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A Look At Our History (1882 – Present)
Founder James H. King opened his privately owned bank in Stillman Valley on June 9. The original structure was a 20-foot-wide single-story frame building on the corner of what's now Walnut and Main Street in Stillman Valley, directly across from the bank's current Stillman Valley facility.
Charles Wilbur joined the bank on January 1 and the institution changed its name to "King and Wilbur, Bankers."
Albert Chester Brown joined the bank and institution changed its name to "King, Wilbur, and Co."
The original bank structure was moved to a lot on East Main Street to make way for a new brick facility.
The bank was incorporated under the State of Illinois banking laws on February 4.
Became National Bank on January 2 and acquired the name we would have for the next 57 years – The Stillman Valley National Bank. We also endured the depression without closing or loss to anyone – a notable achievement in those times.
Bank assets reached $1.5 million.
Current bank facility in Stillman Valley opened for business on June 10, across the street from the original bank structure.
Wanting to place itself even closer to its growing number of customers throughout Ogle County, the bank opened its second office in Oregon while celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Opened third office in Rochelle, acquiring the former United Bank of Rochelle.
Opened fourth office in Byron.
The bank added a trust department and changed its name to Stillman BancCorp N.A.
Opened first office in Winnebago County in Rockford. Bank assets reached $210 million.
Opened sixth office in Roscoe.
Bank assets reach over $600 million while celebrating 140th anniversary.


Payments by private insurers for wind damage to homes and business properties from Hurricane Sandy will likely exceed $10 billion dollars. Flood claims paid by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will be at least $8 billion dollars and will likely exceed $10 billion, exhausting the NFIP's existing $4 billion in payment authority. To make up this shortage, FEMA is authorized to borrow up to $500,000 with an additional $1 billion available with Presidential approval.
"Once the insurance company tells you the reasons for its action, it cannot produce new reasons for denying payment or making a low offer at a later time. You have locked them in—a major advantage for the consumer."


StudioPTBO helps build brand buzz We are experts at storytelling, weaving superlative design and content together. We match the content and art seamlessly to the platform where it's appearing—whether it's a website, social media channel/platform or blog. One stop… for all that. On this podcast you will hear anything from keynotes, interviews, social media marketing to website/graphic design talk. This is your one stop podcast for anything digital.
The StudioPTBO Podcast Ep. 30 with Electric City Rob What documenting has done for our business, producing a ton of content, looking back at 2018 as a growth story and if you make it all the way through the podcast we have an easter egg for you!
The StudioPTBO Podcast Ep. 25 "The Day Facebook & Instagram Went Down..."
The StudioPTBO Podcast Ep. 24 "Finding Erin Marshall"
The StudioPTBO Podcast Ep. 23 with Tyler Babin from Team GaryVee/ VaynerMedia & Empathy Wines.
On this episode we chat about: 1. Content creation and documenting. 2. Neil learns how to pronounce Tallahassee. 3. What it looks like to be authentic on social and how that can set you apart from the crowd. 4. We dive into what influenced Babin when creating the cover of Gary Vaynerchuk's book "Crushing It". 5. Advice for young entrepreneurs and content creators.
On the latest StudioPTBO podcast, TSN's Cabral "Cabbie" Richardsdrops by the studio to talk about all things marketing, branding, social media, NBA/NHL, pop culture, positivity, networking and kindness. You don't want to miss this one!
On this episode we phone Melissa Rodriguez into the show from LA and chat about: 1. Paid media and how to increase your social reach. 2. Influencer marketing and running ads on social media. 3. Macro & Micro Influencers. 4. Education on what a sales funnel is and the customer journey. 5. Boosting a post vs running a campaign on social for conversion. 6. The 1 in 5 rule on social media. Question of the day: "What is holding you back from investing in social media"?
On this episode we cover: 1. Jason Wilkins getting retweeted by the freaking Rock. 2. Practical advice for artists that are looking to build their business. 3. Advice for small business owners on how to start posting more content. 4. Why you should get started TODAY!
The StudioPTBO Podcast Ep. 18 with Adam Mckinlay "Design and Design It Well"
On this episode we take people inside of the process StudioPTBO design. We cover the following: - Advice for business owners thinking about branding. - The process of what goes into a logo design. - Digital design or print design? - Designing for the social age.
On This Episode We Cover: 1. Innovation and how Blockbuster and Sears were put out of business. 2. How our video team is constantly trying to innovate and try new things. 3. We talk with Jeremy about our live on locations.
The StudioPTBO Podcast Ep. 16 "It's Time For A Glass of Fiji"
StudioPTBO Ep. 15 "Lead Generation, Building An Agency & Losing Neil Morton's Book"
On this episode we cover: 1. Lead generation going into a 2019 environment. 2. Taki Moore's concept of attract, convert and deliver. 3. Losing Neil's Book.
On this episode we cover the following: Building brand buzz, syndicated content, don't use a frigen generic bot and being authentic on social. We unpack a whole lot of information on this podcast to help you market your business.
On this episode we dive into analytics and give some valuable insight for businesses. You don't want to miss this episode. We chat about the following. 1. SEO 2. Google Analytics 3. Facebook Advertising 4. What is the importance of good analytics and insights? 5. What can business owners do to better understand analytics?
On this episode we chat a little bit about Cody's trip to Lake Tahoe, creating more content and strategies that will get your message in front of your target audience. Take a listen and email cody@studioptbo.com if you have any marketing questions that you want answered.


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'Her Bark Always Gave Hope': Mexican Rescue Dog Frida Retires
by: Clear the Shelters
Posted: Jun 26, 2019 / 12:10 AM CDT / Updated: Jul 15, 2019 / 09:14 PM CDT
FILE – In this Sept. 28, 2017 file photo, Frida, one of three Marine dogs specially trained to search for people trapped inside collapsed buildings, wears her protective gear during a press event in Mexico City. Frida, a yellow Labrador retriever, retired Monday, June 24, 2019, from rescue work nearly two years after gaining international fame for searching for survivors in the rubble of a deadly 2017 earthquake in Mexico City. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
After participating in 53 rescue operations, saving a dozen lives and finding over 40 bodies in disaster zones, Frida, the beloved yellow Labrador retriever from Mexico's Navy unit, has retired.
The Mexican navy celebrated the canine's contributions by honoring her in a ceremony on Monday, as part of the International Rescuers Day.
The 10 Most Dog-Friendly Companies of 2019
"Her bark always gave hope, and in moments of pain and uncertainty she brought relief," said Deputy Naval Minister Eduardo Redondo.
The 65 pound and 10-year-old dog was part of rescue operations not only in Mexico but also in Ecuador and Haiti in 2010, after the deadly earthquake in Port-au-Prince. But it wasn't until September 2017 that she gained international recognition on social media after the Mexican navy posted a video of her.
Study Suggests Dogs Feel Owners' Anxiety
In September 2017 two devastating earthquakes shook Mexico just days apart. The second one, on Sept. 19, killed more than 300 people, including 205 in Mexico City, and caused many structures to collapse. Frida assisted in rescue efforts in both disasters that month.
Wearing goggles and neoprene booties, Frida accompanied first responders looking for the children that perished in a school in Mexico City during the earthquake. The images traveled the world and became a trending topic to the point that celebrities like actor Chris Evans shared the video saying "What did we do to deserve dogs?"
Even though she didn't rescue anyone during the aftermath of the earthquake in Mexico City, first responders agreed that Frida gave hope to people in the country and people watching the disaster from afar.
"In social terms, this dog functioned like a transitional object because maybe she didn't help us in anything real or concrete — meaning she didn't rescue anyone — but she let us feel like there was hope and that there were things that could help us," Fátima Laborda, a psychoanalyst and director of Casa Grana, a psychological assistance and research organization, told The Associated Press at the time.
Now, her gear has been hung up and members of the Mexican navy awarded their canine fellow with a chew toy for her to play in her upcoming phase.
Frida is expected to move to the countryside and help in the training of the rescue dogs next generation, according to Mexican authorities.
More Clear the Shelters Stories
by Clear the Shelters / Jul 15, 2019
Animal Shelter Waives Adoption Fees Thanks to Miranda Lambert's Donation
A Massachusetts animal shelter is waiving its adoption fees through July 19 thanks to a donation from country singer Miranda Lambert.
"There's a reason dogs like country music," the Scituate Animal Shelter posted on Facebook Wednesday. "Thank you Miranda Lambert for your generous donation that allows SAS to waive adoption fees for a limited time. Lower fees = more dogs finding homes. We love you Miranda!"
Clear the Shelters Dog Was 'the One' for Texas Family
When Pepperjack was brought in to the Galveston County animal shelter in Texas City, Texas, the center's director was sure this "good looking" yellow Labrador Retriever would be adopted quickly.
Animal control officers found Pepperjack wandering the streets and took him in as a stray on June 20, 2018. Shelter employees scanned the dog, estimated to be approximately 1 year old at the time, for any identifying tags or possible microchip, but didn't find anything.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Chinese Army Replacing Soldiers With Robots
December 28, 2021 /0 Comments/in Featured, International /by Times Now News
The terrain being difficult, the Han Chinese soldiers unused to the cold and high altitude, the People's Liberation Army has begun using robot vehicles for transportation and even reconnaissance.
Keeping in mind the difficult terrain of the Tibetan plateau and the difficulties the Han Chinese soldiers have faced because of the cold and the high altitude, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has moved in a large number of unmanned ground vehicles to carry troops, weaponry and supplies. More than half the vehicles are in areas close to the Ladakh area where the Chinese buildup is still in evidence.
The PLA has moved 88 Sharp Claw unmanned ground vehicles or UGVs into Tibet, and 38 of them in the western part of the province, close to where the Indian and Chinese armies are still face to face. The Sharp Claw UGV, manufactured by NORINCO, a Chinese arms manufacturer, can be used for reconnaissance, patrolling and transportation of weapons and logistical work in difficult terrain. it can also be fitted with weapons. (Read more from "Chinese Army Replacing Soldiers With Robots" HERE)
Tags: China
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/R-2021-12-28T204458.437.jpeg 702 1024 Joe Miller https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png Joe Miller2021-12-28 21:44:062021-12-28 20:46:02Chinese Army Replacing Soldiers With Robots
U.S. military could be shut down by secret 'back door'
China's controversial Three Gorges dam now online, world's largest hydro project
Huge US Defense Contractor Illegally Helped China Produce Advanced Attack Helicopter
Obama's Transportation Secretary says we should be like Communist China
Despite US heat wave, global warming in question as Asian glaciers grow
Boehner refuses to go along with Romney's plan to confront Chinese currency manipulation
President Biden Says He Will Make a Choice About Vaccination Requirements for... Police: Another CNN Producer Is Under Investigation by Child Exploitation S...


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Naive Averaging
Сети в картинках: принципы без необходимости знания алгебры
Принстонский университет
What makes WiFi faster at home than at a coffee shop? How does Google order its search results from the trillions of webpages on the Internet? Why does Verizon charge $15 for every GB of data we use? Is it really true that we are connected in six social steps or less? These are just a few of the many intriguing questions we can ask about the social and technical networks that form integral parts of our daily lives. This course is about exploring the answers, using a language that anyone can understand. We will focus on fundamental principles like "sharing is hard", "crowds are wise", and "network of networks" that have guided the design and sustainability of today's networks, and summarize the theories behind everything from the social connections we make on platforms like Facebook to the technology upon which these websites run. Unlike other networking courses, the mathematics included here are no more complicated than adding and multiplying numbers. While mathematical details are necessary to fully specify the algorithms and systems we investigate, they are not required to understand the main ideas. We use illustrations, analogies, and anecdotes about networks as pedagogical tools in lieu of detailed equations. All the features of this course are available for free. It does not offer a certificate upon completion.
Using themes and analogies, this course successfully give a holistic view. You lose a bit on mathematical precision, but gain on a firmer understanding of the phenomena.
I was really good experience learning.Got to know about new networking knowlegde
Product Rating on Amazon
The decision of whether or not to purchase something online is often driven by the ratings that previous customers have left for it. In this lesson, we will take a look at Amazon's review system, and the see how "crowds are wise" is another important networking principle.
Amazon & eCommerce4:28
Average Ratings10:21
The Wisdom of Crowds10:03
Rating Aggregation Challenges4:11
Naive Averaging5:57
Bayesian Ranking: Part I5:32
Bayesian Ranking: Part II9:14
Bayesian Ranking in Practice5:41
What does Amazon do? Part I5:00
What does Amazon do? Part II5:29
Christopher Brinton
We'll now turn our attention to two different rating methods or two different ranking methods. The first one's just naive averaging, which is basically a computation of the average customer review. And so, we'll just walk through that briefly. Let's consider a set of five DVD players, that were taken from Amazon at some day in 2012. So, what's shown here is the name of the DVD player or the manufacturer. Panasonic, Sony, Philips, Curtis, and Toshiba. As well as the total for each, number of stars. And the number of stars that, in each category for each DVD player. So, the Panasonic, for instance, had five, five-stars, three four-stars, three three-stars, and so forth. And then, throughout the column, it, at the end, the, the totals are totaled up. So we can see the total number of reviews to the Panasonic is 11 and so forth. So we can use this table to run through the, average rating computation. So the procedure, and the reason we call this naive averaging, is that we're not taking account into account anything other than just the average, so. There's a lot of implications to be discussed before. Why their, what's the population size. If so, having 11 versus 77 people, maybe that'll have some impact. So that's why we call it naive because it's not taking into account anything other than the simple average. The procedure is to first find the total number of stars. Which is, just adding up the total number of stars. so, in the case of, having five, five stars, that's a total of 25 stars, and so forth. And then divide by the total number of ratings. So, a very simple procedure. So we can do this for the Panasonic, as follows. RIght, as we said we have five, five stars. That's going to be 5 times 5 which is 25. Plus three, four stars. So 3 times 4 which is 12. Plus three, three stars. Which is 3 times 3. Plus no two stars. So 0 times 2. Plus no 1 stars. So 0 times 1. And then, we divide that by the total number. Which is 5 plus 3 plus 3 plus 0 plus 0 which is 11. So 5 plus 3 plus 3 plus 0 plus 0. And when we do this out, we get 46 over 11, which is equal to 4.182. So, for the Panasonic, the average is 4.182. We'll just write that here. So the average rating calculation, just to generalize that and write it out. We take the number of five stars times five, plus the number of four stars times four, plus the number of three stars times three, plus dot, dot, dot. All the way down to the end. And we divide by the total number of stars. Which is the number of five stars plus the number of four stars plus the number of three stars and so forth. So we can go through and do this to the rest of the DVD players. Let's, for instance, do it for say the Sony player. So we'll do it for the second one now. So for the Sony, we have 18 five stars, plus nine four stars, plus five three stars, plus two two stars, plus three, one star. And we divide that by the total, which is 18 plus 9 plus 5 plus 2 plus 3, which is 37. And so this comes out to be 148 over 37, which is equal to 4. So it actually comes out to exactly 4. And so this is average rating is 4. And we can follow this same procedure for the other ones too. We can write out the Philips, I'll just do that one and then we'll just, call a day on the computation side. 23 times 5 plus 15 times 4 plus 11 times 3 plus 5 times 2 plus 13 times 1. Over the total. So again we just add up the total. So that's just 67. And that gives us 231 over 67, which is 3.448. Now I encourage you to do the same for the Curtis and the Toshiba as well. We have 3.448 here. And if you do it for the Curtis in the Toshiba, the Curtis is going to be 3.431 and the Toshiba is going to be 3.407 so, 3.431 and 3.407. So the ordering now is exactly the order, if we, if we wanted to order it by the average rating now. So we wanted to rank them by the average rating in descending order, so the highest first. It would be the exact order here. 4.182, so Panasonic comes first, followed by the Sony which is at four, followed by the Phillips, followed by the Curtis followed by the Toshiba. So that goes from highest average rating to lowest average rating. So we have. The Panasonic. [SOUND] The Sony. [SOUND] The Phillips. [SOUND] The, Curtis. [SOUND] And the Toshiba. [SOUND] So, the question was, is this the correct order? And, the reason, we can really ask that is that the, the Panasonic has the smallest number of reviews. Right, so it has the highest average rating, but it also has only 11 reviews. As opposed to the other ones which have 37, 67, and so forth. So the question is can we really trust this average rating with Panasonic? And should we try to do something where we can factor in the population size into each of these computations. In order to leverage the fact that there's a different number of reviews in each case. And we'll look at that next.


The Rolling Stones formed in London in 1962 and were everything a rock n' roll band should be..loud, decadent and dangerous. The Stones' influential blend of hard-driving rock and blues along with their longevity make them truly one of the worlds greatest rock n roll bands!
We Can't Get No Satisfaction!


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Home Society VAPRIL 2020: The Third Edition of the Educational Vape Campaign Launches Today
VAPRIL 2020: The Third Edition of the Educational Vape Campaign Launches Today
The world's largest vaping education campaign aimed at encouraging smokers to switch to the proven safer alternatives, launches today and is going digital due to the current COVID-19 outbreak.
Now in its third year, VApril is now firmly established as the world's largest pro-vaping campaign, and is strongly supported by health entities such as Public Health England (PHE) and the vaping industry alike. Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, this year the campaign had to go digital in order to reach smokers who are on lockdown.
The campaign follows the latest Vaping Evidence Review published by the PHE in March, which has emphasised that the continued misinformation shared about vaping, has led to false fears, stopping many smokers from making the switch.
Gone digital due to COVID-19
Director of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) John Dunne, the organization organises and co-ordinates VApril, has explained this year's differences. "Normally during VApril our members' retail stores host expert classes across the country to educate smokers on everything to do with vaping but this year we've had to change tact to safeguard the welfare of smokers and vapers during the month and therefore we will be engaging audiences through digital media."
"The UKVIA, our members and partners will all provide expert guidance via our social media channels and the dedicated VApril digital hub to help anyone who has either already quit smoking or is looking to give up."
"The UKVIA, our members and partners will all provide expert guidance via our social media channels and the dedicated VApril digital hub to help anyone who has either already quit smoking or is looking to give up."John Dunne, UKVIA
"Due to the fact that most of the population is working from home and in front of their laptops or using their mobile devices, we expect VApril 2020 to be very successful in helping to give smokers expert advice on vaping during these unprecedented circumstances," added Dunne.
Many smokers still believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking
"The PHE's recent report revealed that some 37% of smokers have never even tried it and over half of them believe it to be equally or more harmful than smoking."
He quoted figures released by the PHE indicating that a lot still needs to be done to educate the public about vaping. "Despite many leading healthcare organisations, such as Cancer Research UK, Public Health England and the British Heart Foundation publicly highlighting the positive benefits of vaping versus smoking, PHE's recent report revealed that some 37% of smokers have never even tried it and over half of them believe it to be equally or more harmful than smoking."
"Even though PHE continues to highlight that regulated nicotine vaping is at least 95% less harmful than conventional smoking, the message is not getting through."
"Our VApril campaign aims to address the misinformation out there and give smokers all the evidence-backed advice and information that they need to make informed decisions about vaping and to give them peace of mind."
Support for smokers
Anyone interested in knowing more about the campaign, access information and advice or receive support in switching, can go on www.vapril.org. Smokers who visit the site can download a special "Switch on to Vaping" guide and pose questions online to an expert industry panel. The site offers a number of real life testimonials by former smokers who had their lives transformed by making the switch and it also includes a vaper's guide to dealing with the Coronavirus.
UKVIA
VApril
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France: The Ecig officially recognized in tobacco harm reduction
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I am emerging into being a teen and being a teen means social media, but how will I know that what I do online is protected? I don't, and not knowing where all of my data goes is a disturbing fact.
In a recent CBS News story, "Americans Are Skeptical Facebook Can Protect User Data," Americans were not surprised that their personal data is accessible to companies, but they were surprised that Facebook is not trying hard enough to secure their data.
I remember trying to log in to my Facebook account after a long time. I remember seeing that my password was changed even though I knew I didn't change it. Seeing that I just got hacked left me stunned and confused. Even though I later found out I was hacked after I got my account back, I was still very scared.
According to The Verge's article, "Former Facebook Executive Says Social Media is Ripping Apart Society," only twenty-two percent of people think that companies are doing enough to protect their data. This was very surprising to me, especially since this generation that I am growing up in is, in my opinion, the generation that is most reliant on technology. As an emerging teen I want to know that what I share is all that is being shared.
Finally, I think that by using social media to connect with family doesn't have to be pressuring of how and what of your data is being shared.
In conclusion, I think that as a growing teen I and other teenagers rely a lot more on the internet, but how can we be sure how much security we have? In the future, I would want to see social media companies show us more clearly what is being shared to others. I would also want to see that the security that I have increases, since many of us will rely on the internet to express ourselves or connect with others. But how will we feel safe or confident on what others can view?
For Season 4 of IRL, we are proud to partner with 826 Valencia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced students with their writing skills. Students from San Francisco's De Marillac Academy are contributing their thoughts on each episode to demonstrate how the web impacts them. You can learn more about 826 Valencia here.
*What is the IRL Podcast?* Our online life is real life. We walk, talk, work, LOL and even love on the Internet – but we don't always treat it like real life. Host Manoush Zomorodi explores this disconnect with stories from the wilds of the Web, and gets to the bottom of online issues that affect us all. Whether it's privacy breaches, closed platforms, hacking, fake news, or cyber bullying, we the people have the power to change the course of the Internet, keeping it ethical, safe, weird, and wonderful for everyone. IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla.


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Q: Matlab Bwareaopen equivalent function in OpenCV I'm trying to find similar or equivalent function of Matlabs "Bwareaopen" function in OpenCV?
In MatLab Bwareaopen(image,P) removes from a binary image all connected components (objects) that have fewer than P pixels.
In my 1 channel image I want to simply remove small regions that are not part of bigger ones? Is there any trivial way to solve this?

A: Take a look at the cvBlobsLib, it has functions to do what you want. In fact, the code example on the front page of that link does exactly what you want, I think.
Essentially, you can use CBlobResult to perform connected-component labeling on your binary image, and then call Filter to exclude blobs according to your criteria.

A: There is not such a function, but you can
1) find contours
2) Find contours area
3) filter all external contours with area less then threshhold
4) Create new black image
5) Draw left contours on it
6) Mask it with a original image

A: I had the same problem and came up with a function that uses connectedComponentsWithStats():
    def bwareaopen(img, min_size, connectivity=8):
        """Remove small objects from binary image (approximation of
        bwareaopen in Matlab for 2D images).

        Args:
            img: a binary image (dtype=uint8) to remove small objects from
            min_size: minimum size (in pixels) for an object to remain in the image
            connectivity: Pixel connectivity; either 4 (connected via edges) or 8 (connected via edges and corners).

        Returns:
            the binary image with small objects removed
        """

        # Find all connected components (called here "labels")
        num_labels, labels, stats, centroids = cv2.connectedComponentsWithStats(
            img, connectivity=connectivity)

        # check size of all connected components (area in pixels)
        for i in range(num_labels):
            label_size = stats[i, cv2.CC_STAT_AREA]

            # remove connected components smaller than min_size
            if label_size < min_size:
                img[labels == i] = 0

        return img

For clarification regarding connectedComponentsWithStats(), see:
How to remove small connected objects using OpenCV
https://www.programcreek.com/python/example/89340/cv2.connectedComponentsWithStats
https://python.hotexamples.com/de/examples/cv2/-/connectedComponentsWithStats/python-connectedcomponentswithstats-function-examples.html

A: The closest OpenCV solution to your question is the morphological closing or opening.
Say you have white regions in your image that you need to remove. You can use morphological opening. Opening is erosion + dilation, in that order. Erosion is when the white regions in your image are shrunk. Dilation is (the opposite) where white regions in your image are enlarged. When you perform an opening operation, your small white region is eroded until it vanishes. Larger white features will not vanish but will be eroded from the boundary. The subsequent dilation step restores their original size. However, since the small element(s) vanished during the erosion step, they will not appear in the final image after dilation.
For example consider this image where we want to remove the small white regions but retain the 3 large white ellipses. Running the following code removes the white regions and displays the clean image
import cv2
im = cv2.imread('sample.png')
clean = cv2.morphologyEx(im, cv2.MORPH_OPEN, np.ones((10, 10)))
cv2.imshwo("Clean image", clean)

The clean image output would be like this.
The command above uses a square block of size 10 as the kernel. You can modify this to suit your requirement. You can even generate a more advanced kernel using the function getStructuringElement().
Note that if your image is inverted, i.e., with black noise on a white background, you simply need to use the morphological closing operation (cv2.MORPH_CLOSE method) instead of opening. This reverses the order of operation - first the image is eroded and then dilated.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We might just have a global cryptocurrency in the future but it will not be Bitcoin. At least that's according to former Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn. If we are to believe him, the global crypto will not come with energy-sapping mining that is part and parcel of most digital currencies in existence now.
Cohn is not a believer of Bitcoin himself, he told CNBC. Instead, "I am a believer in blockchain technology," he said.
As the world gradually understands the blockchain technology a global cryptocurrency will come into place but it will not be "based on mining costs or cost of electricity or things like that," he noted.
A growing number of countries are mulling over launching their own cryptocurrencies. Venezuela already has its El Petro developed reportedly with help from Russia. The central bank has been mandated to accept it as payment.
The Marshall Islands is also planning its own and Japan, Kazakhstan and Dubai are considering the move.
It is not clear what form the global cryptocurrency Cohn has in mind.
While Bitcoin is yet to be widely used in day to day transactions, institutional investors are lining up to take advantage of the highly volatile but otherwise lucrative space. ICE, NYSE's parent company is recently reported to be planning to have a cryptocurrency exchange.
Goldman Sachs where Cohn previously worked is to provide clearing services for bitcoin futures contracts.
Of course, CBOE and CME launched bitcoin futures contracts late last year but the renewed interest could catapult the market to greater heights.
With institutional money pouring in, pundits believe it will provide a stabilising factor against huge price swings.
However, renewed interest as was the case late last year could precipitate another bubble. It also opens the floodgate for people betting against the market.
For now, Bitcoin continues to face regulatory pressure that has stifled its growth for much of this year. Governments and financial institutions have become major stumbling blocks amid concerns of money laundering.


Developed in 1943, the XR-1A was contracted by the U.S. Army as the second prototype and improved version of its predecessor, the XR-1 (see image), in that the cockpit was equipped with more transparent paneling; futhermore, the observer is seated in front of the pilot, giving him high visibility. Technical data remained constant [Ref 316].
To see the XR-1A in flight click on this link.
Resources related to the XR-1A , provided by the Vertical Flight Society.
Resources related to the XR-1A , provided by public sources across the internet.


Not all reviews are equal. Some reviews are so good, they help the author(s) to advance their work and the editor to make an informed and timely publishing decision. These kinds of reviews help deliver breakthrough, verified research to the world faster.
Editors are able to rate reviews if they are adding a record of the manuscript they handled or through the peer-review submission systems of integrated journals. If you would like to ensure your editors have access to the review scoring rating and feedback system, get in touch.


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DOJ: Tulsa man sentenced to prison for evading taxes on $5 million income
TULSA — A Tulsa man was sentenced on Monday to two years in prison after officials said he attempted to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from collecting more than $200,000 in taxes.
John Petrig, 49, worked for a company as an independent contractor installing ATM machines inside casinos.
Officials said Petrig didn't file tax returns for numerous years, despite earning commissions totaling nearly $5 million.
"Petrig tried to beat the system and lost. Over a seven year period, he earned a commission income of almost $5 million and failed to pay the nearly $1 million owed in income taxes. When the United States attempted to collect those back taxes, he directed his commission payments to be sent to fictitious corporations," said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. "This egregious behavior warrants the sentence Judge Frizzell handed down today in federal court. Tax evaders beware, your criminal conduct will be brought to light, investigated, and prosecuted by the Department of Justice."
In addition to prison, Petrig was ordered to pay nearly $1 million in restitution to the IRS.


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The complete hater's guide to the Warthog
Harold C. Hutchison
Published November 01, 2018 21:08:35
So, we are back with another complete hater's guide to one of the Air Force's aircraft. Last time, we discussed the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
This time, we will go to the plane that everyone in the Air Force loves…and yet, it keeps ending up on the chopping block. That's right, it's time for us to discuss the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.
A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft assigned to the 25th Fighter Squadron out of Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, takes off from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Oct. 10, 2016, during the first combat training mission of RED FLAG-Alaska (RF-A) 17-1. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Karen J. Tomasik)
Why it is easy to make fun of the A-10
Let's see, it's slow. It doesn't fly high, if anything, the plane is best flying very low.
As any of its pilots will tell you, it's ugly — but well hung. (U.S. Air Force photo)
It's not going to win any airplane beauty pageants any time soon due to being quite aesthetically-challenged. Also, when it was first designed, it was a daylight-only plane with none of the sensors to drop precision-guided weapons.
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Corey Hook
Why you should hate the A-10
Because it has this cult following that seems to think it can do just about anything and take out any one. Because its pilots think the GAU-8 cannon in the nose is all that — never mind that a number of other planes took bigger guns into the fight — including 75mm guns.
Because that low, slow, flight profile means it is a big target. Because you'd rather claim that a relative died in a motorcycle accident than admit they fly that ugly plane.
Retired Air Force Gen. Charles Horner had a major role in the air power strategy of the Gulf War of 1990-1991. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andrew Lee)
Because that plane always seems to stick around when the Air Force wants to retire it. Because it is useless in a dogfight.
Representative Martha McSally, pictured in her office during her Air Force career, preparing to distribute BRRRRRT. Helps explain why the A-10 will be around indefinitely. (Photo credit unknown)
Why you should love the A-10
Because this plane can bring its pilot home when the bad guys hit it — just ask "Killer Chick." Because it also has a proven combat record in Desert Storm, the Balkans, and the War on Terror.
Kim Campbell looks at her damaged hog, which she landed at her base after a mission over Baghdad in 2003. (Photo via National Air and Space Museum)
Because it not only has a powerful tank-killing gun, it can carry lots of bombs and missiles to put the hurt on the bad guys.
An A-10A Thunderbolt II aircraft takes part in a mission during Operation Desert Storm. The aircraft is armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, AGM-65 Maverick missiles, and Mark 82 500-pound bombs. (Air Force Photo)
Because while it is designed for close-air support, it also proved to be very good at covering the combat search-and-rescue choppers.
An A-10 Thunderbolt II, from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., approaches the boom of a KC-135 Stratotanker from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., for refueling Sept. 12, 2013, over southern Arizona. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Colby L. Hardin)
Because, when it comes right down to it, the A-10, for all its faults, has saved a lot of grunts over the years.


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AltaSea CEO on Creating the 'World's Greatest Water Cooler for Ocean Innovation'
AltaSea, the innovation campus occupying over 35 acres at the Port of Los Angeles, is fast becoming an impressive industry platform for ocean research and bluetech industry on the LA Waterfront. The marine research center's focus spans robotics, sustainable food production, and ocean exploration. VX News spoke to AltaSea CEO Tim McOsker, previously managing partner at Glaser Weil, about the visionary research taking place at the cutting-edge campus, and how it could prove to be the economic engine needed to transform San Pedro Bay into a vibrant waterfront ecosystem.
VX News: You were named CEO of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles last January, after years as a civic supporter and general counsel. Share your vision and priorities for AltaSea going forward.
Tim McOsker: My vision for AltaSea comes from one of our founders, the late Leonard Aube: to accelerate scientific collaboration, facilitate job creation, and inspire the next generation for a more sustainable ocean.
AltaSea is a 35-acre campus at the Port of Los Angeles that works to expand science-based understanding of the ocean, incubate ocean-related business, and pioneer ocean-related education programs.
We are in the process of building out our campus now. It will ultimately consist of three parts: a Science Center for university research, a Business Innovation Center for advanced technology products, and an Education and Engagement Center for public programming.
During my years as general counsel, before accepting my new role, my goal was to assist the organization in reshaping the lease and striking a deal with the Port of LA that would allow us to create a financially sustainable project, which we were able to do. Now, halfway through my first year as CEO, my goal is to get us to the point where we can issue bid packages to begin construction on AltaSea's Phase I projects.
VX News: Elaborate on your and the Board's ambitions for the AltaSea campus, especially on the promise of blue technology.
Tim McOsker: AltaSea now has a 50-year lease with the Port of Los Angeles for 35 acres of land at City Dock No. 1—an obsolete, antiquated piece of property that can no longer be used for modern shipping purposes. Our idea is to turn that 35 acres into a marine and ocean-focused campus for research, education, and business innovation.
The first phase of this campus is an 180,000-square-foot business center. Our partners in this phase are businesses in two main clusters. The first is blue tech or blue robotics—essentially, robots in the ocean that have a number of applications. The second is aquaculture, or ocean farming to create sustainable food sources for the future.
Our anchor tenant in the blue tech space is The Boeing Company. Boeing has been in ocean exploration for many years. They are fond of saying that they explore space and that "Earth and the ocean are part of space." They have developed a game-changing autonomous submarine for ocean exploration called the Echo Voyager, which they are testing and demonstrating to customers at our site.
In the aquaculture cluster, our anchor tenant is Catalina Sea Ranch—the first company on the West Coast to pull a permit to farm and grow food in federal waters. They are farming mussels on a ranch about eight miles off the coast between Catalina and Los Angeles. Their farm is currently 100 acres and will soon grow to 1,000 acres, and they plan to eventually reach several thousand acres. Mussels and other bivalves are clean, provide good protein, and are sustainable for the future.
There are now other companies building around Catalina Sea Ranch that will farm other crops—for example, seaweed. Seaweed is going to be a very important product for food security in the future, and it also creates an opportunity for a sustainable energy source as a biofuel.
When the business center is complete, we'll move onto the next phase: the university space. We will be adaptively reusing an existing warehouse of about 60,000 square feet as a university research center. The Southern California Marine Institute will move into that space.
VX News: What potential does AltaSea see for economic opportunity in ocean exploration and the growing blue economy?
Tim McOsker: We think that the blue economy is going to be extraordinarily important to this generation and future generations.
As you've no doubt heard, 70 percent of the Earth is covered by the ocean, and roughly 90 percent of our oceans have not been explored or mapped. It's commonly said that we know more about outer space than we do about the inner space of Earth; perhaps a third of all the species in the ocean are yet to be discovered, and there are geographies, geologies, and resources in the ocean that we don't fully understand.
There is a sustainable, equitable economic future for us in the ocean—which means there is an economic future that conserves, preserves, and protects the ocean. For example, we will eventually have a rich sustainable farming industry in the ocean, and that means there are going to be a lot of jobs. There are going to be opportunities to transport people to and from the ocean ranches. There are going to be opportunities to produce the materials that are used on those ranches. There is going to be a need for underwater robotics that can make those farms efficient, clean, and safe. The opportunity to create new jobs and economic development related to the ocean seems limitless.
When I grew up in Southern California in the 1970s, we were discovering space. But we weren't only learning more about outer space. We were also pushing the limits of what we knew and creating new technologies that now have widespread applications—in cell phones, for example, or in the engines and control centers of our automobiles. At AltaSea, we think the next great innovations will come from ocean exploration, and we believe that the center of the blue economy should be right here in the Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor.
Serious marine research is being done nationally—in San Diego, in Monterey Bay, and at Woods Hole on the East Coast, for example. How will AltaSea contribute to this array of quality institutions focused on marine research and blue tech?
AltaSea occupies a space that is not occupied by any other entity in the United States. We have 35 acres of land and structures that can be allotted to a business innovation center, a university research center, and deep community engagement. We also have 4,500 linear feet of available dock. When our campus is complete, we will be the only institution I know with such a significant amount of space available for business innovation, education and research. We will host the Southern California Marine Institute, which itself is a coalition of 23 universities and institutes, and we have a mission to engage every part of the community.
AltaSea is the world's greatest water cooler for ocean innovation. It's an opportunity to bring everyone from scientists to entrepreneurs, kids, government officials, and non-profits together in one space to work on some of the most pressing existential problems facing humanity—food security, sustainable energy, global warming, and more.
We have a great opportunity ahead of us, and I think we are up to the challenge because of the support we have from local officials, our community, and a broad array of donors and national interests.
VX News: Share the background and contributions of a few of the key figures at AltaSea, such as Chief Scientific Officer Sandra Whitehouse and renowned ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard.
Tim McOsker: Since AltaSea first formed, we've known it would be important to have a chief scientific officer. My colleague and friend Jenny Krusoe recruited Dr. Sandra Whitehouse, a preeminent marine biologist in the United States. With her national and international reputation, Dr. Whitehouse is extraordinarily important in spreading the news of AltaSea around the country.
It was also Dr. Whitehouse who connected us to Dr. Robert Ballard. Dr. Ballard is the founder of the Ocean Exploration Trust and the captain of the ocean exploration vessel the Nautilus. He is well known for having discovered the Titanic, among many other discoveries. And while he is a serious and important scientist, it's also just extraordinarily fun and exciting to have him and the Nautilus as one of our anchor tenants in the blue tech cluster. He partners with us on educational programs with the Los Angeles Unified School District, local Boys and Girls Clubs, and the community at large. We're very fortunate to have him, and it's been a beautiful relationship.
VX News: Address AltaSea's increasingly synergistic relationship with the Port of LA, especially in relation to the evolving plans for the redevelopment of the San Pedro Bay waterfront.
Tim McOsker: We appreciate the Port's efforts in waterfront development, from the San Pedro Public Market to SpaceX, that include both important science and valuable entertainment. We clearly feel that AltaSea is aligned with the Port's goals; that we're a catalyst for the Port's waterfront development process, given we occupy a space that includes serious science, innovation, and community engagement, and education.
The Port is one of the busiest in the world. In addition to modernizing its goods movement capabilities, it has realized that its old warehouses and spaces that are no longer usable for modern shipping cannot just be abandoned; they have to be reused, especially since in some cases they are historic and attractive. Thus, we're glad that the Port has partnered with us to reuse four buildings on the site: three back-to-back 60,000-square-foot warehouses that will become our business innovation center, and a beautiful standalone warehouse that will be adaptively reused as the university research space, preserving its historic character.
Again, our entire site is 35 acres, with a quarter-million square feet of usable warehouse space. The rest of the property is open space. There is about a 17-acre area that was previously a tank farm and now has some limited contamination. Importantly, as a condition of our lease, the Port will clean up that space and make it available to us when we are ready to build it out.
VX News: What are your expectations for where AltaSea and San Pedro will be by the time you return to the VerdeXchange Conferencein January 2019?
Tim McOsker: I had the good fortune of being at VerdeXchange 2018 the very week that I was named CEO of AltaSea. VerdeXchange was my first speaking opportunity to talk about the outline of what AltaSea wants to be when it grows up, and I'm looking forward to returning to talk about where we are a year later with regard to the development and implementation of the plan. I also want to talk about what we see for our near-term future with respect to the university research center, job development, and business innovation.
AltaSea is an organization that, while staying true to our mission, changes and adapts to new opportunities every day. After all, innovations and opportunities for business and research in the ocean are changing and advancing day by day. We're going to be part of that burgeoning blue economy and ocean discovery.
VX News: Lastly, speak to what attracted you—recently managing partner at Glaser Weil, former chief of staff to Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn, and a native of San Pedro—to take the lead at AltaSea. What about this enterprise compelled you to choose to invest your time, talents, and passion in this not-for profit?
Tim McOsker: At first, it was just a happy accident of my law practice that I was asked to come aboard and help AltaSea renegotiate its lease. As I worked with the team through that process, I fell in love with the project and with the idea of ocean and marine-related research, education, and business.
But more importantly, I feel that the city of Los Angeles, the community of San Pedro, and the Port of Los Angeles have done so much for me and my family for generations. I owe so much of my great career to these people and institutions, and this is my opportunity to give back.
What am I giving back? While AltaSea is a non-profit focused on ocean research and conservation, the byproduct of our work is a huge opportunity for economic development and job growth, and the creation of a new future for several generations after us here in the harbor area. The harbor area has experienced a decline in jobs thanks in part to the automation of longshore work and the fishing industry moving to other parts of the world, and we are in great need of jobs and economic development here.
This was an opportunity to give back to a community that has given so much to me. It's a debt that I will never be able to repay, but I'm going to try my hardest through AltaSea.
"At AltaSea, we think the next great innovations will come from ocean exploration, and we believe that the center of the blue economy should be right here in the Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor." —Tim McOsker
Tim McOsker, AltaSea, Bluetech, ocean innovation, Port of Los Angeles, Sandra Whitehouse, Blue Economy


His drawings, put on paper with a coloured pencil, are distinguished by a great diversity of subjects. Jeroen seems to be under the spell of the "horror vacui", the paper is filled from top to bottom and no where the white of the paper is visible. Fruit, animals, flowers and plants, cityscapes, roads with cars, rails with trains, page filling, from a birds eye perspective and with encyclopaedic knowledge drawn on paper.
"When he draws a fruit-tree with apples, the other sorts of fruit will follow as a next logical continuation to his choice of drawing an apple-tree." The urge for completeness has everything to do with his autism. A while ago I got an enormous map with drawings, made by Piet Dekkers (1904 – 1986), the grandfather of Jeroen's mother and Jeroen's great-grandfather. It trucks me, that his subjects and way of drawing resemble those of Jeroens. After his retirement he started drawing, every piece of white paper had to be filled. He did this in a very compulsive way, his wife ran the house. Afterwards a form of autism was recognized as well. His work also shows a lot of diversity in subjects, just like that of Jeroen. Everything is drawn on note size, a lot of and other scrap paper filled to the brim. It is particular to make an acquaintance with his world in coloured pencil.
The work of Jeroen happens to rejoice in great interest, many collectors are interested in his work and in New York he has a special agent selling his work over there.


Originally conceived as a school-project, Unfinity Games has become a focus-on-fun-and-quality indie game development studio. When we're not working on awesome games, we've been known to release some of our internal tools as Unity assets to help make your games just that little bit more awesome.
We're not the fastest developers -- many other studios have higher output. Although we don't have their brute-force numbers, we have fun, quality, and charm -- arguably much more important and memorable.
We think we're building something special. We hope you'll think so, too.
Looking for our Unity Assets?


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3 Top Bank Stocks to Buy Right Now
By Matt Frankel, Dan Caplinger, and Matthew Cochrane – Jun 29, 2019 at 7:33AM
NYSE: BAC
These three banks could be excellent values with lots of upside potential.
Bank stocks have not exactly been a standout of the recent market rally. Over the past month, the financial sector has underperformed the S&P 500 by more than a full percentage point, thanks to recession fears and interest rate uncertainty.
However, there could be some bank stocks worth a closer look as we head into the second half of the year. Read on to find out why our Fool.com contributors have their eyes on Goldman Sachs (GS 1.53%), JPMorgan Chase (JPM 0.62%), and Bank of America (BAC 1.35%).
A huge capital return and lots of growth potential
Matt Frankel, CFP (Goldman Sachs): I've written about Goldman Sachs' long-term potential several times, but after the recent stress test results were released, the bank has jumped to the top of my watch list.
After it was announced that regulators had no objection to the bank's capital plan, not only did Goldman Sachs just give shareholders a big dividend raise that boosts the stock's yield to 2.5%, but the bank also announced a massive $7 billion stock buyback over the next 12 months. To put this in perspective, this translates to nearly 10% of all outstanding shares. With Goldman trading for a roughly 5% discount to its book value, I'd say that this should be a pretty effective way to build shareholder value.
In addition, the big bank is investing heavily in several key areas of its business. For example, Goldman announced last month that it would acquire United Capital Financial Partners in an effort to grow its already-impressive wealth management business.
And don't forget Goldman's consumer banking growth. Not only has the Marcus personal lending and deposit account platform been extremely successful so far, but this could just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Goldman's consumer banking ambitions. It's already been reported that Goldman has a "Main Street" investment platform in the works, and the company is about to jump into the credit card game as Apple's co-branding partner, with the new Apple Pay card set to be released later this summer.
A bank that's big, profitable, and growing
Matthew Cochrane (JPMorgan Chase): JPMorgan is consistently one of the most profitable of the big domestic banks, boasting a 16% return on equity in Q1 2019, well above the 10% threshold that investors generally consider to be good. The bank's first-quarter revenue rose to $29.9 billion, a 5% increase year over year, and earnings per share (EPS) grew 12% to $2.65. Despite the healthy profitability and growth, however, JPMorgan's shares sport a P/E ratio of less than 12.
Though the bank recently shuttered Finn, its digital-only bank targeted at millennials, that was apparently due to the massive success of its online and mobile efforts for its flagship brands. Chase now has 49 million active digital users and 33 million active mobile users, more than any other domestic bank, all while growing faster by actual users, too. Using Chase's mobile app, users can move money with Chase QuickDeposit or Zelle, pay bills, set up recurring payments, use autosave functions, set goals, and find tips for better money management.
Being such a big entity has advantages, as it gives JPMorgan a large war chest to invest in technology and customer acquisitions. This year, CFO Marianne Lake said the bank expects to spend about $11.5 billion on technology, half of which is earmarked for innovation to "change the bank."
Bank on B of A
Dan Caplinger (Bank of America): The financial industry has had to endure a lot of ups and downs over the past decade. On the whole, though, Bank of America has done a good job of recovering from the worst of times in the late 2000s. By highlighting the importance of continuing to grow but only at a pace that's sustainable over the long run, CEO Brian Moynihan and his team have been able to keep Bank of America's core retail banking operations humming along and producing reliable results.
Bank of America has nevertheless had to fight hard in order to keep its competitors at bay, and the recent pause from the Federal Reserve and subsequent inversion of the yield curve has many bank shareholders nervous about the future. Despite those concerns, B of A is innovating to keep up with its peers. Its new Erica digital assistant hopes to lure in younger customers who've been least likely to respect Bank of America's legacy reputation in the aftermath of the financial crisis. With more than 7 million users already, Erica is becoming extremely popular, and being a first-mover could help B of A give customers a reason to walk in its doors rather than going to a competitor.
Investors currently hope that Bank of America can survive the current yield curve inversion and offer higher dividends in the Fed's annual review of capital plans. Good news could be a catalyst for further gains for B of A.
Dan Caplinger owns shares of AAPL. Matthew Cochrane owns shares of JPMorgan Chase. Matthew Frankel, CFP owns shares of AAPL and Bank of America. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends AAPL. The Motley Fool has the following options: short January 2020 $155 calls on AAPL and long January 2020 $150 calls on AAPL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Goldman Sachs Group
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Special FeaturesM&S are offering FREE personalised cards for those lucky in love this ValentinesOur second deal with it's personalised touch could be the key to someones heart!
This could be the perfect addition to your Valentines Gift for a loved one!
The latest deal in our Seven Days of Deals is a bit tasty.


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Nick Flicks | Is Warcraft the worst video game movie ever?
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Ben Foster, Paula Patton, Travis Fimmel
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Click here for more articles on Warcraft »
Click here for articles on movies like Warcraft »
Video game movies are rarely good, but Warcraft looked like it might just break the mold. The Warcraft game franchise already has an intriguing lore, a rich world, and loads of potential. Plus, World of Warcraft is constantly attracting new fans, both young and old. Unfortunately, this is a bland, slow, overstuffed, joyless, pretentious mess that only the most forgiving fanboys and fangirls will enjoy. Warcraft makes Ratchet & Clank and The Angry Birds Movie look like masterpieces by comparison. Is this the worst video game movie ever, though? Well… let's take a look.
Unless you've played Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game, you'll have no idea what's going on in this big screen adaptation. What makes this especially ironic is that the story couldn't be more simplistic at its bare bones. In short, the movie is about a war between orcs and humans. That might not sound especially complex or difficult to follow. Warcraft spends so much time bombarding the audience with information and exposition, however, that the plot eventually becomes completely incomprehensible.
To give Warcraft a little credit, it's clear that the filmmakers didn't want to just make a mindless action picture. They try to work in some thoughtful conversations and character development. The problem is that the writing is soulless and the characters are all empty shells. The entire cast, which includes Travis Fimmel as the fearless Sir Anduin Lothar and Toby Kebbell as a noble orc named Durotan, are unbelievably dull. The film's most interesting character is a half-human/half-orc named Garona Halforcen (Paula Patton), but even she's not given much to work with. It also doesn't help that Garona sounds like a lisping Sylvester the Cat and looks like a rip-off of Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy.
Since we don't care about the people involved, it's hard to get invested in any of the massive battle sequences full of lifeless CGI armies. The action itself is phenomenally unimaginative, particularly when stacked up against Game of Thrones or Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Heck, Jackson's Hobbit trilogy was more creative and whimsical than this dreck. Even the people who made that Dungeons & Dragons movie would likely fall asleep watching Warcraft. How is it possible that the Make Love, Not Warcraft episode of South Park turned out more epic than a $160 million motion picture?
Despite being an utter bore, Duncan Jones' film does admittedly capture the look of Blizzard's hit game. The set design is inventive, the visuals are mostly state of the art, and every inch of the film is packed with bright colors. The orcs in particular are technical marvels, brought to life by some of the most impressive motion capture effects since Avatar. So at the very least, Warcraft is less painful to sit through than any of Uwe Boll's video game movies. Even if it's not the worst video game movie ever, though, Warcraft still offers no identifiable characters, no compelling storylines, no inspired action, and virtually nothing to justify its existence. What else can be said except, game over.
This entry was posted in Features and tagged Action, Adventure, Fantasy on June 10, 2016 by Nick Spake.
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Due to rain forecast on Sunday, bike lane pavement marking on LBJ will begin at 10 p.m. Monday, April 3. One traffic lane will remain open for the duration of the project.
Traffic on LBJ will be reduced to one lane from San Antonio to University for bike boxes to be painted at the intersections of LBJ at Hopkins, at Hutchison and at University.
Head-in parking on LBJ will remain open. Electronic message boards have been placed in the area to inform motorists and the city has notified area businesses of the project.
The traffic improvements include bike boxes, bike lane striping and traffic signage. The new pavement markings will be bright green with white lettering.
Bike boxes are marked areas at the head of a traffic lane at intersections with signals that provide cyclists with a safe and visible way to get ahead of queuing traffic during a red light.
The work is anticipated to be complete by 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 4.
For more information on the project, please call the City of San Marcos Engineering department at 512-393-8130.
Traffic on LBJ Drive will be reduced to one lane from Hopkins to University for bike boxes to be painted at the intersections of LBJ Drive at Hutchison Street and LBJ Drive at University Drive.
At the same time, crews will remove the remaining parking curb stops left in place with the change from back-in to head-in parking along LBJ. The work is expected to be complete by 5 p.m. Sunday.
For information on the project, please call the city of San Marcos Engineering Department at 512-393-8130.


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Medvedev: Infringing National Sovereignty Could Lead To Nuclear Apocalypse!
Infringing national sovereignty could lead to nuclear apocalypse – Medvedev!
Diminishing the principle of state sovereignty is fraught with the destruction of the world order and a full-scale war, even with the use of nuclear weapons, warns Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
"We have seen many examples of infringements on sovereignty in the recent years. Just remember military operations against foreign countries in violation of UN resolutions, statements that this or that regime has lost legitimacy – by the way, from the point of view of a foreign state rather than the people in question – as well as introduction of sanctions bypassing international organizations," Medvedev stated at the International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg.
He specifically stressed that United Nations, although not perfect, is the only tool in the settlement of conflicts for the international community.
"We have no other platform, even though some may not like it. It is the UN Charter that calls for respecting the supremacy of law and sovereignty of states," Medvedev pointed out.
He went on to say that hasty military operations usually end up with radicals coming to power. The premier added that those issues, including the situation around Syria and nuclear security, will be discussed at the G8 summit in Camp David on May 18-19.
think I would by no means understand. It seems too complicated and extremely large for me.
I'm having a look ahead for your next publish, I will try to get the hang of it!


Many of Barack Obama's foreign policy initiatives are designed in direct philosophical opposition to the policies--indeed, the worldview--of the Bush administration. On Iraq, Obama does not merely say that he wants to end mismanagement of the war (like John McCain), nor the war itself (like Hillary Clinton)--he says, "I don't want to just end the war. I want to end the mindset that got us in the war."
One of Obama's most important attempts to roll back the Bush administration's foreign policy is also among the least understood. It is his proposal for intelligence reform. Obama's rebuke to conservative orthodoxy on this issue can be found buried in a Q&A and complementary article published earlier this month in the Washington Post: "Obama repeated his pledge to end the Bush administration's 'politicization of intelligence' and said he would give the director of national intelligence--who currently serves at the pleasure of the president--a fixed term, similar to that of the Federal Reserve chairman."
It's common for Democrats to promise an end to Bush-style politicization of intelligence. But the way that Obama frames the issue--likening the DNI to the independent, technocratic Chairman of the Federal Reserve--indicates that his view of the intelligence process is ontologically opposed to the way conservatives see it. As Franklin Foer has explained in detail in The New Republic, the Bush administration justified its pre-war intel abuses using a methodological critique that dates back, at least, to the 1970s (some trace it back to Edmund Burke's distrust of the Enlightenment).
The administration argued that the CIA put too much trust in the social-science methods cultivated by people like the CIA's "father of intelligence analysis," Sherman Kent. Abram Shulsky, who ran the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans--the outfit that produced "alternate intelligence" to justify the Iraq war--decried "the view that intelligence is, at bottom, an endeavor similar to social science, if not equivalent to it," which led to the pernicious belief that "intelligence analysis can be divorced from the policy process and, indeed, be apolitical in nature. As a result, one can even talk about creating within the intelligence community an analytic arm along the lines of a 'world-class think-tank'."
By contrast, Obama's proposal reaffirms exactly that view: in saying the DNI should be like the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, (rather than, say, the Secretary of Defense, who always serves at the pleasure of the President), the candidate is throwing his weight behind the idea that the intelligence community (IC) should be an independent assessor of empirically-verifiable facts; that intelligence assessment is a non-ideological exercise in finding out what's true and what's not.
That task, in this view, is more appropriate for an agency with an independent mandate and fixed-term leadership like the Fed, the SEC, or the FEC. Like those agencies, the IC has made its share of mistakes. Finding the truth is--of course--a difficult task, and even those who strive for empiricism and objectivity inevitably commit errors. That's true even when the White House and Congress are not pressuring them. But, contrary to current, unwarranted popular perceptions, the IC is actually quite good at doing its job, learning from its mistakes, and adapting its procedures to meet new challenges.
Adopting Obama's approach toward intelligence wouldn't solve everything. We would have to ensure that a fixed term for the DNI does not become a license for complacency. And it would be important to strengthen oversight, minimizing the independent DNI's incentive to create a bureaucratic fiefdom like J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.
But, ever since President Nixon's administration disregarded CIA data because he feared they were "soft" and in league with the liberal "Georgetown social set"; continuing through the notorious Team B "alternative intelligence" exercise in 1976 and Donald Rumsfeld's politicized 1998 ballistic missile commission; right up to the Iraq War, presidents and congressmen have used the intelligence community as a political football. Most recently, there was the scuffle over last year's National Intelligence Estimate, which can only be understood in the context of the Bush administration's past attempts to pressure the CIA over Iraq and Iran.
Because the CIA felt the need to push back against the Bush administration's constant pressure to find incriminating evidence about Iran, the Agency issued an NIE that basically slapped the administration in the face--creating a headline that rendered U.S. policy on Iran's uranium enrichment program all but inert until 2009. The Bush administration started this cycle of recrimination, and the end result is that Iran continues to enrich uranium--the most difficult part of making a nuclear bomb--and the U.S. has been helpless to pressure Tehran to stop, to the point where the Europeans were so alarmed they decided to take up the slack.
If the Bush administration had taken a pragmatic approach to Iran's activities, rather than cooking the books to fit its own views, we would have been able to have a substantive, gradual policy that increases pressure on Iran in proportion to its progress on uranium enrichment. And the IC and the administration wouldn't be looking over their shoulders at each other, so suspicious that it's near-impossible for the U.S. to figure out, and devise a rational response to, the true situation on the ground.
Working at the CIA, by all accounts, is like working at a company that's constantly being bought, purged, reorganized, and subjected to political recriminations. Establishing some independence for the intelligence community, as Obama suggests, would be a step towards rectifying that problem. At least, it would create some stability in the IC and place the mission of intelligence agencies in its proper context--of uncovering facts about the rest of the world, not furthering political agenda of whoever happens to occupy the White House.
Barron YoungSmith is a web intern at The New Republic. He was a research assistant on the upcoming book U.S. vs. Them: How a Half-Century of Conservatism Has Undermined America's Security.


Live DJ for August summer pool party.
Slow motion video booth for their grand opening event.
Live DJ and slow motion video booth for their grand opening event.
Live DJ for their summer pool party.
Live DJ and emcee for their wedding reception.
Live DJ for their Summer Ice Cream Social.
Opening up for the Lt. Dan Band.
It's certainly not a common occurance with the Lt. Dan Band's bass drum.
Live DJ and emcee for their wedding ceremony and reception.
Live DJ to celebrate the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon weekend.
Live DJ and emcee for their engagement party and surprise wedding ceremony and reception.
Live DJ for their annual Leadership Awards dinner.
Live DJ and emcee for their "Spring Fling" dance.
Live DJ for their "Bridesmaids Night Out" event.
Live DJ for their Vinyasa flow.
Giving bunny ears to Sheri and Helen from the DJ booth.
Live DJ and emcee for their annual Art Night.
Wedding celebration of William and Samantha.
William and Samantha's table decor included a hand painted set of Mr. and Mrs. wooden letters.


14th April 2019 at Altnagelvin Hospital, 125 Carnamuff Road, Ballykelly, beloved brother of Eilish Proctor and the late Frances (McLaughlin), Rose and William, brother-in-law of Jack McLaughlin and a much loved uncle and great uncle.
Funeral from his sister's home, 31 Castle Park, Eglinton on Wednesday at 11.20 am for 12 o'clock Requiem Mass in St Finlough's Church, Ballykelly. Interment afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.
Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu of flowers if wished to Trócaire C/o W J O'Brien & Son Funeral Directors, 110 Clooney Road, Eglinton, BT47 3PU.
I am sorry to tell you that Patrick McGINNIS has passed away.


Home / Blog / エリザ・セドナウィin Chanel short movie.
Elisa Sednaoui is a model, actress, philanthropist and film director of Italian, Egyptian, and French descent.
Here is the short film and you can check an interesting movie with a lots of cool fashion itemss!!!
Chanel saint lopez collection is one of my favorite! Simply so amazing.


Remind yourself that you don't have to take God to anyone. God is already with everyone. So, rather than taking the approach that you need to take the truth out to people who need it, adopt the approach that you need to go find the truth that others have and you are missing. Go be evangelized.
The other 19 points are worth reading too. Go check them out.


CMA CGM Shipping Agencies Ukraine is the liner agent of French shipping company СМА CGM Group – the world's third largest container shipping company. Operating a fleet of 428 vessels, including 154 company-owned, and a park of 2,1 mln. containers, СМА CGM serves over 400 ports around the world. In all, the company operates in 150 countries on every continent through a network of 650 agencies and 29,000 employees. CMA CGM Shipping Agencies Ukraine offers services to satisfy every transport need of the clients, and provides sea transportation of containers all over the world. Full scope of logistics services: "door-to-door" container delivery; warehousing; container stuffing/stripping in the ports and outside terminals; forwarding services etc.


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Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers
Written by M. B. on 18 Aug 2011
Distributor Third Window Films • Certificate 12 • Price £11.99
Suzume Katakura whiles away her days bored and resigned to a life of monotony and insignificance: she is neglected by her husband who is away on business and only calls her to check up on their pet turtle, she feels constantly in the shadow of her more spontaneous and outgoing best friend Kujaku and is even ignored by strangers. By happy accident she discovers an advertisement for a career in espionage and decides that learning to be a spy is the perfect antidote to her uneventful life. In this at least Suzume is right: her life soon becomes anything but uneventful, although not in the way she could've anticipated.
Juri Ueno (who has since gained attention through the live-action adaptation of Nodame Cantabile) is on fine deadpan form here, acting as an ideal foil for writer/director Satoshi Miki's offbeat and absurd character and situation-comedy. Her down-to-earth and sensible persona is surrounded by a varied and eccentric cast – this is perhaps why she's perfect as a sleeper agent but the fact that her character is also the only semblance of normality in the entire movie is one of many often subtle yet decidedly funny gags.
The town where Suzume lives is decidedly strange already, but when her career as a spy gets underway she discovers that the people and places there are even weirder than they first appear. There are some nice surprises in the supporting cast here: Yuu Aoi, who lent such dramatic weight to the troubled Shiori in All About Lily Chou-chou and the enigmatic Tanyu in the Mushishi live-action film is instead unpredictable and in-your-face as Kujaku. Yoshiyuki Morishita, who strikes me as one of those actors who's naturally funny without needing to speak a word of dialogue, makes for a delightfully eccentric shopkeeper.
The comedy is full of non-sequiturs and often features sudden unexpected developments and quirkiness; it's very farcical but since the jokes are often visual rather than pun- or wordplay-based there's little that is lost in translation. The liberal and consistent sprinkling of humour throughout the film means that there's never a dull moment so there are no extended periods that fail to raise a smile. After a while I started to 'tune in' to the film's own twisted logic and found its style quite charming.
The pacing doesn't lose momentum but the plot itself is less solid: there are no big mysteries to solve and no clear thread apart from that of Suzume learning how to become a spy (which is hilarious in itself when you look at the so-called spies who are training her). The narrative occasionally jumps backwards with flashbacks to flesh out the characters and most of the screen time is devoted to discovering how they are connected and how it wraps up the whole affair. Perhaps surprisingly for a movie about spies Turtles is, perhaps intentionally, devoid of suspense, gunfights or frenetic action.
If the storyline is vague and there's so much humour, what exactly is this film trying to tell us? It's certainly fun to watch and visually it's colourful and vibrant, along the same lines visually as Kamikaze Girls or Amélie. It also has a few things to say about the humdrum and routine nature of everyday life: as we follow Suzume in her quest to find something to spice up her mundane existence and learn more about the oddball characters who surround her, she consciously tries to be 'ordinary' like a proper undercover spy but starts to question what 'ordinary' really means.
Through its weird characters and unlikely occurrences Turtles makes some quite pointed observations about how the ordinary often hides extraordinary things. There's a ramen shop owner whose food is notorious for being so-so and unremarkable (if I were to explain the reason for this I'd be giving an important plot point away) but the scene in which he reflects on how he could make a great bowl of ramen if the situation were to arise struck me as quite moving and profound; the time when Suzume visits her father and the two of them reflect on the passing of time was also quite poignant.
This is one aspect of the movie that I felt could have been explored further, but it instead feels like a dead end. If a deeper meaning is intended to be drawn from this story, it's obscured by the trivial events whose drama is often lessened in favour of comedy value. The film really thrives on the strength of its cast and how they react to the weirdness that Miki's writing throws at them but since there's not much substance plot-wise I started to question what the point of it all was.
Then I remembered how I'd spent an hour and a half grinning like an idiot and laughing out loud unexpectedly, which is I think the true aim of the exercise. The early part of the film might suggest it's one of those ambitious commentaries on the absurdness of the everyday but it is ultimately something more modest and low-key. When it's as well-acted and fun as this though, that's just about enough.
Japanese audio with English subtitles.
Although it feels lightweight and directionless, Turtles is an eccentric and undeniably fun caper brimming with absurd situations and colourful characters.
The Taste of Tea
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Godzilla vs. Gigan - Review 12 from Godzilla: The Showa era films 1954-1975
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Adrift in Tokyo (blu-ray)
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Nobuhiko Obayashi's 80s Kadokawa Years


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A first-timer's review of Gloomhaven
Kevin Coffey | January 17, 2019 | Board Games, Reviews, Tabletop | No Comments
I've been eyeing Gloomhaven for a long time, but I never played.
Until last week.
Of course, I had read the rave reviews of the game and was well aware that, despite a hefty price tag, it sold out pretty much immediately upon release. (Thankfully, it's in print again.) It's the most highly rated game of all time on Board Game Geek.
But I finally played it. Mrs. Crit For Brains proposed a game night, and a few friends agreed. Soon, one of them offered up Gloomhaven. None of the rest of us had ever played, so we were excited.
If you don't know, Gloomhaven is a tactical miniatures combat game set in a persistent world. That means there's not just scenarios like a lot of mini combat games, there's a world to explore and quests to undertake. And it's a legacy game, meaning the campaign is ongoing and you open and use (and permanently mark up) elements of the game as you play it.
If you buy Gloomhaven via Amazon, Crit For Brains gets a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep this site alive.
It's closer to a full D&D campaign than something you just bust out for a little fun.
Unlike other legacy games (most have 15-25 scenarios to play through), Gloomhaven has more than 75. They all take an hour or more. And like a D&D campaign, it'll take you at least a year to finish it.
So that's where we landed last weekend. I knew of the game. I knew it was minis combat. I knew all those things.
Then our friend showed up with the box. First off, the thing is massive, both in physical size and literal weight. Open it up, and it's full of stuff. Full of cards and markers and chits. And the box is full of more boxes. (Seriously. So many boxes.)
Each character class has its own box with its character card, reusable sheet, power/spell cards and such. Then it has another box containing its miniature.
We started with the first scenario: Black Barrow.
In short, our four characters — Brute, Tinkerer, Spellweaver, Mindthief — busted in and started beating up the bandits within.
I played the Brute, so I ran in to destroy things and soak up damage while the squishier guys in back fired off ranged attacks, threw spells and summoned rat swarms.
We worked our way through the three rooms of the barrow, blasting bandits and archers while evading traps and picking up coins.
We had a lot of fun, and by the end even Mrs. Crit For Brains (who is not a huge fan of minis combat) said she loved it.
I'm excited to play more, and I might just pick up my own copy.
I have to say, I love the mechanics of Gloomhaven.
For starters, there are no dice.
Yeah, you read that right. The game is entirely card-based. No rolling to hit. No rolling for damage. Just card drawing.
That makes it sound simple, but the game is admittedly complicated. The way the cards work. The way you discard some and "lose" some into a permanent discard pile. The way you recover cards.
Everything you do as a player is based on the cards you choose before the game starts. Each class gets a set of cards, and they all have unique mechanics.
Each turn, you must choose two cards from your hand to play. Each card has an initiative number. Each card also has a basic attack and move option. Then each card has two more unique options including attacks, moves, spells or abilities. So each turn, you play two cards and pick two abilities, giving you a ton of unique combinations on how to play your turn.
Some cards get discarded. Some get "lost." When you run out of cards in your hand, you must take a short rest (lose a random card, but you can keep moving) or a long rest (get HP, choose a card to lose, but miss a whole turn) to get your cards back.
Taking more damage than you have available, and you lose another card.
And when you run out of cards, you're dead. (The game calls it "exhausted," but you're basically out of the encounter.)
The mechanics offer a ton of options and combinations, making your moves very strategic. And the scarcity of cards (you will slowly but surely lose cards to the permanent "lost" discard pile) makes every single turn count.
You're forced to make tough decisions.
You basically have a time limit, and you have to decide whether it's important to pick up coins (you can spend them in town between scenarios to get unique items and healing potions) or kill enemies or (sometimes) just rush through the building to get to the other side.
If you take too much time, you absolutely will become exhausted. Mission over.
But part of the fun is figuring out how to get your character to survive and accomplish the mission.
We were victorious! (Though the Brute died in the last room.)
Since there's no dice, you'd also think it's not as random. Every attack hits. But a little randomization comes via a second set of cards, which give you a boost to your attacks (+1 or +2 all the way up to doubling damage, kind of like a critical hit) or a negative effect on your attacks (-1, -2 and all the way down to a total miss).
And that's where leveling up comes in. As you use certain powers, you gain experience. When you level up, you get perks that remove -1 cards from the deck or other power-ups.
And that's not all.
Gloomhaven takes place in a large world. And the world map is not defined. You won't discover what's out there until your group ventures out. Other than the actual city of Gloomhaven, the map is blank except for numbers. When you discover a new place, you put a sticker on the number.
So what's up with those islands? You won't find out til you venture there.
And that's how the whole game goes. Early on, you only have access to some characters. You won't unlock them (they are literally sealed in their character boxes) until you find them in the campaign.
I have to say: The components of this game are nice. The cards are beautiful. the art is amazing. The way the cards, tokens and miniatures work together is slick. (The hit point and monster tracker cards from the GM are particularly cool.)
It is a bit of a bummer that only the heroes have plastic miniatures — the enemies are all cardboard pawns — but considering how much is in this game, it would have shot its $140 pricetag through the roof to have more plastic in the box.
So if you've made it this far into the review, good for you.
It's the same with Gloomhaven. It's a complicated game, as I said before. But when you get through it, you'll find a real piece of gaming excellence.
I can't wait for more.
Review: D&D's Dungeon Master's Screen Reincarnated is what we wanted
Our spoiler-filled review of D&D's Tomb of Annihilation
3 Comments | Sep 19, 2017
Review: D&D's new Dungeon Master Screen
Review: New spells, races in D&D's Elemental Evil free PDF


Bradford on Avon and the surrounding area has many attractions for all the family. You will always find something to do whatever the weather. Below is a selection of videos, photographs and links to places of of interest and local attractions.
Explore the many shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs in the town and take a wander down to Barton Farm Country Park for either a walk along the river or visit the magnificent 14th Century Tithe Barn, West Barn and small craft shops. On your way don't miss the Saxon Church, which is one of the oldest churches in England dating back to the 1120s.
A mecca for cyclists, walkers and boat lovers. The Kennet and Avon Canal Bradford On Avon runs from Bristol to Reading and took 16 years to construct. It was opened in 1810 and used to transport many products by barge and narrow boat along its route. Wandering across some of England's most beautiful countryside the Kennet and Avon canal links England's Canals via the River Thames at Reading with the Bristol Channel.
6 miles - The Roman World Heritage City boasts some of the finest architecture in the world and is famous for a number of landmarks including The Roman Baths, The Abbey and The Royal Crescent.
Britain's only natural spa offers a fantastic natural hot spa complex featuring rooftop pool with panoramic city views and a range of health treatments and massage. An ideal way to spend a relaxing morning or afternoon.
Castle Combe has been called 'The prettiest village in England' and has played host to many filming activities. There is also a nearby racetrack with various events, Karting and race driving school. Day courses available.
The Abbey located in the 13th century village of Lacock, protected by the National Trust. One of Britain's most beautiful villages and home of the Fox-Talbot museum of photography. Another of Wiltshires famed filming locations.
bowood house and gardens date back to the 18th century and is one of capability browns finest parks. For the children there's a large adventure playground famous for its 19ft vertical drop 'death slide'!
Approximately 13 miles away - A superb day out for all the family with the Wildlife Safari Park, Adventure Playground, Elizabethan Mansion of the Marquis of Bath with house tours, house exhibitions and formal gardens.
One of the wonders of the world and the best-known prehistoric monument in Europe. Explore the ancient landscape on foot and step inside the Neolithic Houses to discover the tools and objects of everyday Neolithic life.
Carved in chalk downs - Stunning views. The wind ensures this is always a great place to fly a kite, and at weekends the sky is often full of hang gliders and paragliders. Wiltshire also has 7 other white horses!!
One of the most spectacular tree gardens in the world. An historical collection of over 3,000 different trees and shrub species.
Stourhead in Wiltshire is a world famous 18th century landscape garden and palladian mansion cared for by the National Trust.
The National Trust's Dyrham Park, near Bristol and Bath, is a spectacular late 17th-century mansion, garden and deer park.
Ancient village within world-famous stone circle at the heart of a prehistoric landscape. Archaeological finds displayed in on-site museum.
Around the area there are many other attractions and things to do in Bradford on Avon and the surrounding area for all the family. Some examples include – Wookey Hole Caves, which are caves formed in the limestone hills in the village of Wookey Hole. Cheddar Gorge and Caves – A stunning gorge with near vertical cliffs with a labyrinth of underground caves and tunnels. Bristol Zoo – Located about 40 minutes away, provides a fun packed day for all the family.


Formulated specifically for stock or mother plants, aptly named MotherPlant A and B provide balanced nutrition for plants grown hydroponically, in soilless mixes or in soil. A parent plant has different nutritional needs than the plants grown from its cuttings, and MotherPlant Nutrients are formulated to meet those specific needs.
Formulated specifically for stock or"mother"plants, aptly-named MotherPlant B, when used in combination with MotherPlant A, provides balanced nutrition for plants grown hydroponically, in soilless mixes, or in soil. A parent plant has different nutritional needs than the plants grown from its cuttings, and MotherPlant® Nutrients are formulated to meet those specific needs.
Formulated specifically for stock or"mother"plants, aptly-named MotherPlant A, when used in combination with MotherPlant B, provides balanced nutrition for plants grown hydroponically, in soilless mixes, or in soil. A parent plant has different nutritional needs than the plants grown from its cuttings, and MotherPlant® Nutrients are formulated to meet those specific needs.