experiment in colour film | .liveit.loveit.blogit.
Remember about 6 weeks ago I told you about my new film camera? The Nikon FM, a fully manual camera. This camera is not only manual exposure, but manual focus. I know that I'm comfortable shooting manual exposure, because I shoot almost entirely in manual during photoshoots and at weddings. One of the really cool things about getting the roll back was realizing I do "get" exposure (or at least how to use my light meter). Other than the "accidental" shots, the roll was mostly perfectly exposed (I like a wee-bit of overexposed in my images).
My biggest problem: focus. This image of the hubs is a perfect example.
You can see that I just missed it. The plane of focus is across his shoulders and his wrist. What would have been an awesome portrait of my hubby (probably my favourite image from the roll) turned into something a bit unusable :( But it is good learning. And, quite honestly, by the end of my black and white roll, which won't be ready until tomorrow, I was feeling a lot more comfortable with the focusing features of my camera! So, I'm excited to get that one back! For now, I leave you with some of my faves! Thoughts, critiques, anything else?
Lovely pictures! I love the tone to the Portra… I'm wondering where you had Your roll(s) processed/scanned? Finding a good lab in Canada seems to be harder than I expected (I'm just getting back into film too.) Thank you!
I've also heard good things, from people who've been back at it longer than me, about a few places in Toronto: Toronto Black and White and West Camera (Queen and Portland).


text:
namespace message_center {
class Notification;
}

namespace crostini {

class CrostiniPackageService;

// Notification for various Crostini package operations, such as installing
// from a package or uninstalling an existing app.
class CrostiniPackageNotification
    : public message_center::NotificationObserver,
      public guest_os::GuestOsRegistryService::Observer {
 public:
  enum class NotificationType { PACKAGE_INSTALL, APPLICATION_UNINSTALL };

  // |app_name| should be empty for PACKAGE_INSTALL, non-empty for
  // APPLICATION_UNINSTALL.
  CrostiniPackageNotification(Profile* profile,
                              NotificationType notification_type,
                              PackageOperationStatus status,
                              const ContainerId& container_id,
                              const std::u16string& app_name,
                              const std::string& notification_id,
                              CrostiniPackageService* installer_service);

  CrostiniPackageNotification(const CrostiniPackageNotification&) = delete;
  CrostiniPackageNotification& operator=(const CrostiniPackageNotification&) =
      delete;

  ~CrostiniPackageNotification() override;

  void UpdateProgress(PackageOperationStatus status,
                      int progress_percent,
                      const std::string& error_message = {});

  void ForceAllowAutoHide();

  PackageOperationStatus GetOperationStatus() const;

  // message_center::NotificationObserver:
  void Close(bool by_user) override;

  void Click(const absl::optional<int>& button_index,
             const absl::optional<std::u16string>& reply) override;

  // GuestOsRegistryService::Observer:
  void OnRegistryUpdated(
      guest_os::GuestOsRegistryService* registry_service,
      guest_os::GuestOsRegistryService::VmType vm_type,
      const std::vector<std::string>& updated_apps,
      const std::vector<std::string>& removed_apps,
      const std::vector<std::string>& inserted_apps) override;

  int GetButtonCountForTesting();

  const std::string& GetErrorMessageForTesting() const;

 private:
  // A type giving the string, etc displayed for each notification type. Note
  // that we have the complete strings here, not just the string IDs, because
  // the call needed to generate the strings is slightly different between
  // notification types (specifically, uninstall notification strings usually
  // need an app_name, while installs do not).
  struct NotificationSettings {
    NotificationSettings();
    NotificationSettings(const NotificationSettings& rhs);
    ~NotificationSettings();
    std::u16string source;
    std::u16string queued_title;
    std::u16string queued_body;
    std::u16string progress_title;
    std::u16string progress_body;
    std::u16string success_title;
    std::u16string success_body;
    std::u16string failure_title;
    std::u16string failure_body;
  };

  void UpdateDisplayedNotification();

  static NotificationSettings GetNotificationSettingsForTypeAndAppName(
      NotificationType notification_type,
      const std::u16string& app_name);

  const NotificationType notification_type_;
  PackageOperationStatus current_status_;

  // The most-recent time we entered the "RUNNING" state. Used for
  // guesstimating when we'll be done.
  base::TimeTicks running_start_time_;

  // These notifications are owned by the package service.
  CrostiniPackageService* package_service_;
  Profile* profile_;
  const NotificationSettings notification_settings_;

  std::unique_ptr<message_center::Notification> notification_;

  // True if we think the notification is visible.
  bool visible_;

  // If nonempty, contains an error string reported when installing the the
  // application.
  std::string error_message_;

  // If we show a launch button on completion, this is the app that will be
  // launched.
  std::string app_id_;

  ContainerId container_id_;

  std::set<std::string> inserted_apps_;
  int app_count_ = 0;

  base::WeakPtrFactory<CrostiniPackageNotification> weak_ptr_factory_{this};
};

}  // namespace crostini

#endif  // CHROME_BROWSER_ASH_CROSTINI_CROSTINI_PACKAGE_NOTIFICATION_H_

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
AALSO Login
Find your next career!
Our members are always looking for driven, interesting and capable people to join their teams. We've connected organizations and talent from all over the world. Whether you're looking to hire, or to be hired, we have the tools to help.
Ready to find that talent?
Posting a job is free for all members, submit your opening today! But please be sure to fill out each section of the form.
Submit Job Opening
Your career starts here
Apply today for one of the many positions open through an AALSO member organizations
Systems Operator I (Night Shift)
Monterey Bay Aquarium //
Monterey , CA //
Apply by: February 23, 2023
At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that celebrates and values diversity. We firmly believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices, working together, increases our capacity to serve our visitors and fulfill our mission. We welcome people from all walks of life into our team and strongly encourage people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, veterans, and people with disabilities to apply.
Job Summary: Under general supervision, responsible for operation, quality control, troubleshooting, repairs, and basic maintenance relating to the Aquarium's 25 million gallon per day seawater system, the associated mechanical plant, the building HVAC system, and the associated equipment and infrastructure in support of maintaining animal life support and environmental systems; monitor a computer-based control system for life support and HVAC systems and assist in operational engineering decisions based on analysis of the data; perform other duties as required.
Kansas City Zoo //
Kansas City, MO //
Under direction, the Water Quality Technician performs routine work assignments involving water quality testing throughout the Zoo. This includes ensuring all systems are functioning properly and overseeing day-to-day operations to maintain proper water quality, clarity and chemistry. Work areas will include the aquarium, polar bear pool, penguin building (2 penguin pools and multiple saltwater aquariums), sea lion pool, elephant pool, Stingray Bay, Missouri Department of Conservation aquarium, and otter exhibit.
LSS Technician II
Children's Aquarium Dallas //
Dallas, Texas //
Application Information: Please send resume and cover letter to [email protected]
Apply by Email
The Life Support Technician II is responsible for performing husbandry and life support duties and projects, including daily care and welfare of animals within the aquarium, daily maintenance of habitat and holding areas, and life support equipment operations. This position requires interaction with the public to provide information and interaction related to the aquarium's animal collection. This position requires prior experience and advanced knowledge of animal care, as well as a positive team approach. This position will also have latitude to initiate and carry out new training proposals and behaviors, as well as assist with the training of new animal care staff and volunteers.
Life Support and Animal Care Technician
Living Exhibits Regional Operations Center //
Wichita, Kansas //
Application Information: Please send cover letter and resume to [email protected]
Living Exhibits, Inc. designs, builds and maintains interactive animal exhibits for zoos, aquariums and museums across the country. Our exhibits include touch-tank marine aquatic exhibits featuring sharks and stingrays and are maintained and operated by Living Exhibits staff at a host zoological facility. The goals of these interactive exhibits are to increase the value of the guests' experience, further our customers' zoological mission and do so in a fiscally viable manner. Living Exhibits also maintains a year round holding facility in Wichita, Kansas where the Living Exhibits collection resides in winter months and is available for lease to other institutions during the year. All life support is maintained and operated at that facility by Living Exhibits staff.
LSS Water Quality Technician
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo //
Colorado Springs, CO //
Apply by: February 6, 2023
With minimal supervision, the Life Support Systems (LSS) Water Quality Technician is responsible for daily operations and maintenance of all Zoo LSS, water treatment, and water filtration and equipment, as well as give guidance and training to less experienced technicians on work to be performed. This includes water quality testing, data recording, and performing repairs and proactive/preventative maintenance to the systems. As part of the maintenance team, the LSS Water Quality Technician promotes professional working relationships with both internal and external customers and adheres to and supports all organizational policies and procedures and standards. Promotes teamwork
Water Quality Laboratory Technician
Sea Research Foundation - Mystic Aquarium //
Mystic, CT //
Apply by: March 1, 2023
Demonstrate excellent representation of the aquarium at all times through a positive, can-do attitude, and teamwork focused work ethic.
Working as a Water Quality Laboratory Technician, you will be responsible for conducting the day-to-day testing of Mystic Aquarium's aquatic habitats and report all data to director, curator, manager, veterinarian, and husbandry staff to ensure optimal water quality.
Aquarium Life Support Operations Supervisor
Virginia Aquarium //
Virginia Beach, Virginia //
Apply by: January 31, 2023
Manage the operation of the Life Support and Water Quality divisions at the Virginia Aquarium. We are seeking a dynamic and motivated leader to oversee all LSS and water quality operations, maintenance, staffing , budget development and control systems
Wonders of Wildlife //
Springfield, MO //
We are seeking a dynamic WATER QUALITY TECHNICIAN to join our team! This person will work under the supervision of the Curatorial Staff and Consulting Veterinarian. This individual will ensure and promote effective and efficient care of the department's animal care and water quality testing.
Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium //
Application Information: For more information and to apply, click the link below: https://www.applicantpro.com/openings/wondersofwildlife/jobs/2702323-674107
We are seeking a dynamic WATER QUALITY TECHNICIAN to join our team! This person will work under the supervision of the Curatorial Staff. This individual will ensure and promote effective and efficient care of the department's animal care and water quality testing.
Life Support Systems Technician Living Collections Department
California Science Center Foundation //
700 Exposition Park Drive Los Angeles, Ca 90037 //
The Life Support Systems Technician is responsible for providing and maintaining the mechanical systems that support proper and healthy environments for the living collections. Additionally, the LSS Technician works closely with the Life Support Systems Manager and Water Laboratory Supervisor to ensure the highest quality of water and proper operation of the closed system exhibits within the Living Collections department.
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The certification program is on course. The study guide was well done. I believe building confidence in that Level 1 operator through a certification program is the most important objective of AALSO. That Level 1 operator is the future AALSO.
AALSO membership and certification are two criteria I take into account when hiring new life support operators. I want all of the operators at our institution to become certified.
The certification program is great! I personally place a lot of value on this program, and hope to see it continue and expand.
Encouraging advancement of the science and technology of life support for care of aquatic systems and animals.
Symposiums & Events
Symposium FAQ's

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Extracting Address numbers in a Block Reference from autocad I have an autoCad file of a subdivision and I want to extract the addresses from it. However, when I export the layer to a SHP, it loses any information it had about the actual addresses. The addresses are stored as a Block Reference Layer.
Usually, I can use Explode or Burst to break up the layer and then export. However, those two options are making AutoCad crash instead.
Does anyone have any recommendations on other ways to obtain the data? I'd rather not enter it all manually into ArcMap.
Edit:
Solutions Tried
1) I tried using the Import Cad Annotation tool and got an Error 000278 and 000016. This looked to be, maybe, due to an extent error which I've seen before when using the generated GDB's we get for these jobs. I made a new GDB just for the cad file to try to work around the extent issue and re-ran the tool. ...Only to get the same two errors. I am allowing the tool to create its own feature class but the error still occurs.
2) I added the annotation via Add Data and then right clicked and using Import Cad Annotation. This produced the same two errors.
3) In AutoCad 2012, I used WBLOCK to create a new cad file with ONLY the layer I wanted (Address). This ended up changing the data from an annotation layer to a CAD point file. Copy CAD Feature layer. This finally produced the closest result to what I wanted, a feature class with an attribute that had the address numbers in it.

A: In AutoCad 2012, I used WBLOCK to create a new cad file with ONLY the layer I wanted (Address). This ended up changing the data from an annotation layer to a CAD point file. Copy CAD Feature layer. This finally produced the closest result to what I wanted, a feature class with an attribute that had the address numbers in it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
pageable-text
=============
See the [component page](https://jeffposnick.github.io/pageable-text/) for more information.


text:
Sagamore Kids
By Chris Korman
As the man responsible for rebuilding Sagamore Farm shook hands with the son of the man who oversaw its halcyon days, Tiger Walk stood stoically in his stall. The other horses in the barn had long since poked their heads out in response to commotion created by television crews and a small gathering of reporters. Tiger Walk faced the other way, looking out his window.
Kevin Plank, the Under Armour founder and CEO who bought Sagamore Farm in 2007, hopes Tiger Walk can remain unflappable. The 3-year-old is pointed toward the Preakness and would be the first of Plank's horses to go to the gate in Maryland's premier race. Sagamore's Monzon raced in last year's Belmont Stakes; getting into the Preakness is the next step toward Plank's goal of regularly competing for the Triple Crown.
It's audacious — when has Plank been anything otherwise? — but hardly unprecedented. Not far from where Plank greeted Alfred G. Vanderbilt III — whose father owned Sagamore from 1933 to 1986 — the horse Native Dancer is buried. He lost one race in his entire career: the controversial 1953 Kentucky Derby, during which he was bumped and then had to circle the field before finishing second.
Vanderbilt, 62, returned to the farm Friday for the first time since he was a teenager. A New York-based public relations executive, writer and musician, he was in Baltimore for the memorial of a former Sagamore worker. He had not even seen photos of the farm, which fell into disrepair after his father sold it, and had spoken to Plank only via telephone. He took a tour of the grounds Friday morning, finding all new fences but several of the same old buildings. The track is now synthetic; recycled Under Armour cloth is part of the mix.
"It's a special place," Vanderbilt would say later.
Said Plank: "You have a classic American family that shares history with this barn. It'd be interesting to get his perspective on what this crazy guy is doing with this place. It was really warm to hear his impressions of the farm and the way we're bringing it back."
Plank is careful to pay homage to the past while also professing a desire to lead change in the horse racing industry. A lack of unified leadership has hurt the sport, he said, and he is hopeful success on the track will give him more sway. He dreams of a day when Maryland sports fans keep tabs on Sagamore's 2-year-olds as they search for Triple Crown contenders.
"I'd love to be mentioned some day in the same breath as the Ravens and Orioles," he said. "Who said we need a hockey team or a basketball team? Hell with that. We've got a great horse racing team here."
For Tiger Walk to make an impression at Preakness, trainer Ignacio Correas IV said, "he'll need to step up." Correas has tweaked Tiger Walk's training — and is working him with blinders to improve his focus — after a fourth-place finish in the Wood Memorial.
"I think that he still has a lot to give," Correas said. "I don't know if he'll give it in his next race."
Plank was optimistic.
"We've got a horse in the race," he said. "So why not us?"
Birth of a Campaign
Hunter Rankin's Preakness Picks
Global Campaign to Train Up to Breeders' Cup Classic
Five runners will go to post this weekend for Saga...
See all stories >>
© Sagamore Racing 2007 - 2018. All Rights Reserved.


text:
package com.google.security.zynamics.binnavi.API.reil;

import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
import com.google.security.zynamics.binnavi.API.disassembly.Address;
import com.google.security.zynamics.zylib.disassembly.CAddress;

// ! Provides oft-used REIL functions.
/**
 * This class provides a few helper functions which are very useful while working with REIL code.
 */
public final class ReilHelpers {
  /**
   * You are not supposed to instantiate this class.
   */
  private ReilHelpers() {
  }

  // ! Checks whether an instruction is a function call.
  /**
   * Determines whether a given REIL instruction is a function call.
   *
   * @param instruction The instruction to check.
   *
   * @return True, if the instruction is a function call. False, otherwise.
   */
  public static boolean isFunctionCall(final ReilInstruction instruction) {
    Preconditions.checkNotNull(instruction, "Error: Instruction argument can not be null");

    return com.google.security.zynamics.reil.ReilHelpers.isFunctionCall(instruction.getNative());
  }

  /**
   * Determines whether a given operand is a native register.
   *
   * @param operand The value to check.
   *
   * @return True, if the operand is a native register. False, otherwise.
   */
  public static boolean isNativeRegister(final ReilOperand operand) {
    Preconditions.checkNotNull(operand, "Operand argument can not be null");

    return com.google.security.zynamics.reil.ReilHelpers.isNativeRegister(operand.getNative());
  }

  /**
   * Determines whether a given REIL operand is a register.
   *
   * @param operand The REIL operand to check.
   *
   * @return True, if the operand is a register operand. False, otherwise.
   */
  public static boolean isRegister(final ReilOperand operand) {
    Preconditions.checkNotNull(operand, "Operand argument argument can not be null");

    return operand.getType() == OperandType.REGISTER;
  }

  /**
   * Determines whether a given operand is a REIL register.
   *
   * @param operand The operand to check.
   *
   * @return True, if the operand is a REIL register. False, otherwise.
   */
  public static boolean isReilRegister(final ReilOperand operand) {
    Preconditions.checkNotNull(operand, "Operand argument can not be null");

    return com.google.security.zynamics.reil.ReilHelpers.isTemporaryRegister(operand.getNative());
  }

  /**
   * Determines whether a given string value is a REIL register.
   *
   * @param value The string value to check.
   *
   * @return True, if the string value is a REIL register. False, otherwise.
   */
  public static boolean isReilRegister(final String value) {
    Preconditions.checkNotNull(value, "Value argument can not be null");

    return com.google.security.zynamics.reil.ReilHelpers.isTemporaryRegister(value);
  }

  /**
   * Determines whether a given REIL instruction is one of the ternary instructions that use all of
   * their operands.
   *
   * @param instruction The REIL instruction to check.
   *
   * @return True, if the instruction is a ternary instruction. False, otherwise.
   */
  public static boolean isTernaryInstruction(final ReilInstruction instruction) {
    Preconditions.checkNotNull(instruction, "Instruction argument can not be null");

    return instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("ADD")
        || instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("SUB")
        || instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("MUL")
        || instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("DIV")
        || instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("MOD")
        || instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("BSH")
        || instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("AND")
        || instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("OR")
        || instruction.getMnemonic().equalsIgnoreCase("XOR");
  }

  /**
   * Determines whether a given REIL instruction is an unconditional jump instruction.
   *
   * @param instruction The REIL instruction to check.
   *
   * @return True, if the REIL instruction is an unconditional jump instruction. False, otherwise.
   */
  public static boolean isUnconditionalJump(final ReilInstruction instruction) {
    Preconditions.checkNotNull(instruction, "Instruction argument can not be null");

    return com.google.security.zynamics.reil.ReilHelpers.isUnconditionalJump(instruction.getNative());
  }

  // ! Converts REIL addresses to native addresses.
  /**
   * Converts a REIL address to a native address by getting rid of the lowest 8 bits of the REIL
   * input address.
   *
   * @param address A REIL address.
   *
   * @return A native address.
   */
  public static Address toNativeAddress(final Address address) {
    return new Address(com.google.security.zynamics.reil.ReilHelpers.toNativeAddress(new CAddress(address.toLong()))
        .toBigInteger());
  }

  // ! Converts native addresses to REIL addresses.
  /**
   * Converts a native address to a REIL address by multiplying the native address by 0x100.
   *
   * @param address A native address.
   *
   * @return A REIL address.
   */
  public static Address toReilAddress(final Address address) {
    return new Address(com.google.security.zynamics.reil.ReilHelpers.toReilAddress(new CAddress(address.toLong()))
        .toBigInteger());
  }
}


text:
Nations & States
Millennial Perspectives on World Affairs
About N&S
Political Dysfunction in Spain: A Primer
Published August 3, 2016 August 3, 2016 by Marco Moratilla in Content, News & Analysis
On June 26th, Spanish citizens went to the polls to elect a new government. Again. They did so previously on December 20, 2015. Alas, those elections did not produce a clear victor with a majority of the vote as the results were too splintered for any two parties to form a governing coalition. Since then, a caretaker government has run state affairs. Despite the recent election, it seems this outcome will endure for the foreseeable future, given this election proved nearly as inconclusive as the last.
Partido Popular (PP), the governing conservative party, received a plurality, but despite a recently growing economy, PP was too tainted by corruption scandals to carry more than a third of the vote. Much of PP's traditional bloc was siphoned off by Ciudadanos, an upstart center-right party led by Albert Rivera, an enterprising young Catalan politician who emphasizes Spanish unity in the face of Catalan and Basque separatism. In addition, Ciudadanos has yet to be tainted by accusations of endemic corruption.
The rest of the vote was divided between two leftward leaning parties: PSOE, the longstanding socialist opposition party, and Podemos, a parvenu leftist party led by political science university professors.
PP and Ciudadanos want to form a coalition government, but together they represent less than fifty percent of the votes cast on June 26th, and are seven deputies short of the requisite majority needed in parliament. Until these two parties can define where they will make up the difference, Spanish politics is at a standstill. If PSOE or Podemos decide to abstain rather than vote to reject such a coalition, a new government will be swiftly inaugurated. Yet, PP inspires such a degree of contempt among its rival parties that, while not impossible to imagine, such an outcome is difficult to fathom.
It was not long ago that Spanish politics were far less fractured. Two major factors account for this transformation: unemployment and corruption.
The time immediately preceding the 2008 financial crisis was the apotheosis of Spanish societal and political unity. Spain had never been more prosperous. While perhaps lacking the geopolitical influence of its "Golden Century," spanning from the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century, living standards had never been higher. The Civil War was in the past. The Franco dictatorship was over. The transition to democracy in the 1970s was successful, and the king and prime minister averted a military coup in 1981. Almost without interruption, as there was a recession in the early 1990s, the economy had been on the rise. Spain's nominal GDP was on track to surpass Italy's as the third largest in the Eurozone. The economy was showing signs of distress, but all talk of a recession was repudiated by the term du jour: economic deceleration. The Ibex 35 (Spain's equivalent of the Dow) remained at an all-time high. The Basque separatist terrorist organization ETA was less lethal than it had been in decades. Catalan separatism was kept at bay. Spain's modern socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, had graced the cover of Time and Newsweek (a rare feat for a Spanish politician) and had been described as "Spain's new man" for "making socialism work."
On June 29th, 2008, another long-desired achievement befell all Spaniards, something of great consequence for the massive and record-setting Spanish TV audience: Spain played and won the Euro Cup final. While Spain's two great soccer teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona, won many competitions and honors, Spain had not won the global competition in nearly 50 years. Spain's living rooms and bars exploded in jubilation and a joyous eruption pervaded all over the country's main squares. There was chanting of "I am Spanish, Spanish, Spanish" in Placa Catalunya in Barcelona, a prominent site for many of today's regular separatist gatherings.
Nevertheless, the good times came to an end. The financial crisis hit in September 2008 and Spain's economy, consisting mainly of tourism and a construction boom, proved extremely vulnerable. Spain experienced one of the largest housing bubble bursts in the Western world. Credit dried up. Nothing new was sold or built. There was more supply than demand. The economy ground to a halt. Unemployment skyrocketed.
THE CRISIS PERIOD
Zapatero attempted a counter-cyclical fiscal policy—increased government spending or reducing taxation during periods of weak private sector demand, and the reverse during periods of increased private sector demand—much in the same way the United States implemented the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in early 2009. Yet, soon thereafter, the 2010 Greek debt crisis hit and the tide of economic policy formulation shifted in the Eurozone. During the tenure of Jean-Claude Tichet, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised short-term interest rates and demands for fiscal austerity reached a fever pitch. Spain was forced to reverse course and implement austerity. The lack of economic growth meant less tax revenue and more spending on automatic stabilizers (such as unemployment insurance and other social subsidies).
Consequently, while Spain went into the crisis with balanced budgets and a moderately low debt-to-GDP ratio, all of it was quickly undone. By 2012, Zapatero had been voted out, unemployment had topped 20 percent, and Spain was on the verge of requiring a bank bailout. Stores had been boarded up and, for the first time in a generation, a statistically significant portion of Spaniards suffered from hunger. Young, well-educated Spaniards, unable to find employment, emigrated in droves to Britain and Germany.
Then, Mario Draghi, the new ECB president, stated the ECB would do "whatever it takes" to protect the euro and return calm to financial markets. By a hair, Spain did not have to resort to a corralito (a freezing of bank accounts to preclude a run) as was the case in Greece in the summer of 2015.
"After several years of devastating economic misery, growth returned beginning in 2014. In fact, Spain has been one of the fastest growing economies in the Eurozone for the past few years. It has been growing at a rate of three percent and unemployment has fallen below 20 percent."
After several years of devastating economic misery, growth returned beginning in 2014. In fact, Spain has been one of the fastest growing economies in the Eurozone for the past few years. It has been growing at a rate of three percent and unemployment has fallen below 20 percent. So, if growth has been restored, and unemployment continues to decline, why was PP not easily re-elected? The answer is corruption.
"BE STRONG, LUIS"
In 2013, this is what Mariano Rajoy, the current prime minister, privately texted to Luis Barcenas, the former PP treasurer, after the latter was caught stealing and laundering millions of euros in the service of enriching himself, his colleagues, and financing PP's election campaigns. Luis Barcenas kept detailed records of all of his financial irregularities. It turned out Mariano Rajoy, along with most of the leaders of PP, personally enriched himself through illegal and undocumented donations to the party. Despite an outcry among the Spanish public, Rajoy refused to resign. While there was never sufficient evidence to convict him in a court of law, he was found guilty in the court of public opinion. Luis Barcenas went to jail for a while (he is now out on a technicality), but was not alone. In the years that followed, dozens of high profile PP officials, including most of the PP high command in Madrid, served time in prison or at a minimum were indicted on corruption charges.
Surprisingly, the other major party, PSOE, suffered far less than its rival from the ethical cancer that is corruption. Corruption was plentiful in PSOE as well, but it was concentrated regionally. Almost all of its operations in Andalusia were involved in a scandal, but few allegations were made or proven about the most prominent PSOE figures at the national level, ranging from the previous prime ministers to the cabinet ministers.
WHERE THINGS STAND TODAY
With this amount of slime lurking in Spanish politics, Spanish voters with a desire for clean partisan politics turned to new parties. Thus, disaffected PP voters flocked to Ciudadanos and disaffected PSOE voters turned to Podemos. Now, after a second general election, Spain remains stuck at a four-way political impasse. The country will most likely unstick itself one way or another within the foreseeable future. Increased awareness of the societal ill of corruption has made people less tolerant of it. The most flagrant abusers have been put behind bars and their names have not been forgotten. It is not unlikely these scandals will forge a change of culture much like the scandals of the Gilded Age begot the beginnings of the Progressive Era of clean politics in the form of civil service reform in the United States.
Additionally, unlike in Britain, the EU is popular in Spain. There is no impending "Spexit." The country has prospered without a new government in the seven months since the December general election of last year. The finance minister, Luis de Guindos, just announced Spain will beat previous GDP forecasts for this year and grow by 3.2 percent. So, either PP will find the remote support it needs and form a government in the coming months or the country will head into a third general election to finally resolve the political impasse. Either way, it will all be easier now that economic good times no longer look as distant.
Image: Demonstration in front of the People's Party headquarters protesting against the Barcenas' affair (2 February 2013). (Popicinio/Flickr, Editorial Use)
Marco F. Moratilla works for New Magellan Venture Partners, LLC, a venture capital firm. He has experience at the National Security Archive and the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an M.A. in international affairs from The George Washington University and a B.A. in political science from the University of California, San Diego. His work has appeared in International Affairs Review. A native Californian, he spent his formative years in Madrid, Spain.
Tags: Albert Rivera, Ciudadanos, Economy, Euro Cup, Europe, European Central Bank, European Union, Ibex 35, Mariano Rajoy, Partido Popular, Spain, Unemployment
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Why not just add another couple of avatars and get it to 667mb? I mean srsly in the past buildings have skipped over floor level numbers due to superstition. They're just adding to the uneasiness by leaving this alone.
Wtf, you took k3cks avatar.


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China Unicom deploys Nokia's AirGile cloud-native core network
Monday, February 05, 2018 China Unicom, Nokia, VoLTE, VoWiFi
China Unicom will deploy a cloud-native core network based on Nokia's AirGile technology to enable the delivery of Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and Voice-over-Wi-Fi (VoWiFi), and lay the foundations for the future evolution to 5G. The installation will occur in seven Chinese provinces: Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Hainan, Yunnan, Gansu and Hunan. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deployment of the Nokia cloud-native core network also enables new services such as 'one-number, multi-devices'. The network will include Nokia AirGile cloud-native core technologies as well as the Nokia AirFrame data center, NetAct, CloudBand and Session Border Controller. Nokia will also act as a product and systems integrator.
In 2017 Nokia and China Unicom began interoperability with other vendors' equipment, enabling China Unicom to be the first operator to deploy a three-layer decoupled network architecture using network functions virtualization to decouple hardware and software and ensure flexibility allowing each network layer to evolve independently.
Gao Bo, head of the China Unicom customer business team at Nokia Shanghai Bell said: "Nokia has the breadth of technology and services expertise to provide an end-to-end cloud native core for China Unicom. The network will deliver new capabilities and allow China Unicom to accelerate the launch of new services, while new agility will help enable a smooth transition toward 5G in the future."
Broadcom sweetens its bid for Qualcomm
Monday, February 05, 2018 Broadcom, Merger & Acquisitions, Silicon
Broadcom boosted its unsolicited bid to acquire Qualcomm to $121 billion, or $82 per share, consisting of $60.00 in cash and the remainder in Broadcom shares.
Broadcom described the bid as its "best and final offer", saying that it is prepared to pay to Qualcomm "a significant "reverse termination fee" in an amount appropriate for a transaction of this size in the unlikely event we are unable to obtain required regulatory approvals."
Several conditions were placed on the new offer, including that Qualcomm completes its own acquisition of NXP on current terms or that this merger be sracapped. A second condition is that Qualcomm not delay or adjourn its annual meeting past March 6, 2018.
Ampere emerges from stealth with 64-bit ARM server designs
Monday, February 05, 2018 #JNPR, Ampere, ARM, Silicon, Silicon Valley, Start-ups
Ampere, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California, emerged from stealth and revealed its plans for 64-bit ARM-based server processors aimed at hyperscale cloud applications and next-generation data centers.
Ampere Computing is headed by Renee James, the former president of Intel until 2016. Its team also includes three other Intel veterans: Atiq Bajwa, Chief Architect, and foremerly VP and GM of product architecture at Intel; Rohit Avinash Vidwans, Executive Vice President of Engineering, with 25 years experience at Intel including work on Xeon microprocessors for data center and enterprise servers; and Greg Favor, Senior Fellow, and 25 years experience at Intel including over 60 patents. Ampere is backed by The Carlyle Group.
Ampere said its processors will offer a high performance, custom core Armv8-A 64-bit server operating at up to 3.3 GHz, 1TB of memory at a power envelope of 125 watts. It will also offer mixed signal I/O features including PCIE Gen 3, SATA Gen 3, USB and workload accelerators, as well as the high-performance on-chip fabric. The processors are sampling now and will be in production in the second half of the year.
In October, The Carlyle Group acquired the compute business of AppliedMicro from MACOM, which earlier in 2017 acquired Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AppliedMicro") in a deal was valued at approximately $770 million on the day it was announced.
In March 2017, AppliedMicro announced the sampling of its third generation 16-nanometer FinFET Server-on-a-Chip (SoC) solution, X-Gene 3. The device is an ARMv8-A compatible processor that matches comparable x86 processors in CPU throughput, per-thread performance, and power efficiency while offering advantages in memory bandwidth and total cost of ownership. It features 32 ARMv8-A 64-bit cores operating at speeds up to 3.0 GHz, eight DDR4-2667 memory channels with ECC and RAS supporting up to 16 DIMMs and addressing up to 1TB of memory and 42 PCIe Gen 3 lanes with eight controllers.
"We have an opportunity with cloud computing to take a fresh approach with products that are built to address the new software ecosystem," said James. "The workloads moving to the cloud require more memory, and at the same time, customers have stringent requirements for power, size and costs. The software that runs the cloud enables Ampere to design with a different point of view. The Ampere team's approach and architecture meets the expectation on performance and power and gives customers the freedom to accelerate the delivery of the most memory-intensive applications and workloads such as AI, big data, storage and database in their next-generation data centers."
Singtel seeks to increase stake in Bharti Airtel
Monday, February 05, 2018 Bharti, SingTel
Singtel will subscribe to new shares in Bharti Telecom under a proposed preferential allotment.
Specifically, Singtel International Investments will be allotted up to 85,450,000 new equity shares in Bharti Telecom at an issue price of INR310 per equity share. This will increase Singtel's stake in Bharti Telecom by up to 1.7% for an aggregate consideration of approximately INR26.5 billion or S$555.6 million. Through this allotment, Singtel's economic interest in Airtel will increase by 0.9 percentage point to 39.5%.
Airtel is India's largest telecommunications company with operations in 16 countries across South Asia and Africa and a customer base of over 390 million. It has been an associate of the Group since Singtel acquired a stake in 2000.
Mr Arthur Lang, CEO International, said, "This is a good opportunity for us to deepen our strategic partnership with Airtel. While there are currently headwinds in India, we take a long-term view of our investment in Airtel which continues to be a strong market leader in a region with rapidly increasing smartphone penetration and mobile data adoption."
Corning opens a new cable manufacturing plant in North Carolina
Monday, February 05, 2018 Corning, Fiber
Corning has opened a new cable manufacturing facility in Newton, North Carolina. The factory will employ more than 200 people and is part of Corning's previously announced plan to invest more than $250 million in its optical fiber, cable, and solutions manufacturing facilities.
In North Carolina, in addition to this new plant in Newton, Corning is also expanding its fiber manufacturing facility near Concord and its cable facilities in Winston-Salem and Hickory.
"Network operators around the world are challenged to meet exploding demand for high-speed connectivity and data storage," said Clark S. Kinlin, executive vice president, Corning Optical Communications. "We are adding this cable capacity to help ensure reliable supply of the world's highest performing optical cable in a growing market. This world-class facility was commissioned in record time, a feat that would not have been possible without our long-serving Catawba County employees, or the support of state and local leaders here in North Carolina."
Telstra opens 5G Innovation Centre
Monday, February 05, 2018 Telstra
Telstra opened a 5G Innovation Centre at its Southport Exchange on the Gold Coast..
The 5G Innovation Centre is hosting several 5G demonstrations:
Australia's first 5G field trial using a moving vehicle demonstrating how the high bandwidth and low latency of 5G can deliver an immersive view from the driver's perspective via virtual reality headsets and support autonomous driving.
A speed test of around 3 Gbps down and 300 Mbps up over mmWave spectrum demonstrating the speed and capacity that will be achieved over 5G and how that will support advanced multimedia applications such as augmented and virtual reality.
How drones enabled with artificial intelligence can support surf lifesaving and be operated on a mass scale by 5G beam forming technology targeting each drone.
A robotic arm demonstrating how the ultra-low latency of 5G can support a range of industrial applications requiring precise control.
"Telstra has already conducted Australia's first 5G field trial and the world's first 5G outdoor data call over 26GHz 'mmWave' radiofrequency spectrum. From our new 5G Innovation Centre we will be completing a number of 5G firsts in 2018 to ensure Australia remains at the forefront of mobile technology," said Robyn Denholm, Chief Operations Officer, Telstra.
Oclaro posts quarterly sales of $139 million
Monday, February 05, 2018 Financials, Oclaro
Oclaro reported revenues of $139.3 million for its second quarter of fiscal 2018, compared with revenues of $155.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018, and revenues of $153.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2017. GAAP gross margin was 37.2% for the second quarter of fiscal 2018, down from 39.5% in the second quarter of fiscal 2017. Non-GAAP operating income was $24.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2018. This compares with non-GAAP operating income of $34.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018, and non-GAAP operating income of $36.2 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2017.
"The December quarter results were in line with our expectations. While revenue declined from the prior quarter, the team again delivered strong gross margin, profitability and cash flow," said Greg Dougherty, Chief Executive Officer, Oclaro. "While we project March quarter revenue to be down sequentially, we anticipate another quarter of solid operating income. As the headwinds facing the industry begin to subside, and we ramp new products, our revenue is expected to resume growth in the June quarter."
Transpacific subsea capacity on the rise
Monday, February 05, 2018 OND Commentary
We've entered a period in which subsea capacity along the major transoceanic routes is expanding by leaps and bounds, and the Pacific is no exception.
For years, the four fibre pair Pacific Crossing (PC-1) has ruled the roost for bandwidth between the west coast of the United States and Asia. Pacific Crossing's 21,000 km fiber optic ring first entered service in 2001 as a protected system with a capacity of 3.2 Tbps based on its ability to carry 10 Gbps wavelengths. A mid-life upgrade enabled the ability to carry 100G wavelengths, effectively tripling capacity to 10 Tbps.
In 2009, NTT acquired the cable system from Pacific Crossing Ltd, Inc., a former subsidiary of Global Crossing and of the former Asia Global Crossing. During the great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, the PC-1 North and PC-1 West segments were severed underwater, but were subsequently restored a few weeks later by the cable repair ship, CS Lodbrog. Service on the southern portion of PC-1 was unaffected by the disaster.
The 17-year-old PC-1 subsea cable network is now showing its age. The new generation of cables offer much greater capacity and, some, even the ability to carry future 400G wavelengths. We are also seeing
The FASTER transpacific cable
The FASTER transpacific cable entered commercial service in June 2016 – a milestone event described at the time as "the world's highest capacity undersea cable system." Google touted the fact that it controls a single fibre pair on the 9,000km trans-Pacific cable connecting Oregon and two landing sites in Japan (Chiba and Mie prefectures). Over this single fibre pair, Google is able to carry up to 100 wavelengths at 100 Gbps – the equivalent of 10 Tbps of traffic when fully loaded. The design features extremely low-loss fiber, without a dispersion compensation section, and the latest digital signal processing technology. NEC was the lead contractor. Significantly, it was the first major transpacific cable system to land in Japan after the Tohoku mega-earthquake and tsunami of 2011.
JUPITER will rule (at least for a while)
In October 2017, plans were unveiled for JUPITER, a new large-capacity, low-latency subsea cable between Japan and the United States with the backing of SoftBank, Facebook, Amazon, PLDT and PCCW Global.
The JUPITER cable system. which will have a total length of 14,000 km, will have two landing points in Japan — the Shima Landing Station in Mie Prefecture and the Maruyama Landing Station in Chiba Prefecture — as well as a U.S. landing station in Los Angeles, California, as well as a landing station at Daet in the Philippines.
JUPITER will feature a state-of-the-art submersible ROADM employing WSS (wavelength selective switch) for a gridless and flexible bandwidth configuration. The cable system will also be designed to support 400 Gbps wavelengths. The initial design capacity is 60 Tbps.
NTT Com said its Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE), Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) and Pacific Crossing-1 (PC-1) cables will connect with JUPITER to provide a redundant three-route structure linking major cities in Asia, Japan and the United States. NTT Com is also planning direct connections from the cable landing stations in Japan to data centers in Tokyo and Osaka.
JUPITER is expected to come online in early 2020
Telstra expands its transpacific subsea cable investments
Telstra has just announced plans to invest in two transpacific cable projects, expanding its transoceanic network by the equivalent of 6 terabits per second of new capacity. Most of Telstra's transpacific traffic is currently carried on the AAG cable, which connects South East Asia to the US west coast via Hong Kong, Guam and Hawaii. The 20,000 Km AAG system went in service in late 2009. The system features 96*10G DWDM technology. In addition to Telstra, there are 18 other carriers participating in the consortium.
The first new Telstra undersea investment is a newly announced, 13,000-km Hong Kong Americas (HKA) cable project, which is also backed by China Telecom, China Unicom, Facebook, and Tata Communications. The HKA system will feature six fiber pairs and will connect from Chung Hom Kok in Hong Kong to Hermosa Beach in California. The designers are considering additional branching segments. It's design capacity is stated at 80 Tbps. Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), which is the lead contractor for the project, will supply its submarine WSS ROADM units and the latest generation of repeaters. In addition, the HKA cable will be compatible with future generations of submarine line terminal equipped with Probabilistic Shaping technology. Telstra will own a half-fibre pair on the HKA cable system.
The second Telstra project is the 12,800-km Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), which will also connect Hong Kong and the U.S. and offer an estimated cable capacity of 120 Tbps. The cable is expected to enter service in the summer of 2018. This project is organized by Pacific Light Data Communication Co. Ltd., a new company based in Hong Kong, and has the backing of Google and Facebook. TE SubCom has been appointed lead contractor.
Carrier-neutral Hawaiki will be ready for service in June
The deployment of Hawaiki, a new carrier-neutral submarine cable linking Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Oregon, is progressing quickly as the new fibre is laid across the vast South Pacific. This 15,000 km undersea system promises up to 43 Tbps of new capacity on the market. The project is owned by Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP, headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. The key people behind the project were New Zealand-based entrepreneurs Sir Eion Edgar, Malcolm Dick and Remi Galasso.
TE SubCom serves as the lead contractor
More than half of the 15,000 route is now in the water and landing stations in Oregon, Hawaii and Sydney have been built. Another cable landing station in American Samoa will be ready in March. TE SubCom's cable-laying vessel CS Responder is now berthed in Auckland, poised to begin marine activities for the New Zealand leg of the transoceanic cable system later this month. The operation will include the landing of the Hawaiki cable in Mangawhai Heads. With FCC licensing now complete, this week the company is predicting that the whole system can be declared commercially ready-for-service in June.
"The start of 2018 finds Hawaiki closer and closer to ready for service", stated Remi Galasso, CEO of Hawaiki. "Landing the cable in its home country represents a major event for our team and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our New Zealand partners for their continuous support. Hawaiki will bring huge benefits to New Zealand in terms of greater connectivity to Australia and the US, security of supply, diversity and increased business opportunities for the Telecom and IT industries."
ATX appoints Charlie Vogt as CEO
Monday, February 05, 2018 ATX, People
ATX Networks, which supplies network infrastructure systems and commercial video solutions, has appointed Charlie Vogt as President and CEO, replacing Ken Wildgoose, who led the company as its President and then CEO for the last 18 years. Mr. Wildgoose will remain with ATX as an advisor and continue to serve on the Company's Board of Directors.
Vogt most recently was President and CEO of Imagine Communications, where he transformed the company from Harris Broadcast to Imagine Communications and GatesAir. Previously, Vogt was CEO of GENBAND. He has also held leadership roles at Taqua and Santera Systems (Tekelec), Accelerated Networks (Calix Networks), Lucent (Alcatel), Ascend Communications (Lucent), ADTRAN, Motorola and IBM.
"It has been an honor to lead ATX Networks and to be a part of the Company's incredible team of dedicated employees," said Mr. Wildgoose. "Charlie is a visionary and strategic thinker with a decades-long track record of hyper growth in the service provider and media communications industries. His passion and expertise in conjunction with the Company's talented team and exciting new initiatives in the cable HFC access network and commercial video gateway markets positions ATX for an exciting and promising next chapter."


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Art&Seek Jr: Get Inspired with Black History Month
by Therese Powell 12 Feb 2013 3:01 PM
This week in the Junior: Grab some inspiration with the kids at these Black History Month events.
Art&Seek Jr. is one mom's quest to find activities to end the seemingly endless chorus of the "I'm Bored Blues" while having fun herself. Impossible you say? Check back on Tuesdays for kid-friendly events that are fun for adults, too.
I love the opportunity to teach my child about American history and the men and women who sacrificed to make this country great.
Case in point, elementary school curriculum is jammed packed in February with Black History Month and Presidents Day. As a result, Rose has answered the "what-did-you-learn-in-school-today" dinner time question with stories of presidents and Civil Rights leaders. It makes my heart feel so good to know her school has inspired her and her classmates to want to know more about Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. I hear opportunity knocking.
You can seize the opportunity to inspire your children with these Black History month events:
"Superheroes" is always the word that springs to mind when I think of the young men who fought in World War II. True, they didn't don capes or have S's on their chests. But they saved the world plain and simple, and many weren't more than kids when they did it. You and your children can see one of these tales of valor tonight when UT Dallas presents a screening of the film Red Tails. The film tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American servicemen who flew in World War II. The film, directed by George Lucas of Star Wars fame, is rated PG-13, so it's probably better suited for older children.
What if the greats of the Negro League had been allowed to play in the majors? Photo: Allen Public Library
Baseball lovers of all ages are in luck, because we've got two cool hardball events on the calendar. Author Bob May will discuss his book The Best Season, the First Ninety Games at the Allen Public Library on Feb. 21. His book explores the question: What if Major League Baseball had been integrated before Jackie Robinson? Bob will give fascinating statistics on how baseball could have been different had black players been allowed to participate in the majors during its segregated era.
The Children's Center at the Dallas Public Library will offer up its own baseball themed event for younger audiences in Civil Rights History: Before You Could Say "Jackie Robinson" on Feb. 23. The program, which explores American history from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, explains how race relations in baseball reflected important social and cultural changes in the United States.
Mini jazz devotees won't want to miss Library Live! Black History with Rocelle on Feb. 23 at the Highland Hills branch of the Dallas Public Library. Kids will learn songs of jazz history from African chants to modern blues and jazz. Also, a special focus will be given to pioneering women in jazz vocal music. Yay, Girl Power!
Therese Powell is an Art&Seek calendar coordinator and KERA-TV producer. She spends most of her free time seeking out adventures for her 7-year-old daughter, Rose. Tell us about your your ideas for quirky kid adventures by leaving a comment. Or e-mail Therese at [email protected].
Children's Center Dallas Public Library
History or Science
UT-Dallas
About Therese Powell
Therese Powell is a KERA producer and calendar coordinator for Art&Seek. She's a regular contributor to the Art&Seek web site and writes the weekly feature Art&Seek Jr., a guide for family-friendly events and quirky kid adventures in the DFW area. View more about Therese Powell.
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About this event All ages welcome. Free parking.


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Castle Christmas FanFic Competition: Links
Story: "Links"
"I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link…" Set Christmas season 4 after Killshot, before Cuffed.
She chewed on her thumbnail, arms wrapped around her middle as she stared at the thin plastic Christmas tree standing on the small table in front of the window. Ornaments scattered the spindly branches. She could almost hear the Charlie Brown Christmas theme humming in her ear. This had been a mistake. This wouldn't help. Burke had suggested it as part of her theraspy.
Put up a tree, he'd said. Decorate it. Call your father. The only way for you to continue to heal is for you to confront the parts that are painful for you.
So, after work she had stopped at the store and picked the last small tree off the shelf, forcing herself to give a weak smile to the cashier as the girl rung her up with a bored expression on her face. Now, she was staring at a tree in her living room on Christmas Eve, alone, her phone in a vise grip in her hand.
"Mom! Dad! Are you serious?" 19 year-old Kate gasped from her place sitting cross-legged in front of the fluffy Christmas tree as she tore open the paper on her present, taking in the picture of the orange and white shell of the iBook laptop.
"Well, you're in college now and we thought it would be a good thing for you to have," Johanna Beckett explained as she watched her daughter tear through the rest of the paper. "They didn't have purple but we thought you'd like the orange one too."
"Like it? I love it! Thank you so much!" Kate placed the computer on the floor beside her before launching herself into her parents' arms. She pulled back bouncing in place a couple more times before skipping back to the tree picking up one of the gifts for her father. "Dad! You next. This one's from Mom."
Jim Beckett's eyes were dancing as he took the present from his beaming daughter. Tearing open the paper gently, his smile grew as his robe-clad wife snuggled into his side, the steaming cup of coffee cradled in her palms. "What is it, Jo?"
"I don't know. Open it and see."
Jim chuckled as he flipped the lid on the jewelry box open revealing the large round face of a watch. "Perfect, it's perfect Jo. I love you."
"I love you too."
Tears pooled in Kate's eyes as the words from the memory echoed through her mind, her hand coming up to twist the watch on her thin wrist. This was a mistake. She could feel the panic swelling in her chest. They weren't even the right ornaments, the ones from her childhood. They were cheap ones she had bought from the corner store, generic shiny metallic balls and a string of white lights. She hadn't even bothered to get a tree topper or a skirt for it. The green plastic feet of the stand stuck out at awkward angles. A stupid plastic tree wasn't going to heal her.
I want to heal. I want to be better. I want to be more than who I am.
Her words from weeks before echoed through her head.
I'm ready.
But was she really ready? Would she ever be?
What did she really want?
So many answers screamed through her brain. She wanted…
… Her mother back. She wanted to be cuddled up with her parents on Christmas Eve, drinking hot cocoa, and singing off key Christmas carols at the top of their lungs. She wanted to rip open more presents with them on Christmas morning. She wanted everything to be… perfect.
The ring spun in the air as she held it out in front of her, perched on the seat at the bar. The picture on her fake ID looked nothing like her, she had even had to turn on the charm to convince the bouncer to let her in but it had been worth it in the end, the double shot of vodka on the rocks sweating on the sticky counter in front of her being proof.
She palmed the ring before taking another swallow of her drink, already feeling the warmth starting to coat her stomach, making the ache in her chest a little lighter. Taking her time, she considered the drink for another long moment before turning to respond to the boy… the man… who had taken the stool beside her. He was decent enough looking, nothing special but he would do to take her mind off of things, like why she wasn't eating an elaborate feast with her parents at the moment. She could almost taste her mother's stuffing. That secret recipe that had died with her…
No, she shook her head. She could feel the tears welling up again. Not now.
"Hey," she responded in kind.
"Why are you here on Christmas Eve?"
Kate snorted into her drink, like she was actually going to tell that story. "My parents went on a cruise."
He nodded, sticking a hand out in front of her. "I'm…"
"No." Kate shook her head, reaching out with her own fingers, trailing them up his thigh, proud of the shiver she evocated from him as she dropped her voice to a whisper. "No names."
She downed the rest of her drink as a feral grin spread across his face and he flagged down the bartender, motioning for another round.
"Fine. No names."
20 year-old Kate nodded as she threw back the second drink. Merry fucking Christmas.
Far from perfect…
Kate shook her head as she leaned forward and yanked the end of the strand of lights from the socket.
It didn't matter what she wanted. It wasn't going to happen anyway. Not now, not ever.
She drained the rest of her wine as she made her way toward the bedroom, depositing the empty glass in the sink before stripping off her sweater and boots, pulling the pins from her hair. She would just sleep for the next two days and wake back up after this was all over.
"You know, fate has a cruel sense of humor."
Kate bolted up in her bed; heart pounding in her chest as her hand automatically went for her gun under her pillow.
"Don't bother, you won't find it there, not that it would matter anyway if you did."
Her hand felt the mattress erratically as her eyes searched the darkness for the owner of the voice. "Who's there?"
"Recognize me now, Detective?"
The light flickered on beside her, illuminating the shadow in the corner.
"Raglan?" Beckett questioned as she brought a hand up to shield her eyes from the sudden harsh light. "But you're…"
"Dead? Yes, I know. But like I said, fate has a cruel sense of humor, girlie," John Raglan growled as he took a step towards the bed. "I once likened myself to Jacob Marley. I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link…"
Kate's brow creased as she stared up at him hovering over her bed. "I don't…"
"I'm here to grant your wish, detective, well at least to show you what might have been… if only…"
Then, Kate watched as Raglan snapped his fingers, her hand no longer an adequate shield as the white light surrounded her.
"Where are we?" Kate questioned as she pulled her robe tighter around her. Her feet dancing in place as the snow began to fall around them, creating a thin white blanket on the ground. She was still in her pajamas and slippers, her hair pulled back in a messy bun, not that she cared— it was only a dream after all.
"I told you. I granted your wish, this is your Christmas if your mother had never died," Raglan explained as she spun in a circle taking in her surroundings.
"… But, I'm confused, this isn't New York."
"No, it isn't. We're in D.C. That's your apartment right up there." Raglan pointed to the dark window of the apartment on the third floor.
"Well it's pretty obvious I'm not home so why are we here? Where are my parents?"
"Oh, your parents, they're on a cruise to Mexico, enjoying retirement."
Kate turned in another circle, drawing her lip in between her teeth, nibbling on it nervously. She was starting to get a bad feeling about this situation, what was Raglan trying to tell her? Her eyes darted over to the man again. He was wearing the same clothes he was that day in the diner. His jacket edged open and she blanched as she caught sight of his blood stained shirt. "Well then I'm with them, right? I mean I would spend every Christmas with them if this had never happened. I know I would."
Raglan let out a snort as he began to stroll down the deserted road. "Would you. You had the perfect childhood detective— privileged most would call it. Good schools, loving parents even if they were workaholics. You never knew tragedy. You had nothing to show you how to cling to life."
He stopped in his tracks, turning to face her, a single finger darting out to jab her in her shoulder. "At least not until your mother died."
He turned to walk again, letting his words sink in. "What were you doing with your life before that happened, Detective? Partying with your friends? Worrying over exam grades? Do you remember what you were thinking that night your mother died when your father told you that you were going to meet her for dinner?"
Kate shrugged, "No, I don't. All I remember is what happened afterwards."
"You were mad because you had to cancel your friends. You were supposed to meet up with Madison and some of your old high school friends before you headed back to Stanford." Raglan turned to look at her again. "You never learned to appreciate what you had, Detective because you never learned tragedy. So, tonight you are here."
Kate glanced at the sign as they stopped once again on the cold streets of Washington D.C. "But this is an office building."
Raglan nodded as he snapped his fingers once more transporting them inside the building, "The home of Hummel and Steel to be exact. The law firm you are currently working for. On the quest to be the first woman Supreme Court Justice, remember? That doesn't come without a few sacrifices."
Kate stared in shock, her mouth forming an 'O' as she watched herself through the glass, all alone in the dark office, only a single desk lamp illuminating her work. "But it's Christmas Eve. I work Christmas Eve, now, to protect others, to allow my colleagues to be home with their families. I'm not doing that here, am I? Is that an important case I'm working on?"
She took another step forward, pressing her hands to the glass like a child mesmerized by a toy in the window.
"Oh, that?" Raglan waved a hand in dismissal. "It's an open case but it's nothing so important to spend a holiday on. It's a murder trial, and you're going to win by the way."
Kate let out a sigh of relief a smile ghosting over her lips. "So, he's innocent."
"Oh, no, girlie," Raglan laughed. "That man is guilty as sin and you know it, well, she does anyway."
He waved a hand at the Kate sitting behind the desk, head still bent over a pile of paperwork. "In fact there is a witness that you will end up discrediting in order to win your case and the information you find will end up ruining her life but it's all okay in the end because this is the case that will make you partner."
"But, that's horrible! I'm horrible. I would never do something like that." Kate gasped as Raglan turned to walk back down the hall.
"You wouldn't but she would." Raglan motioned over his shoulder lazily at the woman in the office. "Anything to get her where she wants to be."
"But what about Castle? Obviously he wouldn't be okay with me taking a case like that," Kate protested as they clomped down the stairs and back out into the December night.
"But you never met Richard Castle, Detective. Remember? This Kate, well she had a passing acquaintance with his books back in college but she never had time for frivolous things like pulp fiction. She didn't need it like you did."
Kate froze in her tracks, her stomach plummeting. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she squeezed herself in a hug in the center of the quiet, deserted street, the snow no longer a comforting blanket, the cold cutting straight through her skin. "I want to go. I don't want to be here anymore."
Raglan quirked a single eyebrow at her. "But this is what you wanted. This life, your mother alive…"
"I…" Kate stuttered, looking around. "I didn't want it like this."
"Fine," Raglan lamented, snapping his fingers once more. "As you wish."
Kate's eyes flickered open expecting to see her bedroom not the dark living room of Castle's loft.
"Castle..? Why are we here?"
Raglan shrugged, thumping her on the side of the head twice with his index finger. "You were thinking about him, weren't you? We're in your brain, remember?"
She glanced around again, her brow creased in confusion. "Is it still Christmas? Where are all the decorations? Where are the lights and Santa's village, and train tracks? Castle was describing it to me a week ago; he made it sound like a freakin' winter wonderland. What the fuck is going on Raglan?"
Anger was flaring in her chest. This wasn't right, none of this was right. Her fists clenched at her side. "Where's Castle?"
"In the office, girlie, go see for yourself."
Kate wandered over to the room slowly, bracing one hand against the bookcase. Castle was reclined in the chair at his desk, hair disheveled, dressed in a worn green robe and pajamas, a glass of scotch in his hand staring at the computer screen.
"He's writing, that's good, right?" Kate questioned inanely as she took in the tortured scene in front of her, the answer already echoing in her head. "Why does he look so sad? Where's Martha and Alexis?"
"Alexis is visiting her mother in California and Martha is out with friends."
"Why aren't they here?" Kate whispered, her heart sinking in her chest. "They are always together on the holidays…"
"Well," Raglan shrugged again. "That was before…"
Kate swallowed hard, her stomach churning, bile rising up her esophagus. She didn't want to know… "Before what?"
"Before you died."
Kate's head whipped around. "But I didn't die."
"Here you did. He did everything he could to save you but he couldn't and he blames himself for that."
"This isn't funny," Kate hissed. "Is this some sort of cruel joke to you? Why would you show me this?"
"You've thought about it, haven't you Detective? You were just thinking about it tonight, in fact. 'Why did he have to tell me he loved me like that..?'.
Kate's head snapped around again. "But… why would that matter? Him telling me he loved me?"
"Look at him, Detective. Really look." Raglan pushed her into the room, forcing her to stumble toward the desk. "His daughter left because she can't stand to see her father like this. It's been seven months and she can't take it anymore. He didn't even finish Heat Rises. He couldn't bring himself to do it. Gina even stopped calling to pester him about it. There's no point."
Kate rounded the desk slowly, peering at the screen from over Castle's shoulder only to see her own smiling face staring back at her. "But…"
"That man is so in love with you that losing you has torn his world apart and not having the courage to tell you he loved you made it even worse for him and for you. Because whether you know it or not him telling you how he felt made you hold on a little harder, fight for your life a little longer. Those words saved you…"
Raglan placed a hand on her shoulder as she brought her own hand up to cover her mouth, stifle her tears. "You are his inspiration but he inspires you too. You need each other."
Her hand shook as she reached out running a hand through Castle's hair gently, quietly soothing the heartbroken man. "I want to go home please."
And Raglan snapped his fingers again.
But they were still in the loft and Kate spun in a circle, a hesitant smile crossing her face as she was assaulted with a Christmas explosion of light, ornaments and snow. A train circled on a table in the corner. "I thought you were taking me home."
"I did… well your home a few years from now at least…"
Kate spun back around to look at him. "You mean…"
Raglan smiled back at the expectant look in her eyes. "You got married last year, finally. See that stocking over there, the little one? You snuck out in the middle of the night and tacked it up next to the others."
Kate nodded as she wandered towards the fireplace, the rest of the loft quiet around her. Her fingers danced over the fluff of the tiny green stocking hanging next to Alexis'.
"That," Raglan whispered over her shoulder. "Is how you are planning on telling him you're pregnant. It's a girl by the way."
"It's…" Kate breathed, her eyes wide with awe. "Perfect."
"Oh girlie," Raglan chuckled. "It's far from perfect. There have been a few rough patches, a near miss here and there. You've made it work, though, because you wanted it to."
He circled around her slowly, kicking one of the neatly wrapped presents under the tree gently with the tip of his boot. "You can ask yourself 'what if', 'if only' and 'I wish' so many times but none of that matters, you can't change the past. You can, however, make the future."
He spread his arms wide as he motioned to mountains of presents and over the top decorations. A pair of Santa suit clad storm troopers stood in the corner. "This is yours if you want it. It's waiting for you but you have to fight for it, not against it. You have to let all those other 'what ifs' go."
There was another bright flash of white and Kate bolted up in bed, her chest heaving, Raglan's voice echoing in her head. "What links do you want to make girlie?"
Shoving the covers off with her feet she stumbled into the living room, taking in her surroundings. It was her apartment, the same appliances, her shoes still scattered in the middle of the floor. The tiny tree still sparkled by the window. Her hand drifted to her chest, pressing a finger against the puckered scar between her breasts. She was back, home.
Her eyes drifted over the kitchen counter, her dark phone staring back at her. Slowly she walked toward it, one hand reaching out as the other wrapped around her middle, pressing cool cloth of her oversized sleep shirt to her skin. With shaking fingers she dialed the number, listening impatiently, her lip pulled in between her teeth as it rang in her ear.
"Beckett? Wuz wrong? There a body?" Kate let out a sigh of relief as Castle's sleep heavy voice drifted through the speaker.
"No… no body." She replied quietly as she twirled a lock of hair around her finger. Her eyes drifted to the ticking clock in the corner. Two AM. "I just…"
Wanted to make sure you were alive? See if this was some sort of weird parallel universe? Tell you that I love you and can't wait to marry you and have your babies?
"… I wanted to say Merry Christmas…"
He breathed out into the phone and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Merry Christmas Kate. Now go to sleep, Santa won't come if you're awake… Love you."
His voice drifted off as he fell back into his slumber and her breath hitched as the mumbled words came through the speaker.
The phone went dark as she stared at it. "I love you too."
And even though he hadn't heard the words, even though he didn't know yet, her face broke a wide smile because it was enough. It was a link.


In a research project funded through the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) organization, several Michigan State University researchers, as well as scientists from Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, recently developed a superconducting magnetic memory element that has greatly reduced heat generation and power consumption compared to conventional alternatives. The study was recently published in Nature Physics.
"Supercomputers consume enormous amounts of power in exchange for their computational abilities," said Norman Birge, a professor in MSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Natural Science, and co-author of the paper.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, data centers are one of the largest and fastest growing consumers of electricity in the United States. In 2013, U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 91 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and are on track to reach 140 billion kilowatt-hours by 2020.
When IARPA projected what larger-scale computers might look like in the future, it seemed they would become almost energy prohibitive. It became evident that new computer technology would need to display much more energy efficiency than current technologies in order to reduce world electricity use.
This study is the first demonstration that using these types of devices for computer memory is actually feasible.
– photo above: (L to R): Physics and Astronomy Professor Norman Birge, graduate students Bethany Niedzielski and Joseph Glick, and Scientific Instrument Facilities Coordinator Reza Loloee, Ph.D., stand next to the high-vacuum sputtering system used in the project.


This CPD accredited course will provide a comprehensive overview of the legislation and obligations relating to unused material and disclosure, for those involved in the investigation of serious or complex offences and the prosecution of offenders.
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Book / PDF
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Learning Object-Oriented Design & Programming
In software engineering, design patterns describe how to solve recurring design problems to design flexible and reusable object-oriented software.
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¹ Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software.
Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides.
Published October 1994. Copyright © 1995 by Addison-Wesley.
(The authors of the book are commonly referred to as "GoF" or "Gang of Four".)
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Geek Culture / What is your best party game?
DBPro Master
Posted: 25th Jun 2015 16:22
I think this is a good place to see what game people think is the best party game they have ever played amongst friends and family all over the world.
I always like to play a game of Consequences, where by a group of people are given a piece of paper and must contribute an answer to a set list of questions relating to two famous or locally known individuals which in the end builds up an interesting and humerous storyline. You could not go wrong with a a game of musical chairs either, it seems the more simple the more people are encouraged to get involved; I must admit a little Wii Sports is not so bad either.
So what do you play with your house guests or room mates?
Please do not tell me Call of Duty; something not so hardcore, preferably something with a pen or paper or either with just spoken word; but it can be a video game if it is a party game or social game.
TheComet
Joined: 18th Oct 2007
Location: I`m under ur bridge eating ur goatz.
Van B
Joined: 8th Oct 2002
Location: Sunnyvale
Rock Band 2 - Best party game ever conceived
Really it's only videogames these days, but it is fun to play older games as well as new. Like Super Sprint on the Atari ST, or Sensible Soccer, SF2, etc on the SNES. Let's face it, party games are a 90's thing, so stay retro I say.
If we aren't playing games, then it would probably just be a game of poker or Monopoly.
Meat Boy on a Speccy!
Pictionary. Very 90s but still good.
Texas Hold 'Em Yahtzee. Good to get the kids addicted to gambling early in life.
Cranium. A good mix of lots of popular games all mixed into one game.
Dar13
Joined: 12th May 2008
Location: Microsoft VisualStudio 2010 Professional
Cards Against Humanity is a good one.
Found a game called Coup, basically a kind of strategic form of the game "BS". Lots of fun, usually fairly quick as well.
wattywatts
Video games, but I've had lots of fun with super monkey ball on gamecube (the mini games are great with friends), and virtua tennis on dreamcast- 4 player. Settlers of catan and monopoly are pretty great if video games aren't an option.
Posted: 27th Jun 2015 15:25 Edited at: 27th Jun 2015 15:27
Lovely examples! Video games are very much an option; just not mainstream hardcore games like Call of Duty.
These examples bring back memories; I forgot to mention Worms, Time Splitters 2, Mario Kart, Mario Olympics, Smash Bros (although somewhat hardcore), Micro Machines as nice party video games. Even WWE and Need for Speed Underground was nice to play together with a group 10 years ago.
Rock Band 2 looks like great fun.
Taboo and Pictionary (as mentioned by Batvink) were nice classic group games back in the 90s. I enjoyed me some and Ludo
Coup and Game Against Humanity seem pretty cool for when there is no feasible computer to play video games on.
So no one plays any facebook games then? Cool, so no need for me to feel ashamed of not playing any either lol.
Ortu
Joined: 21st Nov 2007
I don't even have a Facebook account :p
Quote: "I forgot to mention Worms"
Excellent party game, I now have Worms 3 on my Android phone, just waiting for my daughter to install it. With my Chromecast, I can play in 42" HD
Posted: 1st Jul 2015 20:33
Quote: "I don't even have a Facebook account :p"
I created my account to see what all of the fuss was about back in 2004; I've logged in about 10 times ever since...
Quote: "I now have Worms 3 on my Android phone, just waiting for my daughter to install it. With my Chromecast, I can play in 42" HD"
Best strategic party game ever! Although I've not played the 3rd release.
Location: Athens, Hellas
Posted: 2nd Jul 2015 21:34
I haven't played any board games for years, well i don't think i have been in a party recently either, but me and some friends used to play Taboo and some other card games that i don't remember the names now. Also we used to play Risk like maniacs. That was a very competitive game, easy to get addicted to.
Posted: 6th Jul 2015 08:00 Edited at: 6th Jul 2015 08:33
if you like Risk, you should check out Conquer Club
One of the best risk sites online, tons of different maps and game modes, tournaments and the like.
I was really active on there a while back but haven't played in a year or so.
back to topic - another good casual party game is a dice game which goes by many names: 10000, farkle, zilch and probably others.
the goal is to reach a score of 10k, any number of players is fine.
you roll 7 dice. you score 100 points for each 1, 50 points for each 5, nothing else scores unless you roll a three of a kind. if you roll 3 of any number you can take them as a set for 100 x die number (example, three 3s = 300) while a set of three 1s = 1000.
on each roll, you have to have at least 1 scoring die or your turn is over and you lose any points for dice that you had set aside that turn. you can set any number of scoring dice aside to count towards your score and continue rolling the remaining dice. If you manage to set aside all 7 dice, you can reroll all of them to continue going.
you have to set aside at least 1 scoring die to reroll the rest. after setting aside a scoring die, you can choose to stop rolling to add the dice that have been set aside to your score and end your turn.
you have to roll 1000 or more in a turn to 'get on the board' meaning until you have set aside at least 1000 points you cant choose to stop rolling and take whatever points you have. (you can't stop at 800 if you are not on the board) however, once you have gotten on the board, you can stop at any scoring value.
another favorite of ours is "To Court the King" which is kind of like yahtzee but where you can pick up cards that give you special abilities to modify your rolls in various ways.
Posted: 15th Jul 2015 20:53
I was introduced into Magic The Gathering by a colleague today; seems like a more serious card game for competitive play. It is very popular and some of the collectable cards in this game are worth $1,000s.
http://magic.wizards.com/
Posted: 16th Jul 2015 03:52 Edited at: 16th Jul 2015 03:53
heh, yeah I think I still have a couple of boxes in MTG cards in the closet from the mid and late 90s. it was a great game but i haven't played it since 99 or 00
Clonkex
Forum Vice President
Location: Northern Tablelands, NSW, Australia
There's a lot of PC games that are great for 4 players, with people sitting around yelling at the screen with you. We've played a lot of them on our channel (Flash Buddies) recently Here's links to some of our videos of our favourite 4-player party games (in no particular order):
- Rocket League (highly recommended)
- Starwhal
- Gang Beasts
- Screencheat
- Brawlhalla
- Towerfall Ascension
Obviously the TV is the best place to play, so either bring out your main PC to hook up to the TV or sit a laptop in front, hook the TV up to the laptop and then use Steam in-home streaming to stream the games to your laptop (and therefore the TV).
Also, 360 controllers are the best for these types of games, so buy a $15 Xbox controller receiver for PC from eBay and use that
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That looks like a fantastic youtube channel Clonkex; I will subscribe to it now and check out your videos from time to time. I saw the one with RTCW; that brought back sweet memories of Axis/Allied multiplayer weekends. It was a decent multiplayer FPS game, to be honest they should have put more into it; it could have developed into an ID software version of Counter Strike.
Some of the games I tend to watch on YouTube are 7 Days to Die, Minecraft, World of Warcraft, CSGO, GTA5, Street Fighter 4, MTG, Portal 2 and Dota 2.
If you want to boost your viewcount, post some gaming tutorials or new game reviews; they are quite popular search keywords.
Posted: 21st Jul 2015 03:13
Quote: "That looks like a fantastic youtube channel Clonkex;"
Thanks! We really appreciate that!
Quote: "Some of the games I tend to watch on YouTube are 7 Days to Die, Minecraft, World of Warcraft, CSGO, GTA5, Street Fighter 4, MTG, Portal 2 and Dota 2."
We could check out 7 Days to Die probably. Never taken much notice of that game. More likely we'd do a video on Reign of Kings before 7 Days to Die (we're thoroughly enjoying RoK).
We're a bit loath to do any Minecraft videos because EVERYONE does Minecraft and we're not convinced we can add anything new or interesting to the format. WoW is extremely... ah, I don't even want to consider WoW. I tried getting into it a few weeks ago but the world and history of the game is just so enormous...
CSGO is too FPS. Not really Flash Buddies style (yet, anyway).
GTAV... again, EVERYONE does GTAV videos.
We're not playing Street Fighter. Never been fans of those kinds of games.
Never even heard of MTG and it sounds... slow.
Portal 2 is only 2-player, but I have considered a new video format where only two of us play and the other two comment.. dunno about that one.
DotA 2 is too complicated for the two younger members of Flash Buddies to manage lol
Quote: "If you want to boost your viewcount, post some gaming tutorials or new game reviews; they are quite popular search keywords."
Good suggestion. We've been wanting to add some new types of videos to the two videos we release every week. We've been planning some live-action stuff, but game tutorials and reviews are a good idea too. I've spent hours working out how to change offline Minecraft usernames AND keep skins for all versions up to 1.8 (where I still haven't figured out how to do it due to large skin-server changes) for internet-free LAN play - maybe that would be a good tutorial?
MTG can be quite fast to very very slow, it depends on how many players, the type of decks/strategies they are playing and how interested they are in arguing about the rules and card text. half the fun was in the often heated debate.
Posted: 22nd Jul 2015 13:48
If you have an Xbox or 360, then Doom3 is great, not for Doom3, but the split screen Doom1/2 that comes with it. It's seriously a lot of fun, even these days.
Maybe playing some old school split screen games would make for some interesting videos - especially if you put something like Doom2 on a hard difficulty, so you have to work together. That's the sort of gameplay videos that I'd watch - I really don't get much from watching one person playing through a game... might as well just play the game myself.
Quote: "Maybe playing some old school split screen games would make for some interesting videos - especially if you put something like Doom2 on a hard difficulty, so you have to work together. That's the sort of gameplay videos that I'd watch - I really don't get much from watching one person playing through a game... might as well just play the game myself."
If you're talking to me, all of our Flash Buddies videos are played by all 4 of us. I.e. we play 4-player games. If the game isn't split-screen, we record four different videos and four different audio streams and do a multi-cam edit (at the quality of Hat Films or Yogscast videos!), switching between video streams as necessary to show off the most interesting/funny sections of each player's perspective.
my brother and I loved some split screen golden eye back in the day
We played a new awesome party game on Friday called Duck Game. Highly recommended, especially recommended if you want a massive Mega Drive/80's nostalgia hit! (that MUSIC!!)
FLAME123
Joined: 3rd Jun 2009
Posted: 25th Aug 2015 02:23 Edited at: 25th Aug 2015 02:28
Star Wars Battlefront II, better still if you have the XBOX copy as that supports 4 player split-screen.
And it is fully compatible with Xbox 360's, the only drawback is that the XBOX version of the game is rather expensive. But totally worth it
Then if you have a Wii U, you've got Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, Wii Party U, Nintendoland amongst others. Wii U is great for parties.
Posted: 25th Aug 2015 14:28
Quote: "And it is fully compatible with Xbox 360's, the only drawback is that the XBOX version of the game is rather expensive."
Ah, now THAT depends on which model of 360 you have. We were unable to get our newer Slim model to play an original Xbox game, and M$ support was unable to help at all. Our sisters' older 360 fat played the game just fine. Haven't tested since we got the E model through insurance.


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What's up with the JETS?
As it is titled, this Blog will be about my favorite set of hobbies; Sports, Games, and Music. So expect many posts on major sporting events, the best in video games, and my crazy musical tastes.
I am a 29 year old man living in the sticks of Eastern Kentucky. I work for the USPS as a Postmaster of a small office in Dwale, KY. I've been doing this for roughly five years and aside from a few gripes, I enjoy my work. I have 2 daughters with one more unknown on the way.


Today I'm thankful for the right to vote. Not every woman on this Earth has that right. I'm also thankful for the right to vote early and absentee. We voted weeks ago and thank goodness because this week has been crazy! Now just hoping my guy wins!


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Community of Tubac
History of Tubac
Relocation to Tubac Arizona
Tourism Resources for Tubac and Santa Cruz Valley
Home » Festival of the Arts
2020 Tubac Festival of the Arts
February 5-9, 10 am to 5 pm
Southern Arizona's longest running art festival, the Tubac Festival of the Arts is a 61-year tradition that draws tens of thousands of visitors each season. The juried event showcases the work of visiting artists from around the country and as far away as Canada. Each year, approximately 200 visiting artists exhibit their works along the village streets, mixed in with the more than 100 shops, fine art galleries and working artist studios. Art offered for sale and enjoyment at booths and in the shops includes paintings, sculpture, giclee prints, pottery, mixed media pieces, jewelry and more!
In addition to the opportunities to see hundreds of artists in one location during the Festival of the Arts, the Village of Tubac also offers visitors several restaurants in which to experience delicious regional cuisine. For more information, see "Things to Do" above and click on "Dining".
Entertainment will be a major part of the festival this year! Visit this page often for an update on the entertainment schedule.
We look forward to seeing you in February at the Tubac Festival of the Arts!
Featured Artist: Craig Bersgaard
First-time Tubac Festival of the Arts attendee, Craig Bersgaard is a western sculptor from Windsor, Colorado. See more of his work at www.craigbergsgaard.net.
Featured Artists: Dan & Joi LaChaussee
Their motivation for creating art glass is to imagine, explore and create lasting impressions in their art. They are known for challenging the glass' shapes and colors and using unique techniques to expose the liquid light of their glass pieces.
Featured Artist: Paul Hopman
Paul is a master of scratchboard art, where the artists scratches off dark ink to reveal the colors underneath. He started his career as a graphic designer and illustrator, and his passion evolved to drawing animals using the scratchboard technique.
Featured Entertainer: Arel Bird
Enjoy the music of Arel Bird, award winning recording and touring artist, violinist, composer, songwriter music from his Scottish heart and Native American soul.
info@tubacaz.com
PO Box 1866, Tubac, AZ 85646
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