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It's About Time: An Ode
Bradley Sinor and Tracy Morris
by Bradley Sinor | Oct 8, 2012 | 0 comments
Elizabeth "Betsy" Springer came awake with a gasp. She could barely breathe! The last thing she remembered was the coachman's yell and the way the world tilted as the carriage slipped off of the road. Then . . . nothing.
I must have died, I know it! A picture of the headline for the next edition of the Grantville Times flashed through her head.
Daredevil reporter killed at 22. King calls for extended period of deep mourning. Editor calls Springer an irreplaceable national treasure.
"Meow?"
The sound cut into her fantasies of her own rose-strewn coffin proceeding through the streets of Magdeburg in a grand state funeral. She opened her eyes and saw a dark grey fur-covered face staring at her from only a few inches away. That was when Betsy sneezed, not once but twice. She always sneezed twice.
"Evil creature of darkness in the shape of a feline," she muttered. She must have gone to hell. Why else would there be a cat?
The sneeze didn't send the cat running away; instead it rode the sudden upheaval like a master surfer. Apparently this cat thought that her chest was a fine place to sit and did not intend to give up its nice warm bed.
"Let me guess," she muttered, her throat feeling rough and raw as she spoke. "For your next trick you disappear—all except for your smile."
The cat in question didn't deign to answer her. Instead it calmly turned around and began to groom itself.
"I wondered when you were going to wake up," a familiar voice spoke from the darkness beyond the bed.
Betsy looked past the furry annoyance. The speaker sat in a shadowed corner of the room, but it sounded like Denis. She raised herself up on her elbow enough to dislodge the cat and send it running.
"Was that all it took to get rid of you?" she asked the feline. Just speaking made her throat hurt, although less so now that she had banished the furry nuisance. Then she turned to her unseen minder. "Is that you, Denis?"
"Who were you expecting? Tom Cruise?" Denis Sesma turned in his seat and lit a candle from the small fireplace. He held the candle near his face so that Betsy could see him.
"You making a movie comment? I really must be dreaming."
"I guess you're just a bad influence on me."
Betsy chuckled as she examined the room. Even with the light from the small fireplace and the candle that Denis had in his hand, she could see very little. She knew she was in a large bed, with a heavy quilt spread across her, but much more was beyond her.
"What happened?" she asked in a raspy voice as she noticed a glass of water on her side table. When she rolled to reach it, pain shot through her ribs. Betsy lay back with a groan. Denis stood to help her, but she waved him off. "I'll be fine."
In the dim firelight, she saw his wry smile of disbelief. Instead of returning to his seat, Denis moved to the mattress at the foot of the bed in case she changed her mind.
Just for that, I've got to get that glass on my own, now! Betsy wriggled across the mattress, feeling weak as a baby with every move. Eventually she managed to get her hands around the glass, take a couple of swallows and return it to the night stand without spilling the contents all over the bed.
She flopped back in an exhausted pose and smiled at him in triumph.
Denis shook his head at her antics. "The road washed out in the rainstorm and the coach ended up on its side in a gulley."
Betsy winced as she suddenly remembered the events of the previous night: the lighting, the heavy rain, horses bolting, people screaming and then the world turning upside down. "Was anyone hurt?"
"Hurt, yes, but, thankfully, no one died. You got the worst of it. I only pulled a muscle in my leg and got a few scratches," he said. "Of course, if my cousins Carlos and Antonio hadn't found us almost immediately, who can say what kind of condition we would have been in?" He shrugged. "We could have both caught pneumonia."
"Cousins?" She muttered in confusion. Then she recalled the reason that they had been on that coach to begin with. "Oh, yeah."
"Denis, I need your help!"
Mirari Sesma, his cousin, waved a letter at them from her seat in the corner of the chocolate shop when Denis and Betsy both walked in.
"Is it your ankle?" Denis frowned at Mirari's foot where it sat on a stool. "You're worse than Betsy was that time she sprained her ankle. She was supposed to stay off of it, and instead she pulled us into investigating the murder of a beekeeper."
Betsy shoved Denis's shoulder affectionately. "How can you expect me to stay off my feet and out of the action when there are wrongs to right? Speaking of which . . . " She turned to Mirari. "What's the matter?"
"This letter is from home, from Aunt Serina." Mirari passed it to Denis. He took the letter with a frown and started to read. As he did so, Mirari explained the contents to Betsy. "Our Grandmamma is turning eighty and there is to be a family celebration. We have to be there, if at all possible"
"And the implied part of that is 'it better be possible,' " said Betsy. She knew how her own aunts had been when it came to family gatherings.
"Exactly! You know this family like you were born into it," said Mirari.
"Mirari, you can't possibly go," Denis said with an apologetic frown. "Not with your leg in the shape it is. Next time someone tries to rob your shop, run get the authorities. Don't try to hold off the thieves with nothing but a pistol and a sword."
"I was better armed than they were." Mirari shook her finger at Denis. "I would not have them rob me blind!"
"Better than robbing you lame," Denis countered. Betsy knew that no matter what he said, Denis would not win the argument with his cousin.
"I had them on the run," Mirari argued. "If I hadn't tripped over a chair, I would have been fine. But that's not important now. Grandmamma is the problem! And from the hints that Aunt Serina dropped in this invitation, I fear that her mind is slipping away."
"Is there anything I can do?" Betsy wasn't sure it was even her place to offer, but she hated to see either of them so down. Righting social wrongs and stopping murderers and bandits were more her forte, not nursing a sick, possibly crazy granny.
Mirari looked at Betsy. Immediately, her face brightened. "You can go with Denis in my place to Grandmamma Juliana's place in Flanders ! I've written to the family about you often enough; in fact, they've been asking when they were going to get a chance to meet you. This is a perfect time!"
"Wait a minute, Flanders ? I thought your family was from around the Pyrenees," said Betsy.
"Most of them do come from there. Flanders is where our great-grandmother was born and our grandmother inherited the place," said Mirari. "So you will go with him!"
Denis looked a little worried. "I don't think—"
"Nonsense!" Mirari cut him off with a wave.
At that point, Mirari took over travel arrangements and before she knew it Betsy was giving her bags over to a coachman in preparation for a trip to the ancestral Sesma family home.
While Denis and the coachman labored to pack the carriage, Mirari hobbled up on her crutches with a new letter clutched in one hand. She nodded for Betsy to follow her and when they were a little ways off, she held the letter up for Betsy to see.
"This came in the mail this morning. It's a letter from my cousin, Carlos."
Betsy took the letter, but couldn't read it. She turned it sideways, and then upside down. Neither action helped. Although she had picked up spoken French in the time since the Ring of Fire, reading it was still difficult. Not to mention that she thought the author had terrible handwriting.
"And?" she asked Mirari.
"It tells me everything that the last letter didn't," Mirari said. "And it's worse than I thought. Grandmamma has given her patronage to a young . . . poet." She frowned at that. "The family worries that he might be taking advantage of her in her dotage. They want Denis to come home immediately. He always was one of her favorite grandchildren. Hopefully he can convince her to cut the purse strings on this lay-about. But I'm sure there is something more to this whole matter,"
"Why do I feel like I'm going straight into an Agatha Christie movie?" Betsy muttered.
"Agatha Christie? Oh, yes I've read her books from the library," Mirari said. "I'm sure this journey will be nothing like that. I doubt seriously you'll be tripping over any bodies."
"For a change," Betsy muttered.
"Why is it that I'm the one who always seems to get knocked around whenever you and I go out of town?" Betsy muttered.
At that, Denis got up from his seat on the bed and hobbled up to her. As he drew closer, she could see the injuries that he mentioned earlier.
"I didn't exactly come though this whole thing none the worse for wear," he said. "From what my cousin Soro says you got a mild concussion and a whole lot of bruises, but it could have been worse."
Betsy sneezed, followed by a second one several seconds later and then a bout of coughing that made her ribs throb again.
"Denis, will you stop tormenting that poor girl! She needs her rest!" A new voice sounded from the doorway, interrupting him mid-sentence.
At the sound of that voice Denis jerked back and turned, his face as pale as one of the sheets on Betsy's bed. "Grandmamma," he said.
Betsy craned her neck to see who could have provoked that kind of reaction. The voice came from a woman standing in the doorway. She had a ramrod straight posture and long, neatly-coifed hair held in place by an intricate comb. Even though Betsy couldn't see her face clearly, she could sense disapproval in the woman's bearing.
Betsy's eyebrows climbed her forehead. This was Denis's Grandmamma? From Mirari's words Betsy had been expecting a tiny, hunched woman doddering about on a cane, barely aware of what was going on around her. Looking at the woman standing in the doorway she would have expected to see her on the floor of the USE senate or in the middle of a presidential cabinet meeting.
"I wasn't bothering Betsy. She just woke and I was . . . "
Denis's grandmother snorted in disbelief as she stepped into the room and pointed at the doorway that she'd just vacated. "Don't fib to me, young man. Go downstairs and make some tea for her! Make it chamomile and use the mint honey in the kitchen. We have to beat that hacking cough before it sets in her chest," she said. "And take this infernal cat with you!"
Denis glanced at Betsy and then at his grandmother. The most Betsy could do then was to shrug, at which point he snatched up the cat and headed out of the room.
Denis's grandmother watched him disappear and then turned back toward Betsy. "He's a good boy. He just needs a firm hand from time to time."
"Yes, ma'am," Betsy replied. Her upbringing kept her from saying anything to an elder that would be considered "sass." Not to mention the fact that if she got into trouble and needed to make a fast exit, she was in no shape to do so.
The woman came over and pressed her hand against Betsy's forehead. She had the same sharp green eyes as Mirari, obviously a family trait. With swift moves she checked Betsy's pulse and then began to rearrange the covers over her.
"You seem to be doing all right," she said. "You should be rather stiff for the next couple of days; that much is to be expected. We still need to keep a close eye on you for any effects from hitting your head as hard as you did."
Betsy's head swam at the list of her injuries." A concussion, yeah," she muttered.
"Indeed," the older woman said with a pronounced nod. Then she froze as if in sudden remembrance. "Oh! We have not been formally introduced, since you were only semi-conscious when they brought you in. I'm Juliana Anihoa Maria Constance Sesma, Denis's grandmother."
"I'm honored to met you, ma'am," Betsy put her hand out for a good old-fashioned American handshake. She wondered what Grandmamma would make of that. But if it was good enough for Gustavus Adolphus the Second, it was good enough for Juliana Anihoa Maria Constance Sesma. "I'm Elisabeth Springer, you can call me Betsy."
"My dear, Elizabeth, I know all about you. You're my grandson Denis's intended and will soon be his bride," said Denis's Grandmother Juliana.
Betsy's brain shut down as she pulled her hand back. Her mouth moved under its own power. "What?"
At the same moment, Denis walked back into the room with a fully-loaded tray. He froze in place. The tray slipped from his hands and clattered to the floor. The teapot shattered, splashing steaming tea across his trousers.
"What?" He repeated.
Juliana Anihoa Maria Constance Sesma looked from one of them to the other in confusion. Her eyes narrowed in a way that reminded Betsy of a hawk diving for prey. "Denis! Surely you are engaged! Mirari writes to me of the two of you traipsing about the countryside for that newspaper. You must be engaged to do so without an escort for the young lady! Unless you've taken up with a fallen woman?" She lifted an eyebrow at that.
"Fallen woman!" Betsy spluttered as she struggled to push herself into a sitting position. Her ribs gave another painful throb, so she settled for rising to her elbows. "Now just a second here! I'm one of the most highly-paid reporters in the USE!"
"Only because the Kindred family pays by inch of copy," Denis muttered.
"Not the point here!" Betsy shook her finger at him the way that she'd seen Mirari do. "I'm a woman of independent means! I don't need a husband to escort me!"
Grandmamma turned to Denis, her face as dark as a thundercloud. "You will not bring scandal to the Sesma family name, Denis." She crossed her arms under her chest. "Before this visit is over, you will do the honorable thing!" With that, she strode from the room. She paused at the door and pointed to the shattered tea things. "And pick that up!"
Silence descended in the wake of her leaving. Betsy plopped back on her pillow and blew her bangs out of her face. Then she sneezed. Twice. "Well, that went well."
"Okay," Betsy said. "Start talking, and now. Just what did you and Mirari tell your 'dear' grandmamma?"
Denis sighed and stared out toward the lake. There was a stiff breeze coming across the water but he was absolutely certain that the chill running through him had nothing to do with the wind.
It had been a day and half since Betsy had woken up. This was the first time that his grandmother had allowed her to do more than huddle in front of the fire, drink tea and eat soup. "Denis, you will have the rest of your lives together. I just want to make certain that they are long lives, so we have to make sure Elizabeth stays healthy." She had told him, in a tone that said she would not brook any arguments on the matter.
At lunch Betsy had insisted that she felt fine and wanted to go for a walk with Denis. The staring contest between her and Denis's grandmother had lasted for a full minute before the older woman had nodded.
"It's kind of scary how alike you two are," Denis had said as they walked outside. Betsy scoffed at that. Her pony tail seemed to bob and weave like a prize fighter looking for an opening as she turned her nose in the air.
"It wasn't me that started the rumor," said Denis. He motioned her to follow him to a fallen log near the edge of the water. "This sort of thing was why I didn't want to come back."
"So who started it? Rob Reiner?" she demanded.
If there was one thing that Denis had learned, it was there were times it was best to ignore Betsy's movie references, some of which he understood, but many he was still at a total loss with. This was one of those moments.
"Ever since Master Ribalta died, the family has, shall we say, been worried about my . . . future. That settled down a bit when I got the job on the newspaper. But when I decided not to apprentice with a different artist, Grandmamma Juliana and the rest decided that what I needed was a—"
" . . . a wife to keep you on the straight and narrow," she groaned.
That pretty much summed up the situation. "I was ready to tell my relatives what to do with their 'suggestions.' That was when Mirari stepped in. She didn't want me to cut myself off from the family."
Betsy reached over and patted his hand. "It's never good to be feuding with your kin, no matter how irritated they make you," she said with a melancholy air. "You never know when they'll be gone."
Denis knew Betsy was thinking of her father and how quickly he had taken ill and died.
"Anyway," Betsy shook off her sadness. "Where did they get this other idea that we're engaged?"
"Indirectly from Mirari." Denis grimaced. "She's been writing to our various relatives, including Grandmamma Juliana, ever since she came to Grantville. She never came out and said that we were . . . interested in each other."
"But she let your grandmother think what she wanted." Betsy smacked her forehead with one hand. "This is really sounding like one of those Doris Day and Rock Hudson romantic comedies. That was why you seemed worried when Mirari wanted me to come with you."
Denis picked up a round flat rock and sent it skimming out over the water. The stone bounced three times and then sank out of sight.
"I will have to inform Grandmamma that we are not getting married and that this was a massive misunderstanding. That should bring me full circle: Right back to being estranged from the family," mused Denis. "Of course, with a few of them that might actually be a blessing in disguise."
"I don't want to come between you and your family." Betsy leaped to her feet and began to pace back and forth, her face lost in deep thought. "There has to be a way out of this mess and still leave your relationship with your family intact. Maybe we could have a nice, long engagement? We could just never get around to marrying?"
"I don't think we could stall a wedding that long." Denis shook his head. "But if we go along with them, we'll be in front of a holy man before we leave."
"Maybe we could stage an argument where I break up with you; I could find you in the arms of another woman, that sort of thing; you know very, dramatic"
"Then how do we explain to them that we plan to continue our working relationship? Besides, it would take a miracle of epic proportions for me to quickly find someone I'm not related to around here who might be interested in me. I'm just not that gifted with the fairer sex."
Betsy face ran red to match her hair. "Denis Sesma! Any girl should count themselves lucky to have you interested in them!" She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You are a prime catch, remember that!"
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Betsy and Denis both looked up and saw a familiar figure approaching them from the woods.
"Captain Pohl?" they wondered simultaneously.
"This is a surprise!" Betsy added. They'd met the captain on a trip to France for a story just before hostilities between their two countries erupted. As the USE was now at war with a French-led coalition, Betsy hadn't expected to see Captain Pohl again.
"For me, as well," Captain Marcus Pohl said. "I thought the two of you were back in Grantville."
"Ordinarily, yes. But Denis is from this area. We came for a visit and to stop . . . Ohmygosh!" Betsy's eyes grew round. "That poet that your grandmother was patronizing! Between the carriage accident and your family deciding that 'it's a nice day for a white wedding', we completely forgot about him!"
"Why would you wear white to a wedding?" Captain Pohl scratched his head.
"It's an American custom," Denis said. To Betsy he said: "It's patronage, not patronizing. There is a difference. One is money the other is an insult."
"Whatever!" Betsy waved him away as she turned to Captain Pohl. "This whole marriage thing is a complicated and somewhat bizarre misunderstanding." She quickly explained to Captain Pohl how they came to visit Denis's family, the carriage accident and the ensuing mix-up.
"You being right in the middle of something complicated and bizarre does not surprise me in the slightest," said Pohl as he plucked at his goatee. "However, I may be able to help you."
"How?" Denis asked.
"How much do you know about this poet?" the soldier asked.
"Actually, a good deal. I've been able to interrogate my cousins while Grandmamma was distracted with nursing Betsy back to health," Denis said.
"Nursing? Ha! More like torturing," Betsy muttered.
"Aren't they the same thing, sometimes? He goes by the name Jean LaRue de Rhizoy," Denis said. "No one in the family really knows much about him. He simply showed up on Grandmamma's doorstep one day with a letter of introduction from an old family friend—whom, by the way, no one has seen for several years. He spouted off a few poems and Grandmamma Juliana seemed to fall head over heels for him.
"Since then no one has seen a page of this epic poem he is supposed to be composing in her honor. Although he has been overheard spouting off a number of bawdy songs in the local tavern. From what my cousins tell me, he is gaining a reputation in town as a minor rake."
"But you can't get rid of him while he is under the protection of your grandmother" Pohl said. "Unless you decide to kill him. I could arrange for him to simply vanish, if you want."
"No," Denis and Betsy said simultaneously.
"Good. I would have been worried if you had agreed to that plan," Pohl said. "Especially since I think I know of this man."
"What has he done to earn your interest, anyway?" asked Denis. "And it just occurred to me to wonder, where are your dragoons encamped?"
"Most of them aren't even here. They are doing guard duty for a few merchant companies several towns over. Dull, but it pays well." Captain Pohl shrugged. "We may be lending our swords to the war effort in the near future."
"I hope not," Betsy said jokingly. "I would hate for the USE to hand you and your men a whuppin' the way we've been whuppin' up on the rest of France." In their first encounter Pohl tried to pass himself off as a simple soldier, but her reporter's instincts said there was a lot more to the man than he liked to portray.
"I shall keep that in mind," Captain Pohl said in a dry tone.
"Did this de Rhizoy con you out of something?" she asked.
"Not me. Several years ago this man—if he is who I think he is—swindled a good friend of my family—and did it in such a manner that he was ruined. All because my friend wanted to be a patron of the arts.
"Since taking interest in the matter, I have found at least three different occasions where the same thing has happened: this scum passes himself off as a poet, occasionally an artist, and garners patronage from wealthy families. He hangs around as long as he can. And when he is expected to present his promised master work, he vanishes in the night."
"This sounds like your Grandmamma's poeeet buddy," Betsy said, deliberately mispronouncing the word. "Why don't you just speak with Grandma Juliana? She can force Jean to show you some of his work. If we're lucky, she'll forget all about making Denis and me get married."
"I wouldn't count on it, but if she does I may have an answer to that problem as well. Rest assured, Miss Springer, you won't need to worry about having to wear white," Captain Pohl said, arching his eyebrow just slightly.
"I'd never wear white," Betsy said. "My colors would be blush and bashful." She affected a stronger southern accent and hoped she sounded like Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias.
"Is blush a color?" Captain Pohl asked Denis.
Denis shrugged, rolled his eyes and said nothing.
"Denis! I can't believe you would stoop this low!" Grandmamma Juliana glared at the three of them. "I knew that you wanted to avoid getting married, but how could you sully a man's reputation like this? And you Elizabeth, I expected you to keep Denis from running off on a tangent of nonsense such as this."
Betsy and Denis looked at each other in surprise. "She don't know me vewy well, do she?" Betsy muttered in an imitation of Elmer Fudd.
"Grandmamma, Captain Pohl is a well-respected gentleman," Denis said while waving for Betsy to be quiet. "Shouldn't you take his word about . . . this man?"
"And the captain is a friend of yours, so he would probably say anything to aid you in distracting me from the real issue," Grandmamma Juliana said. "I meant what I said before. The two of you will not tarnish the family name! And I'll thank you not to upset Jean by mentioning this to him!"
With that, Denis's grandmother gathered herself to her full height and stormed from the room like one of the USE battleships.
"Well, that went well," Betsy said. "Any ideas now?"
"I suppose the two of you will just have to get married," said Denis and Betsy's companion.
Betsy looked askance at the captain. "Captain Pohl, forgive me for saying this, but are you out of your ever-lovin' mind?"
The captain smiled at her in amusement. "Not at all, my dear Betsy. My backup plan should take care of both of our problems."
That comment was enough to pique Betsy's interest.
"I only brought a few of my men with me, six to be exact. One of them, a Russian fellow named Illya, studied for the ministry. Let us say that things did not work out in that area; he found his true calling with a sword. But he knows enough to be convincing, and no one knows him around here.
"Betsy, since you are a up-timer, you can say that you want your marriage as close as you can to a traditional ceremony in your own faith. Illya will provide that. And then Denis's family will leave the two of you alone, thinking that the two of you are actually married.
"Meanwhile you suggest to Madam Sesma that it would be a wonderful thing if you were to have a special poem composed in honor of your wedding."
"And when de Rhizoy fails to produce one we trap him in his own lies!" Betsy said. "Hoist on his own Picard!"
Both Denis and Captain Pohl winced at Betsy's mispronunciation.
"And if you want to stall the wedding further, you could insist on a dress made of those strange colors you were talking about. That should take a little time," Captain Pohl continued as if he hadn't heard Betsy.
"Maybe not, from what Denis has said about his Great-aunt Serina, I could see her coming up with the material," Betsy said. "But I think I should insist on a bleedin' armadillo red velvet cake!"
"This is insane!" Denis said and threw his hands in the air. "It'll never work."
Pohl laughed and pointed at Betsy. "She's involved, of course it's insane. Besides, it isn't as if you have an alternative plan, short of sneaking off in the middle of the night. Are you two sure you haven't been married for several years and just not noticed?"
"No," snapped Denis
"Of course it's insane," laughed Betsy. "That is exactly why it will work!
You realize that de Rhizoy will know that we are onto him, probably within an hour."
Denis shook his head. "A lot less than that. It wouldn't surprise me if one of my cousins was listening at the door. If by chance someone was, then I am sure they would tell him in hopes of driving him off. Not that I think it would do any good."
Pohl nodded but said nothing.
Denis watched in bemused horror as his Great-aunt Serina wrapped Betsy in yards and yards of pink fabric in preparation for making her wedding clothes. He had no idea where they'd found the material, but it seemed to swallow Betsy whole. The redheaded reporter stood on a stool with her arms straight out, as if afraid that Great-aunt Serina would stick her with a pin at any moment.
"Are you sure you want to wear pink, dear?" Aunt Serina looked up at her in concern. "With your coloring, this shade does nothing for you. And I don't understand why you insisted that we make your dress out of a pair of drapes."
"Just like Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind," Betsy said. The twinkle in her eye told Denis that she was enjoying the play acting. "It's curtains for me, see!"
She sounded just like a gangster in one of her old movies.
This is quickly becoming what the up-timers call a 'train wreck, Denis thought. When it seemed like Aunt Serina was done with the fitting, he cleared his throat. Both women glanced up at him in surprise, as if they hadn't been aware that he was there.
"I could definitely use a drink right now," he said.
"Sounds great to me!" Betsy wriggled out of the pieces of her new dress. "If that's all right with Great-Aunt Serina here." She waved to the venerable old woman.
"You children behave yourselves," Great Aunt Serina said with a smile. "I'll have nothing happening that would disgrace this family on my watch."
As they headed out the door Denis couldn't keep from laughing.
"Are you going to share the joke with the rest of the class?" Betsy asked.
"Considering the tales I heard about Great Aunt Serina when I was growing up, she's the last one who needs to be talking about 'disgracing the family.' "
"That would explain one or two of her jokes," Betsy said. "I'll be glad when this wedding nonsense is behind us. I felt so badly today when your Grandmamma paid that jeweler to make us a couple of rings."
"You are the one who wanted to indulge Grandmamma in this for the sake of getting rid of that swindling poet," Denis said. "I would be happy to just tell her the truth and accept the consequences."
"I know," Betsy nodded. "But it works out better this way. I won't be the cause of you being disowned by your family."
Denis's steps slowed as they neared one of the local taverns. "Oh, do I remember this place! I used to sneak bread and cheese from the kitchen when I was a boy. The matron who ran it was a bit sweet on me."
"So why didn't you ask her to marry you?" Betsy teased.
"Maybe because she's three times my age," Denis said. "When I say she was sweet on me, I mean that I reminded her of her own son."
"You miss being here," Betsy observed.
"Occasionally," Denis replied. "Why?"
"I was just thinking that we needed to make sure that you can come back when we take our leave."
Just then Captain Pohl emerged from the alley between the tavern and the shop next door. His hawk-like gaze zeroed in on Denis and Betsy. "Ah! There you are! How go the wedding plans?"
Both Denis and Betsy jumped at the captain's sudden appearance.
"You are entirely too good at sneaking," Denis said at the same time that Betsy said: "I'm having way too much fun with this! I missed my calling! I should have been a wedding planner."
Captain Pohl and Denis traded horrified looks at the thought.
"Why are you lurking in a dark alley, anyway?" Denis changed the subject.
"Keeping our friend de Rhizoy on his toes," Captain Pohl directed a pointed look up the street.
A block or so away the door to another tavern came open and two men came stumbling out. One was a heavyset fellow with a beard halfway down his chest. The other a tall thin man in his twenties. The two of them were singing a song in what seemed a combination of Italian, French and some eastern dialect that Denis didn't recognize.
Betsy lifted an eyebrow at their antics. "Are they auditioning for the Gong Show? And who are they anyway?"
"The heavy-set man is my associate, Sergeant Dimitri. He is one of the best soldiers I have ever known," said Pohl. "As for the other fellow, that is none other than Jean LaRue de Rhizoy, poet and trickster."
"Good! Now we know who we're aiming for with our metaphoric sucker punch," Betsy muttered as she cracked her knuckles.
"He seems to be having a good time, which is exactly what I instructed Demtri to show him," said Pohl, as he pulled his hat further down on his head to hide his face. "Let's make things interesting."
"Oh good! I like it when things are interesting!" Betsy's grin was positively feral.
"That's God's own truth." Denis rolled his eyes, checked to make sure he knew the nearest exit routes, then linked arms with her and Pohl and the three of them sauntered up the street as if they hadn't a care in the world. As they passed Dimitri and de Rhizoy, Betsy stumbled into the two of them with feigned ill-grace.
Pohl took an exaggerated look at his sergeant, allowing his face to be seen for the first time as he did so. "Dimitri, is that you?"
Dimitri's eyes narrowed in a shrewd expression that he promptly hid behind a guileless look. "Captain Pohl? I didn't expect to see you here!"
At the mention of the captain's name, de Rhizoy's head shot up. He directed an uneasy look at Captain Pohl.
"I hadn't planned on visiting the taverns today, but then I ran into my dear friend Denis Sesma and his lady Betsy Springer. Betsy is an up-timer. They're in town so that they can marry in the presence of Denis's family. When she promised to tell me tales of the future that she is from, I couldn't resist."
At the mention of Denis's family name, Jean LaRue de Rhizoy looked even more uncomfortable. He turned as if to slip away, when Dimitri grasped his shoulder.
"What a coincidence!" Dimitri slapped de Rhizoy in a friendly gesture that caused the poet to stumble. "My new friend Jean here is a poet in the employ of the Sesma family."
"He is?" Betsy clapped her hands in excitement, her voice sounding as if she didn't have two brain cells in her head and her eyes sparkled in a way that told Denis that she was enjoying every minute of their act. "Please Mr. LaRue, would you recite one of your poems for us?"
De Rhizoy shifted from one foot to another and looked away. "I'm afraid I couldn't do my work justice on such short notice. I would need a little time to prepare."
"How very unfortunate," Captain Pohl said. "I would very much like to hear your work."
"I know!" Betsy said, holding her index finger up the way Charlie Chaplain would if struck by sudden inspiration. "Captain Pohl, why don't you come to the wedding? That way when Mr. LaRue recites the poem that he's writing for the occasion, you can be there!"
De Rhizoy's head whipped around as if he'd been struck. He stared at Betsy, eyes widening and mouth opening and closing as if he were a caught fish. Denis felt torn between pity and laughter.
"I beg your . . . that is . . . " The poet stammered and trailed off.
"That is what you do for Grandmamma Sesma, isn't it?" Betsy asked the poet innocently. "Write commemorative poems? I can't think of anything that will be more memorable than this wedding."
Denis had to turn away to fight down his laughter. Between Betsy's wide-eyed innocent expression, Pohl's vaguely threatening presence and the grey-purple hue that de Rhizoy's face seemed to be turning, Denis felt like he was enjoying his visit home for the first time.
"I . . . Yes," de Rhizoy trailed off. "In fact, I was just about to retire to my quarters to continue my work." He sketched a short bow to them all. Then he backed away. Once he'd walked four storefronts distance, he broke into a run.
Pohl watched de Rhizoy's retreat like a hawk. "Follow him," he instructed the sergeant. "And make sure that he does not feel the urge to suddenly find inspiration in another town."
"Twelve weeks," muttered Denis as he poured himself a cup of wine. He wished there were something stronger available. But the small room that had been put at the disposal of "the groom" had not much else beyond the wine and some bread and cheese. There would, of course be a rather large wedding feast waiting after the ceremony. His cousin Carlos, who was acting as his best man, had to smuggle that little bit of nourishment in to him.
"What about twelve weeks?" asked Captain Pohl as he walked in the room with an empty goblet. "And pour me one of those." He placed his drinking vessel on the table next to the wine.
The sudden appearance of the mercenary shocked Denis so much that he felt that if he had been close to a window he would have jumped out of it.
"We arrived here twelve weeks ago in the middle of a storm. Had you told me then that I would be standing here, ready to get married—even for pretend—I would have laughed." Denis massaged his temples. "Between posting the banns and all the preparations, I have no idea if we managed to keep the news secret from Betsy's mother and the rest of our friends in Grantville. I'm certain that Grandmamma wrote to Mirari with the particulars."
He tilted his head as he regarded the captain. "By the way, where have you been? I haven't seen you since we confronted de Rhizoy in the street."
"Laying low," Captain Pohl said. "We spooked de Rhizoy just enough that if he didn't know he was being watched, he would have run like frightened a doe during a stag hunt. My men tell me that he has been borrowing money about town. I would not be surprised if some of the ladies in your family find that their personal jewelry has suddenly gone missing."
"Perhaps we should apprehend him now?" Denis asked hopefully.
"Not yet," Pohl shook his head. "I would like to give de Rhizoy just a bit more rope to hang himself with. Besides—" Here the corner of the Captain's mouth turned up. "—I would not be the one to cause Betsy to miss out on her grand performance."
Just then the prelude music started, signaling to Denis that it was time.
"You don't know Betsy like I do," Denis shook his head as he turned. "Every day for her is a grand performance."
Betsy looked radiant.
Denis always thought she was pretty, from their first meeting when she burst into the offices of the Grantville Times screaming at Mr. Kindred angrily because he changed her copy.
But standing next to her in the chapel with his kin looking on, Denis realized just how pretty Betsy was. He really couldn't understand why he had never really noticed it before.
In spite of the fact that he knew that the ceremony was not real, he nevertheless found himself wiping sweaty palms on his trousers.
Although he'd never entertained thoughts of being married, he was certain that if he had, it wouldn't have been with a redhead in pink standing next to him like one of Mirari's fluffy desert confections.
Nor would his Great-aunt Serina be standing there as a matron of honor in her own version of the pink monstrosity, wailing as if at a funeral, to say nothing of his Grandmamma Juliana standing off to one side, her face unemotional and stoic. To distract himself, Denis side-eyed Betsy again. Which was when he realized that she was wearing her diamond earrings, the same ones she had used in France to pass herself off as an art buyer when they busted the art forgery ring.
"I thought you never got those back," he whispered to her out of the corner of his mouth.
"Captain Pohl just returned them," Betsy muttered back.
"Shhhh!"Great-aunt Serina hushed them, which caused the faux pastor to bestow a glare on the entire wedding party. The pastor was a wide man, even in his vestments Denis could almost envision him swinging a sword on the Russian steppes. Denis wondered if anyone was fooled by this particular bit of deception.
"Have you the rings?"
Denis glanced over at his cousin, who with a swooping gesture brought forth the two rings. Denis took one, looked at Betsy, and then slipped it onto her ring finger. She followed suit and placed an identical one on his hand.
"It fits," she sounded shocked.
"Madame," the pastor paused the ceremony to direct a stern glare at Betsy. "You have the rest of your life to speak with your intended. Would you mind not jabbering on at this moment so that I can finish the ceremony and make him your husband?"
Behind him, Denis could hear his cousins titter and Grandmamma shush them all.
"Sorry," Betsy whispered.
"I'm sorry," Denis added.
"You'll both be sorry if you don't let him finish," Grandmamma Juliana chided.
The pastor glared at them, completed the liturgy, and snapped his Bible closed.
"Fine! You're married! You may kiss your bride, sir."
Betsy and Denis looked at each other in surprise. "I didn't think about kissing," Betsy whispered to him. Denis reached in, wrapping his arms around Betsy and drew her closer. Their faces were only an inch apart when a boom echoed through the chapel. The two of them jumped apart as if caught misbehaving.
Denis's grandmother and Great-aunt Serina let out identical huffs of exasperation. "What now?"
Captain Pohl entered the back of the chapel along with one of his soldiers. The captain carried a staff in one hand. The dragoon was pulling Jean LaRue de Rhizoy along by the scruff of the neck.
"I'm sorry to have to stop the ceremony, but I've caught a thief!" Pohl cried, then slammed the staff down against the stone floor, producing another attention-catching boom.
Both Denis and Betsy visibly relaxed.
"What is going on! How dare you insult this family by interrupting my great-nephew's wedding!" Aunt Serina threw her hands in the air in an overwrought manner.
Betsy watched in fascination. "I could take lessons in stealing the show from her," she whispered to Denis.
Pohl tilted his head and stared down at Aunt Serina. "I dare because it was necessary, madam. I caught him trying to ride away through your compound gates with his saddlebags filled with silver candlesticks and jewels."
As if on cue, Sergeant Dimitri entered the room with a set of saddlebags. He reached into one and produced a silver goblet.
Great-aunt Serina ran to Dimitri. She pulled the bag away from him forcibly and began pulling contents out "That silver candlestick belonged to Cousin Yoshia! And these are Maria's earrings! How did he get hold of all this? My emerald ring! No wonder I couldn't find it this morning!" As she cataloged the contents of the bags at the top of her lungs, a few more women in the chapel cried out in anger over finding prized possessions among the missing items.
Juliana Anihoa Maria Constance Sesma strode over to Jean LaRue de Rhizoy. Under her imposing glare, the faux poet cringed as if expecting her to slap him. Instead she turned to Captain Pohl. "I assume you have something suitably grim in mind for this man's punishment, Marcus?"
"I can think of a few things," Captain Pohl said.
"Good! I'll leave him to you." With a final glare at de Rhizoy, she strode from the chapel.
Betsy watched Grandmamma go with wide eyes. "That is a classy lady. I would have spit in his face, at least. But where is she going?"
"She's got to see to the festivities," Great-aunt Serina said as she gathered up the treasures into the saddlebag to distribute back to their owners. "Who has time to dwell on feeling foolish when our Denis is finally married?"
Still clucking over the saddlebags, Great-aunt Serina also left the chapel, trailed by various family members intent on retrieving their lost possessions. At last, only Betsy, Denis, Captain Pohl and Dimitri were left.
"Wait just a minute!" Denis narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Captain Pohl. "How does she know your first name?"
"Oh, that," said Captain Pohl. "It happens that my mother was her god-daughter. I didn't realize that you were related to this Sesma family the first time we met."
Betsy traded astonished looks with Denis. "Small world," she said.
"Indeed," Captain Pohl said. "At any rate, your Grandmamma knew about Jean LaRue de Rhizoy and when the little scum showed up here she wrote to me. You know the rest."
"Then Grandmamma Juliana was never besotted with the poet?"
Betsy began to laugh, then ran her finger along the side of her nose. "It was all a con game, straight out of The Sting. She lured us here and the two of you used us to set de Rhizoy up."
"Indeed," said Captain Pohl. "I wish I could have told you, but then your performances in front of him might not have been so convincing."
"I'll have you know, sir," proclaimed Betsy. "My performance would have been worthy of an Academy Award!"
Betsy stared longingly down at the third finger of her left hand for a moment, running her finger across the ring that Denis had so gently slid on there.
"It looks good there," Denis said softly.
She pulled off the ring and handed it back to Denis. "Maybe you should save this for the girl who you really do decide to marry."
"By the way," asked Dimitri. "Where did you find such a convincing pastor at the last minute?"
Denis, Betsy and Captain Pohl all froze in place.
"What do you mean, Dimitri?" Captain Pohl asked slowly. "I didn't get a look at the pastor; wasn't it Illya?"
"No. I just spotted him through the window; something must have held him up. When I came in earlier and he wasn't at the front of the chapel, I figured you got someone else to do the job."
Denis and Betsy looked at each other with wide eyes.
"You don't suppose . . . " Betsy trailed off with a gulp.
"Betsy . . . " Denis said slowly. "I think that might have been a real man of God. How did Grandmamma Juliana know what we were planning?"
"Well, I did see her in the hallway, after the captain and I were discussing the whole thing," said a rather sheepish looking Dimitri. "I suppose she could have overheard our plans."
"Then that was a real ceremony," Betsy said slowly. "That means that Denis . . . and I . . . are . . . "
"Really married!" laughed Captain Pohl. "Looks like your Grandmamma had one more trick to play on us all. And it's about time! The world had better look out. Ladies and gentlemen; I give you Mr. and Mrs. Denis Sesma."
Denis and Betsy looked at each other, then at Pohl and Dimitri.
"You could always get an annulment," pointed out the sergeant. "Of course, you should give a little warning as I don't want to be in the general neighborhood when you grandmother finds out."
There was no noise in the room for nearly a minute, before Betsy finally spoke. "I don't want an annulment."
Denis cocked his head at her. "Are you sure?"
"Damn right I am. I've never been surer of anything in my life," she snapped. "But I'm keeping my maiden name."
Elizabeth "Betsy" Springer's new husband shrugged and said, "Yes, dear."
Grantville Gazette # 44, Nov 2012
A Capital Idea
I'm From the Government, and I'm Here to Help
The Maltese Crux
The River of His Memory
Airship Propulsion, Part Four: The Aereon
Ein Feste Burg, Episode Five
Euterpe, Episode 5
Second Chance Bird, Episode Twelve
Paper Baby


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Now that we can control 1 train with arduino, it's time to add a second one.
We made a track where the two trains share a part of the track, but also each have an individual part of the track. In this case we can let a train wait on his own track, while the other train uses the shared part of the track.


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The Politics of Polarization: Taiwan in Comparative Perspective
On October 17-18, 2014, the Taiwan Democracy Project will put on our annual conference on Taiwan's democracy. This year's theme is the politics of polarization. The conference is free and open to the public; you are encouraged to register at the official event page, here. The formal announcement is below.
Over the past year and more, Taiwan's political elite has been deadlocked over the question of deepening economic relations with the People's Republic of China. This controversial issue has led to a standoff between the executive and legislative branches, sparked a frenzy of social activism and a student occupation of the legislature, and contributed to President Ma Ying-jeou's deep unpopularity.
On October 17-18, the Taiwan Democracy Project at CDDRL, with the generous support of the Taipei Economic and Culture Office, will host its annual conference at Stanford University to examine the politics of polarization in Taiwan.
This conference will bring together specialists from Taiwan, the U.S., and elsewhere in Asia to examine the sources and implications of this political polarization in comparative perspective. It will include a special case study of the Trade in Services Agreement with China that triggered this past year's protests, as well as a more general overview of the politics of trade liberalization in Taiwan, prospects for Taiwan's integration into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other regional trade agreements, and a consideration of the implications for Taiwan's long-term democratic future.
Conference speakers will include: Chung-shu Wu, the president of the Chung-hwa Institute of Economic Research (CIER) in Taipei; Steve Chan of the University of Colorado; Roselyn Hsueh of Temple University; Yun-han Chu, the president of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation; and Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
Panels will examine the following questions:
1. What are the sources and implications of political polarization in Taiwan, and how have these changed in recent years?
2. How does Taiwan's recent experience compare to political polarization in other countries in Asia (e.g. South Korea, Thailand) and elsewhere (the US)?
3. To what extent does the latest political deadlock in Taiwan reflect concern over the specific issue of trade with the People's Republic of China, versus a deeper, systemic set of problems with Taiwan's democracy?
4. How are globalization and trade liberalization reshaping Taiwan's domestic political economy, and what are the prospects for forging a stronger pro-trade coalition in Taiwan that transcends the current partisan divide?
The conference will take place October 17-18 in the Bechtel Conference Room in Encina Hall at Stanford University. It is free and open to the public. The full conference agenda is available here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Christchurch bridge brawl leaves person in hospital
Erin Speedy
Sophie Bateman
An eight-person brawl on a bridge in central Christchurch has left one person in hospital. Photo credit: File
An eight-person brawl on a bridge in central Christchurch has left one person in hospital with critical injuries.
Police were called to the scene on the corner of Oxford Terrace and Hereford Street at about 3:30am. There were reports that about eight men were involved in the fight.
The bridge is on the corner of Oxford Terrace and Hereford Street.
Three people were arrested and one person was hospitalised. Their injuries were initially described as moderate by police, but a St Johns spokesperson has since confirmed they are in a critical condition.
Newshub understands the scene is currently taped off to the public.


text:
namespace konstructs {

    using namespace Eigen;

    struct BlockData {
        int blocks[256][6];
        char is_plant[256];
        char is_obstacle[256];
        char is_transparent[256];
    };

    class Block {
    public:
        Block(const Vector3i _position, const char _type);
        Vector3i position;
        char type;
    };
};

#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Did You Miss Out On These October Game Launches?
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Post Name : Did You Miss Out On These October Game Launches?


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A look at the latest in local food, dining and drinking news
A new taproom and eatery to open on K Street soon
Sacramento's beer boom will get a new addition later this month as Brü Co. Taproom, a new bar-slash-eatery co-owned by husband-and-wife teams Justin and Jennifer MacClanahan and Ryan and Sandy Melching, will open near the corner of 9th and K streets, two blocks east of the Golden 1 Center. Justin says the team plans to hold their soft opening within the next two weeks, with plans for a grand opening during the first week of July. The 1,900-square-foot space is on the ground floor of the Forum Building and above the popular basement-level Coin-Op Game Room. Brü Co. will have more than 20 beers and ciders on tap, featuring local breweries like Elk Grove's Flatland, Rancho Cordova's Claimstake and El Dorado Hills'...
Posted at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments
Taste: The region's latest food, drink & restaurant news for June 7
In today's dining news from around the region, a new bakery in Carmichael focuses on Armenian dishes; Esquire Grill is set to host a summer barbecue series on its patio; and beef and beer enthusiasts have a new haven in Urban Roots Brewing and Smokehouse. Plus, a recently launched desserterie offers sweet Swedish pastries, while Bacon & Butter gets ready to open a second location in East Sacramento. CREAM Zayn Silmi, founder of the blog "The People of Sacramento," opened a new outpost of the popular ice cream franchise CREAM—which stands for Cookies Rule Everything Around Me—in the Howe 'Bout Arden plaza in April. At CREAM, patrons can customize their ice cream sandwiches by choosing a base—brownie, croissant...
A sushi eatery with Hawaiian flair to take over the former Amaro location
Say aloha to the newest kid on the R Street block. Daniel Takata and his wife Jennifer Joo, who own the midtown location of the Japanese chain I Love Teriyaki, are set to open a casual sushi-teriyaki eatery with Hawaiian influences in the space that formerly housed Amaro Bistro & Bar, which closed in January. While the menu at the new Takata-Ya will be similar to the lineup at the duo's other establishment—entrées will include stir-fried noodle dishes, chicken teriyaki and sushi rolls—Takata, who was raised in Hawaii, plans to introduce an isle-style weekend breakfast at the forthcoming restaurant featuring items like loco moco (a hamburger patty served over rice and topped with gravy and a fried egg), and other rice and egg dishes with Spam or...
Sacramento Donut Festival to sweeten the capital city for a second year
Get ready for a big sugar rush as the second annual Sacramento Donut Festival hits the sweet spot at the California Automobile Museum on Sept. 9, with over a dozen local doughnut shops and bakeries showcasing their creative takes on the fried dessert. For its inaugural outing in 2017—which sold out months in advance—the festival welcomed over 700 doughnut nuts and served up almost 14,000 fried orbs from places like Sacramento's Milk Money and Sweet Dozen, and Placerville's Totem Coffee Co. "The doughnut community here is really big, and I just wanted to do something positive for it," says event founder Dave Shults During the festival, attendees will get to sample a variety of the titular treats like the Cap'n Crunch cereal-topped...
Hoppy Brewing Company to open two new locations
UPDATE: Hoppy's Railyard Kitchen & Hopgarden will soft-open on Oct. 11 at 5 p.m. in Old Sacramento. During this initial stage—when the restaurant and taproom will be open for dinner on Wednesdays from 5-9 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays from 5-10 p.m, and Sundays from 5-9 p.m. (the restaurant will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays)—Hoppy's Railyard will offer select menu items, including house-made fries, avocado deviled eggs with fried shallots and Hungarian smoked paprika, and fried chicken wings, which can be ordered tossed in a sauces like hot Buffalo or Caribbean jerk (vegetarians can order a cauliflower version). The bar, featuring 24 taps, is fully stocked with signature Hoppy brews like the Hoppy Face amber ale and Total Eclipse black ale, as...
« Previous 1 ··· 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next »
Food Literacy Center CEO Amber Stott
Cider House owner to open a new smokehouse and bar
KoJa Kitchen's futuristic underground bar to open downtown
December's Taste roundup: Curry Up Now readies to spice things up in midtown, and more
Former Saddle Rock space to reopen as Saigon Alley
Popular SF cookie delivery company opens its first shop in Woodland
Three festive pop-up bars to drink in the holiday season
November's Taste roundup: Golden 1 Center rolls out new eats, a vegan cafe readies to open, and more
Darling Aviary takes roost downtown
Six autumnal drinks you're sure to fall for
LowBrau's SausageFest returns to midtown for its second year


To make a patterned outfit really stand out, pair it with a neutral necklace. A neutral piece in a complimentary tone will anchor your ensemble and make you look more coordinated. Try choosing a piece that offsets your outfit in some way. For example, if you're wearing a vintage floral top, a modern neutral necklace can give your look some balance.


Ryanair said Friday it will appeal the decision of the TAR Lazio, a regional court in Rome, to uphold flight cuts at Rome Ciampino (ATWOnline, Aug. 9). The LCC is accusing the Italian government of "unlawfully restricting the availability of low fares in the Rome market, a move that provides further illegal protection of Alitalia and restricts consumer choice."
"Other News - 10/14/2007" is part of ATW Plus, our online premium membership. Subscribing will provide you access to exclusive news, carefully researched airline financial, fleet and traffic data, plus the option to receive our popular, award-winning print magazine. To learn more, click here. If viewing via ATW Mobile, please login and click "Read web article" to view fully. Questions? ATWPlus@penton.com.


PHOENIX — Arizona Game and Fish Department will temporarily shut down the water system servicing some of the upper Oak Creek users on Wednesday (Nov. 7) for repairs to the Sterling Spring Fish Hatchery delivery system.
The water system shutdown will impact the Pine Flats Subdivision, Manresa Resort, Pine Flat Campground and the public water faucet along state Route 89A.
The water service is expected to be operational Wednesday evening. The repairs are to prepare for an anticipated renovation at Sterling Springs Fish Hatchery this winter.
For questions regarding this project call, David Fox, Sterling Springs Fish Hatchery manager, at (928) 282-3643.


text:
InternetStar Packages
Home/Latest News/Hardware/Report: Snapchat Preparing For March IPO
Report: Snapchat Preparing For March IPO
Snapchat's recent name change to Snap Inc. seems to signal more than the app's push into hardware. Snap is exploring an initial public offering that could value the company at $25 billion or more and could happen as soon as early next year, according to a new report.
Snap could start selling shares as early as late March, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal. Citing unnamed sources, the report said Snap hasn't yet hired any banks as it works on its public filing, called an S-1. The company was recently valued by investors at about $18 billion when it most recently raised funding in May. If the IPO occurs, Snap would be the largest company to go public on a U.S. exchange since 2014. A Snapchat spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Snap has told investors it expects revenue of between $250 million and $350 million this year, and up to $1 billion in 2017; and the company is ahead of its upper 2016 forecast, according to the report. (Forecasting firm eMarketer estimates the company will generate $366.7 million in revenue this year and nearly $1 billion in 2017.) Snapchat has raised about $2.4 billion in private funding to date.
The company sells full-screen, vertical video ads in its "Discover" and "Stories" sections, which play with sound after users click them. Snapchat's Discover section, which features articles and video from more than a dozen publishers such as CNN, iHeart Radio and Cosmopolitan, generates nearly half of the company's total U.S. ad revenue, according to eMarketer. Snapchat also sells geofilters and lenses.
By keeran| 2017-02-27T08:25:49+00:00	November 30th, 2016|Hardware, Latest News|Comments Off on Report: Snapchat Preparing For March IPO
About the Author: keeran
Salesforce to offer more customized AI with myEinstein
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Telkom unveils zero-rate data streaming services
iPhone 8: What We Know
Mobile technology can promote productivity and profitability
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The compressor blade is described by pre-twisted, variable thickness, double curvature shallow shell with geometrical nonlinearity. The R-function method and the Rayleigh- Ritz approach are used collectively to calculate eigenmodes of linear vibrations. Nonlinear vibrations of shell are approximated by using these eigenmodes. The obtained finite degrees-of-freedom system has three internal resonances. The free nonlinear vibrations are studied by nonlinear modes.
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +38 057 3494783; Fax: +38 0572 944635.
Significant dynamics loads act on the blades of turbo machine during their operation. Therefore, blades can perform vibrations with amplitudes commensurable with their thickness. Such blade deformations are described by geometrical nonlinear theory. Many efforts have been done to study blade vibrations. Venkatsan, Nagaraj (1982) studied nonlinear vibrations of rotating blades. They came to the conclusions, that the frequency response can be hard or soft. The vibrations of turbine blades under the action of longitudinal periodic force have been considered by Chen, Peng (1995). Using geometrically nonlinear theory and finite element method, the blade nonlinear model is obtained. The vibrations of shallow anisotropic blades are treated by Abe et al. (2000). They used the Rayleigh-Ritz method to analyze linear vibrations. Nonlinear vibrations are expanded into two linear modes. The finite degrees-of- freedom model is obtained by the Galerkin procedure. Liew, Lim (1996) used energetic approach to study linear vibrations of shallow shells with different Gaussian curvature and rectangular base. Nonlinear vibrations of hydraulic turbine blades, which are modeled by pre-twisted shell with variable thickness and ring sector-shaped base, are treated by Hu, Tsuiji (1999), Sakiyama et al. (2002). The dependence of eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes on the pre-twisted angle and thickness are investigated. The papers of Hoa (1981) and Ross (1975) are devoted to linear vibrations analysis of blades, which are modeled by shells. The results of finite element analysis of turbo machine blades are compared with the experimental data of Mindle and Torvik (1987). Didkovskii (1974) analyzed the parametric vibrations of turbo machine blades in gas flow. The sufficient conditions of dynamical stability are obtained. Nabi and Ganesan (1996) compared the beam and plate models of turbo machine blades. They came to the conclusion that the plate models are better. Pisarenko, Vorob'ev (2000) concluded that the theory of pre-twisted beams gives the adequate eigenfrequencies of blade vibrations. However, the more accurate models should be used for detailed stresses analysis. Choi, Chou (2001) analyze the blade vibrations with account of shear. The influence of shroud on vibrations is considered. Pak et al. (1992) modeled the turbo machine blades by thin elastic beams. Flexural, torsion and flexural-torsion vibrations are analyzed in detail. Breslavsky et al. (2011) studied nonlinear multi-mode vibrations of hydraulic turbine blade, both in vacuo and immersed in the fluid. The blade is modeled by shallow shell with ring sector base.
The nonlinear vibrations of compressor blades are treated in this paper. Nonlinear dynamics are expanded into eigenmodes of vibrations. The finite degrees-of-freedom model is obtained. Shaw-Pierre nonlinear normal modes are used to study the vibrations accounting internal resonances.
The vibrations of the compressor blades (Figure 1) are considered. The blades are modeled by pre-twisted shallow shell with trapezoidal base and variable thickness. The sketch of the shell base is presented in Figure 2. The shell is clamped on one side and it is free on others three sides. The coordinate plane ( ) passes through the chord of the root section and the central line of the blade. Moreover, the axis coincides with the central line of the blade. The geometry of the shell middle surface is complex, therefore, the shell is not considered in principal coordinates.
where is the maximal thickness of the root section; is the maximal thickness of the peripheral edge.
where , are displacements of the middle surface points in x, y, z directions, respectively.
where , are coefficients of the first and the second quadratic form of the middle surface.
where is the shell material density.
In this section the linear vibrations of the shell are considered and nonlinear terms are not taken into account in the expressions (3). The Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to determine eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes of shell, so only the kinematic boundary conditions are taken into account. The boundary conditions on the shell free edges are natural. Therefore, they are not taken into account in linear analysis.
The function can be derived for arbitrary domains with analytical boundaries. The methods for these functions construction are considered by Rvachev, Sheiko (1995).
The steps of the function construction are shown in Figure 3.
where describes the trapezoidal base of the shallow shell.
Using the kinetic and potential energy, the Lagrange equations with respect to the generalized coordinates are derived.
where , , are unknown coefficients. As the system (13) is presented with respect to the modal coordinates, the coefficients of summands (17) with degrees lower than two are equal to zero (Jiang et al. 2005). The solutions (17) are substituted into (16) and the summands with are equated. As a result, the set of the systems of linear algebraic equations is obtained. The first system is linear with respect to the coefficients of the second degrees (i.e. the summands with ) and the second system is linear with respect to the coefficients of the third degrees (i.e. summands with ). The coefficients of the series (17) are obtained by solving sequentially these systems of linear algebraic equations. Thus, the nonlinear mode (15) can be obtained.
Substituting the expressions (19) into the equations (18), the system of nonlinear algebraic equations with respect to ; is derived. This system is solved by the continuation technique (Seydel, 1997).
where is the Jacobi matrix.
Following the book (Parker, Chua, 1989), the fundamental matrix of the system (21) is calculated to analyze stability numerically. This matrix is a solution of the system (21) with initial conditions in the form of the identity matrix . The fundamental matrix at (where is vibrations period) is called monodromy matrix (Yakubovich, Starzhinskii, 1975). The conclusions about the stability of periodic motions are made according to the eigenvalues of monodromy matrix.
In order to perform numerical analysis the steel compressor blade is considered with the following parameters (Meerovich, 1961): m, m, m, , m, , , N/m2, , kg/m3.
The calculations of linear vibrations are carried out by the Rayleigh- Ritz method. The results of the eigenfrequency calculations are presented in the first row of Table 1. The experimental and numerical data of the previous research, which are obtained by Meerovich (1961, 1956), are presented in the second and the third row of Table 1.
Figure 4 shows the nodal lines of the first six eigenmodes of the blade vibrations. These results are close to the data from (Meerovich, 1961, 1956). However, the eigenfrequency, which is close to the fourth one, is leaved out in (Meerovich, 1961).
The first five eigenmodes are used in the expansions (9, 10) to obtain the finite degrees-of-freedom model of the blade nonlinear vibrations. Excluding the generalized coordinates , the system with ten degrees-of-freedom in the form of (13) is derived. The nonlinear dynamics of this system is analyzed by nonlinear normal mode, using the results of the previous section. As a result of the nonlinear mode analysis, three-degree-of-freedom system (18) is derived. This system is analyzed by harmonic balance method.
The vibrations with dominant generalized coordinate , which is excited due to the internal resonance (14), are analyzed. In this case, the generalized coordinate is close to zero. The backbone curve of these motions is presented in Figure 5, which shows the vibrations amplitudes versus . The stable and unstable motions are shown on this figure by solid and dotted lines, respectively. The eigenfrequencies of linear vibrations are shown by vertical lines in Figure 5. The free vibrations (Figure 5) are stable until the amplitude of is small. If the frequency is increased, the vibrations amplitude decrease quickly. Note that the vibrations and have the dominant harmonics with the frequency . As follows from Figure 5, the free nonlinear vibrations become unstable at certain values of the vibration amplitudes. The frequencies of nonlinear vibrations (Figure 5) are not close to the frequencies of linear ones. Therefore, the geometrical nonlinearity affects essentially on the shell vibrations.
Now the vibrations with dominant generalized coordinate are analyzed. Such motions are denoted by the number 1 in Figure 6. This figure shows the dependence of the vibrations amplitudes on . All motions, which are shown on Figure 6, are unstable.
Now another type of motions on the nonlinear mode (15) is considered. In this case the vibrations have significant amplitudes; the rest generalized coordinates are not excited. These vibrations are shown in Figure 7. The free nonlinear vibrations become unstable at some value of vibrations amplitudes.
The harmonic balance method is used directly to the system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (13) to obtain the motions, which differ from the vibrations on the considered nonlinear normal mode. As a result, additional type of periodic motions is obtained. The generalized coordinate in this regime is active too. These vibrations are shown by the branch 2 on Figure 6. This branch describes the periodic motions, which split off the motions 1 due to the period doubling bifurcation.
In order to verify the obtained results the direct numerical integration of the system (13) is carried out. The initial conditions are obtained from the solution (19). The results are shown in Figure 5 and Figure 7 by dots. The data of the direct numerical integration are very close to the results of the normal mode analysis. So, the method suggested in the previous section adequately describes the system vibrations.
The backbone curves are shown in Figure 8, where the vibrations amplitudes versus the frequency are plotted. Figure 8 shows the backbone curves of the different vibration modes. The horizontal line shows the thickness of the shell in the point, where the vibrations are determined. The motions with dominant generalized coordinate and with dominant coordinate are shown on Figure 8a and Figure 8b, respectively.
The compressor blade is described by cantilever, pre-twisted, double curved, variable thickness shallow shell with trapezoidal base. At the first phase of the analysis the eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes are determined. The three internal resonances between the third, the fourth and the fifth vibrations eigenfrequencies are observed in the system. The different modes of the compressor blade nonlinear vibrations are described by hard backbone curves. It is shown that the amplitudes of stable vibrations of peripheral edge are commeasurable with the blade thickness in this region.
The free nonlinear vibrations become unstable at certain values of the vibrations amplitudes. Moreover, the frequencies of nonlinear vibrations are not close to the frequencies of linear ones. Therefore, geometrical nonlinearity affects essentially on the shell vibrations.
Abe, A., Kobayashi, Y., and Yamada, G., 2000. Non-linear vibration characteristics of clamped laminated shallow shells. J. Sound Vib. 234, 405-426.
Amabili, M., 2008. Nonlinear vibrations and stability of shells and plates. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Avramov, K.V., 2008. Analysis of forced vibrations by nonlinear modes. Nonlinear Dyn. 53, 117-127.
Avramov, K.V., Tyshkovets, O., Maksymenko-Sheyko, K.V., 2010. Nonlinear dynamics of circular plates with cutouts. R-function method. ASME J. Vib. Acoust. 132, №5, 110-135.
Breslavsky, I., Avramov, K.V., Nonlinear modes of cylindrical panels with complex boundaries. R-function method. Mecc., in press.
Breslavsky, I.D., Strel'nikova, E.A., Avramov, K.V., 2011. Dynamics of shallow shells with geometrical nonlinearity interacting with fluid. Comput. Struct. 89, 496-506.
Chen, L.W., Peng, W.K., 1995. Dynamic stability of rotating blades with geometrical non-linearity. J. Sound Vib. 187, 421-433.
Choi, S.-T., Chou, Y.-T., 2001. Vibration analysis of elastically supported turbomachinery blades by the modified differential quadrature method. J. Sound Vib. 240, 937-953.
Didkovskii, V.N., 1974. Parametric vibrations of turbomachines in a flow. Strength Mater. 8, 9-13.
Goldenveizer, A.L., Lidskii, V.B., Tovstik, P.E., 1979. Free vibrations of thin elastic shells. Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).
Grigoluk, E.I., Kabanov, V.V., 1978. Stability of shells. Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).
Hoa, S.V., 1981. Vibration frequency of a curved blade with weighted edge. J. Sound Vib. 79, 107-119.
Hu, X.X., Tsuiji, T., 1999. Free vibration analysis of curved and twisted cylindrical thin panels. J. Sound Vib. 219, 63-68.
Jiang, D., Pierre, C., Shaw, S.W., 2005. The construction of non-linear modes for systems with internal resonance. Int. J. Non-Linear Mech. 40, 729-746.
Kurpa, L., Pilgun, G., Amabili, M., 2007. Nonlinear vibrations of shallow shells with complex boundary: R- functions methods and experiments. J. Sound Vib. 306, 580-600.
Liew, K.M., Lim, C.W., 1996. Vibration of doubly-curved shallow shells, Acta Mech. 114, 95-119.
Meerovich, I.I., 1956. Vibrations of slightly curved and pre-twisted blades. Trudy CIAM 271. Oborongiz, Moscow (in Russian).
Meerovich, I.I., 1961. Stress distribution in vibrating compressor blades. Oborongiz, Moscow (in Russian).
Mikhlin, Yu.V., Avramov, K.V., Nonlinear normal modes of mechanical systems. Part I: Theory. Appl. Mech. Rev., in press.
Mindle, W.L., Torvik, P.J., 1987. Multiple modes in the vibration of cantilevered shells. J. Sound Vib. 115, 289-301.
Mohamed Nabi, S., Ganesan, N., 1996. Comparison of beam and plate theories for free vibrations of metal matrix composite pre-twisted blades. J. Sound Vib. 189, 149-160.
Pak, C.H., Rand, R.H., Moon, F.C., 1992. Free vibrations of a thin elastica by normal modes. Nonlinear Dyn. 3, 347-364.
Parker T.S., Chua L.O., 1989. Practical numerical algorithms for chaotic systems. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Pisarenko, G.S., Vorob'ev, Yu.S., 2000. Issues of simulation of turbomachine blade vibration. Strength Mater. 32, 487-489.
Ross, C.T.F., 1975. Free vibration of thin shells. J. Sound Vib. 39, 337-344.
Rvachev, V.L., Sheiko, T.I., 1995. R-function in boundary value problem in mechanics. Appl. Mech. Rev. 48, 305-316.
Sakiyama, T., Hu, X.X., Matsuda, H., Morita, C., 2002. Vibration of twisted and curved cylindrical panels with variable thickness. J. Sound Vib. 254, 481-502.
Seydel, R., 1997. Nonlinear computation. Int. J. Bifurc. Chaos 7, 2105-2126.
Shaw, S.W., Pierre, C., 1993. Normal modes for nonlinear vibratory systems. J. Sound Vib. 164, 58-124.
Venkatsan, C., Nagaraj, V.T., 1982. Non-linear flapping vibrations of rotating blades. J. Sound Vib. 84, 549-556.
Yakubovich, V.A., Starzhinskii, V.M., 1975. Linear Differential Equations with Periodic Coefficients, Wiley, New York.
Fig.3. The steps of the construction of the function , which describes the clamped part of the shell boundary. The regions, where the function is positive, are shown by grey color. The black lines show the zero of the function.
Fig.8. The backbone curves of shell vibrations with dominant general coordinates: a. ; b. .


Scientific American throws down some well-deserved starting points for using particular breathing techniques to help make life more manageable, including stress reduction, insomnia prevention, emotion control and improved attention. And they've got the data to back up their findings. Learn more.


About 37% of healthy adults do not have a gag reflex at all according to a study published in the Lancet . If you've ever attended a college fraternity party, you've likely seem this demonstrated first hand. You know, the fraternity brother who is able to drink down an entire beer in a single gulp!
On the other hand, 10-15% of people have a hypersensitive gag reflex which can lead to fear of the dentist, difficulty eating sticky foods and even picking eating and malnourishment in the most severe of cases. One of my sisters has a hypersensitive gag reflex which even caused her difficulties when brushing her teeth while we were growing up.
The good news is that this bothersome reflex can be turned off temporarily using acupressure.
Acupressure is a technique used in alternative medicine very similar to acupuncture. While acupuncture employs needles to stimulate pressure points on the body, acupressure uses gentle to firm finger pressure making it ideal for self treatment where and when necessary.
Developed in Asia over 5,000 years ago, acupressure is dismissed as an irrational and dubious practice by conventional medicine. Yet, if you have ever used it yourself, you have probably experienced how gentle and effective acupressure can be. The techniques can be used over and over again as needed to relieve pain and enhance relaxation. Acupuncture to induce labor works too!
I have personally used acupressure to prevent seasickness for over 20 years whenever I travel or vacation by boat. I've used the same technique to prevent carsickness and airsickness in my children when necessary.
One of the most frequent emails I receive is from parents who have trouble giving their children a daily dose of cod liver oil. Some children have quite a severe gag reflex when they take it. It can leave a big mess on the floor over and over again.
Cod liver oil is arguably the most important food based supplement you can provide your family to boost immunity. It is indispensable for keeping the family off antibiotics when illness (infrequently ) strikes. Resolving the gag reflex that is preventing a child from taking it is very important!
In the video below, I demonstrate exactly how to use acupressure to your advantage to temporarily halt the gag reflex to enable your family to take their fermented cod liver oil with no gagging and no mess.
While there are a number of acupressure points that can assist with shutting down the gag reflex, there is one that by far is the easiest for children (or you!) to perform.
Make a tight fist with your left hand with the thumb inside and hold it for a few seconds.
The picture above shows you exactly what to do.
What if You've Already Started to Gag?
This acupressure technique will even work if your gag reflex has already been stimulated and your child is starting to gag. Just quickly do what I show you below and the gag reflex will magically turn off! In our family's experience, the gag reflex is turned off for about 30 seconds when this acupressure technique is employed.
My husband used this technique this morning which is what gave me the idea for this post. He really enjoys ultra strong tasting homemade kefir that is fermented for several days on the counter.
The kefir is so strong tasting in fact that if you drink it too quickly, you will gag! He drank a little too fast this morning and felt the gag reflex coming on. Using this acupressure technique, saved himself from what promised to be a highly unpleasant experience!
Do you have another acupressure technique that you've tried that temporarily blocks the gag reflex? Please share in the comments section.
This video below demonstrates what to do to temporarily halt the gag reflex. It is particularly effective should you need to swallow some pills or brush your teeth.
You can also hold your hand in this position while in the dental chair to reduce gagging during tooth cleanings.
Why Does Making A Fist Stop Gagging?


With a shorter torso, the Women's Deuter Futura 22L Backpack is designed for smaller frames, and for keeping them cool when warm days are in store. The Aircomfort Sensic Back System is designed for ventilated comfort on the trail, using ergonomic shoulder straps that provide natural adjustment to the width and angle of your shoulders; the hip fins blend seamlessly into the back panel, reducing pesky hot spots and leaving a breezeway between the pack and your back. Padded with breathable mesh and fully adjustable, getting a comfortable fit mid-hike is as easy as pulling on a strap or two.
The Futura 22L holds enough space for day hikes without getting excessive, and you can easily stuff in layers, lunch, and rain gear without batting an eye. Should you encounter stormy weather while you're out, the included rain cover slips over the bag to keep your gear dry, and if you encounter rocky terrain there's a spot for your trekking poles as well. Three stretch pockets on the outside let you add additional items you want to have close-at-hand, and a zippered organizational pocket comes in handy if you ever use the bag for going to class or commuting to work.
here's a side view showing the mesh hammock feature, that really makes the pack feel well-ventilated while it's on.
I was given this product from Backcountry, but this review Is my personal opinion. The Deuter Futura 22L SL backpack is the perfect size for an overnight campout (if you're a light packer), or a larger daypack for day trips or when you need to carry extra/bulky gear. It doesn't feel bulky at ALL, and you can carry whatever you need without feeling like you're absolutely stuffing your pack. I also use it as my gear pack when riding my motorcycle to work on my daily commute, and the waist and chest straps keep it in place. The light frame really helps keep the weight balanced! I live in the desert, so I haven't needed to test the rain cover yet.
It is cut very well for women's shoulders and hips, where you don't notice the shoulder straps whatsoever. I'm short (5'3" longer torso) and it's the first pack I've put on that wasn't too big. That being said, if you're especially TALL, this pack might feel too short for you! The waist belt sits just above my hips in the right place, and there is some leeway in height combined with the shoulder strap adjustment.
Sizing and color (I have the black version) are just as described. The material is abrasion resistant and the pack seems like it is worthy of its lifetime warranty.
An added detail- inside of the pack, there is an instructive illustration on how to request aid (SOS) from an aircraft flying over you. There are plenty of pockets and places to keep everything in place, and the backpack doesn't "spill open" when you open the front half. It does rest "forward" like a larger hiking pack. My 3L bladder (from an older mtb pack I own) fits in the hydration sleeve of the Deuter Futura pack- which is a great bonus. Liter Nalgenes DO fit in the side pockets, and I love the outer front pocket for stuffing a light jacket or sweater in.
I think this Deuter Futura 22L SL Backpack is thoughtfully made and will get tons of multifunctional use.


The online Psychology-BGS degree is identical to the on-campus degree option, and follows the same requirements and academic rigor. All Psychology major courses are offered in the 8-week, minimester format.
Transfer credit evaluation will determine the requirements a student has left to complete the Psychology-BGS degree. Therefore it is important to submit your transcripts as soon as possible for evaluation. To determine how your transfer credit will apply, use our self-service Credit Transfer system. For help on how to use the Credit Transfer system, use this tutorial.


text:
Q: Can a subclass be instantiated from an already instantiated superclass? So I have a super class and I want to instantiate multiple sub classes off of it. The sub classes will probably be multi-threaded.
E.g.:
public class Person() {
    protected variables;
    public/private methods ect.
}

public class Man() extends Person {
    private variables;
    public/private methods;
}

public class Woman() extends Person {
    private variables;
    public/private methods;
}

I want to instantiate Person then extend Man and Woman classes off of it.
Like:
Person A = new Person();
Man B = //some how extends A;
Woman C = //some how extends A;

Or are there other ways of achieving the same goal?

A: You are misunderstanding the difference between a class and an object. A class is the overall definition of how an object will be composed. An object is a specific instance.
So if you create an instance of Person then that's just that a single object instance of the Person class. You can't extend it dynamically to have it as a Man at runtime (there are patterns where you could sort of do this, but not inheritance). If you want a Man you have create an instance of one.
Maybe your real question is different. Maybe you want to use an instance of Person as the template to create new instances of Man and Woman.
Imagine this
class Person {
     private String name;

     public Person(String name) { ... }
}

and a prototype person:
Person kelly = new Person ("Kelly");

Maybe you want to make a copy of the generic "kelly" as a Man and as a Woman - two separate objects, that happen to have this gender-neutral name in common
Man kellyMan = new Man(kelly);
Woman kellyWoman = new Woman(kelly);

What are we seeing above? We're seeing a copy constructor pattern. The contents of the original Person object could be copied into a new Man or Woman object which would then go on to live lives of their own. Example:
class Man : extends Person {
    public Man(Person template) {
        super(template); // pass to superclass for copying
    }
}

class Person {
    ...
    public Person(Person template) {
        this.name = template.name;
        // etc
    }
}

This is not an uncommon way to go about things. Dynamically changing the type of objects at runtime is not common at all... I tried it once. Don't do it!

A: If you want to inherit a class:
public class Child extends Parent { ...

You can have multiple child classes that inherit from the same parent, you just can't inherit from more than one class. Here are some examples of what you can use. Remember, when you write something like Person p = new Person(), you have p which is a reference to a Person object. Try messing around with mixing up object types with different references, and see what happens.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
# Typo Squad
Typo Squad by Stephen Lomer - Book Tour + Giveaway
Typo Squad
Typo Squad Book 1
by Stephen Lomer
Typos are lethal to 98% of the population. Be thankful Typo Squad is on patrol …
Richard Shonnary was a Typo Squad legend. He had a gift for seeking out and destroying errorist cells, and was almost single handedly responsible for bringing about the end of errorism. But one night, a single errant bullet fired by his brother prematurely ended his career.
Convinced to come out of self-imposed retirement after five years, Richard unknowingly gives rise to his greatest enemy — Anton Nym. Will he and his new partner be able to stop this latest threat before deadly typos are unleashed upon an unwitting world?
Return of the Wordmonger
The quest to find Anton Nym and his errorist army are put on hold as Typo
Squad is called away to London to help one of their own confront a
villain from his past — a mysterious foe known only as the Wordmonger.
Joining forces with Her Majesty's Royal Typo Brigade, Typo Squad takes up
residence in Buckingham Palace to try and draw out this dangerous madman.
With the lives of the royal family in their hands, will Typo Squad be up
to the challenge of finding and capturing the Wordmonger? Or will
history repeat itself?
The Typo Alliance
The Typo Squad Book 3
Typo Squad is dealt a terrible blow by Anton Nym and his new errorist
cell, known as the Erristocracy. But when all seems lost, the tide
turns with the rise of the Typo Alliance.
With a new headquarters, a new captain, and the arrival of some truly
unexpected allies, Typo Squad is set on a collision course with the
most dangerous foes they've ever faced.
Will Dick and his team be able to overcome the odds and make the world
safe from typos once and for all? Or will Nym and his inner circle be
victorious in the end?
What Do You Do When You've Got No Genre?
Ah, how I envy romance authors. And sci-fi authors. And horror authors. And fantasy authors. Authors of any genre, really.
I can't even imagine what it must be like to upload your book to amazon and have amazon ask you "What genre is this?" and be able to click the drop-down menu and say definitively, "This one!"
When authors first start out, the first piece of advice that's almost universally proffered is "Pick a winning genre and stick with it." And that makes perfect sense. It's the best way to make money as an author. You can join all sorts of writing support groups that focus on that genre. And it helps you stay in your lane.
Unfortunately for me, when I started out, nobody said diddly to me about genre. I knew the novel I wanted to write. It was Typo Squad. I was going to write it and that was that.
When I finished Typo Squad, I was really happy with it. It was good. It was unique. It said exactly what I'd wanted it to say. So I said, "Here you go, amazon. Sell this for me, would you? There's a nice unfeeling billon-dollar corporation."
And, of course, amazon said to me, "What genre is this?"
And I had no idea.
The overarching theme of it was humor. So was humor the genre? No, not exactly. I mean, it wasn't Totally Tasteless Jokes Volume III or a Dilbert collection. So then I thought, "Well, in addition to being funny, there's also action and adventure in it." But then, wouldn't you know it? Action and Adventure are two different genres.
So I started digging deeper. Typo Squad is set in a world where typos are lethal to 98% of the population. Therefore, it's set in a different reality. Would that make it fantasy then? No, because then it would be lumped in with swords and dragons and whatnot. Would it technically be sci-fi? A parallel universe? No, I think the sci-fi fans would reject it outright.
What was my poor little book?
Ultimately, with "alternate reality typo adventure" not being a genre – yet – I categorized it under humor. Is that hurting the book? Helping it? I have no idea.
But to all you authors just starting out on your journey, I will say this – look at the genre options on amazon and pick one before you start. You will thank me.
Stephen Lomer is the Amazon best-selling author of the hugely popular Typo Squad book series, the short story collections Stargazer Lilies or Nothing at All and Hell's Nerds and Other Tales, and the holiday novella Belle's Christmas Carol. He also has featured stories in the anthologies UnCommon Evil, Once Upon a Time in Gravity City, and The Dystopian States of America.
Stephen wrote the screenplay for, and starred in, the short film Typo Squad: Words Can Hurt You, and is the host of the YouTube series Tell Me About Your Damn Book. He's a hardcore fan of the Houston Texans, despite living in the Hub of the Universe his whole life, and believes Mark Twain was correct about pretty much everything.
Stephen lives on Boston's North Shore with his wife, Teresa.
Twitter * Instagram
Labels: action, adventure, already released, book tour, Books, check it out, giveaway, guest post, Stephen Lomer, Typo Squad


text:
Q: Duplicate expressions: better to make a variable or not? In Java, say I have an expression X that occurs multiple times in a function. Generally speaking, is it more efficient to create a variable and set it equal to X, or not use a variable at all? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each method?
Ex. Say X = 5+9*9-1000. Which function is more efficient, function1 or function2?
public void function1() {
    System.out.println(5+9*9-1000);
    System.out.println(5+9*9-1000);
}

public void function2() {
    int variable = 5+9*9-1000;
    System.out.println(variable);
    System.out.println(variable);
}

A: Neither is more efficient.  Your expression 5+9*9-1000 is a constant expression.  The compiler will evaluate it at compile time and only the result shows up at runtime (-914).
The JLS defines constant expressions in Section 15.28.  Basically it consists of literals, operators, and constant variables.
Often it's more convenient, readable, and expressive to have a constant expression rather than multiplying the values yourself.
int secondsPerDayCalc = 86400;     // not obvious it's number of seconds in a day
int secondsPerDay = 60 * 60 * 24;  // constant expression; more readable

There is no performance penalty, because it's evaluated at compile time.

A: Use a variable in this case or a function in more complicated cases. Yes, there may be an efficiency gain, but the real issue is the maintainability of the code. Repeated strings of characters like this create a source of potential errors if the expressions need to change.

A:
Generally speaking, is it more efficient to create a variable and set it equal to X, or not use a variable at all?

Generally speaking, it is not possible to say.  It may be more efficient.  It may make no difference.  It could conceivably even be less efficient.  It all depends on what the JIT compiler does with the code, and that is dependent on the JVM you are using, the application, and even the input data.
(In your specific example, the expressions are constant expressions, and they will be evaluated at compile time.  That makes the runtime efficiency issue moot.)

What are the advantages/disadvantages of each method?

To my mind, the most important issues are:

*

*Readability.  Splitting an expression into sub-expressions with temporary variables may make your code more readable.  (It depends on the code complexity ... and the expected Java reading skills of the people who need to maintain your code.)

*Side-effects.  Some expressions involve side-effects.  In this case, refactoring to use temporary variables may change the meaning of the computation.
The best general advice is to leave this kind of optimization to the JIT compiler.  But if performance is an critical issue, and you do really need to optimize at this level, then you need to do it scientifically.

*

*Benchmark your code (properly!) to establish a performance baseline.

*Profile it to identify hotspots.

*Modify the code to improve performance at a hotspot.

*Rerun the benchmark to see if you have improved things.

*Go to step two ...

(Optimizing based solely on your intuition, you are liable waste a lot of your time optimizing with minimal measurable performance benefits.  Also bear in mind that hand optimizing for one platform does not necessarily improve performance on others ...)


text:
package com.audit.bl.utils;

import org.apache.log4j.Logger;

import javax.mail.*;
import javax.mail.internet.InternetAddress;
import javax.mail.internet.MimeBodyPart;
import javax.mail.internet.MimeMessage;
import javax.mail.internet.MimeMultipart;

/**
 * Created by lucas on 12/4/14.
 */
public class EmailSender {

    private static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(EmailSender.class);

    public static void sendEmail(String host, String port, String title, String content, String from, String[] recipients) throws MessagingException {
        System.setProperty("mail.smtp.host", host);
        System.setProperty("mail.smtp.port", port);
        Session session = Session.getDefaultInstance(System.getProperties());

        try {
            // Create a default MimeMessage object
            MimeMessage message = new MimeMessage(session);

            // Set from
            message.setFrom(new InternetAddress(from));

            for (String recipient : recipients) {
                message.addRecipient(Message.RecipientType.TO, new InternetAddress((recipient)));
            }

            // Set title
            message.setSubject(title);

            // Set the content
            BodyPart bodyPart = new MimeBodyPart();
            bodyPart.setText(content);
            Multipart multipart = new MimeMultipart();
            multipart.addBodyPart(bodyPart);
            message.setContent(multipart);

            // Send mail
            Transport.send(message);
        } catch (MessagingException e) {
            logger.error(e.getMessage(), e);
            throw e;
        }
    }

}