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Refining Colorado's Open Records Laws Garners Strong Debate
By Bente Birkeland • Mar 2, 2017
Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams (right) testifying in support of Senate Bill 40, which would require agencies to provide digital records where possible.
Bente Birkeland / Capitol Coverage
Advocates say Senate Bill 40 does something simple: It brings the Colorado Open Records Act into the 21st century by requiring state agencies to provide information in a digital format , such as a database or a spreadsheet, where feasible.
"These are the people's records. We are the custodians, we are the stewards of these records," said Democratic Sen. John Kefalas of Fort Collins. He's the main sponsor of the bill.
For some, the issue is more complicated.
A similar measure proposed last year failed amid concerns about costs and privacy, such as how to handle sensitive personal information that could be contained within a file. For the last year, a bipartisan group has worked on ways to address those issues.
"Too often we in government don't make information easily accessible to people," said Republican Secretary of State Wayne Williams, who was part of the working group. "This bill makes it easier for Coloradans to get the documents in a format that they can use. And it's not always for government to say, 'Oh, I don't like what you might do with that information.' It is the public's data."
The proposal comes with many stipulations in which digital records aren't required: if it's not technologically possible; if private information can't be removed; if special programming is required; or if it could cause safety or security problems. Still, some remain wary of releasing information digitally, including many schools, colleges and even water districts.
"You create a situation where an entity could go out and look for multiple weak points in the system, and attack them," said Doug Kemper, the executive director of Colorado Water Congress, a statewide water advocacy group. He worries that the bill would put the state's water infrastructure at risk.
Others fear agency staffers could make mistakes and accidentally release confidential private data that is not subject to open records law, such as health information.
"What I'm nervous about is the small Kit Carson county clerk who is going to think they they've redacted something," said Eric Bergman with Colorado Counties Inc., a nonprofit that represents county commissioners. "Even when you delete something, sometimes it's not really gone, which just keeps me up at night. It haunts me."
Democratic Sen. Steve Fenberg of Boulder said mistakes could still happen, as it is common practice for an agency to simply print information from a database when an open records request is filed.
"To me, in some ways, it seems like making a ton of photocopies, and having various pages that a social security number could exist on, is just as likely to accidentally result in providing that information if not more likely," he said.
SB 40 has its roots in a conflict that happened two years ago between the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper and Colorado State University. Lauren Gustus, the newspaper's chief editor, said the paper asked for data on salaries and was told to go to the library, "where a 145-page document with nearly 5,000 names and salary figures was being housed."
The newspaper then requested a copy of the university's electronic spreadsheet, but that request was denied. Gustus said a reporter spent three weeks creating a database from the printed document. Advocates for the bill argue that it shouldn't be difficult to access information that is legally public and contained in a simple file.
Sen. Jon Kefalas talks to reporters before the hearing. He said he was cautiously optimistic the bill would pass its first committee. It had already been delayed twice.
Credit Bente Birkeland / Capitol Coverage
SB 40 passed its Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee hearing with a 4-1 vote. The lone "no" vote, cast by Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg [R-Sterling], called the measure a nightmare. Most of the other committee members--two Republicans and a Democrat--voted in favor for now, but expressed qualms.
Mike Krause, with the right-leaning think tank the Independence Institute, criticized politicians for dragging their feet. He hinted at a statewide ballot initiative should things fall apart.
"There's a stakeholder group that has not had its hand on this bill yet, and that is the voting public," he said. "And my experience says the Colorado public is much, much more supportive of transparency, than are many of the stakeholder groups within this building."
While it cleared its first hurdle, advocates said the bill's long-term fate is uncertain. The hearing had already been delayed twice over concerns, and a side issue tangentially related to the bill led The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel to threaten a defamation lawsuit against the committee chairman Ray Scott.
Supporters said several last-minute amendments also might derail it, including one that would expand the open records act to include the Judicial Department, and another that could make fewer government records open to the public. Supporters said they plan to assess the impacts of those amendments before the bill's next debate.
Sen. Scott Defends Tweet: 'People Are Not Reporting The Entire Picture'
By Bente Birkeland • Feb 24, 2017
Republican state Sen. Ray Scott could help define one of the most often used phrases of 2017: fake news.
The battle centers around an opinion column published in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel about Senate Bill 40, a bill to increase access to public records. The column implies that a scheduled hearing was postponed because Scott -- who serves as assistant majority leader -- didn't support it.
Colorado Newspaper Battle Could Define What's 'Fake News' And What's Not
COLORADO SENATE REPUBLICANS
A Colorado newspaper is fighting claims that it peddles fake news stories. The publisher of Grand Junction's Daily Sentinel is accusing a state lawmaker of defamation and threatening a lawsuit. If filed, legal experts said it would be the first of its kind, potentially setting a legal definition for what is considered fake news and what is not.


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Shows inclination or tilt angle as a spirit level and as a number in degrees.
Add a gadget which shows your CPU's statistics on desktop.


text:
Aspiration named as recipient of New Digital Age Grant
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has named Aspiration as one of ten non-profits in the U.S. and abroad to be recipients of "New Digital Age" grants.
We are deeply grateful and humbled to be named alongside such inspiring and world-changing projects as Guardian Project, CitizenLab and Open Technology Institute.
The New Digital Age Grants were established to highlight organizations that use technology to counter the global challenges Schmidt and Google Ideas Director Jared Cohen write about in their book The New Digital Age, including government-sponsored censorship, disaster relief and crime fighting. The book was released on March 4.
"The recipients chosen for the New Digital Age Grants are doing some very innovative and unique work, and I'm proud to offer them this encouragement," said Schmidt. "Five billion people will encounter the Internet for the first time in the next decade. With this surge in the use of technology around the world—much of which we in the West take for granted—I felt it was important to encourage organizations that are using it to solve some of our most pressing problems."
"The grant will enable us to continue helping nonprofits and NGOs around the world leverage technology in secure and sustainable ways, and to work with those funding and building new tools to better understand the needs of organizations on the ground," said Aspiration Executive Director Allen Gunn. "We are truly grateful to be a recipient of this award in the company of so many amazing organizations and projects."
The award even got us a little press coverage, including a nice article on Venture Beat.
The other nine recipients of the New Digital Age Grants are:
C4ADS, a nonprofit research team in Washington, DC, is at the cutting edge of unmasking Somali pirate networks, Russian arms-smuggling rings, and other illicit actors entirely through public records. Their data-driven approach and reliance on public documents has enormous potential impact, and the grant will help with their next big project.
The Citizen Integration Center in Monterrey, Mexico has developed an innovative public safety broadcast and tipline system on social media. Users help their neighbors—and the city—by posting incidents and receiving alerts when violence is occurring in their communities. The grant will help them broaden their reach.
The Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada, is a leading interdisciplinary laboratory researching and exposing censorship and surveillance. The grant will support their technical reconnaissance and analysis, which uniquely combines experts and techniques from computer science and the social sciences.
The Guardian Project, based in New York City, develops open-source secure communication tools for mobile devices. ChatSecure and OSTel, their open standards-based encrypted messaging, voice and video communication services, which are both built on open standards, have earned the trust of tens of thousands of users in repressively-censored environments, and the grant will advance their technical development.
The Igarapé Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, focuses on violence prevention and reduction through technology. Their nonprofit work on anti-crime projects combines the thoughtfulness of a think tank with the innovative experimentation of a technology design shop. The grant will support their research and development work.
KoBo Toolbox in Cambridge, MA, allows fieldworkers in far-flung conflict and disaster zones to easily gather information without active Internet connections. The grant will help them revamp their platform to make it easier and faster to deploy.
The New Media Advocacy Project in New York, NY, is nonprofit organization developing mobile tools to map violence and disappearances in challenging environments. The grant will allow them to refine their novel, interactive, video-based interfaces.
The Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, advances open architectures and open-source innovations for a free and open Internet. The grant will assist their work with the Measurement Lab project to objectively measure and report Internet interference from repressive governments.
Portland State University in Portland, OR, is leading ground-breaking research on network traffic obfuscation techniques, which improve Internet accessibility for residents of repressively-censored environments. The grant will support the research of Professor Tom Shrimpton and his lab, who—with partners at the University of Wisconsin and beyond—continue to push the boundaries with new techniques like Format Transforming Encryption.
The New Digital Age Grants are being funded through a private donation by Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
"Amazing facilitation, inspiring participants and open sharing of knowledge. It's always the highlight of my year."
Courtney Miller, Floatleft

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Что предпочесть: int x = arr.Lenth + strText.Append(x) или strText.Append(arr.Lenth)? Что предпочесть для вывода длины массива:
передать в переменную int x = arr.Lenth, и уже потом сделать strText.Append(x);
или обойтись без промежуточных этапов: strText.Append(arr.Lenth);

Проблема, если правильно понимаю, связана с уничтожением объектов сборщиком мусора. В первом случае в памяти останется только переменная х, во-втором - до момента вывода arr.Length массив будет находится в памяти.
Или нет?

A: Вы бы сперва обозначили скоупы, в которых у вас находятся arr и вызов strText.Append().

Предположим, они находятся внутри одно скоупа.
Есть один важный постулат о работе сборщика мусора:

Время сборки объектов недетерминировано и зависит от реализации CLR

Этому есть куча причин, в которые для ответа вдаваться не нужно. Главное, что из этого постулата вытекает следующее: все потуги рассудить, какой вариант лучше, в общем-то бесполезны.
void Foo()
{
    int arr = new int[5];
    int x = arr.Length;
    // какой-то длинный код
    strText.Append(x); // в этом месте память из-под arr еще может быть не освобождена!
}

Десктопная CLR, как правило, убирает объекты еще до выхода из скоупа, как только они становятся не нужны, поэтому теоретически переменная x имеет смысл.

Если переменные arr и вызов strText.Append() находятся в разных скоупах, время между заполнением массива и вызовом метода сильно неопределенное и на момент вызова метода массив уже давно не нужен, тогда сохранение длины массива тоже теоретически имеет смысл. Чуть больший, чем в первом случае :).

Почему теоретически? Во всех рассуждения об оптимизациях нужно руководствоваться только практикой. Как говорил классик: "Преждевременная оптимизация -- корень всех зол". Поэтому подобные вещи стоит принимать во внимание только когда "припрет": приложение начнет потреблять много памяти, процесс начнет много времени проводить в GC и т.д. Вот тогда берем в руки профайлер, смотрим на неоптимальные участки кода и вносим исправления. А до тех пор подобные вопросы имеют чисто теоретическую направленность.

A: 1) На всех семинарах по C# неоднократно говорилось, что код вида:
   int x = 3;
   int y = x * 2;

оптимизатором превращается в код
 int y = 3 * 2;

выбрасывая х вообще.
2) Давайте подумаем логически. Код
int x = arr.Length;
// какой-то длинный код, очень, очень, очень длинный код, на 1 500 000 строк
strText.Append(x);

зачем оптимизатору держать в памяти, все 1 500 000 строк кода, переменную х?
Если он это может вычислить в нужной точке
strText.Append(arr.Length);

Вариант, когда внутри этих 1 500 000 строчек кода меняется длина arr не рассматривается, потому-что хранение переменной x тогда вообще не имеет смысла.
3) Конструкция типа
 int x = arr.Length;
// какой-то длинный код
strText.Append(x);

имеет право быть, в режиме Debug если Вам нужно посмотреть что происходит с длиной массива (х). В режиме Release оптимизатор ее выбросит (х).
P.S. А чего Вы так боитесь сборщика мусора? У меня была прога, которая обрабатывала 90 000 000 записей базы и работала всю ночь каждый день. И ни разу сборщик ничего нужного не удалил...

A:
передать в переменную int x = arr.Lenth, и уже потом сделать strText.Append(x);

Это имеет смысл делать только если

*

*массив достаточно большой (не пару тысяч элементов, а действительно большой).

*есть код код между int x = arr.Lenth и strText.Append(x); который выполняется достаточно долго (не пол секунды, а действительно долго).

Во всех остальных случаях - не будет никакой ощутимой разницы, делайте как вам удобнее.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Two homemade bombs detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, creating a scene of chaos and killing three visitors and wounding more than 260 other people. Terrorists were two Muslim bothers born in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. One of them was killed shortly after accident.
The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization that regulates international trade. 123 nations signed the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The agreement marked the culmination of the 8-year-long Uruguay Round.
Tokyo Disneyland was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States. The park has seven themed areas and two mini-lands. The park is noted for its extensive open spaces, to accommodate the large crowds that visit the park.
Castro was a member of a revolutionary group and took a key role in the Cuban Revolution which overthrew the former government. Following this, he visited the US where he gave a talk to the Council of Foreign Affairs. President Eisenhower did not want to meet him, so Castro met with Vice-President Nixon instead, whom he disliked.
Ray Kroc, a seller of milkshake machines, opened the first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, outside of Chicago. His first-day sales were $366.12. The Des Plaines interior and exterior was painted by master painter Eugene Wright, who owned Wright's Decorating Service.
Nazi German concentration camp near the villages of Bergen and Belsen, Germany. British and Canadian forces liberated Bergen-Belsen. They found around sixty thousand prisoners in the camp, most of them seriously ill. Approximately 50,000 people died in camp complex. Thousands of corpses lay unburied on the grounds.
Aviation designer Igor Ivor Sikorsky flew his experimental helicopter, the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, for 65 minutes and 14.5 seconds. It was the first successful single lifting rotor helicopter in the United States. VS-300 was also first successful helicopter with single vertical-plane tail rotor configuration for antitorque.
One of the worst natural disasters in the history of the US. The flood started in the summer with exceptionally heavy rains in the Mississippi basin. More than 23,000 square miles of land was immersed, hundreds of thousands of people were without their home, and around 250 people died.
American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly started to sell insulin for treatment of diabetes. The disease was known to medicine from antiquity. Insulin was discovered by Charles Best and Frederick Banting in 1922. It's still used as a medication for high blood sugar today. Typically it is given by injection under the skin.
One of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners Titanic sank into the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. The ship, which carried 2,200 passengers and crew, had struck an iceberg. More than 1,500 people went down in the sinking ship or froze to death in icy water.
Kim II-sung was born in Kim Sŏng-ju, in Japanese occupied Korea. His family participated in anti-Japanese activities. He joined communist party and various anti-Japanese guerrilla groups in China. From this point, he proceeded to become a significant resistance figure, only to later become President of North Korea.
Khrushchev was born in the village of Kalinovka, in Kursk Oblast, Russia. He started working in the Donbas area to get more money for the family. He became chairman of worker's council and joined Bolsheviks later during Russian Civil War. He built up his political career and became First Secretary of the Soviet communist party.
General Electric was formed through the merger of Edison General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, and Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, with the support of Drexel, Morgan & Co. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was formed.
Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln point-blank in the back of the head in president's box of Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.. Lincoln was carried to a boardinghouse across the street from the theater, but he never regained consciousness, and died in the early morning hours.
Durkheim is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science. He didn't engage in direct fieldwork but gathered information from anthropologists and explorers. His book Le Suicide is regarded as the first to make a methodological case study of an aspect of society, and shaped sociological thought as we know it today.
Californian Gold Rush brought an influx of people, raising the population in San Francisco up to 25,000. California was quickly granted statehood and the city incorporated as governing body for the surrounding area. Subsequently, US military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and fort on Alcatraz Island to secure the bay.


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Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — A city worker was taken back Monday after accidentally discovering a dead body in a green area of Playa del Carmen.
The city worker was cutting wild grass in the fractionation of Palmas I when he says he smelled something foul. After wandering around to locate the source, the city worker stumbled upon a human skull.
Police were called. According to preliminary reports, the skull was part of a skeleton found in the grass, which was that of a man. Members of the State Attorney General's Office arrived to collect evidence.


MILAN (Reuters) – Fendi said farewell to Karl Lagerfeld on Thursday, presenting the last line the veteran fashion designer created for the Italian luxury label before his death.
With a replica of his "Love KL" signature displayed behind them, models strutted down the catwalk in a neutral palette of beige, brown, terracotta and dark gray outfits with dabs of green, orange and yellow popping out in the Autumn/Winter 2019 line.
"The bond between Karl Lagerfeld and Fendi is fashion's longest love story, one that will continue to touch our lives for years to come," she said in show notes.
Models' hair was sleek and wavy at the front, and some wore theirs in a pony tail like Lagerfeld, who was instantly recognizable for his white hair and large sunglasses.
Pointy leather boots came in an array of bright colors.


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text:
Taylor Hill Biography, Age, Ethnicity, Net worth, Height and Bra Size
taylor-hill-biography-age-ethnicity-net-worth-height-and-bra-size.html
Born as Taylor Marie Hill, she is best known for being the current Victoria's Secret Angel. By profession, she is an American fashion model as well as an actress too. According to Taylor Hill biography, she was born on March 5, 1996, and that makes her present age be 21 as of now. Her birthplace is Palatine, Illinois, the United States of America. She has been in the modeling industry since 2012. Till date, she has accumulated rosters of fans, followers, and well-wishers by her amazing looks and performances.
Scroll down to explore more interesting facts about Taylor below:
American actress Taylor Hill grew up in Arvada, Colorado under the custody of her parents named Jennifer Rea (Tate) and David Glenn Hill. She has a good childhood memory with her siblings which include two sisters named Logan Rae Hill (born on January 12, 1995) and Mackinley Hill (Born on August 9, 1997) and one brother, Chase Hill (born on April 27, 1999). Both of her sisters are professional models and has made themselves established in the modeling world.
A post shared by Taylor Hill (@taylor_hill) on Jun 30, 2017 at 11:52am PDT
Talking about her education, Hill attended Pomona High School from where she completed her graduation at the age of 16.
Career and Professional Life
The professional career of Taylor Marie Hill started when she was just 14 years old as she was discovered by Jim Jordan in a barn in Granby, Colorado. Jim Jordan is an agent as well as a photographer too. In 2013, Taylor was featured on Intimissimi's catalog and had also contributed to Forever 21's campaign. After that, the model went for Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2014. Coming to the year 2015, Taylor was voted for 2015's most promising model" which gradually made her popularity in the limelight. The same year she grabbed an opportunity to host Victoria's Secret PINK and later she became the youngest Victoria's, Secret Angel.
The August of 2015 was more fruitful to her as Taylor earned the title of "Model of the Year" at Fashion Media Awards. Apart from modeling and fashion world, Taylor Hill contributed as a model for the movie titled The Neon Demon. The debut in the movie made her be on No.17 in the list of Forbes' "The World's Top-Earning Models." She was named in the list because Taylor earned more than $4 million during the year which aids her net worth.
David Yurman shot by Bruce Weber ✨? @davidyurman @bruce_weber @carlynecerfdedudzeele @orlandopita @kaymontano
A post shared by Taylor Hill (@taylor_hill) on Mar 21, 2017 at 10:49am PDT
Till date, actress and model Taylor had appeared in several international magazines and been featured to international brands. As per the survey of Harper's Bazaar Taylor was at No.9 to be the most followed models with more than 3.6 million followers.
What is Taylor Hill Ethnicity?
Tracking her ancestral detail, Taylor Hill's ethnicity is mixed but no doubt her nationality is American.
Taylor Hill Height
Model Taylor height is 5 feet and 9 inches (175 cm) and that is a perfect height for any model. Taylor always maintains her physique by following a proper workout and diet routines. She has the weight of 55kg (121 pounds) which is perfectly balanced weight according to her height.
Taylor Hill Bra Size
Willing to know about Taylor Marie Hill Bra size? Well, she needs a bra size of 32A. Talking about her shoe size, she needs a shoe of size 8 (US) or 38.5 (EU) or 5.5 (UK).
A post shared by Taylor Hill (@taylor_hill) on Feb 3, 2017 at 10:38am PST
Taylor Brown Distinctive Features
So, what makes the model Taylor unique? The answer is, she is blessed with big eyes and also with thick eyebrows. Taylor has an amazing body measurement of 33-23-34 inches. Her dress size is 2 as per U.S. measurements.
How Much is Taylor Hill Net worth?
As of now, Taylor Hill net worth is estimated to be $6 million dollars which she has accumulated from her successful modeling career. Taylor has been contributing to different advertising agents who pay her a considerable amount of salary. Every year, the earnings of the American model has been showing a significant growth.
Who is Taylor Hill Boyfriend?
According to some wiki sites, model Taylor Hill has been dating Michael Stephen Shank who is best known for being a model and an actor as well. Their pictures are quite popular on the internet and fans goes wild seeing these lovely photographs. Hope that Taylor and Michael will get married soon and live their rest of the life as a husband and wife.
Most of the wiki sites including Wikipedia have presented Taylor Marie Hill biography on their sites as she is one of the recognized and renowned young American models. Like other more than 9 million followers, you can follow her on Instagram @taylor_hill. Also, you can follow her on Twitter @taylormariehill to get her latest post and tweets.
Apart from her social networking sites, Taylor hill owns her own website i.e. www.taylorsmariehill.com. For any kind of business inquiries, you can send her an email to her email address tayhillnews@gmail.com. Internet users are found searching about Taylor's ethnicity, hot photographs, contact details and so on.


text:
Flowery Beard Reflects On New Song "Overdose"
NateTaylorr — Social Entitlement
Nics — Like That
· 3 October 2020
London-based French-Haitian singer-songwriter Flowery Beard reflects on new song "Overdose".
Born in Haiti, Flowery Beard immigrated to France at the age of 10 and eventually relocated to London to develop as an artist and finish recording his debut EP. Known for sharing his stories to listeners in order to make them feel better, the newcomer cites the likes of Bob Marley, Frank Ocean and Kanye West as influences—on his latest offering "Overdose", you can hear how those three artists have inspired him. "Overdose" is a reflective song about how your parent's life experience can affect yours built over a gorgeous lo-fi hip-hop production with sprinkles of alternative R&B and reggae. Flowery Beard delivers a smooth and easy listening song sung in French which will resonate with many listeners, who can understand the language.
"I was raised by a single mother who did everything she thought was right for her children, but I could tell that something that could fix her was missing around. Since, I believe that having the person you truly love by your side, can bring a kind of balance in your life. I tried to love and fell for girls that showed me that, sometimes love can also hurt. Especially when you did not feel the same way. So, I stopped looking for love and obviously it hurt more. Then I realised that what we were sharing wasn't love but an overdose of bad drugs" — Flowery Beard.
Stream "Overdose" below:
Connect with Flowery Beard
2020Flowery BeardIndie R&BMusicOverdose
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The FNX-45 features a checkered polymer frame is offered in Black and Flat Dark Earth and has a low-bore axis for reduced felt recoil and enhanced operator control. Interchangeable backstraps are available to quickly customize the grip feel. All operating controls are fully ambidextrous for ease of use. The 5.3″ barrel has a threaded muzzle to accept sound suppressors, compensators and other accessories. The slide has high-profile combat sights.


Abstract : Destabilization of soft interfaces into thin cylindrical filaments under external stresses is ubiquitous and is generally the first step toward breakup. We show that such filaments, called tethers, emerge from a vesicle subjected to gravity. Contrary to the pendant drop experiment, we demonstrate that the bending rigidity, a specific membrane property of vesicles, ensures the tethers reach a stationary state. Moreover, unlike point-like force experiments, we show that the family of shapes is continuous.


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Order the Parkinson's Disease Guidebook
Arm yourself with the most comprehensive information available. Printed version $29.95. Electronic version $24.95. Plus free updates on the latest research for 1 year.
Parkinson's Disease research has made leaps and bounds in our understanding of the disease. The findings have helped patients across the world manage the disease.
Currently a lot of the research is concentrated on trying to identify and locate the genes (or combination of genes) that lead to Parkinson's Disease. To date mutations have been found in four genes that are associated with Parkinson's Disease. The four genes are: alpha-synuclein, parkin, ubiquintin carboxyl terminal hydrolase, SCA2 and DJ-1. These mutations have been found to have a role in abnormal protein processing in cells. Researchers have found that these mutations lead to cell death. This cell death extends to neurons that release dopamine.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a form of medical imaging that allows a 3D image of your brain to be produced. This technique has been key in investigating brain structure in Parkinson's Disease research. It is also allowing us to investigate the structures in the brain where dopamine is produced. Once this has been done, gene therapy should be able to be used more effectively.
Parkinson's Disease research has improved our knowledge and ability to use gene therapy to alleviate symptoms. Glial-derived neutrophic factor (GDNF) has been found to protect dopamine releasing neurons. Trials in humans have been limited, but trials in primates showed that GDNF stimulates the body to produce GDNF naturally. Researchers have also been working with introducing vectors that carry the GDNF gene in monkeys. They have found substantia nigra (dopamine producing) cell death decreases. In other research, gene therapy, using stem cells, was found to reduce some cardinal Parkinson's Disease symptoms, mainly, dyskinesias (the abnormal involuntary movements).
A drug company is currently developing a method in which the dopamine-producing enzyme is replaced in patients. The gene coding for this enzyme is carried in a virus vector, the virus then delivers this gene to the part of the brain that controls movement. Once clinical trials commence PET technology will be necessary to track the movement and actions of the gene and the proteins it produces.
Stem cell research has been a hot topic in the science and political world for several years now. While the ethics around it are being debated, research, although limited continues in some laboratories. There have been some successes in which symptoms have been reduced in rats. Stem cells have the capability of transforming into any other cell in the body. Researchers believe that transplanting embryonic stem cells into target cells in Parkinson's Disease patients may allow regeneration of dopamine producing cells.
With diseases such as Parkinson's researchers also can test existing hypotheses in their real life setting. Rather than hauling in a large number of research subjects to be studied under strict condition, and evaluating a small set of variables, these case studies allow a whole spectrum of phenomena to be studied from a small number of cases. Case studies say what happened in this particular case and why? They question what we already know about the disease and does our prior knowledge make sense in this case, if not, why. In the light of each case we are able to find deficits in our knowledge, and learn what we need to study in the future.
A lot of progress is being made in Parkinson's Disease research. We have come a long way, and have developed drugs and other therapies that help to relieve some of the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Although no cure has been found yet, Parkinson's Disease research continues to make headway.
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Trades Fair
Dream Big Dinner
Rosie Legacy Project
Rosie's Closet
Apprenticeship Info
Tradeswoman Directory
this fine organization
We Educate, Promote and Celebrate.
We Facilitate Access for Women in the Skilled Trades.
The Washington Women in Trades Association was founded in 1978 by and
for women working in the trades to gather and share information.
Washington Women in Trades work matters,
not just to the individual women, but to our whole community.
Washington Women in Trades (WWIT) is a community based, non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization
whose mission is to improve women's economic equity and self-sufficiency through access and
success in high-wage, high-skilled careers in the construction, manufacturing and transportation sector.
This all-volunteer organization has established itself as a group of industry experts who
facilitate connections between the working woman, the 'wanting-to-be-working' woman,
prospective employers and government agencies. We have educated students about women in non-traditional
trades through attendance at school career days, participation in community events and conferences.
We have encouraged networking, established scholarships and counseled women
through difficult work issues. Through hard work and partnership, we have had much success.
While we enjoy celebrating that success, we have much more to do toward helping women both attain
and retain high-wage, high-skilled careers.
Unfortunately, the percentage of women in the construction trades is still dismal,
and the need for trained workers is becoming nearly epidemic.
We continue to strive toward equal opportunity and a strong community infrastructure.
Our most publicly visible project is the Washington Women In Trades Career Fair
held every spring at Seattle Center. Essentially an educational tool to introduce young women
and the general public to the trades, the event hosts over 80 exhibitors and has
an attendance of approximately 1,000 students and work-ready women. The fair features
apprenticeship and resource information, hands-on demonstrations, workshops and career opportunities.
The fair was recently dubbed "The Super Bowl of Northwest Career Fairs"!
In 2007, we created a second major event, the Annual Dream Big Dinner©, an awards banquet
and all round celebration of Tradeswomen. It's also the moment when we unveil
the annual "Rosie" calendar, a very special project which features 12 women who worked
as Rosie the Riveters during WWII.
Robin Murphy, Co-Chair
Jo Scherer, Co-Chair
Nettie Dokes, Treasurer
Cathie Jett, Herstorian
Sharon Walker, Member at Large
Cynthia Payne, Project Manager
Other events and activities of note...
WWIT has been proud to partner with the University of Washington on a study with a focus on women's health and safety in construction. The study is completed and researchers are compiling data. The second part of the project will be to create ways to address issues, particularly with a mentorship program. More info here.
WWIT sponsored Portland's Girls Build and brought their award winning summer camp to Seattle!
The camp was SO fun! For info on Oregon camps, visit the links below.
Portland Girls Build: Program creators & staff
Check out our photos on Facebook
WWIT members work to help the homeless find permanent housing through their involvement with the Women4Women Tiny House Project
WWIT has participated in The Northwest Women's Show where we made connections
with a vast variety of women, we co-produced a Women's History Month Forum at the
Museum of History & Industry, which featured the 2008 Rosie Calendar Girls
and we played a major role in the 1st Annual King County Construction Career Days
event held at the Enumclaw Expo Center.
In an effort to support female apprentices and others who are new to the skilled
trades occupations, WWIT has created a women's work clothes clearinghouse called "Rosie's Closet".
It's a way for anyone (men or women) interested in donating lightly used work clothing
to be used by someone interested in walking in a similar career path.
We offer occasional seminars, we are available for speaking engagements and mentorship; we have monthly informal Meetups with locations throughout the city of Seattle, and meet reguarly for business meetings.
And as always, we continue to honor and support the legacy of our foremothers, the legendary WWII Rosie the Riveters through our annual calendar project.


Tina Bicat is the Costume Technician for the Drama programme at St Mary's and works with the Drama students on costume for performances. She also lectures on the Creative Thinking module.
In the outside world she is a freelance theatre designer, inventor and maker.
Her credits include design and realisation of costume, set, transformations, illusions, special effects, puppets, masks, installations and community workshops and consultancy leading to performance for Amici, The Barbican Centre , Filament Theatre Company ,Flying Cloud Theatre, Kew Gardens, Mahagony Opera Company and the Greta Tree Climbing Company , NIE, Ockham's Razor, Punchdrunk and the ENO, The National Trust, RedCape Theatre, South Bank Centre, Stefano di Renzo, Tallerspiral ,and The Young Vic.
Tina won Critic's Circle award for Design with the team of the site- specific company PunchDrunk and is an Associate member of Ockham's Razor, winners of the 2016 Total Theatre Award at Edinburgh Festival. She has written seven books on practical aspects of theatre practice all published by the Crowood Press.
At the moment, along with her work with the Drama Students here, she is designing for Amici, the integrated dance company at the Lyric Theatre for '35 Amici Drive ' and 'Tightrope', with Filament on 'Rufus Longbottom and the Space Rabbit' in Stratford, Oxford and Derby, and developing two new shows with Ockham's Razor and with RedCape Theatre. Technically minded St Mary's students will intern with her on these shows, and our graduate students are often employed by these companies.
Tina's overriding interest lies in inventing visual solutions to ideas within a performance company and making them happen.


RBI dollar swap mechanism is a way adopted by the apex bank to improve liquidity in the system and also curb any volatility in the rupee movement against the dollar. Herein the bank dollar balance is converted into rupees.
Also, the dollar swap phenomena can well be compared to the apex bank's OMO or open market operations as it instills liquidity into the economy. Furthermore, for the India's forex reserve situation it bolsters its dollar reserves and checks any steep appreciation in the rupee, thereby indirectly supporting exporters.
In a view to foster liquidity into the system, RBI conducted dollar swap on March 26 for a targeted amount of $5 billion. But during its operation, it received bids for as much as nearly $16.3 billion.
And in view of it, the RBI yet again announced a dollar swap of $5 billion on April 23.
The dollar swap works similar to a repo wherein the sale and re-purchase price is predetermined. The close-ended swaps are open to banks and have a term of 3 years. And in the swap auctions, banks will make the bid on forward rate that is lower than the market rate and monetize their dollar holdings and the RBI builds Forex reserves.
It is to overcome the liquidity deficit in the economy which still prevails despite RBI infusion Rs. 40,000 on a month-on-month basis through open market operations. The liquidity shortfall as of December 2018 came in at Rs. 100,000 crore. Also, the apex bank absorbed bond issuance in its balance sheet by a huge 75%.
In a broad way, 3 objectives will be realized i.e. liquidity will be strengthened by Rs 35,000 crore each month at $5 billion. The country's Forex reserves will also get a boost by $5 billion and there will be still scope for further enhancement in reserves. It is pointed that Forex reserve of the country has been dragged to just 9 months of imports and this gap can be met by the Forex swap move.
Also, as dollar will remain in demand from the RBI, any gains in the rupee will remain in check.


Paul Qui standing in front of his original food trailer, with his partner, Motoyasu Utsunomiya. / © Jay B Sauceda Organizers for Austin's massive annual music, film and technology festival, South by Southwest (which kicks off Friday), tapped Top Chef: Texas winner and former Uchiko executive chef Paul Qui to curate a selection of 16 food trucks for SouthBites, the event's first official food court. Qui currently operates three East Side King trucks, and last December he parlayed their success into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. When choosing businesses for the project, he looked for diversity beyond hot dogs and burgers, such as the famous Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and South African local favorite Cazamance. Here, Qui reveals the secrets to operating a fantastic food truck and his picks for the best food at SouthBites.
Organizers for Austin's massive annual music, film and technology festival, South by Southwest (which kicks off Friday), tapped Top Chef: Texas winner and former Uchiko executive chef Paul Qui to curate a selection of 16 food trucks for SouthBites, the event's first official food court. Qui currently operates three East Side King trucks, and last December he parlayed their success into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. When choosing businesses for the project, he looked for diversity beyond hot dogs and burgers, such as the famous Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and South African local favorite Cazamance. Here, Qui reveals the secrets to operating a fantastic food truck and his picks for the best food at SouthBites.
Do as little work as possible (during service). Food truck offerings have to be easy to eat, somewhat accessible, and quickly prepared. "Barbecue is perfect because after you've put in the work brining and smoking the brisket, all you're doing is slicing and serving." Another ideal menu item? Fried food, which cooks superfast.
Insider tip: Get anything "bunny chow," a type of South African bread pocket made from a hollowed-out loaf.
Can't-miss: beef tongue pastrami, duck confit steamed buns and green curry blue crab.
Follow writer Jasmin Sun on Twitter @jasminsun.


10/02/19 SCOTTISH CUP 5TH ROUND CELTIC V ST JOHNSTONE CELTIC PARK - GLASGOW Scott Sinclair celebrates after scoring to make it 3-0.
He was unplayable in his first season at Celtic Park with a 25-goal tally and with 17 already this term Scott Sinclair has rediscovered top gear.
But, with the final year of his contract coming up after the summer, the 29-year-old winger still doesn't know if he'll be a Celtic player next season.
According to The Scottish Sun, Sinclair is awaiting word from Hoops chief executive Peter Lawwell on a year's option the club hold on him.
Neil Lennon has made no secret of his admiration for the former Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea star.
But with his own position as 'interim' manager, the ultimate decision will come down to the man upstairs.
Sinclair has been a constant in the team almost his entire Celtic career and has won six trophies under Brendan Rodgers.


The Veridian SmartHeart Premium Display with Easy Cuff Blood Pressure Arm Monitor features clinically accurate readings and is European Society of Hypertension validated. It offers a clamp-style cuff for easy application and delivers simultaneous systolic, diastolic and pulse results. The two person memory bank holds 90-readings per user. Includes: monitor, adult clamp-style nylon arm cuff, four AA batteries, detailed English/Spanish guidebook, quick start guide, FAQ pamphlet and blood pressure charting log.


Also I didn't mean to draw Cas so small in the second panel, they're actually meant to be slightly taller/bigger than Amy.
Yaay!! Thank you!! Yeah! Or maybe Amy's intimidating presence makes Cas FEEL small which we see through my brilliant use of visual metaphor THAT WAS DEFINITELY ON PURPOSE!
What's way past cooler than cool shades? Gluing yourself to people.
And if you glue cool shades to their faces too? Wooooo, look out!


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"Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies" Review
December 6, 2013 December 5, 2013 Ashley Hagood
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies by Capcom is a game that has it all: an eye-catching presentation style, quirky characters, and intricately-woven stories. These stories are legal cases that players are tasked with solving, and they are addictive. I poured hours into this game every night for several days, and when I was away from my Nintendo 3DS, I had the cases replaying in the back of my mind so I could pounce on the next piece of evidence as soon as I got back to the virtual courtroom. Plus, there are astronauts. And magic panties. Dual Destinies is just plain fun, and for me it's been a refreshing reminder that that's exactly what video games should be.
You start the game as Athena Cykes, an 18-year-old defense attorney just starting her career at Wright Anything Agency. Throughout the game, she and rookie attorney Apollo Justice try to prove themselves as lawyers. When things get sticky, Athena often feels like an amateur, but she always manages to pick herself up and try again. And Apollo has his Chords of Steel to make himself feel more confident. ("I'm Apollo Justice, and I'm fine!") The two of them are the protagonists for most of the game, but Phoenix Wright is at the agency to give them advice, and he later makes a grand return to the courtroom.
Juniper Woods.
Besides these main characters, there are several recurring characters who reappear during different cases. These include Athena's childhood friend Juniper Woods (who is always being accused of murder in spite of how sweet she is), over-eager detective Bobby Fulbright, and prosecutor Simon Blackquill, a convicted criminal who comes to the courtroom with chains still on his wrists and his pet hawk in tow. I enjoyed most of the characters — even the unlikable ones and the killers — because for the most part, their eccentricities make them charming rather than annoying. I found myself laughing out loud at some of their outbursts and clever turns of phrase.
Cases seem simple at first, but that's how they're deceptive. As an investigation progresses, new details come to light. Mistaken identities, new clues, and red herrings are all perfectly placed. I never felt confused by a case; everything was always in order, and evidence cropped up naturally, often at just the right moments. It made every case feel real. Often, you (and the characters) figure out who the killer is long before the case is concluded — the trick is how to prove it. When the whirlwind of details settle and you're are finally able to make your case with evidence, it's a totally satisfying thrill.
The cases also take on themes that I imagine are present in the real world of law. Wright often has advice for his rookie attorneys; when they're stuck, he reminds them to go back to their roots and believe in their client first and foremost. The game is set during the so-called "Dark Age of the Law," with prosecutors and defense attorneys fabricating evidence to win cases. For instance, in the third case at Themis Legal Academy, students are split between one professor's belief that the "end justifies the means" and another professor's belief that only through legitimate means can a case be won. Idealism and honesty are at odds with the idea of winning at all costs. These themes deepen the game and make cases even more thought-provoking.
Just be prepared for long cases. Never having played a Phoenix Wright game before, I didn't know what to expect. The first case took me about three hours to complete, but the next ones took longer. When I thought the second case was drawing to a close around 11 PM on Thanksgiving night (in my real life, that is!), I, determined to finish it, stayed up for three more hours. Cases often take unexpected turns that postpone verdicts, so don't get too excited the first time you think you've nailed it!
❤❤♡
Blackquill and his hawk.
To solve cases, you need to investigate the crime scene to gather evidence, interview people (who could become potential witnesses and suspects), and then make your case in the courtroom. There is some back and forth here; for instance, after a day at court, you may be ushered back to the crime scene to do some more investigating. This involves moving the cursor around the screen and selecting areas to research; sometimes the camera zooms in on the area for more detailed digging. During the investigation phase of a case, you can choose from a list of unlocked areas — such as the crime scene, the Wright Anything Agency, and the Detention Center where your defendant is being held — to talk to different people and investigate the various spots related to the case.
But the courtroom is where some of the most interesting information comes to light. Evidence that once seemed cold suddenly becomes relevant as new testimony is revealed. After witnesses testify, you cross-examine them by pressing them for more information and identifying contradictions between what the witnesses are saying and what the evidence actually shows.
This can be tricky. At first I thought that every time a witness testifies, I must find a contradiction — so if I was stumped, I made wild guesses. But by the third case, I'd learned that sometimes you have to accept a piece of testimony you don't want or focus on something unusual rather than presenting evidence. It's not possible to beat Dual Destinies by trying to figure out how the game works; you really have to take it trial by trial, conversation by conversation, and immerse yourself in the evidence and testimony. Things don't always go according to plan, so you have to think on your feet.
However, there was one thing I found slightly frustrating: there are times when two pieces of evidence are similar, but only one will work, leading to "wrong" answers and unfair penalties. For instance, I once presented a voice analysis of a recording, only to find out that I had to present the actual recording to proceed. These instances reminded me that I was playing a video game and made cases feel less dynamic. It's not a major issue, but it might have been helpful if the game allowed for two answers where both made sense.
There are also times when you must choose from a list of possible answers to progress a case. Instead of showing evidence, you have to present the correct theory and watch as your character backs it up.
When you get something wrong, the judge slaps them with a penalty. Get too many penalties, and the judge declares the defendant guilty — meaning you lose your case. However, the game is very forgiving; losing a case just means you have to "try again" and pick up at the last crucial moment in the case. I never lost more than a minute of progress when I failed the first time.
Mood Matrixing.
Athena and Apollo have special skills they use to shed light on the case when talking to people. Athena studied analytical psychology, so she's able to sense when people's emotions are discordant. Using her Mood Matrix, she can identify when witness's emotions are too strong, too weak, or contradict what is being said; for instance, someone might be happy when describing a tragedy. Once these emotions are cleared up, the witness might be able to remember things more clearly or spill a secret. Meanwhile, Apollo has a bracelet that tightens around his wrist when someone is lying. He can then identify tics that give away which part of a statement a witness is lying about.
Of course, it's up to you to pinpoint the emotions and tics. I found using Apollo's bracelet was a breeze, but I was stumped using the Mood Matrix a couple of times — which was great. I only wish the game gave players more opportunities to use these!
Dual Destinies' presentation was a pleasant surprise for me. The 3D is stunning. My eyes always get tired from it after a while, so I typically turned the 3D on and off at different times depending on how I felt — but it's always an option and works very well. For instance, in the second case, the defendant Jinxie Tenma slaps a warding charm on Apollo's forehead, which is shown from Apollo's first-person perspective. In 3D, it's fun to see the paper fluttering on "your" forehead, with Jinxie standing there beyond it and the buildings even farther back behind her.
I also loved that the screen was almost always animated. Characters move their mouths when they speak, leaves fall in the background, lanterns sway in the breeze. Juniper whips a sunflower off her hat and breathes from it when she has a coughing fit. Phineas Filch tips his head to the side until his hat starts to fall off, then catches it to push it back on. And Florent L'Belle does all kinds of things, from fluffing the flower on his lapel to laughing behind his hand. These are just a few of my personal favorites.
Another thing I noticed is that the text scrolls faster during exciting moments. Other times, it seems to pause or scrolls out haltingly, as if a character is thinking carefully as she speaks. It's a subtle touch, but it adds a nice sense of pacing and presence to the conversations (as long as you don't hurry through them by pressing B, which I totally did after the first couple of cases).
Cutscenes are few and far between, but they have an appealing anime style and offer a welcome break from clicking through conversations. Aside from the thrilling interjection of things like "OBJECTION!" or "HOLD IT!" the only voiced parts of the game are during these cutscenes. Dual Destinies is definitely a dialogue-heavy game, and you'll be reading your way through almost all of it. I can see this being tedious for some players, but that's the type of game this is, and I didn't mind it at all. It's a visual novel elevated by the voiced cutscenes, the interactive case-solving, and the frequent character animations.
As for the music… I might not love the soundtrack to this game, but it works. The music changes frequently enough that no single tune becomes annoying. I also liked that when the case picks up, so does the music. And some characters have what could be considered theme songs; for instance, guitar rock starts playing whenever rockstar-turned-prosecutor Klavier Gavin turns up.
The sound effects add another level of immersion to the game. Though subtle, sounds like birds chirping in the background, the whir of a globe being spun, and chains rattling make each scene feel more real.
Most importantly, the screens are easy to navigate, and information is handy to keep you on track. You can almost always click on the speech box at the bottom of the screen to scroll through the latest conversation, which is helpful when the game prompts you to do something specific that you can't quite recall. You can also save your game at any time. The evidence is always available to flip through, and during the investigation phase, you can check your notes to see what activities you've just completed and what else you need to do to progress to the next stage. For instance, your notes might tell you to talk to a certain character or head to the crime scene.
When it comes to difficulty, Dual Destinies feels balanced. There are times when the game maybe holds your hand a little too much — such as when it whisks you through black-and-white flashbacks of things that just happened — but hey, sometimes that's helpful. After all, I probably played for longer sessions than others, so the refreshers are bound to be necessary if you've spent a couple days away from the game. Overall, I appreciate that Dual Destinies is straightforward, because the cases have enough twists and turns to keep your brain going as it is.
FINAL IMPRESSION
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤♡
The bottom line for me? I loved this game, and now I can't wait to go back and play the rest of the series. I had no idea what I was missing. =)
Tagged Ace Attorney, Apollo Justice, Athena Cykes, Blackquill, Capcom, Chords of Steel, Dual Destinies, game review, Juniper Woods, lawyer game, Mood Matrix, Phoenix Wright, review, solving cases, video games
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4 thoughts on ""Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies" Review"
iamspacegiraffe says:
Looks like textbook Phoenix Wright to me!
I was sold by that screenshot of Apollo with an eyepatch!
I have intentionally read nothing about this game and want to go into it fresh because they left so many unanswered questions at the end of Apollo Justice… I can't wait to play this one!
Thanks for the spoiler-free review.
Nice, enjoy! I want to Apollo Justice next… I really liked his character in this game. And his crazy hair. =)
simpleek says:
I can't wait to get this game at some point. I haven't finished all the Phoenix Wright games yet, but they're so much fun. Definitely pick them up. :)
Fallyn says:
Hi there, sorry to interrupt, just wanted to drop in and say I nominated you for the Sunshine Award.
http://latenightcomic.com/2013/12/11/the-sunshine-award/


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Akhaada is a 2019 Kannada film written and directed by Shiva Ganesh. Despite beginning in production in the early 2010s, the film remained unreleased before the makers chose to release it via YouTube in July 2019. Notably, the film's antagonist Vijay Sethupathi had a long-running battle with the producers to discourage the release of the film's Tamil version, Edakku, before it had an online release in October 2021.

Cast
 Vasanth Vishnu
 Vijay Sethupathi
 Nayana Krishna
 Avinash
 Chitra Shenoy

Production
In 2010, Bangalore-based industrialist Shanmuga Sundaram announced plans of launching his son Vasanth Vishnu as an actor with the film Akhaada. He was impressed by the story of Tamil director, S. Shivan – later known in Kannada cinema as Shiva Ganesh, and chose to make Vasanth the lead actor in the project. Subsequently, Vasanth went to Chennai to learn acting and stunts under the tutorship of Thavasi Raj. The film marked the second film for Shivan after Hrudayadali Idenidhu, while Dharma Prakash was signed as music composer and Shaman Mithru as cinematographer.

The film's shoot was held at Chikmagalur, Madikeri, Golconda, Kolar Gold Fields and in and around Bangalore for 52 days. The shoot of the film later became stalled, with new cast members later brought on board to finish the film. In spite of the common nature of filming digitally, this film was shot with negative rolls. The audio soundtrack of the film was released in late 2011 at GM Rejoyz Banquet Hall in Bangalore, with Sri Yogishwara Rishikumara Swamiji attending as the chief guest.

In June 2014, the makers of the film decided to promote a dubbed Tamil version, titled Edakku, with actor Vijay Sethupathi given extra prominence in the promotional campaign. It was revealed that the Tamil version was financed by N. Vasanth's Triangle Films and had dialogues written by Ulagesh Kumar. Vijay Sethupathi later spoke out against the producers for trying to use his fame in the Tamil cinema industry for their own benefit, adding that he had a minor role in the original film, and that the team were exaggerating his importance. He added that he did not dub for the Tamil version of the film.

In September 2017, the makers decided to promote the proposed Tamil version again, prompting Vijay Sethupathi to make a further media clarification about the misrepresentation surrounding the project. He noted "this has become a very common thing in the industry" and that "the audience as well as the distributors know about the film". The film was censored in mid-2018 and the makers and the lead actor, Vasanth Vishnu, restarted promoting the film.

Release
In July 2019, a dubbed Hindi version of the film was released on YouTube under the name of Akhaada. In October 2021, the Tamil dubbed version of the film, Edakku, was also released on YouTube.

References

2019 films
Films directed by Shiva Ganesh
2010s Kannada-language films

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Sixties/Seventies Notebooks (pack of 12) - Pay Less at Carnival Source!
Size 2.25 inch W x 3.5 inch T.
Details:Write a note or draw a picture on this spiral bound, retro notebook. This notebook is a great addition to your birthday goody bag.


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SAC-IAWJ Conference Gala Dinner
President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the annual conference gala dinner of the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ)
South Africa – Botswana Trade Expo
President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Mokgweetsi Masisi walk through the Trade Expo during the SA – Botswana Business Forum in Gaborone
South Africa - Botswana Business Roundtable
President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Mokgweetsi Masisi leading High-Level Talks at the SA - Botswana Business Roundtable in Botswana
Female Farmer's Dialogue
Deputy President David Mabuza addresses the Female Farmer's Dialogue launch held in Thaba Nchu, Free State Province
Banyana Banyana at Union Buildings
The team present the WAFCON trophy at the Union Buildings to President Ramaphosa
Address by Minister in the Presidency, Mr Mondli Gungubele (MP) during the Green Hydrogen Stakeholder Engagement, Port Nolloth
17 January 2022 - 1:00pm
Programme Director,
Premier of the Northern Cape, Dr Zamani Saul
MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Abraham Vosloo
MEC for Roads and Public Works, Ms Fufe Makatong
MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development, Environment and Nature Conservations, Ms Mase Manopole
Mayor of the Namaqua District Municipality, Mr Mervin Cloete
Mayor of the Richtersveld Local Municipality, Mr Cornell Knoph
The Executive VP for Sasol Energy Business, Ms Pricscilla Mabalane
Our Head of Investment and Instructure in the Presidency, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgoba;
All distinguished guests
We are very excited to be forming part of this ground-breaking venture between National Government, the Northern Cape Provincial Government and Sasol which will bring much needed economic growth and investment to our shores through the production of green hydrogen (H2).
South Africa has a long history investigating green hydrogen. Since 2007, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) has been researching green hydrogen with a focus on green mobility and the use of the platinum group metals.
Over the past two years there has been a proliferation of net zero commitments by nations and corporations. This has brought into renewed focus a need to decarbonise traditionally 'hard-to-abate' sectors such as:
• heavy duty transport;
• aviation;
• maritime; and
• heavy industries like steel, cement and ammonia manufacturing.
These hard-to-abate sectors cannot be decarbonised through renewable energy (RE) and electrification or through RE and battery storage. Green H2 provides the best, long-term, opportunity to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors as its use is free of emissions.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is developing a hydrogen commercialisation strategy; and the Northern Cape and Gauteng Provinces are developing provincial green hydrogen strategies focused on exports and domestic decarbonisation respectively.
South Africa has a number of strategic advantages which could make it a globally competitive green H2 production area. These advantages include the following:
1. A superior RE endowment of both onshore wind and solar. RE is the largest cost component in the production of green H2;
2. Holding largest concentration of known Platinum Group Metal reserves. Platinum is a major component in the manufacture of fuel cells and PEM electrolysers and 90% of known reserves are in South Africa and Zimbabwe;
3. A deep expertise of the Fischer-Tropsch Process used to produce powerfuels such as diesel, petrol and kerosene (jet fuel);
4. The availability of large tracts of relatively cheap land for RE production;
5. A large electric grid for the wheeling of RE; and
6. A large domestic industrial base as a source of local demand.
Green H2 is still an emerging sector but is one with significant potential. Global green H2 demand could reach 530 million tons by 2050, displacing roughly 10.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (around 37% of pre-pandemic global oil production.) The green H2 export market could be worth USD 300 billion per annum by 2050. Green H2's export potential and its potential to decarbonise local industry have so far not yet been fully explored by South Africa.
While South Africa has a number of inherent advantages that would enable it to be a major player in the anticipated green hydrogen economy, we are behind the curve in announcing our intentions and appetite to the rest of the world relative to our competitors such as Chile, Australia, North Africa and the middle east.
Over the past 12 months, Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) has been working with the Northern Cape (NC) and Gauteng provincial governments to develop catalytic green H2 projects that will underpin provincial green H2 strategies with the NC being the production hub and Gauteng being the domestic demand hub. These projects and strategies together with the DSI's H2 Society Roadmap for South Africa will be the foundation of a national green H2 strategy.
The NC and Gauteng have signed the following agreements which were launched at SIDSSA21:
• A MoA between the NC and Sasol for Sasol to be the anchor developer of the planned Boegoebaai Green H2 SEZ;
• A MoA between the NC and the Port of Rotterdam (PoR) for the PoR to act as a demand aggregator for green H2 into Europe; and
• A MoA between Gauteng and Sasol for Sasol to develop green H2 production facilities in Gauteng aimed at decarbonising domestic industry.
Sasol is a major grey H2 manufacturer producing approximately 2.4 million tons per annum for the domestic market. The production of green H2 provides Sasol with an opportunity to leverage its expertise to enter a new market through green field facilities like the planned Boegoebaai Green H2 SEZ adjacent to the planned Boegoebaai port which we are inspecting today.
The German Government through its H2Global initiative has created a sustainable aviation fuel market trading platform which is intended to provide funding to green hydrogen products globally. South Africa has the potential to become a global sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) hub due to our renewable endowment and Fisher-Tropsch technology capabilities. Sasol is working with a number of local and international partners on a pioneering sustainable aviation fuel project at the Sasol Secunda facility.
This project has been assessed by the Investment and Infrastructure Office in the Presidency. The project was found to have the potential to contribute to a just transition of South African workers and communities from coal through creating quality, green jobs. The re-positioning of Sasol's infrastructure away from fossil fuels has the potential to promote and sustain employment, livelihoods and economic inclusion for historically marginalised communities and sectors of our society while positively contributing to domestic and international net zero commitments. Due to its catalytic nature and its potential to contribution to a just transition, the Investment and Infrastructure Office submitted a letter of support to H2Global for the Sasol Consortium's SAF project.
Due to the multi-sectoral implications of green hydrogen, the Presidency will be playing a convening and coordinating role across government with respect to green hydrogen.
In this respect, the Presidency and GIZ, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, (BMZ), have agreed to collaborate on the topic of green hydrogen and to thus jointly implement the project "Promoting the development of a green hydrogen economy for South Africa", abbreviated as H2.SA with Eur 12.5 million funding support from BMZ.
The project aims to:
• Support the development of a favourable strategic and regulatory framework for a green hydrogen economy in South Africa;
• Coordinate the important contributions of different government departments and stakeholders for such a framework;
• Enable relevant actors to build a green hydrogen export economy;
• Enhance capacity and knowledge of South African stakeholders in the green hydrogen and Powerfuels sector; and
• Mitigate potential implications of a green hydrogen and Powerfuels economy on the environment, society, and the economy.
The Investment and Infrastructure Office is in the process of developing South Africa's inaugural Country Investment Strategy (CIS) which should be released for public comment before the end of the first quarter of this calendar year.
The CIS aims to position South Africa as a key preferred African investment destination by attracting and facilitating quality Foreign and Domestic Direct Investment into the country, in a well-co-ordinated manner, anchored by quality institutions and robust economic infrastructure networks. This is in the country's important endeavour of advancing its National Development Plan (NDP) target of 30 percent of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030.
The CIS aims to achieve this through:
i. Catalysing a new investment model to address current under-investment;
ii. Attracting quality greenfield investments into South Africa;
iii. Identifying high-impact and high-growth industries which will accelerate contributions to GDP;
iv. Supporting existing industries and developing new industries;
v. Consolidating and strengthening existing capacity in identified priority sectors through enhancing policy certainty; and
vi. Targeting areas of intervention, accompanied by the mobilisation of resources and improved institutional co-ordination.
The CIS is importantly underpinned by and aligned to the aspirations and objectives articulated in the NDP, the country's Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan (ERRP), the Re-imagined Industrial Strategy (RIS), Sector Masterplans and the National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) 2050.
A data-driven sector prioritisation model was developed to determine the sectors that should be prioritised from an investment-growth perspective within the context of limited fiscal resources. It is important to note that the aforementioned data-driven sector prioritisation approach is combined with identified strategic investment opportunities by government, known as South Africa's 5 Big Frontiers. Big Frontier 1 is green hydrogen and its ability to place South Africa at the global forefront of green energy.
South Africa can maximise the potential of green H2 by following a dual strategy entailing maximising the export potential of green H2 derivative products in the short-term and using green H2 as an enabler for domestic, industrial decarbonisation and attracting hard-to-abate industries to relocate to South Africa in the medium term. Both strategies would be underpinned by localisation.
Green hydrogen is not only potentially catalytic for the Northern Cape but for South Africa as a whole. It represents a real reindustrialisation vector and a potential enabler of mineral beneficiation by coupling our mineral resource endowment with green energy.
This project is testament to our Constitutional imperative of partnership and participation as a young democracy.


text:
typedef OSSpinLock hlld_spinlock;
#define INIT_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { *spin = OS_SPINLOCK_INIT; }
#define LOCK_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { OSSpinLockLock(spin); }
#define UNLOCK_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { OSSpinLockUnlock(spin); }

#else
#ifdef _POSIX_SPIN_LOCKS
// On most POSIX systems, use pthreads spin locks
typedef pthread_spinlock_t hlld_spinlock;
#define INIT_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { pthread_spin_init(spin, PTHREAD_PROCESS_PRIVATE); }
#define LOCK_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { pthread_spin_lock(spin); }
#define UNLOCK_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { pthread_spin_unlock(spin); }

#else
// Fall back onto a mutex
typedef pthread_mutex_t hlld_spinlock;
#define INIT_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { pthread_mutex_init(spin, NULL); }
#define LOCK_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { pthread_mutex_lock(spin); }
#define UNLOCK_HLLD_SPIN(spin) { pthread_mutex_unlock(spin); }

#endif
#endif

#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
In Defense of Israel
Armstrong Williams
Evil Florida
Pick up any newspaper and you might get the impression that Israel is being ruthless and aggressive when it comes to dealing militarily with the Palestinians. That is especially true for those living under the control of the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Regardless of manipulation of the news by Hamas, this could not be further from the truth.
Most recently, terrorists in Gaza were responsible for firing 200 rockets and explosive projectiles into southern Israel in the span of one day. Contrary to what Hamas may lead you to believe, these deadly weapons were not directed at military bases or government buildings; instead, they were directed at civilians and population centers. In the terrorists' eyes, the more innocent Israelis who are wounded or killed, the better; that is the goal and they are not afraid to admit it.
Thankfully, Israel is well prepared for such attacks and is unafraid to appropriately defend itself. The country must be, for it has suffered through these attacks almost constantly for years on end. The Red Alert system, which warns Israelis of incoming attacks with a mere 15 seconds of lead time, blares relentlessly throughout the barrages. Mothers and their families scramble to take cover as the Palestinian terrorist rocket crews attempt to deliver death and destruction upon them.
In Sderot, one of the Israeli cities closest to the Gaza border, children hunkered down in playgrounds and at bus stops that also double as bomb shelters, designed for this very purpose. It is both incredible and tragic that Israeli bus stops must be built to withstand rocket fire. As Americans, it is hard to relate to this grim reality.
Thankfully, The Iron Dome missile defense system -- Israel's great protector against short-range rockets -- intercepted dozens of projectiles before they could do any significant damage. Dozens more fell in uninhabited spaces. One projectile landed in a kibbutz and another on a synagogue. Luckily, neither of these caused injury or resulted in casualty.
Tragically, another rocket smashed directly into a home in Sderot, wounding at least three Israelis, including two teenagers.
Since its rebirth as a state in 1948, it seems that Israel has not known a day of peace, but not for lack of trying.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said it best: "If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel."
To his point, Israel not only has the right to defend itself against those who would like to see it annihilated; it also has a duty to protect its citizens. Rockets do not discriminate and threaten Jews, Christians, Muslims and Bedouins alike. Israel's military response in Gaza to this latest provocation was not only warranted -- it was necessary.
In what was the largest attack against Hamas since 2014's Operation Protective Edge, the Israel Defense Forces subsequently bombed a series of military targets in Gaza, including attack tunnels, weapons storage facilities and a Hamas urban combat training facility.
To put things in perspective, imagine if even one rocket was fired by a hostile nation into America. There would be outrage and calls for immediate and harsh action. But since it is happening in Israel, the world instead focuses on the response, unfairly heaping condemnation on the Jewish state.
There is absolutely no moral equivalency between Hamas' attack and Israel's defensive response. Hamas was aiming at innocent civilians, while Israel took aim only at strategic Hamas targets. By no means was the IDF's response excessive. Absorbing 200 rockets in a single day creates an untenable situation, and Hamas must be deterred from firing more deadly weapons into Israeli territory.
For weeks, Hamas has been sending kites over the Gaza border. These are not the colorful, harmless kites of childhood that you might imagine. Instead, these kites are ominous, affixed with firebombs and other explosives. They have destroyed acre upon acre of Israeli agricultural land.
It is clear to anyone who closely observes the reality in Israel that the No. 1 goal of Hamas is the destruction of Israel, not pursuing a viable Palestinian state, which is what Hamas wants you to think.
While Israel tries to minimize casualties, Hamas does the complete opposite. Let us not forget that Hamas is an internationally recognized terrorist organization, infamous for using the Palestinian people as human shields and for using financial incentives to encourage people to become suicide bombers.
During recent protests, Hamas encouraged Gazans to try to storm the border with Israel. Having gotten wind of this plan of action, Israel responded by dropping leaflets beforehand warning everyone to avoid harm by not approaching or attempting to breach the barrier.
Hamas knew full well that they were sending their own people to death since no country would allow a mass infiltration by a mob incited to rampage and kill innocents. But dead Palestinians provide great PR pressure points for Hamas against Israel. After whipping their own people into a frenzy all while knowing that it was a death sentence, Hamas proceeded.
In the aftermath, Hamas painted a very different story of innocent Palestinian victims in a peaceful mob, gunned down by Israel. They and a chorus of international actors then denounced and lambasted Israel.
The Palestinians should immediately halt these cynical games. Until then, Israel has no choice but to do what it must to defend its people.


text:
'The Walking Dead' spoilers: Three returning characters confirmed and more deaths in the pipeline
Showrunner Angela Kang had confirmed his return, however, Scott Wilson passed away shortly after the announcement at the age of 76 owing to complications arising from leukemia.
Published on : 11:06 PST, Oct 9, 2018
'The Walking Dead' star Andrew Lincoln announced in July about him leaving the show after being a part of the series for eight years, but we do not know when that will be or how that will be. All we know is that, as of now, his character Rick Grimes survived another week. We will have to bear with this mystery until it actually happens.
While Rick's character will make an exit sometime soon, showrunner Angela Kang confirmed at the New York Comic Con 2018 of bringing back former characters to the show. Angela said, "We were trying to lie, but we want to confirm that Jon Bernthal is coming back."
See ALL the ways tonight's Season Premiere of #TheWalkingDead compared to the comics: https://t.co/Un6snpVrDa pic.twitter.com/aW5VaqFiNx
— The Walking Dead (@TheWalkingDead) October 8, 2018
Angela also confirmed the return of Sasha Williams, who plays the character of Sonequa Martin-Green. Another actor who was coming back to the show was Scott Wilson who played the character of Hershel Greene, the father of Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan between 2011 and 2014. His character was killed off at the end of season four. Angela had confirmed his return, however, Scott passed away shortly after the announcement owing to leukemia.
AMC paid tribute to the actor ahead of the season nine premiere and the statement read: "Scott will be remembered as a great actor and an even better person. The character he embodied on 'The Walking Dead', Hershel, lived at the emotional core of the show."
As we wait for Lincoln's exit, the writers are distracting the fans from some bloody deaths at the beginning of the season. Gregory, played by Xander Berkeley botched an attempt to assassinate Maggie. Maggie took revenge in the form of publicly hanging Gregory, as she realizes her political rivals were behind her failed assassination.
This scene was brutal in particular.


Paige Nygaard is an undergraduate student at College of the Atlantic. She is majoring in Human Ecology, with a focus in renewable energy, sustainable business, international climate politics and design. Paige was self-taught through high school. During this time she lived in Chicago, studied at an art school there, Marwen, and attended Conserve School, an environmental semester school in northern Wisconsin. At College of the Atlantic, she took part in the CIERA project, to help solve Maine islands' energy issues. During this project she took classes at The Energy Academy on Samsø Island in Denmark. After, along with another student, Paige started a project to help improve energy issues in her college town, called MDI Insulation and Efficiency. Paige recently traveled to France to study politics and law of food and water. She is a member of her school's Campus Committee for Sustainability, Zero-Waste Club, and Earth in Brackets. Last year, she started the school's Sustainable Investment Club. Paige is active in international climate politics. She attended the Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany in June. She will continue to attend this year's climate negotiations and work with various environmental groups domestically and internationally. In her free time she cooks, does yoga, hikes, writes, and makes pottery.


text:
Miniature Enthusiasts
NV State Day 2020
Las Vegas Miniature Enthusiasts
Las Vegas Miniature Club Articles
Monday, May 21, 2001 | 9:22 a.m., Las Vegas Sun Archives
Welcome to the dollhouse: Locals relish painstaking details of tiny abodes
Looking through the windows of the three-story Victorian home Charlotte Burr is restoring, you can almost imagine the voices that may have filled its now-silent hallways, stairways and rooms.
Its wallpaper is yellowing. Dust covers the wooden slats of the attic floor where an old photo album lies. A musty smell marks the decades that have passed.
Built in the 1940s by a husband-and-wife team, the house's nooks and crannies are hard to find in the homes of Las Vegas' master-planned communities.
"I kind of picture it on the ocean with a view," Burr said of the 12-room antique dollhouse sitting in her living room.
Burr, a local antique collector and dealer, bought the East Coast-style doll home (that has nearly 50 working windows and doors) from a friend, and put it on the market for $8,500-$9,000 before she decided to further restore it.
Like many custom-designed dollhouses, its detail is flawless.
Ornate white-lattice railings stretch across its front porch and balcony. A patio made of mortar and bricks surrounds its base, and detailed flooring (parquetry and terra cotta) fill its rooms.
Its cement basement comes with a wine rack, coal furnace and jarred goods on back shelves that haven't been touched for decades.
"Depending how they worked on it, it could have taken them years (to build it)," Burr said of the couple that she knows little about. "Somebody who made it with love and care would be thinking of these details."
Which is what it all comes down to when recreating the world in miniature -- details.
There is detailed wallpaper, tiling, cupboards with working hinges, furniture with working casters, miniature china and desks with writing paper inside. There are rooms that are exact replicas of larger rooms, and professional artisans handcraft expensive furniture to fill them.
And the houses are getting "grander and grander," said Candice St. Jacques, editor of Dollhouse Miniatures magazine, which has a readership of 40,000. "The structures are a work of art themselves."
Life is a dream
For some, creating a miniature house is their life's work, a fantasy world they delve into in order to escape the stress of everyday life.
For others, its about re-creating memorable scenes, such as their grandmother's house or the house they grew up in. Many are building their dream home -- a smaller version of a house they could never afford.
Local collector Mark Carter has put $25,000 into building and furnishing his seven-room Queen Anne-style home.
He bought the house as a kit from Michaels Arts and Crafts store 12 years ago and has since worked on it continually.
"I've remodeled it four times ... and I'm not stopping there," Carter said. "I'd love a (real) Victorian (home). But I can't afford one of that size."
So his remodeling, decorating and weekly cleaning take place in 48-inch-tall, 36-inch-wide reconstruction of the real thing.
The house is filled with antiques, marble and parquet flooring and themed rooms, including a "Gone With the Wind"-style dining room, complete with sterling-silver place settings, oriental and Victorian rooms and "Grandma's kitchen."
Its full-sized attic is "full of junk," he said. "Christmas decorations, everything."
Carter said the upkeep for the home can be just as demanding as the housework for his Las Vegas Valley town home. But the impeccably clean, richly designed house is a source of pride.
"When you know somebody is coming over you don't clean your (real) house, you clean your dollhouses."
Miniature sprawl
Carter is not alone in his fanciful hobby.
As a member of the Las Vegas Association of Miniature Enthusiasts, he belongs to a subculture of hobbyists who build, design, wheel, deal and trade in miniatures.
The club meets monthly at a local community center and has an active membership of 20 miniaturists, which is small compared to other areas where there are four or five clubs (including California and Arizona), Carter said. Local club members travel to shows throughout the country purchasing furniture for their homes, perusing eBay and other Internet sources to find the exact slice of nostalgia they need to accent their miniature houses.
The hobby has become a miniature industry.
"People pay several hundred to several thousands of dollars for a well-crafted, well-made piece of furniture," said Susan Sheridan, vice president and co-founder of the Las Vegas Miniature Enthusiasts. "It fascinates people that you can get so much detail in (miniature items)."
Sheridan has been collecting miniatures for more than 30 years and has three dollhouses, including one that her uncle made for her when she was 5, a house that she "scratch built" and a Christmas home.
Because of the space the houses demand, Sheridan has had to resort to creating room boxes (small enclosed recreations of rooms). She has so many that they're stacked up all over her house. She's gone so far as to create room boxes for her dollhouses.
"It's just like a little moment of time," she said referring to the room boxes.
"It's like a fever," said Dominique Lockwood, a miniaturist who casts her own miniature porcelain figurines.
"Once you get the bug, anything you see can be turned into miniatures for a dollhouse. Everything becomes a potential miniature. Earrings become pieces of chandeliers. Nothing goes to waste in the miniature world.
And, she added, "You look at everything from a different perspective. It's never-ending.
"Everyone who is into it collects. Those that collect, build also. If you can't find it, people will create it for you."
"Here in Las Vegas we're in a slump. There's no miniature store. A lot of us have had to go online."
Members of Las Vegas Miniature Enthusiasts build and trade among themselves. Members also have their own areas of expertise. One woman stitches miniature area rugs. Another creates 1-inch scale leather suitcases.
Local artisan Adrian Gray creates replica antique furniture pieces and kits that members can use to build their own French writing desks, chest of drawers and Victorian chairs. (Incidentally, Lockwood is creating a miniature recreation of Gray in his workshop creating his miniatures.)
The group also has members who are 1/2-inch scale modelers and 1/44 inch scale modelers, Lockwood said. Creating smaller-scale miniatures is a growing hobby, she said. The group even has a member they refer to as "queen everything's quarter-scale," she said.
"But most of our people are 1-inch scalers, do or die."
Dansey's Indoor R/C & Hobbies on North Nellis Boulevard is one of the few local stores that sells 1-inch scale furniture, lumber and dollhouse kits.
It's a one-stop shop for a beginner or anyone who is remodeling or redecorating a dollhouse.
"This is your lumberyard," said store owner Judy Lugo, pointing to shelves holding stacks of miniature lumber. "Here's your sidings, your trim."
Turning around, she points to kits for building entire homes.
"There're log cabins, Cape Cod (-style) houses, Victorian houses, seasonal houses," she said.
The market for miniatures is varied, she said. Some people will buy a kit and customize it. Some will build from scratch using blueprints.
"You have kids all the way to women who are building their dream house. We have a large base of men who come in because it's 'building.' We have quite a few architects," Lugo said.
"It's the house they may never live in. This way they can decorate it anyway they want. Anything you can put in your house you can put in your dollhouse."
House accessories include furniture sets, bricks (and mortar mix), wallpaper selections, toiletries, pianos that can be played and lighted fish aquariums. Picket fences, doors and staircases can also be purchased.
Others decorate their houses for the holidays, putting up Christmas trees, Halloween decorations and Thanksgiving meals on silver serving sets.
Lugo said she sees upward of 50 people who stroll into her store each week, many of whom are husband and wife.
"Saturday mornings they get up, have their coffee -- this is their mission for the day," Lugo said.
And as though they are making decisions about their real home, "They'll fight about the carpet here, just as they probably did in Carpet Barn."
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© 2017 by Las Vegas Miniature Enthusiasts


At Barbados Beach Club All Inclusive Resort, spend the day on the beach where you can enjoy snorkeling. Then return for a meal at one of the resort's 2 restaurants.
A hotel's guest rating is calculated using data provided under license by TripAdvisor. A total of 1023 have reviewed the Barbados Beach Club All Inclusive Resort, giving it a rating of 3.5, on a scale of 1-5.