text:
Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World

On this magic night,
A million stars will play beside us,
A special spell of light,
Glimmering, shimmering, carousel-ling
'Round the world tonight,
A symphony in SpectroMagic.
Pure enchantment lights our way!

The most spectacular cavalcade of light and magic continues to glow along the streets of the Magic Kingdom. Telling the stories of all you favourite Disney Characters in a million points of musical light and sound, from heroes, villains, princesses and of course Mickey and all his friends, the SpectroMagic Nighttime Parade is a classic not to be missed.

About SpectroMagic

This parade ended in 2010. SpectroMagic could be seen up to twice a night depending on the season.

It replaced the Main Street Electrical Parade (which then later re-replaced Spectro!) and had seen several minor revisions over the years:

  • Genie replaced Roger Rabbit in the music unit
  • The Spectro Men originally had masks; however, then later became face characters
  • The Spectro Men and Mickey received slightly new costumes and many of the "ground" characters were moved around
Notice: Currently flickr continues to experience issues and therefore some pages may be missing pictures. If you see an error or no pictures appear under 'Popular Photos' for a page please refresh the page in a few moments. Flickr is aware of the issues and is working to resolve them. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Pictures of SpectroMagic


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days left until the Charles Party!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Good luck, Malyka! We'll miss your daily presence, but I am sure you will still find a way to express your opinions remotely. :) And come visit--you know we will.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Congratulations to all the Armada Cup and PBC winners!

Bonus scenery shot--a hawk flies off the Old Cambridge Baptist Church at sunset.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Aleks! And holy crap, who is that in three seat???

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Sometimes it feels like it was yesterday. And sometimes like it was in another lifetime. In reality, it was two years ago that I lost you, Margs. I will always love you, and I will always miss you, and I will forever be grateful for all the time we spent together. Thanks for teaching me about life, chocolate, Wallace and Gromit, bikes and love. You made me better, you made me faster, and you will always inspire me to push my limits. Thank you for everything.

(Picture taken at Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. Someday I will be back to pound the Queen K highway and experience the wonder of Ali'i drive. For both of us.)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

That is really just too adorable for words.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

Probably the most impressive Sunday performance for RBC was the champ women's four getting into a collision and STILL getting 3rd. Nice job Mary Pat, Caitlin, Dominique, Paige and Danielle (I think that their coxswain).

Ok, Mike's performance on the party trolley was also pretty outstanding.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Congratulations to RBC members and HOCR Champions:

Jim McGaffigan

Tina Vandersteel

Sarah Schwegman

And Collen, Steph, Andi, Leigh, Alex, Rachel, Kit, Severine and Libby! (I know all of your last names, I just don't have time spell them properly. :))

Friday, October 22, 2010

Blue, but very blustery skies over the course. Hi, John!!!

Wonder why the executive director of HOCR looks so ... Schoched...

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The calm before the storm... Tomorrow, the boat density will be a little more like the picture below. I just hope no one is dumb enough to go out in a pair for the next four days.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Hillary decided to do some quality control on the big red buoys last night.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Some of those Huskies look familiar..

Monday, October 18, 2010

By Thursday night, it will be a zoo. But tonight, it was just us chickens.

Bon Voyage, Mr. Dorian. We'll miss your limey presence! :)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Start of HOK3. Just a little thing we do at my rowing club, NBD.

Carolyn, don't worry, Tina's happily married. And the look on Sean's face was PRICELESS.

Sean is still at a loss for words. Congratulations to our HOK winners. And as the bonus, the head of THE Kevin is in the background.

Friday, October 15, 2010

I got a little lost in the basin yesterday...

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Those aren't tracer bullets, they are boat lights.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Just another moonlit evening on the Charles.

Monday, October 11, 2010

I bet that of all the things that happened on this trip, this will be one of the more memorable moments for Haidar. "Oh, that's just me, rowing with Jamie Koven, 1997 World Champion in the single, no big deal".

Sunday, October 10, 2010

I just love hanging out under bridges with a few of my closest friends. Thanks to Chris for capturing this magic moment. Race photos are up here

Saturday, October 09, 2010

I don't know Sean, they don't look THAT fat. :)

Friday, October 08, 2010

Mr. Booth, the comment field is yours(you might be able to get it). Everyone else, submit entries via email/google chat. Winner may be featured on the blog in the near future.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

M2+ at trials. Yeah, it was that close.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Rowing about 1/4 slide, but still back in the boat, Dr. Kate!

Monday, October 04, 2010

Claire--"Am I going fast enough? Why, yes, I believe I am!" Official time 3:35:43.. Qualifying for Boston with over five minutes to spare.

And a glorious sunset from a few weeks ago, to cheer us all up.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Claire "I qualified for the Boston Maraton" Wallace, and friends at the finish line of the Maine Marathon! Woot! So proud of you!

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Despite trials not quite turning out the wanted we wanted, it was still great to see Greg racing in the finals.

Friday, October 01, 2010

Pete, Pete, Pete, Pete, Pete, Pete!!!!

And Muff!

Also congratulations to Natalie, Esther, Meghan, Anthony, Will and Skip. And thank you for representing RBC to Andrew, Greg, Hillary, Ilse, Dave and Marika. And good racing, Mr. Ruckman. It was great to see you. Oh yeah, and not to forget the little people--Steve Young, nice driving. :) Rant over. Go on with your lives.

Oh yeah, and the eagle flew over right after Pete's race.

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text:
Fluorescence enhancement of a ligand-activated fluorescent protein induced by collective noncovalent interactions

Extra Form
author Sang-Hee Shim and Minhaeng Cho
journal Chemical Science (DOI: 10.1039/c8sc03558j)
Homepage https://cmsd.ibs.re.kr/html/cmsd_en/

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Euihyun Lee(이의현, 박사과정, 제1저자)

Fluorescent proteins contain an internal chromophore constituted of amino acids or an external chromophore covalently bonded to the protein. To increase their fluorescence intensities, many research groups have attempted to mutate amino acids within or near the chromophore. Recently, a new type of fluorescent protein, called UnaG, in which the ligand binds to the protein through many noncovalent interactions was discovered. Later, a series of mutants of the UnaG protein were introduced, which include eUnaG with valine 2 mutated to leucine emitting significantly stronger fluorescence than the wild type and V2T mutant, in which valine 2 is mutated to threonine, emitting weaker fluorescence than the wild type. Interestingly, the single mutation sites of both eUnaG and V2T mutants are distant from the fluorophore, bilirubin, which renders the mechanism of such fluorescence enhancement or reduction unclear. To elucidate the origin of fluorescence intensity changes induced by the single mutations, we carried out extensive analyses on MD simulations for the original UnaG, eUnaG and V2T, and found that the bilirubin ligand bound to eUnaG is conformationally more rigid than the wild-type, particularly in the skeletal dihedral angles, possibly resulting in the increase of quantum yield through a reduction of non-radiative decay. On the other hand, the bilirubin bound to the V2T appears to be flexible than that in the UnaG. Furthermore, examining the structural correlations between the ligand and proteins, we found evidence that the bilirubin ligand is encapsulated in different environments composed of protein residues and water molecules that increase or decrease the stability of the ligand. The changed protein stability affects the mobility and confinement of water molecules captured between bilirubin and the protein. Since the flexible ligand contains multiple hydrogen bond (H-bond) donors and acceptors, the H-bonding structure and dynamics of bound water molecules are highly correlated with the rigidity of the bound ligand. Our results suggest that, to understand the fluorescence properties of protein mutants, especially the ones with noncovalently bound fluorophores with internal rotations, the interaction network among protein residues, ligand, and water molecules within the binding cavity should be investigated rather than focusing on the local structure near the fluorescing moiety. Our in-depth simulation study may offer a foundation for the design principles for engineering this new class of fluorescent proteins.

This article is part of the themed collection: 2018 Chemical Science HOT Article Collection

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text:
Category: wedding

Surprise Guests with a Beach Wedding

This is a celebration of a new wedding happiness and a welcome holiday for everyone present. To maintain the festive atmosphere and atmosphere, as one might imagine, some tricks would be needed in the sleeve of a beach bride.

Ask your wedding planner or wedding partner to design a program.

Therefore, the entire program or program is properly facilitated and reception is carried out smoothly. The group turns on everything. It doesn’t matter if your girlfriend flew to the beach or if she received home entertainment from her destination at the beach wedding. It is important to discuss the musical requirements of the event with them, because they will probably have their own playlist. To avoid possible confrontations (sometimes they think their set is the most romantic repertoire in the world), the beach bride must commit herself by passing a list of songs she would prefer, but also taking into account what the group offers. In the end, they probably did this for a long time. The beach bride should give the group enough time to prepare for her choice of songs.

Exciting forms of entertainment should surprise guests. Fire dancers, fire eaters, magicians and the like can be included in the destination package for the beach wedding, but if not, you must obtain a permit in advance to perform fire actions in the area. DJs generally charge a huge fee, but some of them aren’t even very good at it. Therefore, if it is not necessary to mix music on the player or turn the wedding reception on the beach into a club scene, leave the professional DJ. Of course, a friend or two would like to play DJ at night. However, there really are those who are so good. A turn towards ordinary optimistic music is to hire a group of percussionists who play the rhythm.

Beach Wedding

People want to dance, but they immediately walk away because they fear they can’t do it right. Hire professional dance instructors to greatly encourage dancing. The dance floor will be filled gradually as soon as possible. Do not call all the spirits. Of course, each party owner wants to satisfy the guests by filling the bar. In the end, guests get drunk too much for fun or get drunk too much and become the “life” of the party. Hiring exceptional waiters to show your waiter skills can also be a form of entertainment at a beach wedding.

Who says entertainment is limited to music and parties? Another way to entertain guests is to book events such as diving, diving or maybe a tour of the island. An invitation to a beach wedding is a pleasure in itself, and there are many ways to give guests the opportunity to enjoy their vacation. A beach bride can handle this easily.


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Chopsticks Events

We have been welcoming guests to our China-related events since the start of China's global rise in 1993. Consequently our network is built upon face:face meetings and trusted relationships.

Our members want to understand how to do business in China and how to do business in the UK. We deliver on that need by sharing insight from leading experts and peers, generating debate and discussion, sharing insight into Chinese and British culture. We run various speaker events and debates adopting different styles to meet specific aims and suit diverse audiences. From our regular dinner-speaker events to round-table, intimate discussions for senior executives on relevant trends and current affairs to high-profile networking conferences, we offer something for every personal preference and budget. We partner with brands eager to inform an audience about the rapid changes in China that effect trade and geo-politics or who wish to reach a specific target audience.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, 28 May, 2020

Register to join the conversation with Dr Kerry Brown & Richard Graham as speakers to answer the question: “In light of Covid-19, should the UK get more China-literate?” Click on the photo above for full details and to register

Previous Events

Panel Discussion

How the US Election & Brexit impact on China's ascendancy, trade and geopolitics? FREE event but pre-registration is essential. Priority for Chopsticks Club members.

With a panel of experts, the various ramifications of President Xi's state visit for both sides of the UK-China relationship were discussed.

High profile networking conference with Hurun Report and Chinese billionaires, supported by Chopsticks Club, June 2015 Unique opportunity to engage with the people whose business success tells the story of modern China "There are currently 350 Chinese US$ billionaires listed in the Hurun China Rich List.

"In China, the concept of PR means 'pay the reporter!'" Not so in the West, obviously! Our speaker highlighted 5 key relationships that are needed in order to get things right; cited how important it is for brands to be managed well and how a "hands-off" approach to management will make the local company entity run most efficiently.

Panel discussion with Chopsticks Club CEO Theresa Booth, business consultants Jeremy Gordon and Matthew Crabbe, July 2014 Chaired by Club CEO, Theresa Booth, our speakers entered into an animated interview dialogue regarding market entry into China. The discussion highlighted how much due diligence and on-the-ground research can minimise threats to investment.

Chopsticks Club is proud to again be collaborating with Hurun Report to celebrate Chinese New Year. BOOK your tickets by clicking on the title

An evening of sichuan food, crackers & hats, with celebrated author & journalist, Xue Xinran. Xinran spoke about her latest book, The Promise, a tale of love & loss for four generations of Chinese women set against the backdrop of China's tumultous C20th history.

An unmissable opporunity to network with a mix of Chinese multinational companies and local businesses, all the while enjoying a splendind day out watching the horseracing and indulging in a fantastic 4 course meal and complimentary drinks.  To find out more CLICK on the event title

Chopsticks Club collaborated with Ascot to celebrate the first British-China Raceday. Excellent networking, a sumptuous four course lunch and racing tips, which a few members wisely followed. A memorable and beautifully executed day.


text:
“Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t” – Bill Nye

Hi there! My name is Chris Arkin: one part musician, one part tech entrepreneur, and forever a student in the course of knowledge. I also have a mean mid-range jump shot.

I love all things music, technology, film, astronomy, art, languages, travel, and the list goes on. Needless to say, I have a pretty broad taste.

Currently Reading: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

Catch me on the social networks!


text:
Industry Surveys

In 2008 the ICT Industry Workgroup (now CICTA) first sought feedback on Queensland Government (QG) ICT policies, initiatives and outcomes.

In subsequent years this led the Workgroup to assess the government’s progress and outcomes of activities listed under its ICT Strategic Plan.

Following the change of government in 2012, this strategic plan was abandoned and major cost cutting saw most ICT projects terminated or frozen pending an audit and reprioritising of all QG agency ICT projects.

The loss of ICT project activity in the Queensland Government had an immediate impact on the local ICT industry. In order to quantify this, the Workgroup initiated its first ICT Industry Business Climate Survey in August 2012.

The survey was repeated with expanded question sets in 2013 and 2014.

Survey methodology

ICT Industry Business Climate surveys use a web-based survey tool and remain open for several weeks to allow member associations time to publicise the survey to their own members.

The survey link was also emailed to the list of people who had attended previous ICT industry forums.

Responses are anonymous and will be kept strictly confidential with only the pooled results to be released.

The scope of the survey has remained constant, however questions have been refined over time based on the feedback from respondents and ICT associations.

Surveys are divided into three sections. The first section profiles the organisation that the respondent works for and establishes company size, business focus and geographical coverage.  The second section is for all ICT companies that do business in Queensland. The third has additional questions for ICT companies that have in the past, or currently do business with the Queensland Government.

Questions are multiple-choice and respondents may tick more than one response to a question. Space is also provided at the end of the survey for additional comments, feedback, observations and suggestions that will assist in the engagement of CICTA with the Queensland ICT Industry and the Queensland Government.

CICTA plans to track industry trends by repeating the ICT Business Climate Survey at regular intervals.

Interpretation of results from 2014 ICT Business Climate Survey

Figures between surveys cannot be compared because it is not possible to assess whether the same companies responded each year.

Number of respondents has declined in each of the three annual business climate surveys.

The 2014, respondents worked for companies that were smaller, more focused in comparison with the previous year. Client focus also reflected a general downturn in spending by the government and the resources sectors.

Only one-third of respondents were sole operators. Most companies represented were based in Queensland with half operating interstate.

The number of contractors has declined over the three survey periods.

66% of respondents believe business conditions have stabilised in Queensland with 47% expecting conditions to improve next year. Each year, respondents with smaller commercial exposure in Queensland show more optimism that business conditions will improve in the next year.

18% of respondents believe QG policies have assisted them (up from 1% in 2013).

49% believe QG policies have hindered them (down from 81% in 2013).

5 times as many respondents were negative towards QG policies than were positive.

8 times as many respondents were negative towards QG actions than were positive

In summary

Survey results reflect increased industry apathy, a move away from QG business and a decline in business turnover.

Each year respondents expect things to improve the following year.

Buy Queensland Roadshow off to a flying start

Local businesses have enthusiastically embraced the Palaszczuk Government’s Buy Queensland procurement strategy, with great turnout to information sessions about the strategy. Sessions are being run around the state, with an extra session in Brisbane due to the first one being sold out.

Read more


text:
February 22, 2019

How to Get to the Next Level in Your Life

african american woman with phone and flowers

This first half of 2019 has been a bit of a struggle. “Half,” you’re thinking with a confused look (I assume) on your face, “homie, we’re only like, two months in.” To which I reply, “yes, but it feels like 2019 is that acquaintance you are generally fond of it’s just that they don’t have a lot of self awareness and they keep talking to you and going on and on in some story you don’t fully have the details of and they never really get to the point and it feels like the conversation has gone on for hours but it’s only been 71 seconds.” So far, 2019 is much like the run on sentence you just read.

Though the weather does play a role in this (there have been like, 24 blizzards since January. This is only slight hyperbole.) it’s more because of this feeling that there is so much potential in this year, but it seems to be just out of reach. I went into this 365 days ready for a win and it’s here somewhere but I can’t seem to get enough of a foothold to reach for the next rung.

If you are feeling like there is more for you, like you want this year to take you to your next level in life, allow me to share what I have been lovingly smacked upside the head with recently – the thing that may be holding you back and the answer that will propel both of us to our next step.

Have you ever read the story of Cain and Abel? They were brothers, the first recorded in the Bible all the way in Genesis 4.

So what had happened was, Abel was the little bro & he tended sheep. Cain was the eldest & he was basically a farmer. Cain brought “some” of the vegetables and random stuff from his farm as an offering to God. Abel brought his offering, too, which consisted of the best lambs from the first-born of his flock – USDA prime type quality. God super dug Abel’s offering and gave him favor, but He was all “Thank u, next” with Cain’s.

Cain got super salty about it and God was like, “Fam, what is your problem? If you do what you know to do, you would have favor, too.” Then Cain just couldn’t get his life together and ended up killing his brother due to his own crusty attitude. It was a whole thing.

You are likely wondering how this post ended up in First 48 territory. Well, save for the murder, this is why you and I, many times, don’t have favor as well. It’s a story as old as time.

So many times we bring “some” sacrifice of something and then think, “Why God am I not where I think I should be? Why am I not progressing?” We get into a situation where we (like Cain) decide what an acceptable sacrifice is and then get upset because God doesn’t seem to be honoring it. People stay doing all kinds of things God never asked them to do and wonder what’s going on. We look at some people and ask why they have what we what we feel like we should have by now. We don’t realize that they give God their first. Their first coin. The first of their time, the first part of their heart so God can give direction –  that is what favor follows. We decide that we are not comfortable with those things and we substitute what we think is appropriate.

No amount of our effort, grind, hustle, girlboss-ness, organization, inspiring instagram posts or anything else takes the place of good ol’ doing what God has asked of us.

God doesn’t want “some” offering or a sacrifice, he asks for our life. In that obedience is everything we need to get all that he has for us.

There is no skipping steps. You feel the tug, the pull towards obedience. These things are actually the ‘easy’ part even though it doesn’t seem like it sometimes. It doesn’t so much require effort as it does humility. None of it is rocket science. It does not require a PhD, some expert level of spirituality, or permission from anyone.

Whether it’s attending church regularly, praying, reading your Bible, joining a small group, or being a good steward of the time He’s given you by cultivating discipline in your life (God told me all about myself on this one. Hence one of my insta posts this week.  I, too, am tryna get it together). These things build us up. God has things He wants to take you through so he wants to build you up first. God always sets us up for a win. He is too good of a God to give us something that would be a detriment, even if it’s a good thing a good thing at the wrong time, which will become  a burden. Obedience is how this process happens.

There is no shortcut around it, because obedience breeds the necessary tools for success.

That call to obedience will never go away. God is likely not going to knock you over with a sign, or knock you off of your horse. You feel it, that still small voice, God is just waiting for you to listen so he can take you to the next level. That is it. There are no magic steps. Just the one. Being obedient. Until you can do the last thing He asked you to do there is nothing else to be done.

The beauty of it all, though, is if you’re not sure what God is asking you to do, do the listed above and it will lead you there. So, how do we get to the next level, friends? By doing what’s easy, even though it masquerades as difficult so that God can do the impossible.

Here ya go: 1 Samuel 15:22-23  |  Matthew 6:33

2 responses to “How to Get to the Next Level in Your Life”

  1. Tesgo says:

    Thanks for publishing this awesome article.

    I’m a long time reader but I’ve never been compelled
    to leave a comment. I subscribed to your blog and shared this on my Twitter.
    Thanks again for a great post! https://tesgo.ca

  2. Hello! This post could not be written any better!
    Reading through this post reminds me of my old room mate!
    He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him.
    Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!

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text:
Android is architected in the form of a software stack comprising applications, an operating system, run-time environment, middleware, services, and libraries. All these layers can be simplified in this form:

Android Build Artifacts

  • Android applications: The top of the stack is where all the built-in applications, third-party applications, and your own applications live. Digi provides a set of sample applications demonstrating the new APIs.

  • Application framework: The second layer includes the application framework, which gives you the tools to write applications such as the SDK, activity managers, location managers, notification managers, and the view system. This level includes the set of new built-in Digi API extensions to access new hardware interfaces: I2C, SPI, CAN, ADC, GPIO, CPU and GPU management, Ethernet, PWM, serial port, and watchdog.

  • Libraries and Android runtime: The hardware access layer is where libraries are located for interacting with Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other hardware features. The runtime is also at this layer. Each application runs in its own virtual machine (VM) instance, which means that applications cannot directly invade each other’s process space. The system provides Linux-style permission controls while maintaining an open system through Intents and other interprocess communication capabilities.

  • Linux kernel: At its lowest level, the Linux kernel handles drivers, power management, and other low level processes.

  • U-Boot: Residing below all these layers, U-Boot is not part of Android, but it is needed to load the Android components.

Build artifacts

When the Digi Embedded for Android platform is built, it generates the following build artifacts (files):

Android Build Artifacts

  • system.img: This is the Android operating system image. It includes all the Android libraries, runtimes, API frameworks, and default applications that run in the device.

  • vendor.img: The vendor partition contains any binary that is not distributable to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). It holds all the proprietary binaries or any other vendor specific files.

  • boot.img: This image includes the kernel, the ramdisk, and the device tree configuration. U-Boot executes this image after boot, and it mounts the rest of the Android partitions.

  • recovery.img: This image is very similar to the boot.img. It also includes the kernel, a ramdisk, and a device tree configuration to boot in recovery mode. U-Boot only executes this image if the recovery boot mode is requested, usually to install update packages or wipe data and cache partitions.

  • <u-boot-file>.imx: This file contains the U-Boot bootloader. This is the first piece of code that is executed when the device boots. It initializes the device and launches the operating system.

eMMC layout

The eMMC (internal memory of the ConnectCore 8X device) is split into four physical partitions:

  • bootloader: This partition contains the U-Boot bootloader image that is executed when the device is powered on. It starts the installed operating system and allows some device configurations.

  • environment: This partition contains the U-Boot environment and its redundant copy.

  • RPMB: This is the replay-protected memory-block partition, used to manage data in an authenticated and replay-protected manner. It is not currently in use.

  • User Data: User Data holds the operating system divided into the following logical partitions:

    • boot: This partition contains Android’s kernel, ramdisk, and one or more device tree configurations. This is the partition where the boot.img file is programmed.

    • recovery: This partition contains an Android kernel, ramdisk, and the device tree configurations for the recovery boot mode. This is the partition where the recovery.img file is programmed.

    • system: This partition contains the entire Android operating system, other than the kernel and the ramdisk. This includes the Android user interface as well as all the system applications that come pre-installed on the device. This partition is mounted as read-only to avoid system malfunction. The system.img file is programmed into this partition.

    • cache: This partition is where Android stores frequently accessed data and application components.

    • vendor: This partitions contains the specific vendor files like binaries. This partition is mounted as read-only.

    • datafooter: Used by Android when device is encrypted. Once a device is encrypted, all user-created data is automatically encrypted before committing it to disk and all reads automatically decrypt data before returning it to the calling process.

    • safe: Empty placeholder partition for storing encrypted user-sensitive data.

    • frp: Factory Reset Protection. Security method designed to make sure someone can’t just wipe and factory reset your phone.

    • metadata: The metadata partition is used when device is encrypted.

    • userdata: Also called data, the userdata partition contains the user’s data – this is where your settings and applications are located. This partition is mounted as read-write. The SD Card folder is virtually emulated and mounted in this partition. This partition can be encrypted using a custom key.


text:
Tap and donate: How a cashless society is creating jobs for the homeless

by Lee Mannion | @leemannion | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Monday, 8 January 2018 09:00 GMT

The contactless payment machine used by TAP London vendors to take donations for homeless people in London United Kingdom on January 4, 2018. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Cormac O'Brien

Image Caption and Rights Information

Homelessness is on the rise in England, with at least 4,100 people sleeping rough on any given night in 2016

By Lee Mannion

LONDON, Jan 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A bitter January wind is biting in central London and passers-by shrink into their coats. But Liam, who is homeless, is still smiling as he tries to get people to stop and talk to him.

Aside from his winning smile, he also offers intrigue - what is that strange box hanging from his neck?

"I say to people: Hi, like to come and talk about this box? The box makes people stop," said Liam, 34, who is currently sleeping in a night shelter.

People can tap their credit or debit cards on his box to give a three pounds (about $4) donation via contactless payment.

Two pounds goes towards Liam's wages; the other pound is donated to two homeless charities. In return, donors get a small art card depicting one of the week's news events.

Liam and Danny, fundraisers for TAP London, a company that employs homeless people to raise money for homeless charities via contactless payments, speak to a passer-by in London United Kingdom on January 4, 2018. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Cormac O'Brien

Tapping into the increasing use of contactless payments for everything from commuting to rounds of drinks, social enterprise TAP London is offering work for the homeless as charity fundraisers, all without any cash changing hands.

Homelessness is on the rise in England, with at least 4,100 people sleeping rough on any given night in 2016, according to the homeless charity Crisis.

At the same time, use of contactless payments more than doubled last year, according to trade group The UK Card Association.

All of TAP London's vendors are homeless and telling their personal stories often persuades people to donate.

Since being kicked out of his family home at the age of 16, Liam has spent the last 18 years on and off the streets, struggling with cocaine and alcohol addiction. Following rehab, he's been clean for 13 months.

"I'm trying to do something different rather than sit there and moan that the government won't do anything to help me," said Liam, who declined to give his full name.

The idea for the social enterprise came after TAP co-founder Polly Gilbert tried to donate food to a homeless man one evening. He rejected the hot dog she offered, explaining he had already been given five that evening.

"Both of us had cared about homelessness but were frustrated at not knowing what to do," fellow co-founder Katie Whitlock, 28, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Newspaper reports about street beggars making lucrative gains by pretending to be homeless and concerns about donated money supporting addictions have left people confused about whether to give money, said Whitlock.

Gilbert and Whitlock quit their advertising jobs and spent a year researching contactless payment options and homelessness, meeting charities and local government councils before launching TAP London in November.

They work with the homeless charity St Mungo's to find their vendors but have also found them through other means - Liam had used classified ad website Craigslist to advertise that he was fit, healthy and ready to work.

"More employment opportunities are needed. Homeless individuals are rarely given a chance to be part of their solution," said Whitlock.

For TAP vendor Viktor, 37, there is a big difference between asking for money from the public in this way and begging.

"When you are begging on the pavement you feel crap. The police are after you. You don't enjoy any minute of begging. It's very shameful," he said.

Now being paid 9.75 pounds an hour, the 'living wage' in London, he is able to stay in a night shelter that only takes residents who are working.

On a good day, five people per hour stop and donate - but vendors are paid their hourly wage regardless of how many donors they attract.

Do people ask why he is homeless?

"Yes, and I really welcome that. It's better when the conversation is interactive," said Viktor, who wanted to be identified only by his first name.

He became homeless after losing his job due to crack addiction. Whilst unconscious on the street, a bag containing a bank card and his passport was stolen.

"What employment does is create a footprint again. They're thrilled to be paying taxes," said Whitlock. "They have contracts and a place to be each day."

Potential donors are drawn in by the box.

"As soon as I saw the thing I was interested as to what was round his neck. The box made me stop. And he had a smiley face," said Samantha Maclean, 27, who had stopped to tap for Liam.

"The amount of times you walk past and wish you had cash to give but genuinely don't have any. Three pounds is nothing really. It's less than a coffee from Starbucks," she said.

(Reporting by Lee Mannion @leemannion; Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


text:
Letter to House Judiciary Urging Support for the Second Chance Act

Printable Version

January 11, 2016

The Honorable Bob Goodlatte
Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable John Conyers Jr.
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Goodlatte and Ranking Member Conyers:

On behalf of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities USA, we write to urge you to support the Second Chance Act (H.R. 3406). This legislation is an important step in addressing some of the many issues facing the more than 650,000 men, women and juveniles who reenter society each year from federal and state prisons, and local jails and detention centers every day.

Our Catholic tradition supports the community's right to establish and enforce laws that protect people and advance the common good. But our faith also teaches us that both victims and offenders have a God-given dignity that calls for justice, not vengeance. The bishops of the United States in their 2000 pastoral statement, Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice, stated, "Just as God never abandons us, so too we must be in covenant with one another. We are all sinners, and our response to sin and failure should not be abandonment and despair, but rather justice, contrition, reparation, and return or re-integration of all into the community."

Those who return to our communities from incarceration face significant challenges. These include finding housing and stable employment, high rates of substance abuse, physical and mental health challenges and social isolation. Without necessary critical support services these persons have an increased chance of re-offending causing harm to society and increasing our nation's prison costs.

The Second Chance Act supports much needed programs in government agencies and nonprofit organizations that provide employment assistance, substance abuse treatment, housing, family programming, mentoring, victim support and other services to individuals returning to the community from prison or jail.

These programs have proven effective and help reduce recidivism rates by using common sense solutions, such as:

  • Providing grants to nonprofit organizations for mentoring adult offenders and providing transitional services for re-integration into the community;

  • Providing separate planning and implementation grants to ensure that projects are well developed and informed by research and best practices;

  • Supporting a federal interagency taskforce to identify programs and resources on reentry, and ways to better collaborate; develop interagency initiatives and a national reentry research agenda; review and report to Congress on the federal barriers that exist to successful reentry with recommendations;

  • Supporting a national resource center for states, local governments, service providers, faith-based organizations, and corrections and community organizations to collect and disseminate best practices and provide training and support around reentry.

  • Providing grants to states and local governments that may be used to expand family-based treatment centers that offer family based comprehensive treatment services for parents and their children as a complete family unit.

Pope Francis recently said, "God is in everyone's life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else—God is in this person's life." We join the pope by advocating for those who are leaving incarceration and urge Congress to pass this important legislation. It will not only enhance public safety by providing the necessary resources to address prisoner reentry and recidivism, but promote human dignity by improving the quality of life in communities across the country.

Faithfully Yours,

Most Reverend Thomas G. Wenski
Archbishop of Miami
Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

Sister Donna Markham, OP, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Catholic Charities USA

By accepting this message, you will be leaving the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This link is provided solely for the user's convenience. By providing this link, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops assumes no responsibility for, nor does it necessarily endorse, the website, its content, or sponsoring organizations.

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text:
The 100 Day Reality Challenge

Barbara D
  • New Zealand

Barbara D's Friends

  • secret
  • sunshine
  • Jill
  • Love Life
  • kelly
  • Jennie
  • Kay
  • Jean Dayton

Barbara D's Page

Profile Information

Season 1
Starting Date:
October 17, 2010
Intentions & Goals:
To live rich, to live healthy and to manifest a new car and business success!
Vision Board, Journalography (Video Journal), Blogging, Reading, Fitness, Meditation, Take 100% responsibility for my life, More
YouTube page
Personal Website:

Barbara D's Blog

Days 1 & 2 of my first season!

Posted on April 2, 2010 at 6:43am 2 Comments

So far my first season is going fabulous. I have woken each day with the intention of having a creative positive day and so far so fabulous! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted, I used to have days where I would wake up and think "oh boy what's in store today", negatives, that's all I used to think of was negatives, and now, I send out my intentions into the universe in a positive light, and things seem to be easier to handle. A positive mind and positive intentions have created a richer… Continue

I'm a newbie, getting ready for my first season April 1st 2010

Posted on March 28, 2010 at 6:56pm 4 Comments

Hi everyone!

This is my first time as a Co-Creator and I am very pleased to be here! I first started watching Lilou on Youtube a while back when she subscribed to my weight loss channel. I started to watch her videos and got really excited about the Law of Attraction and started to read The Secret and a lot of other material on the subject. Then all of a sudden, nothing, I completely went off track, I got so bogged down in all the… Continue

Comment Wall (7 comments)

You need to be a member of The 100 Day Reality Challenge to add comments!

Join The 100 Day Reality Challenge

At 10:21pm on December 7, 2010, Kay said…
Happy Birthdaaaay Barbara!!!
I hope you have a day filled with lots of fun and fun manifestations.

Enjoy yourself.

:o) xxxx
At 1:47pm on December 7, 2010, Vanessa said…
Happy Birthday
At 12:11pm on July 17, 2010, Heather Marie said…
May you step into the manifestation of a healthy body that look amazing through your eyes; Your beautiful! Have a joyful weekend! enjoy

love peace and co-creating lets experience it together!
At 10:52pm on April 2, 2010, Jennie said…
Happy Easter Pictures, Images and Photos
At 11:45am on March 31, 2010, Jean Dayton said…
Hi Barbara

Thank you for being friends on here.....looking forward to following your journey.

At 9:49pm on March 28, 2010, Jill said…
Welcome Barb to Co-Creators, Blessings, Jilly
At 8:21pm on March 28, 2010, Jennie said…
WELCOME to CCOR, Barbara!! It is a magnificent thing to have such a forum for so many like-minded people to come together to support one another on our paths of creation!! I wish you the best in your 100 day challenge, and we all look forward to hearing about your manifestations!!!

Peace & Blessings,

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Retiring staff members honored at School Board meeting

Retiring staff members honored at School Board meeting
Posted on 06/13/2017

New retirees were honored at last night’s School Board meeting, recognized for their years of service to the students of the McMinnville School District.

School Board members presented each retiree with a "Golden Apple" and hosted a short reception with refreshments.

Musical entertainment was provided by the Wascher choir, under the direction of  choir director, Lindsey Barske, led the Wascher Elementary chorus in a performance to honor the retirees.

Joan Ainslie (2002-2017)

Vickie Blair (2006-2017)

Don Crawford (2005-2016)

Leslie Johnstone (1983-2017)

Tim Lynn (1994-2017)

Gary McCulloch (1997-2017)

Pat Muller (2008-2017)

Mary Pierce (2004-2017)

Debra Pugh (1983-2017)

Michael Rex (1994-2017)

Rick Ryan (1989-2016)

Cindy Schroeder (1990-2016)

Cecil Scitern (1985-2017)

Kathleen Walker (2014-2017)

 Thank you, retirees!

Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2020 Intrado Corporation. All rights reserved.


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Good Luck Blessing

  • 2 blue candles
  • Tiger’s eye
  • Blue agate
  • Aventurine
  • A feather

This is a simple blessing for good luck. Actually more specifically, it's for when you're going to be going into a potentially troublesome situation, and don’t want trouble (ex. a party where some people there could be bothersome).

The feather that is used should be one that was taken without pain, that is, one that the bird did not suffer to provide. This can be one that was dropped from the bird naturally, or similarly given by nature itself not one that was stolen or taken against the bird's will.

You light two blue candles, and place them about shoulder length apart in front of you. Then taking a tiger-eye, a blue agate, and an aventurine, place them in a triangle between the candles. Then take your feather and lay it under the stone triangle in front of you. Kneel, and relax (basic preparation). Then open a basic circle.

Now place your hands out straight near the flames of the candle and say:
“Oh blessed be, oh gods of fire,
Burn away my dark desires
Through the warmth that burns so free
Let violence change now to peace”

Then taking the feather in your casting hand, hold it close to you, and focusing your energies into it, say:
"Blessed be thou, of Goddess of love, look in favor upon me as I venture into danger. Leave not my side and aid me in my time of need."

Then taking the feather again, pass the tip over the stones, focusing on the energy being absorbed into the feather, and say:
"Through these stones, let your goodness be done.
Where no pain has befallen let no blood be shed
Where no evil exists let none surmount
Where no malice is meant, let none be formed
Where love is lost, let now be found
I go in peace, I go in play
Through your goodness, let these feelings never stray.
So mote be it."

Then take the feather tip, and again trace the pentagram on your chest, focusing on the energies flowing into your spirit, saying:
"Blessed be my eyes that I may see your beauty.
Blessed be my ears that I may hear your good works
Blessed be my skin that I may feel your presence in my life
Blessed be my feet that I may never stray from your path
Blessed be my spirit that I may be deserving of your graces.
Blessed be — blessed be — blessed be."

Then place the candle back down, and close the circle.


text:
Samhain Ritual

  • Bath salt
  • Black robe (optional)
  • Acorn necklace
  • Oak leaf crown
  • White chalk or paint
  • 13 black and orange candles
  • 3 candles (1 white, 1 red, 1 black)
  • Chalice of apple cider
  • Sea salt
  • Censer of herb incense
  • Water
  • Bell
  • Athame
  • Red apple

After a ritual bath in salt water to cleanse your body and soul of any impurities and negative energy, put on a long, black ceremonial robe (unless you prefer to work skyclad, as many Witches do), wear a handcrafted necklace of acorns around your neck, and place a crown of oak leaves around your head.

Begin by casting a circle about nine feet in diameter, using white chalk or paint. Place thirteen black and orange candles around the circle, and as you light each one say:
"Samhain candle of fire so bright
Consecrate this circle of light."

In the center of the circle, erect an altar facing north. On the center of the altar, place three candles (white, red and black) to represent each phase of the Triple Goddess. To the left (west) of the candles, place a chalice filled with apple cider and a dish containing sea salt. To the right (east) of the candles, place a censer of herb incense and a small bowl of water. Before the candles (south), place a brass altar bell, a consecrated athame, and a red apple.

Ring the altar bell thrice and say:
"In the sacred name of the Goddess
and under her protection
is this Sabbat Rite now begun."

Sprinkle a bit of salt and water at each compass point around the circle to cleanse the space of any negativity or evil influences.

Take the athame in your right hand, and say:
"Harken well ye elements
Air, fire, water, earth
By bell and blade I summon thee
On this sacred night of mirth."

Dip the blade of the athame into the chalice of apple cider and say:
"I offer to Thee, O Goddess
This nectar of the season."

Return the athame to the altar. Light the incense and the three altar candles, and say:
"Three candles I do light
in honor of Thee, O Goddess:
White for the Maiden,
Red for the Mother,
Black for the Crone.
O Goddess of all things wild and free,
Strong and loving, fair and just,
This sacred temple I raise to Thee
In Perfect Love,
In Perfect Trust."

Pick up the chalice with both hands and pour a few drops of the cider onto the apple and say:
"To the Womb of the Mother Goddess
The Horned God now returns
Until the day when he is reborn again.
The great solar wheel
Once again turns.
The cycle of the seasons never ends.
Blessed be the souls of those
who have journeyed beyond
To the dark world of the dead.
I pour this nectar
in honor of their memory.
May the Goddess bless them
With Light, Beauty and Joy.
Blessed Be!
Blessed Be!"

Drink the remaining cider, and then return the chalice to its place on the altar. Ring the bell thrice, and then release the circle by extinguishing the orange and black candles, starting at the east and moving in a counterclockwise direction.

Take the apple from the altar and bury it outside in the earth to nourish the souls of those who have died in the past year.

The Samhain ritual is now complete and should be followed by meditation, divination by crystal ball, the reciting of mystical Goddess-inspired poetry, and a Witches' prayer for the souls of all family members and friends who have passed on to the Spiritual Plane.


text:
The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist is among the recent comics-related books to get prominently featured on NPR.

It’s always a good thing to see comics get positive ink in the mainstream media. The proof is National Public Radio’s recent article by Oliver Sava providing capsule reviews of five books exploding with comics art including the new monograph The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist.

Fans of Clowes’ best-known graphic novel Ghost World and his absurdist comic-book series Eightball will find plenty of rare gems in this tome edited by Alvin Buenaventura. The 224-page book chronicles the comic creator’s life and evolving art in a series of critical essays by fellow artists Chris Ware and Chip Kidd. The book’s compendium of critical voices offering commentary on Clowes’ influence and impact includes an insightful piece on the artist’s take on caricature by writer Susan Miller, one of the curators of the artist’s excellent traveling retrospective that launched at the Oakland Museum of California and will travel to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC and the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus Ohio. .

Sava’s short article also looks at Alison Bechdel’s recent book Are You My Mother?, which is a follow-up to her critically acclaimed graphic memoir Fun Home. Other titles falling under the glare of NPR’s media lens include Brandon Graham’s King City, Leela Corman’s Unterczakhn, and Ramon K. Perez’s Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand.

Not bad company for cartoonists who have carved out heir own distinct niches in the ever expanding realm of comics and graphic novels that have earned their own section at a bookstore near you.

"Love and Rockets" co-creator Jaime Hernandez celebrates super-hero myths in his new book "God and Science: The Return of the Ti-Girls."

In another NPR article, comics creator Jaime Hernandez gets the star treatment from writer Glen Weldon who delves into the artist’s book God and Science: The Return of the Ti-Girls. In his short and lively prose, Weldon taps into why Hernandez is one of the best cartoonists working today and what makes God and Science such an unexpected departure into super-hero territory while maintaining the roots and gritty, authentic streetwise wisdom and honesty that are major elements in the many pleasures found in the pages of Love and Rockets comics.

Of course, both Clowes and Hernandez are among the numerous talented comics creators and pop-savvy artists featured in the documentary-in-progress, Comics Are Everywhere.

Comics culture is moving up in the world and NPR and Comics Are Everywhere are there to keep you in the loop!

- Neil Kendricks

Categories: Blog, Uncategorized

Comments are closed.


text:
End of Junk Food Cravings

Fat butts, thunder thighs and rolls of stomach fat, it’s insane. Whether it’s sweet, salty or fatty, people just can’t get enough of it. For one thing, it’s everywhere. Everywhere you turn there are TV ads, the grocery store is full of it and don’t get me started on fast food joints.

Check out these Nutrition Facts:

* Burger King Whopper – 680 (calories) 360 (fat calories) 40 (grams of fat)
* McDonalds Deluxe Breakfast – 1,070 (calories) 490 (fat calories) 55 (grams of fat)

Do I really need to show you more? I hope not. We live in a fast paced world which caters to unhealthy eating. The result: tight clothes, oily skin, weight gain, and health issues. It also goes beyond the cosmetic because high fat diets are linked to cancer and heart disease while high carbohydrate and sugar diets can and do lead to diabetes. This is not new information, So why is it so hard to give up the junk food?

But I don’t have time! I am so sick of this excuse. Guess what make time! We are talking about the health of you and your family. Get up 15 minutes earlier to eat a healthy breakfast, Take your lunch instead of eating fast food. Plan out your meals for the week ahead of time. Here are some obesity statistics that we must begin to reverse through proper eating habits, healthy food intake choices and daily physical exercise:

*Over 58 million Americans are overweight;
*Over 40 million Americans are obese;
*Over 3 million Americans are morbidly obese;
*More than 80% of Americans do not engage in adequate physical activity;
*More than one quarter of all Americans are considered to be “completely sedentary”;
*In adults between 30 and 40 years old, there has been greater than 78% increase in Type II diabetes cases since 1990;

So if you are living the junk food lifestyle what are you doing to your children. If you don’t care about your health what about them? Take this in. Read it and then reread it.

*Only 4 percent of children were considered obese in 1982. Now, more than 30% are.
*More than one quarter of all obese children are showing symptoms of the development of Type 2 diabetes *Of those children developing Type II diabetes, more than 60 percent of them are also showing one or more signs of cardiovascular disease;
*Our children are taught how and what to eat by us – their parents and advisors;

Do I really need to say more.

When you wake up every day and rush for work, you end up forgetting the most important meal: breakfast. Consuming a good breakfast is a must because there’s no way you could pass up all sorts of temptations if you’re starving. You’ll be energized throughout the day and the chances of binging become less.

A Breakfast example:

– A bowl of oatmeal- boil some low fat milk, add oats, cook for 1 to 2 minutes it’s ready.
– 1-2 slices whole grain toast
– 1 piece of fruit

What will that take you maybe 5 minutes prep!

Another good strategy portion control. This sounds like a too simple approach, but it works because it gives you control. Stay from reduced-fat products as well because, in actuality, they have the same calorie content as its regular counterpart.

Exercise is also another way in which you can curb your appetite. Do some form of exercise daily. There is an old saying in fitness circles “You Can’t Out Train A Lousy Diet” Muscle building, fat loss whatever your goal remember this your success is based on 70% nutrition and 30% training.

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text:
Does your Church have the Good Stuff?

Does Your Church have the Good Stuff?

the good stuff

Lawrence OP at Flickr

A migration away from the Catholic Church over the last five hundred years has taken place.  But in many cases, it is not away from faith altogether but away from the Church.  But to what, to whom?  In our times, it is usually the newest form of Christianity. I rarely hear a Catholic leave for the Episcopal or Lutheran communions, more times than not it is to a vibrant, new expression of Christianity. This lends to a few considerations in which I hope one may invest the time to consider my thoughts.

These churches are loose associations in which the members have very little commitment regarding salvation.  That is, the church itself has nothing to do with whether they get to their goal–God. In fact, I might say they offer a vibrant form of community.

The Catholic Church offers a means to heaven through sacramental grace, such as confession, the Mass, infallible truth, and governance that dates back to the Apostles. They also offer many Apostolates in every generation that lends to faith vibrancy, like the charismatic movement. Thirty miles north my kids are benefiting from Catholic Youth Expeditions that was started a few years back by a young man that became a priest with a vision to inspire a vibrant faith life in the young.

What I am trying to say is simply this, that separated from the Catholic Church, they offer a less extreme form of church, a lower form of the Holy. The holy is in heaven, but on earth let’s keep it light and call it heavy, because we think about the heavenly in our minds.

We agree upon the absolute authenticity of the Bible and that is where it ends. They have no interpreter of the text that carries any weight, but private judgment of a public record of God; we have a final interpreter, a single voice made up of many.

They have a form of the Lord’s table that varies in practice from once a year to once a month, generally.  They believe it is anything but Jesus Christ Himself.  We take the table of the Lord every chance we get, because it is the Lord, like Peter in the boat, diving off the side to meet Jesus on the shore, that He might say the words,”Do you love me?”

They have no formal form of confession of sin except to God alone, as if this is noble; we confess to God and to the Church family which we have violated.

Their leaders are like community social workers that maintain a good social life for all involved; our leaders operate in persona Christi, marked by heaven with a holy seal.

This is a strange belief indeed–Jesus established an arbitrary private religion that functions fallibly according to the dictates of private interest and social wellness, whose ordinances or practices offer no hope for salvation. The truth they hold is subjective Jesus at best, and there is no Grace given except through private gifts that individuals may or may not have.  This is nothing more than a Jesus social club.  I need not go to church for this, I could simply do this with myself and my Christian friends.  Many of them realize this and even attempt to practice such home church Christianity.

Is this really the Kingdom Jesus came to establish on earth?  No more than me, myself, and I having church in my house with Bible open with some friends?

So here’s the question, did Jesus establish church-lite with only 64 calories, or a fine wine, aged to perfection, worthy of a King–even the King of Kings.


text:
Business-Environment Breakfast with Albert Straus

Albert Straus, Organic Dairy Farmer & Founder/CEO Straus Family Creamery presents
"Our BHAG: Why a Carbon-Neutral Dairy Farming System is Needed by 2022"
Albert Staus
Albert is a strong advocate for organic, non-GMO dairy production, environmental stewardship, and family farms. At the Straus Dairy Farm, he has invested in climate-positive dairy practices including carbon farming, anaerobic (methane) digesters, renewable energy, on-farm composting and electric farm vehicles. On May 10, come learn more about his big hairy audacious goal!

Tickets include breakfast buffet:
$15 for Marin Conservation League members | $20 non-members

McInnis Park Club | 350 Smith Ranch Rd. | San Rafael, CA  94903

Need to update your membership? Visit us here:

Event date: 05-10-2019 7:30 am
Event End Date: 05-10-2019 9:00 am
Location McInnis Park Club Restaurant

Newsletter Sign Up


text:
Universal Frames Headquarters Building an Industry for Reclaimed Structural Steel.
19 June 2019 Architectural Association, London   My project is a viable strategy to build a dispersed UK industry for the reuse of structural steel. A project with rich social and cultural ambition as well as environmental.   For the last 150 years structural steel has become an increasingly standardised, globalised product which apart from a few minor exceptions does not degrade with use. It is therefore surprising that its reuse rates are dropping. Agriculture is its last vestige, where there is a resilient culture for buying and selling secondhand portal frames. The epitome of the modern farm building. Through recognising, consolidating and expanding this ‘niche’, the project highlights reclaimed structural steel as a viable opportunity. A uniquely ‘slow’ asset with significant social, economic and architectural opportunity.   A costed business model diverts usable material away from being melted down in environmentally costly and destructive ‘recycling’ processes. Geographically, materially and culturally specific, this new actor utilises outstanding economic margins to forge the disparate relationships of supply, design, material testing, stockholding and fabrication. It is the re-focusing of architecture and industry away from blind production and onto extant material. The re-connection of the architect to their supply chain.   Proposing a specific form of design practice, the project demonstrates that through proactively engaging in notions of constraint and contingency architecture can address urgent design, social and ecological questions on its own terms. In facilitating ‘reuse’ as opposed to ‘recycling’ it proposes a long overdue update of contemporary building practice. A viable model that gives design culture agency in addressing critical global challenges, and one that raises fundamental questions as to the point in which ideas of material supply and architectural culture should meet.   I am immensely grateful to all the people that have given meaning to this project. Whether they are academics, farmers, fork-lift truck drivers, steelworkers or engineers. Fellow students in Diploma 18 that have generously hoisted sections of steel up flights of stairs. Workshop assistants that have facilitated welding (with a fractured hand). Tutors that have inspired and scrutinised in equal measure. It is an enormous privilege to receive honours and I thank everyone inside and outside of the school for laying an incredible platform. This only feels like the start…   For more information:

Diploma 18 – OPALIS Unit Brief

Honours on AA Conversations


text:
New on the Blog

Life Isn’t A Straight Line

Waiting is Work

Test Post 3

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Due to recent Instagram platform changes this Instagram account needs to be reconnected in order to continue updating. Reconnect on plugin Settings page


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/plain

text: NAME App::SocialCalc::Multiplayer - Multiplayer SocialCalc Server with WebSocket SYNOPSIS Run this in a host computer: % sudo Accepting requests at Then connect to port 9999 with two or more browsers, and start collaboratively edit a web-based spreadsheet. The "sudo" is needed for providing Flash-emulated support for non-WebSocket browsers, which requires serving a policy file on port 843; if all clients are already WebSocket-capable, then "sudo" is not needed. DESCRIPTION This is a convenient bundle around a prototypical WebSocket-SocialCalc integration hack, based on the demonstration in a YAPC::Tiny talk for during late October 2009. The presentation slides are available at: AUTHORS 唐鳳 COPYRIGHT This work is derived from the SocialCalc program: Copyright (C) 2009-2010 Socialtext, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The upstream source tree was derived from: Other than the CPAL license asserted by copyright holders above (see socialcalc/LEGAL.txt and socialcalc/LICENSE.txt), 唐鳳 places no additional copyright claims over the collaborative editing extensions, as detailed in the paragraph below. CC0 1.0 Universal To the extent possible under law, 唐鳳 has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to App-SocialCalc-Multiplayer. This work is published from Taiwan.


text:
Monday, December 31, 2007

CQOD: 01/02/08 -- Donne: where your treasure is

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 2, 2008
Feast of Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Teachers, 379 & 389
Commemoration of Seraphim, Monk of Sarov, Mystic, Staretz, 1833
    For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
    -- Matthew 6:21 (NIV)

    I have seen minute-glasses: glasses so short liv’d! If I were to preach upon this text (Matt. 6:21), to such a glass, it would be enough for half the sermon, enough to show the worldly man his treasure, and the object of his Heart, to call his eye to that minute-glass, and to tell him, “There flows, there flies, your treasure, and your heart with it.”
    But if I had a secular glass, a glass that would run an age; if the two hemispheres of the world were composed in the form of such a glass, and all the world burnt to ashes, and all the ashes, and the sands, and atoms of the world put into that glass, it would not be enough to tell the godly man what his treasure, and the object of his heart is. A parrot will sooner be brought to relate to us the wisdom of a council table, than any Ambrose, or any Chrysostom, men that have gold and honey in their names, shall tell us what the treasure of heaven is, and that man’s peace, that hath set his Heart upon that treasure.
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), XXVI Sermons [1660/1]

Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my hands were empty, but You have placed in them treasure beyond measure.

See Believer's Desktop Companion 2007

CQOD Compilation Copyright 2007, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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Sunday, June 18, 2017

New Cessna 208B Grand Caravan VH-XLF Ferries into Bowen Airport for Sky Diving Operations

An interesting arrival noted touching down at Bowen Airport on Saturday 17 June was newly registered Cessna 208B Grand Caravan VH-XLF.  It flew into Bowen directly from Bankstown.

It appears that VH-XLF immediately commenced parachuting operations with the locally-based Airlie Beach Skydivers.

Airlie Beach Skydivers (WEBSITE HERE) has an office in Airlie Beach and busses thrill-seekers to Bowen to board their aircraft before jumping out over the beautiful Whitsundays including beach landings!

The company also appears to utilise fellow Cessna 208 Caravan VH-FYC for parachuting operations out of Bowen Airport, along with smaller Cessna 182s VH-COF and VH-RYZ, which appear to operate on a more permanent basis.

Of interest, Cessna 208B VH-XLF was only registered in May this year after arriving into Australia via the Gold Coast and Bankstown in February wearing the American registration marking of N208TL.

UPDATE!  On Tuesday 20 June, VH-XLF departed Bowen for Innisfail.

UPDATE!  On Thursday 22 June, VH-XLF continued North to Cairns.

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Monday, August 4, 2014

Quest for Glory II: Round Up the Usual Suspects

I suppose that was inevitable.
The rest of Quest for Glory II ended up being very linear, plot-heavy, and essentially pure adventure game, with almost no combat, very little NPC dialogue, and no need for all the money I'd accumulated. In this, the final third was a little disappointing, even as I enjoyed the plot revelations and endgame sequences, as well as the ways some of the skill-building paid off for the various characters.

In my series of posts so far, I've discussed the experiences of the mage, fighter, and thief in Shapeir. All classes end up automatically departing for Raseir in a caravan on Day 17. As I talk about these end-game sequences, I'll let you know when the experiences of the classes diverged. Otherwise, you can think of the narrative as applying to a universal character.

On the day of departure, Shema gave me some supplies and food, and the Sultan personally gifted me with a new saurus. After a nice animation showing my character and his new mount admiring the sunrise, I joined up with the caravan.

If nothing else, my character knows how to strike a heroic pose.

After a few screens of walking, I got a message that "the caravan comes under siege from hundreds of nomadic brigands" and that "the situation looks grim." I geared up for what I thought might be a long series of combats in which my weapon- and skill- grinding would pay off, but it was just an excuse for the game to be goofy. I got this screen:

Right-clicking on the items actually brings up descriptions of the popcorn and soda.

Followed by this one, depicting my triumphant character atop a pile of brigand and saurus corpses:

I don't think it was nice that we killed the sauruses.

Cute, but since there weren't any other major combats in the game, it would have been fun if I could have actually played out this encounter.

Before long, my vastly-reduced caravan arrived in Raseir, where I was accosted at the gates by guards. Khaveen, the guard captain, appeared and warned me that Raseir didn't "need any stinking heroes," but personally handed me a visa anyway.

Your third line needed to be "Well, lend me your ear."

Nearby was the Blue Parrot Inn, where the creators had a lot of fun blending allusions to both Casablanca (1942) and The Maltese Falcon (1941), which starred many of the same actors. The bartender is named Wilmer, after a character in Falcon, while Signor Ferrari (after Sydney Greenstreet's character in Casablanca) sits at a table, swatting flies with a little whisk. Later, the player is introduced to Ferrari's associate, "Ugarte" (after Peter Lorre's Casablanca character), who runs a black market selling water. Though their names (and the name of the bar) are lifted from Casablanca, their relationship (and association with Wilmer) are more in tune with The Maltese Falcon, where Lorre plays a character named Joel Cairo and Greenstreet is Kasper Gutman.

Anyway, I had a drink with Ferrari, who told me they'd reserve a room for me at the Parrot, and I should return in the evening to talk with him more. This left me several hours to wander aimlessly around the city, noting that its fountain had gone dry, its tiles were cracked and dirty, many passageways were boarded up, signs in the passageways reminded that "rules must be obeyed," and guards enforced a nightly curfew. All of this, plus the expulsion of the Kattas, lent another angle to the Casablanca/Nazi allusions.

As time goes by, I wander around the city and check out its state of dilapidation.

Back at the Blue Parrot in the evening, Ferrari gave me some more information about Raseir and introduced me to Ugarte who, for a 5 dinar fee (the last time I spent money in the game), told me that Khaveen was having me watched at all times and that "someone is very interested in my actions." (Again, this parallels similar lines about Victor Laszlo in Casablanca.) When questioned by Ferrari, Ugarte mentioned a "prophecy to be fulfilled" and that I "may be the one."

The character is clearly modeled on Sydney Greenstreet, only meaner-looking.

There wasn't anything else to do but go to bed, and the next day nothing to do but wander around the city some more. It was a bit eerie, as there didn't seem to be any other people except guards. Eventually, I came upon a scene in which Khaveen arrested Ugarte for selling black market water--a direct parallel of the scene in which Ugarte gets arrested in Casablanca. He even begged for my help.

I stick my neck out for nobody...also, the game didn't really give me an option to help him.

Lacking any idea what to do after this scene, I headed back to the Blue Parrot, but I was intercepted along the way by a woman who poked her head out of an alleyway and demanded that I follow her. She led me to the house of Zayishah, the Emir's daughter (I was never sure whether she was the daughter of the deposed Emir or the new one, his brother).

Quest for Glory II suddenly becomes a very different sort of game.

Zayishah explained that the Emir was going to force her to marry Captain Khaveen, and she wanted to flee before that could happen. She demanded that I change clothes with her, but it turns out Shema packed me a second set, so I gave those to her instead. She ran behind her curtain and changed, somehow acquiring a wig in the process.

I'd like to think my facial features are a little more chiseled and manlier than yours, but it's hard to tell on EGA graphics.

Finally, she demanded my visa, which I gave to her, trapping me in Raseir. In return, she gave me a mirror and said that if I showed it to any woman within the palace, she would help me.

After that was a lot of wandering around waiting for night to fall so I could go back to the inn and sleep. (Unlike the inn in Shapeir, it wouldn't let me go to bed during the day.) Here, the thief character diverges from the fighter and magic user, as Ferrari has a special job for the thief to do.

And where does the falcon come from, pray tell?

He directed me to a window overlooking the fountain plaza, where I could use my magic rope (or "Levitate") to climb in. I'm not sure why this wasn't possible with all of the open windows in Shapeir.

The house turned out to belong to Khaveen, the guard captain, and there were lots of ways to die there, such as failing to let the woman sleeping in the bed to return to her slumber after a board squeaked, failing to oil the hinges on the cabinet containing the falcon, and trying to attack the guard or wander into the hallway outside the bedroom.

Given later plot developments, I suspect that Khaveen was soon executed by Ad Avis.
After a few such accidents, I was able to grab the falcon and complete the mission.

The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.

A reasonably funny joke when I returned with my loot to Ferrari:

Just as in the film (spoilers, I guess, but it's 73 years old), the falcon turned out to be a fake. Given that he'd been searching for it for 17 years, Ferrari took the news pretty well. Before departing for points unknown, he held out hope for a future association.

Hey, I kept that "Honor" score as low as I could.

The other classes had none of this, and after wandering around pointlessly for a day following Ugarte's arrest, they simply returned to the inn and went to sleep. The next morning, as I left the inn, a group of guards showed up and arrested me (all classes):

What's annoying is the game didn't give me a chance to go with the "force" option. I could have wiped the tiles with these guards.

The next screen found me in a locked cell, my equipment piled on a table outside, with a Katta for my cellmate. He refused to say anything at first, but he opened up when I showed him the pin the Katta merchant had given me as a reward for defeating all the elementals. He revealed himself as a member of the Katta underground, and he said if we escaped the cell, he could open a secret passage to take us to safety.

Or I had 500 dinars, since that's what the Katta was selling it for.

At least, this happened with my magic user and thief. My fighter had forgotten to stop by and pick up the pin, so he had to find the exit on his own.

Getting out of the cell was a simple matter of casting "Open" on the cell door (mage), using the pin as a makeshift lockpick (thief), or simply forcing it open (fighter). I'm not sure what happens if you're a thief and you didn't get the pin, but I suspect any class can force the door with a high enough strength. After that, I had only a few moments to grab my equipment and CRAWL into the secret exit that Sharaf opened (or, in the case of the fighter, that I had to find myself).

Seriously, have they heard of "magic" in Raseir?

The Katta led me back out into the streets of Raseir and indicated that the Underground planned to attack the palace the next night and overthrow the Emir.

Wondering what to do next, I began walking, but no sooner had I gone about 15 feet when the evil wizard, Ad Avis, popped out of an alleyway, froze me in place, and hit me with a Jedi mind trick. For my third character, I tried having "Reversal" active for this scene, but it didn't do any good.

The beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Over the next few screens, the main plot of the game became clear. Ad Avis wanted to take over the world by releasing and controlling the spirit of Iblis, an ancient and evil djinn, from his tomb beneath the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, prophecy stated that only a Hero could enter Iblis's tomb on a specific night every 1001 years. Thus, Ad Avis overthrew the Emir, expelled the Katta, and sent his elementals to threaten Shapeir in hopes that it would lure a Hero to the area. Having accomplished that, he let me goof around until the appointed night, then mind-whammied me to convince me to help him open Iblis's tomb, claiming we needed the statue of Iblis to break the magic spell on the Emir-saurus.

Ad Avis whisked me out into the desert to the Forbidden City but threw a fit when he was unable to open the door to Iblis's tomb. The prophecy had said that the door would open when "the moonlight shines between the Dragon's jaws and is caught and held there by the Scorpion's claws," referring to images of the two animals on the tomb door. Unfortunately, the moon that night had risen in the wrong part of the sky. Ad Avis took it out on me.

But I showed him. I whipped Zayishah's mirror out of my pack and reflected the moon's light on the door, and it opened. Ad Avis demanded that I enter and come out with the statue of Iblis.

What followed were a series of adventure-style navigation puzzles that called upon my various skills, spells, and items. First, I had to light my magic Fire Elemental lamp to see. Then there was a river where I had to time a jump across a log. I spent a lot of time accidentally falling into the river.

Note my head disappearing at the bottom.

On the other side of the river was a wind tunnel that tried to suck me down its hole. I escaped it and went up the stairs, but I couldn't make any progress on the next screen because I kept getting sucked backwards. After some experimentation, I found that a few castings of "Force Bolt" loosened the rocks enough to collapse them and seal off the tunnel. (The fighter's solution was just to whack the rocks. I'm not sure what the thief is supposed to do. My thief had "Force Bolt," so I just used that for him.)

Next came a lava room where I had to thread my way carefully past some lava vents and avoid falling into the magma.

Do those little cones exist in real life? If so, what are they called? I tried to Google it but couldn't find anything.

The path on the next screen ended at a little cliff, and I guess my mage was supposed to "Levitate" down, but I got a little too close and ended up taking a different option.

I also took this option for the fighter, as I didn't know what else to do. My thief was able to get down with his magic rope.

The puzzles culminated in a door where I got a riddle: "None shall enter, none shall pass, but he who speaks the name of Power." This stumped me for a long time. IBLIS seemed obvious, but it didn't work. I tried a host of NPCs to no avail. Finally, I went back to my screenshots and found the answer among Ad Avis's ravings:

I could have also found the answer through a re-read of the game manual, which recounts how a thousand years ago, Sultan Suleiman bin Daoud defeated Iblis with an army of djinn and bound his spirit into the very statue that Ad Avis wanted me to recover.

SULEIMAN opened the door, beyond which was a passage through a treasure room. Trying to take any of the treasure led to unpleasant consequences.

Beyond another door, at last, was the statue.

Just as I was about to take it, Ad Avis teleported in (hey, why didn't WIT teach me that spell?) and snatched it from my grasp. He called me a fool and announced his plan to summon Iblis, "the greatest destructive power ever known." Perhaps more important was this little plot exposition:

Is the "Dark Master" just a generic term for evil, or is there really such a being with that name? If so, Ad Avis's next line suggested that he was done being a servant:

Instead of killing me, which would have been the sensible thing to do, he dubbed me "He Who Waits Behind" and force-bolted the rocks above the door, causing them to collapse into a heap, blocking the door. He then disappeared, leaving me alone in a cold, dark, inescapable tomb.

But wait!

Next post, we'll wrap it up.

  1. Do those little cones exist in real life? If so, what are they called? I tried to Google it but couldn't find anything.

    Er, volcanic cone, spatter variety?

    Also, guess you didn't buy Keapon Laffin's x-ray specs?

    1. Those volcanic cones are enormous. I was wondering if little tiny ones that you could step over actually exist.

      I didn't even see the x-ray specs. They were only good for that one ribald moment, I assume.

    2. The x-ray specs were originally put there as a useless joke item - part of the flavor of the magic shop. Once we got to the scene in Raseir, we (probably I) decided it would be amusing to have them actually do something, so I added the "like looking through a veil" description to the glasses and let the player buy them.

      It's a similar evolution as the Silly Clowns menu - Someone on the team (Brian Hughes in that case) came up with something silly, and we found a way to integrate it into the rest of the game. Lori and I frequently do that together, which is why we don't like to lock down the design at the beginning.

    3. Makes sense. Your games are known for their sense of whimsy, and it would be hard to achieve that if everything had to be plotted and scripted ahead of time.

    4. I think it's possible to see such baby volcanic cones on Earth billions of years ago. Your hero just happens to be living on a very young world that still has such cones that have yet to grow into a humongous land feature after multiple coatings of cooled-off lava.

  2. You really don't remember who the Dark Master is or is it just a peculiar way to avoid spoilers?

    1. I don't remember. I assume he shows up as the villain in III or IV or something, but barely remember those games.

  3. I think the word for the lava cones is "fumerole" - The plural of "Djinn" is "Djinni" (pronounced like "Genie"). Of course we know the difference between a stalactite (hangs down from the ceiling, usually looks like an icicle, formed by mineral water dripping down) and a stalagmite (comes up from the ground, formed by deposited minerals that probably dripped down from a stalagmite). But many people confuse them, so we thought it made a good joke for the Hero to not remember which was which.

    There is a magic ring because Roberta Williams decided there could only be one magic lamp in a Sierra game, and she had one in one of the King's Quests. Besides, it comes across as less of a direct steal from the tale of Aladdin this way. :-)

    Lori wrote an article about the women in Quest for Glory II at

    As for the Dark Master, SPOILER ALERT, there is more about that Wizard and his successor (aka the new Dark Master) at

    Other Quest Log articles talk about the roles of women in the other Quest for Glory games.

    1. There actually was a djinni-from-a-ring in Aladdin's story. Not as powerful as the lamp djinni, but it whisked him around the world instantly without a problem. I always assumed that this WAS a direct reference!

    2. I'd forgotten the ring, but we did quite a bit of 1001 Nights references, so probably Lori knew about the Djinn ring (which is the mark on a table service left from a glass of Djinn and Tonic, no doubt).

    3. Evil wizard or vizier something stole Aladdin's castle and he asked for the ring Djinn to return it but Djinn couldn't because the one in the lamp was much more powerful hence Aladdin had to ask to be teleported near the castle instead to steal the lamp back.

      Must be 20 yars since I've read the tale so my memory is quite fuzzy.

    4. Thanks for the terminology! I learned to remember the difference as stalactites having a "c" for "ceiling" and stalagmites having a "g" for "ground."

    5. You got it backwards, Corey - Djinn is plural, Djinni singular.

    6. According to my brother, who is currently learning Arabic, "djinn" is singular, and "djinni" would actually translate as "My djinn." Using "djinni" as the plural comes from using the Latin plural rules. I forget what the Arabic plural form would be. Plurals in Arabic are much more complex than in English (which is saying something). I think it was similar to "djinni", but with an extra sound in it somewhere.

  4. It looks like the game will or "should" score lower than QfG I, because even if the second game might be better overall, it seems to be a weaker RPG.

    1. I agree, but it is slightly balanced by my preference for the second game's story and puzzles. If it comes in lower, it won't be a LOT lower.

  5. If you bought the otherwise useless X-Ray glasses from Keapon Laffin, Zayishah's clothing change is a little bit more risque and accompanied by a humorous sound effect.

    1. I don't remember Keapon Laffin even mentioning them. Do you know how the X-Ray glasses were cued?

    2. Oh, I see. You had to click on the Groucho-Marx looking things on the shelf.

    3. Also reduces your chance at paladinhood even further!

  6. I actually only watched The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca a few years back, and although I knew the references and where they were from (thanks to them being referenced endlessly in various media), it was nice to see that the films were as good as people said. I would recommend them!

  7. Is there a restaurant in the game that serves an open sesame seed bun?

    1. There's something like that in a Space Quest (3?). It's called Monolith Burger, IIRC.

    2. After seeing that djinn joke i had to make up my own :)

    3. Monolith Burger is also an establishment in "Jones in The Fast Lane" (a digital board game from Sierra).

      Also, the name "Suleiman" is the Arabic equivalent of "Solomon".

  8. My favorite part of Raseir is the announcement periodically heard in its streets: "Everything that isn't mandatory is forbidden." Simple and chilling.

  9. I think there's a plot hole here. If you save Shapeir from the elementals and then go join WIT, Ad Avis should have no way of getting the hero he needs, and thus he would have no way of getting Iblis. Yet the WIT game-over text says that Shapeir is destroyed...

    Come to think of it, is it possible to avoid getting on the caravan on the 17th day? Does that still lead to a loss? It shouldn't, since again, Ad Avis has no way of getting the hero he needs. But then the player's progress would also be stuck.

    1. It's hard to avoid the caravan on the 17th day. You're automatically packed off to it when you wake up after sleeping in the inn the previous night. I think the only way to miss it is to be outside when the 17th day starts. In that event, I think the game does eventually give you a "game over," but I forget what the justification is.

      There are a few plot holes like this. If the hero, for instance, doesn't kill one of the elementals by the third day after it appears, the city is destroyed. How does that serve Ad Avis's ends? But they're all resolved if you simply assume that Ad Avis is a persistent sort of megalomaniac, and he's going to keep trying until he finds a way. Either he finds another way to release Iblis, or he finds another source of power that lets him destroy and conquer.

I welcome all comments about the material in this blog, and I generally do not censor them. However, please follow these rules:

1. Do not link to any commercial entities, including Kickstarter campaigns, unless they're directly relevant to the material in the associated blog posting. (For instance, that GOG is selling the particular game I'm playing is relevant; that Steam is having a sale this week on other games is not.) This also includes user names that link to advertising.

2. Please avoid profanity and vulgar language. I don't want my blog flagged by too many filters.

3. Please don't comment anonymously. It makes it impossible to tell who's who in a thread. Choose the "Name/URL" option, pick a name for yourself, and just leave the URL blank.

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Also, Blogger has a way of "eating" comments, so I highly recommend that you copy your words to the clipboard before submitting, just in case.

I read all comments, no matter how old the entry. So do many of my subscribers. Reader comments on "old" games continue to supplement our understanding of them. As such, all comment threads on this blog are live and active unless I specifically turn them off. There is no such thing as "necro-posting" on this blog, and thus no need to use that term.

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Companies, CXOs rush to modify Esop conditions to include Covid-19 realities

By Sachin Dave, ET Bureau | Updated April 06, 2020, 10.04PM IST

Mumbai: Senior executives at some of the top listed Indian entities, unicorn startups and private equity (PE) backed companies who earn millions in employee stock option plan (Esop) are all set to see their earnings go down drastically due to coronavirus. In last few days some of the top companies, PE funds and senior executives have reached out to

based compensation, said Sai Venkateshwaran, head - CFO advisory, KPMG in India. Industry trackers say that in some cases the parameters of Esops performance are being modified to include peer comparison and increasing the number years to achieve a particular revenue, market share or profit targets. These modifications are also being done in unicorn start-ups and PE backed companies.

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floor retailers in Long Island

If you want to buy a property but also think that you cannot take care of it, plus or when you are not using it and enjoy the profit. In addition to security deposits, many Kailua vacation rentals, do-it-yourself type, you’ll want to make the same changes. Other methods of online banking security measures that can be used include using a chip it was when you arrived, you should receive your security deposit back. In addition to security deposits, many Kailua vacation rentals, card unique to each customer, using two passwords entering only random parts and using digital certificates.

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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Winner!

Congratulations to Margaret S.!  She was the winner chosen from my blog by random number generator to receive one copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 9.

Margaret commented, "Love your block and thank you for showing us how you make a block. Congrats on being on the cover."  I hope you enjoy your magazine, Margaret!

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments.  Everyone was so kind.  It really makes me smile.

If you didn't win a copy somewhere else on the blog tour, I do have a limited number of issues available in the Curlicue Creations shop.  Link to the magazines here:  Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 9.

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

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