It's official!! Our Sixth annual pint sale will be on Sunday November 13th from 12:00 PM to 5:00PM.
If you have never been to the sale, here is how it works.
During the sale we discount our ice cream pints to $3.00 a pint. This is your chance to stock up for the cold months on flavors we won't be making during the winter. Last year, the record amount of pints purchased by one person was an amazing 72 pints.
For the pint sale we have all of our favorite flavors available along with special batches of past and new flavors to sell exclusively at the sale. There is a tentative list of the flavors that will be available below.
- During the sale we will ONLY sell our pints, and a few other pre-packaged treats like cakes, cannoli and pup cups.
- LLOYD will be slinging tacos from 11AM - 2PM in case you are hungry while in line and after you get your pints.
- We will have 1000's of pints available at the sale. So go nuts, we will be ready for you.
- People traditionally begin lining up before 10:00AM to get a good spot in line. Kind of a tailgating at the ice cream shop kind of thing.
- If you show up to the pint sale with a New England Patriots jersey on, all pints will cost you $40.00 each.
- We will sell our "free small cone" wooden nickels for 2.50 each, normally 3.00. Great stocking stuffers!
- We will be selling gift certificates in any amount, $10.00 or greater.
This is going to be a great day, see you there!
This post is a little longer than usual, but totally worth it. This Friday, we'll start serving our new hot chocolate and cider Warm Front Foats.
We took the time to try to re-invent the way you drink hot chocolate and cider. Here's what we did.
We created four new specialty drinks: two hot chocolate drinks and two cider drinks. Today, I'll introduce the first cider drink, The Apple Caramel Crackle. The other three we'll announced before this Friday.
First, we ditched the traditional hot cup you're used to as they just couldn't hold what we needed. We took inspiration from my family's summer trip to Quebec where my daughter ordered a large hot chocolate and it came in a bowl, a freaking bowl of hot chocolate. So we chose a wide-mouthed soup cup to let us have a much bigger surface area in the cup, but still allow to you pick it up and drink it.
Second, we changed the spoon to a larger Chinese style soup spoon so you can get much more in the spoon. Trust us, you're going to need it.
Third, we wanted our new drinks to be fun and adjustable to what you like. We include a bunch of added treats so you can add them to your drink as much as you want. Or just eat them on their own.
Our first Warm Front Float, The Apple Caramel Crackle, starts with a scoop of our Salty Caramel ice cream and then we cover it in local hot cider. We top it with real whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. This is usually where people stop, but not us, there's more.
We then put the cup on a plate and, on the plate, we add a shot of salted caramel sauce, two cinnamon crisps from Elm Street Bakery for dunking and a pack of apple Pop Rocks to add a little crackle.
We've been waiting patiently for the weather to get a bit colder to announce these amazing new items at Lake Effect.
We'll launch our new Warm Front Floats this coming Friday, October 21st.
We are happy to announce that the Lockport Paranormal Walks are returning for another year to Lake Effect Ice Cream.
Join John Koerner for new sites and old tales from Lockport's paranormal past. Ghostly wristbands, candy, and a chance to see the latest ghostbusting equipment comes with admission. $10 each, children under seven are free. The tour meets at 7:00 p.m. every Saturday night from September 3 through October 29.
If you would like more information, check outwww.paranormalwalks.com.
2015 Christmas flavors for sale now!
We've been planning this year's Christmas flavor sale since, well actually, last Christmas.
This year's flavors are absolutely off the hook, if we do say so ourselves. We're really excited to announce our 2015 holiday pack flavors.
Of course, the first flavor I list is the one that might be over the top. Every year, my family has a traditional Yule Log at Christmas. If you've never had one, I always thought of it as kind of a giant Hostess Ho-Ho. This ice cream is our take on that traditional dessert: chocolate cake batter ice cream, swirled with chocolate and blended with chocolate brownies chunks, vanilla pound cake pieces and chocolate flake. Like I said, over the top.
Wait until you try this one. We created an ice cream built around a Riesling, and the result is one of the best wine ice creams we have ever made. We infused the cream with Leonard Oakes Petillant Naturel Riesling, added a hint of pear and then blended roasted and salted macadamia nuts throughout.
We plucked this one right out of our childhood. If your home is anything like ours, we start buying Jingle cookies sometime before Thanksgiving and eat them through the entire holiday season. I can't tell you all the times I remember playing video games next to a bowl of jingles as a kid. So, to do them justice in an ice cream, we created an ultra rich sweet cream ice cream and packed it with crushed Jingle cookies. Last, we and topped it with colorful decorative sugar crystals just like on the iconic cookie.
We've tested this flavor for months and are glad to announce that we finally finished our final ice cream recipe in time for Christmas. Harry Potter fans rejoice, we have created Butterbeer ice cream. We researched the ingredients and converted them to a creamy and rich Butterbeer flavor. We even top each pint with a vanilla cream "head" just like on a frosty pint. Mischief managed.
Our holiday packs will include one pint each of our holiday flavors, wrapped in colored tissue paper and packed in a white box. We include one of our Lake Effect free cone wooden nickels in each gift box. Also, again this year, we will place a "golden ticket" in TWO of our gift boxes that will allow the lucky finder of the ticket to create an ice cream flavor of their own with Jason and Erik.
You will be able to pre-order them ONLY until midnight on December 5th .
After your order is complete, we will then custom make all of your ice cream and have our staff at our shop for the following three dates for you to come in and pick up your gift boxes.
Stop down to our shop on any of those days and pick up your pre-order just in time for the holiday season. Please be sure to bring your receipt so we can help get you back on your way as quickly as possible. We will not be shipping any holiday gift packs, as they are pick-up only.
We will also have our "one free cone" wooden nickels and gift certificates available at our shop on all three of the pick up days.
It never really feels like the shop is officially closed for the season until the pint sale is over. When that feeling is finally here, it catches me off guard every time.
First comes the relief that we made it through another season successfully; knowing that everything went well and Lake Effect continues to grow and be a part of our WNY community.
The weirdest part of closing, however, is that the moment I close that front door I automatically start thinking about what we're going to do next year. What new flavors will we make? What new things we can sponsor and support? Knowing that the day-to-day responsibilities of the shop are going to be gone for a little while let's the creativity really open up for next year.
Maybe it's just the way I am wired, being a teacher, but being able to step away for a little bit is one of the best things about owning a seasonal business. We have time to recharge our batteries and plan great new things for the spring.
Don't worry, we still sell pints all year throughout WNY and we'll have our annual Christmas ice cream sale in December (we'll announce the Christmas flavors next week). We even have a few more off-season surprises that we'll announce soon.
Thank you to everyone who enjoyed a little ice cream with us this year. We'll see you again soon.


Do you have your next construction project? Did you know that there are more benefits you can get from local builders? If not yet, now is the best time to discover these benefits of local builders.
When you are planning to build a new home or a structure for your business, deciding to choose the best and reputable builders is quite essential. You will be working with them, and you will be spending money to finish the project and expect for amazing results. So, make sure that you are putting your trust to the valuable one.
One of the most interesting benefits you can get from local builders is that they are so much available whenever you need. You don't need to look from another city or state, all you have is to look around your community, and you can find the reputable one. Thus, you have no worries with actual construction since your project is just a few away from there office. As a result, it becomes easier for you to communicate with them.
Since local builders are within just your community and you can have stronger communication, all your concerns will be provided with necessary actions and will not leave into frustrations. Local builders can reach their customer's better and easier way where you do not have to wait for several weeks to consider your ideas or concerns. Remember, better communication can result in excellent customer service.
If you choose local builders, you can expect that they have more knowledge about the area you will be putting up your home or business structure. This can improve the overall building process. These local builders already have the best knowledge and experience of the economy, weather conditions as well as to the community. Aside from that, their local expertise also means that they have a deeper understanding of the area's building codes and regulations.
The reputation of the builder is an essential factor during your decision process. Local builders have already built their good reputation on their professional and dependable services. It is nice to discover that these local builders are enthusiastic to build a good relationship with their customers as well as to the community members, you rest assured that you can also experience the best service.
If you want to consider referrals in deciding which builder can meet all your requirements, it becomes easier for you to ask for a referral with local builders. Your neighborhood can easily tell which of the local builders can provide satisfying services. Thus, your friends or your family members can refer to you which builder offers both affordability and efficacy.
When you consider local builders to accomplish your project in mind, you are not just benefitted alone. You are also helping the economy of your community. So, you will truly experience convenience and satisfaction on your project with the help of the benefits of local builders.
So, what are you waiting for, contact a local builder today and build your dream house with great advantages? You will see the great difference in working with local builders!


This Intellihome plug & play package let you control all functions in your home. You get a pre-programmed control unit with main function and a allocation scheme for a easy installation. With the included software you can do changes, settings and expansions.


Located on a tree-lined street in suburban Humble, Chez Nous is one of Houston's top French restaurants. The atmosphere is a French tug-of-war between formality and informality, and you can dress either way. Founded by French chef Gerard Brach, the restaurant is now in the capable hands of French-trained chef Stacy Crowe-Simonson.


This is such an easy dish because you do not have to make a separate sauce. The veggies and shrimp release enough juices to make a delectable sauce.
In a large dutch oven, over medium heat warm avocado oil. Combine mushrooms and tapioca flour in a medium size bowl. Stir mushrooms to coat with flour. Add garlic and mushrooms to dutch oven. Cook mixture until mushrooms begins to soften. Add squash, zucchini, tomatoes and seasoning. Stir occasionally and cook until zucchini begins to soften. Add lemon zest and juice to veggie mixture; scraping bits from bottom of the skillet. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink.
Add cooked pasta and basil stirring thoroughly. Serve. Eat. Enjoy.


text:
Bronze Age Bride
By DANIEL WEISS
In 1921, the well-preserved remains of a young woman who died around 1370 B.C. were discovered in an elite burial near the town of Egtved, Denmark. For almost a century, she was thought to have been a local, and became known as the "Egtved Girl," but new research has amended her story and what it may say about Bronze Age marriage alliances.
A waterlogged, acidic environment had preserved the young woman's clothing, hair, tooth enamel, fingernails, and parts of her brain and skin. Also preserved were the cremated remains of a young child. A team led by Karin Frei of the National Museum of Denmark analyzed strontium isotopes in the young woman's tooth enamel and found she did not grow up on the Jutland Peninsula, where Egtved is located. Instead, she was most likely raised in the Black Forest region of southern Germany, around 500 miles away. The researchers believe she was sent from her home to marry a chieftain in Jutland. Further analysis of the young woman's fingernails and hair shows that, in the final years of her life, she appears to have moved from the Black Forest to Jutland, back to the Black Forest, then back to Jutland again shortly before her death.
The remains of the child found with the young woman may help explain these travels. "Dynastic marriages were often followed by an exchange of 'foster brothers' to secure the alliance," says Kristian Kristiansen of the University of Gothenburg. In such a scenario, after marrying the chieftain in Jutland, the young woman would have been sent back to the Black Forest along with a boy from Jutland, who would have been raised by her people. She would then have returned to Jutland with a young male relative, who would be raised there. The child's cremated remains led Kristiansen to propose that the death occurred en route and the remains were buried later with the young woman when she, too, died after her return to Jutland.
Jamestown's VIPs
Jamestown, Virginia
Mythological Mercury Pool
Teotihuacan, Mexico
Tracing Slave Origins
Philipsburg, St. Martin
World's Oldest Pretzels
Regensburg, Germany
Baby Bobcat
Tomb of a Highborn Celt
Lavau, France
The First Artists
Sulawesi, Indonesia
Earliest Stone Tools
West Turkana, Kenya
A New Human Relative
6	[ 7 ]	8	9	10
Top 10 Discoveries of 2015
The Many Lives of an English Manor House
Letter from Hawaii
Reading the Invisible Ink
A Kestrel's Last Meal
Pompeii Before the Romans
A Baltic Sea Monster Surfaces
Built upon Bones
An Opportunity for Early Humans in China
Hidden Blues
Mr. Jefferson's Laboratory
Under a Haitian Palace
From Yacht to Trawler to Wreck
Buddha Stands Tall
Denmark's Bog Dogs
Leftover Mammoth
Finding Parker's Revenge
Living the Good Afterlife
Prehistoric deadliest catch, Roman silver in Slovakia, victims of the Inquisition, Papua New Guinea pottery workshop, and Tomb of the Cave Lions
How a Medusa survived Christianity

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
//
// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
// Licensed under the MIT license.
//
// Microsoft Bot Framework: http://botframework.com
//
// Bot Builder SDK Github:
// https://github.com/Microsoft/BotBuilder
//
// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
// All rights reserved.
//
// MIT License:
// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
// a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
// "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
// without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
// distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
// permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
// the following conditions:
//
// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
// included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
//
// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ""AS IS"", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
// EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
// MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
// NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
// LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
// OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
// WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
//

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

namespace Microsoft.Bot.Builder.FormFlow.Advanced
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Enumeration of special kinds of matches.
    /// </summary>
    public enum SpecialValues {
        /// <summary>
        /// Match corresponds to a field, not a specific value in the field.
        /// </summary>
        Field
    };

    /// <summary>
    /// Describe a possible match in the user input.
    /// </summary>
    public class TermMatch
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Construct a match.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="start">Start of match in input string.</param>
        /// <param name="length">Length of match in input string.</param>
        /// <param name="confidence">Confidence of match, 0-1.0.</param>
        /// <param name="value">The underlying C# value for the match.</param>
        public TermMatch(int start, int length, double confidence, object value)
        {
            Start = start;
            Length = length;
            Confidence = confidence;
            Value = value;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Start of match in input string.
        /// </summary>
        public readonly int Start;

        /// <summary>
        /// End of match in input string.
        /// </summary>
        public int End { get { return Start + Length; } }

        /// <summary>
        /// Length of match in input string.
        /// </summary>
        public readonly int Length;

        /// <summary>
        /// Confidence of match, 0-1.0.
        /// </summary>
        public readonly double Confidence;

        /// <summary>
        /// Underlying C# value.
        /// </summary>
        public readonly object Value;

        /// <summary>
        /// Check to see if this covers the same span as match.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="match">TermMatch to compare.</param>
        /// <returns>True if both cover the same span.</returns>
        public bool Same(TermMatch match)
        {
            return Start == match.Start && End == match.End;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Check to see if this completely covers match.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="match">TermMatch to compare.</param>
        /// <returns>True if this covers all of match.</returns>
        public bool Covers(TermMatch match)
        {
            return Start <= match.Start && End >= match.End && (Start != match.Start || End != match.End);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Check to see if this overlaps with match in input.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="match">TermMatch to compare.</param>
        /// <returns>True if the matches overlap in the input.</returns>
        public bool Overlaps(TermMatch match)
        {
            return (match.Start <= End && Start <= match.Start && End <= match.End) // tmtm
                || (Start <= match.End && match.Start <= Start && match.End <= End) // mtmt
                || (Start <= match.Start && End >= match.End) // tmmt
                || (match.Start <= Start && match.End >= End) // mttm
                ;
        }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return string.Format("TermMatch({0}, {1}, {2}-{3})", Value, Confidence, Start, Start + Length);
        }

        public override bool Equals(object obj)
        {
            return obj is TermMatch && this == (TermMatch)obj;
        }

        public static bool operator ==(TermMatch m1, TermMatch m2)
        {
            return ReferenceEquals(m1, m2) || (!ReferenceEquals(m1, null) && !ReferenceEquals(m2, null) && m1.Start == m2.Start && m1.Length == m2.Length && m1.Confidence == m2.Confidence && m1.Value == m2.Value);
        }

        public static bool operator !=(TermMatch m1, TermMatch m2)
        {
            return !(m1 == m2);
        }

        public override int GetHashCode()
        {
            return Start.GetHashCode() ^ Length.GetHashCode() ^ Confidence.GetHashCode() ^ Value.GetHashCode();
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Interface for recognizers that look for matches in user input.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T">Underlying form state.</typeparam>
    public interface IRecognize<T>
    {
        #region Documentation
        /// <summary>   Return the arguments to pass to the prompt. </summary>
        ///<remarks>For example a numeric recognizer might pass min and max values.</remarks>
        /// <returns>   An array of arguments.</returns>
        #endregion
        object[] PromptArgs();

        /// <summary>
        /// Return all possible values or null if a primitive type.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>All possible values.</returns>
        IEnumerable<object> Values();

        /// <summary>
        /// Return all possible value descriptions in order to support enumeration.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>All possible value descriptions.</returns>
        IEnumerable<string> ValueDescriptions();

        /// <summary>
        /// Return the description of a specific value.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="value">Value to get description of.</param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        string ValueDescription(object value);

        /// <summary>
        /// Return valid inputs to describe a particular value.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="value">Value being checked.</param>
        /// <returns>Valid inputs for describing value.</returns>
        IEnumerable<string> ValidInputs(object value);

        /// <summary>
        /// Return the help string describing what are valid inputs to the recognizer.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>Help on what the recognizer accepts.</returns>
        string Help(T state, object defaultValue = null);

        /// <summary>
        /// Return the matches found in the input.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="input">The input string being matched.</param>
        /// <param name="defaultValue">The default value or null if none.</param>
        /// <returns>Match records.</returns>
        IEnumerable<TermMatch> Matches(string input, object defaultValue = null);
    }
 }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
UNIPOLLWATCH MEDIA
ELECTORATES
BELLARINE
EUROA
MORDIALLOC
WENDOUREE
YAN YEAN
Held by: Jane Garrett – Australian Labor Party
Swing at 2010 election: -11.7 per cent against Labor, mostly picked up by independent Phil Cleary (state-wide -5.97 per cent)
Redistribution details: Gained parts of Parkville north of the rail line from Melbourne. The boundary with Richmond was re-aligned through Fitzroy North along Park Street.
Size of electorate: 16.5 sq. km
KEY COMMENTS: One of Victoria's most ethnically diverse electorates, Brunswick has been a safe Labor seat since its inception in 1904. The last decade has seen a steady rise in support for the Greens and independents and a tight race is expected. One of the biggest challenges to candidates is engaging a young, educated and multiracial electorate with primary concerns to do with public transport, safety and development.
Crowded trams and public safety key in Victoria's most diverse electorate
Sydney Road is Brunswick's main artery, and it embodies the electorate – a melting pot of old and new. Family-run shops have signs in Italian, Arabic, Greek, English and Mandarin. Many have hardly changed since the 1970s, their nondescript shop windows showing a reliance on regulars rather than enticing the passer-by. Familiarity is important in Brunswick.
Yet change is happening everywhere. Modern multi-story apartment blocks loom over the old shops, and more are being built all the time. Brunswick, home to mortgage-saddled young couples, sprawling long-established migrant families and student sharehouses, is a complex and rapidly-changing battleground…
> Read the full electorate profile here
JANE GARRETT MP
Ms Jane Garrett is feeling confident. Fifty-five days out from the state election, she doesn't want to talk about her achievements since her narrow victory for Labor in 2010. She's far more interested in current and future battles.
TIM READ
AUSTRALIAN GREENS
While a medical student at the old Royal Children's Hospital, Dr Tim Read treated teenagers with severe asthma and children who wouldn't – or couldn't – stop smoking. In front of his ward stood two large cigarette advertising…
GIUSEPPE VELLOTTI
He might have grown up in Adelaide. He might live in Burwood. But Liberal Candidate for Brunswick Mr Giuseppe Vellotti is all about Australia, and family. Outside the café in which we meet, Mr Vellotti is keen to show me his…
STELLA KARIOFYLLIDIS
PEOPLE POWER VICTORIA
Stella Kariofyllidis may not have the easiest name to pronounce. But, unlike her party, People Power Victoria – No Smart Meters (PPV), it's a name is familiar to many Brunswick residents. Two-time Mayor of Moreland…
DEAN O'CALLAGHAN
'Hmmm,' muses Dean O'Callaghan. 'Why did I decide to stand?' Brunswick's Save The Planet candidate leans against a desk in the messy front room of his partly constructed microbrewery just off Sydney Road.
WARD YOUNG
A lot of political parties form with the express intention of promoting a cause. Some even wind up in parliament. Of these, only the Animal Justice Party (AJP) can claim to be campaigning on behalf of billions.
BABAR PETERS
AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIANS
As a Pakistani migrant, Mr Babar Peters knows a lot about change. Change is what his party is pushing for, but unlike most agitators he and his fellow party members look to the Bible rather than focus groups to guide them.
FRANK GIURLEO
Family First candidates have been more or less invisible and have avoided media interviews.
Read more about Family First in our feature article.
Sex, Votes and Rock 'n Roll – minor party preference deals in Brunswick
By Andy Hazel. Seven weeks after stating his party would make no preference deals, Basics Rock and Roll Party (BRRP) head Mr Kris Schroeder was standing on the back of a truck in a Northcote carpark, playing AC/DC's It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Want to Rock and Roll) alongside Australian Sex Party (ASP) director Ms Fiona Patten.
Who are 'People Power Victoria – No Smart Meters'?
By Andy Hazel. As more state election candidates step up to jostle for the attention of the people of Brunswick, getting your message across becomes increasingly important. Even the name of a party can be problematic.
East West Link: A dud project?
Is the East West Link vital infrastructure or a "dud"? Swinburne's Joel Scanlan, Rhys Pope and Michael Hookey take a look at the cross-city road project, the most contentious issue in the Victorian... read more
'It's not a vote for Gotye!' – Meet The Basics Rock and Roll Party
By Andy Hazel. If you think the election lacks edge and excitement, you're not alone. The Basics Rock and Roll Party promises to bypass predictable politics and channel the spirit of revolution. Just don't call them a microparty.
Police clash with East West Link protesters
By Andy Hazel. Around one hundred anti-East West Link protesters and a similar number of police clashed outside Regent Theatre in Collins Street tonight as part of a coordinated action against a state Liberal Party fundraising dinner.


text:
How Black-owned haircare brands scale up
A long-running debate has become more intense. No one wants to be accused of selling out.
By Jada Jackson
Alikay Naturals
The re-emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 has given renewed momentum to US Black-owned haircare brands and companies, but a host of challenges still slow them down.
The enduring potential of the market is not in doubt: American Black consumers spent $1.7 billion on haircare products in 2020, according to Mintel estimates, with only a slight dip in sales compared to the pre-pandemic period.
However, Black-owned brands that form partnerships or are bought by the industry's non-Black beauty giants often face criticism from Black consumers. Lisa Price, president and founder of Carol's Daughter, which she sold to L'Oréal in 2014, puts it plainly: "Unfortunately, in our community, if an African American person builds something and sells it to another company that isn't [owned by other] African Americans, they're viewed as selling out and abandoning the community, when that may not actually be what is occurring."
Lagging in diversity, haircare targets Black customers
By Jessica Schiffer
She points out a hard truth — that investment for brand expansion is less available from Black investors. This reflects historic inequalities: in 2016, US Black families earned around 10 per cent of the earnings of an average white family. In the beauty sector as well as many others, there are simply more opportunities to garner investment from non-Black sources.
Price, who remains heavily involved with the brand she founded, is clear on where she stands. "I understand the importance for our community to want to support itself. That is absolutely paramount and must be done,'' she says. "But also, we have to build wealth as a community. And there will be times when companies will need to sell in order to gain capital in order to go and start something else. It's a part of building wealth."
Madame C. J. Walker made a fortune from her chain of beauty shops, which her daughter A'Lelia (pictured left) inherited.
George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images
The US Black haircare market has offered significant potential for the Black business community dating back to the days of Madam C.J. Walker, the first female self-made millionaire who created a line of Afro-American hair products in the early 20th century, and George E. Johnson, who founded Johnson Products Company, the first Black-owned company to enter the US Stock Exchange in 1971.
How Shea Moisture sought to connect
Shea Moisture is another major name in Black haircare, owned by Sundial Brands, which also owns the historic Madam C.J. Walker (or MCJW brand) as well as Nubian Heritage and Nyakio. When Sundial was acquired by Unilever in 2017, once again the issue of "selling out" was brought to the fore.
In response, Unilever moved fast. "When Unilever acquired Sundial Brands, we created together the New Voices Fund, a $100 million initiative to invest in and empower Black women entrepreneurs," says current Sundial Brands CEO Cara Sabin.
Sabin, who is Black, also notes that Shea Moisture is run by a majority Black executive team. "For us, it's personal and we remain true to our commitment to our community. We unequivocally and unapologetically stand for and serve the Black consumer, always."
In October 2020, the brand launched It Comes Naturally, a campaign that focuses on supporting Black artists and entrepreneurs. Sabin describes it as "a true celebration of the beauty, strength and resilience of Black women. It was important to us to work with Black storytellers to bring this campaign to life".
A space for new Black haircare businesses emerges
New, small Black businesses are coming through too. Patrice Grell Yursik, a multicultural haircare influencer and founder of beauty blog Afrobella, says smaller companies are benefiting from social media promoting non-mainstream messages, such as Black ancestral teachings.
"I'm seeing a lot more people share products that might come from ancestral teachings, or passed down lessons," Yursik says. "And that's not something that you would necessarily find at your Target or your Walmart. So the Instagram model of business has allowed independent brands to thrive."
Rochelle Alikay Graham-Campbell founded her natural haircare line, Alikay Naturals, back in 2008, when she was still at law school, with $100 she earned from waitressing on the side. The first product she created was a set of hair growth oils, which were a big seller thanks to the audience she amassed through her YouTube channel. "YouTube was my hobby, and my hobby allowed me to build an audience and a community… Back then, I didn't even know what I was doing," says Graham-Campbell.
Her core customer base is comprised of Black women with curly and kinky hair, but all types of curl patterns are now included in the product range, which sells in retailers such as Target, CVS and Rite Aid.
Patrice Grell Yursik, multicultural haircare influencer and founder of beauty blog Afrobella.
Chuck Olu-Alabi
Patience and long-term vision are essential when scaling a new brand. When first approached by a major retailer — Target — Graham-Campbell was still making her products by hand in her apartment and was moving production to a small commercial space of 1,000 square feet. Target wanted to stock the products in 350 stores, but Graham-Campbell turned down the offer, asking to test the waters through 100 stores initially.
Black-owned hair brand Camille Rose also chose to grow at its own pace. Janell Stephens began Camille Rose in 2011 by experimenting with different natural products to address her children's skin and haircare issues. Now, Camille Rose sells to the likes of Whole Foods, Sally Beauty and Rite Aid.
She has achieved this without external funding. "I decided a long time ago to grow at a pace that I am comfortable with, for me, my family and my brand," she says. "I knew early on that I wanted to prove myself first and that I did not want to be financially obligated to anyone else. I wanted to always enjoy creating for my brand and maintain 100 per cent ownership. Once you invite others into your business, it creates a pressure that I was not ready to take on."
Stephens is sceptical that Black haircare brands owned by non-Black companies can best serve their target market. "I believe that Black hair companies should be owned/created for us, by us. Who knows what our needs are better than us? No one. I found that creating products for myself and my family. If that's not the case, then it should at least be run by a person who looks like your consumer. Knowing the culture of your audience is extremely important."
Black-owned hair brands that have endured
Some Black-owned hair brands have stood the test of time. Chicago-based company Luster Products, Inc. was established in 1957 and has been in business for 64 years. "We have been blessed to maintain a strong and loyal customer base due to premium quality products, maintaining a level of community support, and great and effective employees," says current CEO Jory Luster, Sr.
Camille Rose was launched in 2011. It now sells in Whole Foods, Sally Beauty and Rite Aid.
Luster places the emphasis on product above all, backed by an in-house research and development team. "All incoming materials are tested and all finished products uphold rigorous standards. We manufacture all of the products that we sell," Luster says.
The issue of consumer trust is also essential, says Taliah Waajid, who has her own namesake brand. "I am a reflection of my customers," she says. "I have been where they are with their hair issues, hair love, hair struggles, embracing of their hair and their hair needs."
Waajid, who launched her brand 24 years ago, began with a collection titled Black Earth Products, one of the first haircare lines to offer all-natural haircare products to women who want to wear their natural hair out in locs or braids.
The brand became a leading name in the natural hair movement. And Waajid has done it all without outside investment. "I get offers all of the time from companies wanting to invest in and even purchase my company," she says. "At this time, I am not interested."
Correction: Afrobella is a beauty blog, not a haircare brand as previously reported. (9 February 2020)
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PROPERTY FUNDAMENTALS
FREE PROPERTY REPORTS
Canada's Maritime Region Offers A Tranquil Seaside Escape
by Matt Chilliak
in Beach Properties, Featured, Property Regions, Property Types
Look To The Maritimes For Canada's Best Real Estate Buys
It started as a joke, people fleeing the United States after the election. But after putting up the website "Cape Breton If Donald Trump Wins," creator Rob Calabrese saw more than a million visitors to the site within the first few weeks.
Then after the election, Canada's immigration website crashed, as potential "refugees" investigated actually moving to Canada.
Thousands of people wrote to Calabrese personally, asking how they could relocate to Cape Breton.
Oddly, these people included a lot of Trump supporters.
Because houses on Cape Breton, and in all of Canada's Maritime provinces, are a great deal for interested buyers… especially those with U.S. dollars. And, like the president himself, everyone likes a great deal.
The Maritime provinces are known for their unspoiled, rugged coastline (Photo by Tango 7174)
The Maritimes Are Rich In History And Perfect For Retirees
Canada's Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island) offer an ideal escape, but not just for political reasons. The opportunity to live by the sea—in an almost stuck-in-time tranquility—is enough to entice many retirees from both Canada and the United States to make the move.
Perfect for retirees, the Maritime provinces have some of the oldest average ages in the country. Instead of settling for a retirement destination that turns out to be a trendy tourist hotspot for partying travelers, retirees in the region enjoy cultures and communities full of historical attractions, traditions, architecture, and monuments.
Aside from the rich and deep histories of North America's original First Nations and aboriginal peoples, this region's history goes back further than any other in North America.
Forget Christopher Columbus (and not just because of his genocidal tendencies). Despite all the myths we've learned about his "discovery" in 1492, he was not the first European to set foot in the Americas. Not by a long shot. In fact, nearly five centuries before Columbus, a crew of Vikings led by Leif Erikson landed in the present-day province of Newfoundland (not technically part of the Maritimes but still part of Atlantic Canada). The remnants of this settlement are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are widely accepted as evidence of pre-Columbian transoceanic contact between Europe and North America.
Other historic areas in the Maritime region date back to European settlements from the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Halifax, Sydney, Cape Breton, Charlottetown, St. John, Fredericton, and Moncton are some of the urban centers that still feature Old World architecture and historical monuments.
Historic Cape Breton welcomes retirees and expats (Photo by GRMike)
The Maritimes' Population Trends Are Creating Real Estate Bargains
Behind the clever "Cape Breton If Donald Trump Wins" marketing campaign is a real problem common throughout the Maritimes: people… or, rather, a lack of them. Cape Breton's population has been shrinking for decades and shows little sign of relenting—from 131,000 in 1961 to 117,000 in 1991 to 94,000 in 2016.
For generations now, the Maritime provinces have seen their economies slowing, their industries shuttering, and their youth packing their bags for greener pastures. While initiatives to attract immigrants and settle refugees are buoying hope among some in the region, the allure of big cities like Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver is tough competition.
While an aging and shrinking population may make for hard times for provincial coffers, it also makes for ample opportunities for home buyers.
Property in the Maritimes sells for much, much less than in those big cities like Toronto, and out-of-towners are taking notice. U.S. buyers have increased in the region, and they're not just "political refugees."
Instead, it's been the deep U.S.-dollar discount that has been driving the trend during the past 18 months or so as the Canadian dollar has fallen behind its surging U.S. counterpart. Hitting a high of CA$1.46 per U.S. dollar in January 2016, the window of opportunity remains open for U.S.-dollar holders as the exchange hovers around CA$1.35 per U.S. dollar today.
And, while it may not be what brings in the young blood the region seeks, U.S. retirees interested in a rustic cottage for a seaside retirement should take notice of the affordable and historic homes on the market.
What's On The Market In The Maritimes Today
If you're looking for bargain coastal real estate in Canada, the Maritimes are worth your attention.
On Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island, you could move into a quaint country cottage just a few minutes from the ocean and a few more from the small city of Sydney, Nova Scotia. The fully furnished, 95-square-meter (1023-square-foot), one-bed, one-bath home sits on just under a half acre of land, making for a perfect vacation home or hideaway. The property is nothing luxurious, but it's been kept in immaculate condition… all for the bargain price of CA$50,000 (US$37,000).
If you seek something a little more urban, consider Halifax, the largest city in the Maritimes, with a population a little over 300,000. You won't have to give up any of the historic charm just for going bigger, either—Halifax was founded in 1749 and its city center is full of historic properties. The South End neighborhood is full of Victorian-era buildings. For CA$259,900 (US$192,500), you could live in a bright, tastefully designed, 70-square-meter (753-square-foot), one-bed, one-bath condo in an old converted row house close to parks, shopping, downtown, and universities.
Just a short drive across the river north of Fredericton, New Brunswick, is a newly renovated, three-bed, two-and-a-half-bath farmhouse on 1 acre of lush, green land. With plenty of deck space, a two-car garage, separate work space, and a basement waiting for the finishing touches of development, this home would be perfect for a family or a home craftsman. All for CA$399,900 (US$296,000).
On Prince Edward Island, for as low as CA$159,900 (US$118,400), you could live in a mid-19th century cottage with 1.35 acres of land just 10 minutes from the sea and live like Anne of Green Gables (the story was written and based in PEI). The rustic character of this one-and-a-half story, 220-square-meter (2,370-square-foot), four-bed, one-bath home includes two antique, cast-iron wood-burning stoves, Victorian-style wallpaper, and hardwood floors, along with modern amenities and appliances in the kitchen, a Jacuzzi-style tub, satellite dish, and an outdoor swimming pool.
As a result of being such a tiny province, nonresident ownership restrictions exist on Prince Edward Island, but they only apply to properties over 5 acres or with 50 meters (165 feet) of shoreline. The provincial legislation, with roots that predate Canadian Confederation, defines a resident as someone who has resided on the island for 365 days in a 24-month period and is a Canadian citizen or legal resident. Nonresidents will also be subject to a small but noteworthy one-time purchase fee of CA$550 (around US$407) or 1% of purchase value (whichever is higher).
Don't Fear The Cold Weather
One thing that routinely comes up when speaking with Americans about Canada: the cold winters. It's true that Canadian winters can be harsh, but generalizing about the entire country's various climates is like saying Minnesota's climate is the same as Miami's because they're both in the United States.
Maritime winters are like those in other coastal communities in New England, and the summers are mild. There's the odd hurricane that blows, but usually nothing like the battering that the southeastern United States and the Gulf Coast get.
Suffice it to say that if you're looking for something hot and tropical, this isn't the place for you.
But if you can stand a few months of winter weather, or you plan to depart for those months to a warmer location, the opportunity to buy in Canada's Maritime provinces is presenting itself at a great bargain thanks to the currency exchange rate between Canada and the United States.
Matt Chilliak
For Overseas Property Alert
Editor's Note: Matt Chilliak is a political organizer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with an honors degree in political studies from the University of Saskatchewan and minors in economics and Spanish. He has traveled throughout the United States and Latin America, including Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, and Panama. He also holds certification from Fine Art Bartending School and mixes a mean Old Fashioned.
After spending three months in Medellín this fall, I've decided it's the place I want to live for up to six months out of the year. I also want to buy a condo there that I can rent out through Airbnb during the time I'm not there. My questions are:
1) What do you think of the area between Laureles and Belén? An apartment (condo) I'm considering is on the border of those two communities.
2) Would I pay Colombian taxes on the rental income or U.S. taxes?
3) I'm setting up a brokerage account with a Colombian company to transfer my dollars to pesos, and they go through Citibank of New York. Does that sound like the normal process?
First, congratulations on your choice of Medellín… you can hardly go wrong in that city. I like Laureles, generally speaking, and it's becoming quite popular with expat buyers lately… especially those who prefer more level streets than those in El Poblado.
Remember though, that most buildings do not allow short-term rentals, so if that's your plan, verify that the building allows it. If not, plan to rent your unit for more than 30 days.
Your rental income will be subject to tax in Colombia if you earn enough of it. (You're allowed to take certain expense deductions.) And if your rent money is being deposited into a Colombian bank account, they'll come looking for the tax sooner or later.
But if you do pay tax in Colombia, you can take a tax credit directly against the tax you owe on your U.S. return.
It's normal that when transferring money to Colombia, you would send it to their bank account in New York. This is good for you because you can send it using a domestic transfer, which is usually free… and it's good for the broker because it gives them the option of accepting payment in the United States, and then crediting your account in Colombia without having to actually move your money between the two countries.
As a long time follower of your writing and travels, my wife Andrea and I are wondering about much of your recent advice about how it's a good time to buy property overseas because of the strength of the U.S. dollar.
I am currently writing this from Medellín, Colombia, where we have spent our winters for the last six years. In this city, as in many of the other cities on your real estate beat, properties are priced in American dollars.
You make it sound, because the dollar is doing so well compared to the local currency, that real estate is a bargain here. But from where I sit, with the prices of real estate in the city priced in American dollars, I don't see how one can reap the benefit of the strength of the U.S. Greenback.
First of all, in Colombia, properties trade in pesos, not dollars. In fact, you couldn't even do the transaction in dollars (in Colombia) if you wanted to. If you're working with a realtor who is listing properties in dollars, find someone else… he's probably trying to take the dollar savings for himself, rather than passing it on.
With the agency I recommend, properties trade in pesos… as they should.
Otherwise, you're right. In non-U.S. markets that trade in dollars, you won't get a currency advantage, generally speaking. In Mexico, for example, properties can legally trade in either pesos or dollars… with the peso-priced properties reaping the real bargains.
Other U.S. dollar markets include Panama, Ecuador, Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. You won't find a currency advantage here.
The best places right now for the dollar's buying power are Colombia, Brazil, and the EU… as well as peso-priced Mexico.
Have a question? You can write to Lee (or Matt) here.
Tags: CanadaMaritime Region
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Matt Chilliak is a political organizer from Saskatoon, Canada, currently based in Massachusetts. He holds an honors degree in political studies with minors in economics and Spanish from the University of Saskatchewan. A former Live and Invest Overseas editor and an active LIOS editor-at-large, Matt explores the investment opportunities that arise from changes in the political and policy landscapes around the world. He also writes about everything and anything Panama.
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After hearing argument en banc late last year to "clarify the law," the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on April 9, 2018, holding that prior salary alone or in combination with other factors cannot justify wage differential under the Equal Pay Act.
The plaintiff in the case was hired as a math consultant by the Fresno County Office of Education in 2009. When she was hired, her new salary was determined with the County's "Standard Operating Procedure 1440," which had been formally adopted by the County in 2004. That operating procedure dictated that a new hire's salary was determined by "taking the hired individual's prior salary, adding 5%, and placing the new employee on the corresponding step of the salary schedule." The hiring schedule did not rely on employee experience to determine new employees' initial salaries. After learning in 2012 that male colleagues had been hired into the same position at higher salary steps, the employee filed a complaint about the pay disparity, which eventually led to a lawsuit claiming a violation of the Equal Pay Act, among other claims.
For the above stated reasons, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, affirmed the denial of the County's motion for summary judgment, and remanded the case.


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These are the fanciest guidebooks to surviving a nuclear apocalypse ever!
Believe it or not, beating a game used to be serious business. If you bought a game and got stuck back in the day, that was usually it. In the 90s and early 2000s, getting stuck usually meant not being able to progress at all. This could be because of a tough boss fight, a lack of direction, or the inability to figure out a puzzle. However, there was something that would often help with such a problem: The strategy guide.
Strategy guides were special books, tailored to telling you how to beat the games they were based on. Strategy guides originally started off as sections in gaming magazines, ones that would walk you through sections of the game. There were also "Tips & Tricks" columns in various gaming magazine articles. These were usually designed to give the player secrets, hints, or general advice when it came to playing the game.
Nintendo Power, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and the official Playstation Magazine were pretty good when it came to giving out the good stuff. Eventually though, it was decided to give video-game guides their own separate books. Thus, the concept of "Strategy Guides" were born. These books were great, and still are in many ways!
Beyond them just telling you how to play the game, they also featured colored images from the game. While some guides did have a black-and-white color palette, these were usually less common than the colored ones. Fully colored strategy guides ruled, especially for people who just like to have the guide on hand.
I just love strategy guides, because they're fun to read before bed. The one thing I hate doing is playing a game right before I go to sleep, and keeping myself up late because of it. Sometimes, it's fun to just sit and read about the game. Sure, I love playing each and every game I can get my hands on, but I also love reading about them just as much.
That's why both gaming magazines and strategy guides have a big place in my heart. Sadly, strategy guides are a dying breed. You'll usually only see them being released for the big games, not so much the smaller titles. Back in the day, strategy guides would come out for almost every game under the sun. Nowadays, guides are a rarity.
Unless it's a big release like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, or some other big franchises, then chances are it won't be getting a guide. A lot of this comes down to GameFaqs, which made getting guides for games super easy. People would just write their own guides, post them to the site, and allow people to look up how to beat the game for free.
As a result of this, strategy guides were slowly phased out and are barely existent nowadays. Still, I love looking back at once was and reflecting on the greatness that was and still is strategy guides! Even when I don't need them to help beat a game, it's still fun to have one around to flip through on occasion!
Personal Thoughts: Did Bethesda Win E3?
That's one badass looking skeleton!
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (AKA E3) has really only just started, but that hasn't stopped various companies from going all out already. Despite the fact that the event has only just begun, people are already saying that "Bethesda has won E3". Bethesda is the company behind hit open-world games like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Fury.
This year's conference was really a turning point for Bethesda, allowing them to really show off what they've been working on for the past half-decade, a lot of which seems very interesting. Beth had a ton of new and interesting games to showcase, which most people are very excited for. The main one was Fallout 76, which looks awesome!
Fallout 76 is an online survival game, one with a focus on exploration. You can journey on your own, or with friends. You can also nuke the ever-loving hell out of any area in the Wasteland, which is pretty dang crazy! It's an open-world game with a world that is advertised to be 4 times larger than Fallout 4, which is just plain awesome!
I've already talked about 76 on this blog, so I'm not going into too much detail on it. Bethesda also announced sequels to hit games that they've published, like Doom and Rage. I'm not really into those kinds of games, since they aren't really my genres of choice. I know a lot of people are excited about them, but they're just not my cup of tea.
One of the most interesting announcements was for "Elder Scrolls: Blades", one of the newest games in the long-running series. The idea behind Blades is that it's a massive open-world Elder Scrolls game, but designed solely for your smartphone. Todd Howard touts it as having "console-quality graphics", as well as having an open-world that's part hand-crafted and part randomly generated.
From what was shown of the game, it seems interesting. I like the idea of having a legitimate Elder Scrolls game on the go, as most portable ES games in the past have been rather bland. I probably won't play Blades, as I don't think my phone would be powerful enough to run it. The graphics look way too intensive for my dinky Galaxy Grand-Prime, but I'll probably get a better phone in the future regardless.
I just hope this game isn't one of those mobile phone scams, where they constantly pester you for money every two steps. I know game companies have to make their money, it just annoys me when they turn an interesting phone game into a monetized abomination. Here's hoping that Bethesda can turn this game into something that's both unique and fair, one that doesn't charge you real money for every singular action.
Beth followed this announcement with even more Elder Scrolls content. They announced new DLC packs and patches for The Elder Scrolls Online, as well as showcasing a rather hilarious parody video called "Skyrim: Very Special Edition". The biggest Elder Scrolls announcement had to be the announcement of Elder Scrolls VI.
You think this would be a tremendous and memorable moment, which sadly it was not. The teaser was just a bunch of mountains, followed by the game's title. The sub-title wasn't even shown, nor was any gameplay or cinematic flare. The title was enough to get people excited, but I'll hold my reservations until I actually see the game.
Bethesda also announced a new sci-fi open-world RPG, one that goes by the name "Starfield". Sadly, the trailer for it was super disappointing as well. It was basically a shot of space, followed by the game's title. Not sure why Bethesda chose to formerly announce two of their biggest upcoming games in such a disappointing way, but they did. People are still excited for these games, so let's hope Bethesda can deliver.
Personally, I think Bethesda did a good job on this press conference. Do I believe they've won E3? Well, I'd have to see the other conferences first before I can fully decide. Still, after the crap that went on last year with the "Creator's Club", it's nice to see Bethesda stepping up to create new content that isn't paid mods. So, what are your guys' thoughts? Did Bethesda win E3, despite it only just starting? Or is Bethesda's E3 presentation a giant sham?
June 9, 2018 jamestwriter Uncategorized
Syrup's Indie Showcase: "Stories: The Path of Destinies"
That's a rather stylish cast of critters!
Believe it or not, I love games that have a "book/novel" feel to them. It's always cool seeing a game incorporate elements of classic written storytelling, like the kind you'd find in an old-school novel or fairy-tale. Soul Sacrifice is one such game that comes to mind when this subject is brought up, with it being a game that combined book-style storytelling with action-based gameplay. However, there was another game with a similar premise.
I'm talking about "Stories: The Path of Destines", a rather obscure Indie game released on Steam in 2016. Stories was created by Spearhead Games, the same developers behind the underrated puzzle game known as "Tiny Brains". Stories told the tale of an anthropomorphic fox named "Reynardo". In a world of similar bipedal animals, Reynardo has always tried his best to live life his way.
During his temporary retirement from his zany adventures, Reynardo is roped into trying to save a youth in a war-zone. The youth ends up being killed, which leads into Reynardo coming into possession of a magic book. From there, Reynardo sets out on a quest to topple the evil raven empire and free the kingdom.
The game is like a choose-your-own adventure book, in the way that most endings will lead Reynardo to an early grave. However, Reynardo can use the book to travel back in time and access its knowledge in order to figure out a way for him to both survive and save the kingdom.
The game's real draw isn't the story however, but rather it's combat. Stories plays like most dungeon crawlers, but with an emphasis on dodging and strategy. You can't just barrel into a room and slaughter bird-men effortlessly, you need to get both your timing and strategy right. If you don't, then Reynardo will be sent to an early grave. Luckily, death in this game is a slap on the wrist, so dying and having to restart from a checkpoint isn't so bad.
The game also has an intricate skill upgrade system, along with several weapons that can be enhanced using ore. Despite starting off as a simple game, Stories quickly blossoms into a rich and amazing action RPG. Sure, parts of the game's opening are slow, and the lack of bosses is rather disappointing.
That doesn't change the fact that the game is a hoot, and is one of the few action RPGs with a solid and interesting story throughout. Each story gives you a new and unique ending, one that distances itself greatly from the others. When I get the chance to play more of this game, I'll be sure to give it a proper review. For now, I'll just say that this is one of the best action RPGs I've played in a while!
My Thoughts On Fallout 76's Surprise Announcement
That's one fancy jumpsuit!
Something that came completely out of nowhere just a few days ago, was an announcement for the next game in the "Fallout" series". Fallout is a series that focus on your player character trying to survive during the post-apocalypse, while engaging in tons of quests and becoming stronger. Fallout 76 was announced just a couple days ago, and no one really knows what it's about or what team will be developing it.
All we know is that it takes place 25 years after the bombs dropped, and supposedly takes place in West Virginia. Now, nobody knows what the game is going to play like. The main theory is that this new Fallout will be an "online survival" game, much like Rust. There's not much info on the game, but there's already talks of pre-orders.
I'm not sure why discussion on pre-orders is even on the table, since the game's details haven't even been fully explained yet. If Fallout 76 does turn out to be an online survival game, I would totally buy and play it. Being able to play a Fallout game with other people seems like a dream come true, as the series is practically begging for an online adaptation.
Still, it's a bit too early to tell. We won't find out until E3, where they will fully reveal the game. I'm not going to get hyped or excited for Fallout 76, no matter what it is. If it does turn out to be an online game, then it would certainly pique my interest. Me buying the game comes down to how they market it, how well it functions, and how fun it is. Here's hoping Bethesda can redeem themselves in the public's eye by putting together a truly great game.
The Most Messed Up Ending To A Cartoon Ever: Bonus Stage
How a show ends is usually in the hands of a network, and rarely do the creators of said franchises get to end the series the way they want to. A lot of shows with stories or lore often end up getting cancelled before they can complete their run, but there are some exceptions to this rule. One such example are web-cartoons, which don't have to abide by network standards and are usually at the creative control of the person making them.
Of course, this doesn't mean web-cartoons are immune to cancellation. Web-cartoons are often self-funded projects and are bound by the limitations of the animators and the amount of funds they have on hand. A good example of this was Matt Wilson's "Bonus Stage", a forgotten web cartoon from the early 2000s.
Bonus Stage originally started as a web-cartoon called "High Score". High Score revolved around two protagonists: A mad-scientist and inventor named Joel, and his rather normal in comparison friend Phil. Joel's crazy inventions often dragged Phil and his other friends into trouble, but they were only the tip of the iceberg. Phil and Joel had to deal with plenty of other threats, such as strange creatures invading, or maniacal super-villains. All the while, our heroes would crack wise at the situation and make video-game references.
The series was created by Matt in an attempt to compete with the biggest flash cartoon series at the time: Homestarrunner. It was hard to top that series, as most flash animation at the time was pretty basic and trivial. While High Score possessed a more detailed art-style, it's awkward animation made it much less appealing than the series Matt was trying to compete with.
Eventually, Matt wanted to create a companion series for High Score, one that he could do as a side project. He wanted to craft a web-cartoon that could be updated on a weekly basis, one that also used a simpler animation style to speed up production. Thus, Bonus Stage was born! In a way, Bonus Stage was kind of a genius idea. While High Score was a decent series, it felt too derivative of most video-game web-comics out at the time.
Bonus Stage was actually fairly different, in that a lot of its humor was more rapid-fire and random than High Score's had been. Characters would spew out catchphrases left and right, and very little made sense. High Score was pretty nonsensical too, though not to the same extent as Bonus Stage was.
Still, Bonus Stage was a very fun series. Jokes were paced well, the soundtrack was solid, and the characters (despite an ever expanding cast) were pretty good overall. Over time, Matt Wilson found himself starting to like Bonus Stage. What started as just a way to update faster and on a weekly basis eventually began to overtake the main series.
High Score ended up getting cancelled after just 4 episodes, with the 5th episode never being made, and the 6th episode being incorporated into the 25th episode of Bonus Stage. As a result, Bonus Stage ended up outliving High Score by quite a large margin. The show continued on for quite a while, but eventually Matt's interest in the series died.
The primary reason why this happened was due to the fan-base Matt's series had attracted. Flash cartoons were extremely popular at the time, but not everyone had the talent or the knowledge required to create animations. As a result, some fans would develop a creepy obsession with Matt, due to their infatuation with his series and his skills. According to Matt, he was stalked in real-life, harassed, and threatened by hard-core fans.
On top of this, Bonus Stage became increasingly expensive to make. New music had to be made for later seasons, and Matt had to pay the 2 voice actors as well. As a result, Bonus Stage became ever more pricey to produce. With a fan-base that is over-obsessive, and an ever-growing price-tag for his animation, Matt eventually decided to call it quits.
Now, I've spent a lot of time talking about what High Score and Bonus Stage were, but not what the ending entailed. To keep a long story short, Phil had grown increasingly annoyed with Joel's antics. Eventually, Phil travels back in time, accidentally erases himself from existence, and Joel takes his own life out of complete boredom. Yes, that all actually happened.
Phil travelling back in time was unique concept, and allowed for Matt to insert modern Phil into older episodes. However, what followed after Phil destroying the timeline was something rather… Freaky. You see, death in Bonus Stage had been pretty inconsequential at that point. Pretty much every time a character died, they would come back to life in the very next episode. The characters were pretty much immortal.
However, Phil traveled back in time to a point when Joel hadn't created the device to give everyone immortality, at least within the virtual world in which Bonus Stage takes place. As a result, Phil and Joel dying in the past had extreme alterations on the future. As a result, pretty much everything was erased. I mean this quite literally, as all the episode links became broken after this event.
Each link lead you to an empty black screen, complete with creepy music playing in the background. Eventually, a group of secondary characters managed to travel back in time using a time machine dropped by Phil when he traveled back in time to episode 25. They present Joel from offing himself, and convince him to create a device to restore reality. Yes, it's very confusing and weird.
Of course, Joel ends up putting a button on the device that would end Bonus Stage in an "overtly happy and non-canon" way. After creating the device, Joel takes his own life again regardless and then the series just ends. The final episode after this seems to be the result of the button being pressed, as it resolves nothing and is just an overtly happy non-canon epilogue.
Bonus Stage ended on a bit of a downer, followed by a rather unsatisfying attempt to lighten things up. The thing is, I can't really blame Matt for doing it. He had to deal with an obsessive and demanding fan-base, despite being only one man. Sure, there are plenty of content creators who do their work solo and without anyone's help, yet are able to manage their fan-bases just fine.
Thing is, it's not the same when you're an animator in the early-to-mid 2000s. Youtube hasn't taken off yet, and social media hadn't reached the point of being a necessity for most people yet. As a result, there were very few ways Matt could interact with his fan-base. When he did interact with them, he always got the blunt end of the worst parts of his fandom.
Stalked, harassed, and cyber-bullied for just making a silly cartoon is where most people would draw the line. Matt Wilson's story can relate to a lot of people, as fame often comes with a large series of downsides. Even when Matt did end his series, he never gave up on making cartoons. He still makes new shows, but they don't garner the same kind of interest as Bonus Stage did.
Sadly, Matt Wilson will forever be the "Bonus Stage" guy. He'll be the guy who made a great web-series, but had to ditch it because of insane fans and increasingly high production values. I still think Bonus Stage is great, even after all these years. Is it weird, insane, dark, and random? It is, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a show that had a twisted ending, but was enjoyable throughout.


text:
title: "AI Platform integration patterns"
---
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# AI Platform integration patterns

This page describes common patterns in pipelines with Google Cloud AI Platform transforms.

{{< language-switcher java py >}}

## Analysing the structure and meaning of text

This section shows how to use [Google Cloud Natural Language API](https://cloud.google.com/natural-language) to perform text analysis.

Beam provides a PTransform called [AnnotateText](https://beam.apache.org/releases/pydoc/current/apache_beam.ml.gcp.naturallanguageml.html#apache_beam.ml.gcp.naturallanguageml.AnnotateText). The transform takes a PCollection of type [Document](https://beam.apache.org/releases/pydoc/current/apache_beam.ml.gcp.naturallanguageml.html#apache_beam.ml.gcp.naturallanguageml.Document). Each Document object contains various information about text. This includes the content, whether it is a plain text or HTML, an optional language hint and other settings.
`AnnotateText` produces response object of type `AnnotateTextResponse` returned from the API. `AnnotateTextResponse` is a protobuf message which contains a lot of attributes, some of which are complex structures.

Here is an example of a pipeline that creates in-memory PCollection of strings, changes each string to Document object and invokes Natural Language API. Then, for each response object, a function is called to extract certain results of analysis.

{{< highlight py >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/snippets.py" nlp_analyze_text >}}
{{< /highlight >}}

{{< highlight java >}}
{{< code_sample "examples/java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/examples/snippets/Snippets.java" NlpAnalyzeText >}}
{{< /highlight >}}

### Extracting sentiments

This is a part of response object returned from the API. Sentence-level sentiments can be found in `sentences` attribute. `sentences` behaves like a standard Python sequence, therefore all core language features (like iteration or slicing) will work. Overall sentiment can be found in `document_sentiment` attribute.

```
sentences {
  text {
    content: "My experience so far has been fantastic!"
  }
  sentiment {
    magnitude: 0.8999999761581421
    score: 0.8999999761581421
  }
}
sentences {
  text {
    content: "I\'d really recommend this product."
    begin_offset: 41
  }
  sentiment {
    magnitude: 0.8999999761581421
    score: 0.8999999761581421
  }
}

...many lines omitted

document_sentiment {
  magnitude: 1.899999976158142
  score: 0.8999999761581421
}
```

The function for extracting information about sentence-level and document-level sentiments is shown in the next code snippet.

{{< highlight py >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/snippets.py" nlp_extract_sentiments >}}
{{< /highlight >}}

{{< highlight java >}}
{{< code_sample "examples/java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/examples/snippets/Snippets.java" NlpExtractSentiments >}}
{{< /highlight >}}

The snippet loops over `sentences` and, for each sentence, extracts the sentiment score.

The output is:

```
{"sentences": [{"My experience so far has been fantastic!": 0.8999999761581421}, {"I'd really recommend this product.": 0.8999999761581421}], "document_sentiment": 0.8999999761581421}
```

### Extracting entities

The next function inspects the response for entities and returns the names and the types of those entities.

{{< highlight py >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/snippets.py" nlp_extract_entities >}}
{{< /highlight >}}

{{< highlight java >}}
{{< code_sample "examples/java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/examples/snippets/Snippets.java" NlpExtractEntities >}}
{{< /highlight >}}

Entities can be found in `entities` attribute. Just like before, `entities` is a sequence, that's why list comprehension is a viable choice. The most tricky part is interpreting the types of entities. Natural Language API defines entity types as enum. In a response object, entity types are returned as integers. That's why a user has to instantiate `naturallanguageml.enums.Entity.Type` to access a human-readable name.

The output is:

```
[{"name": "experience", "type": "OTHER"}, {"name": "product", "type": "CONSUMER_GOOD"}]
```

### Accessing sentence dependency tree

The following code loops over the sentences and, for each sentence, builds an adjacency list that represents a dependency tree. For more information on what dependency tree is, see [Morphology & Dependency Trees](https://cloud.google.com/natural-language/docs/morphology#dependency_trees).

{{< highlight py >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/snippets.py" analyze_dependency_tree >}}
{{< /highlight >}}

{{< highlight java >}}
{{< code_sample "examples/java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/examples/snippets/Snippets.java" NlpAnalyzeDependencyTree >}}
{{< /highlight >}}

The output is below. For better readability, indexes are replaced by text which they refer to:

```
[
  {
    "experience": [
      "My"
    ],
    "been": [
      "experience",
      "far",
      "has",
      "been",
      "fantastic",
      "!"
    ],
    "far": [
      "so"
    ]
  },
  {
    "recommend": [
      "I",
      "'d",
      "really",
      "recommend",
      "product",
      "."
    ],
    "product": [
      "this"
    ]
  }
]
```

## Getting predictions

This section shows how to use [Google Cloud AI Platform Prediction](https://cloud.google.com/ai-platform/prediction/docs/overview) to make predictions about new data from a cloud-hosted machine learning model.

[tfx_bsl](https://github.com/tensorflow/tfx-bsl) is a library with a Beam PTransform called `RunInference`. `RunInference` is able to perform an inference that can use an external service endpoint for receiving data. When using a service endpoint, the transform takes a PCollection of type `tf.train.Example` and, for every batch of elements, sends a request to AI Platform Prediction. The size of a batch is automatically computed. For more details on how Beam finds the best batch size, refer to a docstring for [BatchElements](https://beam.apache.org/releases/pydoc/current/apache_beam.transforms.util.html?highlight=batchelements#apache_beam.transforms.util.BatchElements). Currently, the transform does not support using `tf.train.SequenceExample` as input, but the work is in progress.

 The transform produces a PCollection of type `PredictionLog`, which contains predictions.

Before getting started, deploy a TensorFlow model to AI Platform Prediction. The cloud service manages the infrastructure needed to handle prediction requests in both efficient and scalable way. Do note that only TensorFlow models are supported by the transform. For more information, see [Exporting a SavedModel for prediction](https://cloud.google.com/ai-platform/prediction/docs/exporting-savedmodel-for-prediction).

Once a machine learning model is deployed, prepare a list of instances to get predictions for. To send binary data, make sure that the name of an input ends in `_bytes`. This will base64-encode data before sending a request.

### Example
Here is an example of a pipeline that reads input instances from the file, converts JSON objects to `tf.train.Example` objects and sends data to AI Platform Prediction. The content of a file can look like this:

```
{"input": "the quick brown"}
{"input": "la bruja le"}
```

The example creates `tf.train.BytesList` instances, thus it expects byte-like strings as input. However, other data types, like `tf.train.FloatList` and `tf.train.Int64List`, are also supported by the transform.

Here is the code:

{{< highlight py >}}
import json

import apache_beam as beam

import tensorflow as tf
from tfx_bsl.beam.run_inference import RunInference
from tfx_bsl.proto import model_spec_pb2

def convert_json_to_tf_example(json_obj):
  samples = json.loads(json_obj)
  for name, text in samples.items():
      value = tf.train.Feature(bytes_list=tf.train.BytesList(
        value=[text.encode('utf-8')]))
      feature = {name: value}
      return tf.train.Example(features=tf.train.Features(feature=feature))

with beam.Pipeline() as p:
     _ = (p
         | beam.io.ReadFromText('gs://my-bucket/samples.json')
         | beam.Map(convert_json_to_tf_example)
         | RunInference(
             model_spec_pb2.InferenceEndpoint(
                 model_endpoint_spec=model_spec_pb2.AIPlatformPredictionModelSpec(
                     project_id='my-project-id',
                     model_name='my-model-name',
                     version_name='my-model-version'))))
{{< /highlight >}}

{{< highlight java >}}
// Getting predictions is not yet available for Java. [BEAM-9501]
{{< /highlight >}}


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