text:
Family's delight at new Steeple Claydon home–with room for kids, cat-and spider
A growing family in Steeple Claydon say they are delighted with the layout and quality of their new home which includes a playroom for Ben, 9 and Ella, 7.
Kelly Horwood and her husband, Nick, moved with their two children to Bovis Homes' Nightingale Fold location in the village.
Nick, Ella, Ben and Kelly Horwood in their Bovis Homes kitchen at Nightingale Fold in Steeple Claydon
Pet cat Phoebe and spider, Margrit - named by Ella – also joined in the move into the five-bedroom home and Kelly described the process as "seamless".
Kelly, who has lived in Buckinghamshire with Nick for 10 years, said: "We just love the whole house! The space is amazing.
"Having a play room for the children has made such a difference. I love our formal dining room for the special occasions and we have a large garden where our son can play football to his heart's content.
"The location was perfect to be close to the schools we wanted to be near, and having a plot with a large garden was too good to refuse. Nightingale Fold is such a lovely, quiet family area too.
"We lived in a village nearby but needed a bit more space so we were looking in the area for a while. We've lived near here for over 10 years and we love it here. The schools and amenities along with access to many towns and cities, for work, is great.
"The whole move has been seamless. There were no issues at all and, I know it's unheard of with house moves, but literally everything went right!"
The Horwoods outside their Bovis Homes property in Steeple Claydon
Nick, a project manager, and Kelly, a chartered accountant who is currently a full-time mum, also enjoy the property's two en suites, which they said was great for when guests came to stay. They added they were impressed by the range of choices they could pick from when choosing their home's interior.
The family loves adventure and is planning to go to Malaysia next year. They keep up an active lifestyle when not on holiday too, which includes swimming, climbing, football and dance.
Nick coaches the Padbury Village Under 9's football team, while Kelly is a governor at Marsh Gibbon CE Primary School.


text:
The most interesting character in Gnosia is Kukrushka
Gnosia's cast is as deceptive as its gameplay, which this character's sweet appearance demonstrates by hiding a sinister persona with an intertwined backstory.
Gnosia's port to Nintendo Switch and exposure to a global audience has made it a hit game with a huge following, and for good reason. Not just a gamer Among us but a very metahistory experience for players to discover with fascinating character stories that act as subplots. Some are more mundane, the kind you'd find in JRPGs, but others are more intricate, breaking the fourth wall, and even contributing to the main plot points. Among them, there is a character that stands out the most and it is the silent and modest Kukrushka.
She walks in after a few loops next to Jonas and the two seem to bond as he answers for her and talks about her fondly. She is a sweet looking girl who does not speak and instead communicates through body language. She is not Yuriko in terms of statistics, but she is more intertwined with the narrative than any other character and has unexpected ties to others as well. It has a very surprising story and if you don't want spoilers for Gnosia, now may be the time to read a different article.
RELATED: Gnosia's tone of mystery and terror is the PERFECT combination of The Thing and each other
Kukrushka appears as a human, but is not as the player later discovers by Yuriko. She is one of the two twin dolls Jonas bought before the events of the game because they look like a long dead love of his. It's creepy on Jonas's part, but Kukrushka hides far worse secrets. It is unclear how long they have been together or if it is a different doll in each. In each loop, she uses her innocent looks and charms to get people on her side, which is suspicious, but her story runs much deeper than the player might imagine.
Eventually, it is revealed that she is no longer Jonas's strange doll, but is instead possessed by SQ's mother through similar means to the characters that Gnos possess. It is even more complicated than it seems. SQ's mother Manan was not a good person and came from an unusual world where slavery was common. Remnan is, in fact, one of those runaway slaves and, more specifically, Manan's. Players entering Gnosia You may notice that Remnan is especially uncomfortable with SQ and that is because Manan has hinted that she may be his daughter. However, this is not true, as SQ was created in a capsule a year before the events of the game. Manan simply torments him because he escaped. He even goes as far as murdering everyone on the ship except Remnan as Kukrushka in one particular outcome only to corner him.
RELATED: Between Us: Tips and Tricks for Surviving (or STALKING) the Airship
Her purpose was to become a vessel for her mother, and she is partially affected by the fact that Manan has the same DNA. When SQ is a Gnosia, she is actually possessed by Manan, even if Kukrushka is active. Manan's entire goal is to become immortal, and SQ is just a plan for that. He later got another chance to make this happen and it's what triggered the whole game. Manan obtained a Silver Key like Setsu and the player, and put a plan in place to create the time cycle.
She was offered to be placed on the Kukrushka wrists in exchange for a Silver Key and the opportunity to create an infinite time cycle. She then starts this cycle by killing the player and trapping everyone inside with her, including SQ, her possible ship, and Remnan, the slave she wants to re-possess. Manan, or Kukrushka, is an important part of the game's plot and has a far more sinister past than her sweet face shows. Gnosia it's deceptive in more ways than the main gameplay, and Kukrushka is the proof.
READ ON: The history of International Table Day
Attack on Titan Manga Finale shows the possibility of more stories
An avid gamer with a shitty partner who lives in Ontario, Canada. When he's not gaming, he lays down to write, create digital art, and sometimes develop games. He also loves metal music, horror movies, and a good book.
More by gina
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Legumes, such as Medicago truncatula, form mutualistic symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing rhizobial bacteria. This occurs within specialized root organs—nodules—that provide the conditions required for nitrogen fixation. A rhizobium-derived signalling molecule, Nod factor, is required to establish the symbiosis. Perception of Nod factor in the plant leads to the induction of Ca2+ oscillations1, and the transduction of this Ca2+ signal requires DMI3 (refs 2, 3), which encodes the protein kinase Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CCaMK). Central to the regulation of CCaMK is an autoinhibitory domain that negatively regulates kinase activity. Here we show that the specific removal of the autoinhibition domain leads to the autoactivation of the nodulation signalling pathway in the plant, with the resultant induction of nodules and nodulation gene expression in the absence of bacterial elicitation. This autoactivation requires nodulation-specific transcriptional regulators in the GRAS family. This work demonstrates that the release of autoinhibition from CCaMK after calmodulin binding is a central switch that is sufficient to activate nodule morphogenesis. The fact that a single regulation event is sufficient to induce nodulation highlights the possibility of transferring this process to non-legumes.
Tirichine, L. et al. Deregulation of a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase leads to spontaneous nodule development. Nature doi:10.1038/nature04862 (this issue).
We thank D. Barker for providing the ENOD11-GUS lines; A. Downie for his critical review of the manuscript and for discussions; H. Miwa for assistance with the confocal microscope; K. Findlay and S. Bunnewell for assistance with the histological studies; and S. Long for efforts in facilitating this collaborative work. This study was supported by the BBSRC as a David Philips Fellowship to G.O. and a grant, by the Royal Society as a Wolfson Merit award to G.O., by Washington State University Agricultural Research Center and by the US National Science Foundation.Author Contributions A.M. defined conditions and generated constructs for protein expression; S.C. and T.Y. did the in-vitro biochemistry; C.G. completed all the rest of the experimental work and wrote the paper with G.O.
Correspondence to Giles E. D. Oldroyd.
Normally, legumes develop nitrogen-fixing root nodules only when invaded by rhizobia bacteria. In an unusual Lotus japonicus mutant, nodulation occurs spontaneously in the absence of bacteria, due to the activity of a modified signalling pathway kinase. This has major implications for plant biotechnologists, since the transfer of root nodule formation to non-leguminous crops might be an elegant way of making them independent of nitrogen fertilizers.


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Virtual Event: Sensory Support – Preparing For A Return To School
Home / Events Pro / Educational, Webinar / Virtual Event: Sensory Support – Preparing For A Return To School
With the new academic year fast approaching, this session will help parents and carers prepare their child for a return to school.
The disruptions to education, extended time away from school, and the measures in place to protect people from the spread of COVID have left many children feeling unprepared and anxious about returning to the classroom.
Expert practitioner and occupational therapist Shelley Williams will go through the steps you can take to help children transition back to school, including:
· How to get back into school uniform
· What to expect in the new classroom environment
· Re-establishing school routines
· How to develop a sensory story with you child
· Q&A session for parents / carers.
https://events.irwinmitchell.com/sensorysupportreturntoschool
Anna.Stacey@IrwinMitchell.com
http://www.irwinmitchell.com
Talkin Tarn is a new community group set up in Barnsley to support SEND parents and carers. Our aim is to have therapy drop in days, workshops and regular weekly meet ups aka tea, biscuits and a chat to support SEND parents and carers. Our weekly meet ups are on Monday's from 10am – 11:30am at the Priory Campus in Barnsley Carers Society (Making Space) community room
Talkin Tarn Barnsley Carers Society (Making Space) community room Priory Campus, Pontefract Rd, Barnsley S71 5PN
Talkin Tarn Community Group
Additional Needs Advice Information Parent/Carer Participation Speech and Language Therapy Therapy Training Workshops
Communication Matters (CM) is a UK-wide charity committed to supporting people of all ages who find talking difficult because they have little or no clear speech. This can be via paper based communication supports or computer based voice output, we call this AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). Communication can be compromised across many conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Brain Injury, Learning Difficulties and Autism. We have an associate membership of around 400 people. Members come from across the UK and from all the various interests in AAC – personal experience, professional, commercial and research. Members receive copies of our Journal which is published 3 times a year, amongst other benefits. We hold a number of events: most notably our International AAC Conference held over 2.5 days at the University of Leeds each September, as well as UK-wide AAC Information Days (product demonstration days) and Study Days which focus on a particular topic of AAC. We also have many online resources and publications and an AAC Forum. If you are interested in finding out more, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Communication Matters, 3rd Floor, University House, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT
Communication Matters
Additional Needs Advice Speech and Language Therapy Training


As part of the Schools Linking Project, 4W have visited Stockwood Discovery Centre to meet with their partner class from Downside Primary School. They visited the transport galleries, finding carriages and carrying out investigations, as well as working in groups to build a gokart capable of carrying a member of the team across the room. The classes will be meeting again at each other's schools in the next term. 'Stockwood was a wonderful place to meet Downside', said Sabirah.


What are the U&A analyses?
U&A analyses (i.e. Usage and Attitudes) examine the attitude and behavior of customers towards your product or services.
Using U&A analyses you'll find "Who – What – When – Where – How – Why" your product or service is used or why your competition is preferred.
When you need to find out how your products or services are assessed among customers.
If you're interested to know whether your products and services can be improved to increase customer's satisfaction.
Research of attitudes and customer behavior is one of the primary tasks we do for our clients and we regularly provide them with practical recommendations regarding what to focus on in various stages of product and service development.


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cln – 'endlessly'
cln releases his fourth single of 2022, 'endlessly'
cln image via Callan Alexander
cln delivers his third single from his upcoming full-length album, a serene and soulful track, 'endlessly.'
Australian producer cln has released the next taste from his upcoming album. The serene track is a 3-minute gem that feels fragile, yet forceful.
cln discusses the inspiration behind the track:
"…The Albert's Lyrebird was calling so beautifully that I had to stop what I was doing and record it. I work with Lyrebirds fairly frequently and hear them often, but there was something special about this lone bird calling in the rain. I wrote this song two weeks ago and mix and mastered it over the last few days. I started with the Lyrebird recording and then build the rest of the song from there. I wasn't really intending for it to be on the album, let alone a single, but here we are! I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I think sounds that come straight from nature are as good as it gets."
'Endlessly' is available everywhere now. Stay tuned for more new music from the album over the coming months.
Connect with cln:


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Q: Spring-data-jpa, Hibernate wrong SQL query returns null instead of Exception I have a Spring 3.1 project using spring-data-jpa for persistence and Hibernate as the persistence engine and Postgresql 9.1 as the database system.
I created a jpa annotated domain object (Passport) and a corresponding repository extending the JpaRepository for basic CRUD functionality.
For testing purposes I created a simple JUnit test class (see below) to test the loading a Passport object from the database.
@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
@ContextConfiguration("classpath:META-INF/applicationContext.xml")
@TransactionConfiguration
@Transactional
public class PassportRepositoryTest {

    @Resource
    protected PassportRepository repository;

    @Test
    public void testFindById() {
        Passport passport = repository.findOne(1L);
        assertNotNull("did not find expected entity", passport);
    }
}

When I run the test it fails because null is returned from findOne(1L), although there is a passport object in the database with that primary id.
I checked the output log:
15:38:56.101 [main] DEBUG o.s.orm.jpa.JpaTransactionManager - Found thread-bound EntityManager [org.hibernate.ejb.EntityManagerImpl@11cf3710] for JPA transaction
15:38:56.101 [main] DEBUG o.s.orm.jpa.JpaTransactionManager - Participating in existing transaction
15:38:56.170 [main] DEBUG org.hibernate.loader.Loader - Loading entity: [com.gmi.lab.browser.server.domain.germplasm.Passport#1]
15:38:56.319 [main] DEBUG org.hibernate.SQL - select passport0_.div_passport_id as div1_2_3_, passport0_.accename as accename2_3_, passport0_.accenumb as accenumb2_3_, passport0_.div_accession_collecting_id as div7_2_3_, passport0_.comments as comments2_3_, passport0_.sampstat as sampstat2_3_, passport0_.source as source2_3_, passport0_.div_taxonomy_id as div8_2_3_, accessionc1_.div_accession_collecting_id as div1_3_0_, accessionc1_.collCode as collCode3_0_, accessionc1_.collDate as collDate3_0_, accessionc1_.collNumb as collNumb3_0_, accessionc1_.collSrc as collSrc3_0_, accessionc1_.collector as collector3_0_, accessionc1_.div_locality_id as div7_3_0_, locality2_.id as id0_1_, locality2_.city as city0_1_, locality2_.country as country0_1_, locality2_.elevation as elevation0_1_, locality2_.latitude as latitude0_1_, locality2_.loAccession as loAccess6_0_1_, locality2_.localityName as locality7_0_1_, locality2_.longitude as longitude0_1_, locality2_.origcty as origcty0_1_, locality2_.stateProvince as statePr10_0_1_, taxonomy3_.div_taxonomy_id as div1_1_2_, taxonomy3_.commonName as commonName1_2_, taxonomy3_.genus as genus1_2_, taxonomy3_.population as population1_2_, taxonomy3_.race as race1_2_, taxonomy3_.species as species1_2_, taxonomy3_.subspecies as subspecies1_2_, taxonomy3_.subtaxa as subtaxa1_2_, taxonomy3_.termAccession as termAcce9_1_2_ from Passport passport0_ left outer join AccessionCollection accessionc1_ on passport0_.div_accession_collecting_id=accessionc1_.div_accession_collecting_id left outer join Locality locality2_ on accessionc1_.div_locality_id=locality2_.id left outer join Taxonomy taxonomy3_ on passport0_.div_taxonomy_id=taxonomy3_.div_taxonomy_id where passport0_.div_passport_id=?
15:38:56.769 [main] DEBUG o.h.e.i.StatefulPersistenceContext - Initializing non-lazy collections
15:38:56.770 [main] DEBUG org.hibernate.loader.Loader - Done entity load

When I tested the SQL query for retrieving the passport, I realized that the table name in the databases doesn't match the class name (basically I forgot to specify the @Table annotation in the Passport class).
Question:
Why doesn't Hibernate/spring-data-jpa throw an Exception when the SQL query fails instead of returning null?
Update:
I forgot to specify the database in my db connection. As soon as I fixed this I also got Exceptions when the SQL statement was wrong.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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SALE REPORT FOR THE TWO DAY AUCTION HELD ON 25th AND 26th FEBRUARY 2016.
THE SALE INCLUDED FURNITURE, CERAMICS, COLLECTABLES, CLOCKS,
PICTURES & PAINTINGS, POSTCARDS, STAMPS & EPHEMERA.
Rendells' February sale continued the trend for stronger prices being realised for the better furniture Lots on offer. Dealers and private buyers are paying 20% to 30% more than last year for comparable Lots and aside from dining furniture which continues to struggle due mainly to the "downsizing" phenomenon, there would appear to be a burgeoning buoyancy in the market. The sale featured our bi-monthly Postcards, Stamps & Ephemera section which included an excellent private stamp collection selling for a combined hammer price of £4,930 (plus premium) consisting of All World, Great Britain and Dependencies with examples ranging from Victorian to mid 20th Century. Also included a folio of pre-1840 postal records. This section goes from strength to strength and entries of similar quality collections are now being invited for inclusion in our April sale. In the Clocks section a 19th Century rosewood and mother-of-pearl inlaid cased drop-dial wall clock, with twin fusee bell striking movement. Sold for £380. In other sections of the sale Collectables and Metalware also sold well, as did a rare printing of The Annals Of Kirkby Lonsdale: 4to., half bound green leather and cloth, being No. 5 of 8 specially bound by Mr. Thomas Harrison – 1930, with accompanying letter and box sleeve. Sold for £160.
Lot 101: A 4' late Victorian stained oak twin pedestal desk with black leather inset top, three frieze drawers and flanking pedestal drawers. Sold for £300. Lot 114: A 4' Victorian mahogany wardrobe with moulded cornice and hanging space enclosed by a bevelled mirror panel drawer, with single deep drawer under. Sold for £280. Lot 152: A 5' 8" late 19th Century continental waxed pine two part dresser with glazed top section, over a base with three central drawers and flanking cupboards. Sold for £480. Lot 164: A set of eight late Regency mahogany framed curved back dining chairs, with drop-in seats, set on turned front legs. Sold for £280. Lot 174: A 34" Georgian figured mahogany veneered Chippendale style bachelor's chest, with brushing slide and four long graduated drawers under, flanking blind fretwork canted corners and set on bracket feet – a/f. Sold for £360. Lot 176: A 6' early 20th Century Chesterfield settee with single drop-end and chenille upholstery, set on cup feet with casters. Sold for £220. Lot 196: A 33" Georgian mahogany chest of two short and three long graduated drawers, set on bracket feet. Sold for £340. Lot 283: A 4' 8" polished pine serving table by Barnes of Ashburton, with three frieze drawers and shaped apron, set on turned legs. Sold for £220. Lot 288: A 3' 4 ½" late Georgian figured walnut and herringbone strung chest on stand with moulded canted top and fluted corners, two short and three long graduated drawers (later worked), set on a stand with shaped apron and cabriole legs with pad feet. Sold for £560 and Lot 338: An early 19th Century mahogany boot rack with curved top rail, square supports and bow front undertier, set on splayed legs. Sold for £200.
Lot 539: A pair of Murano style bubble glass pendant lights. Sold for £190. Lot 540: A 1930's leaded mother-of-pearl light fitting with red glass prunt band. Sold for £170. Lot 593: A pair of 23" antique polychrome painted plaster church corbels with moulded shelf tops, open Gothic arches under and angel holding shield terminals. Sold for £220. Lot 705: A First World War British army No.24 Mk I Hales rifle grenade dated 1916 – sold with a British No.5 Mills Bomb similar. Sold for £300. Lot 734: A 1909 Edward VII gold sovereign. Sold for £175. Lot 736: Pte R. Bourne 1658 Devon Regt. Medal group including Territorial Force War Medal, all with ribbons on bar. Sold for £180. Lot 748: Cpl. W. E. Ellis 43 Commando RM Ply. X900836 medal group, service certificate, miniatures and later berets. Sold for £160. Lot 753: An octagonal polished wood cased sailor's shell Valentine, with geometric design and central heart motif, under glass panel. Sold for £540 and Lot 760: Two white metal mounted carved gourd Yerba Mate vessels – sold with two white metal bombilla straws. Sold for £120.
Lot 1159: A pair of 10 ¼" Oriental famille verte baluster vases with flared rims and perching bird and floral decoration – bearing Kanxi marks to bases – sold with a pair of similar tea bowls and saucers. Sold for £320. Lot 1179: A Royal Copenhagen model of a fish lying on mussels and seaweed – No. 562. Sold for £400. Lot 1208: A collection of Edinburgh crystal thistle shaped glassware with hobnail cut decoration. Sold for £160 and Lot 1210: Five matching 19th Century rummers – all with rough pontils. Sold for £170.
METALWORK:
Lot 1255: A pair of 8" Arts & Crafts pitchers with hammered finish. Sold for £140. Lot 1274: A stained oak framed Art Nouveau silver plated copper wall plaque with high relief Indian boy mahout riding an elephant, in landscape with trees and hut. Sold for £210. Lot 1279: A harlequin set of seven copper kettles. Sold for £100. Lot 1285: A late 19th Century Marklin style toy range with spirit burner, complete with a selection of copper pans, kettles, water ship, etc. Sold for £220. Lot 1288: A 19th Century bronze inkwell in the form of a monk reading from the Bible. Sold for £110. Lot 1291: A pair of South American ornamental white metal spurs – sold with two similar ornamental bell stirrups. Sold for £130 and Lot 1292: A 4 ½" Art Deco Danish bronze flat sided bowl by Just Anderson – numbered B13C. Sold for £130.
PICTURES & PAINTINGS:
Lot 1344: F. J. Widgery; a gilt framed oil on canvas, depicting a Dartmoor landscape with track and sheep – 13 ½" X 17 ½". Sold for £250. Lot 1354: R. O. Lenkiewicz: a gilt framed limited edition coloured print entitled "Karen in Blue", No. 465/475 – Fisher Mackenzie certificate of authenticity – 28" X 8". Sold for £280. Lot 1365: Vittorio Rappini (1877-1939): a gilt gesso framed watercolour depicting a young Turkish woman seated in an interior with hookah pipe, drapes and columns in background and rug to foreground – 13" X 9". Sold for £430. Lot 1368: Harry Edmunds Crute: a framed oil on board depicting a view of Babbacombe Beach, Torquay – titled and inscribed verso – 11 ¼" X 15 ½". Sold for £240 and Lot 1374: English School unframed oil on canvas entitled "On the Wharf, Bolton Woods, Yorkshire – 10" X 14" – a/f. Sold for £190.
POSTCARDS, STAMPS & EPHEMERA:
Lot 1447: A Durham blue stamp album containing Victorian later stamps from Cocos (Keeling) Island to Fiji. Sold for £400. Lot 1448: A Merton black stamp album containing Victorian and later stamps from Gambia to Honk Kong. Sold for £720. Lot 1449: A Merton black stamp album containing Victorian and later stamps from India to Montserrat. Sold for £600. Lot 1451: A Senator black stamp album containing Victorian and later stamps from all Malaysia regions. Sold for £780 and Lot 1457: Great Britain: a folio containing pre-1840 postal record – sold with an album of Victorian and later stamps and another containing 20th Century examples. Sold for £900.
Lot 1159: Sold £320


16-piece hand-drafted pattern originally by Modes Royale, 'A dramatic, strapless gown with a fabulously-draped tunic over-skirt'.
The long, boned bodice joins to skirt at high hip with upper and lower trim pieces for accent. The tunic over-skirt is self-faced, or you may even want to face it in contrast!
Size 12 fits 30" bust, 25-1/2" waist, 33" hip.
More sizes available in future!
This is a pattern made available via EvaDress from Kim Grant of the former Silk Poppy.com (2003)!


I have not posted in a while. I wish I could say I was traveling or something exciting! But I am just in law school and studying and working. And studying.
I'm at a 4 year part-time program that allows me to work and manage Aidan. I chose it mainly because of the cost: I already have experience (13 years and counting) in my chosen field, and didn't care about a top name (and top cost) school. If I were 20 years younger (sniff) and/or didn't have experience in my field, I might worry about that. But the truth is, I have Aidan's needs for the rest of my life and don't want the added debt or to work for a corporate firm once I get the JD and pass the bar.
That said, because I am in a nontraditional program, I do have to take charge of my studies a little more. And I worked that into my schedule in terms of prep courses and study aides. Johnny and I added a good amount of money to the budget when I was considering this school, just to make sure I had all the resources I needed. I have to pass the baby bar exam at the end of my first year to continue in the JD program. It's a mini bar exam, about a day in length and very stressful. I take it in June. !!!!!
I'm still working with GPS Advocacy, but am very selective with clients. I can't afford (money or timewise) to take on clients who might be on a different page in terms of outlook or needs. I also don't want to do a disservice to anyone. So I'm only doing case reviews and consults (reviews and strategizing) and going from there to determine if I can assist with a longterm solution for a student. All clients who need immediate help are being sent to advocates I've personally trained or know.
Latina Mami did a number of free platicas–legal and disability service related–for Latina mothersof children with disabilities in 2013 in L.A. We also recruited a few great mami volunteers and paired a few low income women with attorneys for pro bono services. We are in the process of becoming a nonprofit in California. I should have more news on that front later next year.
I also founded a group: NELA Autism Parents, with my friend Jackie Kuang. The group is growing and we have monthly meetings for parents on autism related things which are specific to L.A.
Does Aidan Walker qualify as a project? Because he is. He's doing well, we had a few aggressive outbursts later this year but I do think they are due to the lack of structure at his dad's vs. the high-structure at my house. So we are rectifying this with training for his dad and stepmom. Overall, Aidan had a very good year and that's good considering his raging hormones at the moment.
I've had a recurring ankle injury (early 2012) that began when I fell badly while trying to teach Aidan to run intervals on a trail (he had the last laugh there). It still keeps getting aggravated and now I can't run much anymore. 😦 I am very spoiled by eating what I want, then running 5 miles, laughing about it, then going out for margaritas. I guess all good things must come to an end… my waistline has suffered. I'm now lifting weights and calorie counting and not drinking as much. Depressing but true. I'm on a weight loss goal of 20 pounds. TWENTY!
For 2013, my goals are to keep the above projects progressing (with school being the main focus), to get some funding for both community groups, and probably do more interviews/podcasts since my clients love those. Oh yeah, and keep my about-to-be-15-year-old !!!! on track.


Please consider filing public comments in support of the ICC's proposed net metering amendments. The public comment period closes on June 22nd. You do not need to become formal parties to the docket or retain an attorney in order to comment. All public comments are acceptable.
Please include docket number 15-0273 on all filed comments.
Please let us know if you plan to file comments so that we can keep track.
Updated and clarified eligibility and bill credit provisions to reflect current law.
Requirement for competitive suppliers to post NEM application forms and procedures on their websites.
Provision for electronic application processing.
Improved notification procedures for NEM customers that are switching electricity providers and requirement that electric utilities provide interval data to enable accurate NEM billing by competitive suppliers.
New language requiring utilities to individually consider "meter aggregation"/virtual net metering applications.
Clarifies and updates the rules and enhances transparency for the public and for clean energy businesses.
§ State why it is important for utilities to provide a case-by-case consideration and written determination in response to community shared solar / virtual net metering proposals.


text:
#pragma once

#include <aerospike/as_integer.h>
#include <aerospike/as_bytes.h>
#include <aerospike/as_list.h>
#include <aerospike/as_map.h>
#include <aerospike/as_string.h>
#include <aerospike/as_util.h>
#include <aerospike/as_val.h>

#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdint.h>

/******************************************************************************
 *	TYPES
 *****************************************************************************/

struct as_rec_hooks_s;

/**
 *	Callback function for `as_rec_bin_names()`.  Used for porting bin names
 *	to Lua.
 *
 *	@param bin_names 		A string containing the (null-terminated) bin names.
 *	@param nbins 			The number of bins in the record.
 *	@param max_name_size	The maximum length of a bin name.
 *	@param udata			User-provided data.
 */
typedef void (* as_rec_bin_names_callback) (char * bin_names, uint32_t nbins, uint16_t max_name_size, void * udata);

/**
 *	Callback function for `as_rec_foreach()`. Called for each bin in the
 *	record.
 *
 *	@param name 	The name of the current bin.
 *	@param value 	The value of the current bin.
 *	@param udata	The user-data provided to the `as_rec_foreach()`.
 *
 *	@return true to continue iterating through the list.
 *			false to stop iterating.
 */
typedef bool (* as_rec_foreach_callback) (const char * name, const as_val * value, void * udata);

/**
 *	as_rec is an interface for record types. A record is how data in Aerospike
 *	is represented, and is composed of bins and metadata.
 *
 *	Implementations:
 *	- as_record
 *
 *	@extends as_val
 *	@ingroup aerospike_t
 */
typedef struct as_rec_s {

	/**
	 *	@private
	 *	as_rec is a subtype of as_val.
	 *	You can cast as_rec to as_val.
	 */
	as_val _;

	/**
	 *	Data provided by the implementation of `as_rec`.
	 */
	void * data;

	/**
	 *	Hooks provided by the implementation of `as_rec`.
	 */
	const struct as_rec_hooks_s * hooks;

} as_rec;

/**
 *	Record Hooks.
 *
 *	An implementation of `as_rec` should provide implementations for each
 *	of the hooks.
 */
typedef struct as_rec_hooks_s {

	/**
	 *	Destroy the record.
	 */
	bool (* destroy)(as_rec * rec);

	/**
	 *	Get the hashcode of the record.
	 */
	uint32_t (* hashcode)(const as_rec * rec);

	/**
	 *	Get the value of the bin in the record.
	 */
	as_val * (* get)(const as_rec * rec, const char * name);

	/**
	 *	Set the value of the bin in the record.
	 */
	int (* set)(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, const as_val * value);

	/**
	 *	Remove the bin from the record.
	 */
	int (* remove)(const as_rec * rec, const char * bin);

	/**
	 *	Get the ttl value of the record.
	 */
	uint32_t (* ttl)(const as_rec  * rec);

	/**
	 *	Get the generation value of the record.
	 */
	uint16_t (* gen)(const as_rec * rec);

	/**
	 *	Get the record's key.
	 */
	as_val * (* key)(const as_rec * rec);

	/**
	 *	Get the record's set name.
	 */
	const char * (* setname)(const as_rec * rec);

	/**
	 *	Get the number of bins of the record.
	 */
	uint16_t (* numbins)(const as_rec * rec);

	/**
	 *	Get a list of the record's bin names.
	 */
	int (* bin_names)(const as_rec * rec, as_rec_bin_names_callback callback, void * udata);

	/**
	 *	Get the digest of the record.
	 */
	as_bytes * (* digest)(const as_rec * rec);

	/**
	 *	Set flags on a bin.
	 */
	int (* set_flags)(const as_rec * rec, const char * bin, uint8_t flags);

	/**
	 *	Set the type of record.
	 */
	int (* set_type)(const as_rec * rec, int8_t type);

	/**
	 *	Set the time to live (ttl) of the record.
	 */
	int (* set_ttl)(const as_rec * rec,  uint32_t ttl);

	/**
	 *	Discard the record's key.
	 */
	int (* drop_key)(const as_rec * rec);

	/**
	 *	Iterate over each bin in the record.
	 */
	bool (* foreach)(const as_rec * rec, as_rec_foreach_callback callback, void * udata);

} as_rec_hooks;

/******************************************************************************
 *	INSTANCE FUNCTIONS
 *****************************************************************************/

/**
 *	@private
 *	Utilized by subtypes of as_rec to initialize the parent.
 *
 *	@param rec		The record to initialize
 *	@param free 	If TRUE, then as_rec_destory() will free the record.
 *	@param data		Data for the map.
 *	@param hooks	Implementation for the map interface.
 *
 *	@return The initialized as_map on success. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
as_rec * as_rec_cons(as_rec * rec, bool free, void * data, const as_rec_hooks * hooks);

/**
 *	Initialize a stack allocated record.
 *
 *	@param rec		Stack allocated record to initialize.
 *	@param data		Data for the record.
 *	@param hooks	Implementation for the record interface.
 *
 *	@return On success, the initialized record. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
as_rec * as_rec_init(as_rec * rec, void * data, const as_rec_hooks * hooks);

/**
 *	Create and initialize a new heap allocated record.
 *
 *	@param data		Data for the record.
 *	@param hooks	Implementation for the record interface.
 *
 *	@return On success, a new record. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
as_rec * as_rec_new(void * data, const as_rec_hooks * hooks);

/**
 *	Destroy the record.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline void as_rec_destroy(as_rec * rec)
{
	as_val_destroy((as_val *) rec);
}

/******************************************************************************
 *	INLINE FUNCTIONS
 ******************************************************************************/

/**
 *	Get the data source for the record.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline void * as_rec_source(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return rec ? rec->data : NULL;
}

/**
 *	Remove a bin from a record.
 *
 *	@param rec		The record to remove the bin from.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin to remove.
 *
 *	@return 0 on success, otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_remove(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	return as_util_hook(remove, 1, rec, name);
}

/**
 *	Get the ttl for the record.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline uint32_t as_rec_ttl(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return as_util_hook(ttl, 0, rec);
}

/**
 *	Get the generation of the record
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline uint16_t as_rec_gen(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return as_util_hook(gen, 0, rec);
}

/**
 *	Get the record's key.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_val * as_rec_key(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return as_util_hook(key, 0, rec);
}

/**
 *	Get the record's set name.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline const char * as_rec_setname(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return as_util_hook(setname, 0, rec);
}

/**
 *	Get the number of bins in the record.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline uint16_t as_rec_numbins(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return as_util_hook(numbins, 0, rec);
}

/**
 *	Get a list of the bin names in the record.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_bin_names(const as_rec * rec, as_rec_bin_names_callback callback, void * udata)
{
	return as_util_hook(bin_names, 0, rec, callback, udata);
}

/**
 *	Get the digest of the record.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_bytes * as_rec_digest(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return as_util_hook(digest, 0, rec);
}

/**
 *	Set flags on a bin.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int  as_rec_set_flags(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, uint8_t flags)
{
	return as_util_hook(set_flags, 0, rec, name, flags);
}

/**
 *	Set the record type.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_type(const as_rec * rec, int8_t rec_type)
{
	return as_util_hook(set_type, 0, rec, rec_type);
}

/**
 *	Set the time to live (ttl).
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_ttl(const as_rec * rec, uint32_t ttl)
{
	return as_util_hook(set_ttl, 0, rec, ttl);
}

/**
 *	Drop the record's key.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_drop_key(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return as_util_hook(drop_key, 0, rec);
}

/******************************************************************************
 *	BIN GETTER FUNCTIONS
 ******************************************************************************/

/**
 *	Get a bin's value.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec to read the bin value from.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, the value of the bin. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_val * as_rec_get(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	return as_util_hook(get, NULL, rec, name);
}

/**
 *	Get a bin's value as an int64_t.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec to read the bin value from.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, the value of the bin. Otherwise 0.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int64_t as_rec_get_int64(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	as_val * v = as_util_hook(get, NULL, rec, name);
	as_integer * i = as_integer_fromval(v);
	return i ? as_integer_toint(i) : 0;
}

/**
 *	Get a bin's value as a NULL terminated string.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec to read the bin value from.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, the value of the bin. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline char * as_rec_get_str(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	as_val * v = as_util_hook(get, NULL, rec, name);
	as_string * s = as_string_fromval(v);
	return s ? as_string_tostring(s) : 0;
}

/**
 *	Get a bin's value as an as_integer.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec to read the bin value from.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, the value of the bin. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_integer * as_rec_get_integer(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	as_val * v = as_util_hook(get, NULL, rec, name);
	return as_integer_fromval(v);
}

/**
 *	Get a bin's value as an as_string.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec to read the bin value from.
 *	@param name		The name of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, the value of the bin. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_string * as_rec_get_string(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	as_val * v = as_util_hook(get, NULL, rec, name);
	return as_string_fromval(v);
}

/**
 *	Get a bin's value as an as_bytes.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec to read the bin value from.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, the value of the bin. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_bytes * as_rec_get_bytes(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	as_val * v = as_util_hook(get, NULL, rec, name);
	return as_bytes_fromval(v);
}

/**
 *	Get a bin's value as an as_list.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec to read the bin value from.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, the value of the bin. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_list * as_rec_get_list(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	as_val * v = as_util_hook(get, NULL, rec, name);
	return as_list_fromval(v);
}

/**
 *	Get a bin's value as an as_map.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec to read the bin value from.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, the value of the bin. Otherwise NULL.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_map * as_rec_get_map(const as_rec * rec, const char * name)
{
	as_val * v = as_util_hook(get, NULL, rec, name);
	return as_map_fromval(v);
}

/******************************************************************************
 *	BIN SETTER FUNCTIONS
 ******************************************************************************/

/**
 *	Set the bin's value to an as_val.
 *
 *	@param rec 		The as_rec to write the bin value to - CONSUMES REFERENCE
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *	@param value 	The value of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, 0. Otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, const as_val * value)
{
	return as_util_hook(set, 1, rec, name, value);
}

/**
 *	Set the bin's value to an int64_t.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec storing the bin.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *	@param value	The value of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, 0. Otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_int64(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, int64_t value)
{
	return as_util_hook(set, 1, rec, name, (as_val *) as_integer_new(value));
}

/**
 *	Set the bin's value to a NULL terminated string.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec storing the bin.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *	@param value	The value of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, 0. Otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_str(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, const char * value)
{
	return as_util_hook(set, 1, rec, name, (as_val *) as_string_new_strdup(value));
}

/**
 *	Set the bin's value to an as_integer.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec storing the bin.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *	@param value	The value of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, 0. Otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_integer(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, const as_integer * value)
{
	return as_util_hook(set, 1, rec, name, (as_val *) value);
}

/**
 *	Set the bin's value to an as_string.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec storing the bin.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *	@param value	The value of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, 0. Otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_string(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, const as_string * value)
{
	return as_util_hook(set, 1, rec, name, (as_val *) value);
}

/**
 *	Set the bin's value to an as_bytes.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec storing the bin.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *	@param value	The value of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, 0. Otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_bytes(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, const as_bytes * value)
{
	return as_util_hook(set, 1, rec, name, (as_val *) value);
}

/**
 *	Set the bin's value to an as_list.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec storing the bin.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *	@param value	The value of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, 0. Otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_list(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, const as_list * value)
{
	return as_util_hook(set, 1, rec, name, (as_val *) value);
}

/**
 *	Set the bin's value to an as_map.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec storing the bin.
 *	@param name 	The name of the bin.
 *	@param value	The value of the bin.
 *
 *	@return On success, 0. Otherwise an error occurred.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline int as_rec_set_map(const as_rec * rec, const char * name, const as_map * value)
{
	return as_util_hook(set, 1, rec, name, (as_val *) value);
}

/******************************************************************************
 *	ITERATION FUNCTIONS
 ******************************************************************************/

/**
 *	Call the callback function for each bin in the record.
 *
 *	@param rec		The as_rec containing the bins to iterate over.
 *	@param callback	The function to call for each entry.
 *	@param udata	User-data to be passed to the callback.
 *
 *	@return true if iteration completes fully. false if iteration was aborted.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline bool as_rec_foreach(const as_rec * rec, as_rec_foreach_callback callback, void * udata)
{
	return as_util_hook(foreach, false, rec, callback, udata);
}

/******************************************************************************
 *	CONVERSION FUNCTIONS
 ******************************************************************************/

/**
 *	Convert to an as_val.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_val * as_rec_toval(const as_rec * rec)
{
	return (as_val *) rec;
}

/**
 *	Convert from an as_val.
 *
 *	@relatesalso as_rec
 */
static inline as_rec * as_rec_fromval(const as_val * v)
{
	return as_util_fromval(v, AS_REC, as_rec);
}

/******************************************************************************
 *	as_val FUNCTIONS
 ******************************************************************************/

/**
 *	@private
 *	Internal helper function for destroying an as_val.
 */
void as_rec_val_destroy(as_val *);

/**
 *	@private
 *	Internal helper function for getting the hashcode of an as_val.
 */
uint32_t as_rec_val_hashcode(const as_val *v);

/**
 *	@private
 *	Internal helper function for getting the string representation of an as_val.
 */
char * as_rec_val_tostring(const as_val *v);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Juicy Couture Is Selling a $25,000 Swarovski Crystal Jumpsuit
By Emily Wang
Courtesy of Juicy Couture.
No garment is as synonymous with '00s nostalgia as the classic Juicy Couture tracksuit. The brand has changed quite a bit since the mid-aughts: It's now under the creative direction of celebrity stylist Jamie Mizrahi—and for her first collection, she introduced one particular item that takes the throwback trend to a whole other level. Behold, a Juicy Couture jumpsuit covered in Swarovski crystals, which is expected to retail for $25,670.
According to Fashionista, the opulent onesie is part of Juicy Couture's new collaboration with Swarovski. It was featured as part of the brand's Spring 2018 collection, which debuted during New York Fashion Week in September.
Katy Perry, one of Mizrahi's clients, wore it while on tour in January; Lady Gaga also got her hands on it for a performance last year.
The jumpsuit won't be available for purchase until next month. However, Juicy Couture also partnered with Swarovski on a line of fully customizable, bedazzled tracksuits to be sold exclusively on Farfetch that is slightly more accessible, with prices starting at $275. The first of three drops became available earlier this week. (Theoretically, you could have your own name embroidered in Swarovski crystals across the but, instead of "Juicy". Just throwing that out there.)
FSY STUDIO CO
This is the latest in a string of high-profile collaborations for the Paris Hilton–approved brand: Earlier this month, Juicy Couture announced a capsule collection with VFiles, which puts an edgier spin on those infamous velour separates; it has also partnered with Urban Outfitters and Vetements in recent years. So don't be surprised when everyone starts dressing like it's 2001 again.
The Pervasive Comeback of 'Matrix' Fashion Isn't All That Random
Britney Spears Landed a Kenzo Campaign, as Icons Do
10 Spring Outfits You Can Put Together for $100 or Less


text:
A day in Dubrovnik, or how we visited King's Landing but didn't lose our heads
Posted on 2 August 2018 by carminerodi
Got the pun? "Lose the head" as in "get crazy", but also as "get beheaded". As Ned Stark in "Game of Thrones"! Do you get it now? Eh? Eh? I think it's a really good one.
He definitely lost his head on his first visit to the city.
I thought about this title for almost a week. Because titles, you know, are e-very-thing if you want to attract people's attention in the online world of now. But a few centuries back? Things were very different. The city of Dubrovnik (or in its Latin name, Ragusa) wanted to be rich and prosperous, but was too small to defend itself from the bullies that surrounded her. So? So they decided to build walls. Big walls. Really, really, ridiculously big walls. That still look impressive today.
And thanks to the aforementioned walls, its entrepreneurial spirit and an access to the sea in a strategic place where East and West could meet, it managed to stay a happy and safe merchant republic for about 500 years. Which is about twice as old as the United States of America, just saying.
The motto of Dubrovnik was Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro, which is Latin for "in the future, parking spaces will be very, very expensive here" (or something like that).
So keep this in mind, when planning your trip. How did we do it? We were lucky! We found a spot in a local supermarket, which offered 3 hours free parking to customers, plus a small fee per extra hour. And we managed to stay the whole day for a very reasonable price. A bit of problem solving and creativity that surely old Ragusans would have appreciated.
The gate for the visitors coming from north. I was joking about the motto, of course. It means "it's not good to sell freedom, not even for all the gold in the world". However, money matters a lot in Dubrovnik.
Nowadays, Dubrovnik is a wonderful city in the southmost tip of the Dalmatian coastline (Croatia). Its emerald green waters and red rooftops are amazing and reward even the most demanding traveler, and there are many hidden treasures to explore in its main streets, as well as in its narrow side streets.
But it's not enough: it's a walled city, and its city walls and fortification have been a UNESCO heritage site since 1979. (UNESCO is the UN branch that protects human and natural heritage sites around the world; but since it's dramatically underfunded and understaffed, when something is lost or destroyed they can't do much about it, other than despair. Still, "UNESCO heritage" has a nice ring to it).
The city really has a glorious history: founded around the 7th century, it has been through A LOT. Like I mean it. It has survived:
the fall of the Byzantine Empire;
being a vassal of Venice;
being a vassal of Hungary;
being a vassal of and the Ottoman empire;
a devastating earthquake in 1667;
an invasion by Russian and Napoleonic troops;
another earthquake in 1979;
and 7 months, 4 weeks and 2 days of bombing during the 1991-92 war.
Look at that. People really wanted to raze the whole place down to ground zero. It seems impossible to me, and it's really saddening that to destroy such a piece of beauty was considered a "political goal" by someone. You can check the whole videos online.
(political rant mode: ON) But hey, Nationalism is only a positive energy that keeps people healthy, so stop complaining if sometimes bombs start to fall and centuries of civilization are destroyed. It's the price we have to pay to identity. Because we have to. Right? (rant mode: OFF)
Anyway – Dubrovnik has always been reconstructed, proud of its beauty and history, and it still stands.
If you visit it today, be prepared: it's not a cheap date. It is brazen, cocky, a bit presumptuous even. Dubrovnik is like"everything has a price, baby, even beauty" – and you, the traveler, must oblige. I have to say however that all the money we spent in the city was well worth it. The food, the views, the tour – it all has been a memorable experience.
The walls, seen from the small harbor in the northwest.
Yes, because we are here to talk about THE TOUR, right? Dubrovnik has been chosen (since season 2) as one of the main locations for the super-famous tv show "Game of Thrones". Now, I don't think I need to explain what GoT is, on a blog about storytelling, so I won't – and since then, a visit is even more memorable thanks to all the geek hidden treasures! Actually, even more than I thought, but to know what I mean, you will have to read until the end of the article.
Yes, we took the guided tour. I can hear some of you screaming in disgust "what a touristy thing to do!", and well, I don't care it's true. You can also do it yourself.
There are many websites that offer very detailed information on each location used in the filming, and you can use them to plan your own tour. Some places are actually not in Dubrovnik, but in the surrounding areas, or in Split and Šibenik (all very worth a visit).
This for example is from this website, very well made. Good job guys! Also, their photos are much better than mine.
But when we travel, we are lazy and unorganized always want to support the local economy, so here is what we did.
I can actually recommend the guys who work at Dubrovnik Walking Tours. You can recognize their red umbrellas just inside the main city gate when a tour is about to start.
Our guide, Ivana ("just like 50% of the Croatian girls") was well documented, energetic and helpful, willing to go out of her way to answer our questions and give us extra behind the scene info. We took the "Dubrovnik history AND Game of Thrones" tour, because we like the idea of having a bit of history and pop culture together, and were not disappointed.
With a local guide, you can quickly make your way to the most interesting spots in town and have the best views, while they tell you stories connected to the series and their "making of".
SPOILER ALERT – from this moment on, hic sunt liberal spoilers from Game of Thrones. Keep reading only if you are up-to-date with the series, or if you don't care so much about spoilers. You have been warned.
For example, in this clip (the famous mob attack on Joffrey):
you have a great view of Fort Lovrijenac seen from the west harbor (digitally edited into the Red Keep),
and later for the mob attack, which takes place just inside the Pile Gate. This serpentine was built for defensive reasons just inside the main gate, so that possible enemies invading would be trapped between two doors – and subject to heavy fire from above. Deadly.
Also, the pier that is shown in many memorable scenes, with that unique look?
is located in the little harbor just outside the north gate:
I know, it just doesn't feel the same, with motor boats.
The City Walls are an amazing attraction in the town, of course. To visit them, be prepared to shell out another 150 kuna (20 euros), but in my opinion they are really worth the price. It's a nice 2 kilometer walk, and they offer countless breath taking views of the city seen from above.
Such as this.
And this.
And this from the port.
Ready to fire on the tourists?
Of course, they were also used in many memorable scenes. For example, the unforgettable Battle of Blackwater (the culminating point of season 2):
features many scenes shot on the walls.
Here I am inspecting the damage from the battle.
A tourist had to leave his sign there. Lenon, whoever you are, you are an idiot.
And then, there is the tower used for the House of the Undying:
which in reality is the Minčeta Tower, also accessible from the walls. You see?
Ivana was showing us photos from the set or the series to better illustrate her stories.
Now, I was there, and I had taken a perfect picture (just like everybody else) of the place, but it got erased from my phone for some reason!
So you will have to do with this perfect replica:
You see? It's absolutely the same place.
Also, the epic duel between "The Walking Mountain" Clegane and the Viper (season 4 finale)?
I was filmed on the terrace of the Hotel Belvedere, now abandoned.
It feels very different with the "Hajduk Spalato" emblem, but at least no-one gets horribly murdered there.
Other memorable spots are: the stairs outside the Dominican Monastery:
There was a wedding when we were there. No, it was not Purple or Red. It was just very noisy.
the Rector's Palace, located in the main square, used as palace for the Spice King of Qarth:
as well as the Stradun (big road, in Italian), the main street, completely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1667.
and of course (I kept it as the grand finale) the Baroque Staircase, which was used as location for the Great Sept of Baelor:
The temple has been added digitally.
and became memorable for the "Shame!" sequence:
If you go, be prepared because it is now a massive attraction, with hordes of visitors who want to take their piece of the experience.
The place gets especially interesting in the evening, when "walk of shame" gets a more complete meaning.
Notice how almost all the details are preserved in the filmed version. The GoT production tries to keep as faithful as possible to the original locations, only covering or editing digitally when strictly necessary, thus preserving the feeling of authenticity that made the series so unique and popular.
SHAME on me for taking this selfie! Ah, ah. Pun! Did you get it? SHAME!
This artist did a fantastic job editing all the real locations together with their artistic "Game of Thrones" versions. I really recommend watching the video below to have a good overall impression. He claims it took him 3 months of work to realize the video, and I am not surprised. Full credit where it's due!
On a side note — I really have to say that CATS have the best time of their life in Dubrovnik / King's Landing! Just look:
This is not Dubrovnik, but Split. Still, the cat was too cute, so here it is.
They really blend in, and contribute to giving to the place a relaxed and posh atmosphere. Arya would have been a much happier huntress here.
Yes, I have included 6 pictures of cats in this article. Because, why not. Hear their roar?
As I said, our tour was great and provided us with a lot of information. Our group was composed by Ivana (the guide), Bara (my wife), me & other 8 guys who at times were more interested in food and drinks than in the stories – so it felt like a "The Hobbit" homage, but that's also OK.
AND – imagine my biggest surprise when I learned that Dubrovnik was also used as a location for Star Wars "The Last Jedi"! It took me a second to realize, but of course!
It was in the very controversial sequence in Canto Bight, the planetary casino.
You can have a look at how the city was transformed to get a more galactic look:
Photo courtesy here.
and the Onofrio's fountain (so called because of the architect from Napoli who designed it):
getting refitted for the film:
Shot taken from here.
Dubrovnik only appears in some seconds in the final edit of "The Last Jedi", but still it's enough for the city to be immortalized as a "Star Wars" location (lots of useful info on this website), and of course the local business takes the opportunity to advertise it as much as they can.
The kids look creepy, because they are not real. The excessive merchandising, instead, is creepy and real.
Sometimes, even funnily out of context.
This was a local jewelry shop. And probably a Star Wars fan.
So, can you imagine? The place is both a Game of Thrones AND a Star Wars location? Some people really have all the luck.
But it's impossible to have hard feelings for Dubrovnik. The city is full of history and charm, really a recommended stop for anybody visiting (and if you love sun & sea & good good, well, all the better). We will definitely remember our visit from which we remember a bunch of truly inspiring moments.
Thank you for reading! I would really appreciated your impressions if you made it so far.
Tags: cats, Croatia, Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, Game of thrones, King's landing, Star WarsCategories: stories, travel
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Thinking of starting up your own ecommerce website? Here are some cardinal rules that you should follow if you want to create a successful online business.
I've seen in happen far too often where people get excited about starting a new business online and before they know it all that excitement goes to their head. Next thing they know they begin to actual state things and make promises on their website about their product or service that are untrue. Sometimes justifying it with excuses such as, "If I could just make enough money then I'll improve that", or "I'll add that feature later", or "I'll fix that when the time comes", or "no one will notice."
So please don't fall into that trap. Never ever sacrifice your integrity in the pursuit of wealth as it will almost inevitably backfire in the long run. Always tell the truth in your marketing. Making what you offer sound exciting is one thing, but making it exciting through shear lies is another.
Just remember if you want to be able to claim something grander than what your product or service really is, then it's time to actually make it into that grand thing you're envisioning by doing the work, or hiring the right people to do the work for you. Don't "fake it, till you make it" - rather, just roll up your sleeves, do the work, and make it happen!
So never lie to others online, in your marketing, about your product or service and I guarantee you'll steer clear of problems such as: people bad mouthing you online, complaining about you, ruining your name, doing refunds and charge backs, law suits, police and government intervention, people hacking you, or worse.
You really can do far more business, better, and for the longer term, with a clear conscious and actually achieve higher income and a much better reputations, than you ever will by cutting corners, and telling lies. So keep that in mind when you're building your business and website. This is something you want to pass onto your kids one day with pride and joy, no a skeleton you have to hide in your closet!
Be extra careful when considering what products and services you plan to render in the market place. When you've narrowed down what products and services you're considering selling or endorsing, be certain that the product isn't going to harm anyone.
Often when someone's just starting out in business in can be so easy to start selling something unknowingly realizing the harm it could be causing.
So be sure to carefully think out the long term effects that any type of product or service you decide to promote is going to have. Because it's going to effect your customers in some way, it's going to effect their families and friends, it's going to effect society as a whole, and it's going to effect you, your reputation, and your family and friends. Most people don't realize that but it's true.
Also be sure that any business decision you decide to undertake, whether it be a marketing tactic or a partnership or key decision, falls in line with this principal to "do no harm". The net is riddled with businesses that are profitable but yet actually do harm to others. Sometimes people try to justify things to themselves, or pass the blame onto the end users, but ultimately the responsibility falls on your shoulders, as you know, prior to selling your items, more than your end users as to what the effects are going to be for them (this includes affiliate programs you want to promote).
You got to find a business that you can look yourself in the mirror with out a guilty conscious. And if you're in a business that already gives you a guilty conscious then why not look at other businesses, selling, redeveloping, or other ways to get out from your present situation. There's a heavy price to be paid by getting involved in anything that doesn't meet with this principal. On the light side of things you're only dealing with minor issues such as a guilty conscious or minor complaints, but in the worst case scenario you could end up facing major, major problems if you get wrapped up in the wrong type of business, such as: government intervention, law suits, criminal charges, abusive clients, your reputation being ruined, or worse.
By simply finding a business that "serves the greater good" you'll be able to have a long term business that you can feel great pride in working on each day and that with have a much longer useful life that you can one day even hand down to your kids with pride and joy.
Although you do want to get off the launch pad as quick as possible, Rome wasn't built in a day. Your website and project is going to take time. It's going to take time to refine your business skills, get elements of the business set up, advertise and eventually start to take orders. So you're objective needs to be to work on studying and applying the knowledge you're gaining a little "each" and "every day" over the next year. By doing that you'll assure your success. Alternatively I know that some people are in a urgent rush to get started. That's understandable.
However, just like anything in life through study, commitment, and perseverance you will prevail. As long as you're taking baby steps in the right direction, just a little bit each day, over the course of a year all those baby steps will grow into reaching some basic objectives, such as perhaps replacing the income from your job, or learning all the basics to own and operate your internet business. It can and will happen but it takes time. So please be patient. Don't look at the whole picture. Just look at each small part. Eventually your confidence will grow and in no time you'll be well on your way to online business success. So please give it time.
Commit 2 hours each day to your new ecommerce website. Listen, there's so few legitimate "get rich quick" scheme's out there. Although it's true you can get rich faster online than many conventional businesses it's still going to take daily effort. That means finding at least 2 hours out of your busy day to commit to your website.
Be prepared to commit a full year to this new career move in your life. Listen, if you think you're going to just get online and somehow pull off a successful website project in a month or two or three, you're kidding yourself. Even I'd be hard pressed to make something happen in that time frame. I give myself at least a year on new projects and you should to. You could devote 8-12 hours a day to a project if you don't have anything else on your day to day schedule but even then you run the risk of burning yourself out. So please be prepared to devote 2 hours each day for a full year to this. And by the time one year is up I guarantee you'll be online in business and taking steady orders daily!
6) Why re-invent the wheel?
You don't have to reinvent the wheel online either. You don't need to necessarily come up with the most revolutionary online product or service to ever hit the net. In fact most of the boring mundane businesses you don't think much of are the ones making a great deal of the money online. If you can figure out the next eBay or HOTorNOT you could quickly be on your way to easy street. But the safer bet is actually just finding an industry online that you know is working.
Research that industry, find out what your competitors and the successful people do in that industry and model that success.
One last point is this. Can you make a better hamburger than McDonald's? Most people would agree that "Yes, they could make a better tasting burger at home". But could you distribute billions of burgers like McDonald's has done? The point is that you do not, repeat, do NOT need to have the "absolute best product". Although, you're product should be of high quality, and competitive in the marketplace, more importantly you need to be sure that you have the "best delivery system". The more people you get the product out to the more money you make and the more people you help. What good is it if you spend all your time developing what you think is "the best product" if you then have no time left to advertise, or you get burnt out in the process, and nobody ends up knowing about your product, buying it, or benefiting from it? Therefore you don't have to reinvent the wheel. But you must be sure to get your item out there for people to buy. You must have a good delivery system. And that's another reason why I recommend my affiliate program because you could get the best of both worlds.
The way you approach this new career move in your life will most certainly shape it's outcome. So you should really try to look at this as your "new career" in life. Career's don't happen overnight. They take years of dedication to become successful in. This is not another "get rich quick scheme" unfortunately as get rich quick scheme's rarely work, or last. So think of this as a field of endeavor that you're prepared to spend the next year in, if not 3 to 5 years. Think of it as your new career in life, or one that you're going to start working on in your spare time until you're earning enough income so that you can do it full time, and soon after that even retire off.
Now here's a really important key secret. This might sound crazy, and you might even laugh or smirk when you here it, in fact you might not even believe it will work, but I want you to do this for me anyway.
I want you to not only think your going to one day become rich, but I want you to actually tell yourself everyday that you're in fact rich right now.
You can start by affirming 2 things to yourself everyday which are: "I'm a successful internet millionaire." And "I earn $1000 (or more, but not less) per day through my own successful internet business."
If you're goal is to become wealthy through your own internet website then you honestly have to do two things: First: Start to change the way you spend your time working which you'll be doing as you'll finally be "working smarter" by running your own website. Second: You also have to start to change the way you think about your ability to earn and your existing financial mind frame and mental associations. The only way to do that is to begin actually affirming to yourself that "it is possible for me." Without that deep inner belief that you can become rich and change your situation you'll probably end up reverting back to doing what you're use to in order to make a living (i.e.: your 9 to 5).
Here's what you need to realize about yourself and life… Right now you are the exact sum total of your thoughts and beliefs about yourself. If you don't change your beliefs about what you're use to earning, then you might be setting yourself up to fail. So even if it's not true yet, affirm those positive mantras to yourself each and every day. Your mind is very much like a computer, it simply takes in your thoughts and processes them. And everything you currently believe about yourself right now your mind has helped to manifest in your life. Whether that belief is positive or negative your mind has still done the work of helping to manifest that for you based on the programming you've given it over the years, and ultimately leading to the choices you've made. Now it's time to reprogram you mind for success by using affirmations as your programming language.
You must make this true for you in regard to business and earnings as well. That means you're currently "hard-wired" into perhaps thinking something like: JOB=40 hours per week X $'s per hour = biweekly pay check. That means if you need money you're brain is going to tell you to work harder and or find a job. It's not going to tell you "work harder and smarter on your ecommerce project." So you have to condition yourself to start thinking differently about how to earn money.
You have to believe it before you can see it. And some of you might have a real challenge with this, but it's not hard, just open you mouth and say the affirmations. You might not believe them at first. But say them every day 100 times each for 3 months and you'll soon start to think differently.
Also start to doubt what you're use to earning. Start to place doubts in your mind on what you're use to doing each day for a living. I.e.: "I doubt that my current career is going to last, because soon I'm going to be making $1000 per day in my exciting new career in ecommerce." Or "I doubt that I'm financial challenges are going to last much longer because I'm dedicating myself to building my new business which is going to earn me $1000 dollars per day." Remember you have to start working on changing your beliefs and your existing mental programming if you plan to be successful.
I know I talked a lot about how you want to think of this long term as far as this being a career move. That is true, but you also want to build your site and ecommerce business fast. The reason is that it gives you the momentum you need to keep going. It also allows you to get something basic online and open for business which you can continue to refine as your taking orders. Although I don't recommend trying to complete your own website from scratch in a day, which would probably be a pretty crappy and ugly website, I also don't recommend taking anymore than 3 months to build a site (not including the making of a product or service). And 3 months would mean you're developing an average multi page site selling a new product or service that you've developed from the ground up. If it's going to end up taking you longer than 3 months to build a site, I urge you to either hire a company to build it for you who could get it done in 3 months, or join an affiliate program which will get you into business and profit immediately or else find a smaller website project to start on.
I've seen it all too often that someone new gets excited about starting a site, they end up dabbling with it and do it like a hobby which ends up taking them over a year to complete just the site! They finally get there website completed and open for business only to perhaps discover that their offer just doesn't pull any orders for some reason or other. Or they're burnt out from working on building the site for so long and have no more motivation to begin advertising it.
Plan out each day of study or work on your new website project. Before you start each of your daily 2 hour sessions you should have either a detailed or generalized idea written out on your day timer of what you're going to be working on. For those of you who don't have a day timer you can either download a free software program and or get a physical one to use and carry around. For example it could be as simple as: writing out 10 of the most important things you need to do for that day. You should at least have a clear written idea of where your daily time is being spent. If you want to run a business you have to get organized and prioritized.
Spend some time mapping out your one year goals and plan. Each of your 2 hour planned study/work sessions should be part of your one year plan. For example you could break this down into phases and then break it down even further into monthly, weekly and even daily tasks that will ultimately equate to helping you to achieve your one year goal.
The principle that 20 percent of something are always responsible for 80 percent of the results. If you really want to achieve something monumental within a year and you are willing to apply 2 hours per day to making it happen then you're going to have to decide where is that 2 hours best spent. For some of you who already have skills and experience with website design and developing a home business, then you might have an idea or industry that you already want to pursue, use your skills and go after it.
However, if you're completely new to the world of ecommerce and you want to simply get into business, start earning money almost immediately, and maximize the limited amount of productive time you have to spend each day on this, then I highly recommend you read chapter 2 right away which will show you a plan for getting started and opening your own website within 48 hours. The reason I recommend this approach is because rather than waiting up to 3 months to just to get a new website online, you could be online and taking orders in just 48 hours and start to see profits as soon as next week. And once the money starts flowing in it will motivate you to continue advertising, which is going to produce the majority of your results.
Offer and deliver so much that your product or service becomes irresistible. But whatever you do just don't lie about what you're offering. Just be sure that you're end product or service is set up in a way where your customer is "wowed" by it so much that they go out and tell all their friends and family. And before you offer your product ask yourself: "is this something that I'd tell all my friends about because it's so impressive?" If not, then go back to the drawing board and improve your product or service even more so that when you begin to sell it, it over delivers in quality and performance. I know this is somewhat contrary to what I said earlier but really it's not. See the world of business is extremely competitive. That being said, ideally you want to have the better hamburger and the better delivery system. Not just one or the other.
So for example don't waste a year developing a better hamburger. It's totally not worth your time. Just find someone who already has the best hamburger, and start promoting theirs! The only way you want to reinvent the wheel is if you have something that could be monumentally groundbreaking, and you have the time, energy and resources to pursue that kind of good idea. Just remember though there are graveyards full of "good ideas" that never were completed and never made it to market because people got burnt out, ran out of money, and the reasons are endless.
This is why often for the average person, it's better to leverage your situation by finding someone who already has a great product and promoting theirs via an affiliate program. Or if you're going to do it yourself from scratch then find a great product, and evolve it the next level without wasting too much time "reinventing it". For example airplanes were improved on by adding the jet engine. Fortunately they did that rather than wasting another 100 years trying to reinvent it by developing a "Star Trek Teleportor". You get the picture.
The internet is continually changing. That's why for example I'll be updating this page regularly. But the same is true for just about any industry out there. If you're not growing or innovating then you're probably going downhill. So be the expert or best at whatever it is you do by continuing to educate yourself through books, courses, CD's, videos, seminars, classes or whatever you can get your hands on. It's the best return on investment you'll find.
If you're new to ecommerce and your starting a site for the first time then I got to tell you, you're going to be a small fish in a big pond. The last thing I want to do is discourage you in anyway, because by reading articles like this one, you're already further ahead than 99% of the dreamers out there. You're someone who's willing to do the research and make it happen. But I got to tell you that if you're thinking of starting your own site for the very first time then I won't lie by not telling you that the odds are not staked in your favor. It is estimated that 75% of businesses fail in the first 3 years, then another 75% of those those than succeeded fail in the next 3 years.
16) Focus on "high yield"
Focus on developing a website that will be "high yield". If you wanted to decisively win a race and you could choose any vehicle you wish to win that race, which would you choose – A "Bicycle", or a "Race Car"? My goal that I'm hoping for you is to see you retire in the next 3-5 years off your website. And hopefully allowing you to start working full time from home within the next 6-12 months. The way to do this is to forget the hobby sites, forget the things that you think are "neat-doe" and focus on the most high yield product or service you can deliver. Find out what the marketplace needs and fill that need.
Save the hobby sites for your spare time, and focus your energy on finding a niche market that can make you rich. Then once you're rich and retired you'll have plenty of time to work on those hobby sites and topics of interest to you. Right now though you want to choose the most "high yield" vehicle you can possible develop. You're building a race car so you want to develop a powerful money making engine that will propel you toward riches and success. The way to do that is so simple, all you have to do is start to "THINK BIG", think "high yield" in your approach. For example, why sell a product that generally sells for at $5 per sale, when you could find or develop a product, that would be of equal interest to a different target market which you could sell for $5000 per sale? Or why focus on building traffic by waiting for your site to get indexed by the search engines when instead you could by approaching well established distribution networks such as: EBay, Overture, (which will talk in depth about later) and more, to instantly get tens of thousands of daily visitors to your site?
You have to start to think big! Trust me, the internet is jam packed with small fries, small thinking people, and low yielding websites. Trust me, net doesn't need anymore low yield sites, or hobby ecommerce sites. You have to start to figure out how you can create a high yield site where each transaction represents a sizable net profit and net value to the client. Too many people unfortunately focus on developing such low yield operations that it astounds me! You have so much value that you could offer to the marketplace so don't be a sell out! Instead simply do a little extra research before you begin.
Just be sure to carefully consider the long term projections of what kind of yield your site will generate in terms of revenue and value for others before you get started. Ideally you want to create something that will make a major impact allowing you to retired in the next few years. That can easily happen but you must choose the right high yield vehicle otherwise you'll never reach your destination.
It can become so easy to get wrapped up in your ebusiness that you forget about everything else in your life. Remember to not become so all consumed and overly rushed that you neglect the most important things in life like your health, friends, family, spending time outside, traveling, going out for coffee, going to church, taking your dog for regular walks, spending time at the lake, playing sports, doing your favorite hobbies and the list goes on and on. You got to maintain a balanced life in order to be able to "happily achieve online". Just be sure that you schedule in your work and when it's time to work on your site you "actually working"! So after work and on weekends you can enjoy the fun things in life like everyone else.
What the heck is forex?


A hated Miami investor who lost many people's life savings is murdered. His body is discovered submerged in a toilet on his private jet when a man comes to repossess the plane because of missed payments. The CSIs search for the killer along with the dead man's hidden stash of money to help repay investors.


We Offer This Stunning Crucifix Charm Made of 14 Karat White and Yellow Gold. This Has a Crucifix Type. This Pendant Is Completed to a Mirror Like Finish Metal. Collect This Attractive Crucifix Charm Now and Embody Your Belief.


Sept. 9: a kayak trip to Indian Lake Islands. Paddle the large Central Adirondack Lake that has many islands and beaches. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the HSBC Bank at Mapledale Square Center, Route 12, in Barneveld.
Sept. 23: A climb up Hadley Mountain, which has a panoramic view of the Southeastern Adirondack Mountains from the restored fire tower. The mountain is located just north of Great Sacandaga reservoir. The group will meet at 9 a.m. at the Park and Ride lot next to the State DOT office off North Genesee Street in Utica. Call Ed at 738-1495 or Ron at 732-5926 for more information.
Sept. 28-30: Lake Placid Hiking Weekend. Hike in the Adirondack High Peaks region near Lake Placid. The group will be staying two nights at the Jack Rabbit Inn about two miles from the ski jumps on Route 73 near Lake Placid. There are many restaurants, shops to check out, along with hiking Mount Van Hoevenberg and more.
The cost for the weekend is $60, which includes two breakfasts and lunch food. Send payments along with a trip application to: GE/Lake Placid weekend, PO Box 327, New Hartford, NY, 13413. Deadline is Sept. 14. For information, call Ed Campbell at 738-1495.
Programs on a variety of topics are presented at ADK chapter meetings held at 7:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at the New Hartford Presbyterian Church, 7 Oxford Road, New Hartford.
Slack, author of "Adirondack Summits: An Ecological Field Guide," will give a slide program on the flora and fauna of the Adirondack Alpine zone. She'll present a history of climbing and discovering the High Peaks, as well as a comparison of the Adirondack alpine, with the Arctic Alpine plants of Baffin Island.
Slack will also share some thoughts on the future effects of global warming on these glacial relics.
Contact Chapter Chairman George Farwell at barkeater@aol.com for more information.


According to him, Magama, Borgu, Agwara and Mariga Rijau local government areas were usually flashpoints of the disease but only Borgu has so far lost eight people to the scourge from March till date.
Mr Ndanusa, however, regretted that the agency has not embarked in cerebrospinal meningitis immunization this year because they do not have the vaccine.
The post Families In Pain As Meningitis Kills Eight People In Borgu, Niger appeared first on Naijaloaded | Nigeria's Most Visited Music & Entertainment Website.


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The Fluor hotline is designed for employees to report any known or suspected violation of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, company policy, law, or other concerns you may have.
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If the Tetris and Emoji movies are any indication, if a game or digital trend is popular enough, somebody is going to try and capitalize even more on it and put it in a medium where it probably doesn't belong.
So prepare yourselves. It was announced Tuesday that CBS has picked up a live action game show version of Candy Crush Saga, the game developed by King that almost everyone on the subway next to you is playing with the sound turned up.
In the game show, teams of two people must work together to play the game on giant, interactive game boards in the Candy Crush Arena. It's a competition that relies on agility, strategy, and capitalizing on a smartphone game.
Lionsgate, CBS, and King are working together on the project.
"The Candy Crush franchise is a world-renowned property, so when the head of our interactive and games division, Peter Levin, brought this IP to Lionsgate, we instantly knew it would make an incredibly visual, physical and fun TV program," said Kevin Beggs, Chairman at the Lionsgate Television Group, in a press release.
The smartphone game is incredibly popular and has a lot of copycats, including games within King's own catalog. You match three identical pieces together and it helps to clear the board.
"We have a very entrepreneurial culture at Lionsgate, so we look for awesome worldwide IP like Candy Crush and work together across divisions to bring it to fans on every platform possible," added Peter Levin, President of Interactive Ventures and Games for Lionsgate, and executive producer for the show.
There's no word yet on when the show is supposed to premiere. A host will be announced at a later date.


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Happy 93rd Birthday To DeForest Kelley, A True Southern Gentleman
By Captain Pyke | January 20, 2013 - 11:35 pm
Today we'd like to celebrate the birthday of our favorite country doctor, black hat cowboy, and consummate actor DeForest Kelley. De would have been 93 years-young today and the Trek universe hasn't been the same since his untimely passing in 1999. De started his career in Hollywood with a role in the film noir classic Fear in the Night which starred Paul Kelly & Ann Doran. Shortly after that role, De served his country during World War II in the First Motion Picture Unit, making propaganda & training films for the US Armed Forces. During his time with FMPU, De was spotted by a paramount talent scout and the rest, as they say, is history.
Trek Culture
Dee Kelley Tours The TNG Set & Star Trek Into Darkness Star Karl Urban At "Dredd" Screening Q&A Down Under
By Captain Pyke | October 15, 2012 - 9:06 pm
While cruising the tubes (the late Senator Stevens would be proud) I ran across a really cool video from 1990 featuring DeForest Kelley & the TNG cast / crew. Described as a news segment for Primetime Live, the video features Dee giving us a tour of the inner workings of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The video quality is pretty terrible, but it's definitely worth a watch. Man, Dee, we miss you.
Happy Birthday to Star Trek's DeForest Kelley
By Captain Pyke | January 20, 2011 - 3:54 pm
We want to wish a very happy birthday to the dearly departed DeForest Kelley. De would have been 91 years-old today and it's been nearly 45 years since he first took on the role of the simply country doctor, Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy. De had quite a career before landing his role in Trek that included several westerns and TV guest spots. He even served his country during WWII in the Army's First Motion Picture Unit, making training films.
De was also a great lover of animals, he and his wife Carolyn had a wide variety ranging from the normal birds and dogs to a giant box turtle named "Myrtle".
It's been almost 12 years since De lost his battle with cancer and we wish we could make the trip to Hollywood and visit his star on the walk of fame.
Jonathan Frakes & Wil Wheaton Return To The Small Screen Plus More Star Trek Actor News
By Captain Pyke | December 12, 2010 - 10:20 pm
First off, if you're reading this right after it hits the web and you live in the Mountain or Pacific time zones, you still have time to catch it. Tonight at 9pm, wonder boy and nerd impresario Wil Wheaton will be returning to TNT's hit show "Leverage". So, run, set your DVR and then come back and read the rest of the article. We set? Good. Wil's not the only TNG alumni to be returning to the small screen. Number One, or Jonathan Frakes as some folks call him, will be guest starring on "NCIS: Los Angeles" this Tuesday (December 14th) at 9/8central. As many of you know, Jonathan Frakes has been behind the camera for several years with only the sporadic appearance in the limelight. Keep an eye out for him as Navy Commander Dr. Stanfill. Unfortunately there's no news on how large the role will be or if Frakes will see much screen time, but if you miss the airing, you can always catch it streaming on CBS.com.
New DVD Set Features Star Trek's Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, & Doohan In Pre-Trek Westerns
By Captain Pyke | November 1, 2010 - 10:37 pm
Before reality TV, scifi, or sitcoms ruled the small screen, westerns we're the studio's cash-cow. Almost every actor in Hollywood played a role on "Bonanza", "The Lone Ranger", "The Outlaws", etc., including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, & James Doohan. Now, a brand new DVD set called "Trek Stars Head West", features the original Enterprise crew in pre-Trek TV westerns from the 50s & 60s. The episodes also include guest starring roles by Robert Redford, Cloris Leachman, & Lon Chaney Jr. Check out the episode list below.
Hollywood Nursing Home Where DeForest Kelley Spent Final Days Set To Close
By Captain Pyke | March 20, 2010 - 9:31 pm
DeForest Kelley lost his battle to cancer in the summer of 1999. It's amazing that time passes so quickly and it's been over 10 years since his passing. De (as his friends would call him), spent his final days at The Motion Picture Country House. The home was setup nearly six decades ago to look after elderly actors and unsung industry heroes including soundmen, lighting technicians and grips and is supported by The Motion Picture and Television Fund.
Youtube Video Round-up: Deforest Kelley Edition
By Captain Pyke | November 24, 2009 - 10:07 pm
Yesterday on our Facebook page we posted a link to a Deforest Kelley video montage of his pre-Trek days as a cowboy and western movie star. This got us to thinking, that it's time for another edition of our famous Star Trek Youtube Video Round-up series.
Our favorite spacefaring country doctor is the focus of this episode. We found lots of great videos and fond memories of De Kelley, from a 1976 interview on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow program to rare footage from the 1995 Creation Grand Slam in L.A.. Check out the Videos below and, we sure do miss you De!
DeForest Kelley's gun-slinging days
Youtube Video Round-up
Deforest Kelley Book Debuts as #1 Nonfiction E-Book
By Captain Pyke | May 22, 2009 - 7:45 pm
A newly-released e-book, The Enduring Legacy of DeForest Kelley: Actor, Healer, Friend, written by Kelley's former personal assistant Kristine M Smith, skyrocketed immediately to first place in the non-fiction category at Payloadz.com upon its May 1st release, where it has resolutely remained for three weeks.
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