years owned a garbage truck business, Crosstown Scavengers, which unloaded their stuff in a mafia-owned dump on the far south side of Chicago.
Substantial amounts of union funds were reportedly plundered by gangster businesses in Nevada, Georgia, and Illinois, as so- called "loans".
One of the slickest tricks of all is to take over a mafia union while pretending it is a reform movement -- and to continue business as usual. For example, Jim Thompson and his gang of corrupt federal judges and other public swindlers took over the Teamsters Pension Fund in Chicago (including Federal appeals Judge Ilana Rovner, former U.S. District Attorneys in Chicago Dan K. Webb and Anton R. Valukas). For that purpose, Big Jim and his mob reportedly arranged to assassinate Pension Fund wizard Alan Dorfman. It was whitewashed by Nicholas J. Bua when he was Chicago Federal District Judge. (Bua went on to cover up the infamous Inslaw Affair. He is reportedly the head of the Grand Mother Lodge of Propaganda Due [DOO-ay] for North America; P-2, the infamous free-mason society, Italy, France, England, and U.S., dedicated to overthrowing representative governments by the "politics of tension", such as bombing the train station in Bologna, Italy, killing 86, and blaming it on the current dissidents.)
And so now, look who took over the dirty game of the Hotel Workers Union. Why, a three-person, so-called Review Board. The members are ex-governor Jim Thompson, Kurt Muellenberg, a former head of the Justice Department's organized crime and racketeering division, and Roman Catholic Archbishop James Kelleher of Kansas City. (Chicago Tribune, August 29, 1995.) [CN -- Previous Conspiracy Nation, Vol. 7 Num. 28]
Hey, did any of these big-time crime busters ever investigate the Vatican Bank Chief, Bishop Paul Marcinkus of Cicero, washing dirty money through the partly-Vatican-owned Continental Bank of Chicago and Marcinkus-dominated First National Bank of Cicero? And the Chicago suburb of Cicero has long been a mafia enclave. Marcinkus' crony has become State Treasurer of Illinois, Judy Baar Topinka. (She praised Marcinkus on a public access Cable TV Show.)
A similar trick was done some years ago when the former head of the Organized Crime Division took over the gangster gambling casino in the Bahamas on Paradise Island. Mafioso were knocked off and their game taken over and continued.
We gave you related details on our recorded phone commentary and on our public access Cable TV Show, "Broadsides": How Jim Thompson heads up the massive smuggling of dope into the Chicago area. Called "China White", high purity heroin, it is brought in through small airports in Chicago suburbs, Lansing, Joliet, and Prospect Heights. [CN -- See "CIA and the Dope Business" archived via (a) telnet prairienet.org (b) logon as "visitor" (c) enter "go citcom" at the prompt.] The huge dope loot is washed on the night shift reportedly through gambling casinos in Joliet. One of the directors of a gambling casino there is reportedly fronting the dope money laundry for Chicago Mayor Richie Daley as well as the Mercantile Bank of Hammond, Indiana. The highly corrupt DEA is silent about all this.
Jim Thompson has been chairman of the huge law factory, Winston & Strawn, a secret section of which reportedly are dope traffickers worldwide. (Some of the firm's personnel have admitted the same to us, following our Cable TV expose', 11/94.) And Jim Thompson and his federal court gang of judges are tight with the mass media. For example, Big Jim has been a director of the Chicago Sun-Times. The media bosses have their own reputed mafia unions. Channel 7, WLS-TV in Chicago, has a long history of reported links to gangsters, going back to the reputed criminal enterprises, the Balaban & Katz Theater Chain.
A few highlights of the group's work: Biggest judicial bribery scandal in U.S. history, collapse of the Illinois Supreme Court, 1969. The jailing for bribery of 7th Circuit Federal Appeals Judge Kerner, 1973, highest ranking sitting federal judge sent to jail in U.S. history. Downfall of Vice President Spiro Agnew, bribery charges, 1973. 1983-1993, "Operation Greylord", touched off by the group; 20 local judges and 40 lawyers sent to jail for bribery.


Dutee Chand anchored a new-look 4x100m women's relay team to qualify for the Asian Athletics Championships to be held in Doha from April 21 with a time of 44.12 seconds at the confirmatory trial at the Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports here today. Hina, Archana Suseendran and Ranga K ran the first three legs.
The seasoned MR Poovamma led the women finishers in 24.05 seconds ahead of Hima Das (24.21) and Shubha (24.83) while Arokia Raj broke the beam in the men's race in 20.72 seconds ahead of Muhammed Anas Yahiya (21.09) and Jabir (21.76).
400m hurdles (57.70): Arpita M 58.05 Saritaben Gayekwad 58.43.


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New Feminist Cause: Words in the DICTIONARY are Triggering...
While women in Europe are being sexually assaulted in record numbers by Muslim men (and the women have been blamed for it by the Imams) and unborn baby girls and boys are being killed and their parts shipped for "research," you may have missed the latest outrage of the day for feminists. Nope, it's not the Olympics letting men compete as women. Dig deeper. No, it's not letting transwomen (men) using women's bathrooms and being super creepy. Try again. Oh I get it, it's a busy world full of sexism and grievances against women, so there's much to sort through. What took feminist priority this week?
Words. In the dictionary. I poop swastica you not.
You may have noticed this Twitter exchange between some "anthropologist" and the Oxford English dictionary.
If only there were a word to describe how strongly you felt about feminism… https://t.co/mAsmjUBoOs
— Oxford Languages (@Oxford Languages)1453478652.0
Btw, 'rabid' isn't always negative, and our example sentences come from real-world use and aren't definitions: https://t.co/npaVgBahOM
Some individuals choose fights with real, actual people. But this guy picked a fight with a Twitter account. Of a dictionary. Behold, modern feminism.
"Rabid feminist" is not the only example provided by the Oxford English Dictionary that didn't sit well with Oman-Reagan. He also pointed to words such as shrill ("the rising shrill of women's voices"), psyche ("I will never really fathom the female psyche"), and housework ("She still does all the housework") as examples of sexism embedded within the language.
"Having studied sociocultural linguistics, I know that dictionaries are not only describing language, they also prescribe and shape the way language and meaning is produced and standardized, whether that is the intention of a publisher or not," Oman-Reagan wrote, noting that Oxford is the default dictionary used by Apple's Mac OS X operating system.
Though of course, being leftists who trumpeted the full faux horns as far as the ear can hear it, Oxford agreed to "review the example." No word yet if they're going to look into examples of words being applied unfairly towards men. So I decided to open up my dictionary on my Mac to see what I could find...
How is this not a stereotype? Oxford has applied "brute" to a male pronoun! I am OUTRAGED.
WHAT? Here again, INSANE is applied to male pronouns, except of course when applied to being foolish, and then it's applied to a woman.
MONSTERS ARE MEN!!! OMG.
See, I can do the faux outrage thing too. All it requires is a Caps Lock key and some well placed exclamation points. Well, that and a dash of idiocy. Pretty sure if I were to look that one up, it would read "See rabid Feminists."
I can also pick and chose words to see how the dictionary has applied them to genders. As you can see above, if Oxford or any dictionary is being sexist, at least it's being an equal opportunity offender. I can dig it.
A note on "shrill" before we go. Feminists are shrill. I like to call them "harpies" for this reason. Hillary Clinton is a shrill feminist harpy. Now, a male feminist wouldn't be shrill. We might call him a wimp or without testicles or a eunuch but we wouldn't call him shrill. Because words mean things.
Speaking of words meaning things and people protesting them, I'd also like to note that neither the feminists, nor any leftist outfit, objected to the hijacking of the word "marriage" to mean one man or one woman, or even the word "gay" which used to mean "happy."
Meanwhile in Germany, Muslim men are trying to rape more women. But please feminists, let's protest words.
What word do you want to see reinstated to its original definition? Or what word triggers you because it's, like, super sexist? Tweet me at @Courtneyscoffs.


← CUSTOMER APPRECIATION TASTING WITH RIGLOS WINERY TOMORROW!
I have a unique experience available for you all in two weeks. This tasting will be a first of its kind in Houston as we have never hosted a 'light bulb' SPIRITS tasting with Riedel glassware. I am expecting you all to have a new found appreciation for the glass you pour your favorite Scotch, Tequila, or Cognac into. We will be hosting TWO seminars. One in The Woodlands at the Oak Ridge location and the other at the downtown Smith Street Flagship store. The $30 per person gets you a set of 3 glasses (Single Malt Scotch, Tequila, and Cognac glass) and the experience of Riedel Expert Doug Reid. See you there!


We were surprised at how well recorded the album is, dramatically better than the Allmans' album from the same year, Brothers and Sisters. Full-bodied and Tubey Magical, with especially smooth, present vocals, this is the sound we love at Better Records.
Posted in *All About Hot Stampers and Better Records, Genre - Rock - Southern Rock, Labels We Love - Capricorn, Top Artists - The Allman Brothers on January 27, 2019 by humorem.
Posted in *Our Record Overview - The Good, Genre - Rock - Southern Rock, Labels We Love - Fantasy and tagged audiophile vinyl, Better Records, Hot Stampers, tom port on August 1, 2018 by humorem.
This copy is bigger, livelier, harder rockin', more spacious and more relaxed than most all of the other pressings we have played over the years.
Clean copies with great sound are incredibly hard to find from CCR (but worth the search), and it took us a good-sized stack to find a few with bottom end weight, midrange presence, real energy, and freedom from grain. This pressing will show you just how good this album can sound.
Here are some of the things we specifically listen for in a vintage Creedence Swamp Rock record.
Posted in *Our Record Overview - The Good, Five Star Albums, Genre - Rock - Southern Rock, Labels We Love - Fantasy, Top Artists - Creeedence Clearwater Revival and tagged audiophile vinyl, Better Records, Hot Stampers, tom port on July 28, 2018 by humorem.
Another Half-Speed Mastered Audiophile Pressing Debunked.
I'd always preferred the famously rare Half-Speed to the domestic copies I had auditioned back in the day, until now of course.
Now, with changes to the stereo and better cleaning techniques and all the rest, that half-speed's weaknesses are on display for all to hear. Where is the rock 'em, sock 'em bottom end that the best originals have? It's gone!
Yes, the smeary veiled quality of the typical original pressing is gone too, which is why I used to like the DD Labs version better. It's simply another case of a good Half-Speed beating a bad domestic pressing, and in turn being beaten (soundly) by The Real Thing, the kind of record we like to call a Hot Stamper.
Posted in *Our Record Overview - The Really Not Good At All, Genre - Rock - Southern Rock, Half-Speed Masters, Labels with Shortcomings - Direct Disk Labs, We Was Wrong and tagged audiophile vinyl, Better Records, hot stamper vinyl, Hot Stampers, hot stampers vinyl, tom port on May 8, 2018 by humorem.
Posted in *Our Record Overview - The Good, A List of Great Sounding Live Albums, Five Star Albums, Genre - Rock - Southern Rock, Labels We Love - Capricorn, Top Artists - The Allman Brothers, Top Producers - Tom Dowd and tagged 1979, audiophile vinyl, Better Records, Hot Stampers, tom port on April 24, 2018 by humorem.
What do high grades give you for this album? Unbelievably Tubey Magical guitars, huge whomp factor on the bottom end, incredible dynamics and life, shocking transparency and clarity, and the kind of immediacy that puts these crazy southern rockers right in your very own living room. The overall sound is impressively BIG, BOLD, and POWERFUL!
This and Live At Fillmore East are the two monumental albums these guys ever put out, and they have a lot in common. You know what you're gonna get with the Allmans: dueling electric guitars, sweet acoustic guitars, energetic drumming, and full-bodied vocals throughout. There's obviously a lot of exploration — two complete sides are dedicated to the song Mountain Jam — but the heartfelt radio-friendly songs such as Melissa and Little Martha keep up the energy and provide maximum enjoyment factor.
Posted in *Our Record Overview - The Good, Five Star Albums, Genre - Rock - Southern Rock, Labels We Love - Capricorn, Top Artists - The Allman Brothers, Top Producers - Tom Dowd and tagged audiophile vinyl, Better Records, hot stamper vinyl, Hot Stampers, hot stampers vinyl, tom port on June 5, 2017 by humorem.
If you want to hear what happens when five virtuoso instrumentalists manage to combine their talent for Jazz, Rock, Classical and Country (thanks god there aren't any vocals) into a potent mix that defies classification and breaks all the rules, this is the one. It reminds me of Ellington's famous line that there are only two kinds of music: good music and bad music. This is the kind of music you may have trouble describing, but one thing's for sure — it's good. In fact it's really good.
This is the most AMAZING album the Dregs ever recorded, and now this wild amalgamation of rock, jazz, country, prog and classical music has the kind of sound I always dreamed it could have. It's rich and smooth like good ANALOG should be. It's also got plenty of energy and rock and roll drive, which is precisely where the famous half-speed falls apart.
Posted in *Our Record Overview - The Good, A List of Personal Favorites, Advice - What to Listen For in General, Genre - Rock - Southern Rock, Masterpieces of Rock and Jazz and tagged audiophile vinyl, Better Records, hot stamper vinyl, Hot Stampers, hot stampers vinyl, tom port on May 17, 2017 by humorem.


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Category: Irish Character Profiles
Home / Irish Character Profiles /
Aife
Aife was the mother of Connla, Cú Chulainn's only son. She was a deadly warrior queen and the archenemy of Scathach, who trained Cú Chulainn in the arts of war.
Stories of Aife:
Afraid that her star pupil would be hurt, Scathach gave Cú Chulainn a sleeping potion before going into battle against Aife. On any other man, that potion would have lasted twenty-four hours, but on Cú Chulainn it only lasted one, so he went into battle against Aife's army without her knowing.
Aife's three champions, Ciri, Biri and Blaicne, the sons of Eis Enchenn the bird-headed, challenged Scathach's two sons to a fight. Scathach was worried about the outcome as they were two against three, but Cú Chulainn joined the fight, and Aife's three soldiers were killed.
Aife then challenged Scathach to single combat, a type of battle that meant that either both women could fight one-on-one, or they could nominate a champion. Cú Chulainn insisted on fighting as Scathach's champion, but before the fight, he asked Scathach what Aife held most dear in the world. Scathach told him: her two horses, her chariots and her charioteer. Cú Chulainn met and fought with Aife, and she was deadly in battle leaving him only the stump of his swords.
"Oh look," Cú Chulainn cried when he was sorely pressed, "Aife's charioteer, her two horses and her chariot are falling over the cliff!"
Aife looked around, distracted, and Cú Chulainn took his chance, seizing her and holding her down by her two breasts. Now in a position of power, Cú Chulainn bargained with Aife for hostages for Scathach's army, a promise never to attack her again, and for her to bear him a son. These she granted him, and Cú Chulainn left Aife with a child and with a gold thumb-ring which he was to wear when he was old enough to come to his father. He named their son Connla before he left her.
Aife was the equal in prowess to Cú Chulainn, one of the greatest warriors of Irish myth. Where he won most victories against famous warriors with ease, Cú Chulainn had to resort to trickery to get the better of Aife, which shows just how formidable she was.
Gobán Saor
The Gobán Saor was a famous craftsman of Irish legend, being a rather more homely version of the smith god Giobhnú. He was as famous for his quick witted responses as he was for his great skill. He had no airs or graces about himself, always creating objects of beauty and craftsmanship, no matter how little the person was able to pay him for the work, but he hated any sign of meanness. Many of the stories of the Gobán are about outwitting people who try to cheat him out of a fair payment. As a craftsman he had such skill, finesse, deftness and accuracy that he could hammer a nail into a high beam by tossing both nail and hammer into the air. He could fashion a throwing spear while you counted to five, and shape a spearhead with three strokes of a hammer.
Stories of the Gobán:
While building a monastery for a group of monks the monks demanded that he lower his price. To force him to agree they removed the ladder from the tower he was working on, trapping him. The Gobán started to remove stones from the structure and toss them on the ground, jovially saying that it was as good a way to reach the ground as any. The monks swiftly returned the ladder, and paid him in full.
The Gobán and his son built a fort of a foreign king that was of such exquisite quality that the king grew jealous. He decided to kill them so that his fort would go unrivalled. One look at the king, and the Gobán sussed out his intention. He told the king that he could not complete the work without his "crooked and more crooked", a tool he had left at home. Unwilling to let them go, the King sent his son to fetch it, not realising that the name of this implement was actually a coded message for Gobán's wife. She held the king's son, and ransomed him for her own husband and son.
On their way home they came across a group of carpenters who were desperately trying to figure out how to build a bridge without pegs, dowels or nails, as had been demanded by their king. "Sure let's see if we can figure out a way to help" the Gobán said to them, and proceeded to build a sturdy bridge, cleverly using its own weight as a means of holding it together, so it became stronger the more weight was put on it. The carpenters were impressed, but grumbled a bit that he was more able than they at their own trade.
They stopped at a house where there lived two sisters. The Gobán advised them to keep the head of an old lady by the hob, to warm themselves with their work in the morning, and to take a sheepskin to the market and come home with the skin and its worth. One of them dug up a skull, then burnt her carded wool to keep herself warm, then made a fool of herself by asking for the price of the sheepskin without handing it over. The other sister fetched in an old, destitute lady to sit by her fire, wormed herself by her industriousness, and sold the wool from the sheepskin, while keeping the skin. The Gobán, impressed by her wit, asked her to marry his son.
Helpful, jovial and always generous. The trait the Gobán finds hardest to forgive is meanness, and the trait he likes best is to see the same quickness of wit he has himself. This smartness gives him an air of brightness and an irrepressible twinkle in his eye.
Etain (Eadaoin) was a maiden of the Tuatha de Dannan, renowned for her beauty, who fell in love with Midir of the seven-pointed spear. Unfortunately for her, Midir's wife took exception to this, and Etain had to endure terrible hardship.
Stories of Etain:
Etain met Midir while he was staying with his foster-son, Aengus Óg, the god of love. Midir was wounded, losing an eye while under Aengus' protection, and this was such a blow to his status that even after his eye was restored, he demanded that Aengus make it up to him. Now, being the god of love, Aengus made it up to Midir by introducing him to the beautiful Etain. The two began a passionate love affair, and all was well with them until the time came for Midir to return home. Midir was already married, to Fuamnach, a powerful woman and his equal in every way. She had raised children and foster-children with him, and was deeply insulted when he brought this strange woman home with him. She took her anger out on Etain, turning her into a shower of rain, which fell in a puddle and condensed into a jewelled fly. However, to Fuamnach's surprise, the fly Etain did not leave Midir, and his love for her did not diminish. The sound of her wings was sweet music to him, and the fly perched on his shoulder wherever he went.
Fuamnach then sent a storm to blow Etain away. Aengus managed to rescue her for a short time, but the storm found her again, and Etain was blown and battered about for time out of mind. At last, she was blown in through the window of a mortal king's hall and fell into the goblet of the king's wife, who swallowed the fly Etain, and became pregnant at that instant. Born again as a mortal woman, Etain grew up with no memory of her past life, though her appearance was the same. When the High King of Ireland, Eochaid Airem, asked for her hand in marriage, she agreed, and was a loyal and good wife to him. At last, Midir found her. He had been searching for her for thousands of years, and begged her to run away with him, but Etain refused to break faith with her mortal husband, demanding that Midir get Eochaid's permission before she so much as kissed him. Midir managed to trick King Eochaid into giving him permission to kiss and embrace his wife, but Eochaid spent a whole month training and equipping his army to prevent Midir from claiming this prize. This was no obstacle to a man of the Tuatha de Dannan, and Midir simply appeared in the king's hall next to Etain on the appointed day. When he kissed her, Etain's memories of him returned, and the two of them vanished from the king's hall to live their immortal life together.
Etain was faced with terrible hardship, but held onto her essential self, and her love for Midir, through her transformation into a fly. Her integrity and strong sense of values come through in the story when she refuses the beguilement of her faery lover, and insists on keeping faith with her husband. But love wins out, and she follows her heart in the end.
Conán Mac Morna
Conán is the brother of Goll Mac Morna, Fionn's great rival in the Fianna. He was fondly nicknamed Conán Maol, for his bald head. He was also known as Mallachtán, which means insulter, as he often voiced how great he was, how deserving of respect and adulation, and how nobody else fared well by comparison.
It is clear that throughout the years the Baoiscne Clan is painted in a better light than the Morna Clan, with members of the Morna clan often depicted as having some major character flaws. Conán is no different. He displays a great lack of tact and delicacy, often acting as a bit of a troublemaker within the Fianna, cutting quite a comical buffoonish figure at times with his blustering ways. He is fat, greedy, and ostensibly favours the members of the Morna clan. He is, however, very loyal to Fionn, and will never run from a fight. In fact, within the Fianna he is most valued for his quarrelsome nature. They appreciated that he was always first into the fray of any fight. He never held back in defence of any of his brother, though they may be from the Baoiscne clan.
At one point, Fionn suggested that he should take the blackthorn as his totem plant, as the uncompromising, stubborn and prickly nature of the plant resembled his nature, but that occasionally it could blossom with masses of pure white flowers, brightening the entire plant. There was a great feeling of tolerance towards his behaviour among the Fianna, as they all understood that it was just his way, and that he meant nothing by it.
Stories of Conán:
On one occasion, when out hunting, the Fianna sought shelter in a cave. They slept well, but each man woke to find that they had been put under a spell, and that they were stuck to the ground. Caílte, who had spent the night running with animals, came to the cave and found them in this state. He released them by pouring magical water between their skin and the ground. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived at Conán, the water had run out. Fionn and Goll caught Conán by his wrists and heaved him off the ground with all their strength. As he was released from the ground Conán let out a big roar, as all of the skin on his back was torn off him. The Fianna laid him down, killed a sheep, skinned it, and pressed the raw hide to Conán's back. This succeeded in replacing his lost skin. The Fianna sheared his back regularly, and the black glossy curls of his back were used to make a new jacket and trousers for his each year. Having to suffer this indignity is one explanation for his ready temper, and for his need to bolster up his position within the Fianna.
Conán is a bit of a diamond in the rough. He is lucky that he is well understood by the members of the Fianna. His brothers know to take his roughness in good nature, as they know that beneath that bluster and the insults lies a true-hearted member of their tribe. He will always end up with his foot in his mouth, however, and when his protests at his own greatness go too far, he is often brought down to earth by one of the others. He can be misunderstood by people who don't know him that well.
Bran son of Febal was the High King of Ireland who ne day was visited by the Queen of the Island of Women, one of the three times fifty Islands of the Otherworld, in the seas West of Ireland. Enraptured, he set sail through the seas of the Otherworld to find her.
Stories of Bran:
One day, while out walking near Tara, King Bran heard beautiful music, but he could not figure out where it was coming from. No matter which way he turned, it always seemed to be coming from just behind him. Lulled by the lovely sound, he fell asleep and dreamed of a beautiful woman, holding a sliver branch and singing to him of a perfect place, an Island of Women, where there was no death, or war or conflict, and where she was Queen. When he woke, he found the silver branch in his hand, and brought it with him to Tara. That evening, at the feast, the faery woman appeared again, this time in front of the whole company. She retrieved her silver branch, and asked Bran to sail across the sea to find her.
Bran set out at once, accompanied by his three foster-brothers, who brought nine men each with them. When their ship was underway, Bran met Mananan Mac Lir, riding on his white horse, on his way to Ireland to father King Mongan. Mananan spoke to Bran of another way of perceiving, and told him that the waves Bran saw were grassy plains to Mananan's eyes, with chariots racing to and fro over them. Along with this other way of seeing, Mananan gave Bran back the silver branch, as a token of his new perception.
Bran and his men came first to the Island of Joy, where the people all gaped and laughed without speaking. One of Bran's men went to investigate, but lost his wits as soon as he set foot on the island, gaping and laughing mindlessly with all the others. After this experience, they were wary when they reached the Island of Women, but the Queen threw a magic ball of yarn to Bran, which stuck to his hand when he caught it, forcing them to land. Bran and his men lived in bliss and ease on the Island of Women for an unknown time, but one man, Neachtain, was homesick, and begged to go back to Ireland. Eventually, Bran agreed. The Queen gave him directions back to Ireland, and gave him the magic ball of yarn so he could retrieve his man from the Island of Joy.
But when at last Bran and his men came back to Ireland, they found the coastline changed, forests gone, and all the people small and grey. Calling to shore, they found that no one knew who they were, save one very old storyteller, who remembered an ancient king called Bran. Neachtain, overcome by homesickness, leaped from the ship to the shore, but turned to dust as soon as he landed. Realizing they could never go home, Bran wrote down an account of his adventures on stone tablets and tossed them to the people on the shore, and then he turned his ship around and sailed back to the islands of the Otherworld. And his adventures from that time are unknown.
Spontaneous and imaginative, Bran leaped at the invitation to explore the Otherworld. His encounter with Mananan shows his ability to see things from an unconventional perspective.
Áine
Áine was the wife of Laoghaire Lorc, the high king of Ireland. When her husband was killed by his jealous brother, Áine protected her young son, and raised him to be a great king.
Stories of Áine:
Laoghaire Lorc was high king of Ireland. His brother Cobhthach was jealous, and killed him. He then poisoned Laoghaire's son, Aillil. He saw Aillil's young son Labhraidh as being no threat, and showed his control over the child by gruesomely feeding him the heart of his father and his grandfather. Labhraidh's mother, Áine, was made to watch while this occurred, held by two strong men to prevent her from doing anything to help her son. She was broken hearted, and the child was so traumatised by this incident that he was struck dumb.
She then cherished her dumb child, making sure that he received an education fit for a king, and also making sure that nobody discounted him as a person because of his affliction. He became so learned under her attentions that he became known as "Labhraidh Ollamh". Eventually, as he grew older, he got over the trauma and began to speak again.
Cobhthach was jealous of Labhraidh, as he was perceived to be more generous than Cobhthach. And now that speech had returned to him, and that he was an educated man, Cobhthach began to realise that Labhraidh might be a threat to him. Áine advised him to go into exile until he was ready to come back.
When he was old enough to seek revenge, he attacked Lenister and won. He then sent a message to Cobhthach telling him that he would be satisfied with the kingship of Leinster, and invited Cobhthach to a feast. The feast was to be held in a magnificent building made entirely of iron. Cobhthach did not trust Labhraidh and decided to bring with him his entire armed retinue. When he arrived for the feast he was suspicious, and refused to enter. He sent in half his men, and when nothing happened to them, he was somewhat mollified. Áine saw that he was still reluctant to enter the building, and realized that her son's plan was about to fall apart. She decided to take matters into her own hands.
She whispered to her son "I am nearly dead anyway, regain your honour though me", and walked straight into the building before he could stop her. Seeing this, Cobhthach believed it was safe to enter. As soon as the last man stepped inside Labhraidh closed the great iron doors, fastened great chains around the entire building and, weeping for his mother, placed faggots all around the building to be set alight. The burning faggots transformed the building into a giant oven. Áine died exultantly, knowing that her husband had been avenged, and that her son had achieved the birthright of which he had been robbed.
Áine was an extraordinarily strong figure, who survived the death of her husband, protected and raised her son to be a formidable and worthy king, and ultimately had her revenge on the man who had devastated her family.
Maeve (Medb) was one of the daughters of the king of Tara, who killed her pregnant sister. Maeve then married Aillil and took over the territory of Connacht, which would have belonged to her sister had she lived. She was most famous for her role as the queen of Connacht during the Battle for the Brown Bull of Cooley, but she also has many mystical qualities, which mark her out as one of the many Celtic goddesses. She was the goddess of sovereignty and territory, as can be seen from her independent and territorial character. She refused to let any king rule at Tara who had not first mated with her, and she was generally depicted as extremely promiscuous. Her name has strong links to the word 'mead' and her constant seducing of different men is related to the intoxicating effects of this drink.
Stories of Maeve:
One evening, Maeve and Aillil began to tease each other about which of them had the higher status. Their teasing quickly grew earnest, as each vied to prove their superiority in the relationship. They were equal in birth, equal in status, and equal in power. To settle the matter, they counted out all their belongings, and the only difference between them was that Aillil had a magnificent white-horned bull, and Maeve had nothing that could compare to it. Unable to bear a subordinate role in her own marriage, Maeve sent messengers to search all of Ireland for a bull as splendid as Aillil's. There was only one: the Brown Bull of Cooley. Maeve sent messengers to the bull's owner, Dara of Cooley, offering gold and lands if he would agree to let her have the bull. He was initially inclined to grant her request, until he heard one of her messengers drunkenly boasting that if he would not sell it, Maeve would surely take it by force. Dara resented being dictated to, and refused to part with the bull.
So began the famous Táin Bó Cuailnge, the "Cattle Raid of Cooley", in which Maeve assembled a great army of her allies from all over Ireland to invade Ulster and take the bull. Thanks to the Ulster exiles in her ranks, Maeve knew all about the curse of Macha, which would put the Ulster warriors out of action for nine days and nine nights. During that time, only the young warrior Cú Chulainn stood between the invading army and the defenseless province. His skill as a warrior was so great that the army were in terrible trouble.
Maeve negotiated with Cú Chulainn, through Fergus MacRoich, to fight in single combat against one of her champions every day, allowing the army to move while the fight was on, and stopping once the fight was over. He made such short work of her champions that she send a small band of raiders north to Cooley to steal the bull. She persuaded her greatest warrior, Ferdia, to fight against Cú Chulainn, who was his foster brother, and this led to the death of the last champion of Connacht. Her followers were then heard to repent that they had ever been guided by such a vengeful woman. On the eve of the final confrontation between the two armies, the Brown Bull of Cooley was smuggled into Connacht where it bellowed on entering new pastures and was heard and set upon by Aillil's White-Horned Bull. The two animals gored each other to death, symbolizing the wasteful conflict between Connacht and Ulster. Maeve re-invaded Ulster in later years, taking vengeance on Cú Chulainn for the devastation he had wreaked on her army and killing him. Maeve was ultimately killed herself by the son of her murdered sister, and it was thought that she was killed by a sling shot bearing a piece of cheese!
Maeve was a strong and independent character, with a knowledge of magic and sorcery. She never shirked her part of the work, and knew well how to encourage and lead her followers. She was definitely the stronger partner in her marriage with Aillil. She was always depicted as beautiful but was often seen dressed for war, leading the charge in her own chariot. At times she was depicted as laughable, but she was a strong woman who was not to be crossed. She could be harsh and domineering, and was willing to go to great lengths to assert her rightful status.
Liath Luachra
Liath Luachra was a great warrior woman with a fierce spirit and the steadfast heart of a warrior. She lived in the mountains with Bodhmall, a druidess. Liath was not the marrying kind, preferring Bodhmall's company, but she took in Bodhmall's nephew Demne to raise from infancy.
Story of Liath Luachra
When Liath heard that Bodhmall was planning a journey to help her sister Muirne, She decided to accompany her, to ensure that everything was safe. On discovering that Muirne feared for the life of her newly born son Demne, Liath and Bodhmall resolved to take the child and rear him in the wilderness, away from his enemies.
While Bodhmall softly cherished her sister's child, and taught him wisdom, Liath set about teaching him all the tricks of survival and all the martial skills she possessed. By night she slept with one eye open, keeping guard on her two precious charges. By day she would take Demne and teach him how to learn from his surroundings. Each week she would tell him to study a different animal and not to stop watching until he had learned something important from them. From the ant he learned to have an indomitable spirit. From the fox cubs he learned to be playful, but also to give as good as he got. From the salmon he learned the valuable art of being still, and from this lesson he came home with his arms filled with a large salmon for them to eat.
She would encourage him to race with the deer in the forest. She taught him to seek playmates in the animals of the forest, and to imitate all they did, thus allowing him to pick up the great arts of hunting naturally. She taught him how to cut and peel a birch bark to create an arrow that shot straight and true. She taught him to respect animals, but didn't foster sentimentality. Demne knew well that to kill was a necessity for survival for them.
In this way Liath encouraged Demne's independence, yet at the same time ensured that he was taught all he needed to know. When he was older she put a switch in his and, and held one in her own. She ran around a tree after him, hitting him with the switch when she caught up. He learned to run swiftly from this, and his desire to hit her back gave him the impetus to train as hard as he could. She demonstrated the great salmon leap and other great martial feats of the warrior, so that he could aspire to perfect them also. Eventually, when he hit her as many times as she hit him, Liath declared that he was fit to go his own way. So at the age of seven, Demne bid farewell to his foster mothers, and set out with a passing band of travelling bards. He was later to become the great hero Fionn Mac Cumhaill
Finding herself entrusted with the upbringing of a child, she dealt with it as she saw best, by teaching him the tools he would need in life. She put a lot of effort and focus into everything she did in life, from perfecting her own great skills to developing the warrior heart in a young boy. As a warrior she values competency, and the high expectations she had for Demne likely played a great part in making him the great man he was to become.
Caílte
It is said that the name Caílte means slender and fierce, which renders it a very suitable name for this character. He was a member of the Fianna who was as known for his athleticism as his willingness to help. He was a great personal friend of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, and most of the tales of the deeds of the Fianna involve Fionn and Caílte along with a few of the other more prominent members. Like Fionn, he was descended from the Baoiscne clan, a clan known for its generosity of spirit. There is nothing that he wouldn't do for his brothers in the Fianna, and certainly nothing he wouldn't do for Fionn. It is often his interventions that get the Fianna out of trouble. His feats usually involve great speed, as he was particularly known for his lightness of foot.
Stories of Caílte:
While out hunting, the Fianna were accosted by a hag. She refused to let them pass, and demanded that they race her. If they lost she would kill them and eat them. Caílte raced her, overtook her, turned around and cut off her head.
When Fionn wooed Gráinne, she demanded of him the gift of the male and female of every animal in Ireland in one single drove. Caílte ran the length and breadth of Ireland, collecting each animal, and managing to keep them all in one group, and drove them to Gráinne before the sun had set that very day.
He brought a herd of hares to Tara and placed them in a house with nine open doors. By racing around the house all night he was able to keep all the hares in until morning.
The king of Ireland wished to have a fistful of sand delivered to him every morning from each of the four shores of Ireland, as he could tell by the smell of the sand whether any enemies had landed during the night. Three men offered their services. The first man said that he could do the task as quickly as a leaf fall from a tree. The second man told him that he could do it as quickly as a cat slinks between two houses. The third man (Caílte) said that he could finish this task as fast as a woman changes her mind. The king, impressed by this, tasked him with the job. "I have just returned," Caílte replied, holding out the bags of sand.
Faithful comrade, good friend, and proactive member of the Fianna. You never get the sense that he ever expects to be owed any gratitude or service in return for his feats. He is delighted to possess such athletic skill as it renders him useful, but he does not let pride swell his head. For him, he is but one member of a tribe, and he never begrudges anyone else their place.
Objects in Irish Mythology
Each Hero in Irish Mythology had his favourite sword, and some of these achieved legendary status.
One of the most legendary objects in Irish Mythology was the Gae Bolga, granted to Cuchulainn by Scathach. This was a spear, which separated into many barbs on entering the body. It was impossible to remove, and its wound was fatal. Only one of these existed, and it was the preserve of Cuchulainn, thus further underlining his status as the champion of all Ireland.
Lugh of the Tuatha De Danann carried a sword named Freagarach – Answerer – which cut through anything.
Diarmuid had two swords depending on the type of fighting necessary; Moralltach – Great fury – and Beagalltach – Small Fury. It was with Moralltach that he slew the giant guarding the tree of the berries of youth, and it was because he left his sword at home on the day of his final hunt that he was unable to defend himself against the magical boar that attacked him.
The God Manannan owned a boat named the Wave Sweeper, which could grow to accommodate any number of passengers and did not require oars or sails in order to move.
Irish folktales are full of objects such as magic shoes for swift walking, magic cloaks of invisibility, magic keys to open any locks, and magic sticks that grew to form bridges or supports. Once these objects were used they generally disappeared and returned to the fairy world from which they usually came.
From the fairy world also came the Banshee – which literally means a woman of the fairies. It was said that the Banshee would only walk near the house of one who was about to die.


Alpha Lipoic Acid is a fatty acid which is commonly taken in conjunction with nootropic supplements to promote brain health and anti-aging benefits.
This chemical is found naturally inside every human cell and is vital in a number of different bodily functions and processes including the production of energy through the conversion of glucose, or blood sugar, into cellular energy.
As such, you will sometimes see Alpha Lipoic Acid categorized as a metabolic nootropic, able to improve mental energy levels and promote enhanced cognitive performance.
Alpha Lipoic Acid is also a very powerful anti-oxidant. This means that it is capable of neutralizing and removing harmful chemicals known as free radicals from the body.
Some of the more unique functions of this substance include being able to work in both water and fat (most other anti-oxidants normally have a preference for one or the other). It is also thought to be able to recycle vitamin C and glutathione after they have been used up; both of these are important anti-oxidants in their own right.
Alpha Lipoic Acid is also considered one of the best longevity supplements for life extension purposes.
The main mechanism of action for Alpha Lipoic Acid is to bind to proteins and support the activity of several mitochondrial enzymes.
It also plays a significant role in the Krebs cycle which is essentially the process of turning carbohydrates into energy.
The supplement itself is absorbed and then transferred or transported throughout the body, primarily due to the fact that it is both water and fat soluble.
ALA is found in varying concentrations throughout the body including muscles and internal organs.
When there is an excess of ALA production, either through natural means or supplementation, it also acts as an anti-oxidant.
Not only does this so-called 'free' state help to scavenge and deactivate a number of free radicals and other toxins, it also is thought to aid in the rejuvenation of other substances like vitamin C and vitamin E.
One of the most interesting benefits potentially attributed to Alpha Lipoic Acid is to help slow the aging process. Although there certainly needs to be more research done on this topic, the thinking is that since the production of this supplement slows as we age ALA can help to fight against this process.
ALA is also thought to act as a brain or neuron protector. Damage that can occur to parts of the brain due to injury, nutritional deficiencies, or even conditions such as alcoholism and thyroid issues may be reduced in their severity or even reversed through supplementation.
If ALA is used ahead of time, then there is even evidence to suggest that it works better in terms of preventing damage from occurring.
Brain function is also supported by ALA use. The supplement is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier and entering into the central nervous system directly.
In addition to restoring the health of brain and neuronal cells, the action of ALA is thought to improve the communication between neurons.
Protection against oxidative stress is another big benefit of this supplement. This is actually one of the biggest problems associated with diabetes.
The high glucose levels also contributes to this problem. Fortunately, ALA is capable of neutralizing free radicals and oxidative stress.
It also makes the actions of other anti-oxidants like vitamins C and E that much more effective at helping to rid the body of toxins and poisons.
Additionally, it even amplifies the effects of CoQ10 and glutathione which are thought to be essential compounds in the fight against aging, infection, and disease.
The generally accepted dosage range for Alpha Lipoic Acid is between 200 and 600 mg per day. Of course, it also really depends upon the purpose of your use.
For example, as a general anti-oxidant, you might be better off using a much lower dose, somewhere in the range of 50 to 100 mg.
As always, consult with a qualified medical professional before beginning any such supplement routine. When starting out with a new supplement, especially one that is unfamiliar, begin with the lowest effective dosage possible.
Only after you have become better adjusted to the effects and benefits should increasing this level be considered.
Although Alpha Lipoic Acid is generally safe and considered to be extremely well-tolerated in healthy individuals, there are a few side effects that have been associated with its use.
They are fairly mild and may include skin rashes, stomachache, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.
There has also not been any clear cut determination as to the long term side effects that could result from taking ALA.
So far, no cases of toxicity related to taking too much of this supplement have ever occurred.
ALA is one of the most interesting brain health supplements currently available on the market. The potential benefits are wide ranging and synergize well with other nootropics.
As an anti-oxidant, Alpha Lipoic Acid can protect your brain cells from damage that occurs due to the metabolic process. This compound can also improve communication between brain cells and potentially increase the speed of cognition.
While you may not notice its benefits if taken on its own, this supplement is worthwhile to include in a stronger nootropic stack especially alongside Choline sources or Racetams.


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I very rarely review hardware but having spent over £1000 for a computer I decided it was worth documenting my experiences thus far.
Today I will be looking at the Lenovo Ideapad Y700 gaming laptop which is a beast of a machine.I have used the same hardware for a while now. I generally flip flop my reviews between the Toshiba Satellite Pro and the Dell Inspiron.
I bought the Toshiba about 3 years ago and it was a mid range laptop at the time. The Dell I received as a gift about 2 years ago and it would probably be considered a budget range laptop.
Both of these computers have served me well and continue to serve me well. I also own an old Samsung laptop which is now being put out to pasture. I have written all the guides necessary for converting from Windows XP to Linux on old computers and from Windows Vista to Linux.
I have also given away my Acer Aspire One netbook because quite frankly I was overrun with hardware.
I still have a Chromebook and a number of Raspberry PIs including a model B, B+, 2 and zero.
With the remaining hardware and the new laptop I hope to be able to cover a wider array of topics.
My reasoning for buying the Lenovo is that a number of emails recently have asked about installing Linux on an SSD, how to get Linux working with NVidia graphics cards and general UEFI issues with new computers.
The only way I could really answer the questions was to get something new. It is a dirty job but somebody has to do it.
The computer boots into Windows 10 very quickly, somewhere around the 5 seconds mark.
You are greeted with the dark background shown above. I didn't really like it so I changed it.
You will have seen in the previous section that there isn't really much software installed.
The Microsoft Office is a trial version. I replaced this with the Office 365 version that I subscribe to. I know I am a Linux guy but working in the software industry I quite often have the need to do things in Excel and it is good to format your CV using Microsoft Word to guarantee that clients see it the way it is supposed to look.
There are usually some subtle differences between Word and LibreOffice Writer as well as Google Docs. The way around this would be to export to PDF but many recruitment agents don't like to receive CVs in this format because they can't butcher them.
At £5.99 a month for a single computer or £7.99 a month for 5 computers it is something I am willing to pay for.
I have subscribed to the free McAfee trial but beyond the trial period I will probably go for one of the free options because I don't use Windows regularly enough to warrant paying for security software. There is also no reason to trust McAfee over AVG.
The rest of the Lenovo software is pretty much the standard bloatware that you expect from hardware manufacturers.
The Lenovo ShareIT application lets you share files between your laptop and other devices such as phones and tablets.
You have to install the Lenovo ShareIT application to every other device anyway.
Bluetooth is already enabled on all of my devices without any extra software required.
The disaster recovery software is potentially worth using as it allows you to create system images.
The images can be stored anywhere you wish but as you will see later the disk is pre-setup with a Lenovo partition on the hard drive.
The one other piece of software that might be worth looking at is the Lenovo One Play application which lets you rent or buy games.
There is a free 90 day subscription to start you off. The gaming library isn't massive and long term I think you will end up going back to Steam.
You aren't buying a gaming laptop for the junk that comes as pre-installed software. You are buying this computer for performance.
I will start off with a comparison between this computer and my other two main laptops.
The above screen shot shows the stats for the Dell Inspiron 3521. In its own right it isn't a slouch. It has 6 gigabytes of RAM and an Intel I3 dual core processor. It is not really any good for gaming but for general office tasks and web browsing it is perfectly decent, especially when running any form of Linux.
The other computer is the Toshiba Satellite Pro L870. It boast 8 gigabytes of RAM and a quad core i5 processor.
The Satellite Pro is very dependable and still fairly high end, especially when it comes to running Linux. There is nothing that it isn't capable of doing.
Needless to say, the Lenovo Ideapad makes both of these laptops look like Sinclair ZX81s. Everything loads instantly and you can have dozens of tabs open on Chrome without a hitch. Transferring files, watching videos and encoding music can all be handled at the same time.
I benchmarked the graphics performance using the 3D Marks software. There are a series of graphical and physics tests resulting in an overall score.
As you can from the image above it is no match for a 4K gaming PC but it comes in very well against other gaming laptops as well as standard laptops, notebooks and office PCs.
The two image above show the rest of the stats from the benchmark tests. Whilst performing the tests I had the OBS video recording software running.
The images are powerful and resource heavy yet the computer handled them with ease and the experience was smooth, much like a cinema. I haven't mentioned the sound quality yet which is absolutely phenomenal.
I will compare again against the only other 2 devices I have that a remotely close and to be honest they are nowhere near.
The Dell was better than 0% of any other computer. The pictures were jerky even though there were no applications running.
Despite having a much better graphics card than the Dell, the Toshiba was only marginally better.
The real test of the graphics card comes by playing games on the computer and I tried my favourite games including Grand Theft Auto 5, Call Of Duty and various other titles. The performance is perfect.
Generally I am a console gamer but I have to admit to being impressed with the way the laptop plays.
The first thing I did when I got the computer home was to install Linux Mint as part of a dual boot setup.
Disk 0 is a 128 gigabyte SSD. Disk 1 is a 1 terabyte hard drive.
Disk 0 was setup with a 260 megabyte EFI partition and a 100 gigabyte Windows partition. There are then 3 other partitions for recovery and OEM stuff. To be quite frank a good portion of the SSD is being used for nonsense. Why put the Windows recovery partition on the SSD? It is my aim to remove those recovery partitions and use Macrium Reflect as a method for backing up the computer.
Disk 1 has a 100 gigabyte partition called system image. The rest of the disk was previously unformatted but I have used the entire space for Linux Mint which is a little bit wasteful.
When I first booted the computer I continually received the above error from the NVidia GeForce Experience application which is used to keep your drivers up to date.
It didn't matter what I did I couldn't get it to connect. I ended up using the following solution.
Whilst this is technically a review of the Lenovo Y700 Ideapad, this article isn't just about the hardware involved.
In the coming weeks I will be showing you how to install Linux on an SSD and I will show you how I fixed some of the hardware issues I faced with such modern graphics cards and how I resolved wireless issues.
You see, the problem is that new hardware is just as vulnerable to driver issues within Linux as older hardware.
Older hardware sometimes drops off the radar and you end up having to jump through hoops to get it working. Newer hardware suffers from the fact that the drivers are included in newer versions of the Linux kernel which aren't used by default by many of the top Linux distributions.
The Lenovo Y700 Ideapad is a great computer. It is by far the best piece of hardware that I have ever owned and I look forward to using it in the coming years.
If you are in the market for a new laptop and you are willing to spend slightly north of £1000 then it is definitely worth it.
Click the link below for more information. Feel free to use your shop or website of choice to buy the computer.
Just found your website and I am very impressed with the straight forward, no nonsense, writing style. I have added it to my favorite Linux blog list. Thank you for your work.
Like most power users, I don't like bloatware that manufacturers pre-install on computers – it's one of the reasons to switch to Linux. First to go are any trial programs, especially anti-malware software. They get replaced by quality, full function software. However, I've found that Lenovo's software collection, aside from a few recent security faux pas, is the most innocuous of all, and some of it is actually somewhat useful. Lenovo Settings is not bad for less advanced users to control a number of basic functions of their laptop from one interface. Lenovo Solution Center is really only good for running hardware diagnostics. Lenovo Companion, the most useful out of this bunch is great for updating drivers for the specific computer it's running on.
I stay with ASUS, because they built their motherboard, easely install Linux, and my laptop still resist after 3 years of intense use.
Sure Lenovo it's so durable?
Thanks for a great article! This is very helpful. Follow up question: Does the Fn/F6 hotkey work for turning the touchpad on/off in Linux? I always use a BT mouse and hate accidental gestures on the touchpad.
Thanks for a very helpful article. Follow up question: Does the Fn/F6 hotkey work for touchpad on/off in Linux?
I'm also interested in part 2.
Nice review. I have the Ideapad 700 and looking for a way install Linux.
I have y700 15 with xubuntu 16.10 on board.
All working despite of fan control. fan rate sensor is not visible in system and fan running on half speed all the time.
It is loud and noise, and it is disappointing.


text:
Het Nederlands kampioenschap dammen 1980 werd gespeeld van dinsdag 8 t/m zaterdag 19 april (met een rustdag op zondag 13 april) in Bedum en telde 12 deelnemers.
Zowel Jannes van der Wal als Rob Clerc en Harm Wiersma eindigden op de 1e plaats met 14 punten uit 11 partijen waardoor een barrage zou moeten uitmaken wie zich Nederlands kampioen mocht noemen.

Barrage om de titel
Wiersma trok zich terug voor de barrage.
Van der Wal en Clerc speelden in november 1980 een tweekamp van 3 partijen maar ook die eindigde gelijk, in 3-3.
Er werd een extra barrage georganiseerd in januari 1981 in Dordrecht.
De 1e partij eindigde in remise.
Omdat Van der Wal last had van het geroezemoes, vroeg hij aan de scheidsrechter om de rest van het tweekamp in een aparte ruimte te laten plaatsvinden.
De scheidsrechter honoreerde dat verzoek niet waarop Van der Wal in de 2e partij voor sensatie zorgde door na 1 zet (34-29) remise aan te bieden.
Doordat de laatste wedstrijd werd gewonnen door Clerc veroverde die de nationale titel.

Resultaten

Externe link
 Scoretabel op Toernooibase

Nederlands kampioenschap dammen
Dammen in 1980
Dammen
Dammen