This web event was sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Harrisburg, PA, USA.
It will be available for reviewing for 3 months from its recording date of 24 March, 2015.
Thanks so much for the great lecture and your format on submitting questions only for you. Your answer to my question helped the first time, but as I listened again a light bulb went on as I reasoned it through with you. Many thanks for what you are proving and sharing so clearly.
I am glad yours was one of the questions I got to. There were many, many good ones! This was my first webinar. But the intimacy of it all has really sold me on them. I hope I get to do more of them.
Thank you very much for sharing this webinar. I continue to strive to demonstrate Christian Science and I loved how clear and easy to understand the ideas shared here were.
That warms my heart, Tawny. Webinars and lectures are designed to clear the path of whatever would obstruct the path for those who are striving as you are.
So grateful for this wonderful webinar! The thoughts shared are so clear, inspiring, helpful, and healing! Thank you, Michelle, for this generous sharing and blessing!
So glad. And thank you for writing in!
on! Very interesting Q&A segment.Look forward to more events.
Sherry from Woodland Hills, Ca.
was engaging for those new to Christian Science as well as seasoned students. I highly recommend sharing this webinar. Thank you so much!
Thank you! I am hearing it is being widely shared. I know First Church Harrisburg is grateful that their event, and their prayers, are meeting so many needs.
If you have several physical problems that needs healing,would you tackle them one at a time or all at once?
Hi Esther, There is no single answer to that question. Each practitioner may have a different approach, or may answer the question differently. The response would depend on if one thinks they need to change a bad situation into a better one, or if they are working from a Christian Science standpoint, which would requiring starting with what God knows and with what is spiritually true. For example: A man is dreaming that a bear is chasing him. The bear is very angry. He has a wounded foot due to stepping in a bear trap. The man starts to cross a river to escape the bear but is afraid he will lose his footing. He calls out for help. Where does one start? Carry him across the river? Toss him a rope to guide him across? Capture the bear and care for his wound? Shoot the bear? Or help the man wake up and realize that no matter how complicated and desperate the individual elements of the dream, he was and is completely safe and awake?


text:
Q: Change angular $scope value when different radio button is clicked I am doing an angular project, I have tried to change scope values and element values by changing radio button. When radio button 1 is clicked I am getting value from server and saving it in scope and element. When I click radio button 2 all scope and element must be deleted. Emptied all scopes. But my problem is when I edit the input, and click radio button 2 , span value and place holder in input both are shown. The Span must not be shown. Here is my code.
index.html

      <ion-item class="item-checkbox" style="border: none;">

<input type="radio" id="oldChecked" ng-value="true" ng-model="oldChecked" ng-click="showName()">
             Radio 1
      </ion-item>

      <ion-item class="item-checkbox" style="border: none;">

                <input type="radio" id="newChecked" ng-value="true" ng-model="newChecked" ng-click="deleteName()">
             Radio 2
      </ion-item>

  Name
  *

  <input type="text" placeholder="Name" ng-model="pName"
   id="pName" name="pName" required>

controller.js
$scope.showName=function(){
$http.post(WebServer_URL, data, config)
  .success(function (data, status, headers, config) {
    var x2js = new X2JS();
    var jsonOutput = x2js.xml_str2json(data);
    var myPatient = JSON.parse(jsonOutput.string);
    $scope.pName = myPatient[0].Pt_Name;
    document.getElementById('pName').value = myPatient[0].Pt_Name;
}).error(function (data, status, header, config) {
    console.log("Status: " + status);
  });
}

    $scope.deleteName=function(){
    $scope.pName="";
    document.getElementById('pName').value = "";
 }

Here is the image showing span and placeholder
Please help me on this issue . Thanks in advance guys.

A: // radio buttons should have same ng-model
<input type="radio" value="oldChecked" ng-model="myOption" ng-click="showName()">
<input type="radio" value="newChecked" ng-model="myOption" ng-click="deleteName()">
<input type="text" id="pName" ng-model="pName" placeholder="Name">

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
West throws wicked curve
TRACY RENCK | tracyr@chieftain.com
Traveling down this road was completely unexpected . . . unless you're a member of the Pueblo West High School baseball team.
The Cyclones (13-7-1) have arrived as members of the state's Class 4A Elite 8, even if it is a day later because Friday's games were postponed after Thursday's rain.
They meet Thompson Valley (16-5) at 9 a.m. today at All-Star Park in Lakewood. The winner in this eight-team, double-elimination championship series faces the Palmer Ridge-Green Mountain winner at 3 p.m. today.
The Cyclones qualified by winning the District 3 championship over Thomas Jefferson 6-5 Monday in Denver.
"We are excited about this opportunity," West coach Dan Sanchez said. "We played very well in districts. We hit the ball and played good defense."
This is Pueblo West's first trip to the Class 4A Elite 8 championship series. The Cyclones finished second in the South-Central League with a 7-5 record, and dropped three of their final four S-CL games, including 7-6 to Centennial and 6-5 to league champ South in consecutive games.
"We lost a lot of games late in the season, but a lot of them were close games," Sanchez said. "We just didn't have the ball bounce our way, but I think we learned a lot from those losses, especially the one to South. I think we realized after that game that we could play with anybody."
This is the third consecutive year a South-Central League team has advanced to the Elite 8. South made it in 2009 and 2010. The 2001 Colts are the last team from Pueblo to win state.
The top four finishers this weekend advance to the Final Four May 27-28 at All-City Stadium in Denver.
West shortstop Jordan Ruiz is optimistic the Cyclones can continue their improbable run.
"We proved a lot of people wrong to get here," said Ruiz, a senior. "We are ready to play, but we are not going to get too hyped up. I think the key for our team this season is that we have never got too high or too low emotionally. We just have to go out there and play like we are capable of."
Cyclones pitcher Brent Zimmer agreed.
"We have nothing to lose this weekend," Zimmer said. "No one expected us to be here. This is a very exciting time for our baseball program and it is really great that we are the last Pueblo team left playing."
Zimmer is expected to start against Thompson Valley. The junior finished the regular season with a 6-3 record and a league-best 2.80 ERA.
"I can't wait to get out there on the mound, but I need to make sure I do not get too hyped up," the right-hander said. "I just have to keep my composure and throw my game."
West's Gavin Compton batted .404 in the regular season and Zimmer batted .390.
"When we have played well, we have received great pitching and played solid defense," Sanchez said. "We got hot at the right time and we need to continue to pitch well and play defense if we are going to have success this weekend."
Thompson Valley won 10 of its last 11 games and upset Coronado 12-11 and host Broomfield 8-7 to win the District 4 title.
Jeremy White (.514) and Max Schoen (.500) lead Thompson Valley's offense. Cale Carsen is the Eagles' top pitcher (8-1, 2.76 ERA, 50 2/3 innings), and the senior has a team-best 55 strikeouts.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Bangladesh to Hang Islamist Leader Mohammad Kamaruzzaman Found Guilty of War Crimes
By Ludovica Iaccino
November 3, 2014 11:40 GMT
A supreme court in Bangladesh has upheld the death sentence of a top Islamist leader, accused of war crimes.
Mohammad Kamaruzzaman - leader of Bangladesh's largest Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami - is to be hanged after he was found guilty of genocide and torture by a war crimes tribunal.
Kamaruzzaman allegedly committed the crimes during the country's 1971 war for independence.
Among other things, he is believed to have killed at least 120 unarmed male farmers in the northern border town of Sohagpur.
Activists and former freedom fighters who fought against Pakistan in the 1971 war demonstrate following the sentencing of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mohammad Kamaruzzaman in Dhaka on 3 November, 2014 Getty Images
Bangladesh 1971 Independence War
The revolutionary independent war erupted in south Asia in 1971, after the Pakistani army had launched a military operation against Bengali civilians and armed personnel, who were demanding separation between West and East Pakistan.
The nine-month-conflict pitted East Pakistan – later joined by India – against West Pakistan.
The war caused the death of three million people, and prompted at least 10 million to flee their homes.
The conflict culminated with the creation of the Republic of Bangladesh.
The death sentence comes just a few days after chief Motiur Rahman Nizami was sentenced to death for the same crimes and also for murder and rape during the war.
The convictions have caused outrage, prompting the leaders' supporters to stage a three-day strike.
The death sentences were upheld after the country's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, set up the war tribunal in 2010 to look into crimes committed during the war, during which an estimated three million people died.
However, many have argued that the tribunal is being used by the government to target political opponents.
The government denied the allegations and defended the death sentences as a means to come to terms with the country's turbulent past.
More on Bangladesh
Bangladesh\'s Oldest Brothel Demolished and 770 Prostitutes Flee after Threats
Boko Haram, Isis and Islam: Radical Free Village Movement Busts Myth that \'Sharia Law is Allah\'s Law\'
Bangladesh Hit by Major Nationwide Power Blackout
Indian Intelligence Foils Suspected Terror Plot to Kill Bangladesh PM
Audit at Garment Factories in Bangladesh Finds Over 80,000 Safety Hazards


As a growth investor can you use the Piotroski F-Score to increase your returns? That is what a friend of mine set out to test in an interesting research paper called Utility of Piotroski F-Score for Predicting Growth Stock Returns.
The success of a long-short strategy that buys high F-Score (good) companies and shorts low F-Score (bad) growth companies?
As you can see there is a huge benefit to growth investors of using the Piotroski F-Score.
Over the 12 year period High Piotroski F-Score companies (high quality companies) generated an average return of 10.74% whereas low Piotroski F-Score companies (low quality companies) generated a return of -13.82%.
Here is the download link of the research paper: Utility of Piotroski F-Score for Predicting Growth Stock Returns.


text:
Home Death Notices CHERYL RUTH BRYCE
CHERYL RUTH BRYCE
Expositor Staff
February 2, 1947 – October 19, 2011
Cheryl quietly left us on Wednesday morning in a hospital in Montreal with her Gordie at her side. During her year and a half long struggle with cancer she was brave, strong, dignified and beautiful. She will be remembered for being the mantle, the matriarch, the centre of the family, and for some the centre of the universe. Her dedication to her family, especially her children and grandchildren, was remarkable. She has left us with a huge hole in our hearts and a flood of memories from her beginnings in the Sudbury area to Europe, Ottawa, Washington DC and to her special beach in Tenaga where she found her peace and spent her summers with her grandson Aben. She leaves behind her husband, Gordon Betcherman, the love of her life; her children Anthony (Scott Starzec), Chandra (Patrick Hines) and Stacey Gibbs; her grandchildren Aben, Finn and Stella; her father William Bryce (late Ruth Bryce, her mother, who passed away only 10 months earlier); her sister Nancy Bryce and brother-in-law Robert Domus; niece and nephew, Kyla and Matt (Nancy) and grandniece, Haileigh; Gordon's family, Lita-Rose and Irving Betcherman, Michael, Claudette, Laura and Martin and many, many very special friends. The family members would like to express their gratitude to the staff at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal for taking such good care of Cheryl to the very end. www.mcgarryfamily.ca
DON EADIE
PAUL FRANCIS BATMAN
MARGARET "YVONNE" (NEE LEWIS) CARROLL
Friends of Old School bid to save historic building
Michael Erskine - January 13, 2021
Plan to incorporate as not-for-profit through Ontario Historical Society CENTRAL MANITOULIN - The ongoing saga of the Mindemoya Old...
Leadership Committee optimistic about vaccine roll-out
MANITOULIN - The Manitoulin COVID-19 Leadership Co-ordination Committee met for its 20th session on Tuesday, January 12. The Manitoulin...


Southeast Lady Pirates fall to Garfield-Garrettsville 37-43. It was a game of defense for both teams. Andrea Radcliff who had her 5th straight double-double carried the team with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals. Junior point guard, Leann James added 5 points and 7 rebounds. The G-men were led by Makenna Lawrence with 13 points.


text:
Q: Pygame: Draw single pixel I'm looking for method that allow me to draw single pixel on display screen. For example when I click mouse, I want the position of clicked pixel to change color. I know how to read mouse pos, but I could not find simple pixel draw ( there is screen.fill method but it's not working as I want).

A: For those who are interested in a more modern answer to the question you can use pygame.draw.circle() to draw a single pixel at a given position (or center).
pygame.draw.circle(surface, color, center, 0)

The documentation specifically says:

radius (int or float) -- radius of the circle, measured from the center parameter, a radius of 0 will only draw the center pixel

A: You can do this with surface.set_at():
surface.set_at((x, y), color)

You can also use pygame.gfxdraw.pixel():
from pygame import gfxdraw
gfxdraw.pixel(surface, x, y, color)

Do note, however, the warning:

EXPERIMENTAL!: meaning this api may change, or dissapear in later
  pygame releases. If you use this, your code will break with the next
  pygame release.

You could use surface.fill() to do the job too:
def pixel(surface, color, pos):
    surface.fill(color, (pos, (1, 1)))

You can also simply draw a line with the start and end points as the same:
def pixel(surface, color, pos):
    pygame.draw.line(surface, color, pos, pos)

A: One way of doing that is to draw a line staring and ending at the same point.
pygame.draw.line(surface, (255,255,255), (x,y), (x,y))

A: The usual method of drawing a point on a Surface or the display is to use  [`pygame.Surface.set_at']:
window_surface.set_at((x, y), my_color)

However, this function is very slow and leads to a massive lack of performance if more than 1 point is to be drawn.
Minimal example where each pixel is set separately:  repl.it/@Rabbid76/PyGame-DrawPixel-1

import pygame

pygame.init()
window = pygame.display.set_mode((300, 300))

run = True
while run:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            run = False

    window.fill(0)

    rect = pygame.Rect(window.get_rect().center, (0, 0)).inflate(*([min(window.get_size())//2]*2))

    for x in range(rect.width):
        u = x / (rect.width - 1)
        color = (round(u*255), 0, round((1-u)*255))
        for y in range(rect.height):
            window.set_at((rect.left + x, rect.top + y), color)

    pygame.display.flip()

pygame.quit()
exit()

Another option is to use a "pygame.PixelArray" object. This object enables direct pixel access to Surface objects. A PixelArray pixel item can be assigned directly. The pixel can be accessed by subscription. The PixelArray locks the Surface, You have to close() it when you have changed the pixel:
pixel_array = pygame.PixelArray(window_surface)

pixel_array[x, y] = my_color
pixel_array[start_x:end_x, start_y:end_y] = my_color

pixel_array.close()

Minimal example that set one line of pixels at once:  repl.it/@Rabbid76/PyGame-DrawPixel-2

import pygame

pygame.init()
window = pygame.display.set_mode((300, 300))

run = True
while run:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            run = False

    window.fill(0)

    rect = pygame.Rect(window.get_rect().center, (0, 0)).inflate(*([min(window.get_size())//2]*2))

    pixel_array = pygame.PixelArray(window)

    for x in range(rect.width):
        u = x / (rect.width - 1)
        color = (round(u*255), 0, round((1-u)*255))
        pixel_array[rect.left + x, rect.top:rect.bottom] = color

    pixel_array.close()

    pygame.display.flip()

pygame.quit()
exit()

A: draw a single coloured pixel
def drawPoint(x,y,color):

    s = pygame.Surface((1,1))   # the object surface 1 x 1 pixel (a point!)

    s.fill(color)               # color as (r,g,b); e.g. (100,20,30)

# now get an object 'rectangle' from the object surface and place it at position x,y

    r,r.x,r.y = s.get_rect(),x,y

    screen.blit(s,r)            # link the object rectangle to the object surface

of course you have to call:  pygame.display.update() once you have
drawn all the points you need, don't call update at every single point.

A: # with this function, you can draw points and change the yer size
def point(surface, color, x, y, size):
    '''the surface need the information of the pygame window'''
    for i in range(0, size):
        pygame.draw.line(surface, color, (x, y-1), (x, y+2), abs(size))


would benefit Indian companies, could reduce online sales by $46 billion by 2022. Reuters.
India's ecommerce market was earlier estimated to grow to $200 billion by 2026, up from $38.5 billion as of 2017.
Raliance Retail that serves more than 3.5 million customers each week through its nearly 10,000 physical stores in more than 6,500 Indian cities and towns will roll out a new online shopping platform for 1.2 million retailers and store owners with Jio.


text:
First Energy plans $166 million in upgrades in West Virginia
Published: Mar. 20, 2017 at 11:47 AM EDT
First Energy Corporation, owner of Mon Power, plans $166 million infrastructure upgrade in 34 West Virginia counties in 2017, including several projects in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
The company says the projects include transmission enhancements to reinforce the system, along with constructing new distribution lines and inspecting and replacing utility poles and other equipment.
Projects in the Mid-Ohio Valley under this plan include:
$2.2 million to move 4 transmission lines in Pleasants County to bypass the substation at the decommissioned Willow Island Generation Station and connect them with another substation several miles away. This project is expected to be completed in June.
$1.3 million to replace 26 sets of disconnect switches on 138-KV breakers at numerous electrical substations in Mon Power's service area.
$200,000 to install a new, fiber-optic communication line across the Ohio River to connect a Mon Power substations in Parkersburg with an AEP substation in Ohio, to prevent damage to equipment when fault is detected at either substation.
$9.2 million to inspect, replace or upgrade 23,000 distribution poles and equipment on distribution circuits (including new wires, cables and fuses) across the Mon Power service area.
Mon Power says it provides electricity to about 385,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties.
Ohio reports 78 more deaths from COVID-19


Ready for some grim statistics? 20% of new businesses make it past their first year of operation. Half of those businesses no longer exist after five years, and only a third of those businesses make it ten years.
If you want a business to make it, you need grit, determination, and a solid plan for success.
In our increasingly digitalized world, your marketing strategy represents one of the key factors distinguishing you from the competition.
Marketing optimization can take your business to the next level, here is what you need to know to do it properly.
It's not enough to throw thousands of dollars on a lofty marketing budget. In fact, this is a waste of both time and money.
Before you even begin your marketing strategy, consider these factors.
Who is your ideal customer? Where do they live? What do they do for work? Do they have children or pets? How do they spend their free time?
You need to develop a clear picture. If you are an existing business, start by examining your current customers. Who are they, and why are they buying from you? What common traits do they all share?
Scope out the competition. Who is their target audience? What people might they be missing?
If you're just starting, spend some time assessing your product or service. What are the benefits it provides? What kind of person would most appreciate what you have to offer?
Knowing these key features can help you shape your marketing strategy. After all, it's hard to optimize when you don't know your intentions.
Are you only focused on driving sales or expanding? It could be a costly mistake! If you already have loyal customers, you don't want to squander their business.
Here's some food for thought: research shows that 80% of your business comes from just 20% of your customers. In other words, you better take care of your existing fans. They just might be the bread and butter to your revenue.
To start, you must measure your customer acquisition value. Your ROI refers to how much individuals spend in their first purchase compared to how much it cost to acquire them.
That said, it's often not a fixed amount. Acquiring a person once may not be enough to keep him or her loyal to your product.
Have you ever bought a product online and then received an email coupon for 20% off your next purchase? Likewise, have you ever received a follow-up email reminding you of products left in your shopping cart?
These marketing tactics focus on customer retention. Rather than only trying to acquire new customers, they focus on attracting their current fanbase.
People want to feel special. More than that, they don't want to feel like they're getting ripped off or taken for a fool. You need to dance that fine line to address both priorities.
In this online world, a dynamic and efficient SEO strategy is inevitable. If you don't have your SEO mastered, the competition will swallow you whole. Furthermore, avoiding SEO (or making SEO mistakes) can negatively impact your business.
If you're willing to take the time and research to learn SEO, you can do it on your own. That said, it does require persistence and diligence.
To start, you need to engage in keyword research. There are many free tools available, such as Google's Keyword Planner, that can help you begin. You can also try premium tools like AHREFS or SEMRush.
Ideally, you want to strike that balance between finding keywords with high traffic volume that aren't impossible to rank for. Long-tail keywords are often the best bet.
Backlinks essentially build authority within your industry. If you generate backlinks from high-quality sites, it helps improve your online reputation and website's domain authority.
Acquiring backlinks takes time. You can consider reaching out to different site owners and offer to guest post in exchange for providing a backlink to your business's site.
You need to learn how to read and interpret your website's conversions and traffic trends. Many beginners start with Google Analytics, as it provides visitor information and customizable tracking goals for free.
Familiarize yourself with learning and reading about the data. This will help you tweak your campaigns for optimal results.
As mentioned, a quality SEO strategy takes time and persistence. If you lack these (or simply aren't interested in the learning curve), it may be best to outsource to a professional.
Professionals can help you elevate your current marketing strategy to the next level without you having to figure it all out on your own.
Take your time to research different companies but be cautious with your search. If anyone promises instant or guaranteed results, they're likely using shady tactics or are an outright scam.
Email is by far one of the best ways to reach your audience. In fact, research suggests it may be 40 times more effective than social media acquisition.
However, you need to make sure that you're doing the right kind of email marketing to yield the best results. Otherwise, you risk turning off your current and potential customers.
Worldwide, we send a staggering 205 billion emails each day. Think about how many of those emails you automatically trash without opening them.
In other words, your email strategy needs to be efficient and valuable. Send downloadable guides. Provide tantalizing coupons. Send links to your most valuable blog posts.
This is a quality-over-quantity strategy. Nobody wants to receive a ton of emails after buying one product from you.
Email marketing services like MailChimp make it easy to create convenient, mobile-optimized emails.
These services also allow you to integrate email lists, create sign-up forms, and make newsletter templates.
Many of them also allow you to test out different subject lines. With this strategy, you can determine which kinds of pitches best attract your target demographic.
Let's be honest. Nobody wants to read a massive paragraph of text from you. Instead, they'll decide within a quick moment whether they want to click through your email.
Keep your message short and to the point. Be authoritative in showing or telling them what they need to do next (i.e., "click for more" or "view our deal now!"). Make the CTA visible, aesthetically pleasing, and direct.
First things first, if you aren't active on the major social media platforms, you're probably missing out on tens of thousands of potential customers.
However, not all social media platforms are created equal. Successful marketers understand each platform's nuances. They use those differences to their advantage.
Manually managing social media takes tremendous time and effort. It's also easy to make mistakes or forget your posting schedule.
Each of these allows you to schedule your social media posts in advance. They also allow you to track your accounts when people comment or leave messages.
Facebook. Twitter. Pinterest. Instagram. It's easy to get distracted by all the different channels and feel overwhelmed with how to start.
While many companies successfully dominate all the platforms, you don't need to do this from the beginning.
Instead, it may be best to focus your attention on 1-3 different platforms. This gives you the time to understand each platform and its user base intimately.
It also allows you to spend time focusing on how to gain traction, followers, and customer interaction.
If your website uses a blog, which it should, make it easy for followers to share your content on social media. Numerous plugins allow users to share posts with the click of a button.
Furthermore, you can set up your blog to automatically post on social media whenever you publish new content.
Even if you use automation tools, customers can detect inauthenticity. That said, social media provides an amazing opportunity for you to interact with your customers.
Share and comment on other business's content. Reply to your customer's questions. Give shout-outs to your fans.
Today, more and more people want to know the face behind the brand. That means they want to know who you are, and what you stand for, outside of just the product or service you're selling.
It's one thing to create your marketing campaign. It's another to determine if it's actually working.
However, marketing optimization requires that you routinely assess your efforts. This helps you figure out your strengths and weaknesses. It also helps you decide where to next invest your time or money.
A website audit allows you to identify your site's weak points. Create a document where you can track your findings.
Start by looking at your homepage. Do you have a popup? Is it actually providing value to your customer?
Do you have a CTA on your homepage? Have people been clicking it?
What about your blog? How often have you been posting? Which articles yield the best results? Can people quickly find your blog?
You'll want to go through each of your site's main pages. This is a great time to test for site speed and other technological issues. If your site takes too long to load, there's a good chance most people will hit that dreaded 'back' button.
If you use paid advertising, you need to audit that, too. If you don't, you'll waste a lot of money.
With this, you want to create a report for the past 2-3 months for each of your paid accounts. Identify your priority metrics to establish your ROI.
In other words, is the money you're spending generating you the kinds of results you want? If not, what needs to change?
For example, if many people click through the ad but don't convert, is your website to blame? Is it the advertisement itself?
At the end of the day, marketing comes down to numbers. You want your customers to buy your product or service.
If you have gaps in the funnel, you won't receive the conversions you need. This may come down to the organization. Are your calls-to-action efficient?
Is it easy for customers to locate how and where to buy your products or services? Do you offer streamlined methods for payment? Are the benefits of buying from you completely clear?
You don't want your customers guessing. Furthermore, you don't want them hunting around finding how to purchase what they need.
The DIY method might be overwhelming. It requires interpretation and data analysis, and you may not have the time or desire to focus your efforts on this process right now.
There are numerous companies that can assist you in professional site auditing. Whether you want a one-time audit, or a longer-term commitment, this can be one of the best investments you make for your business.
Your marketing strategy is important, but chances are, you have dozens of other priorities, too. Marketing optimization helps you make the most of your time and resources.
Interested in reviewing how efficient your strategies are? Get a free digital marketing review today!


English Page – オリジナルギターピック "TOKYO WOOD PICK"
and 40% of Tokyo area actually consists of the forest.
and finished up with Japanese urushi.
Those who cut down and process trees, and those who lacquer wood picks with Urushi.
Using the natural materials, adding their handwork, we make the wood pick attentively and carefully.
In your hand, in your music, you can feel the warmth of the wood with the wood pick.


Thanks to a growing research enterprise, the University of Louisville School of Dentistry ranks 13th nationally in the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) funding for 2016 - a jump from 17th in the previous year.
"The UofL School of Dentistry is punching above its weight in securing National Institutes of Health research grants. This is an amazing achievement and a reflection of the tireless efforts of the talented research faculty," said T. Gerard Bradley, B.D.S., M.S., Dr.Med.Dent., dean of the UofL School of Dentistry.
Bradley says despite increased competition and tighter budgets, the school's NIDCR research income exceeds $4 million. The ranking puts UofL's School of Dentistry higher than a number of larger institutions such as Ohio State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Washington and State University of New York at Buffalo.
The success, he says, is a tangible outcome of a long-term strategic plan to increase the national and international stature of dental research, and basic science is integrated throughout the teaching and clinical missions of school. The research intensive Department of Oral Immunology and Infectious Disease, created by former dental dean John J. Sauk, D.D.S., M.S., in 2015 drives extramurally funded endeavors.
"We have built a thematic research program that allows individual projects to be supported by several faculty with complementary expertise," said Richard J. Lamont, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Oral Immunology and Infectious Diseases and Delta Dental Endowed Professor.
Bradley says many challenges lie ahead in the harsh funding climate, but the school has positioned itself to remain competitive.
"Through the recent recruitment of two outstanding assistant professors, Huizhi Wang, Ph.D., and Juhi Bagaitkar, Ph.D., and the addition of Lisa Sandell, Ph.D., to the Department of Oral Immunology and Infectious Disease, we maintain optimism about future growth" he said.
The School of Dentistry's research advancement is consistent with increased national and international recognition, as faculty publish papers in high impact journals, serve on editorial boards and grant review panels, and receive invitations to speak at international conferences. The school already exceeds more than 80 research publications for the 2016-17 academic year.


text:
https://www.universitypressscholarship.com/search?f_0=keywords&q_0=Baruch%20Mizrahi
Keywords: Baruch Mizrahi x
Middle East History (1)
The Siege of Sana'a and the End of the Yemen Civil War
Asher Orkaby
in Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International History of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68
History, Middle East History, World Modern History
As Egyptian troops withdrew from Yemen in November 1967, Imam al-Badr's royalist armies descended upon Sana'a to overthrow the republic. The subsequent seventy-day siege served as a defining moment ... More
As Egyptian troops withdrew from Yemen in November 1967, Imam al-Badr's royalist armies descended upon Sana'a to overthrow the republic. The subsequent seventy-day siege served as a defining moment for Yemen. The heroic efforts of Hassan al-'Amri and timely Soviet airlifts helped defend the capital city and create the revolutionary ethos that defined the Yemeni republic for the next six decades. The lifting of the siege in February 1968 was the first step toward a gradual Yemeni-led cessation of hostilities. In the aftermath of the siege, international attention dissipated as quickly as it had arrived six years earlier, having transformed Yemen from an isolated imamate into a modern nation-state.Less
As Egyptian troops withdrew from Yemen in November 1967, Imam al-Badr's royalist armies descended upon Sana'a to overthrow the republic. The subsequent seventy-day siege served as a defining moment for Yemen. The heroic efforts of Hassan al-'Amri and timely Soviet airlifts helped defend the capital city and create the revolutionary ethos that defined the Yemeni republic for the next six decades. The lifting of the siege in February 1968 was the first step toward a gradual Yemeni-led cessation of hostilities. In the aftermath of the siege, international attention dissipated as quickly as it had arrived six years earlier, having transformed Yemen from an isolated imamate into a modern nation-state.
Keywords: Siege of Sana'a, Hassan al-'Amri, Soviet Union, People's Republic of South Yemen (PRSY), People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), Bruce Condé, Tony Boyle, 'Abd al-Rahman al-Iryani, Baruch Mizrahi


A shop fitter is a person who prepares, creates the shop layout and may likewise be responsible for the installation of equipment and service and fittings. A shop fitter can choose to embrace a store fitting system from mixes of standardized elements for a certain store. Shopfitters can likewise be involved in remodellings.
Store fitting is the trade of fitting out retail stores and shops with fixtures and fittings and other trusted equipment. Store fitting varieties from retail stores and shops to huge stores like hypermarkets and supermarkets.
For a effective shopfitting procedure, the store fitters begin with the study of the store and measuring the available area. The shop fitters the prepare or make a style which the customer is given for reviews and approval. The interior design illustrations can be specified with the specifications for the counters, shelving according to the products chosen by the owner. The store fitter creates inning accordance with the materials selected by the owner. For instance, if an owner picks wooden shelves the shop fitter is to arrange for building of those materials. Once the client authorizes the shop fitter, he or she has the responsibility of purchasing or arranging for the ideal equipment and furnishings which is then provided and set up.
Retail store fittings do not have a big budget plan like that of big store like hypermarkets. The majority of the retail store fittings are created to either have no or more information less structure and setup requirement that is anyone can do easily.
Retailer fittings resemble for example a series of retail accessories for your retailers. That is for example screen stands, show hooks and accessories, pricing guns and labels, tables, cabinet, security, and security, kick steps, store counters, furnishings ranges, store lighting, show shelving which may be wood, metal or glass made and clearance shop fittings. Setup of some of these store fittings will need shop fitters whereas others you can install .
Store fitting designs depend on the type of product or services you wish to provide. For example for a style store, one will require cabinets and racks for their screens. Such a shop ought to also ensure that their screens match the most recent trends.
For a non-clothing store fittings, one ought to make sure that the components and fittings of the retailer make the image of the store look fresh and with existing still products. The supplies need to be of high quality too.
For a storage facility and warehouse retail store, the fittings need to be strong and long-term. It requires shelves and racks which need to be really firm and well maintained designed for retail industry.
ARNO not merely gives new shopfitting principles, but can go on and produce present concepts and types. in lots of cases we even realize considerable savings devoid of switching the appearance This can be accomplished by our benefit Engineering and optimized style Concepts.
UK Shopfitters is a component of Global Displays, a Cambridgeshire primarily based firm that excels during the provision of shopfitting expert services for high street and independent vendors, with substantial practical experience gleaned from many years of good quality company.
the look of varied fixtures and home furniture can be manipulated minimizing the amount of personal pieces which might reduce the price of production and Shop Fitting.
The group at International shows excel in making bespoke and custom made constructed exhibition stands for anywhere you intend to showcase your solutions, allowing you to make the utmost volume of effect. an extensive number of shop fitters trade event counters include the finishing contact to any exhibition and clearly show stands. The group can also source and design quality exhibition furniture, exhibition stands, modular trade exhibits stands, client exhibition stands, portably trade show stands, exhibit booths and cost-free standing slatwall remedies in almost any array and configuration to suit into the area that you've got booked.
I'm able to propose International shows with no hesitation. They came up trumps for us on a complex, multi-format, branded slatwall task where by our shopper constantly moved the goalposts.
NORTH East shopfitters have capped their busiest year thus far immediately after winning a offer well worth a minimum of PS2m with countrywide footwear big Schuh.
The shop fitter arranges for acquire of standard devices and shop fitters items or creation of bespoke, delivers and physically installs them—until eventually the shop is prepared for everyday Procedure.
most significantly we Incorporate all of this understanding with years of expertise for a shop fitter to supply a Shop Fitting assistance in a reduced Value.
possessing worked with a few of the most significant and most prestigious shops useful content to the significant Road nowadays, the staff present reassurance of incomparable information and experience.
Shopfitting technique are usually linked to a "modular" concept, that means that each products has multiple use. This economically goes into the rules of "community", where by a person factor has the value of a few, if added to a different aspect, because 1x1=1 but 2x2=4: an check out here additional items intended and compatible with Other folks, has really large price.
Since 1989 International shows has gone from power to toughness With all the shopfitting field, giving the best to prospects continually.
For your shopfitting you are able to opt for a standard variant of metal or maybe a great Wooden for top quality excellent. At ARNO we provide diverse furnishing assistance based upon your individual fitting desires and your required selling price to the Shop Fitting process.
tailor made produced displays and point of sale gear will give your solution(s) the most publicity that is essential to showcase them in all their glory. From a solitary bespoke solution created to purchase, into a profits counter or shopfitting rollouts for just a retail or chain retailer, the International shows group have the ability to do the job with both you and your ideas employing the latest in CAD technology.
In 1989 the International shows partnership was shaped to supply Screen techniques to independent new music shops in the UK. the business has become owned shop fitters by Carl Jenkin that has diversified the business enterprise to provide shopfitting solutions to all areas of the marketplace. Near me .
A manufacturer would normally launch new shopfitting programs over a 2-year basis. foremost producers would present structure oriented techniques, followers would re interpret them creating the Show solution achievable with as lots of as current items as you can, hoping that retailers will opt for their product simply because less costly.


Floyd Sr. got hitched in Vegas.
Ladies, Floyd Mayweather Sr. is officially off the market.
According to TMZ Sports, the 65-year old former boxer reportedly tied the knot at a private ceremony in Las Vegas back in February, but the photos have only just hit the 'net. TMZ reports, "sources connected to the situation tell us ... Floyd and Lois Ann Roberts hit up the Stained Glass Wedding Chapel in Vegas on February 4 and swapped "I Dos" in a very quick and quiet ceremony." Although the Stained Glass Wedding Chapel offers Elvis-themed weddings, it is believed Floyd Sr. went the more traditional route.
As for his son, undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., TMZ reports that he was not in attendance for the wedding, but he is in full support of his father's marriage to Lois Ann Roberts. "They've known each other for decades and he considered her family even before things became official."
Just last month it was revealed that Floyd Sr. is the father to a one-year old girl. The news came by way of a DNA test, following a paternity dispute with a woman named Purisa Farris.


Pavlou Plumbers is an independent Gas Safe registered plumbing company based in the North West.
Booster pumps can be used to increase your water pressure for your whole house or just your shower. The 2 main leading brands are SALAMANDER and STUART TURNER. Care must be taken when choosing the right pump for your water system. This link from the Stuart Turner website gives a description on which pump would be suitable to boost your shower.
If you do not have a cold water tank then your only option would be the pump in this youtube clip.
You also need to be aware not all showers are designed for high water pressure, therefore your shower may also need replacing if you install a high pressure booster pump.
You can also by power showers where the pump is in the shower unit, which means you have what looks like a large electric shower like the picture below. Installing this type of power shower on a stud wall is not advised due to the noise created when the pump is running.


Syd showing up in the desert via a military jet parachute was great.
I don't entirely know David's plan, other than he implanted parts of it into the crew.
I completely forgot Melanie was even a character, and now it seems like she is under Farouk's control.
The whole mainframe that Admiral Fukuyama has access to is bonkers. Ptonomny is alive but isn't alive inside of it?
Really weird episode and I really don't know what else to say. I hope David has a plan for the traveling building in the desert.


Vice President Ratnakar Misra presiding.
Quotation from an introduction and reply by Manu Shanker Mishra.
"In any pedagogy there is suppression.The economics of higher education of a formal system in an overall model of primary,secondary and higher education takes note of both formal and informal education in view of the privileged and under privileged sections of the society.With an intuitive knowledge of the market pulse the analyzer can do regular suppression without ignoring the business cycle caused by zeta function of a double sheeted plane and the first, second or third wave.The shock fronts effect the point of vetification in the social distribution of knowledge.In a system of awarding for a reward in terms of gain of knowledge in the 0 knowledge model there is no future shock or tremor in the present if no institution of higher education is treated as the sole point of reference with high frequency.The informal economy is purposefully ignored and formal education is of a degree even with scholarships,grants and loans.Acceptance is a wish of the priveleged only while for the underprivileged it is what they must accept.Between invention and theory there interval of creative ability and false notions.Comparitive advantages underlying interchange of ideas are repressed as industry and trade insist that there interest must be first attended to.An assymetric technology is not necessarily anti-symmetric but effects priorities.Experiences in Bihar or India do not differ from those of UNESCO and world line has existence only in Editorial Board of New York Times and Discovery Channels."
Ratnakar Misra summed up proceedings, thanked the Team which gave the power point presentation and thanked the Lady Social Activist, Suman Lal for sharing her experiences in jail with all.She had to serve the sentence for being guilty of contmpt of court, as held by a bench of Patna High Court headed by Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad. This reported judgment had curious references to Manu Smriti.


Who better to represent Piaget's iconic 'Possession' collection, the slogan of which is 'Turn and the world is yours, than the utterly chic style icon who has it all, Olivia Palermo. The new face of 'Possession' styled her favorite pieces, adding her own signature twist on the fine jewelry for a look that oozes luxury and modernity at the same time. Her top tip? Stack and layer. "I love the bangles. Stacking them is very chic," shares Palermo. She also presents a new way of wearing a single earring by clipping it on the side of her ear and of wearing a long necklace by splitting it so one end falls to the front and one to the back.
Take a closer look at the pieces in the gallery below.


text:
Wage Hike Would Hurt Tipped Workers
May 12, 2014 | Font size: 75% 100% 125% 150%
By F. Vincent Vernuccio
(Editor's note: This commentary first appeared in The Detroit News on May 12, 2014.)
The most radical provision in a ballot proposal to increase the minimum wage is an almost 300 percent increase in personnel costs to Michigan restaurants. The measure would mandate that the cost per tipped employee skyrocket from $2.65 per hour (before tips) to $10.10 per hour.
Notice that is the cost for the employer and not the employee's wage. Like their name suggests, most of tipped workers' pay comes from … TIPS! Under both state and federal law, if tips do not make up the difference between the tipped base wage and the regular minimum wage, then employer must pay the rest.
In other words, it is already illegal for tipped employees to make less than the regular minimum wage. This refutes a misleading insinuation being peddled by supporters of the proposed ballot measure that tipped workers only make $2.65 an hour.
While an almost 300 percent base pay hike may sound like a good deal for wait staff and bartenders, it could have a detrimental impact on their actual income. Many, if not most, tipped workers make significantly more than the regular minimum. According to a recent study by the National Restaurant Association, with tips these workers nationwide have a median income between $16 and $22 dollars an hour.
Those amounts could come down in Michigan if the proposed ballot initiative is adopted by voters in November.
This is because higher prices are a very real possibility if the measure passes. According to one restaurant owner, Tim Barr of Art's Tavern in Glen Arbor, "The only way to counter [the] wage increase will be to increase the price of menu items."
And those price hikes could rebound against tipped workers. An April 9 Mitchell Research poll of likely voters commissioned by the Mackinac Center found that a majority of respondents would probably tip less if the tipped base wage increase resulted in higher restaurant prices. Some 30 percent said they would tip much less.
Johnny Brann Jr., owner of Brann's Steakhouse and Kitchen 67 in Grand Rapids, says that under the proposed increase "many people will not tip; (my employees) will make less money." He reports that his tipped employees are currently making around $20 an hour, and close to $30 on weekends.
Another potential outcome for tipped workers is layoffs and reduced hours. Ed Klimek, owner of Italia Gardens in Oxford, says that "As a small, family-owned restaurant owner barely making it in a struggling economy I will have only one option: Cut shifts and eliminate job positions."
Scott Parkhurst, an operating partner in a firm that runs 17 restaurants in northern Michigan, predicts that some tipped positions may be changed or simply eliminated. "Restaurants would be more likely to change their business model by becoming buffets or adapting in ways that require less staff."
Add it up, and the extreme increase in the cost of employing tipped workers probably means some combination of higher menu prices, smaller tips, staff reductions, or tipped jobs converting to lower-opportunity non-tipped positions.
All this would make Michigan's tipped workers collateral damage in a larger political battleground.
According to a New York Times report late last year, state minimum wage activism is being orchestrated by political operatives in Washington, D.C., who believe stirring this pot will benefit them politically. This despite an estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in February that said increasing the national minimum would most likely cost 500,000 jobs, and possibly as many as 1 million.
Back in Michigan, if the proposed ballot initiative becomes law it's likely that tipped employees will take the largest hit. For many hardworking Michigan wait staff and bartenders, a minimum wage "hike" may very well result in an actual pay cut, or worse.
F. Vincent Vernuccio is director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich.


text:
class SessionID;

namespace sessions {

class SerializedNavigationEntry;
struct SerializedUserAgentOverride;

// Defines the interface used by SessionTabHelper to record changes to
// navigation entries so that they can restored at a later date.
class SESSIONS_EXPORT SessionTabHelperDelegate {
 public:
  // Sets the user agent override of the specified tab.
  virtual void SetTabUserAgentOverride(
      const SessionID& window_id,
      const SessionID& tab_id,
      const SerializedUserAgentOverride& user_agent_override) = 0;

  // Sets the index of the selected entry in the navigation controller for the
  // specified tab.
  virtual void SetSelectedNavigationIndex(const SessionID& window_id,
                                          const SessionID& tab_id,
                                          int index) = 0;

  // Updates the navigation entry for the specified tab.
  virtual void UpdateTabNavigation(
      const SessionID& window_id,
      const SessionID& tab_id,
      const SerializedNavigationEntry& navigation) = 0;

  // Invoked when the NavigationController has removed entries from the list.
  // |index| gives the the starting index from which entries were deleted.
  // |count| gives the number of entries that were removed.
  virtual void TabNavigationPathPruned(const SessionID& window_id,
                                       const SessionID& tab_id,
                                       int index,
                                       int count) = 0;

  // Invoked when the NavigationController has deleted entries because of a
  // history deletion.
  virtual void TabNavigationPathEntriesDeleted(const SessionID& window_id,
                                               const SessionID& tab_id) = 0;
};

}  // namespace sessions

#endif  // COMPONENTS_SESSIONS_CONTENT_SESSION_TAB_HELPER_DELEGATE_H_

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Here you need to bring some basic knowledge already. In this workshop I show and explain the basic principles for suspensions. Apart from a separated anatomical part that treats the medical aspects in suspensions you will learn in this course how to hang some into ropes savely and without problems.


The British Museum has almost ninety drawings by Michelangelo, one of the towering figures of the Italian renaissance whose artistic activities encompassed sculpture, painting, and architecture. Underlying his achievements in all these fields was a dedication to drawing: the perfection of the finished work achieved only after an exhaustive preparation of every aspect of the finished composition on paper. This manner of working, a constant in his seventyyear career, was central to the Florentine artistic tradition that Michelangelo learnt in the workshop of the painters Domenico and Davide Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo in turn passed this precept down to his pupils, as is shown by the exhortation directed to his pupil Antonio Mini written on one of the Museum's drawings: 'Draw, Antonio, draw, and don't waste time'.


Bananera Nacional, S.A., BANASA, in alliance with the Association of the Trifinio Suroccidente (ASODITSO) and the Institute of Climate Change (ICC) in Guatemala, started this year a new Diploma of "Community adaptation to climate change". This is the second diploma course that is carried out in the southwestern area in order to strengthen the capacities of communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to learn about the importance of good risk management in vulnerable areas.
The diploma course began this month with the first module on integrated watershed management, with the specific topics of watershed diagnosis, its importance and methodology; how to develop a management plan for a basin; and definitions of climate change.
Three sessions were held by the ICC, which consisted of face-to-face classes, workshops and practical activities. For this first module, a field trip was conducted through the upper, middle and lower part of the Ocosito River basin, with the aim of putting into practice what participants learned.
More than 50 people are participating in the Diploma -BANASA workers, community leaders of 12 communities and Municipal Firemen.
"We thank BANASA for the great support they are giving to the communities and for taking us into account in this Diploma," said the participant of the Municipal Firemen of Coatepeque.
The participating communities are San Luis, Pomal, Los Encuentros, Troje, San Rafel, Pacayá I, Valle Lirio, Colonia Diaz, Chiquirines, Carrizales, Morenas, Colonia Barillas and La Blanquita, from the municipalities of La Blanca, San Marcos; Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango and Retalhuleu, Retalhuleu.


View detailed descriptions of each position by clicking the job title.
Support Gethsemane International's home parents in the field through Biblical counseling and personal discipleship. Responsible for the Biblical counsel of the children, staff, and home parents of Gethsemane. A focus on the discipleship of the home parents for the purpose of seeing the home parents in turn disciple the children of their home.
Manage the Gethsemane International staff and operations in Kenya. Ensure that the Gethsemane International homes are well equipped to meet the physical needs of the children and that staff members are managed appropriately.
Oversee the Bible classes and curriculum at Gethsemane International School. Offer advice and guidance to the school staff in regard to the Biblical focus and worldview of the school as well as monitor the financial operations of the school. A source of support for the school staff and an overseer of the school's Biblical emphasis.
Act as Gethsemane International's resident nurse to perform regular check-ups for students, staff, and home parents as well as to administer health care. Support home parents and school staff with health education and ensure healthy practices throughout Gethsemane International.
Manager of Gethsemane International technology on the field in Kenya, including organization and school computers and other equipment. The IT Manager will be responsible for the condition of the Gethsemane computers and other technology, as well as possible computer instruction classes at Gethsemane International School.
Responsible for developing new business ventures for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of Gethsemane International's operations or providing sustainable sources of supplemental income to the homes. Seek creative entrepreneurial endeavors to benefit the organization.
Responsible for Gethsemane's Advocate Program, including recruiting passionate individuals to help raise awareness and support in locations throughout the United States, training these advocates, supporting these advocates with materials and advice, and communicating regularly with the advocates to receive reports and results of their efforts.
Responsible for Gethsemane's Intern Program, including recruiting college students and recent college graduates to the program, screening applications and references, training the interns, and creating appropriate assignments for the interns both in Kenya and in the United States which will benefit Gethsemane. Regularly communicating with the interns to receive reports.
Responsible for Gethsemane's Mission Program, including recruiting groups for mission teams, training the teams, preparation for projects with the Director of Operations in Kenya, and guiding mission teams in Kenya during their mission trip.
Responsible for Gethsemane's Sponsor Program, including communication with existing Sponsors, mailing regular updates to each of the three levels of sponsors, and recruiting additional Sponsors for the Gethsemane children.
Responsible for Gethsemane's Partner Program, including increasing the number of churches who corporately support Gethsemane. Communication, networking, church visits, and speaking events in order to gain additional church partners for Gethsemane.
Assist Gethsemane's Director of Development in fundraising and public relations tasks. The Administrative Assistant will perform such tasks as data entry, newsletter mailings, communications with supporters, and event preparation.


text:
// Copyright (c) Jeremy W. Kuhne. All rights reserved.
// Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.

using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
using WInterop.Direct2d;
using WInterop.Gdi;
using WInterop.Modules;
using WInterop.Windows;

namespace WInterop.DirectX;

public class DirectXWindowClass : WindowClass
{
    private bool _resourcesValid;

    public unsafe DirectXWindowClass(
        string? className = default,
        ModuleInstance? moduleInstance = default,
        ClassStyle classStyle = ClassStyle.HorizontalRedraw | ClassStyle.VerticalRedraw,
        IconHandle icon = default,
        IconHandle smallIcon = default,
        CursorHandle cursor = default,
        string? menuName = null,
        int menuId = 0,
        int classExtraBytes = 0,
        int windowExtraBytes = 0)
        : base(
              className,
              moduleInstance,
              classStyle,
              BrushHandle.NoBrush,
              icon,
              smallIcon,
              cursor,
              menuName,
              menuId,
              classExtraBytes,
              windowExtraBytes)
    {
    }

    [AllowNull]
    protected IWindowRenderTarget RenderTarget { get; private set; }

    protected static Factory Direct2dFactory { get; } = Direct2d.Direct2d.CreateFactory();
    protected static DirectWrite.WriteFactory DirectWriteFactory { get; } = DirectWrite.DirectWrite.CreateFactory();

    [MemberNotNull(nameof(RenderTarget))]
    private void CreateResourcesInternal(WindowHandle window)
    {
        if (!_resourcesValid || RenderTarget is null)
        {
            RenderTarget = Direct2dFactory.CreateWindowRenderTarget(
                default, new WindowRenderTargetProperties(window, window.GetClientRectangle().Size));
            CreateResources();
            _resourcesValid = true;
        }
    }

    [MemberNotNull(nameof(RenderTarget))]
    private void CreateResourcesInternal(WindowHandle window, in Message.Size size)
    {
        if (!_resourcesValid || RenderTarget is null)
        {
            RenderTarget = Direct2dFactory.CreateWindowRenderTarget(
                default, new WindowRenderTargetProperties(window, size.NewSize));
            CreateResources();
            _resourcesValid = true;
        }
        else
        {
            RenderTarget.Resize(size.NewSize);
        }
    }

    protected virtual void CreateResources()
    {
    }

    protected virtual void OnPaint(WindowHandle window)
    {
    }

    protected virtual void OnSize(WindowHandle window, in Message.Size sizeMessage)
    {
    }

    protected sealed override LResult WindowProcedure(WindowHandle window, MessageType message, WParam wParam, LParam lParam)
    {
        switch (message)
        {
            case MessageType.Size:
                var sizeMessage = new Message.Size(wParam, lParam);
                CreateResourcesInternal(window, in sizeMessage);
                OnSize(window, in sizeMessage);
                break;
            case MessageType.DisplayChange:
                window.Invalidate(erase: false);
                break;
            case MessageType.Paint:
                CreateResourcesInternal(window);
                RenderTarget.BeginDraw();
                OnPaint(window);
                RenderTarget.EndDraw(out bool recreateTarget);
                window.Validate();

                if (recreateTarget)
                {
                    _resourcesValid = false;
                }

                break;
        }

        // Ensure that the RenderTarget is always valid.
        CreateResourcesInternal(window);
        return Direct2dWindowProcedure(window, message, wParam, lParam);
    }

    protected virtual LResult Direct2dWindowProcedure(WindowHandle window, MessageType message, WParam wParam, LParam lParam)
    {
        // We handled these above. We still call through to here to allow derived classes to do additional handling of
        // these messages if they care to.

        switch (message)
        {
            case MessageType.Size:
            case MessageType.DisplayChange:
            case MessageType.Paint:
                return 0;
        }

        return base.WindowProcedure(window, message, wParam, lParam);
    }

    protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        RenderTarget.Dispose();
        _resourcesValid = false;
        base.Dispose(disposing);
    }
}


Archive List of Strategy Games - Viewing 331 - 340 of 363 Games.
1st Runner-Up Best Time Management Game of 2008! The good people of Greensville have chosen you as their leader in the fun new game Forgotten Lands: First Colony . For nearly a century, the place you have called home has provided for all of your civilization`s needs. As all of your resources are nearing depletion, it`s time for you to step forward and lead the people to a new home. Establish buildings, train workers and grow your new home to a prosperous place where your civilization can flourish.
Fashionista is a fun, fast paced fashion oriented simulation game where you decide what`s IN or OUT. Take charge of a fashion magazine and make all the cool decisions. Hire your own staff – from photographers to models. Design the cover of your fashion magazine. You can pick and choose between over 240 pieces of clothes and accessories. You can fully customize every clothing item to perfectly match your own unique style. Customize your avatar as you embark on the greatest fashion adventure.
John, a hardworking manager, has been fired from his job at Herfty`s Trucking. Anxious to put his boss out of business, John decides to open his own trucking enterprise. An initial investment puts him on the move for On-The-Road orders. Steer your truck at breakneck speed on the Road to Riches in this entrepreneurial Time Management pursuit. Choose your own orders and show "The Man" who`s really in charge!
Discover a 1930s throwback upon your arrival to Rooms, complete with city streets and a surreal Mansion. Bored with old puzzles, you`re given a new type of sliding puzzle as a birthday gift. Your goal is to reach the exit before it closes on each level and retrieve the four puzzle pieces. Are you wise enough to use the right object at exactly the right time? Mr. Book is the Rooms steward and your personal guide to escape the maze in Rooms: The Main Building.
What does it really take to become a player in the industry? Step into Rock Tour and learn the cut-throat business of the music business. Work with a local band that has major potential to top the charts. Promote them and outfit them in the latest gear. Along the way you`ll run into greedy club owners, moody band members, random injuries, and falling record sales. Have you got the stamina to become a Rock Tour tycoon? Find out in this jammin` Time Management game.


text:
Irawadi ( //, ) – jedna z prowincji w Mjanmie (Birmie), ze stolicą w Basejn.

Ziemie zajmującej aluwialną dolinę Irawadi prowincji są płaskie i dobrze nawodnione stwarzając bardzo dobre warunki do uprawy ryżu. Inne ważne uprawy, to sezam, orzechy ziemne i fasola. Ponadto podstawę gospodarki stanowią rybołówstwo, pozyskiwanie drewna z lasów namorzynowych i uprawa juty. Prowincja Irawadi jest największym w Mjanmie producentem pasty rybnej ngapi.

Przypisy

Bibliografia

Podział administracyjny Mjanmy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


In this edition of The Writers' Room, the group discusses all the most memorable and nostalgic television shows, video games and movies.
It's been more than a decade since the 1990s ended, yet the Internet can't seem to go a day without a reminder of the neon slap bracelets that may have been banned from your school.
Tagged Batman, Hollywood Redux, N64, Nickelodeon, Nintendo, Podcast, The Writers' Room.


text:
The LaPorte Caves – Revised – Ch 09a – The Light of the Blue Chimney
Written by circes_cup	:: [Thursday, 02 January 2020 01:38]	Last updated by :: [Saturday, 04 January 2020 11:52]
1754 The LaPorte Caves – Revised – Ch 09a – The Light of the Blue Chimney /index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=item&cid=203:storybank-by-title&id=1754:the-laporte-caves-revised-ch-09a-the-light-of-the-blue-chimney&Itemid=228
CHAPTER 09a– THE LIGHT OF THE BLUE CHIMNEY
SYNOPSIS UP TO THIS POINT: Julia and Howard took a wrong turn in a Kentucky cave and tumbled out into a world of amazon women. Julia had promised to refrain from taking the elixir that transforms women to amazons, but later broke that promise. Now an amazon, she is enjoying a host of new powers, from phenomenal strength to intelligence to athleticism. But as thrilling as it may be to her, their sojourn in the Weald is equally distressing to Howard. He feels inferior and helpless. Mindy has begun to bully him, and his trust in Julia has diminished. One last, desperate attempt to deal with his situation ended in Howard being unintentionally humiliated by his girlfriend.
DISCLAIMER: This story contains adult sexual content. If you are not of age to read this stuff, don't. No resemblance between these characters and real people on Earth is implied or intended.
Julia didn't know how long she walked. She had watched Howard recede toward the house, his clothes and his hair soaked and covered in pond scum. She had wandered away, the unsatisfied ache of desire for her boyfriend's touch still clawing at her insides.
She soon found herself following a paved access road that ran behind the beach houses. Most of the residences were like Ruth's: large and well appointed.
As Julia passed one of the houses, she watched a man and his daughter exit. The man had bags of clothes in his arms – probably on his way to the dry cleaners, Julia figured. He approached a rack from which three cars were hanging. He pointed at one. His daughter got the car down, placed it gently on its wheels, and waved as he drove away. So humiliating, Julia thought – to rely upon your daughter to get a car down for you every time you need to run some errands!
As Julia continued along the path, she observed that some of the houses were back by the roadside. But with others, women had clearly carried them forward to the beachfront for a day of fun in the surf.
As Julia passed one such house, she saw a man ferrying groceries inside from the family SUV. Since the house had been moved all the way forward to the beach, his trek was a long one: fifty yards back and forth, through the soft sand.
"Need a hand?"
"Oh!" The man was startled by her approach. "I wouldn't want to bother you."
"It's not a bother." Julia counted the grocery bags that remained in the back of the SUV. There were nineteen. Ten more trips back and forth – the poor guy.
The man looked at the distance to the house. "You really shouldn't trouble yourself. It's menial – men's work."
"I was thinking of something a bit less menial." Julia reached under the rear bumper to find the handle. Once her hand had it, she hoisted that end of the car upward. Her bicep swelled only a bit at as the three-thousand-pound mass rose under her muscle's immense power. Additional handles were located under the center of the car. She got her left hand on one of them and hoisted the SUV straight up with only one arm, her genetically enhanced tricep doing easily what a hundred male ones could not. With all four wheels dangling above her head, she led the man out over the sand to the house.
"Of course. How silly of me," he admitted. "Easier for you to carry the car to the house than go back and forth with the bags."
It was only a few short days ago that such logic would have seemed absurd to me, Julia thought. How quickly this all becomes second nature. "With nineteen bags of groceries, you must have a growing family."
"Twin daughters. Seventeen years old. They just went on full Nourishment a few months ago."
"Did you ask them to move the house back for you before going to the beach today?"
"I don't just ask. I beg. They ignore me most of the time."
How demeaning, Julia thought. She held the back end of the SUV level with the open kitchen window as the man scrambled into the house and reached through the window for the bags. He's a grown man and he has to beg his daughters to leave the house where he can get to it.
"Are you here for the blue chimney?" The man asked. "Girls often wander into this neighborhood looking for it."
I'm not a girl, Julia thought. But then she realized that she looked little different than a girl half her age, that men needed circumstantial clues – attire, demeanor – to estimate the age of her body. He had meant no insult. "I've never heard of the Blue Chimney. What is it?"
"A swimming hole of sorts. A vertical shaft down in to the limestone, filled with water. Two hundred yards straight down gets you to a horizontal passage to the ocean. Lots of side passages as well. Of course, only women have seen it. But it's pretty cool, I hear."
"Not a single man has been down there?"
"With SCUBA gear, or whatever your equivalent is? An oxygen tank, wetsuit, fins? "
"I don't know what you're talking about. Fins are the only deep water gear I can think of, and those are only for females, of course."
He was right about SCUBA, Julia suddenly realized. She had seen countless beach shops in her wanderings, and none of them contained such gear. She had seen countless advertisements related to ocean recreation, as well, and none of them included images of men in SCUBA gear. And why would they ever bother to invent it? Women were so much more capable in the underwater environment, there had never been any reason to innovate on behalf of the men. And all of the recreational equipment companies were owned by women. Why develop the equipment, the expertise, the training, the certification program if the only result was to place a man in physical danger, for a fraction of the productivity and fun that woman could achieve through nothing other than her superior genetics?
"If you decide to go, just know that it's too narrow for a swimming fin. Just go in as you are. You can hold a rock in your hands if you want to get to the bottom faster."
"Maybe I'll check it out," Julia concluded. "Thank you."
"The gratitude is all mine," the man gushed as he accompanied her and the car back to the driveway. "You have no idea how hard it can be to be a man sometimes."
"Yes I do. I used to be as weak as you," Julia replied, setting the SUV back on its wheels. She did it a little too roughly. The BOOM of the car hitting the ground was a reminder of its immense weight.
"No, it's not about being weak. The hardest part about being a man is the lack of control."
Julia thought about that as she continued her walk along the road. In addition to the houses along the roadside, there was another cluster several miles away on the opposite side of the cove. In an instant, Julia's eyes powered up to telescopic levels, laying bare the activities of men on the other side of the cove who had no idea they were being watched. There were families having breakfast, the men clad in aprons and frantically shuttling between stove and table to keep pace with their wives' appetite. There were women chatting with each other in the shade while their husbands remained inside scrubbing the bathroom to a gleaming shine. There were daughters sunning themselves on beach chairs while their brothers struggled to carry the heavy bottles of Nourishment out to them.
She even observed a man sneaking a breather on the front stoop while his daughter fomented chaos inside. The surreptitious break lasted only a few moments, however, before he was discovered. Men had been led to believe that the hearing of the Nourished was only a dozen times better than a man's, Ruth had revealed to her. The widespread lie had been promulgated by a government program designed to facilitate the control of male behavior. But in fact, the Nourished could hear with hundreds of times the precision: that wife who retrieved her husband from the front stoop had made a show of just happening to come across him, but Julia knew full well that the wife had heard his breathing coming from the wrong place in the house, and she had heard it through a thick exterior wall. In his efforts to avoid her, he had never stood a chance of avoiding her.
In the same way, men believed that the eyesight of the Nourished was only a dozen times better than that of a man. But in fact it was hundreds of times better. Even mist and atmospheric effects did little to hinder the vision of the Nourished. That scene with the man getting caught on the front stoop… he thought he was alone, but Julia had been watching him the whole time – from four miles away. It gave Julia an unbidden thrill to be reminded that these powers were hers now too, and they came as naturally as breathing.
The poor men of this world resorted to mysticism and superstition to explain the odd happenings in their lives. There were plenty of men, for example, who believed that songbirds were merely minions of women, spying on men and relaying their findings through their songs. This world was a prison for men – not a physical one, but one in which the surveillance capabilities of the other gender far exceeded their feeble imagination.
But as thrilling as the power may have been for her, how much fear must Howard feel at the prospect of living out his life under these conditions? What sort of freedom did a man truly have?
She observed the scenes inside those homes: supposedly harmonious families eating supposedly peaceful breakfasts together. Fathers fruitlessly cajoling their daughters: don't harass your brother. Please. Pretty please. I'm begging you, darling. Husbands silencing themselves mid-sentence when their wives interrupt them. Boys casting blank stares at the kitchen table as their sisters listen to the high-speed mutter of sixteen broadcasts at once.
The path to the Blue Chimney was easy to find, and the earth around its outlet was well worn from prior use. Someone had even stacked a pile of spherical rocks that could be used to speed the descent. Julia grabbed one of the rocks. A bit wider than her shoulders, it tipped the scales at only five thousand pounds. She rested it in an upturned palm – a one-handed Atlas – and stared into the blue below. It was strange that no other preparation was required. No donning a wetsuit, no checking equipment, no warning sign cautioning divers what not to do.
Just jump in.
After a minute, Julia did. Holding the rock in front of her, she plummeted into the depths, pale blue fading to indigo fading to black. The pleasant tickle of the water was replaced by the crush of greater depths – pressure that would have blown a man's eardrums but caused her no discomfort.
When Julia reached the bottom, she released the rock into a pile of others and began to explore. Light was faint down here. But there was enough to see that ocean life had found its way in from the sea. The fish were beautiful, displaying a variety of colors and shapes she had never seen on Earth. She followed some of the fish in an out of small passages, giggling as they struggled to get away from her, but also appreciating how they would turn back, curious, once they had reached a safe distance.
After following the fish for a time, she became aware that she would eventually need to breathe. But when Julia turned to confirm the route back, she found only a rock ceiling where she had been expecting to find a vertical shaft. She had threaded her way in and out of so many passages, she did not quite know where she was, or even which way was up. There weren't many things that could kill a woman in this world, Julia knew, but asphyxiation was one of them.
Julia darted about with a growing sense of panic, her air running out, and the passages going nowhere. She thought she could smash through a rock wall to get to the chimney, but her fist found only endless rock, and her abuse of it clouded the water with debris. Panic began to set in.
She could die here.
Julia swam more desperately now, in and out of passages. Fish scrambled to get out of her way, the unlucky ones smashed into the passage walls by the desperate turbulence her body created.
The panic grew worse.
And then – like a lighthouse in a storm – she saw it. A singular shaft of fading afternoon light, too faint for male eyes, forming a vertical line in front of her. She swam to it and directed her gaze up into the faint glow. Yes, this was it. She was back in the chimney, and the way out was clear.
With the assurance of that light, her heart rate began to slow, and her calm returned. She realized that the air in her lungs would last her several more minutes, at least.
Julia had never needed to leave – at least not yet. She had just needed to know that the way out was clear and available to her.
With relief replacing panic, Julia began to explore again. She followed another passage, more carefully now. As she did so, Julia began to think about Howard again. That must be how it feels for him right now, she realized. Trapped in a place that could destroy him, with no idea where the route out might be. He was safe here – safe and comfortable. In the same way that Julia still had plenty of air in her lungs, the panic came not from the immediate danger but from the very possibility of being trapped, of someday running out of the thing that gives you life.
The passage turned out to be a simple loop, leading away from the Chimney and then back to it. The return portion of the passage would be too narrow for Julia: she could see that as she approached the bottle neck. But the familiar vertical shaft of light was on the other side, and this time, her heart did not succumb to fear. She slipped her arms out of the spandex top so that it dangled from her ribcage. Then, she reached through the bottleneck, found handholds, and pulled herself forward. She could feel the scrape of the limestone against her breasts as they easily dug channels through the solid rock. A rumbling sound filled her ears as her soft flesh – soft to her, at least – crushed the rock to dust.
Julia enjoyed the sensation of her nipples gouging out tracks in the limestone. Everything that was fixed and immovable to men was just a toy to her. She wanted to explore this world, and her body, so much more!
And Howard, like Julia in the chimney, doesn't need to leave – not yet. He just needs to know that the way out is known and available to him. He needs to see that shaft of light, Julia concluded, and it's my job to find it for him.
The house was quiet when Julia returned to it. Andos had already taken Becky, Roddie and the other boys away, per his wife's instructions. Mindy and Ruth were nowhere to be found.
She slipped into the home office, unseen. On the computer, a single image of the caves consumed only a fraction of the five-foot-wide space. The remainder was dark.
Her fingers traced over the keyboard, its keys packed with symbols, its layout as complicated as the written language it codified. This keyboard had bewildered her earlier. But with her new mastery of the written language, she had to furrow her brow for only a moment before she had it.
Julia opened a browser window and did a simple search on the Caves. Howard was right: the caves were like a bowl of spaghetti. The extreme complexity was only worsened by the task of displaying the three-dimensional complex on a two-dimensional screen. Looking at a bowl of spaghetti in cross-section tells you nothing about where the noodles are going, Julia realized. She flipped through a dozen maps in rapid sequence: even taken together, they presented an incoherent picture. Even interactive maps that allowed her to rotate the image were of no use: the bowl of spaghetti was equally incomprehensible from all angles. No wonder Howard had found the task impossible.
"Try a visualization." It was Mindy's voice, rich and sweet like chocolate. "They're easy to find on the internet."
Julia had been so engrossed that she had failed to notice the obvious sounds of the four-hundred-pound girl approaching. "What's a visualization?"
"Men can't do them." The girl reached over Julia for the keyboard.
The older woman felt a shiver run through her as the scent of hibiscus filled the air. The warm weight of the girl's breast scraped over Julia's forearm, with agonizing slowness. She felt a warmth, too, forming between her legs. Howard left me hungry for affection, Julia realized, and the lingering alcohol in me is only adding fuel to that fire.
Under Mindy's control, the screen lit up – not just the part Howard had been using, but the whole five-foot-by-four-foot area. It filled with numbers.
"The government publishes this data for everyone to use," Mindy said. "They're coordinates: latitude, longitude, and depth. Each one plots a point in the cave complex. You can use them to make a three-dimensional map."
"How?" Julia paged down the screen. The tally at the bottom indicated that the data set represented about two million points.
The luxurious sweetness of Mindy's voice filled the room with laughter. "You memorize them, you dolt."
"Two million numbers. How can I possibly memorize all that?"
"No, each of the points has latitude, longitude and depth. Two million points on the map – that's six million numbers." Mindy's laughter returned. "What are you, scared?"
Julia grew self-conscious. A girl nearly half her age was mocking her intelligence. Julia felt like she was back at the side of the house, being told to grab a bar and lift.
She forced herself to relax, to clear the anxiety away, to let her brain function at its best. She stared at the screen, the size of a small dining room table. It contained the first five thousand numbers. They soaked into her brain instantly. Wow, Julia thought. She could feel her mind rising to the challenge, flexing like a muscle. The sensation was thrilling.
She paged down. Another five thousand numbers soaked in. Oh wow.
She paged down again – another five thousand numbers. She could recall them all perfectly. It felt fantastic.
She paged down again – another five thousand numbers.
"Uggh." Mindy's voice dripped with sweet disdain. "I'm going to get old and grey before you're done with this."
Julia felt the younger girl's finger press down on top of her own. The key beneath clicked, causing the browser to page forward. Mindy kept the woman's finger gently pinned down, and the screen became a blur. It was paging through reams of data at blinding speed. One hundred thousand numbers sped by. Then two hundred thousand. Then the balance of the data set, all six million numbers. Julia felt her mental function swell with newfound power, absorbing the deluge of data with ease, committing it to perfect memory. She could access it, all of it with only a thought – no staring at screens, no flipping through paper.
Mindy took her finger off of Julia's, tracing a tantalizing trail up the woman's forearm. "Now," Mindy said, "close your eyes."
Julia did so. Her field of view filled with blackness. She felt Mindy's strong hands settle on the slopes of her shoulders. She's flirting with me, Julia thought. But Julia didn't resist.
Mindy's voice oozed over Julia's mind like warm syrup. "Now, plot the points in your mind."
She thought about the first few coordinates and plotted a point into the blackness - just a single bright dot in her mind's eye. She did another, and another, and then let her mind loose on the task. The blackness blossomed into millions of bright dots – a three dimensional map more complex and detailed than all of the old-style maps she had seen.
"My mind is absurdly powerful," she whispered.
"Comparing Howard's mind to yours…" Mindy whispered back, "… is like comparing the size of a normal man to the size of a skyscraper."
Julia rocked back in the large office chair, her eyes still closed. She could feel her brain accelerating again as it visualized all two million plotted points instantly and with perfect accuracy. She tried to recall her original walk into this world: the specific ways in which the passages she traversed had twisted and turned. She tried to remember anything unusual. A hairpin turn, a long straight stretch – anything that would stand out in her new visualized map. Her memory of the cave passages was fuzzy, as she had traversed them before her mind had been Nourished. But several aspects of the first cave walk stuck with her, and she began to search for those items on the map.
With fewer than four thousand possibilities to evaluate, the task took her computer-like mind only half a minute. Once she was done, only a small fraction of passages remained eligible. She then thought about the intersections, comparing the twelve thousand ones in her mind's map to the ones she remembered from her walk. After only a few seconds, she rose from the chair a smile on her face.
"That was easy," Julia whispered, her eyes opening. Julia tilted her head back to look up at Mindy, the girl's downward-pointed face framed by a curtain of luxurious, walnut-colored hair. "There are three thousand nine hundred and sixty passages, and nearly twelve thousand intersections. Howard never would have figured it out."
"Duh. Guys can never figure stuff out." Mindy yawned. "You going to scout the route?"
"Yes, tonight, if I can."
Mindy took Julia's hands and gently pulled the woman to her feet. There wasn't much room to stand, and women with such bustlines needed room. Julia felt the hardness of Mindy's nipples dance across her own. "Take me with you."
"I don't know…" Julia could only imagine the havoc Mindy's precocious behavior would wreak on Earth.
"I can help you make it safe for your little man with his puny little body," Mindy pouted.
"That's quite alright. I can do that on my own."
"But you owe me, for helping you." The girl's pout was simply adorable.
Julia felt her resistance slipping. She put up her hands in protest, but they landed on the girl's immense biceps. Her immensely sexy biceps.
"Think about it," Mindy hummed. "No Howard, no boys, just us. No fragile egos to coddle. No fragile bodies to protect. Just two super-fucking-strong girls in two super-fucking-invincible bodies in a very fragile world. Don't you like that idea?"
Oh, Julia thought. That sounds so, so sweet.
"You don't need to say anything," Mindy prodded. "Just give me a poke to say yes."
If I let her come, it should be because of her specific abilities, Julia cautioned herself. Not because of how much fun it sounds. Not because of how sexy she seems to me right now. But then her mind's eye visualized the girl's fabulous curves, how she looked in that skimpy blue thing the other day, and suddenly the idea of Mindy coming along seemed very, very nice. She felt the nubs of her breasts harden into the ends of nightsticks.
"Ooooh! There's the poke! I knew you'd like the idea," Mindy purred, dropping her hands and taking a step back. "Want to fuck a few guys before we leave? Amanda brought some extras."
"I'll stick with my one guy, thanks."
Julia was incredulous. Their minds had just performed a superhuman feat. And now Mindy had somehow secured herself a spot on the next trip through some magical portal into another world. And yet, the only thing the girl could think about was where to get fresh boy toys. Mindy was so nonchalant about all of this, Julia began to wonder whether bringing the girl to Earth was a horrendous idea. It was like showing the bull how to get into the china shop. She began to look for reasons for Mindy not to come.
"Wait? Isn't your recital in a few days?"
"Yea, so?"
"Does it really make sense to come? Don't you have to practice? Aren't you nervous?"
"No, I already practiced. At this point, I'm pretty much perfect." The teenager strode out of the room, her taut, spherical derriere and powerful thighs swaying beneath her flimsy skirt.
Yes, Julia thought, her resistance to the girl's attractions melting. Perfect indeed.
She followed Mindy out the back door to the porch and the beach. Howard was out there, chatting with some guys that had been strolling down the beach at sunset.
"Howard!" Julia startled herself with her own volume. Her voice boomed across the beach like a cannon and ground the activity of the men to a halt. It was the voice of authority. He turned and she motioned him to her.
Howard didn't come at first. At a hundred yards away, her magnificent vision could easily detect the corners of his mouth turn downward by a fraction of an inch. He was still upset over the day's humiliations, she could tell. He looked straight at her, and then returned to the conversation.
But the other men admonished him. When a woman calls, you answer, she heard the men say. You don't jog, you run.
Howard jogged.
"Let's talk inside," Julia suggested when he arrived. "I want to tell you something special."
"Why? It's not like anyone can hear us over here."
Julia was not in the mood to cajole. She grabbed Howard by the upper arm, one-handed, and hoisted him off his feet, his 175 pounds nothing to her, and marched him to the house. He squirmed and protested, feet flailing in the air, but could do nothing to return himself to the ground. It was actually pretty cute. Despite the trouble it's caused us, she admitted, having so much power can come in handy.
Howard's feet did not touch the ground until they were back in the home office. He sunk into the couch across from the computer. It was large and plush, with leather upholstery and heavy wood framing. He seemed to disappear into it.
She stood over him as his gaze bore into the carpet.
"Howard, I need to tell you something. Please look at me."
The bottom of the sofa contained convenient handholds, so that women could move it without damage. Julia crouched down, slid her fingers into them, and lifted. Howard and the sofa rose easily off the ground.
Julia took a moment to appreciate the muscles that were doing the work – if it could even be called "work." The man and the furniture combined couldn't have been more than 500 pounds. Her football-sized biceps had not flexed at all to handle that load.
Howard's gaze continued to avoid hers.
"Howard, you and the sofa weigh about as much as a cup of coffee to me. I can hold this position all day if I need to." As if to emphasize the point, she removed one hand from the sofa and rested it on her hip.
But his gaze continued to crawl across the floor.
"HOWARD."
Her voice filled the room and vibrated its contents. The mouse on the computer jiggled so much that it brought the screen back to life.
He looked her in the eye now, scared.
Damn it, she thought. That wasn't how I wanted this to go.
She could see the reflection of the computer screen on his irises. She could see the furrows on his brows as he tried to comprehend it. "What is that?" he asked.
"A list of coordinates for the caves." Julia twisted the sofa in midair to give him a better view of the screen. She felt butterflies in her stomach. "I found the way home."
Julia found herself encircled by Howard's arms. He had slid down off the seat off the elevated sofa and into a in a vigorous bear hug. At least, she thought it was a bear hug. She couldn't really tell whether he was squeezing her or not. But she found his gratitude adorable. So caught off guard was she by the gesture that she had to place the sofa on its end just to reciprocate his embrace.
"Thank you, Julia. thank you!" He broke the embrace, slid to the ground, and grasped her hands. "I can't believe you found the way home. "I can't believe you did it."
"It was easier than you might think." Julia felt a swell of pride. Whenever she had been in trouble back on Earth, he had always been the one that saved the day. Now, it was her.
"When do we go?" he asked.
The swell of pride crested and crashed on the beach. It was followed by a swell of misgivings. "I would have thought that just knowing a route existed would have put you at ease."
"It doesn't." Howard released her hands and backed away. "What if it doesn't work?"
"We'll scout it."
"Good. When do we leave?"
"Not you and me," Julia replied sheepishly. "Mindy and me."
"Safety, honey. Mindy is not just stronger and faster than you. Things that would injure you have no effect on her. She can see in extremely low light conditions. Her endurance is exponentially greater. She can punch through solid rock with her fist. With no men along, we can do so much more."
"But…" he sputtered. "But… you're still learning cave travel. And Mindy knows nothing about it. I've got more exper—"
"Experience doesn't matter when comparing the Nourished to the Un. I acquire physical skills thousands of times faster than you. And my mind is expanding now, too, which makes navigating the caves all the easier. When you combine that with how much physical power we have, there's no point in having you along on a scouting trip."
"Oh, well don't let me stand in the way of your most important friendships."
"DAMN IT, Howard." Julia's voice exploded into the room, rattling the windows. "The caves are DANGEROUS. People get hurt in there. You think this is all a game?"
She watched Howard's body crumble in on itself, now fully intimidated.
That turned her emotions on their head. From petulant to vulnerable – he suddenly looked so scared, so in need of her protection. She wanted to cuddle him. She also knew right then and there that the argument was over: he would concede to whatever she decided. The fact that she had so easily taken charge of the conversation made Julia feel guilty, but it was also, Julia had to admit, just a little bit thrilling. She took his delicate, little hands in hers and forced her voice to soften again. "Please, Howard. I'm doing this for you – to reassure you that the path back is one hundred percent certain. And I'm doing it in the safest, fastest way possible, which means no men."
That defeated look only worsened in Howard's eyes. "There's part of me that is just… starting to wonder whether I'll ever see Earth again."
She felt a warm glow when she looked into those eyes, full of fragility.
"You will see Earth again, honey. All in due time."
"OK," he conceded, his shoulders relaxing. "Promise me you'll come back for me."
The request wounded Julia. Did he expect her to abandon him? But she tried to ignore the hurt, tried to remember how vulnerable the man must feel. "I'll do you one better than simply return: I'll bring you a souvenir so that you can know for yourself that I made it to the other side. But you have to make me a promise as well: Stay close to Ruth and the family. There are good people here and there are bad ones. You haven't run into the second category yet, but they're here. And you're an outsider, with little knowledge of how things work, few connections… you're easy prey."
"OK, I will be careful. It won't be hard: this world already feels safer just knowing that Mindy won't be in it."
Julia laughed, the reminder of her precocious friend stirring something equally pleasant inside of her.
Howard grabbed her by the wrists, his almond eyes wide with sincerity. "And you be careful too."
Him, worried about her? It was SO cute. It made her insides mushy with affection for him. Julia found her arms encircling him, his flimsy body collapsing easily into her snuggle. She would have done it forever if it hadn't been for newly labored sound of his breathing and the soft crunching of his bones rearranging themselves to accommodate her embrace.
Categories SWM Library | LaPorte Caves – Revised Edition Tags NSFW | Super Intelligence | Super Strength | 5000 - 10000 words