Rent a Dumpster in Hackberry Now!
Simply give us a call and we will answer any questions you may have about the Hackberry dumpster rental procedure, allowed materials, size you may need, etc.
Our roll off containers can usually be delivered in Hackberry the day after you place your order. Make sure to call us early to ensure timely delivery.
Picking a dumpster size demands some educated guesswork. It is often difficult for people to estimate the sizes that they need for roofing projects because, practically, they have no idea just how much material their roofs feature.
There are, nevertheless, some basic guidelines you can follow to make a great alternative. In the event you are removing a commercial roof, then you'll likely need a dumpster that provides you at least 40 square yards.
In the event you are working on residential roofing project, then you can generally rely on a smaller size. You can usually expect a 1,500 square foot roof to fill a 10-yard dumpster. Single shingle roof debris from a 2,500-3,000 square foot roof will likely want a 20-yard dumpster.
A lot of folks order one size larger than they believe their endeavors will require since they wish to prevent the additional expense and hassle of replacing full dumpsters which weren't big enough.
Most dumpster rental firms in Hackberry have straightforward policies that will help you understand just how much it costs to rent equipment. Following these tips can help you stay away from hidden fees when renting a dumpster in Hackberry.
Many firms will charge you extra for keeping the dumpster longer than concurred. Be sure to plan ahead so you can keep the dumpster for a suitable timeframe. You must also ask about additional fees so that you'll understand how much extra days cost.
What Size Dumpster Should I Get for a Residential Clean Out in Hackberry?
Residential clean outs generally do not demand large dumpsters. The size that you just require, however, will depend on the size of the undertaking.
If you plan to clean out the whole house, then you likely need a 20-yard roll off dumpster. You can likewise use this size for a big cellar or attic clean out.
Whenever choosing a dumpster, though, it is often a good idea to ask for a size larger than what you think you'll need. Unless you're a professional, it is difficult to gauge the precise size needed for your job. By getting a somewhat larger size, you spend a bit more cash, however you also avoid the possibility you will run out of room. Renting a larger dumpster is nearly always cheaper than renting two little ones.
2. Give you and also the rental business a lot of time. It is best to call ahead at least a week or two before you need the dumpster. Should you attempt to schedule an appointment earlier than that, you could have a restricted variety.
3. Keep in touch with all the rental business. If anything changes in your schedule, contact the firm when possible to inform them. This way you can correct the appointment as needed without restricting your choices.
Dumpster rentals are one of the most affordable means to remove waste and debris from a home or commercial property. Still, it is necessary that you consider your choices to ensure you receive the best price possible on your dumpster rental in Hackberry.
Requesting businesses for price quotes is one of the simplest ways to ensure you get a good deal. After talking to several businesses, you can compare the quotes to decide which one meets your needs at the lowest cost. When getting quotes, make sure the businesses comprise all of the services which you will desire. Some companies charge extra for services like drop off and pick up. They could additionally charge higher rates for removing specific types of materials. By having them comprise all of the fees in your quote, you can compare the prices accurately instead of getting mislead by a rental business that conceals additional costs.
When in doubt, it is better to contact your rental business to get a list of things which you can't put into the dumpster.
Most residential areas allow roll off dumpsters. When you own a drive, then you can normally park the dumpster there so you do not annoy your neighbors or cause traffic problems by putting it on the road.
Some jobs, however, will necessitate placing the dumpster on the road. If it applies to you personally, then you need to talk to your city to discover whether you are required to get any permits before renting the dumpster. Typically, cities will allow you to keep a dumpster on a residential road for a brief quantity of time. In case you believe you will need to be sure that it stays on the road for several weeks or months, though, you will need to get a permit.
Contacting your local permits and licensing office is generally wise. Even if it's an unnecessary precaution, at least you will know that you simply are following the law.
There are a lot of things to consider when choosing a local or national dumpster rental company in Hackberry. Follow these guidelines to assist you decide which option is better for you.
A local dumpster rental company in Hackberry may offer better customer services that help you finish your job while keeping prices low. A lot of them, nevertheless, have a limited number of dumpsters to rent. If you don't schedule an appointment in advance, you may not have the option you need.
A national dumpster rental company in Hackberry will typically have more sizes and layouts to satisfy the exceptional needs of your endeavor. National businesses are likewise an excellent option for construction teams which work in a number of cities. Some individuals, however, complain that national businesses aren't as adaptable as locally owned businesses.
Renting a 40 yard dumpster can get you a container that holds about 40 cubic yards of waste. Dumpster sizes and dimensions aren't perfectly conventional from company to company, but common measurements for a 40 yard container are 22 feet long by 8 feet wide by 8 feet high. This is the biggest size that most dumpster businesses typically rent, therefore it's perfect for big residential projects as well as for commercial and industrial use.
All major credit cards accepted for dumpster rentals in Hackberry.


To expedite your first visit to Dr. Brent Huckabay's office, please fill out these forms and bring them to our office. This will help to ensure that your first appointment with our dentist in Midland, Texas, is as smooth and efficient as possible. Please feel free to contact us today with any questions and to set up your next appointment. We look forward to caring for your smile!


Hi there, here is a portrait made with artrage on iPad. impressionism is my main inspiration. A small palette is my favorite constraint. One version has an added layer to render her complexion in a more realistic way as she wished. The basic other one (minimal palette) looks like moonlight effect.


Jim Walrod, an old pal from New York, takes you on his wild perusal of his designer mind.
Jim Walrod is a self-trained interior designer. He began his creative career at Fiorucci in the mid-80s, and moved on to open a series of influential furniture stores, including Form and Function, with partners Jack Feldman and Fred Schneider of the B-52s. From there, Walrod has made a career of applying his appreciation and knowledge of furniture and design into the creation of unique commercial and residential spaces. He is considered an expert in the field of 20th and 21st century design and architecture.


Coopers offer a one stop shop for commercial vehicle services, from commercial vehicle repairs, vehicle damage, dents, dings and scrapes to accident damage repairs and resprays / refinishing. Coopers also take care of vehicle graphic removal and de-ghosting of leased commercial vehicles returning your commercial vehicle to a satisfactory condition eliminating unwanted premium rate repair bills from your lease provider. Don't wait until the last minute and pay a huge premium upon the end of you vehicle lease. Call 0800 970 4780 today!
Taking on a new vehicle lease?… We have a digital print and sign division in-house for new and damaged vehicle graphics and print solutions.We understand the importance of creating a great first impression and how it can make a huge difference on how your clients view you as a company. Each and every vehicle is given our utmost care attention to detail is second to none .
Coopers can offer tailored quotations for graphic removal and re-branding you new lease vehicles. Call us today on 0800 970 4780 for more details.
These car wraps I believe is one solution to cover the dents of your cars if you don't want to change its paint. I think this is much cheaper than repainting the entire body.
Thanks for your comment, Joann…. there's a place for wraps and a place for fleet damage. Wraps should in my opinion not be used to hide vehicle damage, you would still see the damage / dents with a wrap on.
The info posted above relates to end of lease fleet vehicles with minor damage where a CV lease provider charges its client a premium rate repair to remove / de-ghost and repair damaged areas of the a vehicle upon return (end of lease), many commercial insurance excess fall into four figures (£) it would not be viable to repair damages through their insurance agreement / policy.
Very nice and informative post. I agree. Insuring your vehicle, weather big one or small is really very important along with getting your vehicle repaired by a reputed repair shop.


Our silver fire retardant covers are CPAI-84 certified. They are made of special materials and went through a special treatment in order to be acknowledged as fire retardant tarps by flame marshals. These resilient tarps are strengthened at their angles and feature grommets that are corrosion proof. Order a silver fire retardant cover from Abadak today.
Grommets – spacing is approximately 1.5 ft.


text:
Q: Excel vlokup with partial string I have 2 excel sheets, sheet A
Column A | Column B
12ABC      Value1
14AZC      Value2
44AXC      Value3
73XBC      Value4

and second sheet
Column A | Column B
BC         Value5
14AZC      Value6
44A        Value7

I need to make vlookup on Sheet1 with data from Sheet2.
The problem is that I need to use only partial string from Sheet2, as there may be more than 1 possible way to match both values. In result, I would need result:
Column A | Column B | Column C
12ABC      Value1     Value 5
73XBC      Value4     Value 5

I tried with, but I need it the other way around
=IF(NOT(ISBLANK(A2)); VLOOKUP(A2 & "*"; Sheet2!$A$1:$B$40;2;FALSE))

A: If you want to use VBA it's very simple:
Public Function FindOcc(Base As Range, Serc As Range) As String
    For Each x In Serc
        If InStr(Base.Value, x.Value) > 0 Then
            FindOcc = x.Offset(0, 1).Value
            Exit Function
        End If
    Next
End Function

Otherwise you can use the a Hidden Column for each data in the sheet2. Following the scheme:

Use the formulas:
E3 -> =F3&G3&H3
F3 -> =IFERROR(IF(FIND($A$10;A3);$B$10;"");"")
G3 -> =IFERROR(IF(FIND($A$11;A3);$B$11;"");"")
H3 -> =IFERROR(IF(FIND($A$12;A3);$B$12;"");"")
...

and autocomplete...
In the column E you have the result...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Metal Table Lamps : Brighten your home with beautiful table lamps. Overstock.com - Your Online Lighting Store! Get 5% in rewards with Club O!
Nov 21, 2010· Silver is a shiny grey even before being polished but develops a black film over time and has to be polished. Silvers melting point is 961.78°C (1763.2°F). Silver has the highest electrical conductivity (more electricity can pass through it) than any other metal.
Cobalt is a shiny, brittle metal that is used to make strong, corrosion and heat-resistant alloys, permanent magnets, and hard metals. ... Silver-colored cobalt metal is brittle, has a high melting point and is valued for its wear resistance and ability to retain its strength at high temperatures.
Other: high specific gravity (feels heavy for size) perfect cubic cleavage, most common lead ore Used in making crystal radios ... Shiny: may have shiny flecks but has dull areas too Hardness: ... Rock and Mineral identification. 68 terms. Minerals and their Properties. 42 terms. Minerals. 48 terms.
Dec 14, 2008· if you like, you can use my image uploader i made. just upload the image(s) and once its uploaded, click Get Code, from there it will give you the proper code for the forums. and of course, use Forum code.
Metal Kitchen & Dining Room Chairs : Make mealtimes more inviting with comfortable and attractive dining room and kitchen chairs. Overstock.com - Your Online Dining Room & Bar Furniture Store! Get 5% in rewards with Club O!
One of the densest elements on Earth, osmium is a bluish-silver metal. This very hard, brittle metal has an extremely high melting point. Largest producers: Parts of Russia and North and South America.
An inexpensive way to get that "Custom Framed" look. These frames also come complete with v-clips that serve a duel purpose of hanging and an easel backing or cardboard backing, depending on the size.
Oct 13, 2013· Identifying Non-Precious Metals bright shiny chromium Metals are identified by examining numerals qualities, including appearance (color, shine, signs of aging), weight, magnification (drawn to magnet or not), use (your bicycle spokes won't be made out of sterling silver) and hardness.
Geologically, silver may form as a native metal in veins associated with bismuth, cobalt, and other silver-bearing minerals. Silver-bearing sulfides and sulfosalts may be associated with gold mineralization.
4510 Best Metal Font Free Vector Art Downloads from the Vecteezy community. Metal Font Free Vector Art licensed under creative commons, open source, and more!
Find great deals on eBay for heavy metal buttons. Shop with confidence.
This shiny black rock is mostly used in making ornaments and jewelries. This mineral is also being collected by some people. Bolivia and China are two of the countries with the most amount of Cassiterite deposits.
Shiny metal textures are one of the most beautiful textures as they showcase different metallic pattern in an appealing way. Stop using the dull metal textures that make the entire appearance of any design boring and opt for the effective shiny metal texture.
The gunmetal finish changes color with the light, from deep black to a shiny reflective sheen. Pair with one of our many different black bracelets for men or with a black metal pendant for a unique look.


text:
Home » interview • new release • post-rock • rawk » The Solitary Sounds of Snake
Posted in interview, new release, post-rock, rawk By Bill Kopp On March 29, 2021
The Solitary Sounds of Snake
An edited version of this feature appeared previously in SF Weekly.
For Snake – also known as Oakland musician Nic Barbeln – spontaneity is a key ingredient in the process of making music. Released in late January, the latest Snake album, Wind, captures that character in its twelve dense, moody tracks. "Things just come out of the ether," Barbeln explains. "When it's time for something to happen, I have to grab a mic real fast and make it happen."
That means that many of the sounds captured on the finished recording actually happened outside the confines of a recording studio. And that approach is especially well suited to an artist who nearly always works alone. "It's all on my time," Barbeln says. "I don't even know when it's going to happen; it just kind of … happens."
Wind has a signature character, but it's one that reveals itself in waves, only after presenting the listener with an outlier, the musical equivalent of a red herring. Listeners who spend time with Wind may be surprised to discover that "Outburn," the album's opening track, is wholly unlike anything else they'll hear on the record. Its jangly, shoegaze texture draws the listener in, but once they're hooked, Barbeln takes them on a journey to other musical destinations.
"At first, I wasn't even going to put 'Outburn' on the record," he admits. Wind was conceived as an experimental collection, and the tune's comparatively accessible qualities weren't necessarily consistent with that. "But I shared it with friends and family, and everyone was super into it," he says. And eventually Barbeln came around as well, deciding that the tune might be one of the best he had ever written.
So he added "Outburn" to Wind's track sequence. And in doing so, it completely upended his original idea of what the album would be. He describes the opening track as "something that almost anyone – not just a niche group of people – could get into."
But listeners who have followed Barbeln's work since ReRisen – his first album under the Snake banner, released in 2012 – need not worry. Wind is most definitely not a pop album. In fact, the lo-fi, breathy and malevolent "Feel the World" is more in keeping with the album's experimental nature. The antithesis of what used to be called easy listening, "Feel the World" demands much of the listener.
In its own way, "Feel the World" stands apart from the rest of Wind as well. Reflecting what Barbeln calls "the 'just coming up with things' aspect" of his art, he thinks of the track as a way to balance out the more meticulously crafted tracks on the album.
The track is an exemplar of one of Barbeln's favored working methods: combining material from disparate sources to make an original whole. "Feel the World" began as "a spontaneous voice memo recording that I made while walking on the street in Oakland one night," he explains. "Then I put it over another recording from somewhere else." The juxtaposition is unnerving, and the finished track feels less like a song and more like a recited poem that happens to have music.
That quality is in keeping with Barbeln's emphasis on lyrics. Though you might not know it; throughout Wind, Barbeln's vocals are buried beneath sheets of sound, to the point at which they seem more like textural elements than a means of expressing ideas in word form.
"I'm very into my lyrics," Barbeln says with a laugh. "I put a lot of thought into them." He goes so far as to print the lyrics to Wind's vocal tracks (ten of 12) on the record's inner sleeve. But there's an ambivalence at the core of his work that expresses itself in his production and mixing choices. "I'm also a fan of not being able to hear my lyrics," he says. "So it's kind of a paradox."
If there's a unifying thread that connects the dozen or so Snake releases, Barbeln suggests that it's the music's "spiritual, ghostly" character. Before recording Wind, he says that he used music as a kind of therapy during difficult times. But he feels that the new record documents a new and more expressive phase. "This album is representative of a more universal set of emotions: emotions in general, the whole palette," he says.
Wind is a more refined effort than earlier Snake releases, but as tracks like the simultaneously hypnotic and pummeling "Antichrist" demonstrate, rough surfaces and sharp edges remain very much a part of the music. Barbeln suggests that the biggest change from his early days may be an increased emphasis on self-editing. "I'm in this new phase where I don't want to put anything out that I don't think is totally great," he says. "Back then, I recorded or archived every single thing I did."
But mostly for Barbeln, that process of making music at home happens at home; even before the pandemic, live performances of Snake material were a rarity. The music's personal nature – and Barbeln's method of creating it on his own – aren't really consistent with the idea of concerts. "As Snake, I've probably only performed five to 10 times over the past 10 years," he says. But the COVID-era's growing use of live streaming may push Barbeln in that direction. "Who knows what's going to happen now?" he says.
Barbeln believes that as he approaches middle age, he still maintains "that punk ethos of 'not really knowing,' just feeling around on the fretboard and playing some textures that sound good." And despite the contemplative, occasionally insular character of Wind, Barbeln says that he isn't composing solely for himself. "It's always about the song and its effect on the listener," he says. "I write songs when I'm having a lot of emotions. If a song is a success, it's just the translation of whatever state I was in."
And he's pleased whenever a listener can connect with the expression of those emotions. "If people catch up on that by listening, then that's amazing," he says. "It doesn't always happen. But when it does, it's pretty awesome."
Tags:nic barbeln, snake
Bill Kopp
With a background in marketing and advertising, Bill Kopp got his professional start writing for Trouser Press. After a stint as Editor-in-chief for a national music magazine, Bill launched Musoscribe in 2009, and has published new content every business day since then (and every single day since 2018). The 4000-plus interviews, essays, and reviews on Musoscribe reflect Bill's keen interest in American musical forms, most notably rock, jazz, and soul. His work features a special emphasis on reissues and vinyl. Bill's work also appears in many other outlets both online and in print. He regularly hosts lecture/discussions on artists and albums of historical importance (including monthly events Music to Your Ears and Music Movie Mondays), and is a frequent guest on music-focused radio programs and podcasts. In Spring 2023 he is co-teaching a history of Rock 'n' Roll at UNC Asheville's College for Seniors. He also researches and authors liner notes for album reissues -- more than 30 to date -- and co-produced a reissue of jazz legend Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's final album. His first book, Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2018, and in paperback in 2019. His second book, Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave, is available now from HoZac Books. Read even more about him here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


There are lots of ways the Library Service can help you during your first months in your professional role.
Find articles at NHS Evidence My Journals – login with your NHS Athens password.
Watch this video to see how to find books and articles from your course reading lists. Northumbria University's Skills Plus website has excellent tutorials on independent study, writing assignments and thinking critically.
There is study space in all of the Trust's libraries, and PCs you can use with your Trust ID and password. To use the Libraries in the evenings or weekends, ask us and we will sort out access for you.
If you need help to find any books, articles or information, just ask one of the library staff. We know how to track down that book or piece of information you need for your studies and would love to help you find it.


We have a highly efficient team to deal with inquiries from customers. Our goal is "100% customer satisfaction by our product quality, price & our team service" and enjoy a good reputation among clients. With many factories, we can provide a wide range of Die Casting Die Design , Die Casting Design , Die Casting Dies , we look forward to having the opportunity of working with companies around the world for joint growth and mutual success.
To fulfill the customers' over-expected pleasure , we've got our strong group to supply our greatest general provider which incorporates promoting, gross sales, planning, production, quality controlling, packing, warehousing and logistics for Die Casting Die Design , Die Casting Design , Die Casting Dies , The company has numbers of foreign trade platforms which are Alibaba, Global Sources, Global Market, Made-in-china. Goods sell very well in Europe, America, Middle East and other regions more than 30 countries.


text:
You are here: Home / All News / Little by little Obamacare is going to be replaced, just have trust.
Little by little Obamacare is going to be replaced, just have trust.
June 22, 2017 By Gary Panell Leave a Comment
Senate GOP releases its version of an Obamacare replacement
WASHINGTON (June 22, 2017) — Senate Republicans released their long-awaited bill Thursday to dismantle much of Barack Obama's failing health care law.
The bill would provide less-generous tax credits to help people buy insurance and let states get waivers to ignore some coverage standards that "Obamacare" requires of insurers. And it would end the tax penalties under Obama's law on people who don't buy insurance — the so-called individual mandate — and on larger companies that don't offer coverage to their employees.
The measure represents the Senate GOP's effort to achieve a top tier priority for President Donald Trump and virtually all Republican members of Congress. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hopes to push it through his chamber next week, but solid Democratic opposition — and complaints from at least a half-dozen Republicans — have left its fate unclear.
"We have to act," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "Because Obamacare is a direct attack on the middle class, and American families deserve better than its failing status quo."
However, some conservative and moderate GOP senators have complained about McConnell's proposal, the secrecy with which he drafted it and the speed with which he'd like to whisk it to passage. McConnell has only a thin margin of error: The bill would fail if just three of the Senate's 52 GOP senators oppose it.
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., facing a tough re-election fight next year, said he had "serious concerns' about the bill's Medicaid reductions.
"If the bill is good for Nevada, I'll vote for it and if it's not, I won't," said Heller, whose state added 200,000 additional people under Obama's law.
The House approved its version of the bill last month. Though he lauded its passage in a Rose Garden ceremony, Trump last week privately called the House measure "mean" and called on senators to make their version more "generous."
At the White House on Thursday, Trump expressed hope for quick action.
"We'll hopefully get something done, and it will be something with heart and very meaningful," he said
The bill would phase out the extra money Obama's law provides to states that have expanded coverage under the federal-state Medicaid program for low-income people. The additional funds would continue through 2020, and be gradually reduced until they are entirely eliminated in 2024.
Ending Obama's expansion has been a major problem for some GOP senators. Some from states that have expanded the program have battled to prolong the phase-out, while conservative Republicans have sought to halt the funds quickly.
Beginning in 2020, the Senate measure would also limit the federal funds states get each year for Medicaid. The program currently gives states all the money needed to cover eligible recipients and procedures.
The Senate bill would also reduce subsidies now provided to help people without workplace coverage get private health insurance, said Caroline Pearson, a senior vice president of the health care consulting firm Avalare Health.
Unlike the House bill, which bases its subsidies for private insurance on age, the Senate bill uses age and income. That focuses financial assistance on people with lower incomes.
Pearson said those subsidies will be smaller than under current law. That's because they're keyed to the cost of a bare-bones plan, and because additional help now provided for deductibles and copayments would be discontinued.
The bill would let states get waivers to ignore some coverage requirements under Obama's law, such as specific health services insurers must now cover. States could not get exemptions to Obama's prohibition against charging higher premiums for some people with pre-existing medical conditions, but the subsidies would be lower, Pearson said, making coverage less unaffordable.
Like the House bill, the Senate measure would block federal payments to Planned Parenthood. Many Republicans have long fought that organization because it provides abortions.
The Senate would also provide $50 billion over the next four years that states could use in an effort to shore up insurance markets around the country.
For the next two years, it would also provide money that insurers use to help lower out-of-pocket costs for millions of lower income people. Trump has been threatening to discontinue those payments, and some insurance companies have cited uncertainty over those funds as reasons why they are abandoning some markets and boosting premiums.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the House bill would cause 23 million people to lose coverage by 2026. The budget office's analysis of the Senate measure is expected in the next few days.
Share to FacebookFacebook1Share to TwitterTwitterShare to EmailEmailShare to MoreMore2


text:
NASA Solar Sail Offers Skywatchers Elusive Target
By Joe Rao
NASA's NanoSail-D soars in Earth orbit in this artist's illustration. (Image credit: NASA)
A tiny NASA satellite has unfurled a solar sail high above Earth and eagle-eyed skywatchers are hoping to spot the shiny spacecraft from the ground.
NASA confirmed on Friday (Jan. 21) that its NanoSail-D solar sail satellite successfully deployed its 100-square-foot polymer sail in low-Earth orbit and was operating as planned. The actual deployment occurred a day earlier, on Thursday, and was later confirmed using beacon and telemetry data.
But while radio and radar data indicate that the sail has unfurled, observers on the ground are still trying to make an actual visual sighting of NanoSail-D as it passes across the twilight sky. At least one Russian skywatcher has spotted a candidate that may have been the solar sail.
NASA officials say the sail is expected to stay in low-Earth orbit between 70 and 120 days, depending on atmospheric conditions. Here's how to join in the hunt for sighting this most unusual artificial satellite:
The Huntsville-based NanoSail-D team stands with the fully deployed sail at ManTech SRS technologies on April 16, 2008, after the successful deployment test. (Image credit: Science@NASA)
Trying to actually see NanoSail-D solar sail as it passes over your location will be a bit more difficult than trying to spot the International Space Station or one of the thousands of other man-made objects orbiting our planet.
For one thing, unlike a typical satellite, NanoSail-D is a flat, one-dimensional object. Like all orbiting satellites, visibility will depend on how much sunlight is illuminating it at any given moment. [How Do Solar Sails Work?]
Unfortunately, at this particular moment it appears that the angle of the sail relative to the sun and to prospective observers on the ground will be rather unfavorable, and as a result NanoSail-D has been very dim; quite likely invisible to the unaided eye.
On Jan. 21, Ted Molczan, moderator of the SeeSat-L mailing list, attempted to sight NanoSail-D from his home just outside Toronto, Canada.
Astronomers measure the brightness of sky objects in terms of magnitude. The lower an object's magnitude number, the brighter it appears. The full moon, for example, has a magnitude of about -12.7, while the star Sirius — the brightest star in the sky — typically shines at a magnitude of -1.4.
Molczan was using 25 x 100 binoculars, and despite poor sky conditions could see stars with a magnitude 8, which is roughly six times fainter than the faintest star that could be glimpsed by the unaided eye.
But NanoSail-D was not visible.
"Had the satellite reached [magnitude] 6 or 7, I should have seen it," Molczan noted.
Dan Laszlo, a veteran satellite observer stationed at Fort Collins, Colo., speculates that "it seems likely we are straining to see a large but backlit object with these (recent) passes."
But from Yarovoye, Russia, observer Viktor Voropaev apparently had success; he observed a second magnitude object that was moving very closely along the projected track of the sail on the evening of Jan. 22.
According to NASA's Mark Whorton at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. — which is overseeing the solar sail flight— there are some prerequisites required in order to spot the NanoSail-D satellite.
"NanoSail-D needs to be illuminated by sunlight for it to be seen from the ground, and it needs to be seen against a dark sky for sufficient contrast (so it will stand out). Since it flies at a relatively low orbit altitude, it is only illuminated by sunlight against a comparably dark background around dawn and dusk," Whorton has said. "Early in the mission it will be tumbling, so it really doesn't matter where it is in the sky, but later in the mission it will be aerodynamically stabilized. That means you will see it edge on when it is directly overhead."
The best viewing opportunities to spot NanoSail-D will be in the later phases of the mission — as the solar sail's orbit decays and it enters more of the atmosphere, Whorton said. At that time, it will tend to be closer to the horizon rather than directly overhead.
"However, these are just general guidelines — it will likely be good viewing just at all elevations as long as the sun has is close to setting or barely risen," Whorton added.
And there is still yet another intriguing possibility that NanoSail-D might periodically reflect glints of sunlight back to Earth, making it appear to briefly "flash" or "flare" into visibility.
Where to look and when?
You stand your best chance of catching a glimpse of NanoSail-D if you know when it is passing over your area.
The Heavens-Above website (http://heavens-above.com/) is providing sighting predictions of NanoSail-D for any place on Earth over the next 10 days. The skywatching website suggests that the sail might appear as bright as a magnitude 3 star when 50 percent illuminated, and viewed at a distance of 620 miles (1,000 km). It could appear as bright as a first-magnitude star when in 100 percent sunlight and viewed at perigee (its closest point to earth) a distance of 387 miles (623 km).
Another site to try is: Real Time Satellite Tracking (http://www.n2yo.com/?s=25544). There, you can not only track NanoSail-D (and a variety of other satellites) on an ever-changing world map, but you can also get 5-day sighting predictions as well.
And lastly, you can use an app (courtesy of Spaceweather.com) to get latest satellite predictions on your iPhone.
The NanoSail-D solar sail's success is a comeback story of sorts for NASA.
The breadbox-size satellite hitched a ride to space on Nov. 19 aboard NASA's larger FASTSAT research satellite. NanoSail-D was slated to eject from FASTSAT on Dec. 6, but apparently was stuck fast.
On Jan. 19, however, NanoSail-D finally popped free from FASTSAT on its own, allowing NASA scientists to continue with what is the space agency's first successful solar sail test flight.
NASA's NanoSail-D mission is the second test flight to successfully deploy a solar sail in space. Japan successfully deployed Ikaros — the first spacecraft to use solar sail propulsion — in June 2010.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.
Joe Rao
Skywatching Columnist
Joe Rao is Space.com's skywatching columnist, as well as a veteran meteorologist and eclipse chaser who also serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications. Joe is an 8-time Emmy-nominated meteorologist who served the Putnam Valley region of New York for over 21 years. You can find him on Twitter and YouTube tracking lunar and solar eclipses, meteor showers and more. To find out Joe's latest project, visit him on Twitter.
Watch SpaceX launch 56 Starlink satellites early Thursday


AS3 has two integer types: int and uint. In my experience, most AS3 programmers just use int everywhere and ignore uint. This is usually acceptable as the need for unsigned integers is rare compared to their signed counterparts. However, there are significant performance differences between the two. Read on for the impact of uint on your loops. The original version of this article's performance test contained a small-but-critical error that led to a lot of incorrect analysis and results. This version of the article has been corrected.


NEH grant details: Advanced Res. Exch. & Related Special Grant Activities in the Human. & Humanistic Aspects of the Soc. Sci. w/ the S.U.
Advanced Res. Exch. & Related Special Grant Activities in the Human. & Humanistic Aspects of the Soc. Sci. w/ the S.U.
To support the continuation of advanced research exchanges and related grant activities in the humanities with the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe.


Perfect for Girls Night Out! This fabulous #1 Bride-to-Be foam hand is an 18-inch tall hand that features a manicured female hand sporting a large diamond engagement ring. For added fun and festivity the back reads, "Buy Me A Drink!"
Available in Purple only. Also available in #1 Bachelorette and #1 Maid of Honor.


As pet owners, we never like saying goodbye to our furry family members, but we all know that a day will come when they're no longer with us. That doesn't detract from the special times and memories that we share with them throughout our lives together – it just makes us cherish them all the more. If you have an elderly pet or a pet that's suffering, call 911 Vets® Home Pet Medical™ and we'll help you decide on the best course of action regarding your pet. Our gentle, in-home pet euthanasia in Los Angeles can help make this tough time easier on you and your family.
Our complete services are designed to meet all your needs. After discussing the situation with our dispatcher, our team will arrive promptly at your home. After the decision has been made to let your pet pass peacefully, we'll give you as much time as you need with your animal. We'll then administer a sedative, so that your pet no longer feels any pain, followed by a barbiturate that allows your pet to leave this world and its pain and suffering behind. If you feel up to it, we'll discuss any aftercare or memorial options with you.
By offering in-home pet euthanasia in Los Angeles, you and your pet can be surrounded by the people, sights, and smells that you both know and love. There's no worry about a pet passing away in the car on the way to the vet clinic, or having to transport a large pet that's in too much pain to move. Instead, you can both share your last moments together in peace and comfort.


text:
package com.github.robozonky.internal.async;

import java.time.Duration;
import java.util.function.Supplier;

import com.github.robozonky.internal.util.functional.Either;

/**
 * Allows the user to have a variable which reloads from a remote source on-demand.
 *
 * @param <T> Type of the variable.
 */
public interface Reloadable<T> {

    /**
     * Start a builder chain with the supplier as the operation used to reload the variable.
     *
     * @param supplier Operation that loads the variable.
     * @param <V>      Type of the variable.
     * @return The builder.
     */
    static <V> ReloadableBuilder<V> with(final Supplier<V> supplier) {
        return new ReloadableBuilder<>(supplier);
    }

    /**
     * Marks the {@link Reloadable} for reload. Next time {@link #get()} is called, the operation will be re-attempted.
     */
    void clear();

    /**
     * Get the previous value of the operation (see {@link #with(Supplier)}, potentially executing it anew. The behavior
     * of this method is greatly influenced by {@link ReloadableBuilder}, most importantly its methods
     * {@link ReloadableBuilder#async()} and {@link ReloadableBuilder#reloadAfter(Duration)}.
     *
     * @return Result of the last call of the operation.
     */
    Either<Throwable, T> get();

    boolean hasValue();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Dinner with Mr. Wickham!
In September of last year I was very lucky to be invited to take part in a television programme here in the UK. It's called Masterchef, and the wonderful cooks below were competing for the title week by week, undergoing a gruelling set of challenges and providing some fabulous food for those fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of all their hard work.
This episode coincided with the end of The Jane Austen Festival, and many of the attendees were asked to come along and enjoy some of the food with a Regency theme. The chefs were divided into two teams and they were competing for the chance to cook with top chef, Jason Atherton.
The event took place at The Royal Crescent Hotel, and the chefs cooked outside in tents erected on what was known as the Cresent Fields in Jane Austen's day.
I was so lucky to be invited to the dinner that took place next day, and meet amongst other distinguished guests, one of my favourite actors, Adrian Lukis, who you will all recognise from the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice. Sigh...I have to say, he's just as gorgeous!
The other guests were Richard Knight (the Jane Austen Society) and his wife Phillipa, Jackie Herring (the Jane Austen Festival Director) and her husband, Caroline Langrishe, (a very well-known actress from stage and screen), John Cullum (the High Sheriff of Bath, and also Jamie Cullum's Dad), and Paula Byrne (the writer of Jane Austen and the Theatre).
Paula Byrne told me all about her new book which sounds fascinating, a biography on Jane Austen which I'm looking forward to adding to my collection. Here we all are enjoying champagne before the dinner, and finding our places at the table.
When I agreed to take part, I had little idea what was involved, and I must admit I was petrified. I cannot imagine what those poor chefs went through or how nervous they must have been having to work in a kitchen they'd never been in before, and under such pressure to produce food of the highest standard. I have to say it was delicious, and every course was divine - five in all! Dinner was served in a beautiful room at The Royal Crescent Hotel, and there was lots of laughter between courses when the cameras were off.
Here I am trying to look as if I know what I'm talking about - I'm not sure if anything I said made any sense, but I did enjoy it all very much, and I felt very privileged to be part of such a wonderful dinner.
Jane Odiwe
Labels: Jane Austen Festival, Jane Odiwe, Masterchef
Thank you all very much again for your warm welcome – I'm thrilled to be here and look forward to posting each month!
I thought I would start by talking a little bit about long sea journeys during the 18th century as I am currently doing some research on this for my next book. I've been reading a journal kept by a Swedish man, Christopher Hinric Braad, when he sailed to Canton in China between 1750-1752 on board the ship Götha Leijon. He made detailed notes about everything he saw during the trip and included drawings of some of the ports and various other things like plants and fish. His account is fascinating, if at times somewhat long-winded, and I'm thoroughly enjoying his erratic spelling as well!
The Götha Leijon was one of the ships belonging to the Swedish East India Company (SOIC) and when I was writing my first novel, Trade Winds, I did a lot of research about the company's very first journey to Canton in 1732. That venture was so successful, the SOIC continued to send out ships every year. By the early 1750's they had quite a few going back and forth, although they were 'small fry' in comparison to their English and Dutch counterparts for example. The Swedes had not had much experience of Far East trade, so in the beginning they employed Scotsmen and Englishmen to help them learn. These foreigners seem to have flourished and stayed on in Gothenburg, because twenty years later, when Braad sailed on the Götha Leijon, two out of the five supercargos (the men in charge of the trading) were still Scottish (John Irvine) or English (John Chambers).
Braad seems to have gone on the journey purely as a scientific spectator and writer, rather than a trader. He went out of his way to seek out the most obscure facts about each of the places they visited along the route, recording it all carefully. He gives boring measurements, longitudes and latitudes for everything, but the most interesting parts of his accounts (for me anyway) are those where he describes the people and places he encounters. For example, on an island called Johanna near Madagascar, he writes about one of the island chieftains who the Europeans gave the title of 'Prince' even though this was plainly not very apt! He says the man "bore this title ... despite the fact that his only claim to princely demeanour was the fact that he wore shoes, albeit without socks, when the rest of the people there went barefoot, and in his hand he carried a walking stick decorated with a silver button. Upon our arrival, he graced our ship with his presence dressed in clothing that lay close to his body, a so called 'kabay' of chequered cotton material with a green open coat on top, a belt over his left shoulder and a small crocheted or knitted hat ('calott') on his head." I find this description charming and can imagine how very strange this 'prince' must have seemed to an 18th century European! You can almost hear the amazement in Braad's writing voice.
What strikes me the most, however, is how brave Braad (and the others) were to go on such a journey at all!
Personally, the mere thought of going on a sailing ship makes me turn green. Although I'm happy to look around a ship while it is in port (as I did with the SOIC replica ship Götheborg when it visited London a couple of years ago), wild horses wouldn't get me to actually sail on one! (I have the dubious distinction of probably being the only person ever to be seasick during the ferry journey between Sweden and Denmark which takes less than 20 minutes). I would not wish this kind of suffering on anyone, however, so the characters in my books always gain their 'sea legs' very quickly. It would have made for rather miserable stories otherwise!
Going back to the 18th century though - what if you decided to go on a seven to nine month journey on a sailing ship and found that you suffered from mal de mer the entire time? Could that happen? When I went on board the Götheborg, I talked to a crew member who had sailed on her for months and asked this very question. The girl told me that they had only had one such person out of the hundreds who had sailed with them and this unfortunate man had been returned to land after a week. Everyone else had adapted. So perhaps there is hope even for me?
For our forebears there were worse things to contend with – cramped conditions, extreme weather (from freezing cold to unbearable heat and back again), monotonous and often rotten food, scurvy, illness and even the drinking water having to be sieved for maggots! So the men who ventured abroad in this way must have been extremely tough indeed and it's a miracle that any of them survived. Braad did, he even made the journey several times, returning safely to report back to his superiors about everything he'd seen. This is lucky for me, because journals like his are invaluable for research purposes and I'm indebted to him and others like him.
I think our ancestors were amazingly resilient, resourceful and courageous and I admire them immensely! Researching their exploits and reading their own words are a part of what makes writing historical novels such fun, at least for me. Would you agree?
Labels: 18th century travel, Far East, sea voyages, seasickness
Welcome to Christina Courtenay
We are delighted to welcome Christina Courtenay as a new full-time member of our blog. Christina will already be known to some of you as the author of the fabulous Highland Storms, which won this year's RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel. It's a wonderful novel - here's a taster!
Betrayed by his brother and his childhood love, Brice Kinross needs a fresh start. So he welcomes the opportunity to leave Sweden for the Scottish Highlands to take over the family estate.
But there's trouble afoot at Rosyth in 1754 and Brice finds himself unwelcome. The estate is in ruin and money is disappearing. He discovers an ally in Marsaili Buchanan, the beautiful redheaded housekeeper, but can he trust her?
Marsaili is determined to build a good life. She works hard at being housekeeper and harder still at avoiding men who want to take advantage of her. But she's irresistibly drawn to the new clan chief, even though he's made it plain he doesn't want to be shackled to anyone.
And the young laird has more than romance on his mind. His investigations are stirring up an enemy. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what he wants – including Marsaili – even if that means destroying Brice's life forever …
Christina will be blogging regularly on the twenty-third of each month, so watch this space!
Extreme Regency Fashion
Spring is trying to get sprung here in chilly North Norfolk, the daffodils are blooming, the pheasants are courting... It all makes me think of Spring bonnets which led me to browse through my collection of Regency fashion prints to see what I could find.
But then I got distracted by some truly weird and wonderful designs, so I thought I would share some of them with you instead.
All are by the inventive and prolific Mrs Bell who had her own dressmaking establishment and used the pages of publisher John Bell's La Belle Assemblee to publicise her wares. Mrs Bell is a bit of a mystery. She seems to be related in some way to John Bell but the link has never been found.
To start there is the deeply unflattering Walking Dress of 1809 on the right. No wonder she has a veil - I would pay good money not to wear this!
For the truly uninhibited there is this Bathing Place Evening Dress of 1810, frilly unmentionables and all. (Left) Considering that this was a time when ladies drawers were considered a daring innovation it must have taken an iron nerve to appear in these.
There was something about the seaside that got Mrs Bell's creative juices going. She invented a Bathing Preserver which was a sort of oilskin over-garment that a lady could wear before taking to the water to save her from the dubious delights of the bathing costume provided by the bathing machine proprietors. Although I have seen a picture of the bag this was carried in I can't find a picture of the Preserver itself. Perhaps the sight was considered too exciting for the pages of a magazine.
You were not spared Mrs Bell's inventiveness on your way to take your dip in the sea either. Below right is an 1809 Bathing Dress. It is not intended to be worn in the sea, but note the fetching seaweed trim and the snazzy striped booties.
If you are talking a walk around the London parks, instead of along the clifftops, why not frighten the ducks in this tartan Walking Dress of 1811 (below left)? It is difficult to imagine who might look good in this outfit but presumably it chimed with interest in Scotland and Highland romance. I would imagine Bonny Prince Charlie would have run screaming at the sight.
Mrs Bell flourished for some years with designs ranging from the practical to the elegant to the downright bizarre. She seems to have started off in Upper King Street, Bloomsbury but moved to 26, Charlotte Street, off Bedford Square - a much smarter address - in 1814. By 1817 she was at 52, St James's Street, right in the centre of fashionable club land and just around the corner from Almack's.
I would love to know how many of these eccentric "inventions" as they are frequently captioned were ever purchased and worn or whether they were like the extremes of modern catwalk fashion designed to get people talking about the designer.
Posted by Louise Allen at 5:00 AM 7 comments:
Labels: la Belle Assemblee, Mrs Bell, Regency bathing, Regency fashion
Celtic Blessings
I was looking for some toasts or salutations for use in my current book and found these. They say so much in so few words, especially the fisherman's prayer.
A Celtic grace:
May the roof above
never fall in.
May we below
never fall out.
A Celtic Blessing:
May you have -
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain,
And drinks bedside the fire
Laughter to cheer you
And those you love near you,
And all that your heart may desire
An Old Wedding Blessing:
May God be with you and bless you.
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
Fisherman's prayer:
Dear God, be good to me;
The sea is so wide,
And my boat is so small.
Old English Blessing:
May your joys be as sweet as spring flowers that grow.
As bright as a fire when winter winds blow,
As countless as leaves that float down in the fall,
As serene as the love that keeps watch over us all.
Armenian blessing:
May their joys be as deep as the ocean
And their misfortunes as light as the foam.
Labels: Blessings
I posted about royal weddings back in February 2011. It intrigued me then to wonder what would have happened if Princess Charlotte had not died in childbirth in 1817.
I was not the only person who was wondering. I learned today that a new exhibition about Princess Charlotte has been opened at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. The curator's motivation seems to have been this year's Diamond Jubilee; he found himself wondering what would have happened if it had been Charlotte's descendents who were on the throne now, rather than Victoria's.
You can read about the exhibition here. It's called Charlotte, the Forgotten Princess. It is on for a year, until March 2013, so some of us might be able to arrange to visit. I reckon it would be worth the journey.
When I visited Windsor last autumn, I was struck by the huge marble monument to Princess Charlotte in St George's chapel, showing her ascending to heaven with her still-born child in the arms of an angel. It reflects the depths of the mourning that followed Charlotte's death.
Suddenly, the Prince Regent had no heirs and no hope of begetting any, since his wife was still alive. The succession was up for grabs. The Prince Regent's brothers had to drop their long-term mistresses and go and find themselves German princesses to marry. No one else would do, because marrying a German princess was a requirement if any of them was eventually to become King of Hanover as well as Britain.
Just by Charlotte's memorial in St George's chapel, there's a statue of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, her husband. But the written material at Windsor doesn't explain that he was her husband. It just says he became King of the Belgians. I thought it was touching that he had been placed next to her and sad that most visitors wouldn't understand why. I hope the curators have changed it by now. It does seem unfair that Charlotte, and Leopold, have been forgotten.
Posted by Anonymous at 1:00 AM 4 comments:
Labels: Prince Leopold, Princess Charlotte, Royal Pavilion Brighton, Royal Weddings, St George's Chapel Windsor, Windsor Castle
The phaeton
In the occasional series about modes of transport, we can't ignore the phaeton. It was introduced in the second quarter of the eighteenth century and it remained a firm favourite with a certain set right up to the popularity of the train.
In fact, it was the smart man-about-town's sports car, his Aston Martin DBS, his Porsche 911, his Ferrari 458. Young men would discuss the merits of various models, they'd have special paint jobs applied, and they'd vie for the finest horses to draw the speed machine.
Oh yes, and a few daring women had them, too.
The top of the range was the high perch phaeton. It kept off the mud, kept the driver so high up he could look down on everyone else, and it was tricky to drive. You can almost hear the Regency buck in White's Club, "I swear, Carruthers, I went around that corner so fast the wheels left the ground."
They had a club for particularly daring drivers in the early nineteenth century – the Four Horse Club. The regalia, in effect an old school tie before old school ties existed, was particularly garish, blue and yellow. They would race their vehicles, be it the four wheeled phaeton or the two wheeled curricle, or a different variation on the fashionable car.
Ladies had fashions too. The whips of the day would take a fortunate woman in his carriage in the park, one of the few places they could have relative privacy in the full sight of society, although there would usually be a boy or small man, a "tiger" up behind, to attend to his lordship's needs, should a need arrive. He could walk the horses while his master showed his charming young guest a particularly pleasant clump of daffodils or bluebells a little off the beaten path, or he could take messages. Or pick up shopping without his lordship having the necessity of getting down himself.
It does look a particularly attractive vehicle, and of course there are still examples today for us to admire. But no more races from London to Bath. It's a shame. We have the annual vintage car rally, so a race of the carriages that were developed at the height of the carriage era would be fun, wouldn't it?
Posted by lynneconnolly at 10:02 PM 1 comment:
Miss Shaw & The Doctor
I'm delighted to tell you that my sixth book for Aurora/Musa is finally coming out on 23rd march. It was due to be published last August with Aurora/AMP but this company folded. The four women who had set up the Aurora wing bought this part of AMP and so Musa was born. The company is going well and will continue to do so.
Here is an extract from the book. I hope you enjoy it.
Ebook Price: $4.99
Ebook ISBN13: 978-1-61937-260-3
At the sound of rapidly approaching hooves Sarah pushed herself upright. How kind of the squire to send someone out to look for her. She had fully expected to wait until the morning to be collected. She picked up her valise and withdrew her handkerchief from her reticule to wipe some of the grime from her hands.
The gig, travelling at a spanking trot, showed no sign of pulling up. The driver could not have seen her. Leaning forward, she waved her handkerchief furiously. The beast shied and the vehicle slewed sideways. The unfortunate driver slipped from his perch and vanished into the hedge.
"Oh, my goodness! What have I done?"
The horse, having recovered from its fright, now waited a few yards away as if nothing untoward had happened. The outline of the gig was clearly discernible in the welcome light of the lanterns. It appeared undamaged–indeed not even the traces were tangled. Only the driver had suffered a mishap. She was most concerned about him.
The head and shoulders of the missing man emerged through a gap in the hedge. He was covered in twigs, his hair awry, and his smart topcoat sadly mired. She was relieved to see he had not injured himself. Apparently, the hedge had made a soft landing.
This was no servant – oh, dear! She had made a grave error of judgement and would never have attempted to wave down the gig if she's realised. The gentleman did not look at all pleased to see her. In fact he looked furious.
"I do beg your pardon," she said. "I thought you were a servant from the manor come to collect me."
He drew himself up to his full height, which must be two yards in his stocking feet. Every inch quivered with rage. "Are you mad? Only an imbecile would wave her handkerchief at a horse as you did. You are lucky we were not killed by your stupidity."
Sarah bristled. How could she have known the silly animal would tip its master over the hedge? She had already apologised. There was no need for him to be so unpleasant.
"If I had not done so, you might not have seen me. As a gentleman, I'm sure you would not wish me to be marooned here on my own for the rest of the night."
She risked moving closer and curtsied politely. "I am Miss Sarah Shaw, the new governess for Lady Fenwick. I have been sitting here for over two hours."
"Dr. Adam Moorcroft." He barely nodded.
"I should be most grateful if you would assist me, Dr. Moorcroft."
"I suppose I shall have to give you a lift as I am going to the manor myself." He viewed her large trunk with disfavour. "That will have to remain where it is until tomorrow. Bring your valise. Let us hope, Miss Shaw, that my horse is not lame after your foolishness."
"All that I possess is in that trunk. If you will not put it in your vehicle, then I shall remain behind with it. Please, do not let me delay you. No doubt you are on your way to deliver Lady Fenwick's child."
Labels: histoircal, Miss Shaw and The Doctor, regency romance
Regency Boxing
Recently I've been writing a couple of articles about the research I did for Whisper of Scandal, as it will be published in Germany later this year. One of the items I came across was about boxing. I'm not a huge fan of the sport but I did find the research into the Regency passion for boxing to be fascinating. In Whisper of Scandal my heroine, Joanna, is a "Lady of the Fancy," one of the patronesses of the ring. This is despite the fact that like me she doesn't care for contact sports. (She was just too polite to refuse when asked to be a patroness!) In the book the hero finds her at a boxing match hiding away in a back room with her fingers in her ears to blot out the sound of the punches!
Sport in England in the late 18th and early 19th century was rowdy, riotous and often cruel. It was also quite democratic; a duke would be happy to play cricket in the same team as his gardener and the Prince of Wales entertained a pugilist to dinner. In 1750 an act of parliament reaffirmed that boxing was illegal, a criminal activity that was viewed by the courts as an affray or assault. This was largely because there was nervousness in the later 18th century about big gatherings and unruly crowds, but from 1780 the sport became both fashionable and popular with the support of the Prince of Wales and the Dukes of York and Clarence.
The support of rich patrons was in fact vital to the sport. Keen attendees at matches were not only royal and noble but also members of the gentry and men from the world of business. As fights were technically illegal they could not be advertised. They often happened on private land or on estates outside London. No advance tickets were sold. The organisers would arrange the fighters, the stake etc. Then a few days before the match word would go out that a fight was happening. This was to avoid alerting the magistrates. Hungerford and Bath were two popular venues because they were easily accessible from London. Sometimes bouts were held at racecourses where the spectators could use the grandstands. Word was spread from the London boxing pubs, Castle Tavern in Holborn and the Horse and Dolphin in St Martin's Lane. Fans – the Fancy – would set out early in the morning and were prepared to travel a long way to matches, just like football fanes today. The Fancy came from all strata of society. One thing that amused me was that these crowds, sometimes twenty or thirty thousand strong, would set off armed with fishing rods as decoys! It appears that they did not have too much to fear from the magistrates either since often they would come along as spectators, as they did at the Cribb versus Molyneaux fight in Rutland in 1811.
Unlike the supporters, the fighters were mostly from the unskilled working classes. It was a very vicious sport. Not many boxers died in the ring but some died from their injuries afterwards. Others were said to die from drink. Boxing offered great rewards for top fighters with prize money ranging from £50 to over £2000. Despite this, champion boxer Daniel Mendoza died in a debtor's prison. Others such as Tom Cribb ran pubs in their retirement. "Gentleman" John Jackson, who was the son of a builder, set up a highly successful boxing academy in Bond Street that was patronised by the aristocracy.
Despite the popularity and fashionable credentials of the sport I think I would have been like my heroine, hiding away with my eyes closed and my fingers in her ears to avoid witnessing the brutality!
Labels: Regency boxing
The Appeal of Mr Rochester
I've just been re-reading Jennifer Kloester's excellent biography of Georgette Heyer. In it, she quotes Heyer's interesting article in Punch on the continuing appeal of Mr Rochester.
Charlotte knew, perhaps instinctively, how to create a hero who would appeal to women throughout the ages, and to her must all succeeding romantic novelists acknowledge their indebtedness.
Rochester is the rugged and dominant male, who can yet be handled by quite ordinary a woman, as it might be, oneself. He is rude, overbearing, and often a bounder, but these blemishes, however repulsive they may be in real life, can be made in the hands of a skilled novelist, extremely attractive to woman. Charlotte Bronte, immensely skilled, knew just where to draw the line.
What struck me was Georgette Heyer's acknowledgement that Rochester is frequently a bounder and, in real life, would be an emotional disaster area. I have often wondered about various Heyer heroes in the Rochester mould, Max Ravenscar, say. Yes, a terrifically sexy hero, but as a husband? I doubt it. Give me Freddy Standen any day; not much in the way of brains but such a poppet. Or Sir Gareth Ludlow, where the slow build-up of his relationship with poor, dowdy Lady Hester allows her to open up and become herself, and him to appreciate her qualities.
Interestingly, the eminent Victorian man of letters, Sir Leslie Stephen, also had his doubts about Rochester. Writing on Jane Eyre in the Cornhill Magazine in 1877, he argues that Rochester is really a woman – with added muscles.
Jane Eyre has not had such bitter experiences as Lucy Snowe (Villette), Shirley (Shirley) is generally Jane Eyre in high spirits, and freed from harassing anxiety, and Rochester is really a spirited sister of Shirley's, and even an unusually masculine specimen of his sex.
He is supposed to be specially simple and masculine, and yet he is as self-conscious as a young lady on her first appearance in society, and can do nothing but discourse about his feelings, and his looks, and his phrenological symptoms to his admiring hearer. Set him beside any man's character of a man, and one feels at once that he has no solidity or validity. He has, of course, strong nerves and muscles, but they are articles which can be supplied in unlimited quantities and with little expense to the imagination.
My first reaction on reading this, was a shock of recognition, because Sir Leslie is surely right. Rochester does spend a lot of time talking about his feelings and his looks in a most un-masculine way. In fact, he talks like a woman.
When I was teaching Jane Eyre at A Level, my female students all loved Rochester. However, when I asked one of my male students what he thought of Rochester, he said, tersely, 'I think he's an absolute pillock!'
I rest my case. (I do, however, reserve the right to say 'Yes' if Damerel asks me.)
Labels: Elizabeth Hawksley, Georgette Heyer, Jane Eyre, Jemnnifer Kloester, Leslie Stephen, Mr Rochester
A Labour of Love
It is the Romantic Novelists Association's Awards Event on Monday 5th March, with nibbles and bubbly and the announcement of the RoNAs, the RNA's awards announcing the best romantic novels of the year. There is a category for the outstanding love story of the year, the RoNA Rose, for category romance and the shorter romantic novel, that focuses on the developing love story between the hero and heroine, and I am thrilled that my book, The Dangerous Lord Darrington is one of the six titles shortlisted for the RoNA Rose. The list is impressive, with some really good, established authors here, so I decided I would read them all (no real hardship, after all, in fact it is a labour of love)
I started with Liz Fielding's Flirting with Italian, a beautiful, contemporary love story set in Italy. I couldn't put it down and it had me reaching for the holiday brochures. Next it was Jessica Hart's Ordinary Girl in a Tiara, a very topical story of the girl who falls in love with a prince – or is he a frog? This story is charming, funny and poignant, and I found myself rooting for the characters right up to the end.
I followed these with Mary Nichols' Winning the War Hero's Heart, a Regency romance with a twist – the heroine is a working woman and the hero is, well, a wounded war hero. It is set in 1816, the year without a summer, and my goodness do those poor characters have some wet weather to put up with! A lovely, warm romance that also has its more serious moments, but with all the loose ends nicely tied up at the finish.
I have just finished Kate Hardy's A Christmas Knight – a medical romance that definitely requires a box of tissues close by. I fell in love with the hero immediately and when the heroine is a kind, warm-hearted working mum and a generous nurse who is so good with her patients, how could you not want her to be happy?
The final book is Jan Jones' The Kydd Inheritance, another historical romance. I am still waiting for that one to arrive, but having read other works by this author I know I am in for a real swashbuckling romantic adventure .
So, I shall be there on Monday, and I hope to see the other five authors there, too. And for me, it doesn't really matter who wins, surely just to be shortlisted amongst such august company is enough. Well, it is for me, although, of course I shall be keeping my fingers crossed……
Sarah Mallory
Labels: Dangerous Lord Darrington, Jan Jones, Kate HArdy, Liz Fielding, Mary Nichols, RoNAs
The navy, the bank and the painter
I have recently been watching the delectable Dan Snow talking about the history and growth of the British Navy in the programme Empire of the Seas.
One snippet in programme two reminded me of the glorious Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. (The Romantic Novelists' Association held their 2010 Conference at Greenwich, which is when I went and gawped and marvelled and got a dreadful crick in my neck - but oh, it was worth it).
The real kickstart to the growth of the navy was the formation of the Bank of England in 1694. Subscribers were promised a whacking 8% in interest if they put money into a new venture designed to halt the appalling loss of British ships - and lives and valuable cargo! Within a very short time, a million pounds had been raised. The Bank promptly loaned this to the government to build a fleet of warships and the National Debt was born.
Now, the Painted Hall is in King William Court at Greenwich. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor, it was originally intended as an eating space for the naval veterans who lived here at the Royal Hospital for Seamen. In 1708 James Thornhill - then not very well known - was appointed to decorate this dining hall with suitable naval imagery. The vast opulent paintings sprawling across walls and ceiling that resulted took 19 years to complete! I don't imagine his back was ever the same again.
My favourite part is this section of ceiling: a mighty warship resting on the shoulders of the bank which loaned the money, in its turn resting on allegorical rivers bearing money from subscribers from all across the country. They really knew how to get the most out of a painting in those days.
Incidentally, James Thornhill apparently neglected to set a fee when accepting the commission. He was eventually knighted and paid almost £7000 - that's £1 per square yard for the walls and £3 per square yard for the ceilings!
Labels: Greenwich, Jan Jones


Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri khan.
We are pleased to present this well designed and constructed 4 bedroom+ officeroom / 4 bathrooms, pool villa from a well established Developer.
Quiet & secure, 5 Villa compound, fully furnished.
This villa has been improved over standard to give extra features listed below. The Villa provides an open plan living, dining and kitchen with access directly to the carport with adjacent office room, bedroom swimming pool view, covered terraces, Sala, and easy to maintain garden.
The style is tropical fusion between Thai and Bali, which is very popular for many Buyers looking for Asian design with the most up to date materials.
• Overflow saltwater swimming pool 12×3.5 Sqm.


At Upcoming Media Inc., our mission is to research and develop effective and lasting brand solutions that exceed our client's expectations. We work tirelessly and efficiently to provide outstanding services that cater to each of our client's unique needs and generates unparalleled results.
Since our conception in 2011, Upcoming Media Inc. has helped create stunning advertisements and effective marketing campaigns for both small and large brands alike. Our team of creative designers, digital specialists, and marketing professionals can help your company's objectives come to fruition.
We recognize the fact that every project is unique, and that every brand has its own set of values and goals. Through research and communication, our team works with you to develop a final product that your company is not only proud of, but also one that excels beyond your industry standards.
Upcoming Media Solutions uses different software platforms that enable applications to display augmented or virtual reality content. Our talented developers can add advanced computer vision functionality to our applications, allowing it to recognize images and objects, or reconstruct environments in the real world.
Augmented Reality provides businesses with the tools and ability to interact with their existing customers and target audiences in a completely new way. Add interactive 3-D content to your printed media, place a link that redirects people to your online store or brings your product packaging to life, the possibilities are endless!
Get Your Own App Created Today!


It does it naturally and subtilely as it is designed to do? Integrated tasks will require you to reflect the preferences or opinions of others that are presented within a conversation between two people; It is greater to ask them how they feel about certain things. President Xi is showiAuthentic Womens Canada Goose TIMBER SHELL JACKET Blackng the world his authentic self on many fronts, In fact, make sure yourparents are informed about every aspect of your activities forpreparing for college, Our attitudes and mindset can open new doors and opportunities that open up to us the roads that are most desirable to continue our life journey upon! John Paul was once homeless with his son in Los Angeles; Parents in UK will be nothing but trouble for you, UK and most other countries, in the U.
Product description: Authentic Womens Canada Goose TIMBER SHELL JACKET Black, It does it naturally and subtilely as it is designed to do? Integrated tasks will require you to reflect the preferences or opinions of others that are presented within a conversation between two people; It is greater to ask them how they feel about certain things. President Xi is showiAuthentic Womens Canada Goose TIMBER SHELL JACKET Blackng the world his authentic self on many fronts, In fact, make sure yourparents are informed about every aspect of your activities forpreparing for college, Our attitudes and mindset can open new doors and opportunities that open up to us the roads that are most desirable to continue our life journey upon! John Paul was once homeless with his son in Los Angeles; Parents in UK will be nothing but trouble for you, UK and most other countries, in the U.
few that I can think of quite easily: My feet hurt.
Realize that your environment Authentic Womens Canada Goose TIMBER SHELL JACKET Blackis chosen by you, Perhaps Ill get some for scoring my students school work, Of course I know about it, In the West, the teacher is almost always provided the best resources to teach: It was free for me and quite natural for me! Now for me personally, I can accept that someone doesnt like me, Rise again; fall again!
Later, I will add more educational opportunities for students in other areas, One parent said that they needed to escape the robotic, cookie cutter approach to education in UK, In fact, she is the only person I would trust in giving me my Chinese name, Recently, I was speaking to a group of people and after I finished, a lady asked me an interesting question; Others beAuthentic Womens Canada Goose TIMBER SHELL JACKET Blacklieve they come from a deeper spiritual source, More than 1,000 so far, Luo inspires me; It enhances my own life and brings me a lot of joy to see the goodness in others, Ive since bought a bigger and nicer bike.
We would quickly gain the opinion that the leader has no clear vision of what their purpose is or where they are going, In teaching them, I get to encourage them, inspire them and empower them to realize just how great they are, It engages their whole brain and theyll get it and remember it longer, Never cheat to get ahead, If you want to powerfully affect someones life, give them genuine praise and encouragement, Perhaps it gave President Xis wife a bigger spotlight, It is rare to find such a person.


text:
Q: Vibration not working in some api levels I have utils class for vibration function its working in some apis but not working in another
api 17 is working
api 24 not working
could any one guide me why this code not working
Note I took right permission
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.VIBRATE" />

My Class
public class VibrateUtils {

    public static void VibrateMethod(Context mContext , String PassedValue) {

        // Get instance of Vibrator from current Context
        Vibrator v = (Vibrator) mContext.getSystemService(Context.VIBRATOR_SERVICE);

        // Start without a delay
        // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds
        // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
        long[] pattern = {0, 500, 1000};

        switch (PassedValue){

            case "1":
                // Start without a delay
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds   --> First time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                pattern = new long[]{0, 500, 1000};
                break;

            case "2":
                // Start without a delay
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds  --> First time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds   --> Second time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                pattern = new long[]{0, 500, 500 , 500 , 500 };
                break;

            case "3":
                // Start without a delay
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds  --> First time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds   --> Second time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds   --> Third time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                pattern = new long[]{0, 500, 1000 , 500 , 1000  , 500 , 1000};
                break;

            case "4":
                // Start without a delay
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds  --> First time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds   --> Second time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds   --> Third time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                // Vibrate for 500 milliseconds   --> Fourth time
                // Sleep for 1000 milliseconds
                pattern = new long[]{0, 500, 1000 , 500 , 1000  , 500 , 1000 , 500 , 1000};
                break;

        }

        // The '0' here means to repeat indefinitely
        // '0' is actually the index at which the pattern keeps repeating from (the start)
        // To repeat the pattern from any other point, you could increase the index, e.g. '1'
        if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 26){
            v.vibrate(VibrationEffect.createWaveform(pattern, VibrationEffect.DEFAULT_AMPLITUDE));
        }else{
            v.vibrate(pattern, -1);
        }

    }
}

A: Even the answer is not related to development but I would like answer my question , the reason why vibrate wastn't working that the vibration intensity for Notification was off

Reference https://android.stackexchange.com/a/158261


text:
Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Nordstrom Sales Drop
By Richard Davies May 17, 2013
Morning Business Memo…
Some of the biggest names in shopping had a tough first quarter as cautious consumers reduced spending. Wal-Mart, Nordstrom and Kohl's all reported a small decline in sales, largely because of the rise in payroll taxes that took a bite out of household spending. Affluent consumers may be enjoying the benefits of the soaring stock market and rising home values, but many other Americans are struggling to maintain their living standards. Things are even worse at JC Penney, which reported a large loss on a 16 percent plunge in revenue. It marks the fifth straight quarter that Penney posted big declines.
The latest reading on consumer confidence comes out today from The University of Michigan. Most recent surveys show confidence is higher than it was during the recession but is not back to the levels of six or seven years ago: "I think the consumer remains pretty cautious. They are willing to spend but in a reserved manner," says Niraj Shah, CEO of the home goods website Wayfair. "We saw when things sort of went down in 2008 the price point of goods that people would buy decreased and to be honest that hasn't really increased much since then." While many brick and mortar retailers are still facing a decline in revenues, Shah says "the big accelerant is that they are being more and more comfortable buying online."
The price of gold is down again this morning - the seventh daily loss in a row. Gold has dropped nearly 5 percent this week as investors go elsewhere for returns. Fears about rising inflation have proved unfounded. Yesterday a Labor Department survey reported that the cost of living dropped last month largely because of falling energy prices.
Tough times at Dell. Earnings plunged 79 percent in the latest quarter as sales dropped 2 percent. Dell is suffering from the switch away from PCs and desktop computers to smartphones and tablets.
Big banks are looking to pull back from Bloomberg's instant messaging platforms. Citigroup is banning traders in its foreign exchange division from accessing internal chat groups on their Bloomberg terminals, says the Financial Times. The decision is the latest sign of unease after Bloomberg gave its reporters access to proprietary financial data on its terminals. Fearful of online snooping, some big financial firms may rely more on their own services, and seek to renegotiate their contracts with Bloomberg.
Bill Gates is back on top. For the first time since 2007 he's the world's richest person with a fortune valued at $72.7 billion, according to Bloomberg. Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, regained the top spot after the software company's shares reached a five-year high. Microsoft is up 28 percent so far this year. Second on the wealthy list is the Mexican telecommunications billionaire, Carlos Slim.
Richard Davies Business Correspondent ABC News Radio abcnews.com Twitter: daviesabc


The closely related incidence and incidents can be can be used to express the same ideas, but incidence is usually a singular mass noun (meaning it can't be plural), and incidents is a plural noun. So, for example, where we would say the incidence of theft in the neighborhood has increased this year, we might instead say the incidents of theft in the neighborhood have become more numerous this year. Incidence calls for singular verb forms, and incidents calls for plural.
Incidences might be useful in rare instances, such as when comparing the incidences of something in two different areas, but in most cases it can give way to either incidence or incidents.


A Kenyan national living in Arizona State in the US was found dead in her car early Sunday morning.
Stella W. Kiarie, 29, was until her untimely demise working at the Arizona Department of Health Services. The circumstances that led to her death are not clear yet as the car was found parked in a freeway on the left side of the loop 101 near Bell Road.
Officers from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) who responded to a distress call found the woman seated on the passenger seat with a rope around her neck.
In the car, the officers also found a kids safety seat leading the officers to the home of the deceased where they found a one year old boy whom however the officers could not immediately determine if was the son to Kiarie.
The car in which the body was discovered had damages sustained from a minor crush against a wall a factor the officers said could have not led to death of the health worker because the injuries on her body were inconsistent.
Stella's workmates at the Arizona Department of Health Services condoled with the family of the bereaved.
"(She) was a kind, compassionate and important member of this team. Our deepest condolences are with her family and friends at this difficult time," read a statement from the department.
John Kamau a Kenyan living in Phoenix, Arizona speaking to the Daily Nation called upon the relevant bodies to move in with speed and establish the people behind the heinous act.
"The Kenyan community in Arizona is in shock. We are urging the authorities to speed up investigations because we need answers and we need to know exactly what or who murdered Stella," said Kamau.