I've had a bit of a dry spell ever since that whirlwind production of The Barbary Lion. It was satisfying to write and publish a novella in such a short time, but also drained the old brain. Over the past several weeks I've been reading ... and, in doing so, slowly replenishing the well of imagination.
So, I've been thinking, but not writing. It's a step in the right direction. I usually mull over a story before transferring it to keyboard. I would have said "paper," but who uses paper anymore to compose stories?
I've gone back to jot down a few words here and there on a new adult romance tentatively titled Monterrey Salt. I'm thinking that a better fitting title may be Impulse. Really, the whole story launches from the impulsive act of the main characters.
Aren't "broken." Neither one is battling demons lingering from wretched childhoods and neither is a victim of abuse.
Communicate. Yes, they make love. Frequently. Passionately. But they also talk. I dislike stupid misunderstandings that get blown completely out of proportion because the characters didn't simply sit down and actually talk to one another.
Sure, we've got some archetypes going on. The rock star hero is a "manwhore" and his love for the heroine reforms him. Our heroine isn't a squealing, promiscuous, shallow twenty-something with a drinking problem; in fact, she's pretty darned level-headed and mature, ready to embark upon a challenging career. I put her at the beginning of her career, because no young adult fresh out of college starts at the top. Our hero is no slacker, either. He's older than our heroine because that's how I like 'em. He's affluent, but then, he's a rock star.
Right now my hero and heroine are humming along. I need to think up some sort of conflict, some obstacle, some disaster that will challenge them and prevent the reader from getting bored. There's a possible love triangle (quadrangle?). Two of the band members are very attracted to our heroine; one could make a play for her, foment mistrust and doubt between her and our rock star. Of course, that would break up the band. Or perhaps our hero could do something cosmically stupid, like get sucked back into his old manwhorish ways, thereby destroying his marriage and leaving our heroine open for the other band member loves her.
Choices, choices. I've got some mulling to do.


We have been Caravan Club members and keen caravanners for over 30 years so we hope that we have created a CL that you will enjoy.
The site is in the heart of the Cambridgeshire Fens and covers approximately 1/2 acre of grassed land with a native hedge, trees and shrubs to the north and shrubs along the fenced boundary. We have planted shrubs and fruit trees between the pitches to give extra screening.
We are open from 1st March to 31st October. Dogs are welcome but we respectfully ask that they are on a lead and exercised off site.
There are 6 electric hook-ups around the site and water, chemical disposal point and refuse bins are located together opposite the pitches. We also have an information shed with local information etc. There is a selection of books which can be borrowed/swapped and games that may be used during your stay with us.
We have a variety of birds that visit the garden and there are feeders in the trees. The Green Woodpecker is a regular visitor. Owls and bats are often in the area especially at dusk.
We are situated between the villages of Leverington and Gorefield and in either direction there are pubs serving food. The local shop is in the village which is roughly 1 mile in distance.
The site is an excellent base for exploring the Historic town of Wisbech with its splendid Georgian architecture on the North Brink where you will find Peckover House, a National Trust Property. Also, Elgoods Brewery and Gardens are further along the Brink where tours are available and a taste of the local brew is a must.
In July, Wisbech holds its annual Rose Fair which takes place over 4 days and culminates with a parade of floats with local schools and groups participating.
There is a limited bus service into Wisbech which can be picked up from the end of the lane just a few minutes walk from the site. From The Horsefair in Wisbech buses run further afield.
Kings Lynn, Sandringham, the seaside town of Hunstanton and the North Norfolk Coast are in easy reach as is Peterborough with it's splendid Cathedral and the town of Spalding in Lincolnshire.


With your wave of folks facing foreclosure there are several who are getting help. What you can do to end the foreclosed process. A number of clients made our minds up to utilize powerful expanded Right involving Rescission which in turn immediately ends the foreclosed process forever. Let us explain.
The us government passed a new law typically referred to as the Simple fact in Financial Act. This take action was meant to protect shoppers from predatory financial practices. This security was available as various disclosures showing the genuine cost of assorted loans and a line of credit. However, with your wave involving loans staying originated some disclosures are getting to be misleading (sometimes accidentally as well as intentionally) possesses hurt the population.
Within the Truth throughout Lending Take action each client is granted a 3 morning Right involving Rescission, a cool down period, to determine if your loan or personal line of credit is what they really want, what ended up being advertised along with what they might afford. If a new consumer alterations their mind in the 3 morning period they might cancel just about any loan by simply signing a new Notice involving Rescission and perhaps they are then totally free of almost any obligations for this loan.
Might know about have made it easier for 95% of our own clients to learn is that will their essential disclosures, within the Truth throughout Lending Take action, are truly incorrect somehow. These glitches actually violated the card holder's (borrower's) rights within the Truth throughout Lending Act and provides the consumer a prolonged Right involving Rescission. The off shoot can last approximately 3 years through the date in the loan application.
What therefore is if someone is foreclosure and there exists an error within the Truth throughout Lending Take action, the borrower can certainly sign a new Notice involving Rescission along with send that will notice on the lender. This fast removes most obligations regarding the mortgage loan and, by law, the financial institution must get rid of the Trust Deed through the property within just 20 days and nights. Without a new Trust Deed the bank cannot foreclose for the property.
Not merely does this specific rescission end the foreclosed process immediately though the law requires that this lender repay each of the money received in association with the mortgage loan. This signifies that the consumer will receive a bunch of their mortgage installments back beyond the closing fees directly for this loan. In the event the borrower features received this specific rebate through the lender they have got the choice to present the lender the exact property or their reasonable price in income (usually by having a traditional refinance).
Not simply is the bank required to send back all the bucks paid nonetheless they cannot supply any bad reporting on the credit bureaus for the reason that loan along with note ended up rescinded. That means there isn't a obligation to spend and therefore there is no delayed payments with out foreclosure. With renewed credit history the borrower can often be able for you to refinance the exact property with a whole new lender all of which will have the ways to repay the main lender as well as the consumer can move to a brand-new property using cash rebate and buying a distinct home as a whole.
Another variation to the present Right involving Rescission process will be the lengthy time frame involved throughout litigation. Most creditors react improperly to sacrificing their Have confidence in Deed and to certainly foreclose all of which will usually challenge the task through case. With bankruptcies and also other issues for this down-turn for the overall design, most tennis courts are entire and there exists an expanded waiting time for the court visual appeal.
According on the Truth throughout Lending Take action, once a new Notice involving Rescission have been sent on the lender most obligation to spend is by law ended. Consequently through out and about the lawsuit period of time, the consumer is permitted to retain possession for the home with out mortgage installments are due to lender (without having negative reporting on the credit credit reporting agencies). Several of our clientele have used their Appropriate of Rescission merely to stall the task of losing their residence so they really have an area to are living (book & home finance loan free) for a lot of months with out negative credit reporting (zero foreclosure on the credit though they will certainly eventually lose your home). These clients manipulate the no cost housing option so as to pay along other debt and have their finances as a way just for them to move on using lives in the event the litigation features concluded.
The other last kicker…! If your lender will not pay up from the first 20 days following Notice involving Rescission have been filed, fortunately they are required to spend all lawyer's fees built up in enforcing your consumer's Appropriate of Rescission. Nearly ever before lender features filed case or proceeded while using foreclosure (illegally) in lieu of pay up inside first 20 days and nights, so each of our clients didn't even had to purchase our solutions!
There can be another option to the consumer which has not been utilized by simply our clients with a high amount, yet. In the event the Notice involving Rescission have been filed (deliver to the financial institution) a possibility for discussion exists. The bank has an incredibly sticky circumstance: they ought to pay the individual back a bunch of their payments (approximately 3 several years), pay his or her corporate lawyers more cash above your foreclosure service fees already expended, can't destruction the card holder's credit by simply reporting delayed fees along with foreclosure, realize more lost mortgage payments during a lawsuit and eventually they just receive the house rear (which will not be worth precisely what they lent into it because of a falling market place). Quite frequently the lending company will consider a significant loan modification simply the consumer including reduced rate, reduced mortgage payments, reduced rule balance to be paid, loan reinstatement, incorporate loan premiss language as well as waive "due in sale" offer, etc. This means they aren't required to pay more cash for the property and could recapture several of their money over the mortgage awareness.
This is often a pretty remarkable tool pertaining to stopping foreclosed and forcing the lending company to seriously consider negotiating mortgage loan terms. On the other hand, not anyone qualifies to the extended Appropriate of Rescission. My real estate property team involves two specialists in your neighborhood of Simple fact and Financial violations along with litigation. We're thrilled to discuss your needs with you should you not currently offer an attorney whom specializes in this field of a lawsuit.


text:
"""
SOLARSYSTEM.JPL.SBDB
--------------------

:author: Michael Mommert (mommermiscience@gmail.com)
"""

from ....jplsbdb import SBDB, SBDBClass
from . import *

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Head coach Gregor Townsend believes Glasgow can mount a serious challenge for the RaboDirect Pro12 title.
"We want to improve on last season," Townsend told BBC Scotland. "We want to improve on every game and every training session.
"We certainly want to be top of the table come the end of the season.
"Teams will respect Glasgow and realise what our strengths are. We have to overcome that, be accurate and make sure we deliver 80 minutes every week."
Glasgow made the play-offs last season after finishing the campaign in fourth-place; 16 points behind Leinster at the top.
Townsend, who has replaced Sean Lineen at the helm, will be without Richie Gray's towering presence but the Warriors have added some notable new recruits, including Sean Lamont, Angus Macdonald and Nikola Matawalu.
"There is expectation from the supporters and from this group of players," added Townsend.
"Those that didn't get selected this weekend want to be part of the team, so it's about managing that.
"Also, it's about managing what opponents do against us."
Much of Glasgow's success last term was down to defensive grit and Townsend is not about to change a winning formula. Indeed, the former British & Irish Lion is looking to improve on it.
And he will be aided by Matt Taylor, who has left the Queensland Reds to take up the role of defence coach with Glasgow and Scotland.
"Winning rugby is about being tough to beat," explained Townsend. "Having an outstanding defence but also not turning over the ball, especially in your third of the field, which tends to lead to tries and penalties.
"Having those two things in place will make us tough to beat. That's what was built up last season and we've looked at improving those areas. That will be the foundation of how we play."
Townsend has chosen not to tinker with the the choice of leader at the Warriors, with lock Al Kellock continuing as skipper.
"He's one of the best captains I've seen, an exceptional leader on and off the field," said the head coach.
"He's very good at gauging the mood of the group; whether to add more energy or take it down a notch.
"He's also an intelligent game manager. He knows when to change from the game plan and take control of things on the field."
Glasgow open their account with a trip to Ulster on Friday.
"It's a very tough opening game for us," said Townsend. "Ulster have a very good home record and they will be full of confidence.
"For me, they were the form team in Europe between Januaray/February and April; getting to the final of the European Cup was an amazing achievement.
"Out of all the teams we will play this year, they probably have the fastest line speed. That gives you counter-attack ball because it will force teams to kick, it also produces turnover ball if the opponent is not accurate in attack.
"But we have a strategy to combat that and I'm confident with the squad I've got."


The development comes as pro-Remain Labour MPs are circulating a letter that is urging the party's Brexit negotiating team to agree to a withdrawal deal without insisting on a confirmatory referendum.
"I have said many times that we would never get Brexit and I was right. Everyone wants Brexit apart from the establishment who have the levers of power. We don't count and they have made that very clear." So, say's UKIP founding member, Godfrey Bloom on this week's Shooting from the Lip with Jon Gaunt.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The recently created UK Brexit Party of Nigel Farage, the former longtime leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and an ardent supporter of London's withdrawal from the European Union, maintains the lead in polls ahead of the upcoming elections to the European Parliament.
The url presents visitors with a large banner reading 'It's Time to Stop Farage', and a brief manifesto of sorts.
Raheem Kassam, Global Editor in Chief of www.HumanEvents.com.is Jon Gaunt's guest this week.
It is not yet entirely clear whether the UK will stand in upcoming European parliamentary elections, despite the impending Brexit, but the lack of consensus over a way forward in Brexit talks among British politicians makes it a real possibility.
Britain was scheduled to leave the European Union on the 29th March this year. With the country's departure date now pushed back at least two weeks, authorities are now braced for potential unrest from, with some groups threatening riots across the country.
This week's guest on Shooting From the Lip is veteran DJ and Talk show host Liz Kershaw.
Former leader of the UK Independent Party Nigel Farage didn't mince words while slamming the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, negotiated by Theresa May, and was extremely effusive in heaping praise on US President Donald Trump.
Patrick O'Flynn MEP gives us his prediction of what will happen next with Brexit, his views on Tommy Robinson and demands a new treason law.
Politicians in Westminster don't want Brexit to happen, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said as he called for support in his new venture.
The former UKIP leader said on Tuesday that there would be a "bigger Leave vote" in a new "People's Vote" in 2019 than in the 2016 EU referendum. Farage slammed calls for a fresh poll if UK prime minister Theresa May's embattled Brexit plan and Remain were options on the ballot.
The fact that 35 thousand people signed up for Nigel Farage's new Brexit party in the first 48 hours should be a clear warning to the Establishment that the times are changing. This is the first clear signal that the people are determined to get even if not angry.
"Our politicians had better listen," said the former leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage as he announced via Twitter that his latest political endeavour received mass backing and invited more Brits to sign up.


text:
using System;

namespace Elders.Skynet.Core
{
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    {
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        {
            var genericType = typeof(Message<>);
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        }
    }

    public class Message<T>
    {
        public Message(IMessageContext sender, T payload)
        {
            Context = sender;
            Payload = payload;
        }

        public IMessageContext Context { get; private set; }
        public T Payload { get; private set; }
    }
}


text:
Five Questions Heading Into The Oakland Raiders Week 2 Matchup Against The Atlanta Falcons
Eddie Paskal
Senior Writer/Editor
Quarterback Derek Carr breaks the huddle
Sitting with a 1-0 record after their Week 1 road trip to New Orleans, the Oakland Raiders return home this week to host the Atlanta Falcons in their first home game of the season at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The Silver and Black will have their hands full Sunday with Matt Ryan and Co. flying into Northern California in desperate need of a win after starting the season with a 31-24 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Raiders will look to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2002, so heading into the matchup with the Falcons, here are five questions I would like to see answered in Sunday's contest.
1. How will the offensive line hold up?
Just a week ago, one of the perceived strengths of the Raiders was the potency and depth along the offensive line.
Now, after Menelik Watson and Matt McCants were forced to leave last week's contest early due to injury, that depth will be called upon in the early stages of the season.
Neither Watson nor McCants has practiced so far this week, casting doubt that either will be able to suit up against the Falcons, so if that is indeed the case; how will offensive line coach Mike Tice respond?
Will Donald Penn move back to the right side, with Kelechi Osemele shifting outside and playing left tackle? Will rookie lineman Vadal Alexander find himself in the mix? There are a multitude of questions surrounding the offensive line, but if the group is able to rally together, and put together another performance like last week's, the Raiders offense should be in good shape.
2. Does Sean Smith bounce back?
After being pulled in the second half of the win over the Saints, cornerback Sean Smith didn't make any excuses for his bad day at the office – he just wasn't good enough Sunday.
"I was getting killed, I'm not going to lie to you," Smith said. "It was bad out there. I was costing our team points. Coach did what he had to do. Obviously, I would have loved to stay in, fight that thing out, but coach made a decision about what's best for the team, so I ride with it. It's over. It's football. It's just like any other job. I had a bad day at work. I'll come back the next day and get ready to roll for Week 2."
The athletic corner will no doubt want to bounce back in a big way Sunday, especially considering it's the home opener, but he and the rest of the Raiders defense will have a tough task in containing Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and the rest of the Falcons offense.
Smith is a veteran cornerback who knows what it takes to get back to business, and if he's able to find his typical form, he and David Amerson provide a tough matchup out wide for any quarterback and wide receiver.
3. Can the run game keep rolling?
I don't think there will be many games in which the Raiders will find themselves on the losing end, if they run the ball for 167 yards and three touchdowns like they did last week in New Orleans.
All three running backs, Latavius Murray, DeAndré Washington, and Jalen Richard, were effective handling the rock, and fullback Jamize Olawale also got in the action, pounding in a two-yard touchdown as well.
Since becoming head coach, Jack Del Rio has said time and time again that the team wants to be able to control the line of scrimmage, and the run the ball with authority. The group certainly did that last week, and I'll be curious to see if they can keep it up against Vic Beasley and the Atlanta defense.
4. Can the defense limit Matt Ryan?
Last week Drew Brees, this week Matt Ryan.
After opening the season against Brees, the Raiders defense is tasked with limiting another Pro Bowl quarterback this week during their home opener.
"Good quarterbacks present problems for opposing defenses," Head Coach Del Rio said. "I saw a stat where he [Ryan] has 40 games in a row with over 200 yards on the road. That's pretty impressive. We have our work cut out for us."
Defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. and his group would love to put an end to that impressive streak, but even if Ryan is able to crack the 200-yard mark, but remain relatively in check, it would go a long way in securing a home win for the Silver and Black.
5. Will the team take advantage of playing at home?
The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum will be rocking Sunday afternoon, as the stadium hosts a meaningful football game for the first time last December.
The fans will be excited, and the team will be looking to give them something to cheer about, as they try to start a season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2002.
"Home openers will never get dull to me," quarterback Derek Carr said. "They won't be boring, especially playing in front of our fans. Our fans are the best in the world. Being able to play in front of them, it's always exciting."
The New Orleans Saints fans were able to provide a raucous environment for their season opener, and I expect Raider Nation to do that very same thing Sunday as the Raiders open their home slate of games.
How will the Falcons respond? That's another thing I'll be keyed in throughout the Week 2 bout.
Eddy Piñeiro Talks Range, Unique Journey To The NFL
Eddy Piñeiro's road to the NFL has been an interesting one to say the least. He talked with Raiders.com about just that.
After Decorated College Career, Brandon Parker Still Just Scratching The Surface
As dominant as he was at North Carolina A&T, Brandon Parker's college head coach thinks his best days are still ahead of him.
Raiders.com Mailbag: Talking Doug Martin And The Situation At Middle Linebacker
You know what time it is; time to answer some more fan questions in the Raiders.com Mailbag.
Raiders Spend Morning At Gene Ward Elementary School
Five members of the Silver and Black spent the morning at Gene Ward Elementary School in Las Vegas.
Head Coach Jon Gruden Announces Signing Of Derrick Johnson
Head Coach Jon Gruden announced Friday that the Raiders had signed linebacker Derrick Johnson.
Raiders.com Mailbag: Are We Close To The Return Of Gareon Conley?
You had questions, and now, we have answers. Check out another edition of the Raiders.com Mailbag.
A Complete Look At The Oakland Raiders 2018 Draft Class
With Rookie Minicamp on the horizon, let's take a look at the Raiders 2018 Draft Class.
Six Takeaways From The Oakland Raiders 2018 Draft
The Silver and Black just wrapped up the 2018 NFL Draft. Here are six, quick takeaways.
Raiders Invest Heavily In The Trenches In First Two Days Of NFL Draft
One thing became abundantly clear during the first three rounds of the NFL Draft; Jon Gruden wanted to invest in the big fellas.
Raiders Trade Third-Round Pick For Wide Receiver Martavis Bryant
The Oakland Raiders traded the Pittsburgh Steelers a third-round pick in exchange for explosive wide receiver Martavis Bryant.
Derek Carr Makes Early Impression On Jon Gruden In Veteran Minicamp
The Silver and Black hit the field for Day 1 of Veteran Minicamp Tuesday afternoon, and Derek Carr made an early impression on his new head coach.
General Manager Reggie McKenzie Provides Khalil Mack Update
Reggie McKenzie provided an update on the status of defensive end Khalil Mack Friday afternoon during his pre-draft press conference.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using MediaBrowser.Theater.Presentation.Controls.Osk.Layout;

namespace MediaBrowser.Theater.Presentation.Controls.Osk
{
    [TemplatePart(Name = "PART_Rows", Type = typeof (ItemsControl))]
    public class VirtualKeySet : Control
    {
        private IEnumerable<VirtualKeySetRow> _rows;
        private ItemsControl _rowsControl;

        static VirtualKeySet()
        {
            DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof (VirtualKeySet), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof (VirtualKeySet)));
        }

        public VirtualKeySet(VirtualKeyboard keyboard, KeySet keySet)
        {
            Rows = keySet.Select(row => new VirtualKeySetRow(keyboard, keySet, row)).ToArray();
        }

        private ItemsControl RowsControl
        {
            get { return _rowsControl; }
            set
            {
                _rowsControl = value;

                if (_rowsControl != null)
                    _rowsControl.ItemsSource = Rows;
            }
        }

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        {
            get { return _rows; }
            set
            {
                _rows = value;

                if (RowsControl != null)
                    RowsControl.ItemsSource = _rows;
            }
        }

        public override void OnApplyTemplate()
        {
            RowsControl = GetTemplateChild("PART_Rows") as ItemsControl;
            base.OnApplyTemplate();
        }
    }
}


AS Monaco will open its Center for Sporting Excellence soon, and according to Vadim Vasilyev, it will be one of the most advanced in Europe.
According to Vadim Vasilyev, AS Monaco vice-president and CEO, the club will soon open its Center for Sporting Excellence.
"This Center will provide our players with the best possible environment in which to train," he told the club's official website.
"Finally, the Academy will have a unique complex in Cap d'Ail, which will be at the disposal of our youth players and coaches," Vasilyev added.


text:
Atlantic City currently has nine casinos. They range from the very small Golden Nugget to giant resorts like Borgata and the newly opened Hard Rock.
We've compiled some interesting statistics about each of the AC casinos. From the number of table games and slots to the size of the casino floors, read on to learn more about your favorite Atlantic City casino.
Number of Slot Machines
Slot machines make up the majority of any casino's floor. The banks of slot machines can seem like they go on forever.
Borgata has the most slots with 2,825. Tropicana and Harrah's follow Borgata with 2,452 and 2,101 machines, respectively.
Resorts has the least number of slot machines. It's 1,416 machines is about half that of Borgata. Golden Nugget has a handful more slots than Resorts, with 1,460.
In total there are 17,916 slot machines in Atlantic City. Here is a look at the number of slot machines at each Atlantic City casino:
Number of Table Games
Borgata also has the most number of table games (183) such as blackjack, craps, roulette and various specialty poker games like 3 card poker and flop poker. One of the newcomers on the Boardwalk, Hard Rock which opened in the redeveloped Taj Mahal building earlier this spring, has the second most table games in Atlantic City with 152. The three Caesars Entertainment properties, Harrah's, Caesars and Bally's, are next on the list with 133, 131, and 122 table games, respectively.
Resorts and Golden Nugget have the least number of table games in Atlantic City. Resorts has 68 and Golden Nugget has 81.
In total ,there are currently 1084 table games in Atlantic City. Here's an overview of the number of table games at each Atlantic City casino:
Did you know that Amazon has great deals on gambling accessories? Find great savings on poker chips, cards and even blackjack tables and poker tables!
Number of Poker Tables
Six of the nine Atlantic City casinos have poker rooms. The biggest, as of October 2018, is Borgata which has 89 poker tables. Surprisingly, Bally's has the second most poker tables in the city with 42, followed closely by Harrah's 37 tables. Resorts, Hard Rock and Caesars do not have poker rooms.
In total, there are currently 203 poker tables in Atlantic City. Here's the a snapshot of the number of poker tables at each Atlantic City casino:
Size of Casino Floor
Atlantic City casinos vary in size. Some are enormous with their banks of slots and table game pits going on forever. Others are smaller and more intimate.
The largest Atlantic City casino, Harrah's, is almost twice the size of Golden Nugget, which is the smallest casino. Harrah's has 156,284 square feet of gaming space. Golden Nugget has 78,464 square feet. Resorts is also small, with 82,877 square feet. Borgata is about 20,000 square feet smaller than Harrah's, at about 136K square feet and Resorts is about 4K square feet bigger than Golden Nugget.
In total there are currently 1,076,417 square feet of casino floor space in Atlantic City. Here's an overview of how each casino stacks up:
The marina rules in terms of hotel rooms in Atlantic City. Borgata operates the largest hotel with 2,767 rooms and suites. Harrah's has the second most hotel rooms in the city with 2,587. Golden Nugget add 717 rooms to the AC marina, although this is the smallest hotel in Atlantic City.
Tropicana has the most hotel rooms on the Boardwalk with 2,366. The newly renovated hotel at Hard Rock is number two on the Boardwalk with 1,971 rooms.
In total there are currently 15,100 hotel rooms in Atlantic City. Here's a breakdown by hotel:
For more interesting Atlantic City stats, read our recent articles about the casinos' table game wins, slot wins, and total casino wins. We also have an interesting article about the battle between the new casinos in town – Hard Rock vs Ocean Resort, and why Caesars Entertainment has an Atlantic City problem.
The sports book at Tiverton Casino in Rhode Island, located near the Massachusetts border, will open later this afternoon. Tiverton will be the second casino in Rhode Island to offer legal sports betting. Twin River casino opened its sports book last week.
The Tiverton and Twin River casinos are currently the only legal sports betting options in New England. The nearby Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun do not yet have sports books and they will not have sports betting for the foreseeable future since the Connecticut state government pushed back discussions until 2019 on legislation that would legalize sports betting in the state.
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that all but banned sports betting in most of the United States outside of Nevada, sports books have been opening throughout the country. Before a casino can offer sports wagering the state it resides in must first legalize sports betting.
In the Northeast, both New Jersey and Pennsylvania offer legal sports betting. Seven casinos in Atlantic City now operate sports books and the Hard Rock Atlantic City just announced last week that it would be opening its own sports book in the first quarter of 2019. The Hollywood Casino at Penn National Raceway was the first to open a sports book in Pennsylvania. More sports books are expected to open in that state later this month and into 2019.
Tiverton Casino told NBC 10 that it expects its sports book to open at 3:00 this afternoon. Keep an eye on the casino's sports book page for more details.
If you walk around the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City looking for the sports book, you won't find it because it does not exist. But that will change very soon!
It was announced yesterday that Hard Rock has partnered with Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) to provide Hard Rock customers with sports wagering. The sports book is expected to open during the first quarter of 2019.
The deal, announced in a press release, will offer an "omni-channel" sports betting experience for Hard Rock patrons. Not only will GiG technology power the on-site casino's sports book, but it will also drive sports wagering on Hard
Rock's iPhone and Android apps as well as HardRockCasino.com. Like all other Atlantic City online casinos, the apps and website will only accept wagers from gamblers physically located in the state of New Jersey.
In a statement about the soon to open sport book, Hard Rock's senior Vice President of online gaming, Kresimir Spajic, said
"The forthcoming launch of the Hard Rock Sportsbook in New Jersey will mark another step towards becoming a significant player in the national and international sports betting and online gaming industry."
In the months since the Supreme Court ruled against a decades-old ban on most sports gambling in the United States and the swift passage of a New Jersey law allowing it, sports books have been opening at a rapid pace in Atlantic City. Seven of AC's nine casinos currently operate sports books. Only Caesars and Hard Rock are currently without a sports book in their casinos.
The sports books in Atlantic City vary in terms of customer experience. They range from pretty horrible (Harrah's) to almost Vegas-like (Ocean Resort) to having a great viewing experience (Golden Nugget). To get a feel of what the AC sports books offer, check out David Weinberg' article in the Press of Atlantic City where he wrote a great piece about his experience at various AC sports books back in October.
Sports books have added a new excitement factor in Atlantic City casinos and the arrival of the book at Hard Rock will help round out the offerings at this great casino.
Not too long ago, if you wanted to gamble legally and lived in NYC you had to drive three-plus hours down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City or several hours to the casinos in Connecticut. Today there are over 11,000 video gaming / slot machines at New York area casinos.
We've dug into the numbers to give you some insight into how much these machines bring in and what the odds are for the gambler.
We'll look at two NYC area where you can play video gaming machines: Resorts World in Jamaica and Empire City Casino in Yonkers. All of the statistics in this article are for the month of October 2018 which is the last full month of data that is currently available.
Resorts World Casino
There are 5,545 gaming machines at the Resorts World Casino in Jamaica. During October gamblers played almost $1,115 billion in credits in the machines. In addition, over $9.5 million in free play credits were played.
Gamblers won $1.050 billion leaving the casino with a net win of over $54.6 million. Each of the 5,545 won on average $318 per day for the casino. On a percentage basis, the casino hold rate was 4.9% while the customer win rate was 95.1%
Empire City Casino
Empire City Casino, located at Yonkers Raceway, is close in size to Resorts World. Its 5,222 machines had action of over $817 million during October. In addition, almost $7.5 million of free credit play was wagered during the month.
Gamblers won over $762 million from the machines in October and the net win for the casino was almost $47.4 million. This translates into a win rate for the gamblers of 94.2% and a hold rate for the casino of 5.8%. Each of the 5,222 gaming machines won an average of $293 per day during October.
Overall, at these two New York City area casinos, gamblers wagered over $1.9 billion just in October. Gamblers won over $1.8 billion while the casino operators won over $100 million. And all of this happened without NY'ers having to enter New Jersey!
Just a short drive from Chicago, along the shorelines of Lake Michigan, two casinos have found new owners.
Spectacle Entertainment will purchase the two casinos at Gary, Indiana's Buffington Harbor, named Majestic Star Casino and Majestic Star Casino II, from Majestic Holdings.
The Majestic Star Casinos in Gary, IN
Spectacle Entertainment is headed by Rod Ratcliff who is formally the CEO of Centaur Gaming which was associated with Caesars Entertainment (CZR).
Along with the two casinos at Buffington Harbor, the transaction includes a 300 room hotel as well as a parking garage. One of the casinos was originally owned by now President Trump's Trump Hotel & Casino Resorts, Inc which declared bankruptcy in 2004.
The Majestic Star casinos are the second and third smallest casinos in Indiana in terms of casino wins. Combined, they ring in about $150 million in casino wins a year.
While the casinos' close proximity to Chicago should be a positive, the new owners are looking forward to potentially moving the two casinos to other areas of Gary and Indiana. The casinos' current home, Buffington Harbor, is slated to be turned into a transit hub which would require the casinos to move. Spectacle has said it is looking at moving one casino within Gary and the other casino to another part of Indiana.
Spectacle hopes to close the deal for the two Majestic Star casinos during the first quarter of 2019, pending Indiana Gaming Commission approval.
Every month the casinos in Atlantic City are required to submit various revenue statistics to the state of New Jersey. One of those stats is the percentage of slot play that the casino wins. We dug into the slot win data provided by the casinos to determine which AC casinos, on average, have the best slots for gamblers.
The data we used for this study is simply the 100.0% – the slot win percentage for the casinos. For example, if a casino recorded a 9.0% slot win for the month then the slot win for the gamblers was 100.0% – 9.0%, or 91.0%.
We looked at the slot wins for the last twelve months of available data, or November 2017 through October 2018. While the spread between the highest payout rate and the lowest may not at first seem huge, when you consider the tens of millions of dollars that are bet in the slot machines each month the payout to gamblers really adds up.
Here's a look at the slot machine payout rates for each Atlantic City casino over the past year:
To help clarify which AC casino has the best slots for gamblers we then ranked each casino based on the slot payout for each of the last twelve months. The casino with a rank of one had the highest slot payout to customers during the month. As you will see below, the outcome is amazing. Either Harrah's and Borgata had the best (lowest) payout rate rank EVERY month over the last year. Harrah's had the best payout for 7 months and Borgata for 6 months (Harrah's and Borgata were tied in June 2018).
Note that Hard Rock and Ocean Resort only have rankings since they opened their doors in June.
Taking things one step further, we then averaged the ranks over the last twelve months for each AC casino. Harrah's and Borgata obviously had the best (lowest) average twelve month ranks.
Besides Harrah's and Borgata having the best payout rate ranks in Atlantic City, a few other interesting things jump out after looking at this data. The two other Caesars Entertainment casinos in town, besides Harrah's, came in third and fourth. Caesars and Bally's, while never claiming the number one or two spot on slot payout rate ranks, were significantly better than most other casinos in town.
Another interesting observation is that the two newcomers in town were dead last in terms of slot payouts to gamblers. Hard Rock's average slot payout rank since it opened in May was 7.2, placing it just ahead of Ocean Resort which had the worst slot payout rank in Atlantic City.
So, does this mean that if you play slots at Borgata or Harrah's that you will win? Of course not! The payout varies from machine to machine, and even from denomination to denomination. Unfortunately, we do not have more granular data to analyze, but this study does point to the casinos that are offering the best overall slot payouts in town.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) continues to reinvest in its Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City. After a remodel of the Pool, completion of its new convention center, drawing Gordon Ramsey Steak to replace its aging steakhouse and revamping its coffee shop, Harrah's is in the midst of a total remodel of its Harbor Tower.
The Harbor Tower was one of the first hotel towers at Harrah's and was in bad need of a remodel. All hotel rooms in the tower will be remodeled. Harrah's brought in MPM Studios to help with the design.
After the remodel is complete, the hotel tower will be rebranded the Coastal Tower. The newly redesigned tower will boast 507 hotel rooms with approximately 450 square feet of living space each and a focus on technology. Rooms will be equipped with both WiFi as well as hard-wired internet, something that business travelers crave, as well as 55-inch TVs.
This is a much needed upgrade. The old Harbor Tower was definitely showing its age.
With new competition in the Atlantic City market, the legacy casinos definitely need to make changes to keep up with the hip Hard Rock and the modern Ocean Resort. Based on revenue statistics released earlier this month, these two newcomers in AC, especially Hard Rock, are eating in to the legacy casinos' market share.
The remodel of the Harbor Tower follows the 2017 revamp of Harrah's Bayview tower. In that project, Harrah's redecorated 444 hotel rooms.
Caesars Entertainment has been spending heavily on renovating its hotel rooms, especially in Las Vegas. Here's an overview of the hotel room remodel projects that Caesars completed since 2015:
In addition to these completed hotel remodel projects and the ongoing remodel of the Harbor Tower at Harrah's Atlantic City, CZR is planning several additional hotel room renovations:
Paris Las Vegas – remodel of 1,596 rooms starting in 2018
Harrah's Las Vegas – remodel of 918 rooms in the Mardi Gras Tower, beginning in 2019
Flamingo Las Vegas – remodel of an addition 1.075 hotel rooms, with no determined start date yet
Caesars Palace Las Vegas – remodel of 453 hotel rooms in the Forum Tower, with no determined start date yet
With all of this capital expenditure on hotel rooms, CZR is making a serious investment to remain a leader in the gaming market. This is needed since the competition, both in destination areas such as Las Vegas as well as local markets, is only getting stronger.
Eldorado Resorts (ERI) announced that it has partnered with The Stars Group (TSG). In this 20 year deal, TSG will provide online sports, internet gaming and online poker under the ERI casino brands.
ERI Partners with TSG for Internet and Sports Gaming
The Stars Group brings its expertise in online gaming and internet sports betting. TSG owns well-known internet gambling brands such as PokerStars, BetStars and Full Tilt, among others. This is really a turnkey solution for Eldorado and provides a much quicker and cheaper solution than developing and maintaining its own online gaming solutions.
As part of the deal, in addition to revenue share, Eldorado will obtain an equity interest in The Stars Group. At the onset, ERI will receive a $25 million equity interest in TSG. TSG has the option for an additional equity interest of $5 million which it can excessive in the future.
This deal with TSG comes on the heels of Eldorado's deal with William Hill back in September. Through that deal, William Hill will run the in-casino sports books in Eldorado casinos for the next 25 years.
Eldorado has also been in expansion mode lately. Most recently, it acquired most of the Tropicana casinos, including the Trops in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
See our related ERI coverage:
Eldorado Resorts' Casino Revenue Increases; Hotel Revenue Decreases
Eldorado Resorts Regional Revenues Fall in Q3 2018
With sports betting and online gambling taking hold legally throughout the country, the ERI partnership with TSG makes great strategic sense and offers ERI the opportunities to expand online in a much more strategic and seamless way.
The wait is over for legal sports betting in Pennsylvania as the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course has begun taking sports wagers.
Hollywood Casino PA First in State to Open Sports Book
Hollywood's sports book is located just steps off of the casino floor close to the Skybox Sports Bar. The casino's sports book offers betting on all major sports including football, basketball, hockey, soccer and baseball. It also takes wagers on other sports such as boxing, rugby, cycling and even MMA events.
While Hollywood Casino is the only casino in Pennsylvania to operate a sports book for the moment, other casinos will be following in its footsteps very soon. SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia and Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh are slated to open their sports books on December 1 while Harrah's Philadelphia and Parx Casino hope to open by the end of December.
Sports fans are not the only ones to applaud the arrival of sports betting in Pennsylvania. The state itself is expected to rack in the cash. Each casino that wants to offer sports betting has to pay a $10 million fee to the state. In addition, the state gets 34% of each casino's sports betting profits.
The local governments are not missing out on the action either. The local governments that host the casinos will receive 1% of profits plus the local county will also receive 1%.
Sports betting in Pennsylvania will compete with legal sports books already operating in seven states. Most directly, PA sports books will go head-to-head with the newly opened sports books in Atlantic City. Most of the major AC casinos, including Harrah's, Ocean Resort and Golden Nugget, have had their sports books up and running for several months.
As 2018 comes to a close, Pennsylvania sports and gambling fans have one more reason to celebrate and gamble locally – sports betting has arrived in the state!
While sports betting has been popping up at casinos in seven states across the country, New England got its first legal sports book this week.
Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI started taking sports bets on Monday, several months after the groundbreaking Supreme Court decision that gave states the ability to legalize sports betting by striking down a federal law that outlawed most types of sports betting outside of Nevada.
Twin River in Lincoln opened its sports book on Monday, November 26. The Tiverton Casino is expected to debut its own sports book within a few weeks.
Rhode Island is hoping to bring in millions in tax revenue from legal sports betting in the state. In fact, the state had $25.5 million sports betting tax revenue in the state budget, but that assumed that sports betting would begin in the state on October 1. With the nearly two month delay many observers predict that this year's tax revenue will be approximately $12 million.
Revenue from the Twin River's sports book will be divided by the casino, the operator of the sports book and the state. Twin River is contracting out the operation of the sports book to William Hill and IGT William Hill operates several new casino sports books, including at Ocean Resort in Atlantic City. At Twin River the contractors will receive 32% of the sports betting revenue. The state of Rhode Island is slotted to receive 51% of the sports betting revenue in the form of taxes. Twin River will receive the remaining 17% of the sports betting revenue.
Twin River Casino, and soon Tiverton Casino, are in a competitive advantage when it comes to sports betting in New England. The nearby giants, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, are currently unable to open sports books. The Connecticut legislature is not expected to tackle the issue of sports betting until next year, leaving the state's casinos sports betting free for the time being.
Need a primer on sports betting? Check out this useful sports betting quick start guide provided by Twin River then pick your favorite team and head over to the first legal sports book in New England!


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Tag Archives: Wacky Variants
#2024: Snake Eyes & Scarlett
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, G.I. Joe, Hasbro, Ninja Force, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Wacky Variants May 3, 2019
SNAKE EYES & SCARLETT
G.I. JOE: NINJA FORCE (HASBRO)
For its first three decades, G.I. Joe was in a rather frequent state of change, attempting to keep itself matched with the times. Since hitting a smash success with the A Real American Hero incarnation in the '80s, there's been a bit of difficulty updating, since a lasting fanbase has prevented them from completely revamping things the way they may once have done. In the early '90s, they made a bid at a more informal re-vamp, by breaking out some of ARAH's established characters into smaller sub-series, each following a popular theme of the time. Mainstays Snake Eyes and Scarlett found themselves at the hoist into the "Ninja Force" brand, a decidedly foreign tone for a line that had "American" in its title. Given the line's hiatus just a year after this re-branding took center stage, it was perhaps a little too foreign for the established fanbase.
Snake Eyes and Scarlett were both released in 1993, during Ninja Force's second year running. The comics by this point had interwoven both Snake Eyes and Scarlett with Cobra Ninja Storm Shadow, whose move over to the Joe side had led to him being Ninja Force's central character during its debut year, and these two coming along to join him seemed like a rather sensible move, at least from a marketing perspective.
"SNAKE-EYES excelled in Long Range Recon Patrols and high-risk covert missions in Southeast Asia. His success was based on his ability to use everything from trees to fog when making himself virtually "invisible," even to skilled Cobra Ninjas. He perfected his mystical martial arts techniques with the same ninja clan that trained STORM SHADOW. Snake-Eyes was living a self-disciplined, tranquil life in the High Sierras when HAWK recruited him for the G.I. Joe team. Since then, he has proven himself an invaluable asset to the Ninja Force and one of the fiercest fighting menaces against all Cobra legions."
This Snake Eyes marked his fifth time gracing the small-scale line, which made him the most prevalent character in the line (though Duke would catch him by virtue of getting two figures released that same year). Snake not joining the Ninja Force until its second year may seem a little odd at first glance, but it's likely that his very recently released V4 figure from '91 prevented his presence for the sub-brands '92 launch. Up to this point, Hasbro hadn't really done the same character two years running (apart from Cobra Commander, who was granted a new figure every year from '91-'94), so I guess they wanted to let the Commando Snake do his thing a little longer. Snake Eyes stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation. Snake Eyes' articulation was a marked change from where the line had been for it's prior nine years, by virtue of the addition of an action feature. Squeeze the legs and his arms swing up and down for his "Basami Slice". Said feature limits the hip movement to more simple swivels and removes the waist. Removing movement for a figure that's part of the "Ninja Force" does seem like an odd choice, but it was the direction things were going at the time, so you can't really fault Hasbro from leaning into that curve. This figure's design took the opposite position to the V4 release, which had almost completely abandoned Snake Eyes' ninja side, and in contrast plays up the ninja side about as much as is possible. In fact, you'd be forgiven for not realizing this was Snake Eyes at all at first glance. He's got actual, visible eyes, for Pete's sake! Where's the signature eyewear? Morphed into some sort of full faceplate thing, I guess. He's also bulked up substantially from his prior figures, because that's what the '90s does to you. It's actually not a bad sculpt all around, with solid detail work, showing a definite progression from earlier in the line. Snake Eyes' paintwork is actually pretty involved for an Snake Eyes figure. He's got TWO colors! That's crazy! Snake Eyes was packed with an impressive selection of accessories. He included three different swords of varying sizes and styles, plus a small knife, nunchucks, a pair of claws, and a display stand. Mine is missing the knife and claws, but with that many accessories to start with, he doesn't feel like he's missing too much.
"SCARLETT began her training in the martial arts at age nine and was awarded a black belt at age 15. She was not only physically ahead of her time, but mentally as well. She graduated summa cum laude from two Ivy League universities and went on to excel in training courses at all four branches of the armed forces. Cobra often mistakes her for just a pretty face rather than a member of G.I. Joe's elite Ninja Force, which makes her perfect for undercover missions. She is great friend to each of the Joes, especially SNAKE-EYES, and a deadly enemy to Cobra."
Despite being in the line's first year and being a prominent fixture in both the comics and the cartoon, this was only Scarlett's second figure, a full decade after the original figure. She wasn't previously as linked to the whole ninja-thing as Snake Eyes, but the two have been linked since very early on, so her place here as a companion to Snake Eyes was reasonable. The figure is just under 3 3/4 inches tall and she has 13 points of articulation. Like Snake Eyes, she has an action feature that limits the hips and waist. Her action feature, the "Kato Kick" works a little differently than Snake Eyes, since it's a kick, and there's a sort of looser way of activating it. If Snake Eyes' design was a departure from his usual design, Scarlett's is even more so. There's really nothing left of her original look, apart from her red hair, I guess. The rest of her look leans really heavily on the ninja thing, enough that this same sculpt was easily re-purposed into Chun-Li the same year. Scarlett's headsculpt was actually a notable improvement over the less attractive original Scarlett head, better matching her depictions in other media. She makes use of soft-goods for both her pony tail and sash. They sort of lend themselves to being all sorts of curled up and messy, but they were a decent enough idea. Her paintwork is nice enough. She's very green, which was an interesting contrast with the red hair. Not the most attractive color scheme, but not terrible when compared to some of the other figures from the same period of the line. Scarlett includes the same accessories as Snake Eyes, but molded in yellow instead of blue. My Scarlett's missing even more of the extras, but again, with this many, it isn't quite as much of a loss.
When I first started getting into G.I. Joe, I was always rather perplexed by this subset of the line. To my younger self, they seemed kind of pointless and goofy, but I've kind of gained a new appreciation for them. I've always been a big fan of Snake Eyes and Scarlett, so when this pair showed up in a big '90s Joe lot at All Time Toys, I fished the two of them out. Are they hokey? Yes. Are they the best versions of the characters? No. Are they a lot of fun? Absolutely.
As I noted, I got this pair from All Time Toys, who have been getting a rather steady stream of G.I. Joe collections as of late. So, if you're looking for old Joes or if you're looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, Batman, Kenner, Man of Steel, Superman, Wacky Variants April 14, 2019
#1921: Spider-Man – Six-Arms
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with All Time Toys, Hasbro, Kingpin Series, Marvel, Marvel Legends, Spider-Man, Wacky Variants January 20, 2019
SPIDER-MAN — SIX ARMS
MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)
"Hoping to cure his spider powers, Peter Parker drinks a special mixture and wakes up with four extra arms."
Let that be a lesson to you kids: if you drink special mixtures, you might just wake up one day with four extra arms. And then what are you gonna do? Hide your four arms in your pants when your Aunt May comes around? Doesn't that sound awkward? It sure does! The message is clear: don't drink strange mixtures!
Vague sort of PSA thing aside, the six-armed variant of Spider-Man is something of a classic one. First introduced in the comics in the '70s, and then brought to a new audience courtesy of the '90s cartoon, the Six-Armed Spider-Man asks a pretty simple question: what if Spidey had eight limbs, you know, like a spider? The answer is, unsurprisingly, extra toys to sell.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Spider-Man is the first figure in the Kingpin Series of Marvel Legends, the first Spidey-themed assortment of 2019. He's one of two Spidey variants, and definitely the most classic figure in the line-up. He's also the only one you don't need to complete the Kingpin figure, but let's not hold that against him. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has a whopping 58 points of articulation. All those extra arms are certainly good for something. Of course, it's a bit of give and take on the articulation. Though all of the arms sport the standard articulation, the figure's torso lacks any sort of movement. While I can understand the complexities of getting a working ab-crunch in with all of the arms, the lack of a waist joint seems particularly egregious. There's no practical reason for that joint to be missing, so I can only assume it was a cost saving choice. Fortunately, the rest of the figure is able to somewhat pick up the slack, and ultimately the lost posability doesn't hold the figure back *too much*. This Spider-Man breaks from the last several mainline variants of Peter by being built on a body other than the Pizza Spidey body. Upon first glance, I thought he might be an all-new sculpt, but a little bit of double-checking shows that he's actually re-using the vast majority of the ASM2-based Spider-Man from the Ultimate Green Goblin assortment. The figure was well-regarded when it was new, and a lot of people were content to have it as their standard comic Spidey, but with the introduction of Pizza Spidey the next year, the ASM2 mold was kind of abandoned. That makes its use here somewhat odd. I can only guess it's one of two things. Either they developed this figure shortly after the ASM2 figure's release, before it was clear the ASM2 aesthetics were going to be dropped, and just sat on the mold for a while, or they opted for this mold because of its sculpted weblines, allowing for another bit of cost-cutting. I'm leaning more towards the latter. Whatever the reason, it means this sculpt doesn't quite jibe with the rest of our Spidey variants, much like last year's Spider-Ham. I will say that at least the weblines are recessed on this sculpt (in contrast to the raised ones on Spider-Ham), so at least giving him painted weblines on your own won't be quite as hard. He does also benefit from the ASM2 figure just being a good figure in its own right, and by extension making this one very playable himself. Even the newly sculpted torso and arms are pretty solid, with the detailing on the torso matching well with the rest of the figure, and the layout of his arms being such that he can actually let them rest pretty well by his sides. I was anticipating it would be a lot harder to work with them than that. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the shoulders on the extra arms have sculpted torn sleeves; I expected those to just be painted on. The paintwork on Spidey is fine. It's clean. It's bright. It's missing the weblines, of course, but I knew that going in. I'm still frustrated by those red pegs on the underside of his arms. Certainly there's some sort of fix they can come up with for that, isn't there? Spidey is packed with no accessories. At the very least, I would have liked to see some extra hands. At least with all the arms in the package, he doesn't look too light.
I'm gonna be honest, I was prepared to hate this figure. After being so letdown by the Spider-Ham figure, I saw a lot of the same flaws on this one when its prototype was shown off. I mostly just bought him because I was getting the whole set. Then I actually opened him up and played with him a bit, and I realized I really didn't hate the figure at all. Sure, there are some definite issues. I don't like seeing the articulation cut, and I hope the unpainted weblines aren't a trend that continues. Beyond that, though, I found this figure to be a lot of fun.
Six-Arm Spider-Man was purchased from All Time Toys, who got me this whole set to review. He's currently still in-stock at their webstore. And, as always, if your looking for other Legends or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
#1808: Spider-Man – Spider Armor
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, Marvel, Spider-Man, Toy Biz, Wacky Variants October 4, 2018
SPIDER-MAN — SPIDER ARMOR
SPIDER-MAN (TOY BIZ)
"When Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, he gained all of the arachnid's abilities and became the amazing Spider-Man! But when even these powers aren't enough, Spidey dons his patented Spider-Armor! This ceramic-metal battlesuit protects the web-slinger from all manner of attacks – giving Spidey the added time he needs to take it to the bad guys!"
Before devolving into some truly ridiculous variants of the title character ("who doesn't want a deep sea fishing Spider-Man?"), Toy Biz's 5-inch Spider-Man line actually worked pretty hard at releasing sensible variants of its main character, ones which would appeal to fans and kids alike. One such release is actually one of my very favorites from the whole line, Spider Armor Spider-Man!
Spider Armor Spider-Man was released in Series 3 of Toy Biz's Spider-Man line. He was one of two Spidey variants in the assortment, with the other one being the more straight-forward super posable Spider-Man. This figure is based on Spidey's armored appearance from Web of Spider-Man #100. The same design would also appear on Spider-Man: The Animated Series, as a Tony Stark-inspired alternate universe version of Spider-Man. The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation. Thanks to an action feature, his right arm lacks any sort of elbow articulation, which makes the figures a little bit on the stiff side. In fact, the way the articulation and the sculpt interact, the whole figure really does look rather stiff. That's fair, I suppose, given his armored nature, but still slightly frustrating. The sculpt on this guy was all-new, and would see re-use for a handful of repaints down the line. Aside the stiffness thing, it's actually pretty good. The bulked up look differentiates him from the average Spidey, and for once the sculpted web-lines actually make sense, and look quite decent. The paint work on this figure was pretty basic, and rather monochromatic, in keeping with the design from the comics. It's black plastic with silver paint. Voila! The silver paint on my figure is a bit worse for wear these days, the figure having seen some decent play back when I was a kid. Spidey was packed with a "Super Web Shield," which could be either mounted on his left arm, or launched from the launcher built into his right. The launching feature's not all that impressive (it's the same gimmick used on Professor X and US Agent), and I'd really rather he just din't have it, but oh well.
I vividly remember watching the Spider-Man: Animated Series finale that introduced this guy back in the day. I had all of the other Spider-Men from the crossover, but this guy seemed the coolest. Of course, he was gone from regular retail by that point, and the toy aftermarket wasn't yet what it would become. I did eventually get the little metal figure to hold me over for a little while, though. This guy would eventually make his was to my collection via KB Toys' liquidation center, which my Dad and Grandmother took me to once, back in the 2002, I believe. After searching to no avail for this guy for a couple of years, I found a literal wall of him at that location, which was definitely a thrilling experience for me. He's not a perfect figure, but he's certainly a very cool one, and I'm still very happy to have him in my collection.
#1544: Luke Skywalker in Imperial Guard Disguise
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, Kenner, Luke Skywalker, Power of the Force II, Shadows of the Empire, Star Wars, Wacky Variants January 13, 2018
LUKE SKYAWALKER IN IMPERIAL GUARD DISGUISE
STAR WARS: SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE (KENNER)
"The Empire's victory in the Battle of Hoth has brought hard times for the Rebel Alliance. Han Solo has been frozen in carbonite by Darth Vader, and two huge bounties have been placed on the head of Luke Skywalker. The Emperor wants him alive, but Prince Xizor , underlord of the most powerful criminal organization in the galaxy, wants him dead. Worse still is that the diabolical Xizor is holding Princess Leia Organa prisoner in his castle on the Imperial Center of Coruscant. this is a tactical maneuver, part of a larger master plan to lure Luke Skywalker into his castle where he can be easily eliminated — the key step in Xizor's plan to replace Darth Vader at the Emperor's side. unaware of this danger, the young Jedi and Lando Calrissian sneak into Imperial City hoping to rescue Leia. Simplylaying foot on Coruscant is a dangerous act for these two: high on the Empire's list of most-wanted outlaws, they could easily be recognized and captured — or assassinated. Disguising themselves as beggars, they "borrow" the armored uniforms from a pair of elite Coruscant stormtroopers. These troopers are some of the Empire's finest, selected as home guards for the wealthiest and most cultured city in the galaxy. Joining forces with Chewbacca and Dash Rendar, Skywalker and Calrissian attempt to infiltrate Xizor's nearly impenetrable stronghold and rescue the princess."
1996's Shadows of the Empire was important, in that it was the first time the public at large had been introduced to the Star Wars Expanded Universe. It's also an interesting experiment in marketing, essentially being a movie merchandising campaign that lacked a movie. There were a handful of figures, mixed in with Kenner's then running Power of the Force II. Newcomers Dash Rendar and Prince Xizor got figures, of course, but there were also new variants of out heroes Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca, all of whom had to take on disguises during this new story. I've looked at both Leia and Chewbacca, which just leaves Luke, who I'll be reviewing today.
Luke Skywalker in Imperial Guard Disguise was released in the basic figure assortment of Kenner's Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire line. The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. This Luke uses the same head as all of the other early PotF2 Lukes. It's not the best likeness, but hey, here's to consistency, right? The rest of the figure is brand new. The packaging dubs his look as "Imperial Guard Disguise," a name that tends to conjure up the red guards from Return of the Jedi, who look quite a bit different than the look Luke is sporting here. However, the bio fills us in that this armor is actually from one of the elite Stormtroopers on Coruscant, making it a separate look entirely. As with so much of the design work seen in Shadows, the armor is undeniably a product of mid-90s comic book design, meaning it's a little divorced from the original trilogy designs. His armor's bulky and ultra padded, and seems to lack that used look we're so accustomed to. It's a little hard to reconcile this as a design that would appear in between Empire and Jedi. That being said, it's hardly a terrible look. In fact, it manages to be rather unique and helps this Luke to stand out a bit from the crowd of other Lukes from over the years. The paint work on this figure is fairly decent, and, like the rest of his design, fairly unique. The red's a nice shade, and all of the application is pretty clean. He's packed with a removable helmet and half-cape to help complete his full disguise. Since Luke lost his father's lightsaber in Empire and didn't build a new one until the beginning of Jedi, he of course needed a new weapon, so this figure included a taser staff weapon.
This figure was, I believe, my first Shadows of the Empire figure. My cousin Noah had saved up to buy the PotF2 Millennium Falcon, and was along for the trip to go buy it. Noah's mother, who took us on the trip, agreed to get me one figure. Luke was my favorite character, and this figure appealed to my 5-year-old self, so he was the one I picked. I'd say having this guy in my collection already was probably what pushed me to pick up the Bounty Hunter Chewbacca instead of the normal one, and owning these two is certainly not a decision I regret in the slightest.
#1505: Kryptonite Batman
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 00s, Batman, DC, DC Direct, Ed McGuinness, Glow-In-the-Dark, Superman/Batman, Wacky Variants December 5, 2017
KRYPTONITE BATMAN
SUPERMAN/BATMAN (DC DIRECT)
"When the Joker got his hands on Batman, he united him with a being of practically pure Kryptonite named Mr. Kryptonite. Possessed by this other being and bent on destroying Superman, Kryptonite Batman is a deadly foe of the Man of Steel"
In the early '00s, DC decided to give a go at reviving their old Batman and Superman team-ups from World's Finest, under the more minimalist Superman/Batman title. It started out moderately well, with an at least enjoyable opening arc, followed by a few actually decent ones, before sort of becoming a place where half-formed Superman and Batman stories went to die. I think the first telltale sign was the story that spawned today's figure, titled "With A Vengeance." I'd give a synopsis of the story, but, as someone who read every issue, I still don't know what happened. Anyway, let's just look at the figure.
Kryptonite Batman was released in Series 4 of DC Direct's Superman/Batman, which was a whole assortment based on "With A Vengeance." This was the main Batman-variant of the assortment, because you gotta have at least one. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation. None of these style of figures were particularly amazing when it came to mobility, but the Batman figures were actually some of the worst, because his armoire permanently stuck out. Seriously, dude looked like Randy from A Christmas Story. This figure's sculpt was actually a complete re-use from the basic Batman released in Series 1 of this same line. Since he was just a palette swap in the comics, it's not an unreasonable choice. Like the two JLA: Classified Supermen I looked at a while back, this guy's based on Ed McGuinness's rather distinctive style. In fact, he actually uses the same basic starting point as those two figures, albeit with a variety of more Batman-specific items. Despite the difficulties with posability, the actual sculpt isn't half bad, and does a pretty solid job of capturing McGuinness's Batman in three dimensions. Paint is the main thing that differentiates this figure from the Series 1 offering, but even on that front, he's not that different. He's got most of the same basic detailing, but with glow in the dark green plastic instead of the grey for his body suit. It certainly makes for a unique look. The figure is packed only with a display stand, sporting the Superman/Batman logo.
I picked up a number of the "With A Vengeance" figures when they were new. This one wasn't among them. Instead, it took me ten years to finally get around to buying him. Why did I finally get him? Mostly because Cosmic Comix was selling him for $7, which was a low enough price to get me to bite. He's goofy, and not really for everyone, but I enjoy him.
#1384: Hydra Slaying Hercules
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, Disney, Hercules, Mattel, Wacky Variants August 6, 2017
HYDRA SLAYING HERCULES
DISNEY'S HERCULES (MATTEL)
"In his most courageous battle of all, HERCULES must save Thebes by destroying the terrifying Hydra. Each time he slays a head, the mighty HERCULES throws it back at the ferocious beast."
To quote the muses: "Honey, you mean Hunk-ules!" Actually, no, to paraphrase the muses, "Honey, you mean Heracles." Cuz, you know, if you're gonna do Greek Mythology, maybe you should use the lead's Greek name?
While I do look at a lot of Disney owned properties on this site, courtesy of Marvel and Star Wars, I haven't looked at a whole ton of their in-house stuff. My two favorite Disney movies are Hercules and Aladdin. Aladdin's never been much of an action figure property, but Disney actually gave quite a go at making Hercules one. Which makes sense, since what's more action-y than Greek Mythology? So, there was a whole line of Hercules figures, and I'm taking a look at one of them today!
Hydra Slaying Hercules was released in the basic assortment of the Disney's Hercules line from Mattel, which hit to coincide with the movie's release in 1997. This is one of the line's many variants of the main character. As the name suggests, this one's (loosely) based on his battle with the Hydra at around the film's mid-point. Of course, in the movie, he was wearing the same hero garb he's got on for the rest of the action, but the figure's opted to change things up a bit and give hims a slightly more unique design. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. There's not a ton of motion in the joints, especially the legs, and he's rather hindered by the lack of any neck movement, but he's not the worst thing ever, especially for the time. The sculpt was initially unique to this figure, but did see a fair bit of re-use in multi-packs and such. It's not an incredibly faithful take on him. I mean, you can see elements that identify him as being the Disney Hercules, but he's definitely been given an element of He-Man styling, which isn't incredibly surprising, given the company that produced him. He's also got the slightly tweaked outfit, which is far more ornate than Herc's standard look. The torso is wearing a more defined breastplate, and there's even sleeves with fringing and stuff. The wrappings on the arms and legs are also a bit more detailed, and he's got an extra strap going across his chest. I'm not entirely sure what the genesis of the design was, but I can't say I don't like it. It's actually pretty snazzy. His cape is a separate cloth piece. It's got this nice embroidered pattern on the edges, which is cool. In terms of paint, this guy also tweaks the usual colors a bit, going for a more cool palette of blues and purples, I guess to match up better with the Hydra? Once again, I can't say it's a bad choice at all. Different from the standard, but definitely quite eye-catching. Herc is packed with both a club and an axe, one of which can be held in his right hand, as well as the disembodied head of the Hydra. Which is slightly morbid, but pretty cool. The head can be balanced on his left hand, and when you push the button on his back, the arm swipes downward, throwing the head. It doesn't work perfectly, but it's moderately amusing.
I didn't have any of the proper Hercules figures growing up, but I found this guy at Lost In Time Toys when I stopped by for the opening day of their new location. This was the only version of Herc they had, but he's cool enough that I don't mind just having the variant. That's right, I just wrote an overwhelmingly positive review of a Mattel product. This is weird.
#1383: Cyclops
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, Cyclops, Marvel, Projectors, Toy Biz, Wacky Variants, X-Men August 5, 2017
X-MEN PROJECTORS (TOY BIZ)
When it comes to action figures, you know what a lot of adult collectors really despise? Stupid dumb gimmicks. You know what I kind of love? Stupid dumb gimmicks. Well, to a point, anyway. As a rule, I like my figures to be fun. And a well-executed gimmick can be very fun. Or it can be weird. Which can also be sort of fun in its own strange way, I guess. Toy Biz did a lot of the weird gimmicks, including the time that they decided to take all of Marvel's most popular characters and stick projectors in their torsos. I'll be looking at one of those projector-in-torso figures today, specifically Cyclops!
Cyclops was released in the first assortment of Toy Biz's X-Men Projectors line, hitting in 1994. The Projector figures were in a totally different scale than the usual line, so this guy stands about 8 inches tall. He's also got 5 points of articulation, as well as a hinge on his torso, allowing for placement of the projector discs within the chest. This figure was patterned on the Cyclops II figure from the main line in terms of style, though it's important that he's not an up-scale of that figure; all of the Projector figures were unique sculpts. The quality of the sculpt is actually pretty decent. There are some slight oddities to it, such as the slightly enlarged torso, but I find the sculpt on this guy to be a far more detailed, and a lot nicer all-around than the smaller-scale figure. Well, apart from the freaking projector that's sticking out of the middle of his torso. That does slightly mar the overall authenticity of him as a straight Cyclops figure a touch. It's sort of obvious, but far from the most obtrusive action feature. Maybe he's a robo-suit or something. The paint work on this guy is pretty decent. Nothing super fancy, but all of the basic color work is nice and clean. His skin is even a bit more lively and colorful than a lot of the other X-Men figures of the same time, which is quite nice. In terms of accessories, Cyclops just included the three projector discs, which could be placed in his chest. There's a switch on the back which turns on a light in his chest, as well as a knob to allow for the disc to be turned. My figure has none of the discs, and I haven't yet tested to see if his electronics still work.
Growing up, I had two of these figures: Magneto and Civilian Wolverine. I got Magneto because there was no small-scale Magneto readily available when I started collecting, and I think Wolverine was a gift. I never tracked down any of the others. I was at 2nd Chance Toyz just last week celebrating my birthday, and I fished this guy out of their dollar bin, and couldn't bring myself to leave him behind. He's goofy, there's no denying that, but he's my kind of goofy, and he's helped to remind me that these were actually pretty nifty figures in their own right.
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, Cyclops, Marvel, Robot Fighters, Toy Biz, Wacky Variants, X-Men July 3, 2017
X-MEN (TOY BIZ)
"One of the most powerful forces on Earth, Apocalypse has become the greatest villain in the world of the X-Men. Activating the Apocalypse holo-droid, Cyclops helps the X-Men learn how to fight a foe who is as powerful as his is evil. Avoiding blasts from his gattling gun hand, Cyclops, along with Storm and Jubilee, take down the Robot Fighter with a perfectly timed series of attacks!"
Okay, so I'm gonna warn my readers up front: this month is going to be pretty Marvel-heavy. That's just what I've been picking up a lot of in the last few weeks. I'll mix in some other stuff where I can, but there's a lot of figures to cover. With that out of the way, I'll be setting my sights on today's focus, Cyclops, who hails from Toy Biz's lengthy X-Men line from the '90s. I know, from the bio, you might have guessed this was an Apocalypse review, but not so.
Cyclops was part of the "Robot Fighters" series of X-Men. This was the 19th Series Toy Biz put out in the X-Men line and it was after they'd run out of steam with the more "normal" figures and switched to more gimmicky sub-lines that allowed for more variants of the main team. The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall (he's less hunched than Gambit, but still loses some height to it) and he has 5 points of articulation. He loses even more articulation than his series-mates, bringing him down to Total Justice levels. In fact, in more way than one, this guy feels more at home with Kenner's TJ line than he does with most of the stuff Toy Biz was producing. Even the design of his costume (which was unique to the figure and had no basis in the comics, apart from being vaguely inspired by his Jim Lee toggs) feels a lot like one of Kenner's Fractal Armor designs. As with Gambit, I'm still not certain how the Danger Room-related bios attached to these figures translates to these new, over-designed costumes, but there it is. While the costume's not the greatest, the thing that really holds this guy back is the pre-posing. While Gambit's deep crouch was workable with the articulation and allowed for a few decent poses, I have no idea what you're supposed to do with this guy. What's he doing? Is he shouting "come at me, bro?" That's all I can figure with the outstretched arms and slightly cocked head. But it also appears that he's in mid-squat or something. Whatever it is, he's really pissed off by it. So pissed off that he's gritted his teeth to the point of his visor engulfing his nose. Wait, I think I've got it! The Apocalypse hologram must have played a game of "got your nose" while Scott was right in the middle of his daily squat routine, and now Scott's all pissed because that's his very favorite nose, and so he's ready to start something. It makes perfect sense now. The paint work on this figure is actually pretty solid, truth be told. I like the shade of blue they've used, and the application's all pretty clean for the most part. They've even managed to make all of the yellows match pretty well too! Cyclops was packed with a robotic recreation of Apocalypse, which is super goofy and super gimmicky. It fires missiles and when you press the "A" the right arm falls off.
As I noted when I reviewed Gambit, I remember this series hitting retail, but for whatever reason I never got any of them. I'm a dyed in the wool Cyclops fan, so I was gonna get this guy eventually. He's another item from Bobakhan Toys; I fished him out of one of their loose figure bins. He's really goofy. There's no getting around that. And, unfortunately, I don't find him to be as much fun to play with as the Gambit. That being said, he's a goofy, very '90s Cyclops, and that's kind of right up my alley. I'll just stick him with my Total Justice figures, where he's less likely to be judged.
#1312: Gambit
Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, Gambit, Marvel, Robot Fighters, Toy Biz, Wacky Variants, X-Men May 26, 2017
"Training in the Danger Room, Gambit has his hands full with a holographic Sentinel when he is rushed by a fully-armed Robot Fighter! Caught between a Sentinel and a hard place, Gambit pauses when the Robot Fighter suddenly launches its missiles! Ducking just in time, Gambit turns to see the missiles destroy the Sentinel behind him, giving him a chance to fire his explosively-charged playing cards at the Robot Fighter and bringing him a hard-earned victory."
The '90s X-Men line initially started as a pretty straight cartoon/comics-influenced, but as it progressed, Toy Biz started running out go authentic variants of the main characters, and had to start creating their own. There were a number of gimmicky-themed series. Today's focus hails from one of those series. So, let's have a look at the X-Men's resident lovable rogue (who also loves Rogue…wait, I've done that joke before…), Gambit!
Gambit was one of the five figures that made up the "Robot Fighters" series of Toy Biz's X-Men line. It was Gambit's third 5-inch figure, following the Light-Up Series release. The figure stands about 4 inches tall (thanks to the hunch) and has 8 points of articulation. At this point in the line, they were cutting back on the articulation on most of the figures (likely in an attempt to capture some of the McFarlane Toys style), so Gambit wasn't unique in this. The Robot Fighters designs were (largely) unique to the figures; Gambit takes a lot of influence from his main design, sans the coat, albeit with a few more armored bits and such. I'm not really sure how the Danger Room set-up given in the bio text translates to this new design, but I find the design to be pretty cool, so I'm hardly complaining. As far as the sculpt goes, the best part is definitely the head, which I think may be my favorite Gambit sculpt out there (Toy Biz seemed to like it too; it was re-used later down the line on a Strike Team Gambit). It's just really sharply detailed, and they expression looks really dynamic, and almost Kirby-esque. I'm not sure what the headset is for, but it looks kinda neat. This whole series was really hit pretty hard by pre-posing, and Gambit sticks with that. He's in this really deep crouching pose, and the articulation doesn't let him get out of it. It's not the worst pose ever (there were some far worse ones in this very series), and you can actually change it up a bit and get some really cool mid-action poses, which works well for the proposed setting. The detail work on the body is a little varied, which some areas being a little more detailed than others, but it's pretty solid overall. I particularly like the molded playing cards; the removable ones always seem to get lost! The figure's paint is pretty straightforward; the palette is definitely Gambit-like, and the application is all nice and clean. Nothing's been left unpainted, and there's even some nice accent work on the hair and a few of the torso's elements. Gambit was originally packed with the Robot Fighter mentioned in his bio, officially dubbed the "Attack Robot Drone." It shots missiles, because it was the late '90s and everything had to shoot missiles. I don't have that piece, having acquired my Gambit figure second hand.
I remember the Robot Fighters Series hitting retail, and I remember seeing them all over the place, but somehow I never ended up with a single one of them. Gambit amends that. I fished him out of the loose figures bin at All Time Toys. This is the first figure I've bought from them since they re-opened after Ellicott City's Main Street flood, so he's kind of special to me. The actual figure is honestly not half bad. I mean, he's uber-'90s, but it's at an enjoyable level. I'm happy that I finally tracked this guy down. I guess I should get the rest of them at some point.


text:
package archive

// ReportResult ReportResult
type ReportResult struct {
	Aid       int64
	Result    string
	State     int
	AdminID   int64
	AfterDeal int
}


Following the recall of Cmdr. Melitta Herodion, Dr. Saveron, with the assistance of Lt.(JG) Trel'lis and [PNPC] Cmdr. Ari Capronne turned from attending the auction announcement from Tol, the Ferengi owner of the Menthar Anchorage, to the monumental task of obtaining enough latinum to make a serious wager on the coordinates of the alleged Iconian gateway; and though an offer came by way of one Trayden Jora, the team was extremely apprehensive about taking the offer, as it came with a corollary: A message, from Jora, delivered to Lt. Cmdr. Isaac Bale.
Meanwhile, on the Mercury, Lt. Cmdr. Bale was himself overseeing methods for searching for the gateway under acting-XO Lt. Cmdr. Roshanara Rahman. Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Breeman, recently arrived R&D specialist from the USS Excalibur, assisted in the modification of several probes to search, while Ensigns Alora DeVeau and Kotir Arith attempted to trace the ship that had discovered the gateway in the first place.
On Deep Space 10, Captain Aron Kells attended his hearing into potential General Order 1 violations that occurred at 83 Leonis II. Examinations were limited to only a few individuals, including Kells's XO and the Mercury's acting CO, Cmdr. Harrison Ross, who appeared via hologram. At the same time that Ross, back aboard the Mercury, ordered the auction team to return when it became clear they would not raise the necessary funds, [PNPC] Lt. Cmdr. Damos, Starfleet's JAG prosecutor, abruptly dropped the charges against Captain Kells moments before Shyn, the presiding judge, offered her verdict. Kells was left to return to his ship, now seeking the gateway, as he attempted to seek his own answers.


text:
Nederlandse personen
 Anita Verkerk (Anita van Zalk), schrijfster
 Arnold Willem Pieter Verkerk Pistorius, publicist en ambtenaar in Nederlands-Indië
 Bas Verkerk, politicus (o.a. burgemeester) en bestuurder
 Emo Verkerk, beeldend kunstenaar
 Jaap Verkerk, burgemeester
 Kees Verkerk, langebaanschaatser
 Maarten Verkerk, Eerste Kamerlid
 Marhinde Verkerk, judoka
 Martin Verkerk, tennisser
 René Verkerk, diskjockey en programmamaker
 Rob Verkerk, commandant zeestrijdkrachten
 Ton Verkerk, voetbaldoelman en -trainer
 Will Verkerk, Tweede Kamerlid

Fictief persoon
 Ronald Verkerk, aliassen Nick Sanders en Nick van der Heyde, personage uit de soapserie Goede tijden, slechte tijden

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Microsoft wants to play matchmaker for IoT projects
By Lindsey O'Donnell on Aug 23, 2017 6:35AM
Microsoft wants to play matchmaker to help its original design manufacturer (ODM), original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and solution provider partners to create IoT solutions.
The company is extending its LINC program – originally intended to pair up partners around tablets and notebooks – to refocus on the internet of things.
"Each of our partners has a unique perspective on the industry," Cindy Wu, global ODM lead at Microsoft, said. "We want our LINC program to further partnerships and help partners bring products to the market quicker. IoT is a huge focus for partners, and we want to make it easier for partners to enter into the market."
Microsoft first launched its LINC program in 2009 to drive innovations in the channel around tablets and 2-in-1s. However, the company now wants to extend that focus to new emerging technology – including IoT.
Wu said that Microsoft's channel ecosystem has about 140 ODM partners shipping devices, and more than half of them have some sort of IoT offering. However, many more partners are overwhelmed by the task of piecing together a whole IoT solution or device – and they can use LINC to become connected to other OEMs, ODMs or solution providers who can help them flesh out end-to-end IoT solutions.
"Everyone talks about IoT, but we want to make it easier for the partner to become connected to other players," Wu said. "I want this program to be for any Microsoft partner who wants to get a feel of what IoT could be like… we want to make sure we can cultivate relationships."
When looking at pairing ODM, OEM and solution provider partners, Microsoft said it looks at vertically and geographically focused relationships, as well as offerings that match what particular buyers are looking for.
"Focusing LINC around the PC market was easier because it's more mature, and the form factors are more defined," Wu said. "When we match IoT solutions, we need to spend the time to figure out what buyers were looking for, like gathering data from the device."
Moving forward, Wu said Microsoft would continue to enhance its LINC program, particularly by recruiting new partners to the program.
"I want this program to be for any of Microsoft's partners who want to get a feel of what IoT could be like… we want to make sure we can expand this program to get as many partners as possible," she said.
This article originally appeared at crn.com
Copyright © 2018 The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.
hardware microsoft
By Lindsey O'Donnell
Dell, HP, Microsoft, Intel band together to oppose tariffs on laptops, tablets
Datacom snags global Dell award
Microsoft's Surface Headphones are pretty exy
Microsoft takes wraps off HoloLens 2


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Home News INDIAN NEWS BJP Names Ram Nath Kovind as Presidential Candidate
BJP Names Ram Nath Kovind as Presidential Candidate
Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind (File Photo: IANS)
Throwing out all speculations and breaking a long mum, BJP has announced Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind as their Presidential candidate. Bihar Governor was never a part of rumours who hails from a Dalit community and more than a decade of Parliamentary experience….reports Asian Lite News
Springing a surprise, the BJP on Monday named Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit and a BJP leader, as the ruling NDA's candidate for the July 17 Presidential election.
"We have decided that Ram Nath Kovind will be the NDA Presidential candidate," Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah said after a nearly two-hour meeting here of the party's Parliamentary Board attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior leaders.
He said the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance had been discussing the Presidential election for long.
"The BJP also discussed the issue with all political parties and several sections of the society. After this, a long list (of candidates) was prepared which was discussed during the Parliamentary Board meeting," Shah told the media.
Kovind, 72, who emerged as the dark horse, is likely to file the nomination on June 23, he said. If elected, he will be the second Indian President after K.R. Narayanan to hail from the Dalit community.
The earlier names which were doing the rounds for Presidency included External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
While all NDA allies have been informed of the BJP choice, Prime Minister Modi talked to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders about the NDA choice, the BJP President said.
Modi also spoke with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (JD-U), Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik (BJD), Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (TRS) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu (TDP).
Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu spoke to party veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
"Ram Nath comes from a Dalit family and has struggled a lot. We hope he will be the unanimous candidate for the election," Shah said.
He said Kovind had had a long innings in public life and fought for the cause of Dalits and the poor.
An advocate by profession, Kovind was made the Governor of Bihar two years ago after the NDA took power in the centre in May 2014.
He once headed the BJP's Dalit wing. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha for 12 years and was a member of several parliamentary panels.
He had practised law in both High Court and the Supreme Court.
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