text:
Passing Ships: Remembering the Atlantis-Columbia Photo-Op, 30 Years On
by Ben Evans August 9, 2020, 8:00 am
Columbia (left) heads out to the launch pad, as Atlantis (right) returns to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in the overnight hours of 8-9 August 1990. Photo Credit: NASA
Thirty years ago today, literally like passing ships in the night, a pair of Space Shuttles inched past each other on the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) crawlerway; one heading for the launch pad, the other rolling back to the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). It was one of the shuttle program's most impressive and unforgettable photo-ops.
Video Credit: NASA
Both Columbia and Atlantis were fully stacked onto their respective External Tanks (ETs) and Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), ready for their respective missions: a many-times-delayed ultraviolet astronomy flight and a classified Department of Defense assignment. But sadly, neither ship was any nearer to launching than the other. It was 9 August 1990 and the shuttle program—newly back on its feet after the calamitious loss of Challenger—had found itself grounded for months by a seemingly intractable series of fuel leaks within the Main Propulsion System (MPS) of both vehicles.
By the late spring of 1990, three shuttle missions had already taken place, with as many as six more expected to mark out the first year of a new decade. Had this figure been achieved, it would have equaled 1985 with the maximum number of shuttles ever launched in a singular calendar year. However, it was not to be, and the second half of 1990 became known for its grounded missions, its frustrated astronaut crews and a delicately assembled shuttle flight manifest cast into disarray.
Their mission accomplished, the crew of STS-31 depart Discovery on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California on 29 April 1990. Photo Credit: NASA
When Discovery touched down at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on 29 April, following the triumphant deployment of NASA's scientific showpiece—the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)—the next scheduled flight was that of her sister Columbia, slated to launch no sooner than 16 May for the 10-day STS-35 mission, carrying the ASTRO-1 payload of ultraviolet astrophysics instruments. This flight—in its original incarnation as "Mission 61E"—would have been the next flight after Challenger and, planned for March 1986, would have formed part of the vanguard of our observations of the most recent visitation of Halley's Comet to the inner Solar System. More than four years later, with the fabled comet long gone, ASTRO-1 was combined with another instrument, the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT), and was expected to reveal significant new insights into the nature and evolution of the cosmos at ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths.
On the heels of STS-35, Atlantis would fly the classified STS-38 mission for the Department of Defense in July, following by Columbia's STS-40 Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS)-1 in September, the eagerly anticipated launch of the Ulysses solar explorer aboard Discovery on STS-41 in October, the deployment of the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) by Atlantis in November, and, lastly, the International Microgravity Laboratory (IML)-1 payload, aboard Columbia, in December. Under this scenario, Columbia would fly no fewer than four times in 1990, creating a new record for herself and tying with an equivalent number of missions accomplished by her sister Discovery in 1985.
Then came the issue with the hydrogen disconnect valves.
It is rare that two Space Shuttle stacks occupied both Launch Complex (LC)-39 pads at the same time. One such instance came in September 1990, when the STS-35 and STS-41 stacks were both undergoing final preparations for launch. Photo Credit: NASA
Deep within the belly of each shuttle were a pair of 17-inch-wide (43 cm) propellant lines, through which liquid oxygen and hydrogen flowed from the ET into the cluster of three main engines. Both "sides" carried mechanical disconnect fittings and shortly before the separation of the ET—about eight minutes after launch—a pair of flapper valves were commanded shut by pneumatic helium pressure to prevent further propellant discharge and contamination. The criticality of the disconnect valves was acute: inadvertent closure during powered flight would have prevented propellant flow from the ET and precipitated disaster. And in the days, weeks and months before STS-35, they took center-stage as one of the most difficult engineering challenges ever to face the shuttle team.
Before each mission, a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) scrutinized all pertinent documentation, before formally reaching an agreement on a target launch date. At the beginning of May 1990, Columbia was provisionally scheduled to fly on the 16th, but a problem was noted with a proportioning valve on her Freon coolant loop, requiring replacement. A second review was convened and settled on 30 May for launch. By this time, the delays were expected to have a significant effect on the remaining flights of the year. Then, during the lengthy process to load liquid hydrogen into the ET, a tiny leak was detected, close to the Tail Service Mast (TSM) on the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). Further investigation revealed a much more extensive—and far more worrisome—leak, apparently coming from the disconnect hardware in Columbia's belly.
Atlantis sits on the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the conclusion of STS-38 in November 1990. This was the first Kennedy Space Center (KSC) shuttle landing of the post-Challenger era and the first-ever by Atlantis. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de
"We got to about T-4 hours, when they start the fast-fill of the hydrogen," recalled STS-35 astronaut Jeff Hoffman in his NASA oral history. "We had had the party for the launch guests. Everybody comes down; that's a tradition. Then there's another nice tradition, where we would go out and stand on one side of the trench, out by the launch pad, and the buses would come and the families and friends would be on the other side, so we could wave at them." With the discovery of the leak, the launch attempt was immediately called off and the ET was emptied and inerted.
A few days later, on 6 June, a "tanking test" was conducted to identify the exact location of the leak. It soon became clear that historic Pad 39A was not an appropriate place for exploratory work to be undertaken, and on the 12th the STS-35 stack was rolled back to the cavernous VAB. Columbia was removed from the stack and returned to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) for repairs on the 15th. Launch was provisionally rescheduled for mid-August. The shuttle "side" of the disconnect hardware was replaced with a set borrowed from the new orbiter, Endeavour and apparatus for the ET "side" arrived shortly thereafter from its assembly facility at Michoud in New Orleans, La.
After many months of delay, STS-35 finally flew in December 1990. Photo Credit: NASA
As this work was being undertaken, Atlantis progressed smoothly—or so it seemed—toward her own launch in July. As a precautionary measure, shortly after the STS-38 stack arrived at Pad 39A on 18 June, NASA performed a tanking test on Atlantis, to verify that she was not similarly affected. Two modes of propellant loading were followed; a "slow-fill" chilled down the pipework and the structure of the tank, so that when cryogenic hydrogen was pumped in at a higher rate, known as the "fast-fill", it would not boil and generate excessive amounts of gas. On the 29th, liquid hydrogen was duly pumped into her ET and to engineers' dismay the same problem appeared: After the fueling process moved from "slow-fill" to "fast-fill", concentrations of gas were found in the vicinity of her disconnect hardware. It was small and was described by NASA as "both temperature and flow-rate-dependent", but the agency was convinced that the two leaks in Columbia and Atlantis represented nothing more than coincidence.
To identify the source, more instrumentation was fitted around the disconnect and a second tanking test was performed on 13 July. Sealants were added to stop the leak, but a third test on the 25th revealed that the problem remained.
So it was that in the pre-dawn darkness of 9 August, the STS-38 stack rolled back to the VAB, providing a unique photo opportunity in the process, as the STS-35 stack passed it on its way back out to Pad 39A. And although it was just one of many "rollbacks" conducted during the 30-year shuttle era, the visibility of two vehicles in such close proximity to one another afforded a photo-opportunity which has gone down in the annals of spaceflight lore. Even after 9 August 1990, neither Columbia or Atlantis were by any means out of the woods and their problems would persist in the fall. But before the end of 1990, both STS-38 and STS-35 would have flown—and flown successfully—whilst providing a unique reminder that the shuttle remained fragile in its flexibility and was still very much an experimental flying machine.
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NASAShuttleKennedy Space CenterAtlantisColumbiaDepartment of DefenseASTRO-1STS-35Pad 39BPad 39A
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Serviciul AudioTravelGuide poate fi accesat GRATUIT, fara suprataxa, de pe orice telefon sunand la +40. Costul este cel al unui apel normal catre o retea fixa!
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Statue Woman with a Harp, MedgidiaCod 1223
Situated in the Small Market Decebal of the municipality Medgidia, this work of art was finalized in the year 1933 by the famous sculptor from Dobrogea, Ion Jalea (1887 – 1983). The statue represents a woman who sings at a harp, whose cords haven't been represented, leaving them, in a certain way, to have a natural part, either the water, which is dripping on the statue when it rains, or the wind which blows, shaping a metaphorical connection between the sculpture object and the environment.
Ion Jalea (born on the 19th of May 1887, Casimcea, county of Tulcea – deceased on the 7th of November 1983) was a Romanian sculptor, titular member of the Romanian Academy. He participated at the First World War, where he lost his left hand in the fight and he had to sculpt his entire life only with his right hand.
After he graduates in 1908 the School of Arts and Crafts, he attends the studies of the Academy of Beaux – Arts from Bucharest, having as teachers the sculptors Frederick Storck and Dimitrie Paciurea. He completes his artistic training at Paris, at the Julian Academy, in the workshop of Antoine Bourdelle. He receives the Grand Prize of the International Exhibits from Paris and from Barcelona, the National Award for Sculpture (1941), the State Award (1957) and – in the same year – the title of Artist of the People. Starting with 1956 he functioned as an active president of the Union of Plastic Artists from Romania.
The Sculptor Ion Jalea is the author of numerous monuments, statues, busts, reliefs, allegorical compositions. At the base of his vision there lies the cult for shape as a result of observing the reality – especially the human figure – and the tendency of incorporating some fantastic morphologies evocating the ancient mythology. His sculptures have an idealized sense, the author constantly pointing towards the glorification of some facts or significant personalities from the historical experience.
In his compositions, Ion Jalea follows the classical laws of balance, of the harmonious reports between the parts, of the dosage of the dynamic elements – gestures, ascending or descending diagonals – in a coherent and static ensemble. A synthesis of his capabilities, of the perfect combining between the realistic and the allegoric level, of the science of arranging the dynamic and static tensions is offered to us in the composition Archer resting, his most representative work, created in 1926.
On the 19th of March 2009, the President of Romania, Traian Băsescu, visited the Court of Justice of the European Communities, on which occasion there took place the inauguration ceremony of the bronze copy of the work of art "Archer resting", sculpture by Ion Jalea, donation of the Romanian state to the Court of Justice from Luxemburg.
A large number of Ion Jalea's sculptures are found in the Memorial Museum "Ion Jalea", a section of the Art Museum from Constanța, which comprises the collection "Ion Jalea". The collection was inaugurated in August 1968 and was constituted on the donation of the sculptor Ion Jalea. It groups 227 works, among which 119 entered in the patrimony, in the year 1985.
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Posted in Constanţa
Heroes Monument, Cernavoda1072
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Stereogum has produced a video of the French robots and San Diego's Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) exploring the streets of Amsterdam.
Burgundy and the robots go on a triple tandem (ever see one of those, we haven't) bike ride, get ice cream, and check out local clog shops. Not to mention getting mauled by women who don't look Dutch at all. Were these imported from America?
But what we really like about this Will Ferrell short humor piece is that it's testimony that bicycle riding is finally reaching the mainstream. I mean comon' ! Traveling all the way to Amsterdam, the capital of bike riding, by a mainstream guy like Will Ferrell? What other proof do you need that You're Much Cuter on a Bicycle!


text:
Mémoires de ma puberté
Anon 1950s
Mémoires de ma puberté (Memoirs of my Puberty) is one of a series of illustrated erotic titles published in the 1950s by the Toulouse-based publisher Francis Flores. The author is shown as 'L. Machaut', almost certainly Flores himself; the illustrator is the ubiquitous Anon. Flores' output had hardly hit the shelves before being banned by the French government in 1960, which makes them quite rare collectors' items. To make the most of his material, Flores sometimes published exactly the same books with different titles – Mémoires de ma puberté is sometimes seen with the title Suzanne écolière d'amore (Suzanne, Student of Love).
'With a mechanical gesture he subjected his rod, already very nervous, to an up and down movement. No longer afraid, and seeing Suzanne with her head on the pillow so close, so naked, he launched his discharge into the lavender-scented sheets with a groan of happiness.' Very 1950s!
Mémoires de ma puberté was published by Éditions du Levant in a limited edition of 750 copies. The illustrations were produced separately from the text, mounted on card with paper guards.
We are grateful to Steve Mullins of the Olympia Press website (www.parisolympiapress.com) for these illustrations.
Click images to see full-size versions


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Q: Automating "for loop" in R for the whole data set and counting I am doing an analysis and I am not so advanced in R. I am stuck in this stage. I would appreciate your cordial help in this regard.
In the example data set (data1), I have 7 columns (a, b, c, d, e, f, g). First 3 columns (a, b, c) are from one group and the other 4 columns (d, e, f, g) are from different group.
In my data1, I applied a formula for TRUE/FALSE (1/0) output for each and every combination pair from the 2 groups [a with every column of d, e, f, g (ad, ae, af, ag); b with every column (bd, be, bf, bg); c with every column (cd, ce, cf, cg)]. In my example, I tried to do it for c and d column (cd). But, it is not showing me the correct output. In my desired output, the second output should be 1 (TRUE). And also, I have no idea how to automate the loop for the whole data set.
**N.B. Since any value of parental line can satisfy the conditions, I used | in the loop to get the result. But, I am not sure if it is the correct or efficient way.
a <- c(0, 0.501, 0.501, 0, 0.57, 20)
b <- c(0.108, 0.96, 0.110, 0.10, 4, 2)
c <- c(0.110, 1, 0.118, 0.107, 0.34, 0.019)
d <- c(0.115, 0.113, 0.98, 0.1, 13, 2)
e <- c(1, 3.113, 0.98, 0.560, 0.15, 1)
f <- c(2.45, 4.16, 0.045, 0.9, 0.12, 70)
g <- c(2, 0.6, 3, 7, 0.12, 29)

data1 <- data.frame(a, b, c, d, e, f, g)
rownames(data1) <- c(("Man2"), paste0('Man', 4:8))
data1
#>           a     b     c      d     e      f     g
#> Man2  0.000 0.108 0.110  0.115 1.000  2.450  2.00
#> Man4  0.501 0.960 1.000  0.113 3.113  4.160  0.60
#> Man5  0.501 0.110 0.118  0.980 0.980  0.045  3.00
#> Man6  0.000 0.100 0.107  0.100 0.560  0.900  7.00
#> Man7  0.570 4.000 0.340 13.000 0.150  0.120  0.12
#> Man8 20.000 2.000 0.019  2.000 1.000 70.000 29.00
r <- c(1:6) #number of rows
c <- c(1:7)  #number of cols
f <- c(1:3) #first group (a, b, c)
s <- c(4:7)  #second group (d, e, f, g)

for (i in r) {
    if ((data1[i,3] >= 0.5 & data1[i,4] >= data1[i, 3]*2) | (data1[i,4] >= 0.5 & data1[i,3] >= data1[i,4]*2)) {
      print(1L)
    } else if ((data1[i,3] < 0.5  & data1[i,4] >= 1.0) | (data1[i,4] < 0.5 & data1[1,3] >= 1.0)) {
      print(1L)
    } else {
      print(0L)
    }
  }
#> [1] 0
#> [1] 0
#> [1] 0
#> [1] 0
#> [1] 1
#> [1] 1

Created on 2021-06-21 by the reprex package (v2.0.0)
For each combination,

*

*if the value in any one column is >= 0.5, the value in the other column should be >= 2 folds,

*and if the value is below 0.5 in any one column, the value in the other column need to be >= 1 for each row.

I look for an output like this df:
ad <- c(0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)
ae <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L)
af <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L)
ag <- c(1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L)
bd <- c(0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L)
be <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)
bf <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)
bg <- c(1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L)
cd <- c(0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)
ce <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L)
cf <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L)
cg <- c(1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L)
df <- data.frame(ad, ae, af, ag, bd, be, bf, bg, cd, ce, cf, cg)
rownames(df) <- c(("Man2"), paste0('Man', 4:8))
df
#>      ad ae af ag bd be bf bg cd ce cf cg
#> Man2  0  1  1  1  0  1  1  1  0  1  1  1
#> Man4  0  1  1  0  0  1  1  0  1  1  1  1
#> Man5  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1
#> Man6  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1
#> Man7  1  0  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  0  0  0
#> Man8  1  1  1  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1

Created on 2021-06-21 by the reprex package (v2.0.0)
I have two groups in the combination pairs as well. I want to count number of "1s" in one group c(ad, ae, bg, be, bf, cd) and also in the other group c(af, ag, bd, ce, cf, cg) for each row. Is it a good idea to save the 1/0 output in a new data frame like df or just putting the count of "1s" in two new columns (like in df2)? The working data set is a huge one. So, memory and efficient way are the issues here.
My desired output is something like this [counting 1s for the first combination group c(ad, ae, bg, be, bf, cd) and also counting 1s for the second combination group c(af, ag, bd, ce, cf, cg) for each row]:
ad <- c(0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)
ae <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L)
af <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L)
ag <- c(1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L)
bd <- c(0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L)
be <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)
bf <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)
bg <- c(1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L)
cd <- c(0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L)
ce <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L)
cf <- c(1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L)
cg <- c(1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L)
#first_group <- c(ad, ae, bg, be, bf, cd)
#second_group <- c(af, ag, bd, ce, cf, cg)
first_combi <- c(4, 4, 1, 1, 5, 5)
second_combi <- c(5, 3, 2, 2, 1, 4)
df2 <- data.frame(ad, ae, af, ag, bd, be, bf, bg, cd, ce, cf, cg, first_combi, second_combi)
rownames(df2) <- c(("Man2"), paste0('Man', 4:8))
df2
#>      ad ae af ag bd be bf bg cd ce cf cg first_combi second_combi
#> Man2  0  1  1  1  0  1  1  1  0  1  1  1           4            5
#> Man4  0  1  1  0  0  1  1  0  1  1  1  0           4            3
#> Man5  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1           1            2
#> Man6  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1           1            2
#> Man7  1  0  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  0  0  0           5            1
#> Man8  1  1  1  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1           5            4

Created on 2021-06-21 by the reprex package (v2.0.0)
So, I need two suggestions:

*

*How to automate the loop for the whole data set

*How to store the 1/0 (TRUE/FALSE) for the two combination groups and counting "1s" for the groups.

Please, pave me on these two problems with the data set.

A: tidyverse strategy.  For the second part I'm Assuming you want colsums in matrix form.

*

*I have divided your column-names into two groups say grp_1 and grp_2

*exapnd.grid will generate all combinations of both name groups

*next we will pass this into pmap_dfc as its first argument

*for the function part, I have

*

*stored the logical values into a temp variable x say.  Before storing I have wrapped whole condition with + which converts logical values to numeric

*next I have set names for this x as per group combinations using paste0

*Since pmap_dfc is used, the results will be binded into columns automatically

*last code restores the row names

For the second part I have used -

*

*outer function, in combination with

*colSums.

Using colSums will directly give you results as per column names instead of a matrix
library(tidyverse)

#optimised solution #for the loop part
gr_1 <- c('a', 'b', 'c')
gr_2 <- c('d', 'e', 'f', 'g')

expand.grid(gr_1, gr_2, stringsAsFactors = F) %>%
  pmap_dfc(~ {x <- +((data1[[..1]] >= 0.5 & data1[[..2]] >  2 * data1[[..1]]) |
                       (data1[[..2]] >= 0.5 & data1[[..1]] >  2 * data1[[..2]]) |
                       (data1[[..2]] < 0.5 &  data1[[..1]] >= 1) |
                       (data1[[..1]] < 0.5 &  data1[[..2]] >= 1)); setNames(list(x), paste0(..1, ..2))} ) %>%
  as.data.frame() %>%
  `rownames<-`(rownames(data1)) -> res

res
#>      ad bd cd ae be ce af bf cf ag bg cg
#> Man2  0  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1
#> Man4  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  0  0
#> Man5  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
#> Man6  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
#> Man7  1  1  1  0  1  0  0  1  0  0  1  0
#> Man8  1  0  1  1  0  1  1  1  1  0  1  1

Second part
#second part
out_gr1 <- c('ad', 'ae', 'bg', 'be', 'bf', 'cd')

split.default(res,  c('Gr1', 'Gr2')[1 + !(names(res) %in% out_gr1)]) %>%
  sapply(rowSums)

     Gr1 Gr2
Man2   4   5
Man4   4   3
Man5   1   2
Man6   1   2
Man7   5   1
Man8   5   4

Doing it in one pipe
gr_1 <- c('a', 'b', 'c')
gr_2 <- c('d', 'e', 'f', 'g')
out_gr1 <- c('ad', 'ae', 'bg', 'be', 'bf', 'cd')

expand.grid(gr_1, gr_2, stringsAsFactors = F) %>%
  pmap_dfc(~ {x <- +((data1[[..1]] >= 0.5 & data1[[..2]] >  2 * data1[[..1]]) |
                       (data1[[..2]] >= 0.5 & data1[[..1]] >  2 * data1[[..2]]) |
                       (data1[[..2]] < 0.5 &  data1[[..1]] >= 1) |
                       (data1[[..1]] < 0.5 &  data1[[..2]] >= 1)); setNames(list(x), paste0(..1, ..2))} ) %>%
  as.data.frame() %>%
  `rownames<-`(rownames(data1)) %>% cbind(split.default(., c('First_combi', 'Second_combi')[1 + !(names(.) %in% out_gr1)]) %>%
  sapply(rowSums))

     ad bd cd ae be ce af bf cf ag bg cg First_combi Second_combi
Man2  0  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1           4            5
Man4  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  0  0           4            3
Man5  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1           1            2
Man6  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1           1            2
Man7  1  1  1  0  1  0  0  1  0  0  1  0           5            1
Man8  1  0  1  1  0  1  1  1  1  0  1  1           5            4

A: You can write a function for the comparison and loop the columns to get the results in a dataframe. Then, use lapply() to run table() through each column of the dataframe to get the number of 1s.
# A function for the comparison
compare <- function(x, y) {
  ifelse(
    (x >= 0.5 & y >= (x * 2)) | (y >= 0.5 & x >= (y * 2)) | (x < 0.5 & y >= 1) | (y < 0.5 & x >= 1),
    1L, 0L
  )
}

# Get all combinations
comb <- expand.grid(first = c("a", "b", "c"),
                    second = c("d", "e",  "f", "g"),
                    stringsAsFactors = FALSE)
n <- nrow(comb)

# Create an empty list
res <- vector("list", n)

for (i in seq_len(n)) {
  res[[i]] <- compare(data1[[ comb$first[i] ]],
                      data1[[ comb$second[i] ]])
}

# Assign names to the list
names(res) <- paste0(comb$first, comb$second, collpase = "")
# Convert the list to a dataframe
res <- list2DF(res)
# Assign row names
rownames(res) <- c(("Man2"), paste0('Man', 4:8))

res

#      ad bd cd ae be ce af bf cf ag bg cg
# Man2  0  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1
# Man4  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  0  0
# Man5  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
# Man6  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
# Man7  1  1  1  0  1  0  0  1  0  0  1  0
# Man8  1  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  1  1

# use lapply to get the counts of 1s and 0s in each column
res_count <- lapply(res, table)
res_count

# $ad
#
# 0 1
# 4 2
#
# $bd
#
# 0 1
# 5 1
#
# $cd
#
# 0 1
# 3 3
# <omitted>

A: You can also use the following solution:
library(dplyr)
library(purrr)

# First we create every combinations of column names between 2 groups
expand.grid(names(data1)[1:3], names(data1[4:7])) -> cols

# Then we check your desired conditions
map2(cols$Var1, cols$Var2, ~ data1[, c(.x, .y)]) %>%
  map(~ .x %>%
        mutate(!!paste0(names(.x), collapse = "") :=
                 pmap_dbl(.x, ~ {x <- c(...)[-3];
                 if((..1 > 0.5 & ..2 >= ..1 * 2) | (..2 > 0.5 & ..1 >= ..2 * 2) |
                    (..1 < 0.5 & ..2 >= 1) | (..2 < 0.5 & ..1 >= 1)) {
                   1
                 } else {
                   0
                 }}))) %>%
  map_dfc(~ .x %>% select(3)) -> df

  ad bd cd ae be ce af bf cf ag bg cg
1  0  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1
2  0  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  0  0
3  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
4  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
5  1  1  1  0  1  0  0  1  0  0  1  0
6  1  0  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  1  1

With regard to your second question, if I understood what you are looking for correctly and you would like to count the number of 1 for each row in each pair, you can use this:
col1 <- c("ad", "ae", "bg", "be", "bf", "cd")
col2 <- c("af", "ag", "bd", "ce", "cf", "cg")

split.default(df, names(df) %in% col1) %>%
  map(~ .x %>%
        rowwise() %>%
        mutate(count = reduce(cur_data(), `+`)))

$`FALSE`
# A tibble: 6 x 7
# Rowwise:
     bd    ce    af    cf    ag    cg count
  <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
1     0     1     1     1     1     1     5
2     0     1     1     1     0     0     3
3     0     0     0     0     1     1     2
4     0     0     0     0     1     1     2
5     1     0     0     0     0     0     1
6     0     1     1     1     0     1     4

$`TRUE`
# A tibble: 6 x 7
# Rowwise:
     ad    cd    ae    be    bf    bg count
  <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
1     0     0     1     1     1     1     4
2     0     1     1     1     1     0     4
3     0     0     0     0     0     1     1
4     0     0     0     0     0     1     1
5     1     1     0     1     1     1     5
6     1     1     1     1     1     1     6

In order to calculate the euclidean distance you could use the following solution:
gr_1 <- c('a', 'b', 'c')
gr_2 <- c('d', 'e', 'f', 'g')

expand.grid(gr_1, gr_2) %>%
  {map2(.$Var1, .$Var2, ~ data1[c(.x, .y)])} %>%
  map_dfc(~ .x %>%
        summarise(!!sym(paste0(names(.x), collapse = "")) := sqrt(sum((.x[[1]] - .x[[2]]) ^ 2))))

        ad       bd       cd       ae       be       ce       af       bf       cf       ag
1 21.88397 9.081539 12.87361 19.22347 4.714029 2.683949 50.20569 68.23066 70.09625 11.85147
        bg       cg
1 28.35006 29.99164

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
A grand tour…
A grand tour of the Evercade VS
As another chaotic year draws to a close, the first Evercade VS units are finally starting to get into the hands of Founders — those who purchased the special edition black console that comes with extra goodies, including six game cartridges.
For those still waiting, we thought you might be curious to check out what the Evercade VS is actually like in action — and since we've had the opportunity to fiddle around with a unit for a little while now, it seems like as good a time as any to give you the grand tour of what to expect from the system.
So let's begin!
Fire up the system for the first time and you'll see the Blaze logo, just like on the handheld. If you have trouble turning the Evercade VS on, note that the red cable you get in the Founders Edition package is not the power cable; it's the cable for connecting the Evercade handheld as a controller. Use the black cable and hold down the power button for about 1.5 seconds until the console's front LEDs come on, and you'll be away.
The somewhat "synthwavey" intro video from the original handheld firmware has been replaced with a short, sweet and very bassy splash screen that leaves you in no doubt as to the sort of experience you're about to have: slick, stylish, polished but unashamedly retro.
Once the system is booted, you'll see the main menu. If you have one or more cartridges inserted when you boot, you'll see the games almost immediately; if not, like the handheld, cartridges are hot-swappable in the Evercade VS, so just slot in whatever you're in the mood for and the system will read it with a satisfying clicky-clunk noise. Here we've got the Atari Collection 2 cartridge from the original lineup of releases for the system and the new Gaelco Arcade cartridge inserted.
From the main menu, you can do a few things to organise the display. Probably the most useful of these is the ability to filter the available games by cartridge, meaning that if, in our case, you want to see just the Atari games or just the Gaelco games, you can do just that. You can also sort by title, year of release and number of players — the latter is useful if you're specifically looking for something to make use of the Evercade VS' four controller ports!
Select a game with the A button on the controller and you'll see a details page, including a nice big shot of the box art or arcade flyer, its year of original release, its genre, number of players and a brief description. You can choose "Play" to start the game as if you were booting it up for the first time, or "Last Save" to immediately boot the game and load your last saved state — a brilliant combo with the new "Quick Save" function, which we'll talk about in a moment.
Game descriptions tend to have a snippet designed to fit neatly on the screen, and in some cases there is additional text to read and enjoy. In these cases, hitting "Read More" allows you to read the full text.
One really nice inclusion in the game details page is the controller diagram. This means no fumbling around trying to figure out which button does what — you can find out before you start playing. This is especially useful for the arcade games, which don't have a standardised button layout.
Before we dive into a game, let's take a quick look at the settings menu. This is accessed by moving the cursor over to the icons on the left of the screen and selecting the "cog" icon. From here, there are a bunch of things you can tweak about the Evercade VS experience, beginning with display settings.
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Here you can choose the Evercade VS' preferred aspect ratio for displaying games: original ratio provides a large screen display as close to the original game's aspect ratio as possible; pixel perfect scales the display so it is a nice clean multiple, which helps eliminate the appearance of some pixels being wider or taller than others; and full screen stretches the display to fill the full 16:9 screen.
In the shaders and scanlines section, you can adjust the display to have no, subtle or strong scanlines. These are intended to simulate the way older displays and televisions look, and some retro gamers feel that they provide a more "authentic" look to game visuals when played on modern screens. The choice is yours, though!
Most games on the Evercade don't use the full width of a 16:9 screen, so what do you do with that blank space? Well, you can either leave it blank, or you can apply a bezel, which is a piece of artwork designed to liven up that boring old backdrop somewhat.
The Evercade VS comes with six different options for bezels, including the classic backgrounds seen on the original Evercade and Evercade VS packaging, artwork by Rachid Lotf (the guy behind the "gamer guy" image found in the back of many Evercade manuals), a selection of developer and publisher logos, and a bunch of classic box art.
There's a possibility we might see some more bezels added in future firmware updates, but that remains to be seen. It'd be super-cool to see some game-specific stuff added at some point, particularly for the arcade games.
Finally, you can choose whether or not you want scanlines on the Evercade VS menu. This is a completely separate setting from the in-game scanlines option.
Moving down, we have the option for three visual themes to use on the menus: Dark, Light and VS Classic. Dark and Light are designed to complement the Founders and standard edition consoles respectively, while the default VS Classic menu makes use of the distinctive "purple grid" pattern seen on much of the VS' packaging. Again, it's entirely possible we'll see more menu themes added over time, but there's just three for now.
The sound settings apply only to the menu, since most games have their own in-game sound options — plus your TV does, too. Here's where you can adjust the volume or turn off the interface music and sound effects if you prefer your menus to be quieter. Or turn them back on if you miss the atmospheric synthwave soundscape!
Next we have Network settings, which allows you to connect your Evercade VS to the Internet via Wi-Fi. At present, this is only used for system updates; additional possible uses for the network connection are still being considered. It's still worth connecting, though; there's a "day one" update for the Evercade VS firmware that includes a few last-minute tweaks to the interface, and the Evercade's update facility is also able to patch games where issues have been found right on their respective cartridges — meaning your physical copies are never "out of date".
Connecting to a Wi-Fi network is dead easy. Just pick your network from a list, enter the security key and the Evercade VS takes care of the rest. It'll remember your connection for the future, too, so no need to enter the key every time.
The Evercade VS' Accessibility menu includes the option to toggle a High Contrast mode. This will override any theme you might have chosen in the menus.
The High Contrast Mode is designed to be easier to read for some players, featuring primarily black text on an off-white background. Note that while this is the only option in the Evercade VS' Accessibility menu, the system also supports the highly customisable Microsoft Xbox Adaptive Controller, allowing those with mobility issues to enjoy everything the Evercade VS has to offer.
At present, the Evercade VS' interface can be viewed in a variety of different languages, and Blaze has been quick to take on feedback from international players if and when any tweaks to translations need to be made.
From the system menu, you can see what version of the system software you're running — at the time of writing, 2.0.1 is the current version, incorporating the "day one" update — as well as factory resetting your unit or mapping new controllers. Many USB controllers (and wireless controllers with USB receivers) will simply be recognised and work just fine if you plug them in, but if you want to make absolutely sure that they work as expected — or remap the buttons differently — you can do so from here.
The process is pretty simple. Plug in the controller you want to remap, select the "Map Controller" option from the system menu, then hold down a button on the controller that needs mapping. In most cases, the Evercade VS will accurately detect what type of controller it is.
From here, the Evercade VS will step you through mapping all the buttons it needs one at a time, including the four directions of the D-pad, the four face buttons, the four shoulder buttons, Start, Select and the menu button. On the off-chance your controller doesn't have enough buttons to map all of these, you can simply hold any button for two seconds to skip the button the system is presently trying to map.
Once you're done, you can check all the mappings appear as expected. As you can see, the Evercade VS has no problem with using analogue triggers as buttons — perfect for Xbox and PlayStation controllers.
The rest of the menu includes legal and support information, including the copyright information for all of the currently available cartridges as well as licenses for the software involved in the creation of the Evercade VS' operating system.
Then there's the credits, which lists everyone who has helped bring this amazing project to life — the second console that Blaze has successfully brought to market amid a global pandemic and worldwide shipping issues. Hats off to every one of them.
And, rather pleasingly, those who purchased a Founders edition and opted in have their names listed in the credits, too. It's humbling to see so many people supporting the Evercade VS project; it's clear that there's a market for this thing, and that people are keen and enthusiastic about supporting officially licensed rereleases of retro games on dedicated hardware.
The final option in the menu allows you to enter secret passwords for various purposes. Blaze has been pretty tight-lipped about what these might be up until now, but we have it on good authority that you might find something interesting if you try typing in what the creator of Kubo 3 on the Indie Heroes cartridge might scribble on a wall if he was a character from The Beano. Oooh, mystery!
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Note that there are also a few secrets to discover according to the combination of cartridges you put in (try inserting two "related" carts at once!), as well as some button combos you can press from the system's main menu. We'll leave those for you to discover, though.
All right, enough farting about in menus, time for some games! Let's kick off with Asteroids for Atari 7800, one of the best versions of the classic Atari blaster.
There it is, ready to go. On its default settings, the Evercade VS will give you the game at its original aspect ratio, with no bezel and no scanlines. If you decide you want to tweak that, you can hit the Menu button on the controller to pop open the in-game menu. This also pauses the game — even the arcade titles that don't have a native pause function.
From the in-game menu you can do a few things, including Quick Save, which immediately saves your game to the first slot on the cartridge. This is great to use if you just want to immediately save where you are (or just save your high score) and come back later — firing the game up from the Evercade VS interface with the "Last Save" options gets you right back to where you were.
You can also review the controls for the game you're playing right now without having to return to the main menu.
You also have access to all the same display settings, including scanlines, bezels and aspect ratio. Change your settings and close the menu and the game's display will immediately update with no restart required.
JPEG compression probably makes this hard to see, but this is Asteroids on the 7800 running at the pixel perfect aspect ratio with strong scanlines and the Wireframe bezel.
And the same settings, but in-game.
Scanlines are a little more noticeable on games with a somewhat "busier" visual style. Here's Alligator Hunt from the Gaelco cart at pixel perfect aspect ratio, with subtle scanlines and the Logo Legends bezel.
Again, JPEG compression makes a bit of a mess of this, but here's almost the same scene with strong scanlines. Note how the image is overall a bit darker thanks to the increased presence of black.
And for comparison's sake, here's the same scene with no scanlines at pixel perfect aspect ratio…
…and at the original aspect ratio, this time with the Box Art bezel.
Your preferred settings carry across from game to game, so switching over to Biomechanical Toy on the Gaelco cart meant that the Box Art bezel, original aspect ratio and lack of scanlines all remain in place.
And there you have it. That's a grand tour of the Evercade VS — although, of course, the fun really starts once you delve into all those games properly. That's a job for another day, though!
More by us: Evercade Renovation collection brings 12 Japanese classics home
In the meantime, if you're yet to order an Evercade VS for yourself, you can nab one via our friends at Funstock, including their exclusive (and spectacular value) Mega Bundle, which comes with four controllers and ten cartridges — 108 games in total! Shipping is currently estimated for December 2021, though note that the ongoing worldwide shipping issues may have an impact on exactly when you receive your unit, particularly if you haven't ordered yet.
As for us, we're off to go have some fun with the mountain of retro games we have before us. And we hope you'll join us soon!
Tags: Blaze console evercade Evercade VS hardware Retro Games retro games consoles


There is kansei Chokai Shrine which we did, and it is got close to the summit of 531m above sea level by another name of "small Chokai" by big game mourning Shinto shrine in Dewa Fuji Mt. Chokai-san of Akita prefectural border. It can overlook vast panoramas such as Asahi Peaks, Zao Peaks from Mt. Gassan from observation deck of the mountaintop and this side.


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When arrested for domestic battery or any other crime of domestic violence, you will have to appear before a judge before you can be released from jail. As a condition of your release, you may not be allowed to return to your residence. A judge will often order no contact with the alleged victim and any children who were present during the incident. If children were present, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) may get involved. You might not be able to see your children until the DCF investigation is concluded.
What do I do If I have been arrested for Domestic Violence?
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So what if it's the same group of guys and gals who happen to produce the best Hong Kong cinema on the planet right now! There are profiles such as Andy Lau that are pushing to nurture new young talent but veteran Johnnie To shows no signs of growing tired of his veteran status or slowing down to let it rest in its development. A seemingly endless well of creative style while carrying concerns for Hong Kong and its neighboring areas, the focus in this what seems (but isn't) like a follow-up of sorts to To's (and Milkyway Image's) defining classic The Mission takes place towards the end of the millennium. In 1998 to be specific, during the time leading up to the Portuguese colony Macau being handed over to Mainland Chinese ruling. Featuring characters being different and acting different compared to Edmond Pang's Isabella that was set at the same time, the Milkyway tradition as initiated by To remains fully on fire via their latest excursion Exiled.
Certainly echoing ideas of loyalty over objectives as seen in The Mission, that of course isn't strictly unique for To's 1999 classic but are characteristics of multiple genres. Male bonding, brotherhood, loyalty...all written in blood is the name of the tune here in combination with Johnnie's rightly touted skill for injecting wild, off-beat touches that logically have no place yet do play into the mentioned themes in a very crucial manner. Hong Kong cinema has not acted logically through the years in this regard but a seasoned pro like To gleefully breaks the rules of cinema for his own enjoyment and for the portrayal of brotherhood. Have we heard this tune way too many times already as Milkyway's 10+ history has performed plentiful of these shenanigans already? Logically the answer would be yes but truthfully, a big balls grabbing no should be heard.
What's admirable about To is that he never ever smoothly invited any viewer into his particular way of working cinema. It was always there to be taken, accepted or despised and Exiled is no different. Moving through its Western genre esthetics, from gunplay and to silliness such as the hitmen furnishing an apartment in order to have a sit down with their designated target Brother Wo, if you are into reality, tear your ticket now. If you're into out of place/thematically sound oddities from a bit of a master of deadpan behaviour, you're in luck and To continues to drive his train this way.
Mixing its moods freely in an absorbing way, the foursome will go on some fairly grand adventures through the Macau setting, a place devoid of most real people (basically one bumbling cop is still left, Hui Siu-Hung's character, but he's just waiting for the handover deadline as it's no use fighting crime anymore), the symbolism connected to the real atmosphere of Macau of its time is partly there for entertainment value and partly speaks of the lawlessness of a place in transition towards an uncertain future (as are our main characters, being EXILED. Get it?). The land is a grab bag but one where tuned character traits within the gangster world still has a place.
While To never makes any notion mentioned truly surprising, the journey taken is thoroughly great because he has the finger on the pulse of style. Choosing to go all out prolonged a la The Mission in his buildups, injecting bonding via coin flips and general abusive, lighthearted male behaviour amongst themselves, when bullets do fly, he has changed his tac since 1999 slightly by being quite extensively acrobatic in the creation of the gunplay. In slow motion, amongst bloodshed and flowing curtains, To goes overhead, messy and cool on us while still never forgetting his goal to break rules and moods whenever he feels like it. A laugh is never far away, emotions consciously never really injected because this isn't meant to be heartfelt cinema. It's male stuff, even though the role of a woman and newly created life marks a twist in the otherwise stoic frame.
Re-uniting the coolest cast on earth, not much is said about the characters of Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet but they are a terrific foursome of destruction and mentioned, clichéd gangster movie traits sprinkled about the place the To-way. To likes his profiles, his actors to appear lit only partially but there's no better way then than to cast distinct ones to get that intention through. Anthony and Francis dominate in similar manner to The Mission, with Wong playing the more divided character of the two. Saying little, building on depth through dead looks, expressions, acts and emotions, his immersing act flanked by Ng's loud-mouthed, 110% loyal blood brother is an outstanding centerpiece to Exiled. With the automatic watchmen in the form of Roy Cheung and Lam Suet's characters, they're perfect actors to be molded by To for whatever excursion, stylistically or thematically, he takes them on. Simon Yam gives us his best flamboyance and over the top big boss behaviour, a performer able to rely on cool presence as well. Josie Ho has a challenge to actually get noticed here but representing a surprise story element, she comes through with an in-tune performance, not being part of the usual atmosphere and To's usual direction. What comes out is a fresh dimension to the cinema of Johnnie To.
Give him a couple of statuettes and Johnnie To won't be either discouraged or encouraged. He's single handedly making way for Hong Kong cinema internationally but via his own ways and rules. His best art has never been about letting everyone accept the wildness of it but enough do in order for him to plow a unique path that always represented a continuation of John Woo's or even Chang Cheh's influence but also something those men never had in mind to bring. Speaking fairly well of political themes, characters but mostly creating Exiled as an excuse to enhance distinctly respectable traits of gangsters in an off-beat fashion, we say we're pleased once more and please come again, Mr. To.
Mega Star presents the film in an aspect ratio of 2.32:1, with anamorphic enhancement. Crystal clear and damage free, there's nothing seemingly visible to complain about here.
Audio options are Cantonese Dolby Surround EX 5.1, Cantonese DTS ES 5.1 and Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 but as I'm not equipped with such a system, my assessment of this disc aspect will be left off this review.
The English subtitles read well and come with no distracting errors. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.
Shame Panorama couldn't be involved in the production of this dvd because back at Media Asia and Mega Star, interest in creating substantial extras with English subtitles rarely rears its head. The weak package offers 2 trailers followed by a a 12 minute, 1 second Making of (that is also available in 7 shorter edits). Standard program but seeing the joyous interaction between the actors, footage of Nick Cheung performing his own fire stunt, rehearsals and shooting of the gunplay action is amusing enough to warrant one viewing.
Behind The Scene (6 minutes, 21 seconds) is more clearly viewable behind the scenes footage in comparison to the glimpses the Making of offers up but it's still as tightly edited as in the mentioned program. Basically the same highlights also.


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The Nappy Collective is a brilliant initiative that sees leftover disposable nappies being collected and redistributed to organisations that support families in need. Rather than ending up in landfill, thousands of nappies make their way to the women and children who need them most.
Twice every year, for two weeks, collections run in major cities across Australia. During the May collection the Nappy Collective counted their 1,000,000th nappy.
All nappies collected in Western Australia will stay in Western Australia, with ten charitable organisations receiving local donations including Horizon House, the Aboriginal Alcohol and Drug Service, Patricia Giles Centre, Pregnancy Assistance and Unitingcare West.
The next collection will run in October 2016 with more than 30 drop-off points across Perth. Details about drop-off locations will be announced in September. It is easy to make sure that your unused nappies help make a difference.
The Collective is entirely run by volunteers, including the boarders at Penhros College who donate their time to help sort the thousands of nappies collected each year.
Donate nappies Look in your cupboards and drawers and pull out the unused nappies your child has grown out of. Deliver them to one of the 30 drop-off points across the city.
Be a local drop-off point Put the call out to your playgroup, mothers group, neighbours or school and ask friends to drop their unwanted nappies at your place.
Volunteer your time Help is always needed with sorting and packing.
Register your business to be a public drop off point You will need to provide collection and storage space during the collection and then deliver the nappies to the sorting centre. Register your business for an upcoming nappy drive here..
For more information about this fantastic program visit the Nappy Collective website.
These were the Perth drop-off points for the May 2016 collection. Confirmation of October locations will be provided in September.
Click here for details about opening times and address.


Thank you very much for the parcels you sent to Tim and Jame at Mabala, Middelburg. They are delighted with the hamper.
Also, thank you very much for the helpful way in which you dealt with the ordering process by telephone. It is very much appreciated.


text:
Q: Remove one of activitys icon from launcher I write a test app with several icon in launcher,such as icon A,icon B and icon C.
What I do like follow:
PackageManager p = getPackageManager();
ComponentName mComponentName = new ComponentName("com.i.test","com.i.test.Aofactivitys");
p.setComponentEnabledSetting(mComponentName,
            PackageManager.COMPONENT_ENABLED_STATE_DISABLED,
            PackageManager.DONT_KILL_APP);

But it will remove all my app icons from launcher.
What should I do can remove only one icon from launcher? At the same time,the icon b & icon c still display in launcher.


text:
SmokeLong Quarterly
Quarterly Issues
Weekly Stories
Flash Fellowship
Global Flash Series
Flash Fiction Award Opens February 10!
An online literary magazine dedicated to flash fiction.
Interested in subscribing to SmokeLong's weekly newsletter? Submit your email below, and you'll receive updates detailing the release of new issues, new reading periods, contests, etc. We do not make our mail list available to anyone else.
Smoking With James Robison
by Lauren Becker	Read the Story September 29, 2010
Smoke Me! by Paula Iannuzzi via Creative Commons license
I read "Guard" as distinctly allegorical. The guard declares, "I am what she can only strive to be. I am what is not. I am dark matter. Security." He seems to represent a judgment that the palpable absence of—definition? manipulation?—makes art, art. Would you talk a little about whether this was your intent and whether there was a particular motivation for the story?
I saw a Novai>-like show about dark matter, how scientists know that it exists because some light waves firing to earth bend and curve all around a precisely shaped nothingness. I thought, boy howdy, this is how so much art, plastic or literary, from the 20th and 21st Century behaves: Its true content is what it refuses to describe explicitly, but the shape of its meaning may be precisely limned by implication. So we know we are in an art gallery and not a button factory because there is a figure present who is reliably not art. The guard is not, therefore the installation is. But my guard is ornery and, you're absolutely right, Lauren, he won't be defined or manipulated. He ingests art as commodity, literally, as his lunch. He out-maneuvers his artist.
You share a name with a popular televangelist, whose high visibility keeps you much lower in Google search results than one would expect. What do you think of this? What is your own definition of faith? What would you do if you were mistaken for him?
His biography is Dickensian and way better than mine (he was born in a charity ward, the product of rape, with an alcoholic father or some such) so when I'm mistaken for him, I just go with it. "Sure, I wrote The Way to Know Thy Saviouri>, and let me tell you, it was a bitch. Now go swim laps and rent some Panda DVDs."
As for my definition of faith or my beliefs, I'm in agreement with Wallace Stevens who said that one's faith, like one's patriotism, one keeps to oneself as a kind of savor, not as public utterance/announcement. I avoid the bumper sticker thing.
You emerged as a powerful presence on Fictionaut, where your story, "Mars," is one of the top recommended and "favored" stories by other writers on the invitation-only site. You are a also a frequent commenter. Why does this site appeal to you? Is this a useful writers' community for you?
Thank you. I was asked to comment on the site by the founders, so I'll paraphrase myself. Fictionaut is a test track and display room for works in process and as a writer, your readers there make up a community of trusted and truthful equals, eerily reliable so far. Writing into a void is miserable, like telling jokes to a wall. Fictionaut provides a round-the-clock, faithfully attentive audience. It's a post post graduate-level workshop.
Your career has involved successes as a novelist and screenplay writer, as well as a master of the short story. Your work has appeared in The New Yorker and other very impressive venues. Lately, as with "Guard," you have displayed remarkable skill at writing flash/very short fiction. Why does this form appeal to you?
Thank you again. In 1978-ish, R.V. Cassill, my writing professor-person in grad school, said my work was like previews or trailers, rather than feature films. I was complimented. I was having an e-mail chat with Gary Percesepe, (novelist, poet, Fictionaut founder, editor, friend of Derrida), and he extracted something I said to him for a piece he posted in BLIP (formerly Rick, formerly The Mississippi Review on-line). Sloppy, but it sums up my attitude. "For years, decades, I tried to teach the students to do lightning strike stuff. Bang. Blinding light. Whiff of burnt earth. Then go away and do not worry about anything because you have not done the great damage of boring anybody. It was years of this. NOW many are doing it and NOW, 25, 30 years later, it's good that they are and I am happy to see such stuff and even that its name is FLASH fiction."
On a related note, the debate about print versus web publishing shows no signs of waning. Despite your successes in print, your work has appeared recently in web publications, including Smokelong and Corium. I won't ask you why print or on-line is better than the other. Rather, I'm interested in hearing how your own experience has informed your participation in publishing on the internet, and/or the reverse.
I will now be extra pompous. One should write because one has made a discovery of content and has learned a form to best convey that discovery. Nothing else matters. Okay. The end. But. When one is happy with a product, proud of it, there is a joy in sharing. That joy is exactly the same, according to me, whether the work is online or in print.
James Robison has had many stories in The New Yorker, has won a Whiting Grant, a Rosenthal from the American Academy, published two books and has had an issue of the Mississippi Review dedicated entirely to his short fictions. He has been in Best American and The Pushcart, co-wrote a feature film that is just out, and is good company on long car trips.
Like what you read in SmokeLong? Consider donating to us. $3 helps a writer get paid.
This appeared in Issue Twenty-Nine of SmokeLong Quarterly.
Our Littlest Brother
Bathroom Jesus
Boy with Cherries (Plate 9—1858)
Model #3
Working Halloween for Christmas Money
These Three Things That Noah Doesn't
Snake Walk
Bedtime in Thorpe Village, Leicestershire, England
Thank You, I'm Sorry
All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003–2020 by its authors.


For February, Cheryl of Texas Quilting Gal, Hive 12 of Stash Bee asked for the Dutch Rose block. This block is also currently well known as the Swoon Block from Camille's fame. She had us use this tutorial from The Double Nickel Quilt Challenge blog.
Also, I know this is not the 100% original layout of the Swoon/Dutch Rose. I did it on accident at first, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. I think maybe even more so than the traditional version of this block. I really want to try one that doesn't have the white part in the gray and purple lattice square corner. I think that could look really cool.
Cheryl asked for a radiant orchid inspired, purple and gray block. I realized that despite liking purple, I only have about 8 purple fabrics and half of those have some other color mixed in. Hopefully with Radiant Orchid as the Pantone Color of the Year, the quilting fabric companies will make some good purple fabric this year.
Anyway, on to talk about the block. The tutorial was designed to use charm squares, but if you are cutting yardage leads to quite a bit of waste. Or as the write refers to it, "bonus blocks." I don't personally like as many "bonus blocks" as this leads to, so I re-did the math on some portions and maybe I can save someone else some fabric.
The first change I made was to use the no-waste method of making the flying geese units. This method makes 4 units, and this block requires 4 units. Perfect, right? To do this method, I used this tutorial, or you can just google "no waste flying geese" and find others.
To make a flying geese unit that is 2.5″ x 4.5″ (as required by the tutorial), you need 1 square of background fabric that is 5.75″ square and 4 squares of the star fabric that are 3 3/8″ square. This creates 4 units that need to be trimmed down to 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches. As you trim them, you can make them more perfectly shaped so that the block goes together better.
No waste half square triangle units….
The second change was to the HST blocks. In this method, you end up with 8 "bonus blocks". Or, you can use a no-waste method. I used the 2-at-a-time method from this tutorial. I don't know why I did that, I should have done the 4-at-a-time method. Both ways are demonstrated at that link. To do the 2-at-a-time method, you need 4 squares that are 3 3/8 inches of each color. Follow the tutorial, and you will make 8 HSTs without any wasted fabric. Once again, these need to be trimmed down.
Using this method, the only waste is below, and it is unavoidable due to how the pentagon shaped sections are formed. The truly no waste method would be to construct those sections using HSTs, but then the pattern gets broken up, so I consider this a small price to pay for the neater appearance of the final block.
I'm a little late making the block this month, but I hope this isn't too late to help someone else out. I hope you like your block Cheryl!
Linking up to: Anything Goes Monday, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, and Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Ft. Worth Fabric.
Guest Post at The Business of Machine Quilting!
In addition to my personal quilts and baby clothes making endeavors, I am also a professional long arm quilter. I keep my business website at Quilts Actually, and that is where I show off my competed quilting, but this news was too exciting to limit to just that website.
If you love quilting, I'm sure you have heard of Angela Walters. She has a relatively new blog about "The Business of Machine Quilting" to help other machine quilters. It is a great resource, and I am honored and excited to have a guest post there today on finding inspiration as a quilter. Clicking on the button will take you to the post!
January flew by! I can't believe it's already time to do a summary for Fresh Sewing Day and the Small Blog Meet. For those coming from the Small Blog Meet, I am a quilter that loves to piece and quilt, and sew clothes for my 1 year old daughter. Welcome, and please check out the other projects on my blog.
I joined two bees so far this year. I'm really enjoying it so far. It's a lot of fun to do colors and blocks that I wouldn't have thought of myself.
For the Stash Bee, I made this red and yellow block for Heather from Quilts in the Queue.
I made my test block for the 4×5 Modern Bee.
I also participated in Kids Clothes Week. Part 1 of my week can be found here. The pants were really the highlight of the week. I finished up the week by turning the Oliver and S Hopscotch Knit top into a onesie. The completed outfit is shown below.
She kept pulling on the neck, I think because it is much stretchier than the onesies she normally wears.
It's such a soft knit, I kind of wish it was for me. However, I only had 1/2 a yard, so I managed to get a 12-18 month onesie and thought I was doing good.
The linen pants are a little big despite being 12-18 months, but I'm ok with that because I love them and hopefully they will still fit this fall.
Thanks for checking out my blog, and I hope you stick around and see what else I have here!
Linking to Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet, Anything Goes Monday, and Feather's Flights.


text:
Single parents press minister over level of state support
By Evie Andreou December 14, 2020 0615
A single-parents' support group on Monday invited Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou to a public debate questioning her and other officials' statements on the actual state support single parent families get.
The association of single parent families and friends, in a written statement, called on Emilianidou to participate in an open debate with them "on the real situation of single-parent families and insufficient state support".
The invitation follows statements by the minister and other officials following the arrest of a single mother earlier this month in Limassol after it emerged she had left her three children home alone to go to work.
The group posed a series of questions to the minister and other officials on state allowances "and the so-called support of one parent families by the state".
Among those questions was whether it was true that only one third of one parent families were receiving the allowance, and how many have seen this money discontinued without justification.
The group also called on the minister to "tell the truth" on what support measures were taken for the woman who was arrested on December 6.
"Is it true that the single mother of three minor children, who was taken to court, has been rejected for GMI for the last three years, because her children did not have a permanent residence permit even though they were and still are attending schools in the Republic of Cyprus?" they asked. "Is it true that the GMI left the mother […] uncovered, with absolutely no income and no food for her children?"
The group also asked if there were any day care centres where single parents who work in retail can take their children between 6pm and 9pm and during weekends.
"How many single parents, beneficiaries of the guaranteed minimum income (GMI), also receive a kindergarten allowance?" the group asked.
guaranteed minimum incomesingle parentsState support
Coronavirus: Tighter restrictions imposed in London as infections surge
House president wants to release PEPs list but fears legal action
Evie Andreou


While many of the spas in Longwood might be suitable for relaxation and gentle pampering, there are few that offer non-surgical medical aesthetic treatments. That's where Healing Touch 4 Therapeutic Colon Cleansing comes in. Why not focus on yourself for a change? Call us today.
According to the American Society for Dermatology Surgery (ASDS), a staggering 70% of dermatology patients are considering non-surgical aesthetic treatments. When you consider how many people visit their dermatologist on a regular basis with everyday concerns, that's a lot of people.
The ever-growing demand for treatments like body contouring and wrinkle reduction has resulted in many spas offering a variety of in-demand treatments. While some of these med spas might have experience rejuvenating skin with IPL (intense pulsed light) or dermal fillers, some establishments are less than credible.
When you walk through our doors, you don't need to feel concerned. With years of experience under our belt, we've mastered a variety of skincare and beauty treatments, and always know which one is right for each client. Call us today.
What Treatments Does a Med Spa offer?
When you walk through our doors, you'll discover that smooth and glowing skin is not a luxury but an easily-attainable reality. Specializing in non-invasive and non-surgical skin care treatments, we help clients bring out the person hiding behind unwanted scars and blemishes.
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We aren't just a beauty spa. We're not just here to transform you or give you a Hollywood makeover. Our goal is to reveal your true self. Early signs of aging, bodily trauma or childbirth can have many effects on a person's body. Despite having a healthy lifestyle and a healthy outlook, your body's appearance may not show off your youthful glow. We make sure it does.
If you're a newcomer to our medical aesthetics spa, the first thing we'll offer you is a thorough consultation. Our compassionate and attentive staff will listen to your dermatological hopes. Once we've learned what you want, we'll provide you with a list of the treatments best suited for you.
Would you like to learn more about our invigorating treatments? Contact us today at (407) 443-0510.


text:
Live streaming platform unveiled for global fans
Innovative new service will enable overseas EFL fans to follow their team's entire 2017/18 season...
The EFL has today unveiled iFollow, an innovative digital live streaming and content platform that will revolutionise the way football fans overseas can follow their EFL teams.
iFollow will, for the first time in English football, enable EFL fans based outside the UK and Ireland to watch their team during the regular EFL season. With an estimated 270,000 EFL fans based outside the UK, iFollow will allow clubs to enable their supporters to follow the action wherever they are in the world.
Kicking off at the start of the 2017/18 EFL season, overseas subscribers will pay the equivalent of £110 per season for the service which will provide coverage of up to 46 live games per club. More than 1,500 matches will be available in HD quality, with iFollow showing every EFL league match live unless that match has been selected by the EFL's overseas broadcast partners.
Fans based in the UK and Ireland will still also have access to live audio commentary, highlights packages and exclusive content as part of the new offering, rebranded to replace the EFL's existing PlayerHD platform.
At launch, the vast majority of EFL clubs have opted in to utilise the iFollow platform and those who have not will have access to the same live streaming opportunity and will provide their fans with access through their own club digital services.
Research commissioned by the EFL suggests that there is significant demand for a service like iFollow amongst fans based overseas. A survey of over 1,600 such fans showed that 73% would be very likely or quite likely to subscribe to a live match streaming service and almost half would be happy to pay an annual subscription fee to do so. The findings suggest over 55% of the EFL's fans are located in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where the potential audience for the iFollow platform could reach into the hundreds of thousands.
EFL Chief Executive Shaun Harvey commented: "The launch of iFollow is a notable development and will revolutionise the access thousands of overseas fans enjoy when following their EFL team.
"The new iFollow platform represents a potentially significant new revenue stream for Clubs, while enabling enhanced engagement with existing fans now living abroad.
"iFollow will also present the EFL with an important opportunity to stimulate the interest of new groups of supporters who follow our clubs overseas, which in turn will help support the growth of our competitions on the international stage."
The live streaming of matches will be available from the start of the 2017/18 season in conjunction with a brand new digital presence for clubs via official websites and apps, together creating the largest sporting digital network in the world. US-based company NeuLion, a market leader in online video delivery, whose clients include the NFL, NBA and the Premier League, have developed the integrated streaming service alongside UK company Realise who have built the club websites. The two suppliers were appointed by the EFL in July 2016 following a competitive procurement process.
iFollow MK Dons
iFollow MK Dons – the perfect Christmas gift for an MK Dons fan!
Looking for a gift for your MK Dons-supporting loved one? An iFollow MK Dons subscription could be just the trick!
Follow MK Dons with iFollow MK Dons!
Keep up-to-date with MK Dons every step of the way during the 2019/20 season with iFollow MK Dons.
Stay in touch with iFollow MK Dons!
Stay in touch with MK Dons throughout the 2019/20 season courtesy of iFollow MK Dons - the Club's main official video service.
Stay in touch this pre-season with iFollow MK Dons!
With Paul Tisdale's back to work at Stadium MK, iFollow MK Dons will be ramping up its video content as head towards the start of the 2019/20 season.
Dickenson departs for Exeter
Brennan Dickenson has joined Sky Bet League Two side Exeter City following the cancellation of his contract with MK Dons.
Thompson becomes signing number three
MK Dons have signed midfielder Louis Thompson on loan from Premier League side Norwich City.
iFollow Insider: Louis Thompson excited to make MK Dons move
Scouting report: Louis Thompson


Brewer of craft beer. The company operates a 84,000-square-foot brewery and 100-barrel brew house producing 27 different styles of craft beers including Hopsecutioner, HI-5, RecreationAle and Rye Pale Ale.
This information is reserved for PitchBook Platform users. To explore Terrapin Beer's full profile, request access.


Firm Overview | McHugh & Imbornone, P.A.
Finding the right accident law firm in NJ can seem like a daunting task for even the most savvy shopper. With a constant bombardment of online legal advertisements and televised commercials, most people have a difficult time comparing New Jersey personal injury law firms.
A strong background in personal injury litigation and knowledge of local accident laws in New Jersey.
A record of success handling many cases similar to yours.
A level of compatibility, accessibility, and trustworthiness that will facilitate a productive working relationship.
McHugh & Imbornone, P.A. can also help you resolve workers' compensation issues and municipal court matters including DUI/DWI, traffic violations, disorderly conduct, and drug possession.
Whether we are standing up for your right to pursue damages after an accident or defending clients charged with misdemeanors in local courts, our NJ injury law firm offers aggressive representation at the negotiating table and in the courtroom.
Our accident attorneys from McHugh & Imbornone believe that every person has the right to quality legal counsel. If you have been the victim of an injury, our accident law firm in NJ will strive to achieve the best possible outcome while minimizing hassle and expense.
Salvatore Imbornone, Jr. has been awarded the title of Super Lawyer in the category of Personal Injury in New Jersey. As an active member of the personal injury bar, Mr. Imbornone is well-respected by his peers in Morris County, Essex County, and Union County and highly regarded by other personal injury law firms in NJ.


In my spare time I enjoy writing, art, dance, and anything else that involves fun. I like trying new things and keeping an open mind (even though it doesn't always work).. and if you ever need anything, feel free to ask me. I'll be glad to help no matter who you are, because I won't judge you.
hey, great blog you got here, happy holidays!


Philipp Ständer is a research fellow at the Jacques Delors Institute – Berlin. He specializes on financial services and monetary policy. His work focuses on Banking Union, Capital Markets Union and the European Central Bank. Prior to his current position, Philipp worked on the project "Wealth in Germany" by the Hans Böckler Foundation, at the Institute for Social Research (ISG) in Berlin and at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. He holds a Master of Public Policy from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and an BA degree in European Studies from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.


text:
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information
Federal Highway Administration >
Research Publications >
Publication Number: FHWA-HIF-20-004 Date: December 2019
Publication Number: FHWA-HIF-20-004
Post-Hazard Engineering Assessment of Highway Structures using Remote Sensing Technologies
PDF Version (8 MB)
PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®
This report describes applications of remote sensing technologies for post-hazard damage inspection of highway structures. A literature review is presented of various remote sensing platforms used in post-hazard bridge applications including space-borne, airborne, ground-based and water-based systems. On real world applications, the report presents demonstration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and unmanned water systems (UWS) at two bridge sites in Maryland and a mock-up laboratory study of bridge movement using photogrammetry technique.
This report will benefit those interested in the design, fabrication, and construction of steel bridges and PC concrete decks, including State transportation departments, bridge design consultants, and PC concrete facilities.
Cheryl Allen Richter, P.E., Ph.D.
Director, Office of Infrastructure
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.
The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
Quality Assurance Statement
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.
Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No.
FHWA-HIF-20-004
2. Government Accession No. 3 Recipient's Catalog No.
4. Title and Subtitle
5. Report Date
6. Performing Organization Code
7. Author(s)
Jalinoos, F., Agrawal, A.K., Brooks C., Amjadian, M., Banach, D., Boren, E.J., Dobson, R., and Ahlborn, T.
8. Performing Organization Report No.
9. Performing Organization Name and Address
The City College of New York
160 Convent Ave, New York, NY 10031
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-14-D-00010 0209
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Office of Infrastructure Research and Development
McLean, VA 22101-2296
13. Type of Report and Period Covered:
14. Sponsoring Agency Code
15. Supplementary Notes
Frank Jalinoos was the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR).
16. Abstract
There are approximately 615,000 bridges in the United States. Many of these bridges serve as critical parts of the transportation network locally, regionally and nationwide, and are essential for transportation of goods and people before, during and after extreme natural hazards. This report presents a detailed study on engineering post-hazard assessment of bridges with focus on geo- and hydraulic hazards. The objective of post-hazard assessment is to collect engineering data related to the behavior and damage to bridges. The report presents a detailed investigation on post-hazard engineering assessment through: (i) literature review of the current state of the art on post-hazard assessment for geo- and hydraulic hazards including data needs and gaps; (ii) field evaluation using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for 3D photogrammetry of two bridge structures in Maryland as well as field evaluation using unmanned water systems (UWS) for developing bathymetric profiles; and, (iii) investigation on resolution of bridge movement detection using UAS through testing of a scaled bridge model. It has been demonstrated that UAS and UWS are invaluable and powerful technology for collecting engineering data after an extreme natural hazard event. However, numerous knowledge gaps exist in full implementation of an engineering data collection program.
17. Key Words
Bridge damage assessment, geo- and hydraulic hazard, remote sensing technology, unmanned aerial system (UAS), unmanned water system (UWS).
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available to the public.
19. Security Classification
(of this report)
(of this page)
21. No. of Pages
22. Price
Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72)
Reproduction of completed page authorized
Page Owner: Office of Research, Development, and Technology, Office of Infrastructure, RDT
Topics: research, infrastructure, pavements and materials
Keywords: research, infrastructure, pavements and materials, Shear studs, fatigue testing, static testing, steel bridges, accelerated bridge construction, ABC
TRT Terms: research, facilities, transportation, highway facilities, roads, parts of roads, pavements
Scheduled Update: Archive - No Update needed
This page last modified on 12/19/2019
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Orchards are a characteristic and well loved feature of Worcestershire's landscape. Our county became the heart of England's apple, pear, plum and cherry growing and cider and perry production during the latter part of the 19th century, along with our neighbours Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.
Orchards are special. They can be rich in wildlife, have bountiful stories to tell about their creation and management and are frequently an inspiration for community events and projects.
Orchards should also be celebrated for their genetic diversity. There are hundreds of varieties of each type of fruit, many carefully selected and bred over decades by dedicated nurserymen and others the results of interested amateurs experimenting in their own gardens.
This website is the beginning of an attempt to document those fruit varieties which originated in or were first produced and marketed in Worcestershire. This is an ongoing project and the website will be updated as regularly as possible with new information. Please enjoy and promote the propagation, grafting and planting of the Worcestershire varieties documented so far.
This obscure and now rare cooking apple is believed to have been introduced in 1854 by a Mr Davies of Pershore.
There are many local groups of people, mainly volunteers, who work to conserve traditional orchards, are planting new orchards or give support to those doing so. Donations of funding or offers of time will be welcomed by most.
Natural England have published a series of guidance notes on the practicalities of establishing and managing an orchard as well as conserving wildlife.
Do you have any photos you would like to add?


It's called For Honor, not For Falling Off Stuff To Your Death A Lot.
With the launch of For Honor, hundreds of glory-hungry alpha and beta players are gleefully awaiting fresh meat to kick off the nearest cliff-face. If you're looking to get into the game's complex and rewarding combat system, we've gathered some key tips to help you avoid embarrassment during your early hours.
When you first start For Honor, you'll be thrust into the game's basic tutorial. While this does a fair job of introducing you to the core combat mechanics, it skimps on some crucial aspects you'll want to know. Hop back to the How to Play menu and you'll find an Advanced Tutorial that's well worth your time. Covering guard-break cancels, feints and parrying, this tutorial details some of the most valuable tools in your arsenal, so watch it.
Each character has a unique moveset, and while the game offers individual videos for each class, the best way to practice is by duelling bots. You'll still gain XP for matches, so work on your combos before heading online. Some characters, like Orochi and Valkyrie, have unique blocks and counters you'll need to learn the timing for.
At its heart For Honor is a fighting game, and just like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, mashing the attack buttons will only get you so far. Every move has an energy cost, displayed via a stamina meter below your health bar. Throw out too many attacks and your character will become exhausted and sluggish. Maintaining a balance between attacking a recouping stamina is vital to survive in extended duels.
From cliffs to rivers of lava and spiked walls, the maps are littered with danger zones. Environmental kills are quick and dirty, but a great way to turn around a losing battle, so keep an eye on your surroundings and lure enemies to an edge if needed. Be warned though, you'll need to make sure you've mastered guard-break counters or you'll find that it's you tumbling to an early grave more often than not.
Useful surroundings aren't limited to cliffs, however: throw an enemy into a wall and you'll stagger them. Some characters like the Raider benefit from this more than others, delivering a stunning knee to the head afterwards.
Despite being the poster child during the game's promotion, Dominion's 4v4 battles are awful for learning how to fight. Control points, feats and power ups all provide distractions, making straight duels a rare occurrence. The mode is also prone to grouping, with three or four enemies ganging together on an individual defender. 1v1 and 2v2 Duels offer the best opportunity to hone your talent, but expect to face stiffer competition there than in other modes.
Land a killing blow with a heavy attack, and you'll be granted the opportunity for an execution. Beyond providing a flashy way to finish your opponent, these confer some valuable advantages. Kills via execution cause a longer respawn timer and heal you. The longer the execution, the more health you recover. Even more crucially, players who've been executed cannot be revived (usually due to the loss of a head). In modes without respawns this can prove a decisive factor.
A surprisingly unknown fact in Dominion is that control points (excluding the minion wave point) earn double score with a player on them, so it's worth leaving someone to guard each. This can be an effective way to counter large groups of players roaming the map for kills. Running away while your team holds the other two points can comfortably secure the lead. Group up once the enemy is breaking to eliminate them for good.
Shugoki is an enormous mountain of a man, clad in a fearsome Oni mask and wielding a spiked club. He's as heavy as heavyweights come and is built to catch new players out. By default, Shugoki can take a single blow without flinching, letting him tank a hit to land a heavier one in return. A quick jab or guard-break will drop his armour, allowing you to deal extra damage. Watch for a shimmer of light to signify when his defence is back up. Additionally, Shugoki has a slow but devastating life-steal grab. If he's low on health, this is a match-finishing one-shot-kill. Look for the tell-tale squat and be ready to dodge sideways. If he misses, he'll sacrifice a large chunk of his own health.
Conqueror, Warlord and—to a lesser degree—Valkyrie all posses shields with superior blocking abilities. The former two are both capable of blocking attacks in all directions at once by draining their own stamina. Fighting against a skilled player can seem an exercise in frustration, but they can be dealt with through patience and trickery. Try cancelling a feint into a guard-break, or change to strike in another direction. Mobile characters like Orochi fare well here.
Valkyrie and Nobushi are spear-wielders whose job is to keep you outside of usual combat range and inflict death via poking. By far the more aggressive of the two, Valkyrie can culminate a number of options with a shield bash or leg sweep. Nobushi plays a more patient game, inflicting bleed damage with swift jabs to wear opponents down. Her "hidden stance" allows her a brief moment of invincibility, dodging all attacks at the cost of a decent chunk of stamina. Block and parries will help move you closer and allow you to put them on the back foot.


You'll find that Starcede is different from other flash shooters because it features beautiful graphics, a Star Map with non-linear level progression, secret levels, online high scores, a dynamic tech tree with resettable upgrades, and unique gameplay mechanics that offer a wide variety of gameplay styles. The game combines a great multiplier mechanic that rewards skill with using the points awarded to upgrade your ship, and rewards players for achieving high scores by unlocking additional levels. You'll also see weapon types unseen before like chain lightning (in a shooter!) and more complex game mechanics that skilled players can use but causal players can neglect without punishment.


text:
Changes in carbon flux and spectral reflectance of Sphagnum mosses as a result of simulated drought
Lees, K. J., Clark, J. M., Quaife, T., Khomik, M. and Artz, R. R. E. (2019) Changes in carbon flux and spectral reflectance of Sphagnum mosses as a result of simulated drought. Ecohydrology. ISSN 1936-0592 (In Press)
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To link to this item DOI: 10.1002/eco.2123
Sphagnum is an important peat-forming genus which aids the carbon sequestration of peatlands. Sphagnum is sensitive to drought, however, and it is uncertain how well it can recover from long periods without rainfall. Spectral reflectance can be used to assess Sphagnum desiccation damage, and we also tested whether it can be used to detect recovery.Different rainfall simulations were applied to two species of Sphagnum to assess the impact of drought on carbon function. After eighty days all samples were rewetted to assess recovery.The rainfall simulations included inputs analogous to actual precipitation at the field site(Forsinard Flows reserve, Northern Scotland), potential future changes in rainfall, and extended total drought.During the experiment Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and respiration were measured. Photosynthesis decreased after approximately 30days of continuous drought(ie. days without rain. Spectral reflectance was measured to assess Sphagnum bleaching. The spectral absorption feature of Sphagnum associated with red light (around 650nm) was affected by drought, and did not recover after rewetting during the experimental period. No significant difference was found between the two Sphagnum species studied with respect to their photosynthesis or respiration, but there was a significant difference in optimum water content and spectral reflectance between the two. The results from this study suggest that Sphagnum carbon function is resilient to quite long drought periods, but once damage has occurred recovery is likely to be difficult. The spectral reflectance of Sphagnum can give useful information in assessing whether significant desiccation damage has occurred.
Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Ecosystems Science
Faculty of Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Earth Systems Science
Faculty of Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Geography and Environmental Science
Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Soil Research Centre