text:
Frontsite
VII: Advent Children
VII: Crisis Core
VII: Dirge of Cerberus
VII: Last Order
XIII-2
FF Tactics
FF Tactics Advance
FF Tactics Advance 2
Theatrhythm
FF: Crystal Chronicles
FF: Dissidia
FF: Dissidia 012
FF: The Spirits Within
Threads of Fate
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FFXIII-2 Singer Origa Passes Away
Final Fantasy Series,
It has been reported that singer Origa passed away on Saturday. She was 44 years old and died of lung cancer. ...
The Long and Winding Road: Final Fantasy III
Square-Enix,
Final Fantasy III is perhaps infamous for the fact that it took so long to be localized and released in the West. In fact, sixteen years passed between its original release on the NES in 1990 and its Nintendo DS remake, which was released in 2006. But why did it take so long? Where was Final Fantasy III hiding for all those years? Let's take a closer look. ...
Top Five Weirdest Things I Found Google Image Searching "Final Fantasy Christmas"
Ah, Christmas. Mistletoe, chocolate, family, gifts, and weird Final Fantasy holiday pictures.
That last point is a traditional part of the festivities, is it not?
Well, it's time to make it one.
I punched "Final Fantasy Christmas" into the Google Image Search box and here's what came up.
1.) Sephy Baby, hurry down the chimney tonight~~
Looks like Sephiroth is paying a little Christmas visit to our good friend Cloud. But he's not in a Santa suit and doesn't even have presents! Cloud's sure going to be disappointed when he wakes up {source} ...
What Makes Terra's Theme So Special?
Most fans consider Final Fantasy VI to be one of the finest games in the series, if not the finest. But even those who don't have to admit that there is something special about the opening scene. When you see the snow falling and the magitek armor making their slow march across the field, you know you're in for a real treat.
Terra's Theme is iconic. Perhaps it's because of that unforgettable opening scene in FFVI, or perhaps it's because it's pervasive throughout the rest of the game, or perhaps it's a little of both. But either way, Terra's Theme has not only become the quintessential theme of Final Fantasy VI, but it's transcended its source material.
Oh, sure, the song appears in Dissidia and Theatrhythm - that much isn't surprising. But did you know that Terra's Theme appears in Final Fantasy XIII? Biggs and Wedge are traveling musicians in Yusnaan, who, during the night, play their own rendition of the famous tune.
And did you hear about how it's tied to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn? The first video showing the magitek armor ...
Five Utterly Amazing Final Fantasy TV Ads
Final Fantasy III,
Final Fantasy VI,
Final Fantasy VII,
Final Fantasy IX,
When you think of Final Fantasy, chances are that you don't think of television commercials (or adverts, if you swing that way.) That's a bit unfortunate, because you should. Seriously. Here's five of the best TV advertisements for everyone's favorite series: ...
Four Final Fantasy Creatures That Need to Make a Comeback
The Final Fantasy series is filled with creatures who appeared in just one or two games before promptly disappearing, never to be seen again. This isn't particularly surprising, seeing as Final Fantasy is a series that likes to reinvent and regenerate itself for each entry, and sometimes when a world gets axed, so, too, does its wildlife. And while understandable, there are a few of these critters who just really should never have been forgotten. Here's four of them: ...
EoFF is Sad to Announce the Passing of Ralph Baer
Whilst this isn't strictly Final Fantasy related, we wanted to take a moment to hold a brief tribute to a man named Ralph Baer.
Known affectionately as "The Father of Video Games", Ralph Baer was born in Germany in 1922 but would later move to the United States with his family due to Hitler's rise to power. He eventually became an engineer and, in the 1950s, the at the time very radical idea of playing games on a television screen began to swirl around in his imagination. In 1966 he decided to start experimenting with this pipe dream, and in 1971 he unveiled the very first home video game console: the Magnavox Odyssey.
The Odyssey went on to inspire several more people and companies who would also go on to be known as video game innovators, such as Nolan Bushnell (who created Pong and Atari) and Nintendo, whose first real shift from a card and toy company to a video game one was the result of securing the rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan.
Would video games be like ...
World of What? The Final Fantasy References in World of Warcraft
The incredibly popular Blizzard MMO likes to pay homage to other games (and books, movies, TV shows...). They really do. So of course they've made a couple of Final Fantasy references through the years, most of which are minor, but one of which is quite blatant. If you're a longtime World of Warcraft player, you'll probably recognize all of these. But if not, read on for a few references you might have missed... ...
Fifty-five Fun Final Fantasy Facts
Final Fantasy I,
Final Fantasy II,
Final Fantasy IV,
Final Fantasy V,
Final Fantasy VIII,
Final Fantasy X,
Final Fantasy X-2,
Final Fantasy XI,
Final Fantasy XII,
Final Fantasy XIII,
Final Fantasy has a long and storied history, and if you're on this site, then chances are you know a lot of this history already. But do you know everything? Here are a handful of lesser known facts from Square's perennially popular series: ...
What Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Means to Me
It was 2003, I had just begun my second year of university, and my life could have been better.
I was going to school for no other reason than to make my parents happy, and because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life yet, I picked something interesting sounding (which I soon regretted) and decided to roll with it. I floated through coursework and classes hardly paying attention and rarely doing any of the reading. When I wasn't at school, I was working in retail, or writing letters to a crush I had who had moved away (this was before the internet was as widespread as it is today).
Needless to say, things could have been better.
I enjoyed playing video games, though, and I had a subscription to Nintendo Power, which was still a thing back then. I was flipping through one when I stumbled across an ad for a game called Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
It was just about to be released, and Nintendo Power was giving you the option of pre-ordering it so they would send you the game and the strategy guide in the mail the day it came out.
I don't know why the ad gave me pause. Final Fantasy, although obviously a well known franchise, was not something ...
Vaan vs. Tidus - THUNDERDOME
There's a big ol' discussion about this going on in another thread and it was getting kind of muddled, so here's a fresh new thread for this debate to continue.
[IMG]http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060423052760/finalfantasy/images/e/e3/Tidus_artwork.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Vaan_RW.JPG[/IMG]
So, Who wins?
Rumors of Final Fantasy Versus XIII 's death have been greatly exaggerated
Just a few days ago, a rumor that Final Fantasy Versus XIII had been canceled was flying around the internet and picked up by several sites. Eventually this rumor found its way to Square Enix's Yoichi Wada, who tweeted that, contrary to popular belief, the game is still very much alive!
Happy to hear it? Come talk about it in our subforum! ...
EoFF on Twitter
Tweets by @eyesonff
Follow @eyesonff
Square Enix on Twitter
Tweets from @eyesonff/square-enix
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It features an automatic transmission, rear-wheel drive, and a 3 liter 6 cylinder engine. A turbocharger further enhances performance, while also preserving fuel economy. All of the premium features expected of a Mercedes-Benz are offered, including: 1-touch window functionality, a tachometer, an outside temperature display, front bucket seats, tilt steering wheel, an overhead console, and remote keyless entry. Storage solutions are integrated throughout the interior, demonstrating thoughtful attention to detail. Mercedes-Benz ensures the safety and security of its passengers with equipment such as: dual front impact airbags, front side impact airbags, traction control, brake assist, ignition disabling, an emergency communication system, and 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS. With electronic stability control supplementing mechanical systems, you'll maintain precise command of the roadway. We pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service. Stop by our dealership or give us a call for more information.


text:
Q: Why List remains unchanged? I try to create a small application that uses file walker to recursively read contents of specified place of filesystem. I have this code:
/* Imports here */

public class App {

    private static Scanner inp;
    public static List<Node> Tree = new ArrayList<Node>();

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String FFiles;

        System.out.print("Enter root directory: ");
        inp = new Scanner(System.in);

        FileSystem fileSystem = FileSystems.getDefault();
        Path rootPath = fileSystem.getPath(inp.nextLine());

        FileVisitor<Path> simpleFileVisitor = new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
              public Path VisitedDirectory = rootPath;
              public List<Node> files = new ArrayList<Node>();

              @Override
              public FileVisitResult preVisitDirectory(Path dir,BasicFileAttributes attrs) throws IOException {
                if (dir != VisitedDirectory) {
                    Node directory = new Node(dir.getFileName().toString(), "directory", files, dir.toString());
                    files.add(directory);
                    Node VisDirectory = new Node(VisitedDirectory.getFileName().toString(), "directory", files, dir.toString());
                    Tree.add(VisDirectory);

                    files.clear();
                }
                return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
              }

              @Override
              public FileVisitResult visitFile(Path visitedFile,BasicFileAttributes fileAttributes) throws IOException {
                Node file = new Node(visitedFile.getFileName().toString(), "file", null, visitedFile.toString());
                files.add(file);
                return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
              }
        };

        try {
            Files.walkFileTree(rootPath, simpleFileVisitor);
        } catch (IOException ioe) {
            ioe.printStackTrace();
        }

        for (Node n : Tree) {
            System.out.println(n);
        }
    }

And here's the question: Why it reads (shows) only directories?
P.S Node class is just a couple of variables and declared like so:
public class Node {
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "Node [path=" + path + "]";
    }

    public String name;
    public String path;
    public  String type;
    public List<Node> children = new ArrayList<Node>();
    public Node(String name, String type, List<Node> children, String path) {
        this.name = name;
        this.type = type;
        this.children = children;
        this.path = path;
    }
}

A: Your are making a big mess with the files list. You only ever create a single instance. Thus your new Node(VisitedDirectory.getFileName().toString(), "directory", files, dir.toString()) doesn't actually copy the files list but merely stores a reference. Your files.clear() call will clear all files lists you have. This is why only the nodes you add to Tree will ever survive.
And please rename Tree to lowercase. This way one thinks Tree.add() invokes a static method on the Tree class.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


"…everything is different. If you pick up a few different magazine apps, every one of them will treat the articles and pictures differently. How do you go to the next article? It's different in each application, the problem being that then you can't learn.
But don't we all expect HTML5 to win in the end?
"Five years from now, it's likely that HTML5 will be a better way of doing video – it's a very good long-term trend – but that doesn't mean you should throw out all the existing stuff now," says Nielsen. "You have to be able to read old formats." Not everything gets updated.
The full 93 page report.
You can find me @jwindish, at my Public Notebook, or email me at joe-AT-joewindish-DOT-com.


I've reached the point that my commute has chewed up so much of my time, I feel like sitting at my computer to do things like write is a waste of precious time.
I mean, I have personal business I've been deferring because I didn't have time to deal with it. Boy, it was fun when I wrecked Nicole. I hung up on both my mom and the insurance company at points because I was also dealing with getting our Virginia Press Association award entries together on top of also not taking a day off work after being stranded at the Shannon Hill exit on Interstate 64.
I also need to ask someone a huge favor, but that person is out of town and I need to call a friend in general but I just don't seem to have the time and I've noticed that I've been sleeping longer and longer, which is compressing my day even more.
But I'm not one to complain.
In about a month, we'll be gearing up to move into our new digs. I was hoping for a two-bedroom place because I wanted to stay in one place for at least the next three years — when I hit 15 years in journalism — but this apartment search has been brutal. We're down to three options, and if we need a second bedroom, we'll figure that out when we figure it out.
Monday was a day off for me, so I went on a roughly four-hour voyage to look at a few properties. On Tuesday, if I can get to Charlottesville early enough, I'm looking at one more.
* The first place I saw was something on my bucket list: An apartment over a business. It's a one-bedroom slightly smaller than our current place, but we can make it work. I'd have to take the leaf out of our dining table, I guess and we could put the desk in the bedroom and buy a wardrobe and some shelving. All but cable is included in the rent, and we wouldn't have to pay pet rent because of Missy's age. It works out to being about what we're paying at our current place. We also get one, maybe two, parking spaces. I like it because of it being in the middle of things. It has a shared laundry room with the other two units and no dishwasher. I didn't have a dishwasher for most of my life, and at least the coin laundry is literally across the hall.
The second place was kinda a dump. At least from the outside. I couldn't see a unit because they were all full until March 2, at the earliest, and they clearly were keeping track with a legal pad. I politely took an application and threw it away later.
The third place was where I really wanted to live, per what I saw online. The property manager was a very nice lady and we talked for a while. Finally, she asked about income. When I told her, "Oh, no, that's too much" was here response. The site said nothing about it being income restricted. Also, it was a lot for "affordable" housing. A lot. That's why I had no idea. Also, instead of listing that it was income restricted on their site, they had a printout of other complexes to try. So I used it.
I couldn't remember why I scratched off the fourth place during my initial search, so I went anyway. Missy weighs too much.
The fifth place was a little far off. I got to take some windy roads. It was great. That place, which was spectacular and absolutely perfect doesn't have openings till May.
A got a call about another place I shot an email to because the online listing was lacking. No pets.
* I hit some more twisty roads and reached the sixth place. Perfect. Absolutely perfect in every way. We'd have vaulted ceilings, a balcony, a fireplace a wooded walking trail and a unit positioned in a way that we really wouldn't have to close our blinds. It is available starting Wednesday. It is the only available unit. They apparently go fast.
* Tomorrow's place seems like a sweet deal. It's the closest one to work. It has all-inclusive rent. Maybe. It mentions a utility fee but does not say whether that is built into the posted price of the unit. The pet deposit is a little steep, but there is no pet rent. Even if the utility fee isn't included in the base rent, it's reasonable. But my spider-sense is tingling. Hopefully, I'll find out of my wariness is unfounded.
I'm strongly leaning toward the first one. It hits all my likes. Although it's not exposed on the inside, it's brick and concrete block. It's over a business in a central business district. I can walk to a lot of things. I'd be relatively closer to friends and brothers. I've sold myself on it and things will stay that way unless tomorrow's place seriously blows me away.
Either way, this place will be the penultimate apartment. I'm shooting for it being the final. I eventually want to get a house, I want to use the money from selling my mom's house to do it. That's part of why we've been in apartments so far. But I don't want to think about having to move nearly 50 years of crap out of that place just yet. I'm already too busy as it is.


CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT), the leader in precision genetic medicine for rare diseases, announced today that it appointed Mary Ann Gray, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Gray has more than three decades of biotechnology and healthcare experience, with a track record of successfully guiding high-potential companies evolve to their next stage of growth. She will serve as a member of both Sarepta's Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees.
"We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Gray to Sarepta's Board of Directors. Mary Ann is deeply tenured in providing governance and leadership for public companies as a director. With her impressive experience, coupled with her scientific and financial acumen, Dr. Gray will make an immediate contribution to Sarepta, as we accelerate our aspiration to become one of the most meaningful precision genetic medicine companies in the world by profoundly improving the lives of patients suffering from rare neuromuscular diseases and other rare diseases," said M. Kathleen Behrens, Ph.D., Chairperson of Sarepta's Board of Directors.
"Having watched Sarepta's strategic transformation over the past 18 months as an outside observer, the company's progress has been tremendous. And yet, even with such profound progress, it is clear that Sarepta has only begun to tap its potential. I'm excited to join Sarepta's board and play a role at such a pivotal point in its journey," said Dr. Gray.
Dr. Gray has a distinguished scientific background, completing pharmacology research in tumor biology, including the impact of therapeutics on cardiac membranes. With an early career as a scientist focused on new drug development, she subsequently worked in equities research before becoming a senior analyst and portfolio manager. The combination of scientific and financial expertise provides unique insights for board leadership. She most recently served on the boards of Senomyx, and Juniper Pharmaceuticals, both companies were recently acquired; TetraLogic, a publicly-held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and infectious diseases, Dyax Corp., a rare disease company acquired by Shire in 2016; and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, focused on commercialization of CNS therapies. She is President of Gray Strategic Advisors, LLC, a biotechnology strategic planning and advisory firm.
Dr. Gray holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University of South Carolina, a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Vermont, and completed her post-doctoral work at Northwestern University Medical School and at the Yale University School of Medicine.
Sarepta is at the forefront of precision genetic medicine, having built an impressive and competitive position in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and more recently in Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and CNS-related disorders, totaling over 20 therapies in various stages of development. The Company's programs span across several therapeutic modalities, including RNA, gene therapy and gene editing. Sarepta intends to be one of the most meaningful precision genetic medicine company in the world, profoundly improving the lives of patients suffering from rare neuromuscular diseases and other rare diseases. For more information, please visit www.sarepta.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," "intends," "potential," "possible" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the expectation that Dr. Gray will make an immediate contribution to Sarepta, as it accelerates its aspiration to become one of the most meaningful precision genetic medicine companies in the world by profoundly improving the lives of patients suffering from rare neuromuscular diseases and other rare diseases; the potential of Sarepta; and Sarepta's intention to be one of the most meaningful precision genetic medicine companies in the world, profoundly improving the lives of patients suffering from rare neuromuscular diseases and other rare diseases.
These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Sarepta's control. Known risk factors include, among others: Sarepta may not be able to execute on its business plans, including meeting its expected or planned regulatory milestones and timelines, clinical development plans, and bringing its products to U.S. and ex-U.S. markets for various reasons including possible limitations of company financial and other resources, manufacturing limitations that may not be anticipated or resolved for in a timely manner, and regulatory, court or agency decisions, such as decisions by the United States Patent and Trademark Office with respect to patents that cover Sarepta's product candidates; and those risks identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in Sarepta's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as other SEC filings made by the Company which you are encouraged to review.


Thank you for visiting the the Lenza Law Firm, PLLC website. This exists for informational purposes only and is not intended to be advertising, solicitation or legal advice.
Despite our attempts to keep information on our web site current, the contents may not reflect the most recent legal changes. Moreover, given the complexity of elder law and estate planning, each situation contains specific nuances that may not be reflected by the information provided herein.
Your receipt or transmission of information does not create an attorney-client relationship and cannot substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney admitted to practice law in your State. In the event that you contact anyone at the Lenza Law Firm, PLLC (via e-mail or other means of communication), do not disclose information you consider to be confidential. Unless specifically agreed in advance, all inquiries or information received by the Lenza Law Firm, PLLC will not be regarded as confidential.


free encryption software / best encryption software 2018 :-Encryption programming is programming that utilizations cryptography to forestall unapproved access to advanced knowledge. For all intents and functions, people utilize cryptography these days to secure the advanced knowledge on their PCs and additionally the computerized knowledge that's sent to completely different PCs over the web. because the product that actualizes secure cryptography is unpredictable to make and exhausting to urge right, most computer purchasers build utilization of the secret writing programming that as of currently exists rather than composing their own.
Encryption programming is programming that utilizations cryptography to forestall unapproved access to advanced information. For all intents and functions, people utilize cryptography nowadays to secure the advanced information on their PCs and additionally the processed information that's sent to totally different PCs over the web. because the product that actualizes secure cryptography is unpredictable to make and arduous to urge right, most laptop shoppers create utilization of the encoding programming that as of currently exists rather than composing their own. As encoding programming is an important phase in giving insurance from law-breaking, there ar several, various product things that provide encoding.
Since their ar such large numbers of programming things that provide encoding, a good technique to start out understanding this time is an arrangement by classification. Programming encoding utilizes a figure to cloud the substance into ciphertext, thus one approach to order this kind of programming is by the sort of figure used. Figures are classified into 2 classifications: open key figures, otherwise known as uneven figures, and isosceles key figures. in this manner, encoding programming could be same as in lightweight of open key or isosceles key encoding.
Another approach to order programming encoding is to rearrange its motivation. Utilizing this approach, programming encoding could be ordered into programming that scrambles "information in travel" and programming that encodes 'information terribly still'. For reasons unknown, these 2 forms of groupings have one thing in like manner: that's, info in travel for the foremost half utilizes open key figures, and knowledge terribly still for the foremost half utilizes isosceles key figures.
Information on travel is info that's being sent over a system. At the purpose, once the data is between 2 endpoints, any non-public information may be defenseless against snooping. to stay up the privacy of the transmission, the payload is often encoded to secure its classification, and to boot its uprightness and non-repudiation. Frequently, the data in travel is between 2 parts that do not have any acquaintance with one another -, for instance, attending to a website.
As for the build up a relationship associate degreed safely sharing a cryptography key to secure the information that may be listed, a briefing of components, approaches, and strategies to realize this has been produced; it's called general society key foundation or PKI. once PKI has designed up a protected association, a bilaterally symmetric key is often shared between endpoints. associate degree uneven secret's needed to over the non-public associate degreed open keys as a bilaterally symmetric figure is significantly more practical than an awry figure.
1.) IP (Internet Protocol) Protection :- IPsec (Internet Protocol Security).
2.) Protection Copy – Secure copy Protocol.
4.) Secure Shell – SSH (Secure Shell).
5.) Web Communication – HTTPS (HTTP Secure).
Information terribly still alludes to info that has been spared to determined capability. As a rule, info terribly still is encoded by a radial key. As such as already, their ar several, various product things that offer to code. This Wikipedia article records and worries these product things by giving a couple of tables that exhibit their highlights. whereas this stuff ar altogether recorded underneath 'circle' coding, this may be somewhat deceptive.
In taking a goose at this table appearance at whether or not the coding programming works at the plate, parcel, record, and then on the layer, there merely does not seem to be ample area to catch each one of the alternatives.
that's on account of coding may be connected at numerous layers within the capability stack. for example, coding will be organized at the plating layer, on a set of a circle known as a phase, on a volume, that may be a mixture of circles or segments, at the layer of a document framework, or within userland applications, as an example, info or totally different applications that keep running on the host operating framework.
2.) Segment Encryption by means of this article.
3.) Volume Encryption by means of this article.
5.) Record and Index Encryption.
At the purpose once there's a necessity to soundly transmit info terribly still, while not the capability to create a protected association, userland instruments are made that facilitate this want. These apparatuses rely on the beneficiary distributing their open key, and also the sender having the capability to urge that open key.
The sender is then able to build a centrosymmetric key to scramble the info, and at that time utilization, the recipients open key to soundly make sure the transmission of the info and also the centrosymmetric key. this allows secure transmission of knowledge beginning with one gathering then onto consecutive.


text:
Published by Kate Douglas on 15 September 2016
Boot manufacturer on surviving Zimbabwe's rocky economy
The Courteney Boot Company produces handmade safari and outdoor footwear from natural gameskin leathers.
For Zimbabwean businesses the past 10 years have been challenging, to say the least. In 2008 the country experienced one of the worst cases of hyperinflation in world history – with a monthly inflation rate of 3,500,000%, which saw the introduction of the infamous ZW$100 trillion banknote. Since then the country has abandoned its Zimbabwean dollar and adopted a multicurrency system where nine currencies have been authorised as legal tender (although the US dollar is the most widely used).
Today the Zimbabwean economy faces new challenges – namely a shortage of US dollars in the market. The country is over-reliant on imports – mostly paid for in US dollars – in part because many local factories closed down.
One manufacturer and exporter that has managed to survive Zimbabwe's economic rollercoaster, however, is The Courteney Boot Company, which produces handmade safari and outdoor footwear and accessories from natural gameskin leathers such as hippo, kudu, Cape buffalo, impala, Nile crocodile and ostrich.
The company was founded in 1992 in Bulawayo by husband-and-wife team, John and Gale Rice. John (who died a few years ago) had a lifetime of experience in shoemaking and design, and the duo developed a reputation in the hunting and safari industries by giving top hunters and guides in Zimbabwe and South Africa a free pair of boots.
"John always said that men admire what other men have, whether it's a knife or a watch or a pair of boots," recalls Gale.
It wasn't long before the company began establishing a relationship with retailers in the US and Europe and, within a few years, was asked to supply stock for Westley Richards – a leading gun and rifle manufacturer with strong operations in England and the US. Today the company also stocks other gun and hunting-focused retailers across the world. Its Bulawayo factory employs 15 and has the capacity to produce 30 pairs of boots a day.
Prices vary depending on the type of boot and leather used. But in the US, the company's Courteney Safari boot can be bought for US$299 in Cape buffalo, $599 in hippo and $999 in Nile crocodile.
Surviving tough economic conditions
Prior to Zimbabwe's 2008 economic collapse, about half of The Courteney Boot Company's production was sold locally.
"We had a strong commercial farming sector which hosted a strong hunting community, vibrant tourist industry and varied local economy," notes Gale. "Every single town had at least one stockist, whether it was a farming co-op, seed company, hardware shop or even the gardening centre."
But current struggles have stifled domestic opportunities, and Gale says that today 99% of the company's production leaves the country.
"Our profit margins have also taken a knock because of higher production costs, such as electricity, labour, raw materials – and just the business of doing business in Zimbabwe. There is little consistency in pricing in the country at present."
Gale says that while they managed to keep operations going during the country's 2008 crisis, the business was forced to temporarily move manufacturing operations to South Africa as they were unable to get their exports out of Zimbabwe.
"[The products] were backed up at Harare's airport waiting for a plane, but almost no carriers were flying in at that time. So John and I went to South Africa – to the shoemaking industry, which is centred in Durban and Pinetown – and visited several stitch-down manufacturers to find a temporary home for our production," she says.
"There were many hurdles, and it was a long commute from Bulawayo, which was very draining. We were profoundly relieved when we could bring everything and everyone back home."
Keeping a long-term perspective
Zimbabwe has recently banned the imports of some products – including placing heavy import restrictions on goods from South Africa. The country has also limited access to foreign currencies as a result of shortages in the market. But Gale says the company's focus on export sales has also helped it survive.
"Since we export almost all of our production, the import ban has not affected us. As exporters we are not denied access to our forex earnings."
The majority of each boot is made from locally obtained game-skin leathers, and the company can still source its packaging material and fabrics in Zimbabwe. However, rubber for the soles, as well as the cements, threads and lacing components, have to be imported from all over the world.
So what does it take to weather challenging business conditions? According to Gale, a willingness to make sacrifices and a long-term view are essential.
"As more and more providers of goods and services close down we've had to work harder to achieve any particular result. I've had to go back to school to learn many skills that we used to be able to rely on [someone local] to perform," continues Gale.
"Our factory manager, Helen, knows every single retired engineer with a lathe (a machine for shaping materials) in his garage, and every hole-in-the-wall operation that has the potential to help in some way."
Tags: Bulawayo, Courteney Boot Company, Gale Rice, John Rice, Manufacturing, Zimbabwe

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
M855 Ammo Ban
February 23, 2015 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
You don't want to run out of ammo. But that's what could happen to M855 ammo if the BATF's announced plan to reclassify 223/5.56 (M855) takes hold. There's nothing like a government planned ban to clear the shelves.
You may recall how hard it was to buy .22LR caliber ammo just a few years ago. Today, supplies are still tight but I've been able get a few bricks here and there. Last week I paid around $.08 per round but with shipping it was bumped up to $0.09. I know you can do better than that if you know where to look.
The key for .22LR is to buy local. Try and visit your gun shop on a regular basis and ask them to email you when it's available. That's the best way to guarantee you're getting the best price. Don't wait for a government ban to clear the shelves on a most valuable commodity.
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.
E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family's boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the "Live Free or Die" state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.
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Girls basketball: Torn ACL puts Reed's Williams out a year
Chris Gabel
RGJ
Reed star Gabby Williams on Tuesday learned the extent of her right knee injury: complete tear of the ACL and partial tear of the meniscus.
"Not the news I thought I would get," the Reed junior said of the MRI results. "I thought I was fine, walking around the house."
Williams, who was injured 30 seconds into Saturday's game at Reno, will undergo surgery Feb. 11 and is expected to miss a calendar year. She won't be able to help the Raiders defend their state title and won't defend the back-to-back state high jump titles she won the past two years.
"It's super frustrating," the region's top recruit for both basketball and track said. "... But I still have another year and I still have all my offers. All the (college) coaches have been very supportive. That's what I was most worried about.
"I still have my future ahead of me."


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Moreover, your federal estate tax exclusion is "portable." Let's say you die first and leave everything to your spouse, who is a U.S. citizen. Upon your spouse's death, the amount that can be bequeathed free of federal estate taxes would be twice as much, or $22.8 million, and probably more because of intervening inflation adjustments to your spouse's estate tax exclusion. Your unused exclusion amount, however, wouldn't increase with inflation after your death.
Portability isn't automatic, so it's important that your spouse and executor consult a qualified attorney. To claim the unused exemption, your spouse will typically have to file with the IRS within nine months of your death. Portability is claimed on Form 706, which is used for estate tax returns. Your spouse will likely have to pay an accountant to prepare the return, but it may be worth it, even if your combined assets are currently well below $11.4 million. The reason: Between your death and your spouse's death, the housing or financial markets might rise sharply or your spouse could receive an inheritance—and suddenly estate taxes are a big issue.
What if your spouse is a U.S. resident, but not a citizen? You can't take advantage of the unlimited marital deduction, but you could still benefit from the usual $11.4 million federal estate tax exclusion, so estate taxes shouldn't be an issue for most couples. While you're alive, you are also limited in how much you can give each year, without worrying about the gift tax, to a spouse who isn't a U.S. citizen. But again, the limit is high—$155,000 in 2019.


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vallecrocchio » Rock » Jimi Hendrix - In Memoriam - That Unforgettable Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix - In Memoriam - That Unforgettable Jimi Hendrix download album
Jimi_Hendrix Blues_Rock 1973
Performer: Jimi Hendrix
Album: In Memoriam - That Unforgettable Jimi Hendrix
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On this page you can listen to mp3 music free or download album or mp3 track to your PC, phone or tablet.
1970 Утром 18 сентября 1970 года был найден мертвым в номере отеля Samarkand в Лондоне.
2009 Журнал Time назвал Хендрикса величайшим гитаристом всех времен.
All formats Album CD CD Album CD Single CD Maxi Vinyl records LP 7 inchs 7 inchs (SP) 7 inchs (EP) 12 inchs 78 rpm 10 inchs DVD VHS Tape Clothing T-Shirt Others. Jimi hendrix & curtis knight in memoriam jimi hendrix. jimi hendrix curtis knight (1). Title.
Bleeding Heart is one of several names given to albums of a 1968 jam session with Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and others. The albums were fashioned from an informal two-track tape recording made by Hendrix that was subsequently stolen from his apartment. Although it presents a unique setting, critics and biographers have generally found fault with the sound quality and Morrison's performance.
Forty-two years ago Jimi Hendrix died at the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill in London . Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.
Jimi Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter whose career spanned from 1962 to 1970. His discography includes the recordings released during his lifetime. Prior to his rise to fame, he recorded 24 singles as a backing guitarist with American R&B artists, such as the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. Beginning in late 1966, he recorded three best-selling studio albums and 13 singles with the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Jimi Hendrix - Rock guitarist who, in his short lifetime, brought a fire. The concert event of the year returns this October. Get your tickets today for the 2019 Experience Hendrix Tour and celebrate the music and legacy of the world's greatest guitarist, Jimi Hendrix. 299. 14. Our BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE ticket pre-sale offer ends tomorrow night at 10pm (local time). Don't miss this chance to unlock the best seats in the venue for the 2019 Experience Hendrix Tour.
Stages (Jimi Hendrix album). Stages is a box set consisting of live performances by Jimi Hendrix covering four years of his career. Disc One is the September 5, 1967 concert in Stockholm. Disc Two is the January 29, 1968 concert in Paris; this was later released on Dagger Records as part of Live in Paris & Ottawa 1968.
Jimi Hendrix performs at the Marquee Club in London in 1967. Unreleased songs recorded by Jimi Hendrix between 1968 and 1970 will be released next year. Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings announced Wednesday that they will release Hendrix's Both Sides of the Sky on March 9, 2018. The 13-track album includes 10 songs that have never been released. Hendrix died in 1970 at age 27. The new album is the third volume in a trilogy from the guitar hero's archive. Valleys of Neptune was released in 2010, followed by People, Hell and Angels, released in 2013. Eddie Kramer, who worked as recording.
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Chernobyl is becoming a visitor hotspot because of a new HBO series
Posted 10:08 AM, June 13, 2019, by CNN Wire
It was the scene of the world's worst nuclear disaster, but three decades later Chernobyl is emerging as one of the planet's hottest tourism tickets after a new TV series.
For the past few years, a steady stream of adventurous visitors has been drawn to the macabre spectacle of the deserted, decaying city around the power station.
Since the recent launch of HBO series "Chernobyl," travel interest in the location of the horrific nuclear explosion has surged dramatically, according to local tour operators.
The miniseries, starring Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson, dramatizes the aftermath of the disaster. It was the highest-ranked TV show on film and TV database IMDB as its fifth and final episode aired earlier this month.
Visitor surge
Although "Chernobyl" was mainly filmed in Lithuania, its success has seen demand for tours of the area near the infamous Ukrainian site increase by around a third.
Located near the city of Pripyat, around 110 kilometers north of Kiev, Chernobyl is one of the most polluted places in the world and can only be visited with a licensed guide.
Various tour companies offer guided trips into the "exclusion zone," which covers an area of more than 4,000 square kilometers around the nuclear power plant.
"We have seen a 35% rise in bookings," Victor Korol, director of SoloEast, said. SoloEast is a tour company which has been offering trips to parts of Chernobyl for two decades.
"Most of the people say they decided to book after seeing this show. It's almost as though they watch it and then jump on a plane over," he said.
Unlikely attraction
Korol said the most popular tours are one-day group bookings, which cost around $99 per person.
Much of the area has been open to tourists since 2011, but some sections, such as the "machine cemetery" of Rossokha village, remain off-limits.
However, travelers can visit the abandoned city of Pripyat, as well an observation point around 300 meters away from the New Safe Confinement, a massive steel sarcophagus that covers the remains of the nuclear reactor.
According to Korol, the reactor unit and a Ferris Wheel at Pripyat's deserted amusement park are the most popular with visitors.
SoloEast has been taking between 100 and 200 visitors to the area on weekend days since "Chernobyl" hit screens.
Safety questions
Although Chernobyl has been declared safe to visit, Korol admits many guests express concerns about radiation levels.
"It's the most popular question visitors ask," he said. "But it's absolutely safe. The government would never allow tourists to come otherwise.
"The radiation they [visitors] are exposed to on a tour is less than on an intercontinental flight." (If you're wondering how much radiation that is, we're talking less than a chest x-ray).
The deadly Chernobyl accident on April 26, 1986, occurred after a routine test at one of the power plant's reactors went catastrophically wrong.
While the explosion directly caused around 31 deaths, millions of people were exposed to dangerous radiation levels.
Subsequently, the final death toll as a result of long-term radiation exposure is much disputed.
Although the UN predicted up to 9,000 related cancer deaths back in 2005, Greenpeace later estimated up to 200,000 fatalities, taking further health problems connected to the disaster into account.
Considered the world's worst nuclear power plant accident, the Chernobyl clean-up operation is still in progress 33 years later.
Topics: Chernobyl, HBO
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Home Sports Girls volleyball flooded with new blood
Girls volleyball flooded with new blood
Ben Shofet, staff writer
With only 19 returning players to the girls volleyball program, volleyball coach Eriko Gambol accepted 20 new freshman to the entire volleyball program.
This year, the frosh/soph team is solely composed of freshman, while JV is a mix of freshmen and sophomores. This year the frosh/soph coach, Eriko Gambol, had to expand his roster from 12 to 16 players.
"It's tough because you want everyone to make it, but there were a lot of freshmen trying out this year. We had to put a cap on it; we can't take all 35 of them," Gambol said.
According to frosh/soph player Juliette Collet, most of the freshmen who have had any sort of game experience were moved up to JV, leaving all but one freshman on the team with no game experience.
"I'm kind of nervous for the upcoming season because I never really played in an actual game before," frosh/soph player Danna Rosman said.
Many of the returning players in the volleyball program are confident in the talent that the freshmen have to offer to their program.
"The freshmen have shown a lot of talent so far and I think they are going to really improve our program," JV player Carina Massana said.
Alexandria Hunter, a junior who is out for the season due to injury, is confident that her coaches and teammates will "prosper" and "become better" throughout their high school career.
"By the time they're seniors we are going to have a really good varsity team," Hunter said.
The influx of new members to the volleyball program was caused by the empty spots created by students who dropped the program, according to JV player Emilia Kyriazis.
"I think it's great that a lot of freshman are joining because it's building up a strong team for the future. But I remember last year I was on the bench every single game…and I learned nothing. I'd hate to see all of those freshmen not being able to play and learn the game this year," Kyriazis said.
However, Gambol has stressed that playing time will be not be an issue this year on his frosh/soph team.
"Playing time is not a concern for me because everyone will be playing. Everyone will have equal playing time. It's the only way they are going to get better," Gambol said.
For now, Gambol is focused on preparing his freshman squad for their future in Beverly volleyball.
"For me, watching their growth from season one to season four, that's what's exciting to me," Gambol said. "To see where they came from, where they started and where they will end up and that's what excites me."
eriko gambol
frosh/soph
Norman Nation
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What's competency framework for Indian civil servants? UN-DoPT meet to debate
Competency Framework?
THE government may soon work on a competency framework for Indian civil servants. The concept which is a part of the Draft National Training Policy will be discussed and debated in a national meet on human resource management to be held in New Delhi. The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has partnered with an UN agency United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to host the meet on November 28-29, 2011.
The international speakers are expected to talk on competency framework and highlight lessons learnt in other countries. They will touch upon innovations and practical solutions too.
The DoPT has now requested the cadre controlling authorities of All India Services and organized Group A services to "nominate suitable officers of the rank of joint secretary/director conversant with the cadre controlling functions of All India Services" to participate in the conference.
Secretary Sikri moots Bal Panchayat concept
DK Sikri, secretary in the ministry of women and child development, has mooted an idea of Bal Panchayat in every village for empowerment of children in rural areas: He believes there should be Bal Panchayat and Bal Sabha in every village which would help in making children aware of parliamentary traditions in the country. Sikri said it while interacting with youth in a youth parliament held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Babu Marriage
a) The government has transferred Ms Sandeep Kaur, a 2010 batch Punjab cadre IAS, from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh cadre on the ground of marriage to Yogesh Kumar, a 2010 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS.
b) The government has transferred Ms Manisha Trighatia, a 2002 batch Punjab cadre IAS, from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh on the ground of marriage to Pankaj Kumar, a 2002 batch UP cadre IAS.
Labels: competency framework, DoPT


For the past several weeks, I have been happily in untraining mode. I have been drinking beer and wine without worrying about calories or whether I have to get up early the next day. I have been generally eating whatever I feel like, including french fries, potato chips, and soy ice cream. My bikes and runs have been mellow and I didn't even keep track of them! I have no idea how far I ran or biked and I often didn't even know how long they took. I just went and enjoyed. It was great. Yoga practice was frequent as was walking the dog. It was lovely.
This morning, though, was the beginning of my training plan for Ironman Part Deux. It is less than 9 months away and we all know that a lot can happen in nine months! I am currently easing myself back into training – 5 workouts a week with 2 days off. That is pretty sweet to me. I still get some time to myself and with my puppy. It's for 6 weeks that I do that. 6 weeks after that is up to 7 times a week, according to my coach's Macrocycle schedule. Right now I'm increasing my distance and then I'll be increasing intensity of the workouts. I have my schedule until Christmas, so I can plan everything around that.
I have decided this time to do things a little bit differently: I'm combining some club workouts with my own schedule. I am going to swim with the Saskatoon Tri Club on Fridays for something different. On Tuesdays, starting in November, I'm going to do a coached spin class for bikers. On Thursdays, I'm doing an advanced yoga class. In between those, I'll be doing my own coached program set up by my coach and buddy, Dan.
This morning's 6km run wasn't too bad, but my IT band and knee were sore again. As was my right ankle. I think I need new shoes in addition to a massage. So I'm planning to get both this week. I am only running once a week right now, which is good. I got into an ice-cold shower right after the run and did some yoga after that, which helped a bit, but on my bike commute to work, I could feel the elastic bands in my knee feeling a bit tighter than I would like. I have no idea what the ankle bit is about. I think it's protesting because it wants new shoes.


If you're a business owner or manager, holiday marketing is something that you probably should have thought of months ago. Marketing plans should technically be in place 6-12 months in advance. This allows for planning, budgeting, and the ability to add a new idea or event without panicking.
The reality though is that a lot of businesses only develop their marketing plans few weeks in advance. So with Q4 looming, here are a few tricks to boost your holiday marketing efforts.
The old adage "team work makes the dream work" rings true even with marketing. Find another business to collaborate with for an event or joint marketing effort.
Pick a business with a bigger social media presence or email mailing list than you, so that you can leverage the business's broader reach.
Then offer a complete marketing plan and offer to do most of the heavy lifting like event descriptions, clean up, and hosting to make it easy for them to say yes.
Get customers through your doors before the holiday craze begins, and incentivize them to purchase early.
Offer discounts, deals, preview nights, VIP customer access and more as a way to bring them into your business. Invite customers onto your site with a value proposition that is meaningful for them. For example, if you're a bakery, host a free class on how to decorate cookies. If you're a brewery, maybe it's a beer tasting.
Once customers are through your doors find ways to get them to spend money right away or soon after the event. Use the time that you have with them to promote whatever holiday specials, products or services you offer. Don't wait for the customer to get into the holiday mood. It's your job to get them there.
Your staff should have a specific daily sales goal for Q4. If you're a retailer, try to add on one item to every sale they ring up. If you're a restaurant, make it a goal to have every table order at least 1 dessert. If you're a gym, try to get every member to buy a one-month package for their loved one.
Keep the goal simple and specific. Make sure your staff knows what the goal is and give tips on how to execute.
Management can even make it into a game by giving prizes to the staff member or members who perform the best by the end of the day, week, or month.
Lindsay Anvik is a business coach and international keynote speaker. Her seminars and consulting have been praised by major museums, Fortune 500 companies, and small mom and pop business owners. Her company, See Endless, consults with businesses by playing the role of both coach and cheerleader.


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All you need to know about VENOM virtualization vulnerability
Much has been said about the VENOM vulnerability, which is part of the new-age phenomena of Virtualization.
Much has been said about the VENOM vulnerability, the latest in an increasingly long line of bugs affecting vast swaths of the Internet. It's an old-school bug of the relatively new-age phenomena of Virtualization.
Virtual machines are independently operational computers within computers. The so-called cloud is merely a vast network of virtual machines. An attacker could exploit VENOM in order to escape one virtualized environment and run code in another.
Some of the more enthusiastic, or perhaps sensational, journalists have called VENOM more impactful than the now-infamous Heartbleed OpenSSL vulnerability. However, I think the best response came from noted security researcher, Dan Kaminsky.
Such is the nature of the security industry today when every major bug has a hashtag-ready name, it's own logo, and a PR team crowing it the worst vulnerability ever
"I think that we've really lost something when we move to these linear rankings of bug versus bug," Kaminsky told Dennis Fisher on Threatpost's Digital Underground podcast. "This isn't Iron Man versus Captain America. This isn't the freaking Avengers; this is science."
Such is the nature of the security industry today when every major bug is assigned a unique, hashtag-ready name, has it's own logo and a public relations team crowing it the worst vulnerability ever.
"Bad bugs happen," Kaminsky explained later on in the podcast. "They're still bad, but we go ahead and deal with them… It was a big problem. We went ahead and we fixed it. Things were a lot worse; we privately went around and did everything we could on a private scale and now we're talking about it publicly to get the rest of the stuff. That's what we do. That's the game we play."
#VENOM Flaw in #Virtualization Software Could Lead to VM Escapes, Data Theft – https://t.co/p2CXHhX6Gb
— Threatpost (@threatpost) May 13, 2015
This is not to downplay the severity of VENOM, because it is quite severe. Virtualization and virtual machines play an increasingly critical and important role in the modern Internet. Virtual machines enable cloud-computing, which our service providers rely on more now than ever, mainly because it's cheaper to buy virtual space from, say, Amazon than it is to run your own server farm. In this way, an able attacker could buy space from a cloud server provider, escape the virtual environment he paid for, and move into any other virtual machine operating under the same host.
All you need to know about #VENOM #virtualization #vulnerability
Beyond that, this bug could have an impact on malware testers too. Most malware analysts intentionally infect virtual machines with malware. From there, they can examine how the malware works in a safe, quarantined environment. VENOM has the potential to let that malware move out of the quarantine environment and into other, connected computing spaces.
As mentioned above, the bug is an old one. In fact, it exists in the virtual floppy disk controller component that is included in a number of popular virtualization platforms. That's right: floppy disks. Feel free to let us know in the comments the last time you used one of those, let alone saw a floppy disk drive on a usable computer.
@micahflee pic.twitter.com/bZWwbxgiN7
— Yael Grauer (@yaelwrites) May 14, 2015
In an interview published before the podcast, Kaminsky told Threatpost's Fisher that VENOM is something of a pay-to-play bug. An attacker can buy cloud space from a provider and then exploit VENOM to gain local privilege within the cloud-space of a target using the same provider. Certain cloud companies, he explained, offer enhanced hardware isolation at a premium. He claims its worth paying this premium in order to outbid potential attackers.
VENOM, which, for what it's worth, stands for Virtualized Environment Neglected Operations Manipulation, was discovered by Jason Geffner, a senior security researcher at CrowdStrike.
Full technical details of VENOM (CVE-2015-3456) vulnerability now live on CrowdStrike's official blog – http://t.co/Pmp6u7mTp3
— Jason Geffner (@JasonGeffner) May 15, 2015
There isn't really anything we, the users, can do to protect ourselves here – as is so often the case – other than to hope that our cloud service and other virtualization providers fix the problem as soon as possible. The good news is twofold. Firstly, most affected vendors have already issued a patch for the problem and secondly, a new proof-of-concept has illustrated that VENOM is actually harder to exploit than experts initially thought.
Several factors mitigate the #Venom bug's utility – http://t.co/eiT6AYVsgG pic.twitter.com/ksUpvwvrOS
— Kaspersky Lab (@kaspersky) May 18, 2015
From the perspective of the every-day-Internet-user, I think the real lesson here is to realize just how ubiquitous virtualization is online in 2015.
Transatlantic Cable podcast, episode 283
Naikon APT steals geopolitical data from the South China Sea
A new, Chinese-language APT has emerged, seeking geopolitical information and targeting nations in and around the South China Sea


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The Ins and Outs of Student Government at the U
Laura Seymour and Mina Brown at the welcome desk at the ASUU offices in the Ray A. Olpin Student Union on the University of Utah Campus, Salt Lake City, UT on Thursday, July 13, 2017(Photo by Adam Fondren | Daily Utah Chronicle)
By Abhilasha Khatri, News Writer
A Closer Look at ASUU and Its Processes
ASUU is the student government at the University of Utah and technically every student enrolled at the U is a part of it. The ASUU government has three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.
The executive branch includes the Presidency: the student body president, vice president of university relations, vice president of student relations, the chief of staff, as well as the directors of 11 different boards.
The judicial branch includes the attorney general and the supreme court, composed of seven court justices. It is the responsibility of the ASUU's judicial branch to hold the other two branches accountable to the constitution and bylaws of ASUU, known as the Redbook. The attorney general is elected campus-wide, while the court justices are nominated by the president and approved by the senate.
The legislative branch is made up of two chambers: the senate and the assembly. The number of senators representing each college at the U is equal, while the number of representatives elected to the assembly is reflective of the number of students enrolled in the college.
Muskan Walia is a second-year student at the U studying math and philosophy. She is the senator for the College of Science, as well as the senate treasurer.
Walia said a big part of her job as a senator is determining how best to appropriate funds based on the needs of students in the college. In order to gauge these needs, interaction with the student body and the student councils representing the college are essential.
"Each senator has a student council … and that's kind of our gateway into understanding student needs within our respective colleges," Walia said. "We are granted funding that we work with throughout the year with our college student council to try to figure out the needs of the college and how we can appropriately spend that money to make sure that it's being used for student needs and alleviating any burdens that there might be."
Walia said student councils are a way that students can directly voice their ideas and concerns to the senator representing their college.
Individual senators decide how to organize their student council. Walia says in the College of Science, everyone is welcome to join, but there are also leadership opportunities for those who want a more solidified role.
She recommends that students interested in joining their college's student council go to Campus Connect for their respective college and find out what the specific process is, it does not involve a formal election process. They can also reach out to their college's senator, whose emails can be found in the senate directory.
Walia says as a senator, it is also her responsibility to gauge the opinion of her constituents when it comes to voting for campus-wide initiatives.
"I also get to go to the academic senate meetings, which is comprised of a lot of faculty and that's where a lot of like the really, really big campus-wide decisions are made," Walia said. "So I also make sure that I'm talking to constituents, that is, College of Science students, and kind of understanding their take on specific bills that may be presented in the academic senate or the student senate, just to make sure that my vote is reflective of the College of Science and their opinions."
Walia said she became interested in running for senator after experience with student advocacy in high school, and exposure to ASUU through First Year Council. When she saw that the College of Science was lacking a voice in the senate due to an unfilled position, she decided to apply.
From the other half of the legislature, Isabel Cossa is a second-year student in the vocal performance program and assembly representative for the College of Fine Arts. She says most of her work in the legislative assembly involves securing funding for student groups on campus.
"The legislative assembly works with student groups to get them funding for projects and things like food for events, guest speakers, things like that," Cossa said. "So we help them write bills and then submit them to the assembly so that they can receive a reimbursement for those things for their club."
The process for getting such a bill passed begins with student groups submitting a form online, getting assigned to a representative and engaging in a meeting with the representative.
"We talk about the purpose of the bill and try to think of any questions that the rest of the assembly representatives might have during the meeting where we're debating all the bills … before that, the finance committee goes over them just to make sure they're following the guidelines of the Redbook … then the final process is the legislative meeting where we have debate and questions on the bill and then either pass it or not pass it," Cossa said.
Cossa has helped a variety of student groups, ranging from a music and medicine group to Crimson Gaming.
"[Crimson Gaming has] this annual big event each year, they rented a whole movie theater, it's this huge thing," Cossa said. "So that was really cool to hear about and help them get reimbursed for that."
Cossa was also led to her position after being part of the First Year Council as a freshman and hearing about the position from another member. She did not have the typical experience of running a campaign, as she applied for a spot that was open after the main campaign and was inducted after an application and interview process.
Walia ran for the senate in an unconventional year where the process was entirely online, but said it was still a fun and exciting process.
During her time as a senator, one project Walia has seen from start to end is a project to increase printer accessibility on campus.
"I noticed as I was talking to other people on campus that printing things on campus was really really difficult and getting really pricey for students," she said. "So I started thinking about it in like September of when I entered the campus, and really, like put together a team … We started brainstorming and figuring out a way to make it happen, and that was through a joint resolution."
The joint resolution passed through the senate but encountered logistical hurdles with funding. Walia and her team continued to work on these issues throughout the summer, and the resolution has since been passed through both legislative bodies, providing a sum of money that will allow people to get free printing on campus. Walia says the project should be put into action by next semester.
Another project Walia is working on, which is in its earlier stages, is providing free menstruation products on campus.
"I'm working with committees on campus and stakeholders on campus to make that happen. We [ASUU] are in a really special position where [we] have access to funds to pursue these initiatives that could make student life a little bit easier," Walia said.
How To Get Involved With ASUU
To run for office, the first step is filing on the ASUU website, which Walia says is a very quick process that requires very basic information including name, email address and the position someone wants to run for.
Before filing, one needs to be declared in a major affiliated with the college they want to represent. Walia said a great way to research the expectations of the position someone is interested in is to talk to people currently in those positions.
After filing, potential candidates are added to a Canvas page with training and quizzes to help them understand their obligations and responsibilities if they were to win.
Walia said candidates have support from ASUU the whole way and are given flexibility in how they want to use their budget to produce campaign materials.
"You have people from marketing … depending on what you're running for, you're given a budget where you can decide how you want to use that," Walia said. "So you could get like lawn signs or like little posters. You get an opportunity to get a headshot done, you write down your bio that will be presented on the ballots. Then typically you would table … you just kind of put your signs up, talk to students, amplify your platform."
In terms of voting, students get ballots based on their college, which look different to include their specific choices for senator and assembly representatives. Voting is open for a week, typically in February, and Walia said students access their ballots during this time by going into the student homepage on CIS and clicking the ASUU tab.
In terms of advice for students who want to run for senate or other positions in ASUU, Walia said to go for it and be genuine.
"Be very authentic and genuine and understand why you want to run," Walia said. "Your number one reason should be that you want to help the student body … and advocate for your peers. There's so many different ways to be involved … you can run for attorney general or run for a student senator or assembly rep or on the presidential ticket, but they can also get involved in the different boards that ASUU has … the diversity board, the sustainability board, the finance board … I promise you that there is going to be even more than one place that needs you and needs your voice."
Cossa recommends following the ASUU Instagram page for "opportunities like open seats, events that are going on, and scholarships on campus," and also reaching out to people currently holding positions for more information.
"Talk to a representative … just shoot them an email, say, 'Hey, can you tell me a little bit about your position?' I'm sure they would be more than willing to tell you," Cossa said.
Current open positions in ASUU can be found online. A directory of current members and information on the roles of each branch and specific positions can be found at the ASUU website and are outlined in the Redbook.
@a_khatri_news
Abhilasha Khatri, News Writer
Abhilasha Khatri is a news writer at The Daily Utah Chronicle. She is a first-year student double majoring in biology and health, society & policy, with the goal of attending medical school in the future. If she's not studying, writing, volunteering or doing research, she's probably binge-watching a TV show in a foreign language.


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Michael J. Jassak
Martin Law Office, S.C.
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Website: www.martin-law-office.com
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Michael was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Marquette University Law School from 1988 through 2016. Michael is committed to using his knowledge and expertise to provide attorneys and their clients with a fair and postive mediation experience.
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All posts tagged scotia
Rolling Stone '11 artists to watch in 2011′ profiles: Guineafowl, Miracle, Nova Scotia, May 2011
In their May 2011 issue, Rolling Stone named 11 'artists to watch' in 2011: Kimbra, Kids At Risk, Gold Fields, Tim & Jean, Zowie, Bleeding Knees Club, Metals, Royal Headache, Guineafowl, Miracle, and Nova Scotia.
I wrote short profiles of the latter three artists. Scanned images and text below.
Solo artist gets collaborative with the release of debut EP
Who: What began as a solo project in bandleader Sam Yeldham's bedroom has since blossomed into a full-fledged indie pop band. Guineafowl released their first EP, Hello Anxiety, and Yeldham sees the concept progressing in a way that "strengthens that duality" between the band and the solo act. There's always the possibility that a Guineafowl show could be Yeldham solo, or it could be with all six members. "It's a matter of trying to marry the band with what I can do on my own," he says.
Back Story: Hello Anxiety was recorded with pop whiz Scott Horscroft (Silverchair, The Presets) over two days. Owing to the mixture of full-band and solo recordings, Yeldham, 24, says the live shows are "quite different beasts".
What's Next: Yeldham plans to be a career artist. "I try to make it my day job. I work in a bar on the weekend, and spend my days recording and writing. Treating it like an occupation doesn't zap the spontaneity out of it.
Ghana-born rapper's mixtapes land him Sony deal, plus unexpected exposure
Who: Miracle – born Blessed Samuel Joe-Anbah – is a Sydney-based MC and producer who signed a record deal with Sony Music after finishing high school last year. The Ghana-born 18 year-old also has a production deal with Sony publishing imprint Nufirm. His 's mixtape releases drew Sony's ire at first, but now they're all for it. "They see it as a good way for me to gain fans without their help," he says.
Back Story: Despite lacking a musical background, Miracle heard 50 Cent's Get Rich Or Die Trying in 2003 and decided to try his hand at rapping, although he wasn't looking for a deal. "I thought that I might wait a couple of years and let my name bubble around, and create bigger hype for my first record. I didn't think it'd happen this fast."
What's Next? Miracle is currently working on his debut LP, and is touring this month on Supafest alongside headliners Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Timbaland.
Indie rockers weigh up their options after success of debut LP
Who: Brisbane-based indie quintet Nova Scotia's self-titled debut album was released in February. "We'd like to make a career out of it," says singer/guitarist Scott Brique, "but Australia's such a big country, and we're all working. It's a bit hard to throw away what's potentially a lot of money in pursuit of a funny little thing. But we all love it."
Back Story: When Brique's last band, Toadracer, folded while recording an album, he put the call out so that he could finish what he's started. He'd found four local musicians to record their debut EP, 2007's Bear Smashes Photocopier, within "a few weeks".
What's Next?: Besides returning to the studio to "belt out the next one," Brique says, he also hints at the possibility of their first interstate tour in June or July.
No Comments / Music Journalism, Published Writing / Andrew McMillen
Mess+Noise album review: Nova Scotia – 'Nova Scotia', March 2011
An album review for Mess+Noise. Excerpt below.
Nova Scotia – Nova Scotia
After two EPs and several years spent gigging at every Brisbane venue imaginable, this self-titled album is indie rock quintet Nova Scotia's first full-length. Released via Lofly Records and mixed by label co-founder Andrew White (Mr. Maps, restream), Nova Scotia is just as demonstrative of the band's songwriting abilities as their previous discs (2007's Bear Smashes Photocopier and 2008's Maritime Disasters), but the sonic differences here are instantly noticeable.
As great as those EPs were, the recording and production – or lack thereof – left a lot to be desired. Here, the instruments can each be heard clearly in the mix, but they haven't lost that sense of five dudes jamming in a room, which has always been a big part of Nova Scotia's charm.
Two re-recorded tracks from Photocopier ('Second Sun' and 'Everything's Perfect') appear early in the piece, and while they sound better than ever, here's where nostalgia ends. There isn't a bad idea on Nova Scotia; if anything, the songs get better as the record progresses. Instrumental opener 'Teeming With Voices' is seemingly intended as the band's theme song, and they frequently open their live sets with it too. Three different guitar tones sit atop clattering percussion. More than once, you get the feeling that it's all about to cave in on itself. This sense of tension pervades most of the tracks here, and crucially, it's an asset, not a distraction.
For the full review, visit Mess+Noise, where you can also stream the album's final track, 'The World Is Not Enough'. For more Nova Scotia, visit their Myspace.
No Comments / Music Criticism, Published Writing / Andrew McMillen


Change true to false to disable Vsync.
In-game mouse settings. These controls cannot be remapped.
Mouse controls cannot be remapped. Controls can be remapped for both Player 1 and 2.
Mouse speed can be adjusted in Mouse Controls, but there is no acceleration.
Music, FX and Voice Chat volume sliders.
Both players can choose between Keyboard, Mouse and Gamepad controls to play. Co-op is Survival mode.
Changing fullscreen to "No" in-game as well as setting FULLSCREEN = false in the config.txt result in an unplayable scenario in which the game's render resolution is significantly larger than the window size itself.
↑ 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/61730/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (61730) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
↑ Critter Crunch » Blog Archive » CRITTER CRUNCH HITS STEAM, SEPTEMBER 11.
This page was last edited on 12 April 2018, at 03:49.


Simply Vintage Designs was born from a love of all things vintage and handmade.
Combining my two passions I have developed a product range that is constantly evolving, created from unusual vintage china, cutlery, glassware, haberdashery and fabrics.
I handpick both original vintage and antique items to sit alongside new yet vintage inspired homewares and gifts.
As a devotee of all things vintage I hope my items will bring a little vintage charm into the world.
Where did it all start......?
Well, i started crafting when i was knee high to a grasshopper - although i guess it wasn't really crafting - more like making a mess!!
I was obsessed with my mum's button box - would constantly play and count out the array of pretty things!
But the real inspiration for Simply Vintage came from our wedding.
So we began planning our epic wedding....we had worked briefly in the Wedding industry and so were quite jaded by the whole traditional thing - so we started planning a Vegas ceremony and huge party back here.
This was our Wedding in 2010 at the Paris Hotel Las Vegas with 30 of our closest friends and family - best day ever!
We're so thrilled to welcome Melissa Waudby of Simply Vintage to the Hochanda family! We took some time to sit down with her and get to know her before her first live show on Thursday 21st April at 10am!
How did you get into vintage up-cycling?
I come from a long line of hoarders and make do-ers, so it is in my blood. I can never throw anything away or recycle without first thinking 'what can I make with that?'. I have always been creative and resourceful, as a teenager I tried my hand at making jewellery to earn a little extra pocket money, then after a spell at Drama school and working as an actress i used my creative thriftiness to make costumes and props for our theatre production company - which usually consisted of huge wild plans, but with teeny tiny budgets!
The turning point for my career was during preparations for our wedding in 2010, we decided to have a big celebration back in my home county of Yorkshire after getting married in Las Vegas, with just our close friends and family. We wanted fun, informal and reasonably priced event - that looked lavish and different! So i pretty much organised and made the whole thing, from the flowers and cake, to the table settings, invites, games and more. It was exhausting but exhilarating - I loved it, and so did the guest with many taking home the centrepieces and decorations - and others asking where they could buy the items from!
So later that year Simply Vintage Designs was born.
I started with items made from teacups, then china cake stands which were hugely popular at events due to the ability for customers to choose their own plates and create their own designs. Furniture and linens followed until i had an eclectic mix of products, which now includes cutlery jewellery, garden ornaments and many more designs. The kits began 2 years ago with the upsurge in creative crafting and up cycling. i now love helping customers create they own beautiful items from everyday things!
What do you love about working with vintage items?
The quality of vintage and antique items are just terrific. They were built to last a lifetime and some items are still serving their purpose 100 years on! The attention to detail on things such as tea ware, linens and clothing is just a delight - from hand painted tea cups to painstakingly embroidered tablecloths and napkins. The pieces that evoke an era of care and respect for things are my most favourite items, a lace hankie that was handmade for a wedding or christening, a tea-set that was built up piece by piece during a marriage, the scrupulously cleaned cake knife that once graced a wedding table. I love the memories that vintage items bring back - i show my items at a lot of public events and I never tire of hearing 'This reminds me of Aunties kitchen' or 'My Nan served us Sunday tea in one of those' the smile on the faces of people as they remember is priceless.
What is your design process? Where do you start?
I am constantly sourcing items for my own collections and for commissions - so for my own items I tend to let my imagination wander when I see something - which does result in a hoard of 'things to do in the future when I have time'.
I have a core of items I am always making but I like to try new things and new ideas. I have a note pad that is covered in scribbles of things to try. The beauty of my ability to store things is that I can usually find the perfect piece of china, lace or button just when I need it.
Everything around me. We recently moved from London to the Cambridgeshire countryside and as I love nature it is a haven for me. My items have become more nature inspired since moving here, there are a lot more animal prints and themes emerging.
I do spend a lot of time researching the past - how things were used in the early 1900's, how they were made and who would have bought them. This gives me good insight into what they can be used for now - a Victorian sugar shaker is now a popular and useful olive strainer!
Teacups into bird feeders, milk jugs into pin cushions and beautiful cutlery handles into jewellery - each item will inspire me into what it could become.
I have always been self-employed - from my days of being an actress to the producing and now Simply Vintage. I love the freedom of working for myself, the downside is always being busy!
Running your own business can be scary but also hugely rewarding - I love the fact that one day I will be rummaging through antique centres then the next I will be creating a whole range of vintage cake stands for a show! Life is certainly never boring….exhausting but not boring!
What's the one piece of advice you wish you'd known when starting up your own business?
Trust in your products and yourself - and be confident!
I am not a good waker-upper! I need at least two cups of tea to even think about getting going. I can work late into the evening but I hate mornings!! This is usually not good when a lot of my events and antique markets start before the crack of dawn! I usually go at least once a week to a large antique market or car boot to have a rummage and see what treasures I can find. So would be up and out by 6am with the hope of finding some lovely vintage treasures to inspire me. I really never go with a list as I like to see thing and then think 'oooh I can make that from it'.
After a couple of hours mooching, it is back to my little nook and the cleaning and planning begins for the items. A few more cups of coffee and it is on to the emails and website work, plus all the paperwork for events and shows that are coming up. I would also find the time for a scamp at the local park with my beloved Barney, a 10 year old Springer Spaniel - always a great stress reliever and he never fails to make me smile and laugh each day!
Later in the day I would begin making some new items or if I have commission on I would continue with that. I have just completed a mammoth 11 full costumes in 10 days for a theatre show over in the UAE so that kept me pretty busy.
I hate to sit still, my fingers get itchy, so even in the evening if i am on the sofa i like to be stitching or drawing!
Do you have any upcycling top tips that you can share with us?
Don't be afraid to try something different - sometimes the best things have come out of my trying something new and just seeing if it may work! I never worry about something failing - I can always re-make it or start again from scratch!
Try to keep a stash of lovely things - small pieces of lace, china, linens etc. as you never know when you may want to add a little vintage charm to something. Although this can be addictive - I am now the proud over of two storage units and a shed full of 'you never know when I might need these' things!!
What are the five pieces of equipment you couldn't be without?
Pencil - I am constantly making notes and scribbling ideas in a little notebook (or any scrap of paper!) in my bag while I am out and about.
My little drill, my husband's laughs at it as it is certainly not a boys toy drill - a small, medium powered one I picked up at a well know Swedish home store a few years ago for a bargain! It has lasted me and is the perfect size for cake stand drilling and jewellery making.
Sewing machine - from repairs of lovely vintage fabrics to reworking of linens into new pieces - plus all the costumes I still create with it!
A glue gun - I am always sticking and fixing and the ease of a good glue gun is invaluable!
Rubber Gloves! I am constantly cleaning china and cutlery and rarely a day goes by when I am not elbow deep in soap suds!
And for the future, what's next on your to do list?
Hochanda! I am so excited to be bringing my new ranges to your audiences - I love demonstrating crafts and new techniques so this is a dream for me! And of course creating new and innovative items to add to my ranges.
Are there any emerging trends for 2016?
Vintage is still very strong on both the high street and on the media, the mix and match ability of china is ever popular for events and in the home.
The trend is less focused on the florals and chintz nowadays and more on the pretty pastels - greens, pinks and blues are being favoured this summer.
Catch Melissa with Simply Vintage on 21st April at 10AM and 3PM, and find all your essential crafting materials on the Hochanda website to get creating!
Make sure you watch Hochanda ever day 24/7 for lots of fun and crafty demonstrations and inspiration! You can watch Hochanda live online, Sky channel 663 or Freesat 817.


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Q: Azure as mounted drives on local computers I am wondering if there is a way for me to mount a (or many) drive(s), assigning it a driveletter such as G: (on my local computer), and having that point to a Azure storage account.
I would also like to be able to mount the drive(s) on multiple computers (having it act a bit like dropbox).
What would be a good approach to accomplish this?
Edit: Windows Azure Drive looks to be intresting, but from what I understand, its only possible to mount on cloud/server systems, not a local computer? Not able to find any other info on this.

A: Doing this kind of stuff is a huge task. You need to understand Azure API and Windows API to make this happen. Look at the history of the tools I mention below, to see which challenges you have to solve on that way. Some offer an CLI - this could be the way to go to customize, if you develop a product and have constraints on time & budget.
I successfully used and can recommend CloudBerry Drive Desktop for mounting an Azure Blob container as a network share. The product has a large focus and offers syncing strategies. However the value of these tools depends largely on the use case you did not mention. Many Azure Explorer tools do not map Azure Storage entities into the concept of a network share or external drive, they just enable you to browse over Azure resources and read & write back data. Desktop applications that are based on project files referencing other files in project directories will usually not work. This is what I experienced.
The Windows Azure Storage Team Blog offers an overview of available tools on the market and even recently updated in May 2014.

*

*Windows Azure Storage Explorers (2014)
I tried and liked both tools from Cerebrata, well designed, but they did not match my use case having a project file based desktop application as I mentioned above.
The overview also contains the Windows Azure Storage Explorer that is an open source project at Codeplex. This could be useful to see some code, but the product can not compete with others in the overview.

A: disibox is a simple implementation of Dropbox using Windows Azure.  There is also CloudBerry Explorer for Windows Azure which provides drag & drop functionality but no drive mapping.  In BETA is CloudBerry Drive, which maps your cloud storage as a local disk to access and edit files in the cloud directly from the Windows Explorer interface.

A: You would be better off exploring OneDrive for Business (http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/office365-sharepoint-online-enterprise-help/what-is-onedrive-for-business-HA102822076.aspx) which can provide folder sync to local machines.
Azure File Service (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazurestorage/archive/2014/05/12/introducing-microsoft-azure-file-service.aspx) can provide standard shares that should (theoretically) be accessible to local machines via a VPN or ExpressRoute (but I suspect are not).
Azure File Service may provide a similar service to what you want in future but the latency to your on-premise environment would always be a challenge (and is what OneDrive is designed to manage).

A: With Azure File Shares, this is now out-of-the-box stuff. I know SO does not prefer "link answers", but it's really too much to repeat here, so go visit https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/storage-dotnet-how-to-use-files/ for a complete walkthrough.