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The Complete Fluent in Mandarin Chinese Learning Pack
Get access to all 6 of my premium Chinese courses, plus all the bonuses and extras at a highly discounted price
1. Survive in Chinese - my top-selling video course for beginners, where with the help of native speakers, I guide you through all the basics in Chinese that you'll need for everyday life situations. More than 111 videos - hours of detailed learning content.
2. Chinese Sentence Mastery - the course that builds on your foundation as a beginner and shows you exactly how Chinese sentences work, through 1500 Chinese sentence examples covering all kinds of everyday life and work scenarios, meticulously broken down character by character - complete with more than 8.5 hours of audio, and audio flashcards.
3. Chinese Culture Conversations - 30 detailed video and audio conversations in Chinese to take your Chinese listening to an advanced level, covering 30 different topics about Chinese culture. Every conversation is fully transcribed in Chinese characters and Pinyin and translated into English.
4. Mandarin Tones Mastery - the course that trains you to get the four tones right in Chinese, through detailed exercises and explanations, and answers all your tone-related questions. Learn to speak Chinese as it was meant to be spoken and get the tones right, every time. In the package, you'll also get the audio version of my Break Through Chinese Pronunciation course as a free bonus, so you can master all of the difficult sounds in Chinese.
5. Plug & Play Chinese Chit Chat - An easy way to get started in Chinese - complete with ebooks in 14+ languages. The essential elements of everyday small talk, that you can piece together and get speaking Chinese right away!
6. Plug & Play Cantonese Chit Chat - Cantonese is the dialect of Chinese commonly spoken in Hong Kong and Macao. This is my 'plug & play' learning formula, but applied to Cantonese.
An incredible amount of Chinese learning content, to take you right from a beginner to an advanced level.
Get all 6 courses for just
$356 US$239
A huge saving of US$117!
Sign up for the full pack
Survive in Chinese and Chinese Culture Conversations are online video courses with downloadable audio and ebooks. The other 4 courses are fully downloadable. Unlike other sites, there are no monthly charges and no subscriptions. A one-off charge is all you will pay.
If you are not in the US, you will be charged the equivalent in your local currency. There are no currency exchange charges and no other fees 🙂
If you have already signed up for 2 (or more) of the courses and you'd like to take advantage of this offer, send me an email: info@fluentinmandarin.com Unfortunately, this offer isn't open to learners who have signed up for just 1 course.
What you'll get:
Course 1: Survive in Chinese (worth US$129)
Product is in digital form. Image is for illustration purposes only
Click here for detailed information about Survive in Chinese
111 Course Videos
111 bite-sized HD learning videos organised into 23 units on different areas of life in China. Videos include authentic Chinese dialogues, concise explanations of key points, Chinese characters and breakdowns in large easy-to-read fonts, and dozens of interactive exercises to get you practising everything!
Complete PDF Transcripts
Complete transcripts in Chinese characters, Pinyin and English, both in the videos themselves and below the videos in text form. You can also download the full transcripts as PDF files (with separate simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese character versions) that you can print out and take with you to revise from wherever you go.
Full Set of Electronic Flashcards
All the key phrases and the vocabulary from the lessons in a complete set of electronic flashcards. Just install the free software first and then you can study the flashcards from each unit individually. Works with PC / Mac and on Android phones/iPhone/iPad.
Complete MP3 Audio
Complete MP3s of all the material from the videos which you can download and put on any music playing device to listen to anywhere you are, to revise the content from the videos.
The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Menus
Most courses just teach you fried rice and fried noodles and leave you to figure everything else out for yourself. I'm offering you PDF cheat sheets of the all essential characters for Chinese menus that you can take with you next time you're eating out, loads of names of popular dishes with photos, MP3 audio and flashcards for everything, so you'll finally be able to order for yourself!
Bonus Chinese Vocabulary
As well as the vocabulary you'll be picking up from the video lessons, you'll also get reference guides to loads of essential everyday vocabulary including foods, clothes, items around the house, parts of the body, countries, and cities and provinces in China, so you don't have to look anything up yourself! You'll also get the audio of all the vocabulary, so you can make sure you're saying it all right.
FREE BONUS: Guidelines for learning Chinese characters
An introduction to how to go about learning characters, my 11 videos teaching you how to read 100+ of the most common characters in context, and all the guidelines, websites and resources you'll need to help you understand Chinese characters.
FREE BONUS: Learning Resources Guide
I've collected together a list of the absolute best resources you can find to help you learn Chinese online and offline, based on years of personal experience, so you don't have to. You'll find all the best Pinyin and pronunciation helpers, dictionaries, flashcard software, reading tools, places to find example sentences, and suggestions on how to find native language exchange partners and teachers. This guide is going to save you a lot of time!
Course 2: Chinese Sentence Mastery (worth US$69)
Click here for detailed information about Chinese Sentence Mastery
Course 3: Chinese Culture Conversations (worth US$69)
Click here for detailed information about Chinese Culture Conversations
30 Video and Audio Conversations in Chinese
30 in-depth conversations in Chinese (12 videos and 18 audio files), most of them around 15 mins long, on different aspects of Chinese culture.
Downloadable Transcripts and Translation
PDF transcripts of every single word in the video and audio files, with simplified/traditional Chinese characters, Pinyin pronunciation guides for all the content, and full English translations so you are guaranteed to understand every word.
Complete MP3s of all the material from the videos and audio units to download and to listen to on any device, wherever you are.
Course 4: Mandarin Tones Mastery (worth US$39.99)
Click here for detailed information about Mandarin Tones Mastery
Mandarin Tones Mastery MP3 Audio
This is the core of the course: detailed guided studio quality audio lessons including Chinese audio from both male and female native speakers.
Mandarin Tones Mastery Ebook
The ebook accompaniment to the audio course complete with transcripts and answers for all the Chinese exercises.
BONUS 1: With Mandarin Tones Mastery you'll also get the MP3 audio and the ebook for my course Break Through Chinese pronunciation teaching you all the difficult sounds in Chinese, including the 'x', 'q', 'j' and 'r' sounds - so it's like getting two courses in one!
BONUS 2: You'll also get audio of all the syllables in Mandarin in all the tones, recorded by both male and female speakers - useful for when you need to know exactly how to pronounce a specific syllable.
Sample audio clip from the course
Course 5: Plug & Play Chinese Chit Chat (worth US$25)
Click here for detailed information about Plug & Play Chinese Chit Chat
The Plug and Play Chinese Chit Chat Guide
A downloadable 80-page PDF ebook of all the phrases and 'blocks' you'll need to start having conversations in Chinese with characters, Pinyin and English translations, with everything broken down, plus extra cultural notes.
Plug and Play Chinese Conversations
A second PDF ebook of conversations using all the material covered in the guide, so you can see all the material in action, figure out how to put it all together, plus get valuable listening practice.
Complete MP3s of all the material from both ebooks which you can download and listen to on any device, wherever you are.
BONUS: Plug & Play Chinese Chit Chat comes with an addition version of the books in traditional Chinese characters, plus full translations of the ebooks in an additional 14 languages - Arabic, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Ukranian and Urdu, so you can learn Chinese in your native language, or pick up the basics in an additional language, while you learn Chinese!
Course 6: Plug & Play Cantonese Chit Chat (worth US$25)
Try your hand at Cantonese - one of the most widely spoken Chinese dialects in south China, including Hong Kong and Macao.
The same basic content as Plug & Play Chinese Chit Chat, but localised into colloquial Cantonese, complete with native audio.
If you're not satisfied with the package, just send me an email within 30 days of your purchase and I'll cancel your account and give you a full refund, or you can keep the courses you like and I'll refund you the rest. You don't even have to give a reason. No hassle. No questions asked. I'm proud to say I've given a refund every single time I've been asked, as long as it has been within 30 days.


If the person got sick, then he knows that it is necessary to drink to recover and facilitate the state. Of course, it will be a question of raspberry jam. Berry possesses sudorific action therefore to reduce the increased body temperature. But you shouldn't forget also other, not less useful properties of surprising berry. For example, berries are irreplaceable at anemia or a radiculitis. It is important that raspberry isn't afraid of the increased temperatures. In this regard raspberry can be prepared safely for the winter in the form of jam. In other words, it is possible to do as it is convenient, but preparation anyway needs to be made. The winter very long will also always want something tasty. Present as tasty will be to drink a glass of tea from the defrozen raspberry or jam. Many people besides berries use also raspberry leaves, in them there is a lot of vitamin C. Rather herbalists are engaged in it and more often leaves use in traditional medicine.
As if berries weren't useful, but not all people can eat them. It is contraindicative: to allergic persons (high content of essential oils), diabetics (because of Saccharums) and to pregnant women (negative influence on a uterus).
Few people know that raspberries are a source of such an enzyme as ketone. This is a useful trace element that is found in small quantities in raspberry berries and is very beneficial for our health. Scientists say that raspberry ketone helps break down fat cells and helps speed up metabolism. In addition, it is under the influence of this enzyme that our body enters the phase of ketosis, when the body absorbs its own fats to replenish its own energy and physical strength.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This Type-2 variant is equipped with the lethal RX-1000 'Sunspear' battlefield laser. It can destroy enemy armour from beyond the effective range of return fire, allowing it to operate with virtual impunity.
6 Resin Components each (see 'working with resin') OR 4 Resin Component and 2 White Metal Components each.


This weekend Marsa and I are going into our quarterly Be Brilliant Retreat.
We'll do this once every three months to take stock of where we are going as a company and to refocus our hearts on our mission of empowering women to step out of their comfort zones to become the best they can be.
Think of it as a corporate slumber party filled with meetings, reviews, walks, talks and idea-generation to help move our Be Brilliant vision along.
Sure, we're busy ladies. But taking a pause and renewing our goals is important. For us, and for you.
Do you give yourself time — set aside time — to refocus? Because you should.
In the rush-rush-rush spiral embraced by many women, energy and ideas get out of line. Women have giving hearts and often put themselves last. We know that's true.
Stopping to re-center and replenish is crucial to feeling, thinking and often looking your best. And we all want that, right? To be our best and highest purposeful selves?
Everyone has their own ideas on what grounds them. A massage, a new haircut, a picnic or trip to the shore. We're going to huddle here in Florida away from HQ to enjoy the sunshine and also share with the universe where we want to go.
We do believe the power of intention — and also prayer — go a long way to moving goals into reality. The special sauces of faith and determination also must be sprinkled in accordingly.
We'll share a couple of things we plan to do with you.
We're going to write down our intentions for Be Brilliant. We'll read them aloud. We'll burn them — symbolically sending their energy higher, casting any worries aside. And then we'll sit down together for a nice appreciation dinner where we'll share all the good things that have happened to us. With laughter and love.
We just know that it's all going to be brilliant.


This Is Kevin. He was 10 years old, male, intact, never been to the vet, never vaccinated. He lived his whole 10 yrs in the garage with his mother and father. Both his mother and father have passed in the past 3 months . He was taken in shortly after Christmas. He is super skittish, but coming around. He stays in his crate and when left alone he will come out to eat and use the bathroom. Such a sad start to life but now he is loved for by his forever family!


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Q: $\lim_{(x,y)\to(0,0)} \frac{xy}{x-y}$ I was trying to calculate the following limit:
$$\lim_{(x,y)\to(0,0)} \frac{xy}{x-y}$$
I used polar coordinates: $x=r\cos\theta$ and $y=r\sin\theta$.
But this gives me: $$\lim_{r\to 0} \frac{r\cos\theta\cdot r\sin\theta}{r\cos\theta-r\sin\theta}=\lim_{r \to 0} r\frac{\cos\theta\sin\theta}{\cos\theta-\sin\theta}=0$$
But Wolfram Alpha says that this limit does not exist. What is the problem in what I did? Is it because of the fact that if $\theta = \frac{\pi}{4}$ I am dividing by $0$? (My guess is that it is in fact the problem and by applying L'Hôpital's rule I will find out the limit does not exist.)

A: The first problem is that $\frac{xy}{x - y}$ doesn't even make sense if $x = y$, because the denominator is then zero. But even if we exclude the line $x = y$ from the domain, the limit still doesn't exist. Essentially, the problem is that we can approach $(0, 0)$ along a path that approaches the line $x = y$ rapidly enough that $x - y$ approaches zero faster than $xy$, forcing the limit along this path to be nonzero. (For example, $y = x^3 + x$ gives such a path.) On the other hand, the function is constant zero along the line $x = 0$, so if the limit exists, then it has to be zero. Thus the limit can't exist.
Rewriting it in polar coordinates doesn't change this, and the same phenomenon still occurs with that term involving cosines and sines of the angle.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


"I have worked with A&E Agency for 12 months. During this time they have provided the Gerontology Service at University Hospital Coventry and Warwick with an efficient and effective service for the provision of registered medical practitioners on an agency/locum basis.
They understand the needs of the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and accurately assesses the required capabilities of each of the medical practitioners they provide against those offered by each individual doctor.
The service they provide is outstanding. They go above and beyond any other agents that I have worked with. They are always contactable and will always do their best to deliver what the service needs, even at short notice and out of normal working hours.
"As a Rota Coordinator for Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, I have been working with A&E Agency for over 4 years and have found them to be one of the most professional, efficient and reliable of locum agencies.
The A&E Agency does an excellent job and communicates very effectively. They help us to cover our ad-hoc on-call shifts and ongoing locum positions.
"I have had the absolute pleasure of working with the Medicine team at A&E Agency for a period of 18 months and during this time they have worked tirelessly to provide the team at the Alexandra Hospital with locum support. The doctors (at consultant, SpR and SHO level) who have been supplied as part of this process have been of a high calibre, invariably located within the Midlands area. Often these requirements have been met on a short notice basis. The doctors booked through A&E Agency continue to return to help at the hospital on a regular basis and when required, longer-term bookings are still being renewed on an ongoing basis.
The team are responsive, effective and supportive. I am readily kept informed in terms of progress and, on the rare occasions when the agency have not been able to assist, I have been notified of this in a timely manner. I have, without exception, found the team to be approachable, professional, excellent communicators with a can-do attitude, proactive and swift to act when there are situations where assistance in sourcing a locum doctor is required on an urgent basis. The service is provided with good humour, honesty, integrity and efficiency, with any problems being addressed and resolved without detriment to either party. If the manager is unavailable for any reason, then support has been provided to an equally high standard.


Coleman mobile home furnace wiring diagram : 42 wiring. Coleman mobile home gas furnace wiring diagram : 46 wiring. Coleman furnace diagram coleman heater diagram ~ elsavadorla. Coleman evcon furnace parts diagram carrier furnace parts.


and charters or charter boats in Southern Oregon on the Oregon Coast.
Umpqua River fishing guides fish for Salmon, Sturgeon, Steelhead, Bass, Striped Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Shad, trophy Sturgeon, keeper Sturgeon, white Sturgeon and green Sturgeon on the Umpqua River and nearby rivers such as the Elk River, Sixes River, Rogue River, and the Smith River.
The best Umpqua River fishing guides fish Southern Oregon rivers including the North Umpqua the South Umpqua and the main Umpqua river for Salmon. Popular fish are Fall Chinook Salmon Chum Salmon, Coho Salmon and silvers. Bass including Smallmouth Bass and largemouth Bass and Sturgeon are popular fish on the Umpqua River in Southern Oregon.
Charles Ireland of NW Sportfishing Guide Service offers fully guided fishing trips on the Umpqua, Coos, Coquille, Rogue, Willamette, and Columbia rivers, bays, and ocean of Oregon for Salmon, Steelhead, and Sturgeon.
Experienced guide Charles Ireland is offering professional friendly service with over 10 years experience guiding Oregon's top fisheries. Our trips are great for anyone with any experience level. Our goal for every trip is that you have fun and are successful.
Loon Lake Lodge and RV Resort, located at Loon Lake near Reedsport, on the central Oregon Coast offers cottages with kitchens, full hook-up RV sites, Yurts, motel rooms and tent sites. Shower facilities and laundry facilities are also adjacent to the RV sites and the cottages.
This combination makes experiencing outdoor Oregon, accessible to those who want the basic camping experience as well as groups needing full service accommodations. An on-site restaurant provides meals for individual travelers and groups. The lodge also has a convenience store and gas pumps.
In addition, the Lakeside House is available for groups. The two-bedroom home has a large gathering room with floor to ceiling stone fireplace and windows with a view of the lake. The full kitchen and meeting room with a capacity of approximately 35 complete the space.
The lake is known for its smooth waters, blocked from the winds by the mountain peaks that surround the entire two-mile long lake. This recreation area is abundant with activities such as fishing, hunting, hiking, water skiing, and kayaking. Loon Lake Lodge and RV resort offers amenities that include boat rentals and marina.
Visit www.theoregonangler.com and see how Umpqua River fishing guides like Todd Hannah catch trophy Sturgeon, keeper Sturgeon, Chinook Salmon, Smallmouth bass, Striped Bass, ( 100 Bass a day! ), and Shad trolling, still fishing, back bouncing, drifting, from a jet sled, spin casting with light tackle, or fly fishing!
Make a reservation today to fish the Umpqua River in Southern Oregon with a popular Southern Oregon fishing guide. The fishing guides listed on this website offer fishing trips for Steelhead and Salmon or Sturgeon as well as Bass, Stripers and various other popular fish.
Diamond Lake RV Park This privately owned park is operated on leased government land in the Umpqua National Forest at the south end of Diamond Lake. The seasonal park (May-September) has 160 RV spaces with 35 pull-throughs. Located at an elevation of 5200 feet it is located on 22 wooded acres just 85 miles east of Roseburg off Highway #138. Closest RV Park to Crater Lake.
Douglas County Parks For a complete listing of all county parks, including the 4 overnight campgrounds in the Roseburg area, click on this category. Amacher County Park on the North Umpqua River 5 miles north of Roseburg at I-5 exit #129; Whistler's Bend County Park on the North Umpqua River 12 miles east of Roseburg off Highway #138; Stanton County Park located 19 miles south of Roseburg off I-5 at exit #99 just north of Canyonville on the South Umpqua River; Chief Miwaleta, Galesville Reservoir, I-5 exit #88, 7 miles east on Upper Cow Creek Rd; Pass Creek County Park in north Douglas County at I-5 exit #163 near Curtin.
Located on the beautiful Umpqua River. Park offers full hook-up sites with 50 Amp service, large fully outfitted group pavilion, central campfire ring, complimentary Wireless Internet access, laundry facilities, drift boat ramp and gift shop. A Good Sam park and Woodalls's rated. Located 20 miles West of I-5 and 35 miles East of Reedsport, one block off Hwy 138.
A good day on the North Umpqua. My boat hooked 8 steelhead but we only landed 3. All were about 8 to 12 lbs. Dan's boat hooked 10 steelhead and one of them was 16 lbs. On Saturday the first Spring Chinook was landed when fishing for steelhead. So, in about two to three weeks we should see more and more Spring Chinook hook ups. Now is the time to get Spring Chinook trips booked for the later part of April and the first part of May. Also get your Shad trip booked for the second half of May and June.


Privacy people! This week we filed RTI's (Right to Information Requests) with the Ministry of Electronics and IT for the consultation on the Draft Data Protection Bill.
We were spurred into action noticing that newspaper reports indicated only 400 responses were submitted, and un-named ministry officials indicated most of them were from companies, government departments and industry bodies.
The first is to know who all sent their comments, and what were these comments. After all, this is a public consultation and there is a existing practice (like with the TRAI) to pro-actively publish all inputs it recieves. This will allow us to be better placed to know and respond to any industry lobbying for dilution of the privacy protections in India.
The second RTI is to know who (if any) besides the ministry is reviewing the comments and drafting the law. Given the lack of transparency, flawed composition of the expert committee that produced the Draft Data Protection Bill. Much of this background is contained in several representations made by Rethink Aadhaar and the National Campaign for People's Right to Information.
We are aware that we cannot just rely on seeking information and disclosures. We need to do much more. In the coming months we hope to pick up pace, respond with greater agility and strenthen our collective efforts to protect privacy.


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Mary Randolph
Born on August 9, 1762 into the elite of Virginia, Mary (or Molly as she was called) was the eldest of the thirteen children born to Anne Cary and Thomas Mann Randolph. The Randolph family was closly tied to Southern aristocracy. Mary's father, orphaned in infancy, was raised by Thomas Jefferson's parents and was a distant cousin. Her maternal grandfather was a plantation owner and statesman. And her brother, Thomas Mann Randolph, became a Congressman, governor of Virginia, and married Martha Jefferson, Thomas' daughter. Mary's education was typical of her age and class, consisting of reading, writing, arithmetic, dancing, music, drawing and the household arts. At the age of eighteen, she married her first cousin once removed, David Meade Randolph. They settled at Randolph's Chesterfield County plantation "Presqu'lle" and had eight children, four of who survived to adulthood. Around 1795, David Randolph was appointed U.S. Marshal of Virgina by President Washington and the family moved to Richmond. While there, they built their elegant home, Moldavia. Mary became celebrated within Richmond society as a cook and as a hostess, known for her elegant social gatherings. In 1801, David Randolph, an open proponant of Federalism and a critic of Thomas Jefferson, was removed from his post and the Randolph's fortunes declined. Mary, in 1807, opened a boardinghouse in Richmond to aid the family income. Known as "The Queen," after the nickname given to her by her boarders, Mary's boardinghouse became one of the most popular places in Richmond. The boardinghouse closed in 1820 and the Randolphs moved to Washington, D.C. in 1824. Mary used her experiences entertaining both the social elite and in her boardinghouse as the springboard for her one published work, The Virginia Housewife. Widely recieved as the first regional cookbook and seen by many to be the first truly American cookbook, Randolph's volume was received warmly and saw at least nineteen printed editions prior to the Civil War. After her death on January 23, 1828, Mary was buried at Arlington, the home of her cousin George Washington Parke Custis, stepson of George Washington and father of Mary Custis (Mrs. Robert E.) Lee. As such, she became the first person to be buried in what is now Arlington National Cemetary.
Other Books by Mary Randolph
The Virginia Housewife
By author: Mary Randolph

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Thérèse Raquin (roman), een roman uit 1867 van Émile Zola
Thérèse Raquin (1928), een film van Jacques Feyder
Thérèse Raquin (1953), een film van Marcel Carné

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Isn't it amazing how all the Phelps women have the exact same expression and that vacant smile?
It's also like they're speaking a different language.
It's weird that they can be so pleasant and almost semi normal sounding (like when you introduced yourself to Jael), but then their rhetoric is so batshit crazy.
It's sad, because I think deep down these girls are all like, desperate for a normal, non god hates fag protesting life with dates and prom and breaking curfew and being grounded, not disowned. And they all look like they could be normal on some level.
Libby gives me hope in a weird way. So does Shirley's son, Josh, who leads a ridiculously normal life with his wife and son.
I wonder if they all miss each other? I know Josh wants to be able to talk to his siblings again some day, and is hoping for some kind of reconciliation with them. I wonder if they feel the same?
Stef: Jael was THRILLED to finally meet me. Genuinely. Less than thirty minutes after I left them, Westboro's Megan Phelps sent out a tweet saying that "the girls had finally met Jeremy from Good As You." So I guess Jael called in a reported back as soon as we were done talking. It was bizarre, but funny.
The other girl, Sara, was just deeply unpleasant. We were chatting for about ten minutes before the clip begins. She seemed so completely devoid of joy. It was pretty sad to see, actually.
And yes, they use the exact same speech patterns. In fact, I mentioned this to Sara and she was like, "Really? People say I sound like Shirley, but I don't hear it."
Their logic is pretty easy to understand. One "repented" and the other didn't. In other words... you can do as much sin as you like, as long as eventually you "sincerely" show remorse for doing so... which in turn means you're accepted back into the circle of God. How nice.
As far as you know, how is Libby doing? I think she deserves all of our respect for leaving. I wish her the best.
I agree Jeremy! You should SOO post the e-mails between you and Libby - we are all so interested in how she got out of that cult! Love you Jeremy!
Interesting interview with Sara and Jael. I just want to point out that Sara was sooo adamant that all the talk of violence was "just lies". The mattock handle "didn't happen". Then she says you're asking her about things that happened before her time. What business does that girl have commenting on that period AT ALL if by her own admission it was before her time.
The evidence should be so clear that these poor children are nothing more then parrots of the words that their parents parrot from my father. I got pretty upset listening to this until my wife pointed out that they are just pawns. Now I just feel sorrow and pity for them.
I will say it once again for the benefit of those who have read and listened to this article...the beatings happened as I've reported. The truth, the reality, of what happened in my youth, to me and my siblings, is far worse then the words that are out there. I realize that ultimately both sides of a discussion deserve to be heard, but let me just point out the violence of what that man is doing today, not just to the world, but to his grandchildren and great grandchildren. It may not be with a mattock handle, but it is just as destructive and cruel.
Love your insight, Nate. Would love for you to share more.
Nate, my heart goes out to you, and every one of your family members still trapped in this nightmare. Even the old man, because I can't even imagine the horror he could have endured to turn out this way. Monsters aren't born, they're made - some people have the tenacity to break free, and some just can't. I'm sure it's no concilation, but I'm really glad you made it out.
I can't help but love & pity every one of them - even Shirley. Those kids especially break my heart. If all that enthusiam & dedication were pointed in the right direction, there's no telling what they could do.


text:
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Downtown agency issues rebuilding blueprint
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. on Tuesday issued a preliminary blueprint for rebuilding downtown that would make the area a "Freedom Park," a neighborhood of residences and parks, a cultural mecca, a retail destination and a center for biotech. The blueprint represents the agency's first set of guidelines to be made public.
The agency—which is charged with distributing about $2 billion in federal aid--envisions lower Manhattan as a "Freedom Park" that would link existing attractions with a permanent memorial to be built on part of the WTC site. In connection to the memorial, the agency is considering building a "museum of freedom and remembrance" or a museum building that would house a WTC museum and other smaller museums.
The LMDC also emphasizes housing as a core component of rebuilding, and is considering proposals to develop the WTC area with a residential component, and to designate potential development sites in the financial district for housing rather than commercial space. It also proposes integrating the former WTC site with the rest of the downtown street grid, and re-establishing human scale. To add more open space, it is considering a continuous park that would tie together existing public spaces on the waterfront from the Brooklyn Bridge to Battery Park City.
To draw visitors during the daytime and nighttime, the agency is considering a "galleria of premier retail offerings that would be a magnet for the city and the region," as well as the development of underground and street-level retail spaces. Cultural offerings under consideration include the freedom museum, a new City Opera house and a downtown Guggenheim. The agency could also expand existing institutions such as the South Street Seaport Museum and The Museum of Jewish Heritage.
To diversify downtown's economy, the agency proposes making lower Manhattan a biotech center that would be "coordinated with the city's many medical research centers, medical schools and hospitals."
Much of the plan focuses on transportation—on restoring train service, rebuilding the street grid, and lowering West Street in order to eliminate a barrier between the financial district and Battery Park City. The agency also proposes creating a transit hub to link PATH, subway, and future regional rail service. The hub would be located as close as possible to the center of lower Manhattan, ideally within 0.5 miles walking distance of all of downtown. It would also create a terminal for buses, trucks and livery cars so that idling vehicles won't clog streets.
After a public comment period, the assistance plan will come back to the board for a final vote on April 24 before it is sent to the federal Housing and Urban Development for approval.


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Aljoscha Lartey Hyde (* 30. April 1992 in Langenhagen) ist ein deutscher Fußballspieler.

Karriere
Geboren wurde Aljoscha Hyde als Sohn eines Ghanaers und einer Deutschen in Langenhagen nördlich von Hannover. Bis zum Alter von 14 Jahren spielte er in der niedersächsischen Landeshauptstadt beim Stadtteilclub SV Linden 07, bei Hannover 96 und beim SV Arminia Hannover. 2006 ging er zurück in seine Geburtsstadt zum SC Langenhagen, wo er nach eineinhalb Jahren von den Nachwuchsscouts von Werder Bremen entdeckt und an die Weser geholt wurde. Von der U 17 bis zur U 19 spielte der Abwehrspieler, der vor allem in der Innenverteidigung eingesetzt wird, erfolgreich in den Juniorenbundesligen.

Zur Rückrunde der Saison 2011/12 stieß er zur zweiten Mannschaft von Werder und wurde gleich ab dem ersten Spieltag im Januar 2012 als Stammspieler in der 3. Liga eingesetzt. Insgesamt 13 Mal  wurde er eingesetzt, davon 12 Mal von Beginn an. Nach dem Abstieg von Werder II verließ er den Verein und unterschrieb einen Einjahresvertrag beim SC Wiedenbrück 2000 in der Regionalliga West. Dort wurde er 13 Mal eingesetzt und erreichte das Endspiel des Westfalenpokals.

Zur Saison 2013/14 wechselte Hyde zum Nord-Regionalligisten SV Wilhelmshaven und spielt dort zusammen mit seinem Bruder Julian Kolja.

Weblinks

 Aljoscha Hyde, Profil im Worumwiki

Einzelnachweise

Fußballspieler (SC Wiedenbrück)
Deutscher
Geboren 1992
Mann
Fußballspieler (SV Wilhelmshaven)
Fußballspieler (Werder Bremen)


Association of Finnish Children's Cultural Centers is the initiator of a new network project Networking Nordic and Baltic children's culture actors in the frame of children's cultural rights. This network aims to bring together professionals working in the field of children's culture in Nordic and Baltic countries. The current lack of a strong impact on national strategies for children's and youth's culture presents a challenge for the implementation of their cultural rights on both a national and a municipal level. The network aims to organize a series of meetings as well as two mini-seminars and two larger seminars through which we exchange knowledge and share practices on the topic.
If the network receives funding, the project will start in summer 2018. More information will be published on this web page.


Home Data Analytics How to Perform A Risk Assessment with Data Analytics?
Quantifying risk is a vital part of making important business decisions. Most business organizations assess risk through previous experience and business acumen. Since it is not based on a precise science, this method of risk assessment will not be accurate.
Mistakes can lead to an increase in production costs, delays in deliveries, and non-compliance with regulatory norms. Therefore, it is very essential for businesses to perform a risk assessment with Data Analytics. If you don't know where to start, here are some pointers on proper risk assessment using Business Intelligence or Data Analytics.
WHAT SHOULD BE THE SCOPE OF DATA ANALYTICS IN RISK ASSESSMENT?
Who owns the data? – An individual or business that has the legal operational authority to access and use specific data.
Who has legal access to the data? – Departments of human resource, legal advisors, IT, bank employees, etc.
What kind of data is it? – Is it names, numbers, PIN, email addresses, the national provider identifier (NPI), patient information, PAN, credit/debit card numbers, CVVs, net banking details, etc.
Where is the data stored? – Are there shared databases, FTPs, or cloud storage?
What are the existing data security protocols?
If you want to design the most effective data model for risk assessment, then you need to know the internal and external data flow of the organization. Only then can you check for security lapses or intentional violations.
Public data – This refers to all the information that is available on social media platforms, websites, search engines, blogs, etc. This may seem like low-risk data but the hacking of social media accounts is a common problem. If any sensitive information like bank account details and other financial information is linked with the social account, then that data will also be at risk.
A paper published by the University of Phoenix in April 2016, states that almost two-thirds of adults in the USA have said that their social media accounts have been hacked.
Private data – This is a low-risk situation because very few individuals have access to this information.
Restricted data – This information is accessible to only selected individuals who can modify and use the data and is at moderate risk. Some examples are names, address, phone numbers, social security numbers, etc.
Internet of things: This is required so that your machine learning tool can handle complex and vast amounts of data, advanced technology, computing processes, Blockchain, and other mathematical functions.
Chatbots: Your algorithm should be designed to covert audio-visual data into text format so that it can be analyzed for risk assessment. The customer service of a business organization is one such example.
A parameter (or maybe several) to ensure that all the user-actions are within compliance limits set by the regulatory authorities.
Predictive analysis: Your machine learning model must be capable of cognitive behavior so that it can carry out predictive analysis and produce reliable outputs. Predictive programming ensures accurate data-driven decisions that will affect the success of the business enterprise.
Augmented reality: This element in your data model will help the users to enjoy interactive experiences, where the computer-generated data is superimposed with real-life scenarios so that they can be relatable with life's experiences.
Now that the high and moderate-risk data categories have been identified, it is time to put your machine learning tool into the testing phase. Your data model will now have a framework that covers all probable risky situations. The testing process will highlight the shortcomings (if any). It will perfect its performance via cross-validation and pruning so that it achieves a high level of efficiency.
Risk assessment with Data Analytics is not limited to just identifying the loopholes in the security systems where the sensitive data is situated. It also implies the identification of potential future risks from data theft.
This last stage of your risk assessment data model must have the capacity to scan results to look for security lapses, regulatory violations, invasions, and the efficacy (or lack of) the existing firewalls. The algorithm has to generate accurate reports on the gaps in security and suggest corrective measures in order to complete the risk assessment process using Data Analytics.
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Rising COVID numbers lead to state of emergency in Iqaluit
by Dr. Michael Wenger | May 5, 2021 | Archive, Everyday life, Society
The 7,740 residents of Iqaluit are currently experiencing the same as many places around the world: lockdown and strict hygiene and distance measures to prevent the spread of the virus. At the same time, vaccination continues apace. Image: Aaron Lloyd via Wiki Commons
Since November, the Canadian Arctic region of Nunavut has been battling the virus that still has the entire world in its grip. Initially, the town of Arviat was the centre of the COVID outbreak in Nunavut. With lockdowns and other known measures and a rapid start of the vaccination program, the government tried to get the situation under control. Apparently with success, as by mid-March the numbers had dropped to virtually zero. But the joy was short-lived: the virus has now hit the capital Iqaluit, leading to rapidly increasing numbers of cases. Now the local authorities are pulling the emergency brake.
The city council had declared a state of emergency for Iqaluit as of yesterday after the number of new infections continued to rise and a so-called "community transmission" was also detected in the jail and a hospital. For the next 7 days, the council can "do any act and take any measure the municipal Corporation considers necessary" to prevent the virus from spreading further, the city's press release says. The Emergency Measures Act gives the authorities wide-ranging scope for action, which need not be fully exploited, at least at the present time. This means that all government offices are closed to the public. Essential services will continue to be performed, but requests will normally only be handled by phone or email. In addition, all recreational facilities, parks and other public spaces will be closed. In addition, there is a strict mask requirement and essential shops remain open. Schools are closed and the administration reminds that gatherings in public spaces are also strictly regulated and to be avoided in private spaces.
With health services limited in Iqaluit, authorities are appealing to people to comply with protection measures. Current figures show that young people in particular are becoming increasingly infected. Image: Government of Iqaluit
The Nunavut Health Authority released the new numbers yesterday, which showed 83 residents in Iqaluit now have COVID-19. Two other cases continued to be listed in Kinngait. The virus is the British variant B.1.1.7, which is considered more contagious and is also circulating widely in Europe, leading to stricter measures. Nunavut's Premier Joe Savikataaq reminds people in a public release that despite the advent of spring and the events and festivities that come with it, it is imperative that people comply with the containment measures. Above all, wearing masks, keeping a distance of two metres and staying at home whenever possible are required. He also draws attention to the fact that the vaccination programme is ongoing. As of yesterday, 12,568 Nunavut residents were fully vaccinated with Moderna vaccine, he said.
As in Europe, authorities in Iqaluit are seeing higher infection rates, especially among young people. About 20 percent of those infected are under 18 and thus outside the vaccination strategy with the Moderna vaccine. Picture: Michael Wenger
One problem that currently exists with the program is that Moderna's vaccine is only given to people over the age of 18 in Nunavut. But authorities report that in Iqaluit, one in five infections already affects youths under 18. Health Officer Dr. Michael Pattinson explains that there are now more transmissions within households, according to the Nunatsiaq News newspaper. "Essential workers have inadvertently brought it into the home and it's involving their children," he was quoted in the newspaper. He therefore reminded that children should also wear masks and that quarantines also apply to children. To make matters worse, in addition to the outbreak in Iqaluit, a COVID outbreak has also been recorded at a mine on Baffin Island and the virus is also rampant in the Northwest Territories. As a result, the Government of Nunavut has cut off air service to the territory and ordered anyone who entered Nunavut from there to quarantine themselves. The Mary River Mine is also currently a "no-go" zone. There is also a 14-day isolation requirement for anyone who has entered Nunavut from outside the territory.
Dr Michael Wenger, PolarJournal
COVID-Ausbruch in Nunavut's Hauptstadt
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Love is like a wind, you can't see it but you can feel it'---this line from the film A Walk to Remember creates ripples inside the heart each time when one hears it being said.
There is something special about the line, only if you can feel it. And if you don't feel so, then you need to spice up your Valentine's Day and see the film with your partner. True, you might have seen many films with your beloved, but watching a romantic tale on Valentine's Day comes with its own fun quotient!
Watch the original epic romance, Gone with the Wind (1939) that tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara and her marriage to Rhett Butler in the 19th-century American South. How can we miss Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet one of the oldest love stories in the world. Baz Luhrmann's 1996 adaptation is a great modern retelling of it where Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes essay the roles of the young, star-crossed lovers.
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan starrer Sleepless in Seattle, where two unknown people, against all odds, meet and fall in love is also an interesting watch. If you are really emotional, The Notebook can be an option. Considered by many to be one of the most romantic movies of all times, The Notebook tells the story of a young couple (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) who fall in love during the 1940s and are separated due to social differences.
of Africa, To Catch a Thief, Betty Blue, Lost in Translation and Crazy Stupid Love can bring out the romance hidden inside you.
Also, if you are more keen on shuddh desi romance then there are classics galore that Bollywood offers. Check out Pyasa, declared as one of the top 10 romantic movies of all time by Time magazine. This Waheeda Rehamn, Guru Dutt starrer is a must watch. Not to forget one of the greatest Hindi films ever made – Mughal- e-Azam; Pakeeza, Bollywood's most enduring love story and Dev Anand's Guide revolving around complexities of inter-personal relationships. But one man who has been adored as a lover boy in Bollywood is Raj Kapoor. So, watch any of these: Barsaat, Awaara, Chori Chori, Anari or Awaara.
Even films from 1970s till date like Bobby, Silsila, Kabhie Kabhie, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Maine Pyar Kiya, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Dil Toh Pagal Hai, Jodhaa Akbar, Band Baaja Baraat, Jab We Met, Saathiya and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge can make your Valentine's Day truly memorable.


Jonathan Vinocour '03 M.M., '04 G.D. joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Violist in 2009, having previously served as principal violist of the Saint Louis Symphony and guest principal of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig.
A native of Rochester, New York, Mr. Vinocour graduated from Princeton University in 2001 with a degree in chemistry and was awarded the university's Sudler Prize in the Arts. He completed his master's degree in 2003 at New England Conservatory, where he studied with Kim Kashkashian. Mr. Vinocour received First Prize in the Holland America Music Society Competition, and his first solo album, featuring works of Britten and Shostakovich, was recorded with the support of the Holland America Music Society. He has appeared as soloist with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra under maestros Hans Graf and Nicholas McGegan. He made his solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas in Berlioz's Harold in Italy and also performed Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel with the orchestra to critical acclaim.
Mr. Vinocour has been a regular participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and has toured extensively with Musicians from Marlboro in past seasons; he has also participated in numerous other festivals, including the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival, Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Mr. Vinocour has been a guest of the Boston Chamber Music Society and International Sejong Soloists and collaborated with artists such as Paula Robison, Gilbert Kalish, Miriam Fried, Yo Yo Ma, Jaime Laredo, and members of the Amadeus, Arditti, Cleveland, Guarneri, Juilliard, Jupiter, Mendelssohn, and Orion string quartets. He is a founding member and regular performer with ECCO (East Coast Chamber Orchestra), a conductor-less chamber ensemble based in New York. Mr. Vinocour plays on a viola made by Lorenzo Storioni in 1784 on kind loan from the San Francisco Symphony.
You've performed as principal violist in the U.S. and as a guest with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. Could you tell us a little about some of the cultural differences you observed between orchestras in Europe and the U.S.? The Gewandhaus definitely felt more genteel, more "old world" – I remember us all shaking hands with our colleagues to start each rehearsal, just to give an example. Even as a world-class orchestra with an international reputation, it felt like an intimate regional orchestra. It is an institution that is part of the city's cultural fabric, and it draws a lot of age diversity in its audiences.
There is obviously a lot of discussion about audience development among American symphony orchestras, and about how to stay relevant into the future. What's your take on finding that elusive balance between tradition and innovation? In San Francisco we don't struggle with losing our audience in the same way that many other orchestras do. That said, I do think that all orchestras need to be creative in offering different options for the concert experience. In our culture people are used to being stimulated in more ways than just aurally, so multimedia is key. The San Francisco Symphony has experimented a lot in this arena – one example was last season's SoundBox series. It took place in a rehearsal space set up with open lounge seating and a "club" atmosphere, and it covered a lot of experimental ground with commissions, multimedia experiences, and more.
Obviously you are in a career that demands 100% all of the time – how do you recharge in your free time? For me, it's important to stay active – sports, exercise – and to spend time away from music, sometimes not even hearing it.
How do you keep an orchestral work fresh when you're approaching it for the 50th (or more) time? It's never always the same! The orchestra, the conductor, the venue, the performance…they all have an impact on the experience.
What's the most important thing for young musicians entering your field to know? What do you wish you would have known? That it's okay not to know what you want to do right away. I see a lot of undergraduates already focused on orchestral auditions – and there are certain schools that take this approach and are very successful in preparing their students. But I encourage young musicians to explore. I didn't know what I wanted to do until a while after graduate school. For those who do eventually decide on a career in orchestral music, I think it's important to learn a lot more than just the excerpts – learn the piece, the context, what underlying harmonies are going on. I do a lot of teaching and that level of awareness can be really noticeable when I'm listening to someone.


... specifically grapesoda and beatnikside - MOO (a partner of flickr now has NoteCards!
I know! I saw them this morning. Thanks for putting me in the same category as beatnikside...I've been a fan of his photos since day one. I'm not in marketing of myself mode so if you wanted to make your own moo cards with my photos go right ahead. I can email you any photo you'd want to use.


text:
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 public:
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 private:
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  // explicitly or implicitly after manifest parsing).
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  // chrome.automation namespace.
  void GetSchemaAdditions(const v8::FunctionCallbackInfo<v8::Value>& args);

  DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(AutomationInternalCustomBindings);
};

}  // namespace extensions

#endif  // CHROME_RENDERER_EXTENSIONS_AUTOMATION_INTERNAL_CUSTOM_BINDINGS_H_


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Its torch continues to burn bright — Torchlight II Switch review
Dungeon crawlers are nothing new in gaming, but only the best tend to stand the test of time, as it takes more than an open world and myriad of advancing enemies to keep players coming back to a familiar world. Torchlight II is a game that has proven that, in a genre full of copycats and clones, it holds the crown. I have spent countless hours playing dungeon crawlers, but none can hold a candle to Torchlight II. With its abundance of loot to collect, open world level design, multi-tiered character leveling system, and its ability to make the player feel like they are an integral part of the gameplay, it only makes sense that this iconic game makes its way to the Nintendo Switch.
Torchlight II is back, and its torch continues to burn bright on every platform it releases on. With its release on the Nintendo Switch, the game has never felt more at home. If this is your first-time playing, you are going to be amazed at the level of graphical detail, gameplay attention, and dedication this game invests in its dungeon-crawling world on a new platform.
Torchlight II is a fast-paced, monster crushing, dungeon-crawling action-RPG that's filled with secret locations, countless enemies, plenty of side quests, and loot around every corridor, dungeon, hillside, and mystical location. With hordes of monsters chomping at the bit to sink their teeth and claws into your customized character, you'll undoubtedly use every magical skill and bone-breaking weapon to destroy them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_idqVPfgRRU
Much care has gone into the release onto the Switch. You'll be able to play solo, take part in an online multiplayer mode (which requires the Nintendo online membership), or a local co-op mode. The Switch version of the game feels natural and easy to pick up. Playing in handheld mode, I was able to squeak out roughly four hours of playtime, and that's with the screen's brightness turned all the way up and playing outside.
The controls are tight and offer good feedback when fighting mobs of monsters, sorting through the many submenus, and searching the many, many locations for treasure. Taking advantage of the Switch's form factor, the developers, Runic Games and Panic Button, have made skill binding and upgrading as easy as possible. You can even detach the joycons and play in the most comfortable ways possible without feeling at a disadvantage.
Upon starting the game, I arrived at the class selection and customization screen where I customized my character. Yes, I know, we've seen customization in other games, but Torchlight II makes the choices simple. There are four classes to choose from: the Embermage, Berserker, Engineer, and Outlander. Each with their own set of skills and attributes, you'll still be able to add on your finishing touches to whichever class you choose by equipping armor and adding mods to them. To begin my first playthrough, I chose and customized the Embermage, trained in the arcane arts and capable of turning the biggest monsters into piles of ash.
Multiplayer mayhem
With only being able to customize my character's gender, face, and hair, I was a bit underwhelmed, but it's not about looks, but about loot and functionality. The customization doesn't end with character creation. What's interesting about Torchlight II is that you'll also have a pet that will aid you in your quest of looting bountiful chests and busting down the toughest of monsters. In my Switch version, I had the option of choosing the unicorn as a special pet (exclusive to the Switch), and who doesn't love mystical unicorns.
The pet not only acts as a second form of inventory to carry your sweet, sweet loot, but can make runs to town to discard of unwanted inventory items. But don't mistake this unicorn for a mule, it can also attack enemies that threaten your mission to find all the treasure you can. This helps even the odds as you will always be outnumbered. Bet your parakeet can't do that. With sixteen pets to choose from and customize, Torchlight II offers more than ever.
Like many dungeon crawlers, there's not much story to follow here. But there are plenty of lands to explore, treasures to find, weapons to find and mod, and skills to level-up that will fill that void. Plus, we'd all rather destroy monsters than listen to some voiceover telling us their life's story. As I wandered around the open world, I noticed how natural and beautiful the levels are detailed. With hills and mountain ranges hiding and offering an advantage for the enemy forces to flank you, the game always seems to keep you on your toes. I came across NPC's in need of my assistance, offering armor, weapons, and gold as rewards.
New worlds of exploration
Within the first hour of gameplay, you get a taste of how much time was spent crafting, quests, designing levels, developing enemies of different varieties, and creating a skill systems that never gets old. With side quests scattered around the world, it's easy to find yourself wandering off the beaten path, but that's where this game is at its best. The mini-map shows areas that I've yet to explore as I wandered across unknown regions. The open worlds never felt empty and boring as enemies and treasures were awaiting my discovery at every turn.
Upon leveling up my Embermage, equipping armor and weapons, and binding many of my skills to the Switch's buttons, I was knee-deep in hacking and slashing enemies that attacked in droves. The Switch's default button layout made dispersing enemies a simple task. With magic, fire, and lightning burning down and turning enemies into forgotten memories, I was pleased with Torchlight II's performance on the Switch. With me easily being outnumbered, watching my health and mana was vital to staying alive.
Using magic skills deplete my mana with every use, and with the number of different enemies attacking in waves and with different powers at once, I used my mana skills a lot. Managing inventory and stat balance is an important game mechanic in Torchlight II. It's critical to be aware of weapon levels, armor levels, skill points, and character stats, as these are all part of surviving the open worlds. At a glance, it all felt a bit overwhelming, but it became familiar the more I played.
Carry a big gun…
As I defeated enemies and searched the open world, I gained stat points that allowed me to level up my character. As I became familiar with stat system, I found it necessary to upgrade my dexterity, vitality, strength, and focus. If you want to hit hard, live longer, do more damage, and instill fear in the enemy's heart, take note. Each of these are essential in surviving the many treacherous monsters, traps, and open-world dangers.
Depending on which class you've chosen, you will naturally have a higher stat level of one of the four when you begin, but you will always have the opportunity to upgrade them all. It didn't take long for me to begin leveling up and feeling as if I could crush anything in my path, but the enemies I encountered always felt challenging. Fighting monsters larger than trees, I mounted offenses that would make General Patton jealous.
Smashing enemies with my left and right-handed weapons, throwing lightning bolts, burning down the biggest foes, and stopping the most devious enemies in their tracks with my ice shards, I was an unrelenting force to deal with, and that's what Torchlight II does so well. It makes you feel as if your accomplishments matter. I never felt as if the gameplay became stagnant or tedious. There's a synonymous balance between the game's difficulty, abilities, progression, and the core mechanics that creates that need to always come back and play more.
Leveling up never felt so good
What's most alluring about the Switch's version was that I never felt like its hardware caused me to have less of an experience. There was the occasional FPS drop when a lot of enemies and explosions occurred on the screen, but it never hindered the overall game experience. With explorative levels, beautiful graphics and lighting, and deep dungeon-crawling mechanics, I was amazed at the level of detail and performance Runic Games and Panic Button were able to squeeze from the Switch.
I did have some issues in the stat menu, where my selection did not refresh to indicate which selection I chose. I would select a stat, but the description would never change. I have been made aware that there will be a patch releasing soon after the game launches to address some known bugs.
Torchlight II on the Nintendo Switch is not just a re-release of an established game, but it takes full advantage of this transformer-like platform. Its ability to utilize all the Switch's hardware to make the game more appealing was achieved, without cutting corners or gameplay experience. Offering hours and hours of single or multiplayer monster demolishing gameplay, Torchlight II is everything it was when it first debuted, and more. Torchlight II will release on September 3rd, 2019 on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
—T.K. Hale
Switch's unique gameplay
Loot system
Quests and gameplay
Occasional FPS drops during big battles
Issues with selections not refreshing in the stat menu
T. Keith Hale is a game writer by day and gamer all the time. He brings this same passion to Gaming Trend when reviewing games and covering new gaming stories. He's also a framerate trollop.
Related Articles: Let's Play, Torchlight II
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Workshop "Politics and society in the MENA region" was conducted by WVS on April, 27 within the framework of 2014 Global conference of WVS.
Workshop took place at the University of Qatar (Doha, Qatar) (http://www.qu.edu.qa/) and was organized with the organizational and financial support of SESRI research institute (http://sesri.qu.edu.qa/) and Silatech (http://www.silatech.com/).
WVS expresses its gratitude to Dr.Darwish Al-Emadi and Dr.Nader Kabbani who were representing respectful institutions at the workshop.
The workshop consisted of three sessions and involved scientists and researchers from the countries of Middle East and Northern Africa, European Union, Eastern Europe and North America.
Welcoming notes were addressed by Prof.Christian Haerpfer, President of the World Values Survey Association, Dr.Darwish Al-Emadi, Director of SESRI and Dr Nader Kabbani, Director of Research & Policy of Silatech.
• "Social and Political situation in Kuwait" (by Dr.Samir Aburumman).


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Home > Vues d'industrie > Chinese consumers represent biggest growth opportunity for Canadian businesses, says Alipay
Chinese consumers represent biggest growth opportunity for Canadian businesses, says Alipay
Chinese visitors to Canada contribute more than $1 billion USD to the Canadian economy, supporting an estimated 7,400 jobs, according to Statistics Canada. It's predicted that by end of 2018, Canada will host a record number of Chinese tourists, surpassing 2017's record of nearly 700,000. And Canada has set a goal of doubling this number by 2021. When it comes to making purchases, these visitors are used to and expect frictionless buying experiences. According to a new Nielsen report, 93 per cent of Chinese tourists would use mobile payments overseas if given the option.
To learn more about the opportunities between the Chinese consumer and Canadian merchants and the future of payments we sat down with Rita Liu, Head of Canada for Alipay to hear her reflections on this subject.
You are only two months into your role as Head of Canada for Alipay, and you held a similar role in Europe, overseeing business development, operations and marketing activities for the region. Why has Alipay created this role for you now in Canada?
I'm focused on Canada for several reasons. Last year, Alibaba hosted its first Canadian Gateway '17 conference, in Toronto. Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke, as did several representatives from Canada's travel, tourism, retail and packaged goods industries.
One of our main conference objectives was to introduce Alibaba's services to the Canadian business community and discuss how Alibaba can help Canadian businesses better target and sell to Chinese customers. It is about helping Canadian merchants sell more to the rapidly expanding Chinese marketplace by making it easier for Chinese travelers to buy and pay for goods in Canada. We do this in-part through our various online marketplaces such as Alibaba's Tmall and Tmall Global (business-to-customer online retailing), and solutions such as Alipay – the world's largest mobile payment platform, which caters to both online and brick and mortar shoppers.
The conference was a success and drew over 3,000 attendees, echoing a strong demand to cater more to Chinese consumers and build stronger ties to promote Canada to the Chinese tourism market. Given the demand and interest, and the fact that Canada and China have both designated 2018 to be the Canada-China Year of Tourism, the time seemed right to have a dedicated team here in Canada to better support our partners and merchants.
What can Canadians look forward to in terms of the future of payments?
As you know, Alipay is very focused on the Chinese consumer and because of this it's on track to influence the future of payments in Canada. What's happening with payments in China is quite fascinating. The Alipay app is rapidly changing how people pay with the latest example being our very own "smile to pay" service, which is receiving widespread attention.
Keep in mind that as the payments experience in China becomes more seamless, payments in Canada and everywhere around the world need to become more seamless too. What we've seen in China is that payment methods, like Alipay, are merely the start of the payment journey. Besides facilitating payments with Alipay, users gain access to more services, such as the ability to easily transfer money to other app members, share or split bills among them using QR codes, book movie tickets, hail rides, order takeout and search for nearby merchants' coupons and deals. The app has grown from being "only" a payment system into a lifestyle super app to the benefit of merchants and the entire payments industry.
What excited you about attending and speaking at the Payments Canada's SUMMIT?
Witnessing the level of awareness amongst many of the industry players – merchants, property owners, government agencies – of how lucrative the Chinese market is excited me because we can help them connect with this growing consumer group and benefit from this group's spending power.
About Rita Liu
Rita joined Alipay in 2010 and was initially responsible for driving partnerships with major Chinese banks. In 2011, she became one of the founding members of the Alipay International Business department and has since held responsibility for business development and partnerships in Asia, the US and Europe. From 2015 to 2017, Rita was based in London while serving as Head of EMEA for Alipay, overseeing the company's overall business in the region, including business development, operations and marketing activities. She has recently been named Head of Canada, with responsibility for building the firm's business and strategy in Canada. Before joining Alipay, Rita was a business development manager at Americ.
Interested in staying up-to-date and informed on payments information across the industry, happenings and thought leadership across Payments Canada, interested in attending an event right for you? If so, subscribe to one or more of our newsletters and events to connect and stay informed.
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Q: How do I create a new database on SQL Server in a unique new name? I'm using Visual Studio 2010 ASP.NET with C# on .NET 4.0 and SQL Server 2008 R2.
I would like to create a database on the server named WINSRV\SQLSRV.
How do I loop to test for a unique database name?
My default database should be ab. In case this name is taken, I would like to create a database named ab1, and if this one is also taken - ab2 and so forth.
I need it to rum from a web page created in the Visual Studio 2010 ASP.NET C# script, and not from the SQL server management studio.
Thanks.

A: Declare @Iteration int
Set @Iteration = 0
Declare @DBName varchar(100)

while(@Iteration <> -1)
begin
    if(@Iteration = 0)
        Set @DBName = 'ab'
    Else
        Set @DBName = 'ab' + Convert(varchar, @Iteration)
    IF NOT EXISTS(select Object_Id from sys.databases where name = 'ab')
    Begin

        Exec('create database ' +  @DBName)
        return;
    End
    Else
    Begin
        Set @Iteration = @Iteration + 1
    End
End

Edit
To Work from C# click here

A: You will want to check to see if your choices for databases exist:
You can do it primary sql side as so:
IF (EXISTS (SELECT name FROM master.sys.databases WHERE name = 'ab')))
    --Do what you need to do

or you could get a list databases and check .net side:
SELECT name FROM master.sys.databases

Hope this helps.


endure $5.4 billion in cuts to public education that did not need to occur,"
back to schools and taxpayers where it belongs."
years, according to the Legislative Budget Board.
Susan Combs reported that her revenue estimate for the 2011 session should have included $8.8 billion in additional revenues.
from $4,765 to $5,500 would cost $5.5 billion over two years.
for achievement in higher education and the workplace."


Having an affordable real estate market for commercial properties, as well as the residential market for employees, certainly helps too, especially when compared to a startup incubator like Silicon Valley. Currently the average rate per square foot in Columbus is around $13 compared to Silicon Valley's $70 per square foot.
With so much happening in the Columbus startup scene, we've compiled a list of top Columbus startups to watch.
Founded in 2016 as a safeguard for lenders, title officers, and realtors to securely complete real estate transactions using blockchain technology, SafeChain procured $3M in February 2018 including the Rise of the Rest Seed fund. Their newest software, SafeWire is the most secure for fraud prevention with client identity verification, bank account verification, and secure wire transfers. In September they were awarded this year's seed-stage company at the 2018 VentureOhio Awards. The company's technology also facilitated a Franklin County multi-property forfeiture sale that was the first time in the country a state government used blockchain to record transfer of deeds.
Root Insurance has flipped the car insurance industry on its head by basing rates on how you drive, not who you are. Without a ton of paper to push or agencies to open, they are using technology to expand rapidly, working towards nationwide expansion. Valued at $1 billion in a $100 million funding round, they were named growth-stage company of the year at VentureOhio 2018.
Prevedere is a fast growing data analytics company, providing real-time data to help business leaders make better decision about their company's future. With $17.6M raised to date, by connecting with and selling into the industries from which they came (industries that are heavily represented in Columbus), they can more easily land pilot projects, secure first customers or engage in strategic partnerships.
PriorAuthNow is a fast-growing startup that automates the complex and time intensive task of obtaining "prior authorization" from insurers to cover a test or procedure. They recently closed on $10.57 million in funding, with plans to use the funding for sales, marketing and software development. They have grown from 33 employees to 75, with hopes to hit 100 by the end of 2018.
Myonexus is pioneering gene therapy treatment for Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. They are developing five novel gene therapies licensed from Nationwide Children's Hospital, a global leader in neuromuscular disease therapeutic discovery and translational research. The CEO, Michael Triplett,was named one of the Entrepreneurs of the year at VentureOhio 2018.
Founded in 2014, Wiretap offers AI supported compliance, monitoring and culture protection for enterprise organizations that deliver today's leading collaboration and messaging platforms, including several Fortune 500 clients, like Slack, Yammer, and Workplace for Facebook. As a global market, Enterprise Social Networks and online communities are expected to grow from $2.6 billion to $12.2 billion by 2026.
Be sure to visit VentureOhio's Watchlist for more of Columbus' up and coming startups.


Dr. Edward Fergus is an Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership at New York University. Before working in this capacity, he was the Deputy Director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education and Research Assistant Professor in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department, also at NYU. Dr. Fergus serves on the board of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, is a Trustee of the Yonkers City School Board of Education, and was appointed by the New York State Governor to the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group. Dr. Fergus has published numerous articles and books including Skin Color and Identity Formation: Perceptions of Opportunity and Academic Orientation among Mexican and Puerto Rican Youth (2004) and recently co-edited a volume titled Invisible No More: Understanding the Disenfranchisement of Latino Men and Boys (2011), both with Routledge Press. He has also conducted research and evaluation studies on school violence, bilingual programs, magnet schools, and disproportionality in special education and suspensions; he is currently the Co-Principal Investigator of the New York State Technical Assistance Center on Disproportionality. Dr. Fergus received a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Education from Beloit College and a Doctorate in Education Policy and Social Foundations from the University of Michigan.


It was always this way. A smiled played across her plum lips as her thoughts gave way to a realization. Today was the day. Butterflies fluttered within depths of her stomach.
This time it was for real, this time it was a definite. She pushed opened the doors and spoke a hello to the man behind the counter. I'm so glad you hired me she said.
"It started out as a feeling which then grew into a hope" Six long years not working was no more.
Hope does spring out of this great prose The beginning of a new life.
Oh I have such empathy with this: twenty years and counting.
I liked this. I wasn't expecting the ending either.
Thank you everyone for stopping in. My work schedule keeps me pretty busy, but I hope to be by to visit you all as well.
very natural and fantastic read.


text:
Guide: Outdoor movie events around the Hudson Valley
Wednesday, July 3, 2019 3:07 PM EDT
Tuesday, October 1, 2019 10:33 AM EDT
Are you a movie lover who is looking for something to do during the summer nights? Here is a list of different movies to watch outside at parks and beaches. While most of the events on this list are free, some may ask for a ticket price. Check the website because dates and times are subject to change.
Here are some tips before you head out:
Check event's website before heading out. Some venues may cancel movie dates due to inclement weather.
Arrive early, parking is sometimes limited and spots may fill up fast so be sure to get there early.
Check event websites on what you can and cannot bring. Some venues ask for attendees not to bring lawn chairs or alcoholic beverages.
Cold Spring Summer Film Series - Dockside Park
June 29 Raising Arizona after sunset
July 13 The Big Sleep after sunset
July 27 Thelma and Louise after sunset
August 10 Rosemary's Baby after sunset
August 24 Field of Dreams after sunset
Cortlandt Concert and Movie Nights - Cortlandt Waterfront Park
June 27 Aquaman at 8:30 p.m.
July 25 Mary Poppins Returns
Katonah Outdoor Summer Movie - John Jay Homestead
June 21 The Princess Bride at 7 p.m.
New Paltz Monday Movies - Water Street Market
July 1 Jaws at 8:30 p.m.
July 8 Ponyo at 8:30 p.m.
July 15 When Harry Met Sally at 8:30 p.m.
July 22 Eighth Grade at 8:30 p.m.
July 29 The Muppet Movie at 8:30 p.m.
August 5 The Simpsons Movie at 8:30 p.m.
August 12 Hudson Valley Short Film Festival at 8:30 p.m.
August 19 Flash Gordan at 8:30 p.m.
August 26 A Quiet Place at 8:30 p.m.
Peekskill Family Movie Nights - Riverfront Green Park
June 28 Mary Poppins Returns at 8:30 p.m.
July 19 Spiderman Into the Spiderverse at 8:30 p.m.
August 9 The House with the Clock in its Walls at 8:30 p.m.
Sept. 6 Akeelah and the Bee at 8:30 p.m.
Bannerman Island Movie nights
July 5 The Wizard of Oz at 7 p.m.
September 27 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein at 7 p.m.
Ossining Movie Nights - Louis Engel Waterfront Park
July 5 20,000 Years at Sing Sing 9 p.m.
August 9 Jaws at 9 p.m.
Ossining Movie Nights - Nelson Park baseball field
July 12 Bad News Bears at 9 p.m.
Poughkeepsie Movies Under the Walkway- Upper Landing Park
July 6 Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse at dusk
July 20 How to Train your Dragon 3 at dusk
July 27 Shazam! at dusk
August 10 Captain Marvel at dusk
Croton Summer Movie Series - Senasqua Park
July 10 Emoji Movie at dusk
July 17 Sherlock Gnomes at dusk
July 24 Paddington 2 at dusk
July 31 Deep at dusk
August 7 Descendants 2 at dusk
New Rochelle Movie Night - Glen Island Park
July 10 Ralph Breaks the Internet at 7 p.m.
Screenings Under the Stars - Kensico Dam Plaza
July 12 Hotel Transylvania 3 at dusk
August 2 How to Train Your Dragon at dusk
Yonkers Movie Mondays - Ridge Hill Shopping Center
July 8 The Lego Movie 2 at dusk
July 15 Mary Poppins Returns at dusk
July 22 The Incredibles 2 at dusk
July 29 Ralph Breaks the Internet at dusk
August 7 The Incredibles 2 at 7 p.m.
August 30 How to Train Your Dragon at 9 p.m.
Andrus on Hudson Movie Night Under the Stars - On Great Lawn
July 17 E.T. The Extra Terrestrial at 8:30 p.m.
Mount Vernon Movie Night - Willison's Woods Park
July 17 Wonder Park at 7 p.m.
Rye Outdoor Family Magic Show and Outdoor Movie - Rye Town Park and Beach
July 17 TBD at 7:30 p.m.
Ossining Movie Nights - Veteran's Park roller rink
July 19 Miracle Ice at 9 p.m.
July 26 American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky at 9 p.m.
Mamaroneck Outdoor Movies - Memorial Park
Sept. 6 North by Northwest at dusk
White Plains Movie Night - Saxon Woods Pool
July 24 Spiderman: Into the Spider Verse at 7 p.m.
Yonkers Movies Under the Stars - Philipse Manor Hall
July 26 The Incredibles 2 at 9 p.m.
Yonkers Movie Night - Tibbetts Brook Park
July 31 Lego Movie 2: The Second Part at 7 p.m.
Bedford Movie in the Park - Bedford Hills Memorial Park
August 8 - Muppets from Space at 8 p.m.
September 6 - Ralph Breaks the Internet at 7:30 p.m.
August 8 The Incredibles 2
August 16 Angels with Dirty Faces at 9 p.m.
September 6 House of Wax at 7 p.m.
Did we miss your favorite showing or location? Click here and let us know!


TS LAWCET Results 2018 - Telangana LAWCET results from the official website @ lawcet.tsche.ac.in. Telangana State Law Common Entrance Test exam has been successfully conducted by Kakatiya University (KU) on behalf of TSCHE 2018 . The candidates who are seeking for the admissions into Law courses have attended for the TS LAWCET exam at various examination centres. Now, all those candidates can check their results from the official website.
TS LAWCET provides the admission into LL.B (3YDC & 5 YDC) & LL.M courses offered by the different Universities in the State of Telangana. TS LAWCET exam has conducted on (27-05-2018 ). The candidate who have attended for the Telangana LAWCET exam are eagerly waiting for their results. Now, the wait is over. KU has declared the TS LAWCET results in the official website @ lawcet.tsche.ac.in. Now, all those candidates can check the TS LAWCET results by entering their Hall ticket number in the required fields.
Click on the TS LAWCET/PGLCET Results 2018 link.
Controller of exams on the website Osmania University the results of the test Telangana Common Entrance State Law (TSLAWCET) 2018 and the test of Common Entrance Law postgraduate state of Telangana (TSPGLCET charged) in 2018 for admission to constituents and colleges in the US state of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state affiliated colleges.
* Admission to the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the Complex 03-yr / 05-yrs and the Master of Laws Legislative (LL.M.) 02-yrs will be followed in the rankings based on guidelines for the distribution of seats for the days after declared state universities Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in due course for the academic meeting 2018-19.


To improve and beat the previous year's subscription performance, without compromising the CPA.
It's no secret that the publication industry is in decline. Industry trends show a 20-50% drop in subscriptions each year, depending on the title. We needed to build and execute a strategy to counteract this downward trend, whilst increasing subscriptions year on year.
Charlotte Hill reveals how we revolutionised Bauer Media's paid media campaign, in turn increasing their subscriptions by 42%.
The magazine industry is a fast-paced, dynamic market and we knew it was essential to create an innovative, yet simple, campaign strategy to cater to this. First and foremost, our strategy had to drive sales, and secondly, it was vital that we were able to keep up with the regularly changing publications, their offers and messaging.
We put our heads together and developed the following strategy, which we have simplified and broken down into steps – starting with perfecting the basics, and then branching out to additional paid activity.
We needed a simple and structurally sound search campaign structure. We laid out a basic template, starting with campaigns containing specific magazine title terms, then broadening to more generic magazine terms. Alongside these, we utilised dynamic search ads to capture terms that would normally be deemed low search volume. The combination of these campaigns drive last-click sales, assisted conversions and, crucially, drive traffic to our landing pages enabling us to generate audience lists.
This structure allowed us the freedom to easily move budget up and down based on performance. If the account was performing well, we knew we could push budget down to the generic terms to get those extra sales, and similarly we could pull our budget right back up when the account was not performing as well.
As our audience lists grew, we were able to segment these into specific pools of users and use them alongside our RLSA campaigns. Our careful segmentation allowed us to tailor our ad copy messaging and make informed bid adjustments depending on a user's intent to purchase. We knew that our customers were less likely to purchase on a first-time click, which is so often the case nowadays, so our RLSA campaigns were an integral part to our strategy.
We also utilised Google's Customer Match to fill in any gaps in our audience lists. These helped us to target customer's who had purchased last year during peak times, such as Black Friday weekend and Christmas.
Creative freedom, clear communication and a strong client relationship enabled us to execute this strategy and really bring it to life. The team were determined to succeed for Bauer, and in the end, delivered some exceptional results.
We then created our shopping campaigns. We began by building a feed which updated whenever Bauer's site changed, for example, if a price on the website updated, our shopping feed would update to reflect this. We then built out our shopping campaigns, categorised and then split by item ID to allow us to bid on products individually, giving us greater control. We overlaid our audiences on top of these campaigns too.
At this point, it seemed logical to expand onto other platforms. Together, Bing and Yahoo account for 22% of the UK market share, so in this declining industry, migrating to these two platforms was a no-brainer in order to help bridge that gap. The replication process was simple for both platforms, and it meant we were covering more bases.
In terms of paid search, we had a solid structure that in worked in sync to deliver some serious results. But we had some demanding targets, and we needed to get in front of a completely new audience to help boost sales. We were able to utilise our Customer Match email lists and upload these to Facebook – creating lookalike audiences based on these lists. We then teamed these with an offer campaign to encourage subscriptions. This proved to be a huge success, with over 3,000 offers claimed over Black Friday weekend alone. All claimed from people that may not have even heard of Bauer before – which is pretty incredible.
Taking a step back, here's a simple visualisation of our overarching strategy, in which you can see how all of the elements come together to fuel those subscriptions, whilst doing so efficiently.
We increased the number of subscriptions by 42% year on year.
We set new record numbers.
We beat Bauer's previous record day for subscriptions by a hefty 40% – but we didn't just do this once. We managed to beat this record day an additional 10 times in the days to follow.
We slimmed down CPA by a third.
In instances like this, when we are pushing the account so hard to achieve such demanding targets, we would expect CPA to increase. However, despite the declining market, we actually managed to decrease CPA by 36%.


In 1970s Boston, a small IRA group led by Frank (Michael Smiley) and Chris (Cillian Murphy) meet on a dockside to conduct a transaction with South African arms dealer Vernon (Sharlto Copley) and his group of henchmen. Directed by facilitators Ord (Armie Hammer) and Justine (Brie Larson) to a dilapidated former factory, the two groups immediately fail to get along. As everyone begins to needle each other it appears the deal could fall apart at any second. Cooler heads appear to prevail, but an incident sets tempers flaring and the situation inevitably descends into violence.
And that, in a nutshell, is the plot to Ben Wheatley's sixth movie Free Fire, the majority of which is comprised of a single gunfight set in one location. And while that might sound a little outré at first, the reality is that Free Fire is Wheatley's most accessible movie in a while, despite it also being one of his bloodiest.
When the mayhem ensues, the ensemble cast find themselves hiding out at strategic points around the factory floor. Lying prone behind inch-high concrete plinths or three-foot wooden weapons caches, they improvise with whatever minimal cover is at hand. The gunshots – and there are plenty of them – are percussive and alarmingly loud. Plonking the audience right down in the middle of staccato crossfire and wildly inaccurate aiming. In some respects, the hideouts, trash talking and perpetual gun battles are a playground game brought to life, but with absurdly deadly consequences.
With its single location gunfight, comparisons will be drawn predictably to Reservoir Dogs – Wheatley himself citing it as a reference point. But tonally, Wheatley considers it similar to Sightseers, and he's not wrong. It does take a little while to warm up – finding the balance between tension and comedy is problematic early on. But once Free Fire gets motoring we get a very funny black comedy, accentuated by strong violence and doused in claret. Stylistically, we get a bit of shaky cam and some Evil Dead style POV flourishes, but crucially nothing detracts from the coherence of the action.
A fantastic cast has been put together, from Sam Riley's greasy junkie Stevo, to regular Wheatley collaborator Michael Smiley's stern performance as Frank, there are no weak links. Armie Hammer, sporting an impressive beard, oozes composure as Ord and gets about as close to likeability as anyone. Sharlto Copley goes typically, wonderfully 'big' as Vernon – obnoxiously, but to hilarious effect, trying to bribe his subordinates into walking through strafing gunfire to retrieve his money, and randomly taking pot shots at anything that moves. While the excellent Cillian Murphy and Brie Larson find a bond as the only two sensible people in the building.
With the seemingly limitless ammunition going off, Free Fire measures up at times like an adult rated A-Team episode. Interestingly, in an audience Q&A after the screening, Wheatley confided that all the characters, bar one, had a limited supply of ammunition – the actors even going so far as to keep the requisite number of blank bullets in their pockets. And if you ever wondered what would happen if anyone actually got shot in The A-Team, Free Fire provides your answer. Wheatley puts his great ensemble through the ringer. Bullets and insults fly in equal measure. Things blow up, people get shot and crawl around the factory in slow-motion pursuit of each other.
Free Fire manages to walk a fine line between realism and O.T.T. action dynamics, with a magnetic cast of reprobates, more firepower than a small army and a dark sense of humour. It's an irresistible package from a consistently excellent filmmaker.
Next Article Australia: 'Bad Girl' Prize Packs up for Grabs!


It took 2.5 years to win the $500,000 settlement from the Chicago Police Department (CPD), after cops raided a Stateway Gardens field house and body searched up to 300 men, women and children, including probing into infants" diapers looking for drugs.
The officers found no drugs, according to Craig Futterman, associate clinical professor of law for the Civil Rights Police Accountability Project of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, University of Chicago in 2000, which he founded. The settlement was a victory for those residents who were simply attending an annual, traditional sports outing, he said.
However, Jenny Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the citys Law Department, said in reaching the settlement it "is not a concession by the city that there was any wrongdoing on the part of the Chicago Police Department or individual police officers, but a resolution to protracted and expensive litigation. "The searches were not alleged to be unreasonably intrusive, sexually offensive, or any different than what people generally experience at airports, sports events, concerts, or any other public place where there are security concerns."
However, Futterman, a graduate from Stanford Law School and the former trial attorney in the Juvenile division of the Cook County Public Defender said, "We achieved a $500,000 settlement of the police raid of the community basketball tournament at Stateway Gardens, in which more than 40 police officers entered the building en masse under the orders from Police Cmdr. Ernest Brown.
"Like a paramilitary operation, they blocked each exit to get out and stopped the games that were in progress and imprisoned all 300 men, women and children who were inside of the field house," he said.
"Over the course of two-hours, they subjected virtually each of the people there, ranging from basketball players in uniform, to moms with young children, even babies -- 7 and 8-year-old babies -- to methodical and invasive searches of their entire bodies."
Specializing in civil rights lawsuits, focusing on matters involving police brutality and racial discrimination, Futterman said this included searches of purses, diaper and gym bags.
"You had parents searched in front of their own children and treated like criminals and children searched in front of their parents who were powerless but to look on." Futterman told the Chicago Defender.
The parents were attending the Stateway Roundball Classic, which is one of the CHA's basketball tournaments that grew out of Midnight Basketball"
"The whole purpose behind the tournament is to promote non-violence, prevent crime and promote community."
Futterman said the program has the support of the mayor and even conservatives. For more than 15 years, he said this event has been a safe place for parents to take their children in public housing.
"You had a mass indiscriminate search with no attempt to differentiate the good vs. the bad guys. Everyone was treated as if they were a member of a criminal conspiracy."
They made only one arrest during the raid, one of his clients, Anthony Jackson, 40, who was a basketball player who brought his 9 and 10-year-old sons to watch him play.
"When he saw police treating his 9 and 10-year-old sons like grown men, like criminals, he objected and told them they didn't have a right to do this." Futterman said because he spoke out he was arrested for disorderly conduct. He said he beat those charges though his client spent a night in jail.
However, since that event, Futterman said, "There hasn't been an organized basketball tournament since this happened." He said this police raid virtually ended a traditional event that was "unadulteratedly good."
He said they sued on behalf of everyone attending that event "to try to change police practices in this community, to try to teach respect and to encourage police officers to treat Stateway residents with the same respect and human dignity as other citizens in the city."
The suit was also filed to address the real harm that was caused to this tournament. "The great news in this settlement, it enabled the Mandel Clinic to give $85,000 back to the Stateway Civil Rights Project to restore the tournaments and to support a human rights monitoring and reporting project that we started with Stateway residents to ensure this won't happen again," said Futterman.
According to Futterman, $100,000 will be distributed to the people who were unlawfully searched, $2,000 each will go to the seven people who filed the suit, $400,000 will be going to the clinics for fees and costs of which $85,000 is being donated back to the Stateway community.
Also working on the case was Randolph Stone, former head of the clinic. "Without Stone, there would be no clinic," said Futterman.
However, neither Stone nor Futterman will get a dime from this settlement. Dr. Carl Bell also donated his time.


We like big boots and we cannot lie. These R13 boots are handcrafted in Italy from premium white leather with a black single stacked sole. They lace up to the front with thin black laces, have a silver zip to the back of the heels and are finished with orange stitching around the sole and two pull tabs to each side.


Deallink started with ideas from three investment bankers tired of paying abusive prices for outdated platforms and unnecessary features.
After an extensive market research, the three friends realized the opportunity to improve and increase competitiveness in the virtual data room market.
The results of the survey were exuberant. Out of the 287 legal advisors and investment bankers surveyed, 82% reported having never used the search feature, where the number rises to 87% when taking into account the ones that used more than once but did not kept using more than 5 times. The survey also reported that 92% never used the Q&A forum because they prefer easier methods such as telephone and/or e-mails because they claim difficult to understand the question and answer forum.
After the results of the 1st survey, we realized the need to deepen the understanding of what these professionals are really looking for in a virtual data room and a 2nd survey was carried out covering new points.
After the results of the 2nd survey, we realized that the success of the transaction, when using a data room, is in the external users hand. Therefore, without forgetting the more robust features like real-time reports, Q&A forum, etc. we focused on the experience of external users, consequently developing a tool that is 100% focused on the success of your transaction.
In order to fulfill our vision and mission, we will work in a smart way, with a sense of urgency, identifying changes and market trends, recognizing mistakes and courageously making decisions to adjust or change our strategic planning and always with the best interest of our customers in mind.
To be the company that offers the best solution and service for financial transactions that require the exchange of confidential documents.
To leverage the success of our customers, and become the largest provider of Virtual Data Room in Latin America (Latam).