text:
Solar System Resources | Solar System Information | Solar Panel Info | Solar System Training
For more information about harnessing the sun's power, visit these informative websites:
General Solar Information:
DSIRE
Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
California Energy Commission
California's primary energy policy and planning agency.
Emerging Renewables Rebate Program
Information on the California Energy Commission's Buy Down program.
Arizona Solar Center
Solar energy information in Arizona.
Florida Solar Energy Center
From the University of Central Florida -- articles on solar energy use.
National Center for Photovoltaics
The US Department of Energy's Photovoltaics web site.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (Solar Site)
Information on solar energy from the US Department of Energy.
Million Solar Roofs Initiative (MSR)
Enables businesses and communities to install solar systems on one million rooftops across the United States by 2010.
The US Department of Energy's premier laboratory for renewable energy, energy efficiency, research, development and deployment.
Sandia National Laboratories Program
A national security laboratory operated for the US Department of Energy. This site provides photovoltaic energy information about research and development.
Solar Associations and Societies:
California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA)
Committed to the advocacy of solar energy in the public, legislative, and policy arenas.
American Solar Energy Society (ASES)
A national organization dedicated to advancing the use of solar energy for the benefit of US citizens and the global environment.
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
A national trade association of solar energy manufacturers, dealers, distributors, contractors and installers. SEIA's primary mission is to expand the use of solar technologies in the global marketplace.
Solar Training:
Solar Energy International (SEI)
SEI is an accredited solar training organization offering hands-on workshops in solar, wind and water power.
NABCEP
North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners: Offers PV and solar thermal installation certification and training
San Diego Electrical Training Center
Offers classes in photovoltaics
Boots on the Roof
Solar Training for the Solar Energy Industry
Call us toll-free (877) 297-0014 for expert assistance.


text:
Call of Cthulhu LCG
CoC LCG General Discussion
Pervasive Toxemia + Mi-Go Warrior = Story Lock?
Started by HomerJ , Aug 03 2015 07:55 PM
Yipe
I received a response from Damon regarding the Mi-Go Warrior + Pervasive Toxemia combo. Here's what he wrote:
"Characters are committed all at the same time, and you can cancel an opponent's wounding which would prevent them from being able to commit to stories."
Yes indeed folks, as long as you can keep it on the table, Mi-Go Warrior + Pervasive Toxemia is a story lock.
Jhaelen likes this
dboeren
Daaaannggg. Looks like my Mi-go/ST deck is getting a tune-up.
Yipe likes this
Same here! It also answers the question about repeatedly failing to commit/re-wounding August Lindquist in the same turn.
My suspicion is that before Worlds something will get restricted or errataed in this combination.
NuFenix
Just make the wound from Toxemia unable to be prevented or replaced. Easy and I doubt anyone will complain.
Agency Medic is probably the best of the rest. There are a couple cards that can grant Invulnerability to an opposing character which could work in limited circumstances. Agency Bodyguard if your opponent's guys are Unique.
But yes, I would not be surprised at all if Mi-go Warrior got changed to only cancel a wound on a character you control.
There's also Teodor Somesuch in agency too. Best way to fix this is with errata to Toxemia, not the cards that prevent wounds if we're going the errata route.
Carthoris likes this
Nightmare588
Pritty sure this just killed it for me. Any game that allows for this kind of janky card combos that utterly and purposfully break the game structure is just not a game I want to play anymore. Tuts neat little trick knocked me out of my top 8 chance and while I dont begrudge him for it, Im really dissapointed that this kind of thing is allowed to be a thing.
Thanks to everyone, especially the Ohio guys and gals, that gave Josh and I a place to play for the last year or so. Call has, hands down, the best community I have ever seen for a card game...guess its not you, its me.
While your decision is your own, I kind of feel like you should give FFG an opportunity to react to these two brand new issues as both are potential candidates for errata.
Also, while you may consider Damon's answer as saying "yes, this is OK", that's not what it means. When he says that this is legal, he's saying that as the rules are currently written, this is legal. He's not endorsing it, he's telling you what the rules say today. He doesn't get to pick the answer of whether it's legal, he has to follow the rules just as we do. What he CAN do that we cannot is issue an errata, but there has not been sufficient time for this to occur.
FFG isn't going to rush into a hasty change, they're going to consider both of these issues, along with probably others they're looking at, and they will issue a new FAQ document when they're ready and feel they've worked through all the implications of the changes they want to make.
Yipe, jasonconlon and LordTeacup like this
Daevar
I wonder why there's so much doom and gloom about this combo.
Sure, it's great once set up (but it's also a 3-cost character, mind you), but the warrior has no terror, is no Ancient One, has to be ready, in short: In can be dealt with in a plethora of ways.
I mean, Negotium has been around for quite a long time and if you don't have some high cost characters out, your story phase looks pretty much like it does when your opponent has Pervasive/Mi-Go Warrior on the table. Meanwhile getting rid of Negotium completely is pretty hard, while dealing with that 3 cost, 1C, 3 Skill character disables the story lock immediately.
I don't see the world ending with it. Like, at all.
And the possibility for change is still out there, wouldn't have been the first time, far from it. That's what the FAQs/Erratas are for.
Danigral, Carthoris and jasonconlon like this
Outside of this combo Mi-go Warrior is terrible. Even Mi-go themed decks don't normally take him.
I will, of course, be keeping any eye on the faq for changes, and id be stupid to get rid of my cards. but this is not the first time this has happend and it wont be the last.
I am simply taking the advice of our reigning National Champion and considering that this might not be the game for me anymore. I cannot change the game back to a game of horror, stories, and outmanuvering. Only FFG can do that. If they wish to make the game more into what I enjoy, ill be pushing people over to give them my money. If not, oh well, ill spend my money elsewhere.
Oh who am I kidding? Ffg will still get my cash, just not for CoC.
washme
I echo Nightmare. I know some of you guys defend this, and others get enjoyment from doing this to others. This isn't any fun. It's not what the game was meant to be. I'll wait until they errata this and Orobourus before coming back. I don't see any merit in playing like this. You can't slap a label of "competitive" on it and expect others to swallow it. At least I know I'm not alone in leaving because of this. Way to drive away a new player. Cheers.
I agree with dboeren and wouldn't make any hasty decisions just yet. Damon's response was simply clarifying the rules as they stand right now. I didn't expect, nor would I want, FFG to make a hasty errata or other change to the game. Having said that, I believe the issues surrounding Pervasive Toxemia will be addressed before Worlds. Perhaps that's just me being overly optimistic, but that's my gut feeling in this case.
As for the comparison to Negotium, I think the situations are quite different. First, Mi-Go Worker and Xlizxcte-Oonth have made playing and keeping a 3-cost Mi-Go character on the table incredibly easy. Add in Mi-Go Observer and you're almost guaranteed to have more than 1 copy of Mi-Go Warrior in play at any time. Yes, you can remove Mi-Go Warrior, but if you don't get rid of Xlizxcte-Oonth, it's coming right back.
Negotium can be worked around by having a few solid 3-cost characters in your deck. If for whatever reason you don't have any 3-cost characters, you can still go to Negotium and do something with your story phase. Mi-Go Warrior + Pervasive Toxemia completely denies your opponent an integral part of the game's play experience (one I would argue is the heart and soul of the Cthulhu LCG). It might seem like doom and gloom, but I feel people are appropriately worried that any combo exists in the game that removes the primary reason to play it in the first place (see Glimpse of the Void).
Obtuse and tdnordine like this
That's why I said I'd keep my eye out for the errata/faq. Other people are better at conveying my thoughts than I am. Yipe summed up my feelings well. Thank you.
Once I found a spider in my shoes. I concluded that they weren't the right shoes for me, and I've been searching for something comfortable ever since.
On the spectrum of ignorant over-reaction, this is an 11. Seriously: if you didn't have fun getting your ass handed to you at your first real tournament, maybe do what others have done, and work on improving. I agree that Ohio does it right.
AtoTheJ, Obtuse and tdnordine like this
When you say things like "way to go, cheers" it sounds incredibly childish. I'm sure had you smoked the Uroborus deck you'd be here telling us what a great time you had. I don't say this to insult you, and I hope you can take it as some tough love, but I find your behavior in this thread unseemly and I'm choosing to call you on it. Against my better judgement really.
About the Uroborus deck...it's frankly just not that good. I'm sure looking at it in the vacuum of your one match against it it looks crazy and unbeatable, but the fact of the matter is it went 3-2 and finished in the middle of the pack. Also I'm fairly certain it was the only deck of it's kind at the tournament...it's not like there was a plague of Uroborus decks just wrecking everything in sight. I was playing this deck locally for a little while and eventually scrapped it because it wasn't good enough to win a tournament, and I actually do play to win tournaments. The last FAQ did make it a little better so Tut decided to give it a whirl against my cautions that it was too unreliable. He finished about where I predicted....middle of the pack. I talked to Tut about your match and it sounds like you had a slow start. Like, a REALLY slow start. That's about a death sentence for any deck. The ironic thing here though is that if you were holding Matthew Alexander you had a hard counter to all of the deck's character bouncing shenanigans.
For Washme, Nightmare and the rest of you who are complaining the CoC has devolved into nothing but combo and lock decks you're all ignoring the elephant in the room. Tom's 40some character elephant of a deck. Tom won with about the single most conventional strategy I can think of: put a lot of bodies down on the board and dog fight it out at the stories. This was the deck that won Nationals. A dog fighting rush deck. Not a crazy infinite loop Uroborus deck or a Toxemia lock down deck.
If you all feel you gotta quit, quit. I still think this game is absolutely awesome. The freedom in deckbuilding, the sheer variety of deck types out (rush, control, combo, aggro, mill, hand destruction, and more!) there that are capable of winning...it's just bad ass. The community is fantastic and I've found no shortage of people helping me and my other Ohio guys improve. Despite a few differences, I'd sit down and have a beer and play some matches and talk shop about cards, factions, cool combos, or whatever with anyone here on these forums. I'm sorry that you guys feel differently about the game but as far as I'm concerned your complaints are falling on deaf ears here.
See you all at Worlds. Or not.
Danigral, NuFenix, Carthoris and 6 others like this
MagnusArcanis
I feel the need to clear up some things here.
1. I'll stand by my advice of, if you're not happy with the game you're playing, play a game that makes you happy. It's kind of the point of gaming. All the best wishes, but please kindly do not deter others from enjoying the game.
2. I feel that the notion that the game has lost it's horror, stories and outmanauvering way of life is FALSE. The game still has this, with or without combos and wonky rulings.
The Call of Cthulhu card game is an ultra deep game. With a wide range of game play and deck building options. Decks that 'break the rules of the game' are common and have been apart of its charm and appeal since its inception.
However, those "break the rules" decks/cards sometimes get out of hand. However, nearly every time, FFG has righted the ship by using the FAQ to bring the game back to it's very delicate balance. I may disagree with some decisions but Damon and FFG are dedicated in bringing you the best gaming experience they can.
That being said, I agree with Wilbur's overall point. Uroborus and Toxemia while troubling... aren't nearly as bad as some people are making this out to be.
Granted, maybe I'm being naive, but I just don't see the earth shattering difference between these any other archetype. Normal decks CAN defeat both of them. Sure, some strategies won't work, but.. all decks have weaknesses no? Sure, they require a little bit of tech to defeat, but so does every other deck/strong card right?
Guys are acting like this is the yithian mill all over again and the sky is falling. lol. While I view them above the line of troublesome, if I were to put them on a scale, they're weaker than the Logan combo but stronger than R&D.
To help put that in perspective, R&D was a hyper-efficient aggro deck with a ton of synergy. While it accelerated the game into an uncomfortable speed, it was barely worth hitting it with the FAQ. The logan combo was a "just a bit too consistent for out tastes" instant win combo deck with a common win turn of 2-4 that required 3-4 cards (getting hard to remember these things haha).
Uroborous is a turn 4-7+ combo win/lock deck that requires a minimum of 7 cards to pull off. Toxemia is a 2-card repeatable small combo causing an opponent to not attack OR not defend.
If deemed a bad thing for the game, I have confidence that Damon will act appropriately just as he and other members of FFG have always attempted to do. Frankly I fully expect that to be the case and plan to play future games assuming that they will be adjusted.
In the meantime, I feel that Tut should be rewarded for playing niche deck and trying to make something of it, not condemned. I feel that HomerJ should be thanked for bringing up what I believe to be a crack in the rules so that it can be fixed before it hits a major tournament not made to feel guilty for bringing it to light.
It's funny, there's usually a FAQ adjustment post worlds. Usually it's to nerf the top decks in the tournament. Yet, no one cares that the most basic decks possible (without support removal no less) won the tournament and 2 of the top 4 decks had Ultimate Thule and Hall of Champions with the 4th being a Toxemia deck that didn't use Mi-Go's.
So, tell me again how things are just sooooo bad? haha. In all seriousness, yes, there is some trouble on the table, but this is not rage quit level trouble. I'm glad you guys are going to keep an eye on the FAQ before making a hasty decision. That's smart. In the meantime, I certainly recommend continuing to play (as long as it makes you happy), but make some slight adjustments to your deck(s) to address your local meta. I have a STRONG feeling that once anyone seeking to abuse these two combos is thoroughly trounced again and again... the deck types, if they show up at all, will leave your local meta. Only people I feel bad for are those having a National championship before the next FAQ. But, if there is one, I'm willing to bet neither Uroboorus or Mi-Go Warrior wins it. Just sayin.
NuFenix, Greynomad38, Carthoris and 10 others like this
Greynomad38
Tom, you essentially said what I wanted to say but not only beat me to it but said it better. The only thing I would add is that, for me, the real pleasure of the game is in having a local meta. Ours has some very good players but for the most part, we're casual and just play for fun. The Yithian mill was never a thing we pursued locally because we enjoy pursuing our own path. And the card pool of CoC offers a large playing field.
Well, the Mi-Go Warrior is now an obvious target for Shocking transformation. You won't get any prior warning. It'll all happen in a single turn, and unless you already have your answer in hand, and have the free domain to play it, there won't be anything you can do for at least a single turn.
Many of of my recent decks included 'Foiled' just to get rid of Negotium. Now it's more important than ever to get rid of Pervasive Toxemia. But you cannot play it as a reaction, so there's always a single turn you'll lose. That's already half-way to a game-win for your opponent.
Corwin81
I have to agree with the interpretation that you can only cancel the first attempt with the mi-go warrior.
Toxemia says: choose and wound a character you control in order to commit to stories. So it simply poses a condition you must meet before committing.
So either the "gatekeeper" is, taking the action of wounding a character (regardless of the outcome of the wound being inflicted or not) - I don't believe this, but the mi-go warrior would be useless.
Or the "gatekeeper" is, choosing a character you control and actually getting it wounded.
In that case, nothing says you are allowed to attempt it only once, and nothing says you have to choose a different character everytime.
I believe this is the correct interpretation and ... the mi-go warrior is useless again - just re-target the same character to take the wound, mi-go will be exhausted already.
The response from Damon is completely absurd for me as Toxemia does NOT impose to meet the condition simultaneously to the the commitment of characters.
If there's any doubt they should add "... commit to stories this turn" to Toxemia's text.
I also have a huge problem with rulings being made by a single guy, without proper consultation of the community of expert players on the impact - or at least it feels like it.
They should try to avoid the "God Syndrome" at FFG.
What doesn't help is getting answers like this so quickly and through informal channels - it's actual counter productive.
That being said I wouldn't consider leaving CoC just for something like this - EVERY card game has very strong combos aiming at derailing the normal course of the game for asymmetrical advantage. MTG had many, many broken combos but the variety of archetypes (rush, tempo, control, combo...) never really died.
In the end, I must say that to enjoy competitive play with card games, you have to accept to face unpleasant decks often. As long as they have not been utterly dominating a format for months, it's OK. But then nothing forces people to play competitive. Just play casual with your friends and have your own rulings and restricted lists.
That's what I do most of the time, and it's at last as rewarding as a tournament for me.
Carthoris and crackotage like this
Back to CoC LCG General Discussion
→ Call of Cthulhu LCG
→ CoC LCG General Discussion

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The governments of the United States and Russia have both decided to formally suspend their involvement in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. This now gives just a few months to restore one of the most important treaties of the Cold War era. This Treaty helped to lead to the withdrawal of large numbers of nuclear and conventional missiles from Europe and considerably de-escalated the threat of a nuclear conflict on the continent.
As Vice Presidents and Lead Cities in Europe and North America of the Mayors for Peace (1), an organisation established by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1982 and committed to the eventual goal of a world without nuclear weapons, we are very concerned with the suspension and potential abrogation of this core nuclear disarmament treaty. We are also concerned with plans by both these and other states to extensively modernize their nuclear arsenals, including development of stealthier and lower yield more "useable" weapons.
"Quite recently, the Mayor of Nagasaki and I sent a letter of request to the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation to convey the earnest wishes of civil society, which expects to see acceleration of both governments' efforts based on this treaty. The announcement of withdrawal despite such an expectation is against the wishes of civil society, and it is not acceptable at all.
The European and North American Lead Cities of Mayors for Peace strongly support this call for dialogue from the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We do not want to see nuclear missiles return to military bases around Europe where their presence could ratchet up international tension and security.
Mayors for Peace is a strong supporter of the new Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty's nearly 50-year obligation to negotiate in "good faith" the elimination of nuclear weapons, which will be discussed in May of this year at the United Nations. The great progress that has been made since the signing of the INF Treaty risks going into reverse, starting a new arms race in a much more uncertain world.
We too call on President Trump and President Putin to come together and find a diplomatic solution to this crisis. There remains over 14,000 nuclear weapons in the world, over 90% of which are owned by the United States and the Russian Federation. The real need is to find sensible ways to de-escalate tension and promote again multilateral nuclear disarmament. We do not want to see nuclear weapons stationed again across Europe and the start of a new type of 'cold war'. We call as well on European leaders to work with the US and Russia to find a new form of peaceful diplomacy and to help restore this important treaty.
For more information please contact Sean Morris, UK and Ireland Mayors for Peace Chapter Secretary. The UK & Ireland Chapter has issued this statement on behalf of the European and North American Vice Presidents / Lead Cities of Mayors for Peace, on 00 44 (0)161 234 3244.


Video Comment: Manchester United bagged another clean sheet, and the back four deserve credit for dealing so comfortably with Villa's aerial threat. They are top of the table, and winning ugly is no bad habit to pick up at the start of the season. Aston Villa's team of new recruits ran out of fitness and ideas after an energetic opening spell, and the result could have been more emphatic. Loose pa$$ing, wasteful finishing and a particularly bad night for Wayne Rooney kept the hosts in the game, and on another evening they would have been punished.


text:
La estrilda de Abisinia (Estrilda ochrogaster) es una especie de ave paseriforme de la familia Estrildidae endémica del este de Sudán del Sur y oeste de Etiopía.

Referencias

Enlaces externos

ochrogaster
Aves de África Oriental
Animales descritos en 1897
Taxones descritos por Tommaso Salvadori

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
New report reveals how Trump campaign funds are being funneled to Don Jr.'s girlfriend
Corruption, Current Events, News Analysis, Politics, Republican Hypocrisy
Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's…
Hotel owner Donald Trump weighs bailout of hotel, airline, and cruise industries
After Donald Trump spent the better part of the last year attacking Hunter Biden for his supposedly illicitly-awarded board membership at a Ukrainian energy company, the stones are finally boomeranging back at his glass family tower.
When The New York Times detailed the thorough takeover of the Republican party's fund-raising machine by the Trump campaign and its allies in an investigative article today, they revealed yet another instance of nepotistic profiteering by what at this point can only be considered the president's corrupt family crime syndicate.
Buried in the report about how Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his current campaign manager Brad Parscale have "have consolidated power — and made money — in a way not possible in an earlier, more transparent analog era" by "using a network of private businesses whose operations and ownership are cloaked in secrecy, largely exempt from federal disclosure," is the news that Parscale's own money-printing, online fund-raising machine — Parscale Strategy, which has billed the Trump campaign nearly $35 million so far — has been making surreptitious payments to the female partners of the president's two eldest sons.
According to the newspaper, both Eric Trump's wife, Lara and Donald Trump Jr.'s paramour, former Fox News talking head Kimberly Guilfoyle have been leeching cash from the campaign coffers through some shadowy deal with the campaign manager's firm.
Here's how The New York Times describes the nepotistic interactions between the Trump family and the president's political operations:
"The Trump family looms over the whole operation, starting with Mr. Kushner. While his White House portfolio has variously encompassed everything from immigration to the Middle East, his most consistent assignment has been informal campaign chairman, overseeing the most vital arm of the new family business: politics," the article states.
"According to two people with knowledge of the matter, Parscale Strategy has also been used to make payments out of public view to Lara Trump, the wife of the president's son Eric, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., who have been surrogates on the stump and also taken on broader advisory roles. Their presence makes for an odd dynamic between a campaign manager and a candidate's family."
"During a campaign appearance last summer in Orlando, Ms. Guilfoyle confronted Mr. Parscale: Why were her checks always late? Two people who witnessed the encounter said a contrite Mr. Parscale promised that the problem would be sorted out promptly by his wife, Candice Parscale, who handles the books on many of his ventures," the reporters reveal.
The disclosure of the payments at least satisfies the nagging question of why anyone would want to be associated in any way whatsoever with the loathsome spawn of the despicable occupant of the White House. Large sums of money always seem to soothe whatever feelings of physical and emotional disgust that may be instinctively triggered by proximity to members of the Trump family.
With the now-sidelined former Democratic billionaire presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg's campaign advisor vowing to mount a "scorched earth" response against the nepotistic fortune amassed by Trump's children — and now apparently their significant others — during their father's tenure if Republicans refuse to back off from their newly-revived plans to investigate Hunter Biden, the revelations in today's Times article are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg of the as-yet-uncovered acts of greed and rapaciousness that are seemingly hard-wired into the Trump family DNA.
"Yeah, you know, the Trump family are epic grifters, and this goes back generations. Fred Trump made his money by intersecting with both the federal government and state government in New York. Donald came up through New York, intersecting with local government and in Atlantic City. They've gone — now, they are now in the White House, and all of them are dipping their faces into the till," Bloomberg advisor Tim O'Brien said on MSNBC this weekend.
Oh, the hypocrisy!
Original reporting by Danny Hakim and Glenn Thrush at The New York Times.
The Occupy Democrats Election Fund is a political organization
that supports ONLY good Democratic candidates
Please consider supporting the fund. Thank you!
Click here to leave a comment
Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art.
Vinnie Longobardo March 9, 2020
"I DON'T SERVE BLACK PEOPLE": How an Oregon gas station attendant unleashed his racism on shocked woman
LOSER LEVERAGE: Kari Lake wants RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel to do her bidding
BENCH PRESSED: Why did SCOTUS pay this ex Homeland Security Secretary millions?
VOUCHED FOR: Yup, this GOP Utah lobbyist just said the quiet part about public education out loud
OUT OF GAS: Marjorie Taylor Greene's petroleum proposal sputtered out miserably
BAR NONE: Disgraced ex-Trump attorney may need to look for a new profession
TAKING STOCK: GOP insurrection supporter's snidely named bill needs a new moniker
LOCK THEM UP: NYT's explosive report has Durham, Trump, Barr in hot water


text:
Training60 Minutes
Unorthodox against the French Winawer
by Dejan Bojkov
The French Defence is an aggressive and tough opening. Typically, the second player shows his ambitions as early as on move three in the main, after - 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 - the Winawer Variation. Black's intentions are clear - pressure in the center, and quick development. They also do not mind to trade their bishop for the knight, and to spoil White's pawn structure. In many cases this will lead to closed positions in which knights might prevail. And we should not forget the extremely sharp lines in which Black can sacrifice his whole king's flank. Then, why not spoil these plans straight on move four? The continuation 4.Ng1-e2 is developing a piece, and keeps the pawns intact. What is more important - the resulting positions are unusual for the typical French player and contain a lot of venom. Check the new Learn in 60 minutes to find a repertoire based on the move 4.Ng1-e2. The author GM Dejan Bojkov for example used it to win a crucial game at the Canadian Open Championship 2011, which helped him share the win at this prestigious event.
Delivery: Download
Meet the English Opening
Try the Sicilian Kalashnikov!
Fascinated by the French Winawer
The Fort Knox Variation in the French Defence
If you're one of those French Defence players who has been desperately searching for a reliable and easy-to-learn system against White's two main 3rd moves (3.Nd2 or 3.Nc3) then this is the 60 Minutes for you! The Fort Knox variation (3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7!
Nimzowitsch Defence 1.e4 Nc6
Andrew Martin maps out an aggressive repertoire for Black, which is ideal for the club player. Few below the rating of 2000 will know what to do against 1..Nc6 and could easily get into a disasterous mess right out of the opening.
A modern way to play the King's Indian
Fit for the French
My complete White Repertoire
The Open Games - A detailed overview
On this DVD the International Master Georgios Souleidis presents these and all other relevant openings arising after 1.e4 e5 in 36 videos.
The true value of pieces
There are many cases of material imbalance in chess. In his new DVD GM Dejan Bojkov of Bulgaria makes an attempt to systematise the most important ones and gives valuable advice on how to handle the resulting positions.
Meeting the Alekhine - The classical way
The Alekhine Defence belongs to those openings which face White with their very special challenges. GM Bojkov shows you new ideas in the variation with 4.Nf3, enabling you to systematically build up a good attacking position free of risk.
No need to fear the Qd6 Scandinavian
In this "Learn in 60 Minutes" GM Dejan Bojkov from Bulgaria offers a complete repertoire for White after the moves: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 when all the main moves are covered: 5…Bg4; 5…g6; 5…a6 and Tiviakov's specialty 5…c6.
The English Defence
The English Defence (1…b6) is a less well-known weapon against White setups with 1.c4 and 2.d4. Black has a number of nice tricks and ideas at his disposal that can quickly dispatch an unprepared opponent.
Attacking with the Pirc
No guts, no glory! With the Pirc Defence Black takes a bigger risk than usual, but in return may hope for higher dividends too. Let GM Bojkov show you how to optimize your chances.
Chess Highways


text:
Q: Adjust resolution of JAVA application Project (Chromis POS) on high DPI computers I am trying to edit some layouts of Chromis POS, JAVA based Point of Sales application but when I run the project on my computer with high DPI resolution the program fonts are too small in size difficulting reading as attached image.
The problem is that with the JAVA project within NetBeans I am unable to change the display of the program but if I install the .EXE program on my computer I can solve this by change some display properties going to program shortcut and program compatibility and try many options but within NetBeans I am unable.
Question: How to adjust the resolution of this program within NetBeans?

A: I have solved it by installing Apache Netbeans 9.0 and using JAVA SE 11(JDK) in my project.
Done!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Indian Head Snack Bar is located at the address 2005 Indian Head Rd in Indian Head, Pennsylvania 15446. They can be contacted via phone at (724) 455-3434 for pricing, hours and directions.
For maps and directions to Indian Head Snack Bar view the map to the right. For reviews of Indian Head Snack Bar see below.


text:
#define NOMINMAX
#include "utils.hpp"
#include <windows.h>
#include <algorithm>
#include <sstream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <memory>
#include <vector>
#include <chrono>
#include <string>
#include <map>
#include "date/date.hpp"
#include "windows_interface.hpp"

std::string winss::Utils::ExpandEnvironmentVariables(
    const std::string& value) {
    const char* str = value.c_str();
    DWORD size = WINDOWS.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(str, nullptr, 0);

    if (size) {
        std::vector<char> expanded(size);
        if (0 == WINDOWS.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(str, &expanded[0], size)) {
            return value;
        }

        return std::string(&expanded[0]);
    }

    return value;
}

winss::env_t winss::Utils::GetEnvironmentVariables() {
    winss::env_t env;

    auto free = [](LPTCH p) { WINDOWS.FreeEnvironmentStrings(p); };
    auto env_block = std::unique_ptr<TCHAR, decltype(free)>{
        WINDOWS.GetEnvironmentStrings(), free };

    for (LPTCH i = env_block.get(); *i != '\0'; ++i) {
        std::string key;
        std::string value;

        for (; *i != '='; ++i)
            key += *i;
        ++i;
        for (; *i != '\0'; ++i)
            value += *i;

        env[key] = value;
    }

    return env;
}

std::vector<char> winss::Utils::GetEnvironmentString(
    const winss::env_t& env) {
    std::vector<char> env_string;

    for (auto& kv : env) {
        std::copy(kv.first.begin(), kv.first.end(),
            std::back_inserter(env_string));
        env_string.push_back('=');
        std::copy(kv.second.begin(), kv.second.end(),
            std::back_inserter(env_string));
        env_string.push_back('\0');
    }
    env_string.push_back('\0');

    return env_string;
}

std::vector<std::string> winss::Utils::SplitString(
    const std::string& input) {
    std::vector<std::string> output;

    std::stringstream ss(input);
    std::string to;

    while (std::getline(ss, to)) {
        if (!to.empty()) {
            output.push_back(to);
        }
    }

    return output;
}

std::string winss::Utils::ConvertToISOString(
    const std::chrono::system_clock::time_point& time_point) {
    return date::format("%F %T",
        date::floor<std::chrono::milliseconds>(time_point));
}

std::chrono::system_clock::time_point winss::Utils::ConvertFromISOString(
    const std::string& iso_string) {
    std::istringstream ss;
    ss.str(iso_string);
    std::chrono::system_clock::time_point time_point;
    ss >> date::parse("%F %T", time_point);
    return time_point;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


7 November 2011: Jenny Agutter of Railway Children fame joined us this morning in presenting the Fair Fares Now petition to Number 10 Downing Street.
Ironically, delayed trains meant that Jenny and several journalists almost didn't make it – which happens far too often and is just one of the things commuters tell us makes them so angry about more massive fare rises.
But we got there in the end and marched up to the famous front door. Amid a flurry of photographers' flashbulbs, we handed over a box containing more than 11,000 signatures from passengers demanding that the Government rethink its plans to penalise passengers with a 28% fare hike by 2015.
A big thank-you to every one of you who signed or helped to gather support for the petition – and rest assured that this is by no means the last stop for the campaign! This month we are organising an event in Parliament to brief MPs about what passengers want from the upcoming fares review, and exciting plans are in the works to make the Government sit up and take notice of passenger anger this coming January. Even if fares go up in 2012, we need to keep fighting to make sure this doesn't happen at the same rate for the next three years as planned – or worse, become a new annual fixture.
We also need to make sure that the Government comes clean about just why they are raising fares.
They claim that fare rises are necessary to reduce the amount of taxpayer money spent on the railways. But we've discovered that in fact the Government's contribution is already on the decline and official figures show the target of only 25 per cent taxpayer support for the railways is set to be met without the need for these new fare hikes – for one year, let alone three or more.
In other words, the Government is misleading passengers and trying to disguise a political choice as a necessity. With inflation at a 20 year high and millions of commuters already struggling on frozen wages, new Transport Secretary Justine Greening needs to realise that this tax on passengers is the wrong choice at the wrong time.


 Do You Think That Technology Can Help To Achieve Better Efficiency At Work? And Can You Give Me An Example To Explain Your Thinking?
Job seeker should be open to try and accept new technologies which will achieve better performance, more efficiency, and possible innovations.
What are the methods and systems you think should be changed in your current organization to achieve higher efficiency at work? How? Why? How do you use customer feedback? How do you develop a new system or work process while always keeping the customer's response well in mind?


text:
Competitive Salaries
Newark Academy benchmarks the salaries of its faculty against other leading independent schools in New Jersey and is committed to offering salaries in the top tier of its peer group.
is offered to all full-time employees and their dependents. Current coverage is provided by a Cigna PPO plan. Premium costs are shared between NA and the employee at a ratio of 90/10 (NA to individual) for single employees and a rate of 80/20 for dependent coverage. The employee portion of the premium is paid via payroll deduction and coverage begins for new employees on the first month following the hire date.
Short-Term Disability and Life Insurance
Newark Academy provides, at no cost, a life insurance policy equal to one time the employee's base salary up to a $125,000 maximum.
Short-term disability benefits are provided, at no cost to the employee.
Optional Insurance Offerings
Newark Academy also offers employees optional dental, long-term disability and additional life insurance. Flexible spending accounts are also available for both (out-of-pocket) medical costs and dependent care.
Undergraduate Loan Assistance
Available to faculty who have earned an undergraduate degree no more than three years prior to accepting employment at NA, may be eligible for assistant with loan repayment (contingent on budget availability). Acceptance of assistance requires the faculty member to commit to a year of service for each year that a grant is received.
Support for Graduate Education
Faculty members at Newark Academy who do not hold a Master's degree are expected to pursue and complete such a degree within five years of employment. In support of that policy, Newark Academy offers faculty the option to apply for financial assistance for graduate education. Request for funding are made annually to the Dean of Faculty. Faculty receiving graduate school financial support from NA may receive assistance for no more than 9 credit hours per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). Receipt of an NA grant for graduate school requires the faculty member's commit to serve at NA for at least three additional years.
Newark Academy benefits greatly from its location in the northern New Jersey suburbs. Housing costs within a 30 minute commute from campus vary widely but are greater than in many other parts of the United States. To assist faculty in relocating, Newark Academy several types of assistance, including:
Rental Deposit Costs
newly hired faculty and staff may receive a no-interest loan up to $2,600 from NA to be used exclusively for a rental security deposit. Repayment is made over a two-year period via, payroll deduction.
First-Time Home Buyer Assistance
Faculty and staff members who have completed three years of full-time service and are purchasing their first home are eligible to apply for assistance with closing costs. This assistance is capped at $6,000.
All Newark Academy employees participate in retirement savings through a defined contribution plan from TIAA, which offers a variety of investment vehicles. New employees who have not participated in a TIAA plan before are eligible after one year of full-time service. New employees who already have existing accounts with TIAA may be eligible one month after their hiring date. Employees are required to contribute 5 percent of their base salary to the plan, with Newark Academy matching with a 5 percent of base salary contribution. The percentage of Newark Academy's contribution increases to 10 percent after 10 years of service from the employee. Employees may contribute additional funds (above the 5 percent) up to the limit allowed by tax laws. Employee contributions are made, pre-tax, through payroll deduction.
Daily lunch meal (no cost)
Laptop Program (no cost)
Tuition Program for Children of Employees
Employees who wish to have their children attend Newark Academy, must follow the process for admission and follow the process for requesting financial aid. Upon admission of the child(ren), Newark Academy factors the employee family's financial aid reward based on family income, less the NA employees compensation.


Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used to specify the presentation, or styling, of elements on a web page (e.g., fonts, spacing, sizes, colors, positioning). CSS was designed to style portable web pages independently of their content and structure. By separating page styling from page content and structure, you can easily change the look and feel of the pages on an entire website, or a portion of a website, simply by swapping out one style sheet for another. CSS3 is the current version of CSS under development. You learn CSS basics, then you go on to the key new features in CSS3, including text and box shadows, transitions, transformations, animations, multicolumn layouts and more.
Finally, you learn about two new important HTML5 technologies: Web Workers and WebSockets. When a browser executes a long-running script, the browser typically becomes unresponsive for a period of time and sometimes displays an alert indicating that the script is busy or might have stopped working. This leads to a poor user experience. Web Workers enable portions of tasks to be off-loaded to background threads, allowing a web app's GUI to remain responsive at all times. WebSockets enable clients to send data to and receive data from servers simultaneously using a persistent connection between the client and the server. In a web app with frequently updated data, the client typically polls the server repeatedly to get more data. With an open WebSocket connection, however, the server can push data to the client without the client specifically making additional requests, resulting in a more responsive app.
Paul Deitel, CEO and Chief Technical Officer of Deitel & Associates, Inc., is a graduate of MIT's Sloan School of Management, where he studied Information Technology. He holds the Java Certified Programmer and Java Certified Developer certifications, and has been designated by Sun Microsystems as a Java Champion. Through Deitel & Associates, Inc., he has delivered Java, C, C , C# and Visual Basic courses to industry clients, including IBM, Sun Microsystems, Dell, Lucent Technologies, Fidelity, NASA at the Kennedy Space Center, the National Severe Storm Laboratory, White Sands Missile Range, Rogue Wave Software, Boeing, Stratus, Cambridge Technology Partners, Open Environment Corporation, One Wave, Hyperion Software, Adra Systems, Entergy, CableData Systems, Nortel Networks, Puma, iRobot, Invensys and many more. He has also lectured on Java and C for the Boston Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery. He and his father, Dr. Harvey M. Deitel, are the world's best-selling programming language textbook authors.


Special Counsel Robert Mueller's top prosecutor and "pit Bull," Andrew Weissmann, has announced that he will stepping down.
This certainly seems to suggest that the Mueller investigation is coming to a close.
Weissmann is responsible for building the case against Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, as well as going after several other people with ties to President Trump.
The prosecutor will be moving on to work and study at New York University where he will work on a wide variety of projects.


I am a professor of forest and natural resource policy at Colorado State University. My research focuses on policy design to support improved approaches to forest governance. I specifically investigate topics at the intersection of science and policy, and my recent work has focused on policy innovations to support collaborative landscape restoration, fire management, and climate change adaptation on US forest lands.
I also direct the Public Lands Policy Group (PLPG). We are a research group that produces original research to inform the practice of natural resource management and advance understanding of policy developments that affect public lands.


The registration system is now open.
To qualify for the early bird discount you must register by the 20th of October.
If you attended DICTA 2012 at Fremantle you will have automatically become a member of APRS.
Registration includes the conference dinner. Extra dinner tickets for guests may be purchased.
Registration and payment can be made here.
The registration page may take some time to load. Please click the link only once.


With the right lamp, you can create warmth and ambience in the nursery or children's room. Children's lamps must bring a good and nice light, and most importantly must be safe for children to use. Here you'll find baby night lights, children's bedside lamps, plug in night lights, and kids' lamps. And your child won't have to wait long, as we have almost all children's lamps in stock. Shipped free of charge, of course. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us at info@AndLight.com or call us on +45 44 44 62 44.
We've got children's lamps from Zoolight, Happylight, and Roomate, so you'll definitely be able to find a lamp for your kid's room that's decorative, fun, and brings a warm and nice light. In 2011, Zoolight launched a mini version of their normal sized Zoolight-series. In the mini Zoolight series, they built in colour scaled LED lights, so the light will change between 7 different colours when double clapping. Roomate has also launched a new take on children's lamps, for example their lamp "Town House" that looks like a small house with light shining out from the windows.
When choosing a lamp for your kid's room it is primarily a question of taste. The models illustrate mostly animals with kind and cute expressions. So the question is actually based on whether you're looking for a table lamp, wall light or ceiling light, and whether it should be a cat, giraffe, or teddy bear.
In our selection of children's lamps, we're very careful with our chosen manufactures and we don't select new brands very often. This is due to our high quality demands especially when it comes to lamps to children. We find it very important that the lamp is safely made and designed, so children won't be able to touch anything that possibly could cause danger. Our three children's lamps manufactures, Happylight, Zoolight, and Roomate, has all managed to design safe, yet fun and cute children's lamps, which is probably why they are highly popular.


Nissan Navara D40 2/2005 - 2014 chrome rear step bumper bar brand new.
Brand New Non Genuine Direct Replacement Rear bumper. This bumper is made to look exactly the same as the Genuine bumper but have a better mounting bracket on the back.
Chrome metal rear bumper comes assembled ready to install with the black plastic top & bottom steps and number plate lights.
THAILAND MODELS: Fits straight on approx 25min job.
SPANISH VSK MODELS: Bumper brackets need the holes enlarged aprrox 1mm as the Spanish model used a sightly larger bolts . Fitting is approx 25 mins and extra 4mins to widen holes in brackets.
Supplied with brackets need for mounting Bumper. This will fit D40 Navaras with towbars as long as they are a factory style towbar & will suit cars without towbars.
I bought a rear bumper for a Navara from these people, they were very nice to deal with being knowledgeable about their products. I could not purchase to bar cheaper anywhere else and they helped me considerably. Thank you very much.


text:
Getting Things Right
Written by Jeff Woodward
We're coming up on the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada so as many of us here at Onlea prepare to see our families, feast and be grateful for all of the joy and success in our lives, I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on one of the courses we helped create at Onlea, and how it profoundly affected me when I took it as a student.
First some background, I'm 47 years old, born in Saskatoon and raised all over Western Canada but my primary formative experiences were in Northern Saskatchewan and on Vancouver Island. I come of age at sort of the right time that I was exposed to many of the progressive policies that governments of the 60's and 70's instituted: multiculturalism and experimental educational programs both spring to mind. I was part of a school program called Students of High Potential in Prince Albert Saskatchewan that approached education wholistically, combining social studies, language arts and science studies into a broad milieu that taught me to spot and make connections between disparate subject matter in a way that serves me well to this day. I was raised in quiet suburban neighbourhoods where kids rode their bikes, played sports and caroused with often little or no adult supervision. It was also a time and place where we played games like cops & robbers or cowboys & indians, and that's the flipside to the story of my idyllic childhood. Prince Albert where I lived is home to a massive indigenous population; there are at least a dozen reserves within a few hours drive of P.A. and most notably for this discussion it was home to one of Canada's longest operating residential schools, which only closed in 1996. Long after I'd moved away.
As a kid growing up amidst all these people, I knew or learned shockingly little about them. We were taught a version of history that was decidedly white in tone. If "Indians" were mentioned at all, it was only as obstacles to expansion and progress, or as pathetic wards that the government needed to take care of and protect from themselves. Outside of school, indigenous people were commonly derided as lazy, wasteful, and yes, even savage...in the 1980s. Probably the most personally troubling connection I have to the Prince Albert Residential School is that as a youth in the 80's I played hockey frequently against kids from the school. I remember them as ragged, undersized and miserable; wearing old or borrowed equipment, and they just weren't very good. We'd regularly wallop them, both on the scoreboard and physically, and we were casually cruel to them as only children can be.
As I've gotten older and grown as a person, my connection to that school (as tenuous as it might be) and my behaviour (as much as the folly of youth might excuse it) has haunted me. I've tried to educate myself, I've tried to advocate for Indigenous rights and I'm both lucky and proud to call many incredible Indigenous Canadian friends. I've always felt like I've suffered from a knowledge void though, or maybe a better way to put it is that I've felt like there's a dark curtain draped over a version of Canadian history that I've never had access to.
In 2017, (before I started working at Onlea) I heard about a new course being offered that was made in Edmonton by the UofA called Indigenous Canada, so I signed up. What I got was exactly what I'd been looking for, a version of Canadian history, Canadian present and national issues that was told from an Indigenous perspective. The material was beyond engaging, it was often shocking. This was a Canadian story told by people whose voices I'd never been exposed to in such a way in all my years of schooling. Indigenous Canada helped me "unlearn" many of the colonial perspectives I'd been taught to see as concrete when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s. In many ways, Indigenous Canada cracked my mind and memories open and poured old ways of thinking out, while slipping different perspectives inside. There was probably no moment more shocking and enlightening for me personally than clicking on one of the interactive learning modules in the course dealing with art and indigenous women's perspectives only to realize it was taught by artist Leah Dorion, who I'd known in junior high school, and who I'd had no idea was Metis. That made me think about all the other people who've had their culture erased the way I had done with her. The hours spent taking Indigenous Canada were nothing less than earth shaking and worldview changing for me, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have learned from those powerful voices.
Here at Onlea, we talk a lot about lifelong learning and the opportunities it opens up for the people who take the courses. Often for us that's an abstract thing, since hundreds of thousands of people have taken our courses around the world and we couldn't possibly know the story of each one of them, but as one person who took this one course, I'm reminded daily of the power we hold here at Onlea, we have the power to get it right. It's an awesome power, and a humbling responsibility, but one I'm extremely thankful to have a small role in every day when I come to work.
I hope this weekend while you're being thankful for all the things you have maybe you'll stop for a moment and thinking about something that you can still get right, maybe that's registering for Indigenous Canada, maybe it's reading a different kind of novel like The Outside Circle, written by indigenous author Patti LaBoucane-Benson (also Canada's newest senator), or listening to an astounding exploration of a nearly extinct indigenous language on Polaris Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher's album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa. I guarantee, doing any of these things will expand and shake your worldview and make your life richer in the process. All these little experiences are steps to discovering truth and initiating reconciliation in our country, but as I discovered personally, they're about getting things right, and I'm so thankful for that chance.
Jeff Woodward
Production Director at Onlea
From C++ Nightmares to PVG: Lessons Learned by the Least Computer-Savvy Girl
A blog written by Mymy, Senior Design Strategist at Onlea. She is the design lead on one of an upcoming University of Alberta MOOC, PVG: Pro...
Myriam Bigras
Meet your virtual client: Developing a Fully Interactive Learning Experience
A paper based on the Software Product Management specialization produced by Onlea for the University of Alberta in 2015-2016 was recently published on the proceedings of the 12th International Technology, Education and Development Conference...
Adriana Lopez Forero
The Gamification of Education - Part 2: Player Types
A blog by Adriana Lopez Forero, President One of the best ways to understand using video game techniques in the classroom is through the le...


text:
Our tech news roundup for January 2021
Rebecca Graham
The end of last year seemed somewhat of a blur with the scramble to finish off campaigns, deliver end of year reports, start prepping for 2022 and not to mention personal planning for the holidays. So, for some, keeping abreast of technology news last month may not have been a priority.
Not to worry though, we have you covered. Here is a roundup of some tech news from the past month.
The battle for online safety privacy continued as Twitter prevented users from sharing pictures and videos of others without their permission, and Twitch rolled out AI to prevent banned users from rejoining the site. Shortly after this, proposals to make big changes to the UK's Online Safety Bill were also announced.
The end of the year also announced a number of firsts:
A NASA spacecraft 'touched' the surface of the sun for the first time in history.
The US authorized the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 pill, the first ever oral at-home treatment for the illness.
A robotic hand, strong enough to crush cans and dexterous enough to use tweezers, was developed.
Apple also became the first company to hit $3 trillion market value, and while it did later slip it was still marked a landmark moment in tech.
There were also challenges for some of the biggest names in tech, with many placed under scrutiny. The Uber business model was challenged by both the UK and EU and, not long after, gig economy workers demanded visibility into how the apps they worked for used algorithms to make decisions. Apple and Google also faced criticism for holding a smartphone market monopoly by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Finally, separate outages hit AWS and Google's calendar app, affecting thousands of customers.
In more positive news, there was lots of evidence that 2021 was a good year for many. The UK's Digital Economy Council found that a quarter of the UK's unicorns were created in 2021 alone, spotlighting the year as a time for innovation in the tech sector. And, on the ground, Strava's data showed that people were 38% more active in 2021 than 2020. It's good to hear we've all been taking care of ourselves! Although, let's be honest, that may have tailed off during the festive period for some (most) of us…
And that's it for our January roundup! Want to receive a daily news roundup of the biggest tech stories? Sign up to our Firewire here.
The end of last year seemed somewhat of a blur with the scramble to finish off campaigns, deliver end of year reports, start prepping for 2022 and not to mention personal planning for the holidays. So, for some, keeping abreast of technology news last month may not have been a priority. Not to worry though, we have you covered. Here is a roundup of some tech news from the past month. ...Read more


text:
ClickItorNot
Recovery | Root
Samsung NX2: Rumors, Specs, Release date and more
Teja Pagidimarri/ February 20, 2018 News
Image Credits: New Camera
Samsung has not at all refreshed its series of NX cameras for a quite long time. But as per the up to minute rumors on the Korean company, it suggests that the company would give another try with a new high-end APS-C camera using the same Exynos 9810 chipset which going to be debut on the Galaxy S9 and S9+.
The 'Mirrorless Rumors' have reported that the company is internally testing on Samsung NX2 cameras which are believed to be the successor of Samsung NX1 that got unleashed in 2014. This could not a believable news to full extent, especially since Samsung, on several occasions, has been thought to have exited the high-end camera business.
The Samsung NX2 is expected to sport 30.1 MP ISOCELL Lens with Dual Pixel Autofocus using the Exynos 9810 SoC. It is believed to have a 4K 120fps h/265 encode capability. It has connectivity options like Bluetooth 5.0 and eSIM LTE connectivity. USB-C with the uncompressed output of up to 5K at 60fps has also been included in Samsung NX2. Samsung's NX1 was the first with an APS-C camera to debut DCI 4K video recording alongside 205 on-chip autofocus with 15 frames per second burst. But in response to the poor sale of NX1, the company reportedly bid goodbye to the camera business and focused on handing over the operations completely to Samsung Mobile division.
Samsung NX2 will be joining Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in rocking the Exynos 9810 SoC, which is expected to ensure super fast readout and 4K 120fps h/265 encode capability that delivers impressive frame rates. Samsung could be possibly reusing the materials meant for the underperforming NX1 to save cost and at the same time, it would see how the market would react to the new camera before going full blown.
The launching date and price for Samsung NX2 has not confirmed yet. As pointed out earlier, due to the poor market performance of NX1, Samsung was forced out of the camera business. It's not the first time we heard rumors which have not materialized in real. Keeping this in mind there is little significance in talking up the price of the rumored Samsung NX2 camera.
Tags:Samsung/ Samsung NX1/ Samsung NX2
Teja Pagidimarri
Teja is a tech writer primarily covering FAANG - Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. He is also interested in the future of cryptocurrencies as it relates to the convergence of technology and fiscal policy.
Follow ClickItorNot
Latest MIUI 12.0.3 OTA Update for Xiaomi Poco F1 (Download)
Download PUBG MOBILE 1.2 APK and OBB File with RUNIC POWER
PUBG Mobile VN version (Season 16) for Android: APK + OBB (Download)
In Touch With Tech
© DooPop Media Private Limited • Designed & optimised by spearnode.com


I like the pot of flowers right in the middle. Very cool.
I did this recently and used some in a quilt I finished yesterday. I think they are fun too!
I like that....would make a great quilt.
What fun...and how freeing to just DO it and not have any rules!!!
I love your blocks. It's those kinds of blocks that lead you in directions you would never have thought of. Go with it!!!!


text:
No, he's not the lost member of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, he's Neil Saavedra, and he plays Jesus, not a trombone.
You're On With Jesus
Seven McDonald March 7, 2007
"Two thousand years ago, he walked this Earth teaching, guiding, loving and preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice. . . . What if today you could walk with him, laugh with him, cry with him? Not just through prayer but through the radio? You are listening to The Jesus Christ Show. To be a part of the show, call 1 (800) 520-1KFI. And now here is our host, Jesus Christ.">
esus Christ is sitting in his fourth-floor office at Clear Channel in Burbank. He is surrounded by plastic tchotchkes that were given to him by family and friends, things like a George W. bobblehead and an Ann Coulter doll still in its box. There is a post card for Sarah Silverman's movie Jesus Is Magic on the desk. He sits behind a nameplate that reads: Jesus Christ. He gets phone calls:
Caller:Good morning, Lord. I am having a hard time. My husband and I got divorced last year, and it's mostly my fault. I am really searching for some kind of healing. I can't forgive myself for my marriage failing and can't believe that you could ever forgive me for something like that.
Jesus:What took place?
Caller:[Crying.] It was something I never thought could happen: I fell in love with someone else. I tried to make the best decisions for my marriage — it got to the point that I couldn't imagine being married to him anymore, 'cause my feelings had changed. And now, when I look back on it, I think I made the biggest mistake of my life.
Jesus:The thing about feelings is that they do change and they are going to change. They go back and forth. That is why you don't ever bank on feelings. A lot of people get caught up in "I feel like this and I feel like that," and that will change, it's very circumstantial. Pressing through is the best thing to do. Now, you made the decisions that you made and they had consequences. But if you are worried about it, I forgive you, absolutely I do.
[The caller cries some more.]
Jesus:I can't force you to forgive yourself. I think it is purposeless for you not to forgive yourself at this point, and to not release it is only to give fertile ground to the enemy and continue to allow him to pummel you and take up your precious time that you could be spending with me.
Jesus, in this case, is 37-year-old Neil Saavedra. With his tattoos, shaved head and proclivity for dressing in black, he makes for an unlikely incarnation of the blond-haired, blue-eyed, robe-wearing Son of Man whom we've gotten used to seeing on coffee cups and 3-D fridge magnets. But this is KFI, the radio station that plasters "Question Everything" and "The Straight Poop" in glow-in-the-dark orange letters across its billboards.
"In the agreed setting between the listener and me, I am going to pretend to be Jesus, historically to the best of my ability, theologically to the best of my ability. I do it in a controlled environment," Saavedra explains. "Like a magician. If you go and see a magician, you have an agreement with that magician. You say, 'I agree to you fooling me.' Outside of that context, then, [the magician] becomes a con man or a shyster. I am not Jesus. I don't think I am Jesus. I don't want his job."
Saavedra, who has a sound-bite-friendly sense of humor, politely lets his ever-ringing phone go to voice mail and tells me, "If Jesus were on MySpace and Neil were on MySpace, Jesus would have way more friends. But in my defense, he has had 2,000 years' more marketing."
For those of you who have never tuned in, the premise of The Jesus Christ Show, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. on Sundays, is, in Saavedra's words: "What if Christ were living in Los Angeles and he had his own advice show?" It is currently KFI's top-rated weekend program, beating out Matt Drudge's The Drudge Report.
The program, which Saavedra has been hosting for the past seven years, starts with a 15-minute-to-hourlong monologue, or sermon, usually on an issue Saavedra is battling in his own conscience. After that, listeners call in, asking questions about everything from biblical details ("Where did Cain get his wife?"), to big theology questions ("Why is there evil?"), to sex advice ("Is masturbation bad?").
According to Saavedra, an old-school punk rock fan who says the Misfits are currently in his car stereo, his audience includes members of the Damned and the Vandals, as well as Entertainment Tonight host–turned–Christian singer John Tesh, local politicians, rabbis and members of the police force.
"The term 'preacher' makes my skin crawl. I think it would be honest to say I was an entertainer, an infotainer," he says, and then shakes his head and crinkles his brow before adding, "I hate those combination words, like 'sexpert.' "
As if playing Jesus Christ for KFI weren't confounding enough, Saavedra also switch-hits as the 50,000-watt superstation's director of marketing. No small task, given that KFI has a reported 1.4 million listeners and is the No. 1 news-talk radio station in America, thanks in part to Rush Limbaugh's and Dr. Laura Schlessinger's syndicated shows, as well as morning hosts Bill Handel and John Ziegler, whom David Foster Wallace immortalized in his Atlantic Monthly essay "Host."
While "More Stimulating Talk Radio" (the station's promo tag line) bulldozes through the minds of America, it is hard to say which of Saavedra's roles is more influential. Is it his weekly presentation of an interactive Jesus Christ, complete with confessional musings and sexy cutaway music like Depeche Mode's "Your Own Personal Jesus"? Or the task of instilling in Angelenos a hunger for KFI's conservatively slanted take on the day's headlines?
Either way, Saavedra is an eerie mix of both of his posts. Quick on his feet, he is an articulate, slick talker who admits to crying regularly out of spiritual frustration and getting down on his knees to pray for guidance. He likes fart jokes, reminiscing about his youth, and eating lunch nearly every day downstairs from KFI's studios at Arnie Morton's Steakhouse, where he hugs and shakes hands with the staff as they pass by.
"What would be funny would be if I sat here and tried to pretend to be the ultimate Christian," Saavedra says, dressed as usual in black. "Do I like shock value? Absolutely. Why? 'Cause when you make a noise, people's walls come down. It is inherently who I am. KFI is about irreverent honesty. You can try and force that it's conservative because we have Laura and Rush, but ultimately it is just ideas."
Five days a week, he comes up with provocative billboard slogans, attends corporate meetings, and runs interference for the other on-air personalities. On Sundays, he tapes his show.
"I have a 56,000-foot telephone that allows me to talk to 126,000 people a week; that's pretty cool to me. 'Cause they get to talk to me too. I really get moved and touched from the people that call in."
"I am a better listener during the show, more responsive, all those things," says Saavedra, who adds that on most Sundays, he will call his mom from his car after the show and talk about how it went. "If I could find a way to be that guy that I am for three hours [on Sundays], every hour of the day, I would have it in the bag."
The son of a daydreaming Latino bellhop father who had a Big Fish knack for telling stories, and an Anglo Catholic mother who ran her own wallpapering business, Saavedra admits to fighting a lot as a teen and even once stealing a car. He may not be the conservative Christian community's first choice to play the role of Christ, but the bilingual Long Beach native seems about right for a station that sells itself as the best source for "irreverent information."
"People hide behind reverence. Talking heads, pseudo-intellectuals, know-it-alls — we [KFI] don't care about them. We're making fun of reverence. We're shaking people's ideas. It's social satire," Saavedra says. "This is me in a nutshell — I take the show seriously and the content seriously. I don't take myself seriously at all . . . I have a foul mouth; I like crass humor, a stiff drink. But that doesn't mean I don't believe there is truth."
Saavedra's Jesus Christ started out as a guest on Bill Handel's morning show. At that point, he already had his own show, called simply The Neil Saavedra Show. The last hour of his show was something he called "The God Hour," which he recalls as basically him just bitching about his own frustrations with the church, and going back and forth on the air with atheists. "As far as who conceived it [the Jesus character], it might have been Bill, 'cause it wasn't my brainchild," says Saavedra.
Handel says he can't remember who came up with the idea and calls it an "immaculate conception."
After a few successful guest appearances on Handel's show, the station asked him to do a full hour of just the Jesus character. Robin Bertolucci, the station's program director, soon expanded it to two hours, and eventually three.
Saavedra counts among his heroes Billy Graham and Phil Hendrie, whose seminal The Phil Hendrie Show, featuring controversial "guests" voiced by Hendrie, was on KFI for years. And, though he says it's not the purpose of his radio show, he would be thrilled if, as the result of listening, someone were to ask Jesus into his heart.
He asked Christ into his own heart when he was 17, and he did it because of a girl.
"That's the way most people come across God, it seems," Saavedra jokes one afternoon at Morton's. "A little missionary dating."
The girl liked Jesus, and Saavedra liked her. At first, he told her she was full of shit. But later, a friend from his school invited him to come to a mostly black Baptist church. Something the preacher said reached Saavedra that day.
"It reeked of truth and responsibility," he recalls, picking at a plate of salmon. "And I went up to the pastor afterward and accepted Christ."
After that, he went home and freaked out, worried that he might have just joined a cult. He started reading up on Christianity and religions in general and, apparently, has never stopped. Besides reading the Bible almost daily, he has read the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, the Buddhist texts and even The Satanic Verses.
"I'll read anything," he says.
Saavedra, who is now in a serious relationship with a left-wing, atheist social worker, never studied theology formally. Instead, he audited classes at the Chalcedon Academy in Agoura Hills, which specializes in Christian apologetics. Apologetics is derived from a Hellenistic Greek legal term that means "defense." Christian apologetics is the art of defending your faith using scripture.
"First Peter 3:15, one of my favorites: 'To always be ready to give a defense to people who ask about the hope that lies within you, with meekness and reverence.' A lot of people forget that last part, especially apologists," Saavedra says. "But the word there is apologia, which is where we get the word for apology. So, as an apologist, whether you're a political apologist, religious apologist or philosophical apologist, you're just defending an idea or concept. For me, I find that to be noble. It's kind of sexy too, 'cause you're battling minds."
His former teacher, Dr. Craig Johnson, whom Saavedra says he hasn't seen in years, runs the academy out of his home. Reached by phone, Johnson said he listens to The Jesus Christ Show and is in no way surprised at how far his former student has come.
"Neil was the sharpest student I ever had. Everything you pour out, he picks up," says Johnson, who also has hosted Christian radio shows, both mainstream and obscure, and who recently returned from a missionary trip to Nigeria. "I always told Neil there are two kinds of people — the quick and the dead. Neil has what we call wisdom. He can accumulate facts. But he has that extra ability, knowing where to apply them, an immediate sensitivity. He can adjust the facts he is given. He builds bridges; he doesn't use walls."
Apologetics and marketing seem somewhat similar: Both are about minimizing problems people may have with the concept one is promoting, or the product one is selling, and winning over the person being debated, or the consumer being wooed.
Saavedra says he doesn't see the parallel, but one gets the feeling his apologetics training didn't hurt his marketing abilities.
In response to the argument that perhaps some ideas, specifically spiritual ones, are complex and subtle and possibly should not be watered down to something that can be digested over a medium like commercial radio, Saavedra points to the apostle Paul, who said: "Be all things to all men."
"It means, don't be so stubborn in the way you give information that you refuse to give it to somebody in a way they will understand," Saavedra explains. "If you spoke Spanish, it would be stupid for me not to find a way to articulate in Spanish what I am trying to share with you."
The whole cast of KFI on-air hosts, including Saavedra, who, despite being in marketing, insists that he has "zero tolerance for bullshit," can seem like 2007 versions of Peter Finch's character in Network; they're all throwing their own symbolic televisions from their windows, screaming, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!"
An army of mainly conservative loudmouths who might be intended to represent hyperverbal versions of their listeners, the on-air talent is reactive and bristling at everything it hears, reads and sees. We, the listeners, get to tune in and decide if we want to follow along. Maybe that's why the edgy Saavedra, who regularly gives the church and Christianity "a beating," does so well there. Maybe that, and the fact that he can talk the shit out of the Bible.
For all the cringe-worthy, self-mythologizing one-liners, and there are a lot of them (the first time we ever spoke, which was on the phone, he told me, "I look more like Satan than I do Jesus," and called me "little freak," apparently with affection), Saavedra's faith is genuine. He has also done his homework. He quotes the Bible nimbly and has the distinct quality, on air and off, of taking his time to thoughtfully and sincerely convey the meaning of the Bible and also get his point across.
"I've joked before that if I was any more faithful, the show would suck," he says. "And, if I were any worldlier, the show would suck. I'm an odd balance of attitude and faithfulness. I am rebellious. That's one thing Jesus and I do share. I think Jesus was rebellious, in the healthiest of ways."
Saavedra says he struggles like the rest of us. He has a divorce behind him, he gets mad in rush-hour traffic, and he has normal communication problems with friends. He talks, or prays, to Christ throughout the day, specifically before and during his broadcasts. He also uses his love for pizza to illustrate how we all suffer from addictions.
"I could not think of a world without the combination of bread and cheese," he says. "I thought it would be fun to do a cookbook of just pizza, called The Passion of Crust. I don't know if it would go over very big . . . always marketing."
If you are getting the feeling that Saavedra is some sort of MTV-friendly rock & roll Jesus, you're apparently not the only one. He says he has been approached about developing TV and books, but there is nothing in the works at the moment.
Caller:To begin with, what a privilege to be talking to the Jesus I have read about my whole life . . . Can you describe gravity for me?
Jesus: Sure, in what sense? To what conclusion?
Caller:In whatever sense; you obviously know what I am thinking about.
Jesus: I am just curious if you do.
Caller:Oh, Jesus, you're great.
Jesus:Yeah [sarcastically], I'm a hoot.
Caller:How old are you, Jesus?
Jesus:I am 33.
Caller:You are! You are only one year older than me!
JESUS: Wow!
Caller: Fantastic!
Jesus:Pedro, have you packed anything this morning or smoked anything this morning?
Stacks of reference books surround Saavedra at his desk: the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Norman L. Geisler's When Skeptics Ask andthe New American Standard Bible. Fox News and MSNBC are both on TVs that hang from the ceiling, the sound on mute.
Behind thick glass, the screener, who, with his long, dyed-black hair, looks an awful lot like a roadie for an '80s metal band, is fielding calls. He types brief messages into a computer for Saavedra to read.
Does he ever feel ill-prepared to be the voice of Christ?
"I'll tell you, I've been doing this a long time," Saavedra says. "[It's a] matter of knowing that as unique as we all are as individuals, there are a tremendous amount of similarities. We yearn for the same thing: to be loved. We question the same things: existence, transcendence. On the show, I am not preaching to anyone but myself. I am most likely going through the same things that [audience members] are. And they go, 'Oh my gosh, I thought you were talking to me.' "
There are times, though, when Saavedra gets calls that even the voice of Christ can't handle. Like the time he had a person call in threatening suicide.
"It jarred me," Saavedra says. "I am not a therapist. The police got involved. I don't remember all of the details at this point. I ended up talking to this guy for a long time and even writing a letter to the judge of a court case he was in. I took him off the air, 'cause I thought it was getting a little sensational and gross.
"On occasion, I will take a call off the air," he continues. "I never take the character off the air. So, when I pick up the phone, I say, 'Hey, this is Neil, I do the voice of Jesus, and I didn't get a chance to finish your call on the air.' Oftentimes they will call me Jesus again, and I will say, 'No. We are off the air. I am Neil.' "
He says he feels pretty sure no one believes he is really Jesus, though he has been asked to autograph Bibles.
Saavedra still remains personally skeptical about church, though it does not stop him from encouraging listeners to go.
"Do I adhere to all the advice I [give] on the air? No. I am giving the advice to myself the same as I am giving it to anyone else."
The spiritual lone wolf describes himself as a "man without a country," meaning he loves Christ, but he doesn't always love the church, though he does infrequently attend the Oasis Christian Center on Wilshire.
"I said something about the church on the show once, and a pastor called me and said, 'I was reading in Rick Warren's book where it said, 'You shouldn't say bad things about the church, because the church is the bride of Christ, and would you want someone saying bad things about your wife?' I said, 'If my wife was a slobbering alcoholic, I hope someone would come and tell me.' Oftentimes the church is in disarray, not all churches."
Beneath all the irreverence, though, Saavedra does have some very traditional beliefs. Christ is the savior, the devil is a real entity, there is no such thing as reincarnation and, of course, Jesus lives in heaven.
"Except," he jokes, "from 6 to 9 on Sundays."?


text:
Montréal metro depot funding allocated
CANADA: The Government of Québec has announced that it will contribute C$330m towards the construction of a new depot on the Montréal metro network. Operator STM will provide the balance of the C$440m cost.
The underground depot with space to stable 10 trainsets will be built the Côte-Vertu terminus of the Orange Line. It is expected that construction would take four years and require an 11-week closure of Côte-Vertu station in mid-2018.
STM says that the depot will help the network to deal with increasing ridership and future extensions, as well as fleet renewal. It would allow the current 2½ min peak frequencies on the Orange Line to be reduced to 2 min.
Montréal commuter fleet depot inaugurated
CANADA: The Lachine Maintenance Centre which will maintain the locomotives and rolling stock used on the Candiac, Saint-Jérôme and Vaudreuil-Hudson commuter routes was formally inaugurated by Montréal transport agency AMT on May 13.
Azur metro trains begin carrying passengers
CANADA: Montréal metro operator STM started passenger-carrying tests with the first Azur trainset on February 7. The train will undergo testing on the Orange Line for at least 61 days while a second pre-series train will continue testing without passengers on the other three lines.


The first promo only single released from Savoy's new album "Savoy" was "Whalebone". This very limited promo only CD comes in transparent plastic cover and features an edit version of the song (3:58). The disc itself is very plain with "SAVOY "WHALEBONE" [3.58]" printed in black letters at the top and track information at the bottom. The CD doesn't have a catalogue number.


No matter the reason – planning your retirement or your children's education – you want to maximize and protect your investments.
Our job is to recommend judicious investments that will help you reach your objectives while taking into account your financial situation, your investor profile and your risk-tolerance level.
Our advisers can help you make an educated choice by providing information on each product on the market and by helping you identify the ones that best meets your needs.
* Offered through Assante Finanacial Management Ltd.


text:
Learn more about Rev. King in radio interview Monday
Story by Gary Herron | Observer staff writer | Jan 17, 2021
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of New Mexico will have a one-hour program featuring two civil-rights icons at 3 p.m. Monday on KUNM (89.9-FM) Radio.
According to a news release from SCLC, during that Martin Luther King Jr. Day program, listeners will hear from:
• Bernard LaFayette Jr., chairman of the national board of SCLC and one of the "Freedom Riders" challenging segregation on buses and in bus terminals. He was also on King's staff, director of Operation Breadbasket and now teaches King's nonviolent philosophy throughout the world.
• Bishop Calvin Woods, a friend of King. He traveled throughout the South, and they spent a lot of time together. He is the vice chairman of the national board of SCLC.
Rev. Charles Becknell Sr.
Both will discuss close moments they shared with King. They will be interviewed by Rev. Charles Becknell Sr. of Rio Rancho, also a member of the national board, where he serves as chaplain, according to the release.
Cecilia Webb will be his co-host; she is president of the Albuquerque Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women and host of the Train to Glory radio program.
"We know Dr. King was a civil rights leader, a pastor and all that stuff; what was he like — in sports, in music? We want to humanize him," Becknell said. "We want to public to know, what was he like when he wasn't doing what he did?"
SCLCNM plans to give two scholarships to seniors this year and a donation to the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association in the name of Raymond Hamilton, a late Harvard Law School graduate and Albuquerque native who spent his life amplifying the voices of people of color and diversifying the practice of law.
The group is looking for donations, which will help SCLC survive as an organization until next year. Contributions may be mailed to P.O. Box 44565, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4565.
Due to the pandemic, the 11th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon was postponed, according to the release. If the pandemic is under control, there will be an event during the latter part of Black History Month in February.
Gary Herron | Observer staff writer
Vaping problem grows in RRPS
RRPS board reconsiders high-school student fees
Attorney: The U.S. needs a just Voting Rights Act now
RRPS needs more money for enhanced vocational programs
PreviousLetter to the editor: RR's police department goes above and beyond
NextLocal leader discusses race relations 58 years after 'I Have a Dream'
Carver: Tough to say goodbye to RRHS in light of COVID-19
Police investigate death on country club property
Landfill expected to be full in 7 years
Former Ram playing pro soccer in Italy


text:
Rugby Rugby World Cup
The plumber at the heart of England
17th August 2017 admin 2418 Views 0 Comments Article by Will Moulton
Marlie Packer is playing a significant role for the Red Roses at the Rugby World Cup, just as she has done since they won the title in 2014. Ahead of England's match against the United States this afternoon, Will Moulton hears about her pathway to success
England's defence of their Rugby World Cup title has got off to the flying start with ten tries scored in each of the victories over Spain and Italy. In the process the Red Roses have won plaudits for their fluent, attractive, daredevil play. Leading the way, flanker Marlie Packer has been close to faultless.
She was named player of the match against the Italians for a performance in which she secured three turnovers and set up Amy Cokayne for one of the tries with a defence-splitting run. No one was surprised in the slightest. Packer has been a key figure in England's glory years, finishing joint highest try-scorer on the way to World Cup success in 2014 before driving the team to the top of the world rankings for the first time in June by beating New Zealand.
This may not have happened if Packer's mum had not agreed to let a friend take her to a training session more than 20 years ago.
"When my mum's friend took me to play, I had a pair of jeans and a red frilly top because Mum thought I was going to watch not play," the Bristol player recalled. "I came back caked in mud and I don't think she made me wear those clothes again. They went in the bin – which was a result for me. I never really looked back, I played rugby from then on. I did other sports at school but rugby was always my thing."
Before long Packer had joined Ivel Barbarians, playing in mixed teams up until the age of 13 and then moving to Bath Ladies and becoming part of the England set-up. At the tender age of 18, she was unexpectedly thrust into the international limelight, making her debut in an 80-3 demolition of Sweden in May 2008. A move to Bristol followed shortly after.
However, it would be more than three years before Packer pulled on the senior England jersey again, a moment that she holds as one of the most of treasured of her career because of the amount of work she had to put in to make it happen.
"My debut was incredible and a massive surprise at the time, although I was in the England Under-20 programme," the 27-year-old said. "It was a call from nowhere – a load of people got their first caps in that game. I was one of the youngest. It is a time I'll never forget. But it was another three years and three months until I played internationally again.
"That second cap was a lot more rewarding for me because I had worked hard for it, I wanted it. It was most definitely a frustrating wait. There were a lot of factors and reasons for it, but I was still in the England set-up – I stayed in the under-20s for another two years before I went across to the 'A' team.
"Then, in 2011, I was selected for a tour in Canada where I won that second cap and after that I started every game for England right up until to the end of 2012 when we beat France and New Zealand in the autumn internationals. That year was very significant and a memory I will always have because that second cap was very, very special to me."
One reason Packer didn't return to the international fold during that period was that she was training to become a qualified plumber, a job she will return to once the tournament ends later this month. She did the same after helping land the World Cup three years ago.
Despite the news that current full-time contracts for England's XV-a-side players will not be renewed, Packer is looking forward to returning to her trade, though she won't be thinking about ballcocks and U-bends until the competition is over.
"The company I work for – HomeServe – are very supportive," she explained. "After the 2014 World Cup I went back to work straight away, and to be honest it's going to be the same this time round. I won't have very much time off before I go back and start again. I'm looking forward to it – it's another challenge.
"But all my concentration is going towards this World Cup. We need to win; every one of us wants to bring home that trophy again."
Will Moulton is a 'Gold Standard' NCTJ-qualified sports journalist and a First Class graduate from Durham University who aspires to one day commentate on international cricket and an Olympic Games. He is hugely passionate about a number of sports – including cricket, hockey, football and rugby – and also has two national cheerleading titles to his name. Will's latest articles
Women's Sport Trust want to thank our partner Getty Images for some of the imagery of women in sport used on this site. Click here to view the editorial curation featuring the world's top sportswomen in action and learn more about our partnership with Getty Images.
← "I felt I was commentating on behalf of womankind."
Cricket brings out the beast in Brunt →
Mclean takes the muddy road to Twickenham
3rd February 2017 admin 0
How rugby is building on Red Roses' legacy
Alphonsi wants to be a role model – just like her teacher
8th April 2016 admin 0
Andy Barrow
No more Miss Nice Guy for our cricketers!
12th August 2017 admin No Comments
The mothers aiming to tame the Atlantic
3rd October 2015 admin No Comments
'I'd like to be the first woman to win the Derby'
2nd June 2018 admin No Comments
Paralympian who wants to help others fulfil their dreams
Casual Sexism: And Why Andy Murray Won't Stand For It –
13th July 2017 admin No Comments