Tattoo Expo Maastricht, will take place from 16 Feb to 17 Feb 2019.
Tattoo Expo Maastricht will take place at the MECC Maastricht in Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Tattoo Expo Maastricht is likely to be a base where lots of very important products will likely be displayed. Many of these are typically about Arts, Tattoo and Tattoo Culture.
6th International Tattoo Expo Maastricht 2019 is organized annually.


Vintage Sanyo Plus Q40 Automatic Direct Drive Turntable - Serviced!
Sanyo Plus D60 Stereo Cassette Deck Tape Deck Dolby System Vintage. Tested.
Sanyo plus T55 TUNER quartz Very Nice!
SANYO Plus series Q-25 Turntable Balance Counter Weight Free Shipping!


text:
J.J. DiBenedetto.com
Welcome Wednesday – Open Mike
By J.J. DiBenedetto | July 27, 2016 | Comments 12 comments
Welcome to this week's edition of Welcome Wednesdays!
I've got a lot going on with the launch of my new book this week, so I couldn't come up with a clever theme or question. Instead, it's an open promo today. Tell us anything you like about any of your books. Just be sure to leave a link so we can find out more and buy your books!
As for me, well, I DO have a new book out, just yesterday. It's the second book of the Jane Barnaby Adventures, and it's called LOSERS WEEPERS.
Jane Barnaby had everything going her way.
Now she finds herself in a desperate fight for her life.
Jane had it all: a prestigious internship at theMuseum of Natural History, a fantastic Upper West Side apartment, and theesteemed duty of helping plan her best friend's wedding.
A casual lunch with her friend's controlling fiancéset off alarm bells, and sends her digging into his dark and mysterious past.
When her search for answers leads Jane and heron-again, off-again boyfriend to the English countryside, they are thrown intoa suspenseful quest. As they uncover secrets dating back to World War 2, searchfor priceless art treasures looted by the Nazis, and fight off the thieves whowill kill to get those treasures for themselves, Jane is faced with a question:will they discover the truth, or lose their lives?
Embark on a fast-paced travel thriller bybestselling author, J.J. DiBenedetto that is perfect for fans of Clive Cussler.
JJ's Blog, Uncategorized
12 Replies to "Welcome Wednesday – Open Mike"
Claire Gem (@gemwriter) says:
Thank you for the invite, James! My new release, A TAMING SEASON, is a contemporary romance, the first of my Love at Lake George Novels. There is one autographed copy now up for a Goodreads Giveaway until Aug. 4th. You can enter here: http://bit.ly/2aeh4P5
Early Reviews:
"This story is filled with emotional moments, some funny moments, true friendship , family traditions and romance."
"I couldn't put this book down. I loved the character development, I loved the setting, I loved the background story that brought the major character to this point in her life. Very interesting story and hot sexual content."
"A gem from Gem! A Taming Season was my favorite book by Claire Gem so far. I can't wait to read the next in the series. Well done, Gem!"
The title was featured on USA Today's HEA Blog a few weeks ago:
You can see the Trailer here:
Amazon Link here:
A Taming Season
Wendy May Andrews says:
Wow!! Yours looks great! I too have a new release – just out last week 🙂
The Countess' Intrigue – a sweet, regency romance
Tagline: Engaged to a rumored murderer, what's a lady to do?
During her second Season, Lady Elizabeth Castleton is found in a compromising situation with Lord Justice Sinclair, the Earl of Heath. Despite her attraction to him, she is dismayed to find herself betrothed to the man who is rumored to have killed his first wife. Her parents refuse to lend credence to the rumors, so she is soon married and on the way to her husband's estate.
She cannot decide what to make of the handsome earl but after an attempt is made on her life, Elizabeth is terrified that history is about to repeat itself. She determines to find out once and for all if she is married to a murder.
Can she stay alive long enough to find her happily ever after?
Available wherever e-books are sold including Amazon http://amzn.to/29VRzDO
Andrea Downing says:
DEAREST DARLING won Favorite Hero at the Maple Leaf Awards, Honorable Mention as Favorite Heroine, Favorite Short Story and Favorite Novel; Golden Quill Award for Best Novella; 3rd place in Historical Short at the International Digital Awards
Stuck in a life of servitude to her penny-pinching brother, Emily Darling longs for a more exciting existence. When a packet with travel tickets, meant for one Ethel Darton, accidentally lands on her doormat, Emily sees a chance for escape. Having turned down the dreary suitors that have come her way, is it possible a new existence also offers a different kind of man?
Daniel Saunders has carved out a life for himself in Wyoming—a life missing one thing: a wife. Having scrimped and saved to bring his mail-order bride from New York, he is outraged to find in her stead a runaway fraud. Even worse, the impostor is the sister of his old enemy.
But people are not always as they seem, and sometimes the heart knows more than the head.
http://www.amazon.com/Dearest-Darling-Letters-Andrea-Downing-ebook/dp/B00NGWT816
http://andreadowning.com
David Hurrell says:
Congrats on your new book.
My book is called Soulless Voodoo Guy. This is my debut book which I released last month. So far the reviews on Amazon UK and US have been very positive.
Finding himself in an unrecognisable place, Soulless Voodoo Guy searches for answers, but when more questions materialise does he choose to follow his path or deviate from it? How does he know what his true path is? Why is everything so strange and what are the metal plates which appear to be everywhere? The Jelly Turtle only confuses him further and it's nearly impossible to tell what Trip's thinking. When he meets Zepheer he finally gets some answers, but can he trust her?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soulless-Voodoo-Guy-David-Hurrell-ebook/dp/B01GGRKVGS
Ann Everett says:
Thank you, James for this opportunity. Instead of my latest release, I'm going to mention my best-selling book, TELL ME A SECRET. It is a new adult story and for readers 18+ due to steamy scenes. It is available in audio as well as ebook and print, but the ebook and print editions have recently been re-edited.
Jace Sloan has it all. He's smoking hot, a college football star with a storybook family, and he's never met a woman he couldn't charm. He's also never met one who makes him want to be a better man…until he meets Maggie. Now, this self-proclaimed geek with wild red hair and the greenest eyes he's ever seen has him thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts. Like settling down and being a one-woman man.
Maggie Fielding is anything but Jace's type. For starters, her IQ is bigger than her chest size. But Jace is panty melting hot, and she's having a hard time remembering that he's bad news. If only she could stop telling him her secrets, because her answers to his questions just might have both of them falling in love for the first time.
http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Me-Secret-Ann-Everett-ebook/dp/B00N0VUNGC/
http://www.anneverett.com
Bill Kirton says:
I'm not pushing a specific book because I just want to say something about how the main character in my WIP resisted my attempts to get her to accept a new resolution to the story when my 3 beta readers agreed that my ending was a bit too 'modern' for a story set in 1841. The book is the sequel to The Figurehead. I wrote it because several readers wrote to ask me to write more about the central couple. They wanted to know how the relationships would develop. I was interested, too, so I went back to them, wrote of their continuing saga but, by the time I got to the end (it took me 4 years to write it), Helen had grown in stature and she took an awful lot of persuading by me to accept the compromise she was offered. It's the first time a character has been so wilful, not only to the other characters in the book, nut to me in real life. The book will be called The Likeness and it'll appear later in the year. Meantime, Helen is fully formed and you can meet her in The Figurehead.
Alexander Grant says:
Very kind of you to invite us. Best wishes for success with your book.
I am a brand new author, having published my first book a few days ago. It is an epic fantasy book with some unusual characters, kinds of magic and plot twists. The second book in the series should be in Amazon in a few days.
If you feel like taking a look:
https://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-City-Kings-Lion-Book-ebook/dp/B01I25E10Y?ie=UTF8&qid=1468072525&ref_=la_B01I36PSGS_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1#navbar
Compliments for your great site.
Alasdair Shaw says:
Thanks for this opportunity. It couldn't have been better times as my latest book will be published in a few days too!
Liberty is the first full-length novel in the Two Democracies: Revolution series and is available for the special pre-order price of $2.99 until 31 July 2016. It already has three 5-star reviews.
Struggling with newfound sentience and desperately trying to repair itself, The Indescribable Joy
of Destruction is a ship trying to find a new home. In a galaxy torn apart by generations of civil
war, that isn't an easy task. Tired of being used as a killing machine, it has a huge decision to
make: hide and save itself, or help other artificial intelligences achieve freedom. Unable to make
the decision alone, it revives the sole human aboard – the enemy officer who crippled it.
Commander Olivia Johnson wakes to find herself in the infirmary of a strange vessel. Her
nightmares deepen when she discovers it is the ship that attacked her destroyer. Even as she
recovers from her physical injuries, she can't get past her survivor's guilt. She might have failed
to protect her crew, but she vows to take revenge on their killer.
When the ship uncovers a genocidal plot by the commander's own admirals, Johnson realises just
what is at stake. Together, the AI ship and the human officer must recruit outsiders from both
sides. Training the misfits in battle to prevent the atrocity may be an impossible task, but running
and hiding is no longer an option.
Sherry Ewing says:
Thanks for the opportunity to show off my latest release in my medieval/time travel series: To Follow My Heart.: The Knights of Berwyck, A Quest Through Time Novel (Book Three)
Love is a leap. Sometimes you need to jump…
After a gut wrenching break up with her fiancé, Jenna Sinclair heads to the coast to do a little soul searching. To say everything is subject to change is putting it mildly. Her world is not only turned upside down, but pretty much torn asunder when she is pulled through a time gate on the beach beneath the Cliff House and transported more than eight hundred years into the past.
Fletcher Monroe, captain of the garrison knights at Berwyck Castle, has wasted too much time pining for a woman who will never be his. When he finally decides to move on with his life and focus on his duties, he is suddenly confronted with a woman who magically appears at his feet. This could either be the best thing that has ever happened to him or another cursed event in a string of many. He soon finds he is wildly attracted to her, but she's scared to death of him ─ not a very encouraging beginning.
From the shores of California to twelfth century England and back again, Jenna and Fletcher must find a way to reconcile their two different worlds before Time forever tears them apart.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1TWTF15
Webiste: http://www.SherryEwing.com
Cynthia E. Hurst says:
I smiled at Bill's comment about his character insisting on having her own way. My sleuth Zukie Merlino first appeared in 'Halfbaked,' a short story from my first mystery series (R&P Labs Mysteries), and then insisted on being featured in her own full-length mystery novels. 'Zukie's Promise' is the seventh in the series, which I'd describe as semi-cozy.
Zukie's daughter is getting married and Zukie has been informed her role at the wedding is to show up, shut up and keep smiling. That's hard enough for her, but then a body turns up at the wedding rehearsal. The wedding's in two days, the bride and groom are suspected of murder and everyone seems to be hiding a secret. But Zukie has promised her daughter that nothing will ruin her wedding, and Zukie always keeps her promises.
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B01INJB0PI
Hanna Dare says:
Thanks James!
I just wanted to give everyone the heads up that Life in a Nowhere Town, book 1 of my New Adult M/M trilogy is free through Friday on Amazon: https://amzn.com/B01ATUL2TS
If you like M/M romance with a little teen angst, and a side of music and reality TV, check it out! The trilogy is complete and available on Amazon, free if you have Kindle Unlimited.
Helen Henderson says:
Thanks James for opening your world to us. Congratulations on your new release. Love the blog title of writing dreams. We all have dreams. Two of mine came to reality this past week with the re-release of the fantasy Windmaster with a gorgeous new cover and the release of Hatchling's Vengeancethe last of the Dragshi Chronicles, tales of humans with a twinned dragon soul.
Stop by my blog helenhenderson-author.blogspot.com and click on the covers for more information on these magical filled fantasies.
Helen Henderson
Stories of romance and adventure in worlds of imagination
Windmaster – chose between the sea, magic… or love.
Leave a Reply to Helen Henderson Cancel reply
Launch Day!
Book Tour – "Snow in July" by Kim Iverson Headlee
The Dream Doctor Mysteries
The Jane Barnaby Adventures
Mr. Smith and the Roach
The Queen of Emerald Falls
Sweet Romance Novellas
Buy Signed Paperback Copies!
JJ's Blog
Promo Corner
© 2021 J.J. DiBenedetto.com	| Powered by Outstandingthemes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Frenchman's Tower is a two-story red brick structure located in Santa Clara County, California, that resembles a medieval fortification. Built in 1875, the structure was listed as a California Point of Historical Interest in 1969.

The structure was built under the direction of land owner Paulin Caperon, a native of France who had assumed the name Peter Coutts when he moved to Mayfield, California, in 1875. Coutts returned to France in 1882 without letting his California neighbors know what happened to him and ordered a bank to liquidate his Mayfield property.

Since then trespassers have carved names or initials into almost every brick of the tower within their reach. Some dates go back over 100 years. In 1970, the landowner bricked in the windows to protect the structure from vandals. Frenchman's Tower stands on Old Page Mill Road, midway between Foothill Expressway and Interstate 280, in Santa Clara County, California, within a strip of land within the borders of Palo Alto on land now owned by  Stanford University.

Architecture

Frenchman's Tower was built in 1875 and has miniature crenels along the top and Gothic windows,
giving it a style similar to Medieval fortifications built hundreds of years earlier, not unlike Chindia Tower built between the 15th and 19th century.  In the Middle Ages, crenels were used to
shield archers defending the structure.

The second floor held a water tank, while the first floor was used as a library. The original owner, Paulin Caperon, spent many hours in his library reading and studying. The building never had any doors, requiring entry through a window

The tower, situated near Matadero Creek, was originally connected to one of six tunnels used to provide subterranean water to his farm and to his lake. Workers had to remove tons of earth before reaching a sufficient underground water source. Bricks for the tower were made by Albert Bowman and Company from a clay deposit discovered in Mountain View in the same year that the tower was constructed.

Public interest and notability

Over the years, many different ideas and stories regarding Paulin Caperon's tower and tunnels have been told. Caperon, who also went by the alias Peter Coutts, is said to have "enjoyed mystifying his neighbors" and often helped perpetuate these stories by neither denying nor confirming the fanciful tales. These include the construction of tunnels and a fortified tower to "withstand a siege by his enemies" and harboring the French Empress, neither of which were true.

Recognition

Registered as California Point of Historical Interest November 3, 1969.
Listed on the Santa Clara County Heritage Resource Inventory.
The Library of Congress archives contain photos of Frenchman's Tower taken during August and September 1975.
A 1910-1930 photo shown on the right is in the San Jose Public Library.

Popular news media
Popular news media of today sometimes casts the tower as an unsolved mystery.

In a March 2011, CBS news reporter Ken Bastida interviewed local historian Steve Staiger. Staiger said he did not believe the structure was constructed as a water tower as the builder alleged because the tower was too far away from water or the rest of his property. Staiger offers a reward to anyone who solves the mystery. The TV report shows an entry-hole vandals chopped through the bricks on the back side of the tower.

Historical articles
Peninsula Life Magazine published a 1948 article describing how Frenchman's Tower "standing stark and alone" on the banks of Matadero Creek is one of the Peninsula's most famous landmarks. The article goes on to tell the story of Paulin Caperon through interviews with family members.
The California Historical Society began a 1954 article with the sentence, "No tale in California history has had stranger diversities than the one about the man who sold to Leland Stanford the land on which he built his university."  The article continues with information based upon interviews with surviving members of Coutts's family and household, explaining the reason for Peter Coutts's strange behavior.
Although not referencing sources, the Stanford Historical Society published a 1981 article, "Coutts was no eccentric, history study shows", detailing the life of Paulin Caperon. The article provides explanations for many of his seemingly strange actions.

Public curiosity

Some articles show the writer's curiosity about the tower.

 In a 2010 article, Examiner reporter William Baeck described how he climbed over a wire fence and crawled past poison oak. Then he held his camera inside the tower and began photographing.
In 2006 photographer Eric Chan took photos of the tower, including photos documenting his presence both outside and inside the tower.  He described how he climbed through a small hole in the back and found it "pretty scary inside". The photo on the right, showing the inside of the structure, is one of many he posted on Flickr.

Official concerns

A 2004 environmental impact report on trail alignment expressed concerns that proposed trail segment AD05 would attract more visitors, possibly leading to the tower being further vandalized. The report also stated that more bike and foot traffic might make the tower more visible, possibly protecting the tower. To mitigate the risk, the landowner agreed to inspect the tower every six months and to take action upon discovery of further damage.

Paulin Caperon
Jean-Baptiste Paulin Caperon was born of wealthy parents near Bordeaux France in 1822 and died in Bordeaux, France, in September 1889 at the age of
sixty-seven.

Paulin Caperon was the son of one of Napoleon's officers. He lost both parents when he was only 26 years old. He "openly criticized Napoleon III policies and opposed the Franco-Prussian War." He founded a private bank, which he sold in 1873. Because of problems in France, he left France for Brussels, Belgium,
and then went to New Orleans using identity papers of his deceased cousin Peter Coutts. He traveled to San Francisco and then to the township of Mayfield. Paulin Caperon continued using the name Peter Coutts when he arrived in Mayfield (present day Palo Alto).

In 1875 he bought 1,400 acres (4.7 km2) of Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito from Jeremiah Clarke for $90,000. Caperon had a heart ailment, and his wife was an invalid. He felt concerned that he and his wife might both die, and his children might have difficulty inheriting his estate, so he took title to the land in the name of his children's
governess Eugene Cloyensen.

Caperon developed the land into a thriving stock farm
and eventually directed the construction of a tower to distribute water.
He seemed friendly but would not discuss his past.
When local residents discovered that Peter Coutts (Paulin Caperon) had actually purchased the land in the name of his children's governess,
the townspeople grew suspicious,
made speculations, and spread rumors about the intended purpose of the
tower.
In 1882, only eight years after his arrival, Paulin Caperon suddenly
returned to his native France
and sold the land
for the sum of $140,000 to Leland Stanford, who founded Stanford University in 1891.

Paulin Caperon eventually reacquired legal title to valuable property
he had owned in France. "Using his true identity, Caperon and his family returned to Paris in May 1883,"
and he spent the rest of his life in France.

See also
Palo Alto, California
Leland Stanford
Battlement
Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito
Franco-Prussian War

References

Further reading
The Legend of Frenchman's Tower a 1951 article from the Union Democrat by Evalyn Slack Gist.
Guide to the Peter Coutts Collection at Stanford University Libraries, California 94304-6064, includes paper letters from Caperon's granddaughter.
Unpublished papers including : Geoffrey Bilson, "Peter Coutts - 'The Frenchman'"

External links

Photos at Palo Alto Historical Society
Elizabeth Traugott's interview with Steve Staiger's in 1997 Palo Alto Online article
The best of Santa Clara Valley 1997 at Metroactive.
The mysterious Peter Coutts in a 1998 Palo Alto Online article
A panorama of graffiti painted on the inside of the tower.
An Enduring Heritage: Historic Buildings of the San Francisco Peninsula By Dorothy F. Regnery, Page 72

History of Santa Clara County, California
Buildings and structures in Palo Alto, California
Stanford University places
Tourist attractions in Santa Clara County, California
Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito
Towers completed in 1895
1895 establishments in California

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Which of the following will be efficient or faster in iOS? Which of the following will be efficient or faster in iOS?
/* Public Static Variable */
static UICollectionView *mDocsCollection;

@interface ClassA ()
{
}
@end

@implementation ClassA

- (UICollectionView *)documentsCollection
{
    if (!mDocsCollection) {
        mDocsCollection = (UICollectionView *)[self.view viewWithTag:VIEW_TAG_DOCS_COLLECTION];
    }
    return mDocsCollection;
}

@end

/* Interface Variable */
@interface ClassA ()
{
    UICollectionView *mDocsCollection;
}
@end

@implementation ClassA

- (UICollectionView *)documentsCollection
{
    if (!mDocsCollection) {
        mDocsCollection = (UICollectionView *)[self.view viewWithTag:VIEW_TAG_DOCS_COLLECTION];
    }
    return mDocsCollection;
}

@end

/* Private Static Variable */
- (UICollectionView *)documentsCollection
{
    static UICollectionView *docsCollection;
    if (!docsCollection) {
        docsCollection = (UICollectionView *)[self.view viewWithTag:VIEW_TAG_DOCS_COLLECTION];
    }
    return docsCollection;
}

/* Typecasting is done every time (No Variables used) */
- (UICollectionView *)documentsCollection
{
    return (UICollectionView *)[self.view viewWithTag:VIEW_TAG_DOCS_COLLECTION];
}

A: With the speed of todays devices I doubt there would be any measurable difference. However there are some other observations:

*

*As per other comments, it's not a good idea to use static variables in these situations. In fact, I recommend only using statics where absolutely necessary.

*Again unless necessary, I recommend to people to avoid using viewWithTag:. It may seem like an easy solution to finding controls at first. But once you project becomes larger or other programmers join, it's a likely cause of on going bugs. I recommend using IBOutlets and/or UIView extends so that you have direct access to correctly typed references to the controls that always point to the control you want.

*And by using an IBOutlet or property, you simply would not need any of these methods :)

A: The last is slowest. The others are equally fast, probably only a few machine instructions apart.
The file-scope static and the method-scope static do the same thing. The ivar does something very different. This matters if you have multiple instances of ClassA or multiple threads, in which case the statics are probably simply wrong.

A: I doubt the difference will be observable in this case, but you could benchmark it and see. A simple-minded benchmark would do something like:
CFAbsoluteTime startTime = CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent();

// put the code to benchmark here

NSLog(@"elapsed = %f seconds", CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent() - startTime);

You might want to repeat your tests many times so you establish a confidence level on the numbers you generate. Also note that the order in which you test them can affect the results, so you might want to delay the benchmarking code until the app has really finished loading and quieted down.
Theoretically, if you call this documentsCollection method a lot, storing the value in a variable might offer some performance improvement, but you'd only bother with this sort of implementation when using some very expensive method or if you're calling it a lot.
FYI, the static implementations can result in very different behavior if its possible that you might reinstantiate ClassA more than once (i.e. dismiss the view controller and re-present it later). The static variables are not unique to just this instance of ClassA, but are shared across instances. Given that you're dealing with views, I doubt this behavior is desirable.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange