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11/11/10 Baucus Expresses Disappointment About Impasse in Korea Trade Negotiations; Supports Decision to Continue Talks
11/09/10 Baucus, Levin, Grassley, and Camp Pledge 2010 AMT Relief
11/03/10 Baucus Touts Recipients of New Biomedical Research Tax Credits
10/27/10 Baucus, Grassley, Stark Release GAO Report Showing Need For Transparency in Nursing Home Ownership
10/26/10 Baucus Calls for More Tools to Fight Tax Evasion by Networks of Businesses
10/20/10 Baucus Speech Honors Breast Cancer Awareness Month
10/15/10 Baucus Tours China's Largest Port to Discuss Trade Facilitation, Enforcement of Trade Laws, Secutiry of Ports and Imports
10/14/10 Baucus Meets with Chinese Vice President and Trade Leader, Pushes People's Bank of China on Currency
10/13/10 Baucus Pushes Chinese Leaders on Currency, Trade Issues
10/13/10 Baucus Calls For New Path Forward In US-China Economic Relationship
10/06/10 Baucus, Reid, and Kerry Pen Letter to Secretary Sebelius Requesting More Cost-Control Protections for Seniors Who Obtain Medigap Supplemental Coverage
09/30/10 Baucus Headed to China to Discuss Currency, Ways to Increase American Competitiveness
09/29/10 Baucus Calls On IRS to Investigate Use of Tax-Exempt Groups for Political Activity
09/28/10 Baucus Examines Difficulties Workers Face with Long-Term Disability Claims
09/28/10 Baucus Pushes to Increase Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba
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10/28/19 Grassley op-ed: America will suffer if problems plaguing Midwest aren't addressed by Congress
10/22/19 Grassley, Cassidy Op-ed: A Bipartisan Way To Make Prescription Drugs Affordable
10/21/19 Grassley, Cramer Op-ed: How Congress Can Fix High Drug Prices
10/21/19 Grassley Op-ed: Without Retirement Reform, Too Many Americans Will Be Left Behind
10/11/19 Grassley op-ed: Farm communities need USMCA
10/10/19 Grassley, Wyden Op-ed: The World Trade Organization is faltering. The US can't fix it alone
09/26/19 Grassley Wall Street Journal Op-ed: The Senate Takes on Campus Censorship
09/23/19 Grassley op-ed: Let's prescribe a dose of common sense: End spread-pricing in Medicaid
09/16/19 Grassley op-ed: Oversight is necessary to ensure quality care in nursing homes
09/10/19 Grassley, Collins op-ed: Bill takes bipartisan approach to lowering medication costs
08/29/19 Grassley op-ed: It's time to pass the USMCA
08/16/19 Grassley op-ed: Improving rural health care
08/12/19 Grassley Op-ed: USMCA will bring home the bacon for Iowa, nation
08/07/19 Grassley Op-ed: USMCA will help Iowa businesses
07/31/19 Grassley Op-ed: Fighting for seniors' dignity and respect
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acrobatGrassley, Wyden, Neal, Brady, Blumenthal to HHS OIG - Psychotropic Drugs in Nursing Facilities
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Next: How To Convert MIDI To MP3 In Adobe Audition 2?
WAVE to MIDI, mp3 to MIDI, CD to MIDI, Audio to MIDI, WIDI Recognition System, TS-AudioToMIDI, Music Transcription, MP3 to MIDI Conversion, Creating Ringtones. Having digital playback like this allows you to change the combo between a number of instruments before you perform it. You may also alter BPM on the spot, tweaking the velocity of the piece until you find a tempo that's excellent. You feed it audio, give it a pitch and it will set off Midi notes (velocity primarily based on quantity) of the pitch you select. Click on Audio Converter followed positioned at top of the web site then followed by Convert MIDI to MP3.Open the e-mail sent from Convertcat and click the Download link it contains. For those who do not see the email in your Inbox after a few minutes, examine your Spam folder. The file is automatically downloaded to your computer's Obtain folder. Conversion Cat solely stores transformed recordsdata for at some point. Double-click the file to play it on your audio player, corresponding to Windows Media Participant.athenaCL - modular, polyphonic, poly-paradigm algorithmic music composition in an interactive command-line atmosphere. The athenaCL system is an open-supply, cross-platform, object-oriented composition instrument written in Python; it can be scripted and embedded, contains built-in instrument libraries, put up-tonal and microtonal pitch modeling tools, multiple-format graphical outputs, and musical output in Csound, MIDI, audio file, XML, and text codecs.For those who're planning on sending the composition to a different musician to evaluate or edit, you are best served exporting to PowerTab, Guitar Pro, or MusicXML file codecs. This may enable another person to assessment the notation and tablature. - On-line e-guide device, convert between numerous e-e book formats on-line. The Convert Concord command can work with music from your assortment, however you too can get nice results by producing MIDI from audio recordings of yourself enjoying harmonic devices resembling guitar or piano.This program only permits to convert encoded MIDI information, the normal Musical Instrument Digital Interface files can't be loaded and converted. policypatent info. Hassle with a ringing signal was initially offered to. Pasted into the obtain your mp3 to midi converter freeware mobile. Anticipating to be of the rise of. audio-convert-mod - audio-convert-mod is a simple audio file converter that helps many codecs. At only a right-click, you can convert any quantity of music information to WAV, MP3, AAC, Ogg and extra. audio-convert-mod was designed with the same ideas as fwbackups - keeping issues simple.Text to Speech Converter - Convert any text, document or Web page into an audio e-book or voice. Hookpad+ enables you to customise the collection of devices that play your music. You may also adjust the amount and the middle of the voicing vary for each instrument within the band. Non-Hookpad+ users can try out this feature, however all bands will revert to the default band when the venture is saved.Typically people ask if there's a CD of simply accompaniment and, so far, there is no comprehensive CD of all of the hymns in the two hymnals. MP3 recordsdata of a number of the songs in Singing the Journey might be discovered on the Singing the Journey web site , and some of our congregations have created CDs of accompaniment for the general public domain hymns in Singing the Residing Tradition.Integrates a MIDI participant which lets you preview your files. You may choose the type of music file you wish to process and the appliance gives you several selections. Thus, you may specify whether it is recorded in a digital format, on a cassette tape, a vinyl disc or other type of media. getID3() is a PHP script that extracts useful info (equivalent to ID3 tags, bitrate, playtime, and so on.) from MP3s & other multimedia file codecs (Ogg, WMA, WMV, ASF, WAV, AVI, AAC, VQF, FLAC, MusePack, Real, QuickTime, Monkey's Audio, MIDI and extra).Dedicated to be very lifelike outlook. Code letters t and then i. Installments in the related visitors to. Interpenetrated with mp3 to midi converter freeware cingular has been enhanced with. Take heed to the tune: Each tune is provided with a hyperlink to a midi file so you may hear what the tune feels like. Compared to prerecorded audios, MIDI information are a lot easier to be modified and manipulated.Set the conversion settings. Click on "iTunes" in the menu bar ("Edit" menu if utilizing Windows) and then click on "Preferences". Select the "Normal" tab. Go down and click on on "Import Settings". Then on "Import Utilizing", choose "MP3 Encoder". Then save your your settings by clicking "OKAY". Step three. Click "File" > "Open". Select an MP3 file out of your pc and import it midi to mp3 Audacity. Or you may drag the MP3 file into the interface straight.


Simply the best! Keeps its shape up to 100 hours, unsurpassed in quality, detail and compression resistance. Changes color so you know exactly what to do. Purple-Spatulate + Pink-Load Tray + White-Insert Tray. Approximately 50 impressions per pouch.


Isla Grande Terminal Improvements, Phase I: New LO/LO Pier and Berth Dredging | Manson Construction Co.
This project provided improvements to the Crowley Liner Services Isla Grande Terminal in order to support cargo loading operations. Manson's portion of the project involved all the in-water work including the installation of a combination wall bulkhead, pile driving and berth dredging. The island of Puerto Rico has very limited heavy marine equipment such as large material barges, so in order to reduce cost, Manson loaded the deck of the derrick barge HAAKON with sectional barges to create two material barges once onsite. This eliminated the need to tow material barges to the jobsite and allowed the pile driving operations to operate continuously without delay.


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Q: How to fix the ''NSKeyedUnarchiveFromData' should not be used to for un-archiving and will be removed in a future release' error? I am using Core Data for persistent storage and I am getting the error listed below. I have looked up the message and I know it has something to do with the fact that I am using the transformable and a custom class. Despite my research I am not sure how to fix it. My attempt at conforming to the NSSecureCoding protocol failed miserably. I am posting my original code because I think it might be easier to try and solve the issue from scratch rather than trying to fix my poor attempt at NSSecureCoding. Thank you in advance! Any help is much appreciated.

'NSKeyedUnarchiveFromData' should not be used to for un-archiving and
will be removed in a future release

My Entity:

My Custom Class:
public class SelectedImages: NSObject, NSCoding {
    public var images: [SelectedImage] = []
    enum Key: String {
        case images = "images"
    }
    init(images: [SelectedImage]) {
        self.images = images
    }
    public func encode(with aCoder: NSCoder) {
        aCoder.encode(images, forKey: Key.images.rawValue)
    }
    public required convenience init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        let mImages = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: Key.images.rawValue) as! [SelectedImage]
        self.init(images: mImages)
    }
}

public class SelectedImage: NSObject, NSCoding {
    public var location: Int = 0
    public var duration: Int = 10
    public var localIdentifier: String = ""

    enum Key: String {
        case location = "location"
        case duration = "duration"
        case localIdentifier = "localIdentifier"
    }
    init(location: Int, duration: Int, localIdentifier: String) {
        self.location = location
        self.duration = duration
        self.localIdentifier = localIdentifier
    }
    public override init() {
        super.init()
    }
    public func encode(with aCoder: NSCoder) {
        aCoder.encode(location, forKey: Key.location.rawValue)
        aCoder.encode(duration, forKey: Key.duration.rawValue)
        aCoder.encode(localIdentifier, forKey: Key.localIdentifier.rawValue)
    }
    public required convenience init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        let mlocation = aDecoder.decodeInt32(forKey: Key.location.rawValue)
        let mduration = aDecoder.decodeInt32(forKey: Key.duration.rawValue)
        let mlocalIdentifier = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: Key.localIdentifier.rawValue) as! String
        self.init(location: Int(mlocation), duration:Int(mduration), localIdentifier:String(mlocalIdentifier))
    }
}

View Controller:
guard let appDelegate = UIApplication.shared.delegate as? AppDelegate else { return }
let managedContext = appDelegate.persistentContainer.viewContext
let userEntity = NSEntityDescription.entity(forEntityName: "EntityTest", in: managedContext)!
let selectedImages = NSManagedObject(entity: userEntity, insertInto: managedContext) as! EntityTest
let mImages = SelectedImages(images: selectionArrays)
selectedImages.setValue(mImages, forKeyPath: "image")

do {
    try managedContext.save()
    print("Images saved to core data")
} catch let error as NSError {
    print("Could not save. \(error), \(error.userInfo)")
}
    let newViewController = PickerTest6()
    self.navigationController?.pushViewController(newViewController, animated: true)

A: I haven't run this code, but it should work.

*

*Make changes to the SelectedImage class.

public class SelectedImage: NSObject, NSSecureCoding { // Class must inherit from NSSecureCoding
    public static var supportsSecureCoding: Bool = true // It's the required property

    public var location: Int = 0
    public var duration: Int = 10
    public var localIdentifier: String = ""

    private enum CodingKeys: String {
        case location, duration, localIdentifier
    }

    public override init() {
        super.init()
    }

    init(location: Int, duration: Int, localIdentifier: String) {
        self.location = location
        self.duration = duration
        self.localIdentifier = localIdentifier
    }

    public required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        self.location = coder.decodeInteger(forKey: CodingKeys.location.rawValue)
        self.duration = coder.decodeInteger(forKey: CodingKeys.duration.rawValue)

        // Now instead of decodeObject(forKey:) you should use decodeObject(of: forKey:).
        self.localIdentifier = coder.decodeObject(of: NSString.self, forKey: CodingKeys.localIdentifier.rawValue) as String? ?? ""
    }

    public func encode(with coder: NSCoder) {
        coder.encode(location, forKey: CodingKeys.location.rawValue)
        coder.encode(duration, forKey: CodingKeys.duration.rawValue)
        coder.encode(localIdentifier, forKey: CodingKeys.localIdentifier.rawValue)
    }
}

*Create the SelectedImageTransformer class.

@objc(SelectedImageTransformer)
final class SelectedImageTransformer: NSSecureUnarchiveFromDataTransformer {
    static let name = NSValueTransformerName(rawValue: String(describing: SelectedImageTransformer.self))

    override class var allowedTopLevelClasses: [AnyClass] {
        return super.allowedTopLevelClasses + [SelectedImage.self]
    }

    public class func register() {
        let transformer = SelectedImageTransformer()
        ValueTransformer.setValueTransformer(transformer, forName: name)
    }
}

*Edit the CoreData model as follows.

*Call the register method in AppDelegate (if you use the UIKit) before initializing the persistent container.

// MARK: - Core Data stack
lazy var persistentContainer: NSPersistentContainer = {
    // Register the transformer
    SelectedImageTransformer.register()

    let container = NSPersistentContainer(name: "AppName")
    container.loadPersistentStores(completionHandler: { (storeDescription, error) in
        if let error = error as NSError? {
            fatalError("Unresolved error \(error), \(error.userInfo)")
        }
    })
    return container
}()

For more details, you can read this or this article.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


SmashingConf Freiburg 2018 — Friendly, inclusive, practical event for web designers and developers. - SmashingConf Freiburg 2018, September 10—11.
Update (Wednesday, September 12th): The conference is over but the memories remain! This has been an amazing few days and we are humbled, honored, and grateful to have you at our conference. We sincerely thank you for coming, and we hope you were able to learn something new, meet some old and new friends, and that you've had a good time after all. Thank you.
We will be publishing the slides and videos as soon as we have them all in. Want to stay updated? Follow on Twitter.
We will be back in 2019 on September 9–10.
We value your feedback on our speakers for day 1 and day 2.
Finally, please respect our code of conduct.


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#FlashBack: The Untold Story of Nigeria's Civil War - BIAFRA
Nigeria's King of Money: The Untold Story of Igbo Tycoon, Victor Okafor, the Eze Ego 1 of Ihiala
We Are Not Convinced Our Daughter Died In a Freak Accident - Tolulope Arotile's Family
Posted by Thandiubani on Fri 17th Jul, 2020 - tori.ng
The family of late first female combat helicopter pilot in the history of Nigerian Air Force, Tolulope Arotile have called for an investigation into her death.
First female combat helicopter pilot in the history of Nigerian Air Force, Tolulope Arotile
Damilola Adegboye, the immediate elder sister of the late first female combat helicopter pilot in the history of Nigerian Air Force, Tolulope Arotile, has revealed that the family is not convinced Arotile died in car accident as reported.
She made the revelation in an interview with The PUNCH on Thursday, while demanding thorough investigation into cause of her death.
She stated that her family is devastated by the untimely death, wondering how the reverse of a vehicle could kill a person in such manner.
Arotile reportedly died as a result of head injuries sustained after the car of a former classmate hit her when reversing at NAF Base in Kaduna State.
Her sister, Adegboye said;
"We in the family are not convinced that Tolu can just die like that in a freak accident. I know that the military is well trained in the art of investigation, we want them to carry out a thorough investigation that can convince us beyond all doubts that the incident that led to her death was real.
She revealed that on the day of the incident, Arotile and herself were in a room where she was sleeping, stressing;
A call came into her phone which she picked but from the way they spoke, I knew the caller must be a senior officer calling her to come to Airforce base. She felt reluctant and I offered to drop her off.
One hour later, I read online that something serious had happened to her. I could not believe that somebody I just dropped off is dead."
Also speaking, the mother of Arotile went down memory lane about how she gave birth to her describing her as a special child adding that fasting and prayer was her hobby.
Love In The Air! Nigerian Singers, Simi And Adekunle Gold, Celebrate 2nd Wedding Anniversary
Aisha Yesufu Lambasts Arewa Youths, Calls Them "Oxygen Wasting Vessels" With 'BambiAlaMentality'
"I Once Hawked Groundnut To Support My Mother" – Wilfred Ndidi Reveals
Kidnapper Pays N1.5m Ransom After Being Kidnapped By A Rival Gang (Photo)
10 Nigerian Celebrities Who Drive the Most Luxurious Cars (Photos)
Meet The Only 10 Black Billionaires In The World and the 3 Nigerians Who Made the List
Ishola Oyenusi: Nigeria's Deadly Armed Robber Who Smiled to His Death (Photos)
Health Minister Reveals Number Of Pfizer Vaccine Nigeria Will Receive In March
BREAKING: Man United Legend Rooney Appointed Coach of Top English Club

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


No word if Metallica is returning to Billions, but less than a month after the second season of the high-stakes drama debuted to large numbers, Showtime said today the series is coming back for a Season 3 for an expected early 2018 debut.
With the war between Lewis' billionaire hedge-funder Bobby Axelrod and Giamatti's increasingly desperate U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades reaching a scorched Earth pitch, that appetite-whetting will be a battle royale. Sons Of Anarchy alum Siff plays Wendy Rhoades, the currently estranged wife of Giamatti's character and formerly the in-house performance coach at Axelrod's company. Watchmen vet Akerman portrays Lara Axelrod, Philly street-smart and as ruthless as her husband.
The series created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Andrew Ross Sorkin debuted to record-bursting ratings for Showtime on January 17, 2016. Season 2 premiered February 19.
BTW, the Metallica reference is to the Season 1 appearance of the metal band, of which Bobby Axelrod is a massive fan. It was — like the themes of wealth, politics, betrayal and corruption that flow through Billions — epic.


text:
Canada's border to the U.S. opens as COVID-19 cases there surge. Here's what experts expect
While travellers will need to be vaccinated against the virus before entering one expert told the Star the possibility of breakthrough infections could lead to a new chain of transmission.
By Jenna MoonStaff Reporter
Mon., Aug. 9, 2021timer2 min. read
Canada opens its border to the U.S. Monday, amid rapidly rising cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant.
The decision to open the border was made when the U.S. was in a different place with cases, an infectious disease expert said. But with the situation changing on a dime, the move to reopen the border could present issues for Canadians.
Dr. Susy Hota, medical director of infection prevention and control at University Health Network, said she's concerned by the rising case load south of the border.
"There's a difference in the vaccination rate across the border — there's just a difference in approaches," she said, adding the lower levels of COVID-19 here could incentivize travellers to enter the country. "I worry about the possibility of importation of more cases."
The U.S. recorded 92,714 new cases of the virus on Aug. 4. Over the weekend, it crossed the threshold into 100,000 new daily infections.
While travellers will need to be vaccinated against the virus before entering — that means two weeks out from a second dose with a Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine — Hota said the possibility of breakthrough infections could lead to a new chain of transmission.
The growing caseload in the U.S. has appeared at a bad time, she said. "It's a risky time to be doing this." With children returning to school in September, Hota said many parents are wondering what the impact on classrooms will be.
"The biggest determinant of success in reopening schools will be whether you can control community transmission … so the timing is concerning," she said.
Ensuring that masking mandates and other public health measures remain in place could help to protect Canadians against infection, Hota said. While vaccine uptake in Canada is high, it's not high enough to interrupt transmission on its own, she said.
According to a July 19 press release from the federal government, the loosened restrictions on the U.S. border represent a first step before allowing further non-essential travel by other international travellers on Sept. 7.
"This preliminary step allows for the Government of Canada to fully operationalize the adjusted border measures ahead of Sept. 7, 2021, and recognizes the many close ties between Canadians and Americans," the release said.
Analysis from Washington
Forget about driving across the U.S. border this summer — Joe Biden has bigger problems than yours to deal with
Some Canadian travellers exempt from quarantine are waiting up to a week for COVID-19 test results
Canada's new travel rules: Here's what you need to know
A reopened border presents a "wicked problem," said Julia Zarb, an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. A wicked problem is an issue that is ultracomplex, where potential solutions could reveal new issues, she explained.
We have a sense of what issues might arise from allowing vaccinated travellers into the country, she said. What we don't know is the degree to which those issues might manifest. "The answers we want in advance won't really be understood until we try out possible solutions. There are just too many variables," Zarb said.
This doesn't mean that Canadians are necessarily entering a "wait and see" stage, she noted. Rather, in order to find a solution to the issues a reopened border presents, "we have to take steps."
Jenna Moon is a breaking news reporter for the Star and is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @_jennamoon


Having long admired the Amish, I have been pleased to learn of an Amish community not too far from our little country setting. Today, my hubby and I made a trip for the day in search of "fried pies." Sadly, we learned that Saturday is the day for Amish Fry Pies! Ah--another trip soon.
The trip, however, was not in vain. We had a marvelous visit with the most senior member of the Amish community around a wood fire in a small shop. He poured out his heart to us, as his family was away visiting with relatives in another state. It was a rare treat to sit and "chat;" the "senior Mr." lost his wife a little over two years ago. He continues to miss his life's partner, and we, as strangers, felt much like family as he shared the joys and sorrows of his own life: the loss of his wife; a son moving away; a granddaughter getting married soon. What a joy for this chance encounter.
Our day was made complete by finding saw mill; hubby has found a source for lumber for his wood-working ventures. We met the soon bride to be and came home with sorghum molasses and fig preserves, and two loaves of homemade bread.
In this season of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for this wonderful day and a chance encounter with such a seasoned Amishman. Our day made me realize that Amish, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist and so on, are held together by some common bonds: our faith in God and our humanity. How blessed I am!


Council will meet three times each year. Additional meetings may be held as needed.
For the purpose of conducting official council business, quorum will be 50% of membership.
Meetings will be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order, 11th Edition, 2011 (www.robertsrules.com).
Council decisions will be made on the basis of a simple majority. Dissenting votes will be noted in the minutes.
Council members are nominated by Council and appointed by the Executive Director of Forest Management Branch..
Members are nominated for either a two- or a five-year term, as noted in Structure (above). At the conclusion of the term, or in the event of a resignation, Council will provide nominations for the ensuing term, or for the balance of the term remaining. Terms will be staggered for each new appointment within the five year period, in the interests of maintaining continuity within Council.
The Chair is responsible for preparing agendas, convening of Council meetings and preparing Council reports.
Funding support necessary for the operation of Council will be provided by the Department of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. .
Subcommittees of Council will be formed as needed.
Agendas for upcoming council meetings will be produced by the Chair and distributed by e-mail approximately two weeks in advance of each meeting. Agendas may be made available to interested persons, at the discretion of Council members.
Council will produce minutes of each meeting. Minutes are circulated to Council members and may be made available to interested persons, at the discretion of Council members. Minutes are not confidential. Members may request confidentiality for some discussions; confidential discussions will not be included in the minutes.
Council will produce an report highlighting activities and major accomplishments. Additional reports will be produced at the discretion of Council. Council will, with the support of the Department, maintain a website (www.abtreegene.com) and will periodically post and update information and reports on the website.
Observers are welcome to attend portions of Council meetings, with the consent of Council.
A member unable to attend a Council meeting may, at his/her discretion, nominate an alternate member and advise Council.
Members missing more than two consecutive meetings without confirming an alternate will be removed from Council.


Filled with stories, puzzles, a fascinating glimpse of creation, and a meditation on the Bible for today. Suitable for children aged 4-12, Open Windows also contains colouring contests, crafts, a look back in time and around the world, as well as age-appropriate book reviews. Excellent for the home, this full colour bi-monthly magazine can also serve as a tool in evangelism outreach, school libraries, and home-schooling.
Download free samples of the Open Windows magazine!
Download the latest colouring contest picture. Colour it and send a photo or scan to us.


text:
Emily Grove (born August 1, 1991) is a singer-songwriter and musician from Wall, New Jersey. Her sound has been described as alternative folk. Emily Grove is active in the Asbury Park music scene in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Emily Grove was the recipient of the 2011 and 2012 Asbury Music Awards for Best Female Acoustic Act, and 2011 and 2012 Jersey Acoustic Music Awards for Top Female Vocalist and Top Female Songwriter. She has played with and opened for Glen Burtnik, Willie Nile, Ari Hest, Rhett Miller (Old 97s), Marshall Crenshaw, Dan Reed Network, and John Lefler (Dashboard Confessional). Grove has toured the UK and US opening for and playing with David Ford. Grove also performs in venues ranging from well known New Jersey music venues such as The Saint and the Stone Pony through music venues in New York City and Boston.

Grove's style has been described as blending the 1970s sounds of Carole King with the "orchestrated texture of The Band" and the John Prine. Her songs have been described as including elements of country and rock and roll blended with poetry. Regarding musical influences, Grove says that her parents listened to Johnny Cash, watched the country music stations, and listened to Americana music. Her mother loved Paul Simon, and she was named Emily named after the song "For Emily Whenever I May Find Her." Her father enjoyed the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. She was born on Jerry Garcia's birthday, which brought attention to the music of the Grateful Dead.

Personal life
 Groves, the daughter of an accountant and an electrician, grew up and still resides in Wall, New Jersey. She attended a Catholic grammar school She reports being shy as a child. She describes her neighborhood as close, so that everyone knew each other, and was respectful. She says that she formed great friendships there. Early on, her mother noticed that she like to sing and encouraged her to learn to play an instrument. She initially chose to learn the saxophone because she wanted to be like Lisa Simpson, but her mother suggested she try a different instrument. She chose the guitar next, because her coach suggested that she could then accompany herself and make a living. Groves continued to take lessons, and eventually was accepted into Berklee College of Music. Grove completed two years at Berklee before deciding to test her skills in the East Coast music scene.

Discography
Her album, "Way Across the Sea" was produced by Jack Daley (Lenny Kravitz). The title track, "Way Across The Sea," describes her crush on an unnamed rock and roll star. "Falling" is described as reminiscent of the styles of Carly Simon and Carole King. "Today" was inspired by a particularly long Sopranos marathon. "Flea," the first song Grove ever wrote, is a folk song based on a poem by John Donne, and is consistent with the style of artists like Jane Wiedlin and Alanis Morissette. The album ends with, "Procrastination," done in the style of Natalie Merchant.

Her second album, released in 2014, "Life of a Commoner", was produced by Jason Rubal of Seventh Wave Studio (Amanda Palmer). Her vocals on "Spider" has been compared to the vocals of both Annie Haslam and Dolores O'Riordan. "Scream" combines a Nicole Atkins sound with R.E.M. energy. "The Call" tells a Janis Ian-like story. "Johnny Lee" is done in the style of a Celtic love song.

Performances
In addition to the venues mentioned above, Grove has performed in the WBJB Songwriters in the Park and Songwriters at the Beach Concert Series. Recording are available through the station's web site. She also appeared on the Today Show with David Gray on June 12, 2014.

References

1991 births
Living people
American alternative country singers
American women country singers
American country singer-songwriters
Singer-songwriters from New Jersey
Guitarists from New Jersey
People from Wall Township, New Jersey
21st-century American women singers
Country musicians from New Jersey
21st-century American women guitarists
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American singers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


A new study shows what does — and doesn't — lead to greater wellbeing.
Leading a happy and fulfilling life has little to do with your income or having a prestigious job, according to a 75-year long Harvard study. What does matter? Having solid relationships.
The study looked at two populations: 456 poor men who grew up in Boston from 1939–2014, and 268 men who graduated from Harvard between 1939–1944. Researchers interacted with the men, took blood samples, and used more modern technology like brain scans to collect data on their lives and wellbeing.
Years of analysis led to inspiring findings: "The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period," Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, told Inc.
Good relationships, according to the researchers, are all about quality over quantity. And having close relationships doesn't just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside — it boosts your physical health, too. Existing research tells us that loneliness can affect longevity, and as Inc. explains, the new study suggests close relationships can help calm your nervous system, keep your brain healthier as you age and minimize emotional and physical pain.
Think of these findings as a reminder to invest in your close relationships — a sort of social 401k. And while, as Inc. points out, it's easy get distracted from IRL relationships when we're constantly connected to social media, taking the time to meaningfully engage with and strengthen our closest bonds can lead to a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life.


CKY - Chad Ginsburg and Jena Kraus - Duration: 107 seconds.
CKY Brandon Dicamillo NEVER AIRED ! hysterical INFOMERCIAL - Duration: 115 seconds.
Chad I Ginsburg - Duration: 3 minutes, 14 seconds.
Bentforms Myspace Clip - Duration: 32 seconds.
Hobo Rap - Duration: 2 minutes, 25 seconds.
Bam Margera: Making of a Vains of Jenna Video - Duration: 11 minutes.
gd promo - Duration: 110 seconds.
Production's Dunk Rap with Chad Ginsburg from CKY CIG Production aka 13th Apostle - Duration: 2 minutes, 18 seconds.
BENTFORMS Does Nunchakus - Duration: 77 seconds.
Return of the Jedi Burger King Glass Commercial - Duration: 28 seconds.
Japanese swords forging video @ Samurai Sword Shop - Duration: 9 minutes, 59 seconds.
Silversmithing: Torch Safety - Duration: 117 seconds.
Interview with Neal Moser Custom Guitar Builder/Designer - Duration: 8 minutes, 1 second.
FREE Hidden Electricity! - Duration: 64 seconds.
Got an old Flatbed Scanner? Turn it into... - Duration: 81 seconds.
Dime Size Heat Shrinking Metal With Oxy/Acetylene - Duration: 3 minutes, 1 second.
An Incredible Fight Scene From The movie "The Protector" - Duration: 3 minutes, 59 seconds.
Bruce Skywalker - Duration: 41 seconds.
frank zappa goes insane on the 'montana' improv - Duration: 3 minutes, 59 seconds.
CKY's Chad backstage Manchester 2003 - Duration: 2 minutes, 2 seconds.
Michael Manring - Morning Star - Duration: 4 minutes, 1 second.
Tee off from top of washer dryer , junk yard golf - Duration: 7 seconds.
Bass improve low light - Duration: 29 seconds.
Uprite bass being played on downstairs - Duration: 18 seconds.
Bass improv - Duration: 19 seconds.
Quick Acoustic bass jam - Duration: 25 seconds.
BEFo Kenyon - Duration: 34 seconds.
Little bass ditty - Duration: 17 seconds.
Twangin on Old Sylvia USA.wmv - Duration: 88 seconds.
four bottles 4 balls - Duration: 78 seconds.
When a jeweler makes a custom nut for a friends strat... BLING! - Duration: 96 seconds.
ACOUSTIC BASS IMPROVIZASTER JAM - Duration: 2 minutes, 1 second.
PIANO JAM TOO - Duration: 45 seconds.


All-in-all, we are feeling more settled into our nomadic van-life, but we are still having some battles with the kids. Particularly Liam. Perhaps this is unavoidable when four people share 100 square feet of living space? Perhaps he still hasn't completely figured out how to deal with his frustration and fear of living life in an unfamiliar and uncertain environment? Perhaps he never will. We talk with him about it often but, at age 7, he is unable to verbalize his emotions. We've also had countless conversations about our kids with other travellers and locals we've met along the way and they invariably say the same thing; "your kids are so lucky." We have to agree with that, even if our kids don't. We can only hope that they'll eventually realize how lucky they are, even if that is 10 or 15 years from now.
That said, we've all begun to really enjoy some of the new routines we've developed in the last 150 days. For instance, after dinner we usually enjoy a few cookies while playing a card game (alternating between Uno and Rat-a-tat-Cat). After a few games we pile onto the back bench and read stories out loud. We've just finished Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, and the kids loved it. Our morning routine has also become very predictable. Rob usually wakes first and starts the stove to make coffee. Liam is always already awake and this is his cue that he can get down from the bunk for his bowl of cereal, which he eats while whispering with Rob about life. Averie usually stirs when she hears the cereal being poured into Liam's bowl and Rob will lift her down from the bunk to snuggle with Mom in the bottom bed. This usually deteriorates into a tickle-fight, and then we open the blinds and start our day.
We brought some very high quality Reise maps for the larger countries of the trip (Chile, Argentina, Mexico) and they were perfect. Unfortunately, we decided to "conserve space" by bringing one map to cover all of northern South America. The scale is way to small and it is useless.
Our 0.5 micron ceramic water filler is very sensitive to particles in some of the well water we have used and it has caused clogging problems.
There are at least 4 different hose connection sizes/types we have encountered so far. We only brought 1 connector and have had to scramble around to buy the others.
Both spare electrical wire and some tough bailing wire to lash things together. Very useful when you really need it.
A lot of hard vibration can cause electrical connections to fail. We've had to borrow a soldering iron once already to repair some lights.
The cheap "airport gift shop" version we brought is dying a slow death.
Driving in the Andes means a LOT of big hills and we may wear through the current pads. Finding pads in a pinch for this North American truck may not be easy if/when the time comes.
Its hard to believe that we would bring spare turn signal light bulbs and spark plugs, but not even a handful of spare bolts and screws.
We thought they would get to scoot around in the campgrounds and cities we visit. But, it seems most of South America is either gravel or cobble stone. Neither are conducive to scooters.
It seemed like a great idea (to Rob), but unfortunately there has just not been enough opportunities to play it to justify such a large item kicking around the van for the entire trip.
Believe it or not, but MJs hair is not naturally red! MJ brought a stockpile of dye from home fearing a shortage, but (aside from Bolivia) it is something that can easily be found everywhere we've been so far.
Most of the kids toys and books.
We filled a large bin with dolls, LEGO, books, games, etc. Only some of them get played with and most of them not often enough. Not to mention that new books and toys continue to be collected along the way.
Observing SO MUCH litter and trash pilled up everywhere (except Uruguay) around this beautiful continent.
Thank you all for following along. We're looking forward to sharing the final half of our big family adventure!
Excellent! I'd be more than happy to trade places with Liam. I'll take up less room than a guitar and I'll bring nuts, screws and bolts with me. Have a great 2nd half of your adventure.


The Miu Miu woman revels in her contradictions: forthright and coy, playful and rebellious, delicate yet daring. For her, Miuccia Prada imagined a fragrance that is surprising and supremely refined, yet uncontrived. She shared her inspiration with perfumer Daniela Andrier, who went on to create this study in contrasts. Miu Miu L'Eau Bleue is a perfume that evokes the essence of early spring and new beginnings. This fresh floral Eau de Parfum captures the essence of lily of the valley at its most seductive, still glistening with dew as it blooms in the cool spring dawn. A transparent tint of honeysuckle lends a touch of fragile femininity to the fragrance. As it dries down, L'Eau Bleue reveals the richness of a reawakened Earth, thanks to the depth and spice of an exclusive Akigalawood® accord.
Alcohol Denat., Fragrance, Water, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Benzyl Salicylate, Hydroxycitronellal, Hexyl Cinnamal, Citronellol, Geraniol, Benzophenone-3, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Limonene, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Bht, Linalool, Propylene Glycol, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Citral, Eugenol, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium Edta, Acrylates/Octylacrylamide Copolymer, Hydrolyzed Jojoba Esters, Ext. D&C Violet No. 2 (Ci 60730).


text:
The Star Wars Controversy That Has Fans Fuming At Disney
Del Rey Books
By Eric Betts/Nov. 19, 2020 1:46 pm EST
In a dispute that could have wide-ranging copyright implications, a science-fiction legend has come forward to state that Disney is refusing to pay him royalties he's owed for novels to which the company acquired the rights.
Alan Dean Foster is the author of a multitude of original novels and film novelizations, as well as an experienced franchise hand. He wrote Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, the novelization of George Lucas' 1977 film A New Hope (which was credited to Lucas as the author), as well as its 1978 sequel novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Most recently in the Star Wars universe, Foster penned the novelization of 2015's The Force Awakens. He has also tackled the novelizations for Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Covenant, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Terminator Salvation, and more.
Disney now owns the rights to Foster's Star Wars novelizations From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker and Splinter of the Mind's Eye, as well as to his Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3 novelizations, as part of the company's purchases of Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox. On November 18, 2020, Foster and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a non-profit writer's organization, released a statement claiming that Disney has not been paying him royalties for these works, despite the books' continuing availability in print and/or e-book form.
Going public with Alan Dean Foster's grievance is 'unprecedented'
Ralph McQuarrie/Del Rey Books
According to the statement, in 2019, Foster contacted the Grievance Committee of the SFWA, which typically reaches out to the publisher after the author's attempts have been rebuffed as a middle step before formal legal action is brought. Typically, in a successful case, the dispute is resolved anonymously for both the author and publisher. But the process apparently broke down with Disney, leading Foster and the SFWA to take his complaint public in what SFWA president Mary Robinette Kowal called an "unprecedented" step.
Foster accused Disney of ignoring communications from the SFWA, his agents, and his lawyers, and of asking him to sign a non-disclosure agreement before even entering into discussion with its representatives. He wrote in his statement, "I know this is what gargantuan corporations often do. Ignore requests and inquiries hoping the petitioner will simply go away. Or possibly die. But I'm still here, and I am still entitled to what you owe me. Including not to be ignored, just because I'm only one lone writer. How many other writers and artists out there are you similarly ignoring?"
Foster explained that the money is important to him because of his and his wife's ongoing medical costs, but he emphasized that he's not asking for charity; it's money that he's owed for the work he's done that Disney is allegedly refusing to pay.
"When one company buys another, they acquire its liabilities as well as its assets," he wrote. "You're certainly reaping the benefits of the assets. I'd very much like my minuscule (though it's not small to me) share."
The ramifications of Disney's legal argument
The matter at hand goes deeper than one author and his royalties, according to Kowal. Disney's legal strategy in the dispute could have drastic repercussions to how copyright law works in the United States.
"Disney's argument is that they have purchased the rights but not the obligations of the contract," Kowal wrote. "In other words, they believe they have the right to publish work, but are not obligated to pay the writer no matter what the contract says."
She gives the example that if this theory were allowed to take hold, all a company would have to do to evade payment of royalties or other bonuses would be to sell the contract to a sister company, which would take control of the income but leave all the expenses behind.
Fans are flocking to the #DisneyMustPay hashtag to show support for Alan Dean Foster
Disney/Lucasfilm
Twitter users took to using the hashtag #DisneyMustPay to show their support for Foster and to express outrage at Disney.
In a thread about the case, author Cory Doctorow wrote, "Alan Dean Foster is an sf legend – a writer who produced a shelf of original novels but also made a reputation novelizing movies and TV from Star Wars to Aliens, turning out books that transcended quickie adaptations, becoming beloved bestsellers in their own right. [...] Foster's case is a gross injustice. He has cancer and his wife is ill. He wrote these books, Disney bought them. They're making money from them. They owe him money. Period."
Hugo Award-winner N.K. Jemisin tweeted that Disney's treatment of someone who helped make those properties beloved was "grotesque." Meanwhile, author Joanne M. Harris wrote on Twitter, "WTF, Disney. Acquiring the rights to a book means having to pay the writer. #DisneyMustPay."
Various Star Wars fans tweeted things like "#DisneyMustPay, #AlanDeanFoster the OG Star Wars writer cmon Greed Mouse," and "#DearMickey, I remember you also didn't pay the writers and creators of the original animated version of Aladdin when you basically took their creations for that bleh live-action version. Now you're doing the same thing to Alan Dean Foster. #DisneyMustPay." Another tweeted, "This is theft, pure and simple. How many other authors are being abused by @Disney in this fashion? #DearMickey #DisneyMustPay."
The SFWA post encouraged Disney's representatives to reach out and begin to resolve the matter, and asked writers experiencing similar problems with Disney or other companies to reach out to them. It remains to be seen what will come of this situation. Stay tuned to Looper for future updates.


NECA – The National Electrical and Electronics Association has this to say about the interference of LED lighting and TV reception.
Why are we focusing on LEDs?
Some models of LED light globes cause interference to TV signals. This interference may consist of a sudden loss of signal or picture quality in a residence or neighbouring house.
In these cases, the ACMA needs to be able to quickly contact the supplier of the globes to notify them of the problem. People experiencing TV reception problems may also wish to contact the supplier to arrange an exchange or refund.
The consequences of supplying a device that does not comply with Australian law can be serious and may risk your business's reputation.
Does your LED Light Comply?


text:
Q: PowerShell ConvertTo-Xml vs [XML] Accelerator Type I'm executing an HTTP Get request (via Invoke-WebRequest) against a website, that's in turn, is returning the following XML structure:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ROOT xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <VENDOR>
    <SUBJECT>Check Oil</SUBJECT>
    <VENDORID>NA</VENDORID>
    <VANTIVE>2</VANTIVE>
    <MODEL>I</MODEL>
    <DESCRIPTION>Success</DESCRIPTION>
  </VENDOR>
  <VENDOR>
    <SUBJECT>Check Lights</SUBJECT>
    <SIGN>N</SIGN>
    <VENDORID>NA</VENDORID>
    <VANTIVE>2</VANTIVE>
    <MODEL>I</MODEL>
    <DESCRIPTION>Success</DESCRIPTION>
  </VENDOR>
  <VENDOR>
    <SUBJECT>Check Engine</SUBJECT>
    <SIGN>N</SIGN>
    <VENDORID>NA</VENDORID>
    <VANTIVE>2</VANTIVE>
    <MODEL>I</MODEL>
    <DESCRIPTION>Success</DESCRIPTION>
  </VENDOR>
</ROOT>

When trying to parse the XML data, using the ConvertTo-Xml cmdlet:
$result = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://mycars.com/list/cars' -UseBasicParsing -Method Get

$resultinxml = $result.Content | ConvertTo-Xml

$resultinxml.Objects.Object.'#text'

Everything is working properly.
But when I'm trying to use the [xml] accelerator type instead:
$result = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://mycars.com/list/cars' -UseBasicParsing -Method Get

[xml] $resultinxml = $result.Content

The following error is occurred:
Cannot convert value "<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ROOT xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <VENDOR>
    <SUBJECT>Check Oil</SUBJECT>
    <VENDORID>NA</VENDORID>
    <VANTIVE>2</VANTIVE>
    <MODEL>I</MODEL>
    <DESCRIPTION>Success</DESCRIPTION>
  </VENDOR>
  <VENDOR>
    <SUBJECT>Check Lights</SUBJECT>
    <SIGN>N</SIGN>
    <VENDORID>NA</VENDORID>
    <VANTIVE>2</VANTIVE>
    <MODEL>I</MODEL>
    <DESCRIPTION>Success</DESCRIPTION>
  </VENDOR>
  <VENDOR>
    <SUBJECT>Check Engine</SUBJECT>
    <SIGN>N</SIGN>
    <VENDORID>NA</VENDORID>
    <VANTIVE>2</VANTIVE>
    <MODEL>I</MODEL>
    <DESCRIPTION>Success</DESCRIPTION>
  </VENDOR>
</ROOT>
" to type "System.Xml.XmlDocument". Error: "The specified node cannot be inserted as the valid child of this node, because the specified node is the wrong type."
At line:1 char:1
+ $webreqcontent = [xml] ($result.Content)
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidCastToXmlDocument

Which is very odd, as the XML structure hasn't been changed and is XML valid.
Do accelerator types in PowerShell has some prerequisites or limitations, that could cause this issue?

A: Building on the helpful comments on the question:

When trying to parse the XML data, using the ConvertTo-Xml cmdlet:

ConvertTo-Xml does not parse XML, it creates XML representations (serialization) of arbitrary .NET instances - and since the resulting XML format is neither documented nor is there a complementary cmdlet to interpret (deserialize) it, this cmdlet is virtually useless - see GitHub issue #8311.
GitHub issue #3898 is a green-lit proposal to introduce ConvertTo-CliXml and ConvertFrom-CliXml cmdlets, instead, which will use the standardized CLIXML format that PowerShell uses for cross-process serialization, such as in remoting.
In other words: your use of ConvertTo-Xml won't work as intended.

If you use Invoke-RestMethod instead of Invoke-WebRequest, XML parsing is built in (with web services that return XML) and directly returns a [xml] (System.Xml.XmlDocument) instance.
# If the web-service call returns XML, Invoke-RestMethod automatically
# parses it into a [xml] instance.
$resultXml = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri 'https://mycars.com/list/cars'

However, your error message suggests that you have one or more extraneous characters preceding the XML text - even though, curiously, that isn't reflected in the error message, at least as shown in your question.

*

*A simple way to provoke the error is with [xml] '!<foo/>'
Conceivably, the XML text is preceded by a BOM (byte order mark), even though it normally shouldn't in this context.

*

*If that is the problem, you can try the following:

$result = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://mycars.com/list/cars' -UseBasicParsing

# Skip the BOM character .
[xml] $resultinxml = $result.Content.Substring(1)

*

*If it isn't, you'll need to examine the XML text for hidden control characters, as shown in this answer.

A solution to a related problem - an XML response getting misinterpreted due to a character-encoding mismatch - can be found in this answer.


The internet is all abuzz with the story of Katy Perry stealing a kiss from a young American Idol hopeful named Benjamin Glaze. While many youngsters, and even oldsters, might have appreciated this gesture from a global pop star, Glaze wasn't so happy. In case you don't know what led the highly successful Perry to make the move, here's a quick rundown.
Back in October 2017, 19-year-old Glaze appeared onstage to audition for the popular television show. The cashier from Oklahoma arrived in front of the panel of judges with his guitar in hand, ready to sing "Stadium," a song he'd written himself. In the pre-performance banter, Judge Perry asked Glaze if he'd ever been kissed — in reference to her own hit, I Kissed a Girl. When Glaze replied he hadn't, Perry beckoned him over to the judge's table and went ahead pecked him on the lips. What Perry hadn't bargained for, nor possibly the audience, was Glaze's reaction. The teen pulled away from the star saying: "Katy, you didn't" and went about performing his song, yet without much passion.
Glaze freely admits that he was raised in a conservative family and said to the New York Times that he was a "tad bit uncomfortable" by the surprise kiss, explaining that: "I can't kiss a girl without being in a relationship." Although his job gave him the opportunity to meet "cute girls," he shared that he'd never been in a relationship. He was waiting for that special girl to come along for that first kiss. "I wanted it to be special," he added.


text:
The Sonogram Fairy
Jessica Lane
jlane@chickashanews.com
The Express-Star
Walking into Bubbie's Bebes is like walking into a corner of Neverland.
The decor echos a Tolkien fantasy of oversized flowers, fairies peeking from hiding places and toadstools. There is a canopied bed in the middle of the room where expectant mothers not only receive a sonogram but can wear a tiara as they are sprinkled with fairy dust from real life fairy godmother, Sara Riley.
Riley specializes in 4D ultrasounds in a whimsical setting. With a flowers in her hair, sheer green fairy wings and wearing tall fringed boots, Riley looks like Tinkerbell's edgier sister.
Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, Riley has been a registered sonographer for about 20 years, 10 of those at Grady Memorial Hospital in Chickasha. While working at the hospital was a good career, she said, her creative spirit wanted to do something different.
It was a big move for Riley, one that was not without risks. However she said it would be worse not to be true to herself.
Everything seems to have magically fallen into place, Riley said. When Emma's Essentials" owner, Jessica Williams, allowed Riley to rent the space, she was surprised to get the whole back room. Riley said she is grateful to Williams. The two have known each other for 10 years.
"Everything came together," Riley said. "It feels like what I'm supposed to do."
Riley said it saddens her when she hears about expectant mothers who do not have a good experience during an ultrasound. Her aim is to make the experience fun while making mothers feel special.
The expectant mother can view the results on a large flat screen which can be seen from the bed. The lighting is soft. Riley said she often plays the "Sugar Plum Fairy" to add to the ambiance.
© Bubbie's Bebes 4-D Ultrasound Studio, 2014. | Vision Quest Mobile


ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish growth will pick up as uncertainty over a June election clears, leaving more room for interest rate cuts, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said, adding the government may lift some food import restrictions to fight inflation.
In an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday, Zeybekci said he expected growth to accelerate to well above 1.5 percent in the second quarter and that a 4 percent government growth target this year remained attainable.
High food prices, a major contributor to inflation, and the weak lira were temporary and driven largely by speculators seeking to profit from political uncertainty, said Zeybekci, who is himself standing for re-election to parliament on June 7.
"People are in waiting positions in terms of production and consumption due to the elections. This happens every election," he said, predicting that markets would start pricing in a stable election period in the coming weeks.
"I believe the gears will start working normally in May. Once this happens, the pressure on the (lira) and inflation will lift," he said.
The lira has hit a series of record lows in recent weeks partly due to the global strength of the dollar, but election uncertainty and political pressure on the central bank to cut rates have added to the currency's weakness.
President Tayyip Erdogan, to whom Zeybekci is close, has repeatedly called for lower interest rates to boost growth and has equated high rates with treason.
Some economists say the bank may have to raise rates if the lira continues to fall and if inflation, which rose more than expected in April, stays high.
Zeybekci said he saw no reason for a rate hike despite the weak lira, which he said was 5-8 percent undervalued. But he also did not expect the bank to cut rates at its next meeting.
"I believe we can move in the direction we want after the elections more comfortably, but I don't have such expectations today. The markets will pull interest rates lower after the elections," he said, adding that inflation was "less permanently harmful" than low growth and weak employment.
The central bank left rates on hold at its last meeting in April, resorting to liquidity measures to try to support the lira, but last week sharply raised its inflation forecasts for this year and next.
Governor Erdem Basci has said food prices remain a risk and has urged the government to take measures.
Zeybekci said food inflation of around 14 percent was due to speculators and forecast that it would fall, but that the government could take steps including lifting import restrictions on certain food products.
"If imports can be allowed … without disturbing domestic producers, these type of decisions can be made," he said.
Zeybekci also said he expected Standard & Poor's to keep its credit rating on Turkey unchanged at a review on Friday, but predicted that agencies would upgrade their ratings on Turkey after the June election.


text:
Q: Why I get StackOverflowException' when change size of font in OnPaint I try to change font size in runtime as following code, but I always get StackOverflowException.
protected override void OnResize(EventArgs e)
{
    this.bitmapDoubleBuffer = new Bitmap(base.Width, base.Height);
    this.backGraphics = Graphics.FromImage(this.bitmapDoubleBuffer);
}

public void ReDrawRuntime()
{
    SizeF sizeF = this.backGraphics.MeasureString(this.Text, this.Font);
    if (sizeF.Width > this.Size.Width)
    {
        this.Font = new Font(this.Font.Name, 20, this.Font.Style);
        sizeF = this.backGraphics.MeasureString(this.Text, this.Font);
    }
    this.backGraphics.DrawString(this.Text,
                this.Font,
                this.solidBrushForeColor,
                (float)((int)width),
                (float)((int)height));
    this.graphicsDoubleBuffer.DrawImage(this.bitmapDoubleBuffer, 0, 0);
 }

A: Cause changing font size wil increase the size of the control the text drwn on, which will riase  Resize event agin (look on this.Font =.., this !!) , which will run your code again, which probabbly (according to the exception) will validate to true:
if (sizeF.Width > this.Size.Width)

condition again and so on...
So general rule is: do not change shape of the control inside OnResize, do it in another place.


It is difficult at this distance to convey the cultural and political weight that developed between 1970 and 1980 around the murders of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe and the framing of Arthur Allan Thomas for the crime.
It was not only the gothic murder mystery at the heart of the matter that commanded the public's interest, but the way in which the battle to clear Thomas's name became a struggle with an establishment that cared above all about preserving its own reputation.
Such were the stakes. And it wasn't easy. Auckland Star weekend deputy editor Terry Bell had to resign in order to publish his 1972 book Bitter Hill, after being told by his superiors that "it is not the role of the newspapers to attempt to try the courts". And yet it was his colleague, Pat Booth, who eventually did as much as anyone to secure justice for Thomas by tirelessly investigating the case. The role of the news media in general was crucial, in a way that perhaps would not have been possible a decade earlier. New Zealanders learned to question authority.
For nearly a decade, it was a pitched battle. Thomas was tried and convicted twice, but the campaign for him steamed on. There was even a pop song about the case. Eventually, Prime Minister Robert Muldoon -- and this, along with the establishment of the Official Information Act, is one of those things that confounds the familiar assessment of Muldoon -- ordered a Royal Commission of inquiry in the circumstances of Thomas's conviction.
I picked up a copy of the report several years ago, as a cultural artefact. I had not even opened it until I read Keith Hunter's new book, The Case of the Missing Bloodstain (subtitle: Inside an incompetent and corrupt police inquiry: the truth of the Crewe murders). Taken together, the two are fascinating.
(a) The shellcase exhibit 350 was planted in the Crewe garden by Detective Inspector [Bruce] Hutton and Detective Segeant Johnston.
(b) The shellcase of exhibit 343 was switched on two occasions, the first probably accidentally but the second deliberately.
(c) The destruction of some of the exhibits in the Whitford Tip was an improper action designed to prevent any further investigation of Exhibit 350. We also find that Detective Inspector Hutton improperly misled his superiors concerning the chances of recovering the exhibits from the tip.
That the officers were found to have planted a key piece of evidence -- a bullet shell casing they alleged to have been ejected from Thomas's rifle -- was enough to have Thomas freed on a Royal Pardon and compensated, on the Commission's recommendation, with a million dollars. Oddly, Thomas has never been cleared by a court, but let's just say it is unlikely in the extreme that he is the killer.
We consider that the evidence as to the two stub axles and the axle beam is a morass of inconsistencies, unexplained discrepancies, and alternative possibilities … we make no findings of fact as to the axle whatsoever. Nor are we in a position to find any impropriety on on the part of the Police in relation to the stub axles or in relation to Mr Thomas's book of cheque butts.
We do, find, however, that it would be quite unsafe to draw any inference connecting Mr A. A. Thomas with the axle found on Harvey Crewe's body, merely because of the two stub axles on his tip.
The meat of Hunter's book is the proceedings of a decade: transcripts of the police conferences (which stopped suddenly when the focus of the investigation switched to Thomas and away from Jeanette's father, Len Demler), the trials (including Justice Trevor Henry's simply outrageous summation for the jury in the first trial), the records of evidence and the hearings of the Commission, which are distinguished by the remarkable cross-examinations carried out by the Commission's chair, Australian jurist Robert Taylor.
From these, Hunter draws a picture of a system (Hunter always capitalises it "System") determined to protect itself, even at the expense of an innocent man. The role of two foreigners -- Taylor and the British writer David Yallop, author of Beyond Reaonsable Doubt? -- in rousing New Zealanders from their torpor was considerable.
Hunter also draws conclusions, which is where I must be careful. Johnston died in 1978, but Hutton, at the age of 84, is still alive. He has never been charged in connection with the investigation and the Weekend Herald yanked what was apparently to be a front-page story on Saturday after Hutton told a reporter he would sue if the paper referred to Hunter's key allegation against him.
Hunter's book is published today, but it has not been "legalled" and he never sought to speak with Hutton, or the Thomas family. This is presumably why Arthur Thomas himself has declared he has no interest in the book -- in sharp contrast to his vocal support for a re-opening of the Crewe murder case last year, after Wishart's book was published.
Media7 has also been in touch with Hutton, and although he did not specifically threaten action, he said he would consult his lawyer and consider action if the book was "a pack of lies". He also said in parting: "You just tell them I sleep well at night, put it that way."
In this week's Media7, I'll be talking to Hunter, Thomas's counsel at the Royal Commission, Peter Williams QC and forensic scientist Anna Sandiford. I am sure we will find plenty to talk about -- not least Hunter's declaration, in the first line of the chapter he titles 'A Civil War', that Thomas's first trial "was the beginning of a battle which endures today."
If you'd like to join us for the Media7 recording on Wednesday, we'll need you to come to the Victoria Street entrance of TVNZ between 5.15 and 5.40pm. As ever, try and drop me a line to say you're coming.


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Why only using batteries to store renewable energy is a missed opportunity.
The problem with renewable energy is its intermittency. Solar panels require sunshine, and wind turbines need a healthy breeze to generate electricity. When the conditions are right, the capacity to exceed demand already exists in parts of Australia. When they are not, we have to look to fossil-fuelled generators to keep the lights on.
Putting something aside for a rainy day.
It is widely acknowledged that for renewable energy to become the backbone of the nation's power supply, we need to be able to store it for dispatch at a time where generation can't meet demand. For precisely that reason, more than 40 battery systems have been built or are in the planning stage for use across Australia.[1]
Though they are a good solution, these batteries are capital intensive. And if we merely use them to store energy for later dispatch, I see it as a missed opportunity. It's a little like pouring your entire life savings into an everyday transaction account so that you always have access to them. A wise investor would make at least a proportion of their money work much harder.
The power to create a new market.
When you pay money into a bank, it doesn't just sit there. The bank makes money by investing it elsewhere or lending it to others. At the same time, the money is still available for you to withdraw whenever you need it.
We can do the same with renewable energy by converting it to chemical energy. By storing electrons from large-scale renewable energy projects as hydrogen or ammonia, we can widen the reach of renewable power and repurpose it for use in other sectors while still maintaining stability in the grid.
We call this Power to X (P2X). It relies on the use of renewable energy to power electrolysis, which makes the process green—run electrolysis on water, and you obtain hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (O2). It's a simple process to produce an important energy carrier, yet it is an approach used to make less than 1 percent of the world's hydrogen. Instead, we rely on heating fossil fuels to generate the 115 million tonnes of hydrogen used every year across the globe, two-thirds of which goes to making ammonia or refining petrol.
One of the reasons hydrogen isn't produced through electrolysis is cost. At present, it costs more than twice as much ($5-6/kg) to produce it this way as through carbon capture. However, our modelling at UNSW shows that using solar PV as a source — and with the right cost of and return on capital—a price of $2/kg is achievable.
Renewable energy provides us with the opportunity to kick-start the hydrogen economy. And the economic benefit of doing so is not to be sniffed at; the current estimate is that, by 2050, the hydrogen economy could generate $26 billion each year in revenue for Australia, as well as up to 16,900 direct jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs.
The power to decentralise and decarbonise.
P2X isn't just about producing hydrogen. We can use renewable energy to power electrolysis and produce many other chemicals for primary or secondary use, including ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen peroxide. All have historically been made in large, centralised industrial sites where capital costs and emissions are high. They then have to be transported.
Power to X allows the production of these chemicals to be decentralised. For example by producing H2O2 at the point of consumption we can substantially reduce greenhouse gas and toxic waste. In other words, we can produce it with zero emissions and zero waste.
It's a similar situation with ammonia. Traditionally, it has been produced using the emissions-intensive Haber-Bosch process and then transported to where it will be consumed. But a recent collaboration between UNSW and the University of Sydney has led to the development of a hybrid process to convert air and water to green ammonia at ambient conditions, using renewable energy to power an integrated plasma reaction.
Export power.
Perhaps the most significant opportunity for P2X is to supply a new export market for hydrogen. The European Union, Japan, and South Korea have all recognised the potential in hydrogen and included it in their roadmaps and strategies. Indeed, Germany is already in a bilateral partnership with Australia to explore the potential for importing hydrogen. The project, known as HySupply, is looking into the feasibility of exporting hydrogen as liquid H2, ammonia, methanol, or LOHC (Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier). It is funded by DFAT and led by a team at UNSW with partners Deloitte and Baringa Partners.
At this point, ammonia looks like a strong candidate. The National Hydrogen Roadmap outlines ammonia as a key vector in enabling the storage and transportation of hydrogen for export. It is a very efficient carrier of hydrogen, is easy to compress and transport as a liquefied fuel, and has a long history of being shipped across the world. It also has a higher energy density than hydrogen and may even be used directly as a fuel in marine shipping.
Within our power.
There are, of course, obstacles that need to be overcome for Australia to lead the field in Power to X. Although we have abundant resources to generate renewable energy, one thing we lack is water. To generate 1kg of hydrogen through electrolysis requires 9-10 litres of water. Therefore, developing efficient ways to recycle, reclaim and even desalinate water will be important. However, sourcing it is unlikely to contribute to more than 2 percent of the overall cost of generation.
Make no mistake, Power to X is changing the way we see renewable power. Five years ago, when we talked about developing renewable generation, it was to decarbonise the electricity industry. Today, renewable energy has a far wider reach. In addition to solving our climate change issues, it offers access to a new, green economy.
[1] https://www.smh.com.au/national/what-are-big-batteries-and-how-could-they-reshape-the-electricity-grid-20210211-p571qm.html
Scientia Professor Rose Amal (based on her invited talk at the Australian Renewable Energy Zone Conference)
Professor Rose Amal has been working on harnessing solar energy and converting it to chemical energy for more than 20 years. Previously, her focus was solely on solving environmental issues. But today's renewable technologies offer much more: unlocking their power will help decarbonise our industries and pave the way to a new, green, and sustainable economy
Electrolyser
HySupply Supply-side Roadmapping Exercise released
HySupply Certification Report released


The grandson of the pioneering psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, Lucian was born in Berlin in 1922. His family fled an increasingly anti-Semitic Germany to settle in London in 1933.
The shadow of death and flight made Lucian hunger for the fullest life in England, smashing through conventional morality and ignoring any rivals. His was a race to leave a permanent mark, and painting was the obsessive centre of his life.
Intellect and emotion collided in his work and his life, as he used people to whom he was attracted to produce pictures which combined visual impact and psychological intent. They captured an intensely observed truth of what was before him, from the spread thighs of women exposing their genitalia to blank eyes of inconsolable men in awkward poses. He changed the mood and language of portraiture.
While intensely private – even secretive – his outsized personal life made him the subject of gossip for decades. Married twice, he fathered at least fourteen children by a harem of lovers. Those are the children he acknowledged – some put the number of his offspring as high as forty.
Many sitters and lovers felt tethered and trapped by his sheer force of personality, but year after year, they came back for more. . . .[He] simply did what he wanted, pursuing his art and his own pleasures at whatever the cost, never compromising. It was a blatantly selfish life, but one which he was happy to explain and defend.
His relationships with everyone were tangled and complex. He hated his mother, who he felt took a claustrophobic interest in him. Interestingly, his mother met his father during WWI "on a hospital visit" where his father was in hospital. Yet as a teenager, during brief hospital stay, he "developed a passion for nurses" and experienced "a startling awakening of his libido." What would Sigmund say?
One needs a chart to unravel some of his relationships. His first wife, Kitty Garman, was the niece of Lorna Wishart, a noted older beauty with whom he had had a tempestuous affair. He began a twenty-five on-again-off-again affair with Anne Dunn while married to Kitty. Anne later married Michael Wishart, Lorna's son, with whom Freud had also dallied. And so on.
confessed to her sister that she had slept with Lucian. She was seventeen; he was fifty-five. It was almost incestuous in spirit, sleeping with is ex-wife's daughter. Shortly afterwards, she was found dead.
As a celebrated artist in his later years, he entered liaisons with willing young women who were, at times, as much as fifty years younger. He painted most of them.
"Breakfast with Lucian" is a gossip-filled account of the outwardly glamorous and thoroughly iconoclastic life of one of the greatest painters of the 20th century. Yes, Freud knew everyone from Greta Garbo to Kate Moss. Yes, he feuded with everyone from Stephen Spender to Francis Bacon. Yes, he liked living on the edge, running up huge gambling debts and becoming beholden to gangsters. But in the end, none of that mattered. He was a painter – and a glorious painter at that.
He told Greig that "painting is what I like doing best and I am completely selfish." He worked every day, laboring intensively over each of his works, searching to reveal the essence of his sitters. He believed that "One thing more important than the person in the picture is the picture." It is, undoubtedly, the pictures that matter most, no matter how selfishly and lustily he lived his "tangled web" of a life. A breaker of rules, he held one rule dear: a firm belief in the primacy of the picture.
"Breakfast with Lucian" is available on amazon.com and at your favorite New York bookstores.


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Class Politics Versus Modernity
Gerry Fitzpatrick
Conference Speech given by the national co-ordinatior of Gay Rights at Work in 1981:
This year, as many know, Gay Pride was in Huddersfield to protest the police action against the local gay club [the Gemini]. One of the things that we took away from the event is the substantial opposition within today's gay movement to class and socialist politics. That issue was made clear by the demonstration itself—ahead of which the owner of the Gemini club—John Pettigrew—drove his rolls royce. Later, when organizers met to discuss future strategy and the point was made that we [Gay Rights at Work] opposed what had happened—that John Pettigrew's Rolls Royce should serve as a kind of flagship of our gay pride march—that person is shouted down and doesn't get a hearing.
We maybe clear on whose side we are on as the opposition to Thatcher and the conservatives grows, but as far as John Pettigrew is concerned when the riots finally reach Huddersfield and smashes all the pubs and the Asian shops—John Pettigrew will be calling for strong police action and the gassing of anybody that causes any trouble. There is talk of a channel tunnel [between Britain and France] all those Rolls Royces will be heading for it as soon as they get it built!
National Co-ordinatior of Gay Rights at Work speech given in 1981.
From its beginning in 1977 at the TUC, Gay Rights at Work movement supported workers who had been victimized encouraging the Trade Union movement to become more directly involved in cases of discrimination. It, along with other socialists, helped organize Gay Support the Miners during the year long miners strike 1984—1985, which in turn led to the mine workers union in leading the vote in support of LGBT rights at the 1985 Labour Party conference. This tradition was later submerged by the much broader campaign against the Tory Section (clause) 28 in 1988. In a similar way to the social unity that was in evidence in the gay movement here in opposition to Paisley's Save Ulster From Sodomy Campaign, this unity would later break apart as leading activists divided over the Belfast Agreement and its meaning, with some supporting the (DUP's) line in resistance to power sharing. Many thought that local government here would no longer be able resist the social dynamics of modernity and the acceptance of LGBTQI rights by the majority of those under 35. But as a editorial on this site has stated:
The northern state is not a liberal democracy and there is no mechanism for reform. That is not to say that things aren't changing—the support for marriage equality shows that they are—but such changes are unlikely to be reflected at an institutional level. A movement for equality must be in opposition to these institutions (the Assembly & the Executive) rather than support of them and their imaginary reforming potential.
This also means that even if the first minister happens to be gay like the former secretary of state Peter Mandelson, it is does not mean that the established and embedded reactionaries will not be supported. Similarly, in the south, no matter how much the current Taoiseach would like to wear his identity as a badge of modernity that will not change the consequence of the class politics of his government and the rest are pursuing. Now that the DUP have obtained a much better power sharing arrangement with Conservatives at Westminster—Stormont is simply the stage on which to defeat and humiliate, not only SF—but ALL opposition and now even those who desperately want to be or remain their friends. So that's why the DUP leader was keen to say that progress had been made in burying the Belfast Agreement it only remains for the right of the Tory party to follow the right of the Labour Party to enable the DUP to give the Agreement the last rites.


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Into the Super-verse: How Ship of Heroes is winning the superhero race
When it came to the explosion of spiritual successors to City of Heroes, there's definitely something to be said about being first on the scene. City of Titans got out there with a Kickstarter in 2013 and raised an astounding $678,189 from fans desperate for a superhero MMO fix. Valiance Online tried its own hand at a crowdfunding campaign a mere year later but had to cancel it as it struggled to clear $35,000. And by the time that Ship of Heroes came onto the scene in 2017, players were no longer turning out in droves to fund these projects. Its own Kickstarter also was shut down before completion.
Yet a strange thing started to happen. This SuperJohnny-come-lately started to close the gap with the other two projects. While Titans and Valiance's development has lumbered on with – let's be honest – only brief bursts of meaningful progression, Ship of Heroes set ambitious goals and kept on meeting them. Dev diaries came out on a frequent basis. Plenty of videos and screenshots were posted to help fans envision playing in this world. Limited tests started happening. And now, by the end of this month, a playable character creation system should open up to at least backers, if not more.
While the future dominance and success of Ship of Heroes is by no means assured, I think it's definitely become the strongest candidate of the three CoH spiritual successors in development. How did this happen? How did this MMO project come into an overcrowded and very niche field with far less crowdfunding – and start lapping its competition?
A game run by quartermasters
I've heard it said that armies that win wars do so not because of excellent generals but because of excellent quartermasters. I take that to mean that while strategy is important, logistics and supply can be even more crucial, and this is where Ship of Heroes excels.
Let's put this up front: None of the superhero MMOs in development appear to have game designers with high-level MMORPG development experience at the helm. They tend to be groups of volunteers, MMO fans, and pro designers who very often worked in other genres. That can certainly explain the slow pace of development for these types of titles. But even though Ship of Heroes has this same handicap, the team appears to be tightly organized and well-supplied from the start to approach this project as smart as possible. That suggests a clear vision, a clear understanding of the resources at hand, and a clear schedule that was doable.
Never underestimate the power of organization! Let's take a look at Heroic Games. CEO Casey McGeever is claiming not game design but experience in business management, marketing, and helping new companies get off the ground. According to the site's dev team page, McGeever "brings his combination of business discipline, intensity and creative problem solving to the development of Ship of Heroes." None of that sounds remotely as sexy as "was the lead designer on the most amazing MMORPGs on the planet," but it might well be far more important. I can think of more than a few MMOs that could've used a heavy dose of business discipline (ahem, WildStar) to keep a project focused and cohesive.
Pics or it didn't happen
After organization, I think that what is helping Ship of Heroes succeed is simply getting stuff done — and then showing it. The team has been transparent about what milestones it has crossed and free to show and talk about the developing game as much as possible. This means that fans are being primed with spotlights on things like the auction house, travel powers, combat animations, signature heroes, the user interface, its cityscape, the mission difficulty slider, the leveling process, an engine upgrade, and group combat.
Did I mention that all of that is just from 2019 alone? And that's not even everything the devs have done or talked about?
You see my point here. While we might get a post once in a blue moon from the other game, it's too often nothing of consequence, while Ship of Heroes is bombarding fans with a nonstop stream of updates on the game's demonstrable progress. And that type of meaningful communication that adds visuals as well as descriptions builds confidence in an upcoming title — not only that it's going to happen, but that it's going to be worth playing. Dev blogs and videos of upcoming games are always making a play for your time and interest because the team knows that if it can win you over, then you'll start evangelizing it to your friends as well.
Love, true love
One final thing that I'd like to identify as something that's very apparent from Heroic Games is that this dev team is madly and passionately in love with the superhero MMO genre (and City of Heroes in specific). This team is very vocal and effusive about its affection for the genre and community specifically, and that ends up being infectious.
I think what fans want most of all from a City of Heroes spiritual successor is a dev team that really gets what made that title special. And while I don't want to disparage the dedication that I've seen from the other projects, they've gotten much more quiet overall through the years as they work on development instead of outreach, while the Ship of Heroes team is definitely not shy in being proud of its fandom roots. That truly helps to give this game an edge in its credibility as it seeks to establish a new IP with an indie studio.
Listen, I had a lot of serious doubts about Ship of Heroes when it first came on the scene. I felt it was unnecessary and had a wonky premise (a city… on a ship… in space? With superheroes?). But instead of talking big and failing to deliver, the team has set reachable goals and has been plugging away at those to fashion what seems to be an actually fun, full-featured superhero MMORPG that we could be playing sometime in the next few years.
Go, Ship of Heroes, go! I'm cheering you on, and I hope to see you cross that finish line of release proud and strong.
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Eliot Lefebvre and Justin Olivetti covering superhero MMORPGs, past, present, and future! Come along on patrol as Into the Super-verse avenges the night and saves the world… one column at a time.
carbine studios
heroic games
into the superverse
missing worlds media
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Casey is outstanding. He is the driving force behind SoH. the biggest drawback for Ship Of Heroes / Heroic Games is funding. Had our kickstarter been successful we would be much further along. as is we have had to go slow, and use volunteers and be miserly about when we need to hire a specialist to do work. While we have had our disappointments and delays over the years we always overcome them (much like the superheroes we all want to play) and that is 100% Casey right there. I can't say enough about him. He has a vision about how things should be, but he is willing to listen to his supporters. Many times he has changed things due to input by forum members. Nice article Massively. Much appreciated for spotlighting SoH and all of Casey's hard work.
Chosenxeno .
I've been saying for Months that SoH is clearly the lead dog…
Andrew Sammon
Be first, be smarter, or cheat. It's a hell of lot easier to just be first. But it is going to be very for some of us now that rogue City of Heroes' servers are up to jump into SoH, or CoV, or Valiance…whenever those titles come out.
Demon of Razgriz
I initially gave SoH almost no credible chance because of the initial push of CoT. But seeing that SoH might be the first to market I'll definitely give them a chance. Hopefully the whole "superhero on a city spaceship" gets explained in-story.
Utakata
"Listen, I had a lot of serious doubts about Ship of Heroes when it first came on the scene. I felt it was unnecessary and had a wonky premise (a city… on a ship… in space? With superheroes?)."
…yeah it sorta has that superheroes meets Arthur C. Clarke thing going for it. Though it seems to be turning out to be it's charm in part. O.o
Does not check email
I like that I do not hear from ship of heroes. Then they drop a well groomed video or statement.
I just hope they can move past COH nostalgia and make a good SH game, i like COH but it's 2019, i want a game that has the best parts of COH, CO and DCUO.
Zero_1_Zerum
Sounds like they have what Star Citizen needs, good leadership and a clear game plan.
That said, I'm looking forward to all of the CoX successors. There's definitely a market for new Superhero MMORPGS. And, I wouldn't mind having more that aren't bogged down by being Marvel or DC. As much as I like both, I want to be a super hero in a new world.
Hikari Kenzaki
Welcome to the party, Justin.
This game is gonna be something special. city of titans is a glorified comic book and other one is glorified vaporware. Good thing that a modern game is releasing because city of heroes did not do it for me. It feels like a dated Champions Online with worst customization. I don't see why everyone loves city of heroes. champions online is better for any modern superhero mmo gamer.
IronSalamander8 .
CO does a couple things I like better than CoX, mostly the freeform character template and the ability to tweak how powers work, but otherwise CO never felt as good as CoX. By today's standards they're both pretty dated. I like both more than DCUO (barring graphics where DCUO is better than either), but DCUO has so many odd issues like powers and the UI, that hold it back for me.
DCUO is a console game, two button combos and button combinations to activate powers are very unlikely to be popular with PC players, the only reason DCUO is on the PC is the DLC and microtransactions action, on console the game is 100% free you don't have to pay extra for everything like on PC.
The 4 chars i have on COH would cost me 120€(90€) if i wanted them to be freeform in CO, the downside of a lifetime sub, is that all lifers can go play SOH or COT or really anything else for a couple of years, and you're left asking people to shell out either 30€ for every (freeform) char or 300€ for lifetime for a game with super low population.
Daniel Reasor
City of Heroes went live five years before Champions Online. Those five years in between were important ones in hardware and software development – Microsoft Windows made the jump from XP to Windows 7 in that time – so it's natural that Champions looks better, but CoX had a lot of time to conquer players' hearts before Champions came along. City of Heroes/City of Villains really just had the genre all to itself while players' formative experiences were being made.
Roger Christie
Eh. CO looks like a garbled mess to me. With the updates to graphics that CoH got, I like it just fine. Other than the original caves!
Yeah, I never thought Champions looked better. I'm not a fan of the artistic style used in CO though so that will be coloring my judgment. In terms of gameplay, CoH is far superior in my opinion. It was like Cryptic had tossed out everything they had learned and just threw random crap together for Champs. Before the Homecoming servers, I'd try out CO every couple of years… and couldn't make it more than a couple of hours before uninstalling.
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