I'm sorry, I'm aware it's been a little while since I did a Fantasy Friday post – but these are always the ones that take me the longest to write, and as I haven't been feeling too much up to blogging for the past month, they were also the first posts to get put aside!
Historical fantasy is a particularly wonderful branch of the fantasy genre, and to me it can mean two things. Either a story based on real events, places or people but with some magical or fantasy elements, or a new fantasy world that is inspired by real history or places. I wanted to share some examples of the sub-genre – they're all ones I have either read, or heard very good things about.
To be honest, I can't think of anything much better than blending ancient Greek history and mythology with fantasy fiction. And with Lion of Macedon, David Gemmell has done that.
I read Across the Nightingale Floor about seven or eight years ago, when I had a great interest in Japanese history. It's loosely based on the feudal era of Japanese history, with plenty of fantastical elements. I never quite finished the series, but I do remember enjoying the first two books a lot.
I've been aware of Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay for a while now, but I only just recently decided to add it to my 'to read' list as I finally looked into what it's really about. It is based on Renaissance Italy, which is an interest of mine – so definitely one to look out for! Would it be too much to hope that there are characters influenced by the Borgias?? I can dream.
I first read The Historian when I was about fifteen or sixteen, and it just completely grabbed me and pulled me right in. I devoured it in a matter of days. Following a young woman tracing her family's history, she soon finds herself tangled up with the history of one Vlad Tepes, and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula. It's creepy and dark but very addictive.
A very recent release from Robin Hobb, Fool's Assassin is inspired by elements of medieval history. In fact there are plenty of fantasy series which draw from medieval history (including one that has been turned into a hit TV show…), but I wanted to showcase this book in particular as I will hopefully be reviewing it soon!
Kind of hard to ignore Outlander when it's been everywhere recently, thanks to a recent TV show adaptation. I honestly hadn't heard of it until a few weeks ago, despite the book being nearly as old as myself, but as soon as I read about it, it went straight onto the wishlist. It's about a woman who gets teleported back in time, from 1945 to the highlands of Scotland in 1743. EVERYONE is raving about it!
Napoleonic Wars? Check. Dragon combat? Check. His Majesty's Dragon is an alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars, imagining that they were fought with dragons. Do I need to say any more?
Another one set during the Napoleonic Wars, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell features magic instead of dragons. I can't remember how many times I've been recommended this book by various people, and how many times I've heard friends speak highly of it.
I've spoken a lot about Sabriel in the past, so if you're a regular reader of the blog then you will know of my love for the series. It's set in an alternative early twentieth century England, but instead of the First World War the people of Ancelstierre have to fight the dark forces of Necromancy.
Another alternate history that everyone needs to read, Leviathan imagines that World War I was fought using beasts, developed using Darwinist theories, and machines. I cannot recommend this series enough, and as a bonus it has some gorgeous illustrations.
What are your favourite historical fantasy novels? Did you enjoy any of the ones listed here?
Hello, and welcome back to the Museum of Literary Wonders! Are you ready for another part of the tour? Perhaps some of you have just joined us for the first time today, in that case let me explain. I am Rinn, the curator and your tour guide for today. The museum holds many wonderful objects from many different worlds and universes, preserved in this museum because of their importance – perhaps they hold a lot of meaning, perhaps they're important plot points or maybe just because they're pretty… For whatever reason, they have been carefully stored in the museum collection so that generation after generation can learn about them. Without further ado, let us go on!
The name of these Necromancer's Bells is deceiving, as they were also used by the Abhorsen in the Old Kingdom, both to bind and raise the dead. Made of silver with mahogany handles, they are infused with both Charter and Free Magic, and as a result are very dangerous. A full set has seven bells, the names of which are Ranna, Mosrael, Kibeth, Dyrim, Belgaer, Saraneth and Astarael. In the hands of the wrong person, they could cause utter chaos, hence the high security around this exhibit.
Perhaps you recognise this bottle of True Blood. Perhaps it's something you consume on a regular basis. It may be an every day object for some people, but it also marks a historical event: the creation of synthetic blood by Japanese scientists, which enabled vampires to come 'out of the coffin', and reveal their existence. The revelation that vampires were real changed a LOT – new rules and regulations, political and religious stances against and for vampires, many people turned against neighbours and friends. Whatever you may think about it, it was certainly a game changer.
Today is the last part of the Sabriel read-along hosted by The Duchesses.
This post will contain details and possibly spoilers about the events in Sabriel.
As I read more and more of the book, the events came back to me. I didn't take many notes when re-reading the last bit, as I wanted to do something different for this last post. There was one particular description of Touchstone, something about his curly hair, that conjured up an image of Ser Loras Tyrell from A Song of Ice and Fire. This gave me the idea of sharing my fantasy casting for a film version of Sabriel – apparently there were plans to pitch the film in 2008, but nothing has really progressed since.
I think Tim Curry could play the smug aspect of Mogget really well, I can totally imagine a cat with his voice! Jeremy Irons would be a good Abhorsen, an authoritative figure who is also fatherly. Finn Jones, as previously mentioned, would be a pretty good Touchstone in my mind. Stephen Fry makes me think of Colonel Horyse, if only for his Blackadder days. I reckon Dane DeHaan would be a great Rogir, he was a wonderfully evil Harry Osborn in the recent The Amazing Spider-Man 2. And finally, it took me a while because I didn't want to choose anyone really well known, but I settled for Alice Englert as Sabriel.
What do you think of my fantasy casting? Who would you choose for your ideal version of Sabriel?
Last week I discussed from the prologue to chapter ten of Sabriel, and now it's time for the second read-along post! I'll be discussing chapters eleven to twenty-one this time. Don't forget to check out Paola's posts!
Well my memory was correct! Apart from the whole Touchstone being a ship thing but… yeah. That was more to do with me not being able to remember the word for figurehead, than thinking he had actually been turned into a ship! But the scenes I had remembered did appear, and as I read more of the book more and more of it came back to me. I have no idea what will be in the last third though – and according to Goodreads, last time I read this book was 2011. It's not even been that long!
Gore crows are eerie. I have this memory of another, quite prominent, scene featuring gore crows, but I have a feeling it's in fact not from Sabriel, but either Lirael or Abhorsen.
I love how Touchstone basically reduced Sabriel to a blushing schoolgirl. When he was still a figurehead, and completely naked, Sabriel has to *carefully* examine every inch of him as she doesn't think he's a real figurehead, but she's not really sure what's going on. WELL SHE SURE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON NOW, RIGHT? RIGHT??
Mogget and Touchstone are bound by some sort of spell that stops them from talking about anything useful in detail. I CAN'T REMEMBER THE USEFUL STUFF. It's kind of frustrating, I understand Sabriel's pain! It makes me more and more curious.
He paused, expectantly. Sabriel stood silently, waiting for him to go on.
Which meant I had this picture of Sabriel standing there looking like this innocent schoolgirl, big eyes and a little smile on her face as if to encourage the old man to go on, whilst Touchstone has just had enough of her crap and is basically rolling his eyes by this point. An awkward silence passes, crickets chirping in the background whilst Touchstone glares at Sabriel.
More secrets are revealed, like the fact that Kerrigor is in fact Rogir, the prince of the Old Kingdom – who slaughtered his own mother and sisters. This was the event that Touchstone failed to prevent, just before he was turned into the figurehead – most likely by the Abhorsen.
The chapter ended with Sabriel and co finding her father's frozen body – what will happen next?? I can't even remember, but I know it's good!
What did you make of this part of Sabriel? Have you read the book before?
Is it just me, or are some books really difficult to remember?
When writing up my thoughts on the first part of Sabriel last week, I realised that despite the book being part of one of my favourite series, all I really remembered was the first half. Past that, I can't for the life of me remember what happens next. I have the same problem with the next two books: all I remember about Lirael is that it follows either the daughter or granddaughter of Sabriel (see, I don't even remember that much!), and Abhorsen, err well… I know I enjoyed it. For reasons. That I have forgotten.
This doesn't normally happen with favourites. Normally it's books that I have no strong opinion about.
Protagonist meets HANDSOME BUT MYSTERIOUS YOUNG MAN. Even though she's only known him for about two days, she realises everything the government has ever told her is a lie and she must REBEL!
And that's about it. I'm not sure if these things happen in both (or maybe either…) books, but when I try to remember the plots of either of these, this is what I get. I rated both of these books three stars so I must have enjoyed them at least a little bit. But can I actually remember any fine plot points? Nope.
I think part of the reason is the crazy amount of YA dystopia that has been published over the past few years – many of them are starting to merge into one. However, I can think of another YA dystopia with a similar plot that I also rated three stars – Article 5 by Kristen Simmons – that I remember the story of quite well. Plus it's obviously not just YA dystopia that gives me book amnesia. Perhaps it depends on what else I've recently read? My mood at the time? I really don't know!
Do you ever have this problem with books? Do you find it worse with a certain genre?


Thank you to everyone that made Geek Girl Con one of our best conventions this year! Extra thank you to the lovely Kate and Archangela, and thank you to all the show runners for continuing to make a safe and happy event where geek artists can thrive.
And thank you all for your patience! The secret project I was working on was preparing a Kickstarter page for an epic collaboration between myself and the nerd rock band Megathruster. We're making a music video together, and YOU can be a part of it! The Kickstarter launches tomorrow, November 1. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook to get links to the Kickstarter Thursday morning.
Oh, man, like candy corn wasn't scary enough already.


text:
Shooting Range Solutions
Modular Target Systems
Moving Target Systems
Outdoor Targets
Reactive Indoor Targets
Shooting Range Equipment
From the Police Academy to Head Operations Manager at Odin Target
After a long career in law enforcement, and as shooting range manager at the Police Academy, Magnus Kurki is now taking on the role as Head Operations Manager at Odin Target.
Magnus Kurki worked in law enforcement for 33 years before joining Odin Target. First as a patrol officer, then as a dog handler at the K-9 unit. At the same time, he worked as an instructor in weapons tactics and first aid. Since 2018, he has worked full time at the Police Academy in Stockholm as a weapons instructor and for the past two years he has been the shooting range manager at the academy. In May 2022 he started his new position at Odin Target as Head Operations Manager. He will also be in charge of the new demo shooting range that Odin Target will build in its new head office in Järfälla.
– It feels great to be able to come here and work with a shooting range system that I truly believe in. This means that I can continue to work with something that I am passionate about and have been involved in for so many years. It's also very inspiring to be involved in helping the company grow, says Magnus Kurki.
You have several years of experience as a weapons instructor and have spent countless days in different shooting ranges. Is there any aspect that does not get enough attention?
– I don't think we talk enough about the working environment at shooting ranges. When I was the shooting range manager, we did a health check that showed that all of us who worked there on a daily basis had heightened levels of lead in our bodies. That tells you that something isn't right, and that's one of the reasons why it feels good to join Odin Target and work with a shooting range company that takes the working environment seriously, says Magnus Kurki.
Your title is Head Operations Manager, what does this entail for the day to day operations and when will the clients get to meet you?
– I will lead our operations from the head office in Stockholm. That means both bringing in new projects, being responsible for quotes and everything that has to do with it. At the same time, I will help our constructors and make sure that they get where they need to be and have the support that they require. Finally, I will also get my hands dirty from time to time at the shooting ranges. We have a policy that everyone should be able to pitch in anywhere in the business. It's a policy that suits me because I don't want to sit behind a desk all day, says Magnus Kurki.
What are you most looking forward to?
– Right now, everything feels stimulating because I am new to the company, but in the long run it's exciting to know that I will oversee our new demo facility and make sure it is in top condition. We are going to install all the technology we have to offer in this demo range so it will be a shooting range out of the ordinary, says Magnus Kurki.
Odin Target is certified in accordance with The International Organization for Standardization. We are certified for both Quality management systems (ISO 9001) and Environmental management system (ISO 14001).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We exploit exclusively in Greece the English energy saving system through Powerstar® voltage optimization.
1. What is voltage optimization?
2. Why voltage optimization is important?
3. What are the benefits for the user when installing a Powerstar® system?


What Factors Influence Charcoal Quality?
Attached is the ASTM D1762-84. This test method covers the determination of moisture, volatile matter, and ash in charcoal made from wood. The test method is applicable to lumps and briquets and is designed for the evaluation of charcoal quality. The test method employs apparatus that is found in most laboratories and is adapted to routine analyses of a large number of samples.


text:
<?php

namespace Sylius\Behat\Page\Admin\Crud;

use Behat\Mink\Exception\ElementNotFoundException;
use Sylius\Behat\Page\PageInterface;

/**
 * @author Arkadiusz Krakowiak <arkadiusz.krakowiak@lakion.com>
 */
interface CreatePageInterface extends PageInterface, PageWithFormInterface
{
    /**
     * @throws ElementNotFoundException
     */
    public function create();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The scheduler sets up the order of embedded computer tasks to ensure that a higher-priority task can preempt a lower-priority task to maintain a deterministic response. The most popular scheduling technique is preemptive, prioritized scheduling where tasks can interrupt a lower-priority task and continue execution until finished or until preempted by a higher-priority task. The development tool chain is another big issue in the selection of an OS. Embedded computer developers will spend most of their software design and debug efforts interacting with the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to gain quick access to the editor, compiler, linker, downloader, and runtime tools. Most vendors provide a full IDE including the source code editor, the code manager, links to the compiler and linker, software to download code to the target platform, and one or more debuggers.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged embedded computer, Industrial PC, Panel PC. Bookmark the permalink.


And so begins the mom-shaming for Gabrielle Union who welcomed a baby girl with husband Dwyane Wade about two weeks ago.
Along with being talented and stunning, Gabrielle is known for being outspoken. So, it will surprise no one to learn that she found a smart way to clap back at her haters.
The actress recently shared a picture of her baby girl and used the caption to say she had not showered nor brushed her teeth in the past few days.
Many shamed the new mom and told her to practice good hygiene because she did not give birth and used a surrogate.
She clapped back by writing: "?x ☂ … this baby smell though?! Heaven ????." And Dwyane showed his support by adding the following comment "My loves." Fans have stepped in to show love to Gabrielle.
?x ☂ … this baby smell though?! Heaven ????
Fans are eager to learn the name of the baby girl.
Happy for them. Had no idea.


text:
package BEAM2;

import java.io.*;

public class Weblogo {
	public void generateLogo(String baseName, int mask, int bestRunIdx,
			String outDad) throws IOException, InterruptedException {

	    String srcname=outDad +"/motifs/" + baseName + "_m" + mask + "_run" + bestRunIdx + "_wl.fa";
	    String outLogo=outDad+"/motifs/" + baseName + "_m" + mask + "_run" + bestRunIdx + "_wl.eps";
	    File tempScript = createTempScript(srcname, outLogo);

	    try {
	        ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder("bash", tempScript.toString());
	        //pb.inheritIO();
	        Process process = pb.start();
	        process.waitFor();
	    } finally {
	        tempScript.delete();
	    }
	}

	public File createTempScript(String srcName, String outLogo) throws IOException {
	    File tempScript = File.createTempFile("script", null);
	    String command="./weblogo -a 'ZAQXSWCDEVFRBGTNHY' -f ../../" + srcName + " -o ../../" + outLogo + " -C red ZAQ 'Stem' -C blue XSW 'Loop' -C forestgreen CDE 'InternalLoop' -C orange VFR 'StemBranch' -C DarkOrange B 'Bulge' -C lime G 'BulgeBranch' -C purple T 'Branching' -C limegreen NHY 'InternalLoopBranch'";
	    Writer streamWriter = new OutputStreamWriter(new FileOutputStream(
	            tempScript));
	    PrintWriter printWriter = new PrintWriter(streamWriter);

	    printWriter.println("#!/bin/bash");
	    printWriter.println("cd src/weblogo/");
	    printWriter.println(command);

	    //TODO scrivere script weblogo con srcName
	    printWriter.close();
	    return tempScript;
	}
}


Home / Featured / Expository Thoughts: Luke 19v11-27 – Why Do We Have Misplaced Sympathy For The Wicked Servant In The Parable Of The Ten Minas?
We too readily jump to the conclusion that the king is a "harsh master" who expects too much of his servants and treats them appallingly.
Given that the king is clearly meant to stand for God and/or Jesus in the parable this plays into our deep-seated fears that perhaps he is harsh and unfair and will treat us badly. However, this is to read the parable with our cultural eyes, and to miss the real point because of a misplaced sympathy. If we look carefully the details of the parable make clear that the king is not harsh and unfair, but rather generous and just.
Sometimes when we read the Bible we find that our sympathies are drawn to exactly the wrong person. I was reminded of this when we were reading Luke 19v11-27 at Homegroup last week.
Our initial reaction to the "Parable of the Ten Minas" (which is very similar to the Parable of the Talents in the other Synoptic Gospels) is to feel sympathy for the servant entrusted with the mina, returns it safely to the king, but is then castigated as "wicked" and has the mina taken away from him. It seems unfair and we too readily jump to the conclusion that the king is a "harsh master" who expects too much of his servants and treats them appallingly. Given that the king is clearly meant to stand for God and/or Jesus in the parable this plays into our deep-seated fears that perhaps he is harsh and unfair and will treat us badly.
However, this is to read the parable with our cultural eyes, and to miss the real point because of a misplaced sympathy. If we look carefully the details of the parable make clear that the king is not harsh and unfair, but rather generous and just.
The claim that the king is a "hard man" who "takes out what he did not put in" is not the way that the king describes himself, but the way that the servant seeks to excuse his failure. The king turns these words back on him and uses them as the basis by which he will hold him accountable. If the servant had truly believed the king to be a hard man who was so demanding and ruthless he would have at least deposited the mina with the bank to ensure some small return on the money. This would have been virtually risk free. Claiming that the king was hard man to justify doing nothing on his behalf is the equivalent of telling the teacher "the dog ate my homework"!
The king's behaviour to his other servants shows that he is generous. They have proved faithful in their service of him, and so he rewards them. Their reward is far in excess of the profit they have brought to the master. They were entrusted with a mina and received charge of cities in return. The fact that the king gives more to those who have proved faithful, but disproportionately to their objective achievement, is a clear indication that he is not a hard man but a gracious man.
It is even clearer that the king/master is generous rather than hard in the parallel Parable of the Talents. In that version of the parable the master gives each servant a different sum of money in accordance with his ability. He does not expect more of them than is commensurate with their capacity. He commends each of them equally and invites them to join in his celebratory banquet. He rewards them identically for their faithfulness with what they had been given, not for their quantitative output. These are not the action of a harsh miser or ruthless exploiter.
Did Jesus Demand We Kill His Enemies?


text:
A-Z Challenge "D" is for Dallos (Darosu)
Dallos (Darosu) 1983
The first OVA produced!
Dallos feels extremely topical now when wealth inequality is so vicious, and you could certainly also read the OVA as a critique of colonialism – though I'm not sure Hisayuki Toriumi, Mamoru Oshii and Studio Pierrot were making a 'message' story? I should do more reading there.
Still, the themes are definitely present and expanded via inter-generational conflict as much as being driven by events around the Lunarian rebellion.
Science-fiction and action tropes do fill a lot of the short series, and although there's time for politics too, what caught my eye (aside from the world-building) were the now 'old-school' visuals from both character and mechanical design – it does feel like the 1970s are very close.
But when I learnt that there were essentially two directors on Dallos, I think it became easier to see the action scenes when Oshii was clearly in charge.
Dallos is told from a few POVs. It mostly follows our hero Shun, rebel leader Dog and antagonist Alex as they struggle for control of the colony, and it doesn't rush the story either, which is great. I guess if you're mostly into modern animation, however, you'll really see the age of the art.
In a way, two stories from 1966 came to mind when I finally saw Dallos – one was We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (filmed as Total Recall in 1990) and the other The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. For the latter, the production team mention it as an influence but my association with the Philip K Dick story is a little more nebulous to me – not sure I can put my finger on why.
I still really enjoyed the OVA series and my only qualm I guess, was that I think I expected a little more mysticism from the film for some reason – maybe since the 'god' of Dallos itself seemed to be set up that way? Still, that feel was not absent at all, but I guess I just wanted something extra.
Obviously if you're a science-fiction fan, or curious about this pretty cool piece of anime history, or Oshii's early work too, then you'll probably enjoy Dallos but visually it's not at the level of Ghost in the Shell, for instance, and I wonder if tonally, this is more the work of writer and co-director Hisayuki Toriumi?
4 Stars*
I love how huge the theme can be 🙂
*To borrow from Iridium Eye Reviews a moment – maybe remove a star if you're not so interested in the history of anime.
And this is my third review for my A-Z Challenge 🙂
This entry was posted in Anime, Series and tagged 1980s, action, Hiroyuki Namba, Hisayuki Toriumi, Ichirō Nitta, Mamoru Oshii, OVA, politics, science fiction, Studio Pierrot by ashleycapes. Bookmark the permalink.
8 thoughts on "A-Z Challenge "D" is for Dallos (Darosu)"
raistlin0903 on October 29, 2020 at 8:43 am said:
I've heard of this one, but have never seen it. I love the character designs though that I see in these pictures, and the story sounds great too! Probably another tough one to find for me, but I will definitely keep it in mind! As always terrific review!😀
ashleycapes on October 31, 2020 at 4:31 am said:
Yeah, I'm not sure where it's streaming but it's interesting on more than a few levels, I reckon. And thank you 🙂
The designs are pretty ace, agreed! There's another shot I didn't use that evokes 1970s rock band + LOTR, which was cool 😀
Pingback: Anime A-Z (Watch-List Challenge) | The Review Heap
ospreyshire on October 29, 2020 at 7:01 pm said:
Thanks for the Iridium Eye homage! I approve. 🙂
That was a good review and Dallos would be something to check out especially for the anime historical aspects with it being the inaugural OVA ever. I would've never guessed that Mamoru Oshii would collaborate with Studio Pierrot of all places. Yes, the same guy responsible for Ghost in the Shell worked with the studio that would be responsible for Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto, and Fushigi Yugi to name a few.
Thanks! And yeah, I'm so used to associating him with Prod IG.
I'm hoping to one day find more of Hisayuki Toriumi's 'Science Ninja Team Gatchaman' so I can compare a little tone-wise, but all I remember are parts of the 'Battle of the Planets' version.
Hahaha! No problem. I sometimes think Prod IG is to Oshii like how Ghibli is to Miyazaki.
Nice! I haven't seen the original Japanese uncut version, just the G-Force and Eagle Riders edited versions of that show.
ashleycapes on November 1, 2020 at 9:14 am said:
I'd love to compare them actually – I love seeing the differences in releases for regions, even if they can sometimes be worse as it's always interesting at least 🙂
ospreyshire on November 1, 2020 at 3:08 pm said:
Comparisons between the versions would be good. I know Fiddletwix does the Sub Dub Comparison series on her blog and GlitterInformer has been doing something similar with Power Rangers/Super Sentai and one of the Pretty Cure series.
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text:
2beyoung.ru
Is adrienne maloof still dating sean stewart
Posted by / 10-Feb-2019 10:57
Sean had wanted to pitch her a business idea and the two just hit it off." Oh! And Adrienne, whose financial empire is collapsing all around her, is entertaining young men whose businesses need financing.Apparently, we were misled about Sean and he is really hiding an acute business acumen from the general public.Stewart, whose mom is Alana Hamilton is a musician and occasional reality star whose credits include Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Adrienne is in the process of divorcing plastic surgeon Paul Nassif.The once-warring pair has announced they've settled all their financial and custody issues, and assuming nothing changes, the divorce will be finalized at the end of February.It was a great platform, and for me the second chapter of my life I think you'll find to be quite impressive." Adrienne split from husband, Paul Nassif, last July after nearly ten years of marriage—their divorce was finalized November Meanwhile, will Adrienne be gracing our TV screens again anytime soon—well…. "I've got offers left and right for a reality television show and I'm doing a feature film with Dreamworks." Maloof says."I would, and you'll have to stay tuned…It's there, I can't talk about it yet.
When she asked him how the sex was, he responded, "It was good. I mean, i don't want to get into that because I'm a gentleman." Brandi said, "I think Adrienne's really nice. I thought that was low and it's why I lost respect for her." Thank you to Reality Tea for the transcript.
"I met her, we became friends, I was there for her and her kids while she was going through a rough time. I have nothing bad to say," Stewart said of Maloof, adding, "I do want to clear up one rumor, she never broke my heart.
I've only been in love once and I remain in love with that same girl.
Six months after announcing their split in July, Maloof was spotted out and about with Stewart, who at 31 years old is nearly twenty years her junior—and, despite reports of a break-up back in March, the two are still going strong.
"Age should be irrelevant," the 51-year-old tells the website. There's plenty of men who date younger women, and you don't hear much about that, and to make a big deal the other way around I think is very sexist… it was refreshing to go out with him after being in a ten year marriage where obviously it got difficult." It's easy to see what Sean sees in the super sexy 51-year-old mother-of-three!
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Dribble bibs that are perfect for drooling and teething. For ages 2 months to 2 years. Free of phthalates and BPA. They are 100% cotton, stylish, reversible, adjustable, absorbent, and hygienic.
All hair accessories, sale items, and personlaized orders are FINAL sale. All other merchandise is returnable for store credit with invoice within 14 days. If a gift receipt is given, the item can be returned within 60 days.
Returns can be made in the shop or shipped back at the customers expense, in order to receive store credit/exchange.


We're doing Sydney Fringe 2014, staging Slapdash Song Night! every Sunday in September! All tix $5 at the door. Giddiup!
ANNOUNCING (some of) OUR GUESTS!
So many shows, how do you pick? Try this delicious tasting plate of music, cabaret, musical comedy, and more from all over Sydney Fringe (and beyond… mostly beyond). Cut loose with your host, Keira Daley (LadyNerd, [title of show]), for some toe-tapping, head-bopping, rollicking variety night mayhem. Warning: Dangerously catchy.
It's Sunday night and the atmosphere is ripe for musical mischief. Get your week off to the right start with cool covers, hilarious originals, and fun, fast-fire chats.
From comedy to cabaret, musical theatre to acoustic duo and more, we have it all. It's the place to discover new gems, experience new styles, and enjoy familiar favourites all over again.


text:
Q: My App isn't Compatible with Nexus 7 on Google Playstore Hii i have submitted an app to playstore but it isn't compatible with Nexus here is my Manifest
   My App is on List of supported Devices in the Google Play

and when i check the same in the nexus device it is not at all visible on Search

 <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="14"
    android:targetSdkVersion="14"/>

 <supports-screens
    android:anyDensity="true"
    android:largeScreens="true"
    android:normalScreens="true"
    android:resizeable="true"
    android:smallScreens="true"
    android:xlargeScreens="true"
     />

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_TASKS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.VIBRATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FLASHLIGHT" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS"  />
<uses-permission android:name="com.android.launcher.permission.INSTALL_SHORTCUT" />
<uses-permission android:name="com.android.launcher.permission.UNINSTALL_SHORTCUT" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.PREVENT_POWER_KEY"  />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false"/>
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.autofocus" android:required="false"/>
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.location" android:required="false"/>
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.location.gps" android:required="false"/>
<uses-permission
    android:name="android.permission.FLASHLIGHT"
    android:permissionGroup="android.permission-group.HARDWARE_CONTROLS"
    android:protectionLevel="normal"
    android:required="false" />

I Have Searched in google and did necessary Modifications to Manifest still i don't know why my app isn't compatible with nexus 7
please help me
Thanks In Advance

A: You need to add
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false"/>

and
 <supports-screens
        android:anyDensity="true"
        android:largeScreens="true"
        android:normalScreens="true"
        android:smallScreens="false"
        android:xlargeScreens="true" >
    </supports-screens>

and may be remove the camera permission.
Look here and this reads:

Be aware of which system features that you declare (or imply) are
  required to run your application or the Play Store will not make your
  application available to Nexus 7 users. Always declare hardware
  features that aren't critical to your app as required="false" then
  detect at runtime if the feature is present and progressively enhance
  functionality

A: The problem doesn't seem to be related to your listing on the app store. According to the console your application is compatible with the Nexus 7.
The first thing I would suggest is checking appt.
Next, my guess is that either the Play Store hasn't updated the listing yet or your device is not identifying itself appropriately.

A: Remove the following permissions :
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FLASHLIGHT" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />

They make sure that a camera and a flashlight are present on the device.
You've already mentioned :
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false"/>
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.autofocus" android:required="false"/>
<uses-permission
android:name="android.permission.FLASHLIGHT"
android:permissionGroup="android.permission-group.HARDWARE_CONTROLS"
android:protectionLevel="normal"
android:required="false" />

This should be enough. The permissions negate the android:required="false" feature and hence the Nexus 7 is excluded.
So, just remove the two permissions and it should work.

A: You are declaring the flashlight permission twice. And the first time you aren't specifying that it is not required.
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FLASHLIGHT" />

This is probably conflicting with the second declaration.
<uses-permission
    android:name="android.permission.FLASHLIGHT"
    android:permissionGroup="android.permission-group.HARDWARE_CONTROLS"
    android:protectionLevel="normal"
    android:required="false" />

Try removing the first one and see what happens.

A: *

*uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="9"  android:targetSdkVersion="19" in manifest

A: You should define the support screens feature in your manifest as below which will allow to support nexus 7:
<supports-screens android:smallScreens="true"
              android:normalScreens="true"
              android:largeScreens="true"
              android:xlargeScreens="true"
              android:requiresSmallestWidthDp="600" />

A: According to this post: Nexus 7 Support for Android Application Manifest Assembly
Nexus 7 cannot support <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />.

A: Try including the following:
<compatible-screens>
....
    <!-- Special case for Nexus 7 -->
    <screen android:screenSize="large" android:screenDensity="213" />
</compatible-screens>

Look at this previous answer based on this workaround.

A: As update button is shown in front of app, and also caution is given. So if you are able to update app then it could be some bug in Play Store app.  or try removing
 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.PREVENT_POWER_KEY"  />

A: May be you need to add this line also since you are using READ_PHONE_STATE permission

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Saudi Scholar identifies the enemy: "Mickey Mouse must die"
"Corrupting" and "satanic" infidel must be slain
Except when he's working for Hamas, advocating jihad and Jewish genocide. Another "you-can't-make this stuff-up" moment courtesy of Dar al-Islam.
"Islamic theologian says Mickey Mouse must die," by George Conger, for Religious Intelligence, September 14 via JW
* Meanwhile, take a look at how serious the Saudi's are about their Ramadan fast:
* As with everything these pathetic hypocrites say and do, nothing is quite what it seems. They merely starve themselves during the day so they can gorge themselves at night.
Silly? Idiotic? you tell me….
* Take a good look at the Saudis…
On Aug 27 Sheikh Muhammad Al-Munajid told viewers of a religious affairs programme that mice were agents of Satan and that Sharia law called for the extermination of all mice: from the common house mouse (Mus musculus) to cartoon mouse (Mickey Mouse).Â
A former diplomat attached to the Islamic Affairs Department at the Saudi embassy Washington, al-Munajid appears regularly on Saudi television to discuss religious and ethical topics.
On Aug 10 he denounced the Beijing Olympics as the "bikini Olympics," saying the immodest dress of women athletes was "satanic" and earlier issued a fatwa, or religious edict, against women's participation in the Olympics as the games were also "satanic".
Regardless, a hijab-clad Muslim women did participate.
Al-Munajid's aversion to sports is not new. In 2005 he denounced soccer, saying the short pants worn by players "reveal nakedness." He called for a ban on women's sports and public exercise as to do so would require them to don "tight fitting, short" tunics that were offensive to Muslim decorum.Â
According to a translation of the broadcast prepared by the Middle East Media Research Institute, al-Munajid was asked to state the Islamic legal teaching on mice. He responded that mice were called "little corrupters" in Sharia and it was permissible to kill them at all times.
"The mouse is one of Satan's soldiers and is steered by him," he explained, adding that should a mouse come in contact with food, the food must be disposed of as the mouse is an impure creature.
"According to Islamic law, the mouse is a repulsive, corrupting creature," al-Munajid said, adding that he was concerned that popular culture had given mice an undeserved positive image.
"How do you think children view mice today – after Tom and Jerry?" he asked.
"Even creatures that are repulsive by nature, by logic, and according to Islamic law have become wonderful and are loved by children. Even mice. Mickey Mouse has become an awesome character, even thoughaccording to Islamic law, Mickey Mouse should be killed in all cases."
Posted on September 15, 2008 Author sheikyermamiCategories GeneralTags Saudis
2 thoughts on "Saudi Scholar identifies the enemy: "Mickey Mouse must die""
Mullah Lodabullah says:
* Mickey Mouse should be killed
Islam really takes the Mickey!
hammam says:
Stooooooooooooooooop
Listen to Sheikh Munajid clarifying the issue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZSz2zEMwZE
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Joseph Vũ Duy Thống (July 2, 1952 – March 1, 2017) was a Vietnamese prelate, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phan Thiet from July 2009 to his death and the Head of the Episcopal Committee on Cultural Affairs. He was Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh city from 2001 to 2009.
↑ Office, WCBCV. "Committee on Culture - Committees - Church in Vietnam - Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam - CBCVietNam.org". Catholic Bishops' Conference Of Vietnam.
This page was last changed on 15 February 2019, at 15:48.


text:
Lt. Col. Allen West Interview With Mark Levin, 8.11.2010
2010 Elections, Constitutional Conservative, Talk RadioAllen West, Constitutional Conservative, Florida 22, Illegal Immigration, Israel, Mark Levin
Mark Levin has come away from this interview as most people do, impressed as hell by Allen West, his stances on the issues and his ability to communicate. Mark ends this interview by giving Allen West his endorsement. Enjoy! Go here for more information on Allen West. (H/T TheRightScoop for the vid.)
Gov. Jan Brewer On Greta, 6.16.2010
Immigration, States IssuesGov. Brewer, Greta Van Susteran, Illegal Immigration, SB1070
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer speaking to Greta about her visit to the Oval Office a few weeks ago regarding the invasion that is happening on Arizona's border, how she is still waiting for the Executive Branch to contact her, and the court cases she is involved in because of SB1070. "This is unconscionably what Arizona is facing. We are certainly under attack by the drug cartels, and by the drug smugglers, the human smugglers, it's out of control....We are the gateway, everybody in America knows we are the gateway. Texas, New Mexico, California; they don't have the issues that we…
Lt. Col. Allen West On Radical Islamic Terrorists, Obama, & Illegal Immigration(Video)
2010 Elections, Immigration, New World OrderAmnesty, Barack Obama, Illegal Immigration, Lt. Col. Allen West, Radical Islamic Terrorists, Terrorist Camps
Want to hear what is really happening in our country with radical islamic terrorists, their camps inside our borders, terrorists learning spanish, illegal immigration? How about the fact that Lt. Col. West is the first person I have heard say out loud that he cannot stand Obama. ...three...two...one...the calls of 'seditious speech' will being coming from the left any second now. See our government wants to castigate us as the enemy. Our President went down and said that the problem is here in the United States of America. Well, you know, let's face it. Wherever he goes he's going to…
Gabriella Secito Speaks
Immigration, States IssuesGabriella Secito, Illegal Immigration, SB 1070, Tucson City Council
Legal immigrant and current naturalized citizen, Gabriella Secito speaks to the Tucson city council about SB 1070, and how her local government has the right to protect it's citizens from 'foreign invasion' (among other great statements). Enjoy!


Def. 3 Someone whose job is to 'work', especially in a school.
NB Words in quotation marks are not the original word used in the definition.
Someone whose job is of primary importance in society, but has never been given the social status it deserves both in terms of pay and recognition.
Well,it's "TEACHER" I reckon.But allow me to add a couple of thoughts that can make us feel proud about our "trade".
which draws on Robert's comments of pay and recognition!
And my devil's dictionary addition would be some who "Awakens people's curiosity.Who does not merely open minds, and never overloads them but places there just a spark..."


text:
In Your Dreams: Bloke Dreams About Winning The Lottery, Actually Manages It ...But Then Has To Give Half Of It Away...
Back in 2012, Fatih Ozcan, a waiter working at the Kucukkoylu Turkish restaurant in York, apparently experienced a prophetic dream which involved him holding huge bundles of cash in both hands, whilst his boss, Hayati Kucokkoylu (either the restaurant is named after him or its an amazing coincidence) was standing in front of him.
Mr. Ozcan interpreted this dream as meaning that, if he played the lottery with his boss' money, he'd win huge bundles of cash.
...Well, he was half right.
At work the next day, Mr. Ozcan pestered his boss to buy a few 'Euromillions' tickets, using money from the till. The boss eventually relented, suggested some numbers and gave him some cash.
...Amazingly, Ozcan later checked his ticket to find that he had won a Million quid.
When Fatih told Hayati of his fortunes, the boss decreed that all of the money was, in fact, his by right, as his money had paid for the majority of the tickets. Ozcan, for his part, was having none of it, and a major falling out occurred between the two men.
Eventually, the argument ended up going to court, where a judge (with apparently more sense than either man combined), decreed that the winnings should be shared 50/50 between the man that had supplied the ticket and the man that had paid for it.
Sounds fair, right? I mean both men still get a £500,000 payday out of it.
In summary, the waiter had the dream, stumped up a little cash and picked a few numbers. The restaurant manager donated the most cash (the princely sum of £9) and also picked a few numbers himself.
It really isn't rocket science. 50/50 seems pretty fair to me...
Apparently that wasn't the end of the debacle, though, as Kucukkoylu appealed the decision and took the issue to the London Civil Appeals Court, in the hopes of walking away with the full Million.
This month, after three years of legal wrangling, yet another judge told him to 'bugger off and stop being so bloody greedy' (albeit probably using more fancy language than that). The judge then declared that the fairest course of action was (you guessed it) to split the money 50/50, which pretty much any reasonable person would have already done anyway.
According to Kucukkoylu, he chose the numbers and paid for the ticket and thus, the money should rightly be his, however, without his employee having the dream in the first place, he never would have bought a ticket.
The really pathetic part of this story is that neither man appears to be happy with getting a £500,000 payday - and thus both saw fit to fight over it in court for three years, presumably spending loads on their legal fees.
...Seriously, where's the logic?
Its hard to decide whether these men are simply greedy and stupid, or just stupid and greedy. Either way, it isn't good.
As for the (presumably now fired) waiter - let's just hope any dreams about seven fat customers devouring seven lean ones turn out to simply be a case of eating too much cheese before bed!
Review of the Motorola DP2600 Two Way Radio
When it comes to creating of digital communications throughout your company, MOTOTRBO digital radio solutions can help keep all your employees connected. The Motorola DP2600 is a hand-held two-way radio that comes with all the latest digital technological advances. These small portables deliver on affordability and high digital quality, allowing all of your employees to speak and hear clearly regardless the working conditions.
The Motorola DP2600 display model features programmable buttons, 16 channel capacity, and water protection IP55 specifications. The volume of the radio adjusts automatically to be able to compensate for any background noises. This best-in-class technology provides a scalable solution for any communication needs within the company. The crystal clear screen allows easy navigation and install call recognition.
The reason the DP2600 is so versatile is because it is available in both VHF and UHF frequencies, with a two-line display and simple to navigate keypad that is able to handle up to 128 channels. The three programmable buttons are simple to access, the tricolor LED provides crystal clear visual feedback on the status of the operating system of the radio. The screen is easily viewable day or night, and the large textured talk button is easy to find in any conditions.
Some of the reasons the DP2600 has become one of the popular choices in the construction and assembly line industry is the compact design and the noise reduction capabilities and safety features.. The ability to switch between group or individual calls is simple, while the PTT ID is designed to simplify the system disciple and efficiency of communication. The remote monitoring system ensures employee safety while on the job by enabling quicker assessment of the remote users status.
Calls received on the DP2600 connect on the first time thanks to the unique channel scanning technology. No tools are needed to attach remote accessories to the DP2600 because it comes equipped with an accessory connector. Through the software purchase you can upgrade the radio privacy feature, transmitting interrupt, and five tone signalling. The DP2600 comes with VOX capabilities and Intelligent Audio for automatic volume adjustment to compensate for any degree of noise within the workplace that could affect sound quality.
This hand-held two-way radio IP55 sealing ensures continued operation in the harshest of working conditions. Equipped to handle multiple site coverage with the IP site connector, the DP2600 will keep everyone in the pipeline in communications with each other via the Capacity Plus and Lined capacity Plus features.


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The block labeled sqrt will deliver about a dozen different representations of numeric values, depending on what is selected from thepull-down list. This includes the square root, trigonometric functions, absolute value, etc.
Finally, the block labeled round will round a decimal number to the nearest whole number.
Image 4 shows the result of dragging the top two green blocks from the left panel and dropping them into the white boxes in the bottomtwo orange variable blocks in the center panel of Image 3 .
Image 4. result of dropping addition and subtraction operators into variable blocks.
Click the orange Variables button in the upper left of Image 4 to expose the variables as shown in Image 1 .
Drag the blocks for the variables named LeftOperand and RightOperand from the left panel and drop them into the white boxes in the bottom two blocks in Image 4 to make them match the bottom two blocks in Image 2 .
That's the solution. The upper left portion of your Stage area should now look similar to Image 5 . Note however that you may need to use the mouse to arrange the four variables and the button to get your Stage arrangedlike Image 5 .
Image 5. stage area of the finished program.
Once you reach this point, you can click the green flag to initialize all four variables to zero.
Then you can move the sliders back and forth to manually set the values for the variables named LeftOperand and RightOperand .
Then when you click the button at the bottom of Image 5 , the variable named Sum will display the sum of the values of the top two variables, and the variable named Diff will display the value of LeftOperand minus the value of RightOperand .
A copy of this program has been posted online for your review (see Resources for the URL) . If you don't find the program using that URL, search the Scratch site for the usernamed dbal.
I encourage you to use the information provided above to write this program. Experiment with the code, making changes, and observing the results of yourchanges. Make certain that you can explain why your changes behave as they do.
Just for fun, move the button a little to the right and cause it to say Ouch for about five seconds each time you click it as shown in Image 6 . Hint: See the purple button labeled Looks in Image 3 .
Image 6. making the button say ouch.
Write a Scratch program named Arithmetic02 that produces the output shown in Image 7 when the user adjusts the sliders to the values shown and clicks the button. Make the word Ouch! appear and then go away after about five seconds.


text:
HANSARD 1803–2005 → 1950s → 1950 → December 1950 → 15 December 1950 → Commons Sitting
GRANGEMOUTH DOCKS
HC Deb 15 December 1950 vol 482 cc1547-53 1547
§ 2.57 p.m.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacPherson (Stirling and Falk irk Burghs)
We are a little behind time with our programme of debates on the Adjournment, and I think that it will be possible to make up a little of that time on this topic. I hope to be brief. I wish to raise a constituency matter, though I should like to point out that I find, probably in common with most hon. Members, that whenever one begins to examine what appears to be a constituency problem, one finds oneself examining what turns out to be a small segment of a national problem. It is in the wider national sense that I ask the Minister of Transport some questions about the docks in my constituency.
I suggest that the equipment of the docks of the nation, not only those of Grangemouth, might well have been given greater priority in recent years. The reconstruction of ports on the Continent has been given high priority in many cases, and there is now some contrast in efficiency between some of our own ports and certain ports in other countries. When one remembers how important a link in the chain, not only of transport but of industry in general, is the work of the docks, one is bound to regret the fact that we are not working at top efficiency.
We have had two Reports in the last couple of years—the working party's report on the turnround of shipping and 1548 the report issued this year on increased mechanisation in the docks—both of which have stressed the fact that there is a great deal of opportunity for further improvements in this matter. The first of these reports asks the Minister to prepare a programme of train requirements for the docks of the nation, and the second points out that there is a very wide field for mechanisation in the docks. I want to remind the Minister that, when one mechanises or in any way modernises work in the docks, one is doing the same sort of improvement to some of our great industries. We realise, for example, that the unloading of iron ore or steel scrap is a part of the chain of activities which ends in the coupling shops of Sheffield and the motor plants of Birmingham, and one begins to realise how necessary it is for bringing the working of our docks up to the highest standard of efficiency.
I confess to some feeling of disappointment that we have not been able to give greater priority to meeting this need in the years since the war. In Grangemouth itself we have docks of some importance. Grangemouth is the second port in Scotland in volume of traffic, being second only to Glasgow. In the Forth River estuary, where Grangemouth is situated, the other major port is Leith, but it is sharply differentiated from it in the nature of the work which it does. Grangemouth is very definitely a port dealing with bulk cargoes, ore, timber, scrap and cement, and cargoes of that sort, whereas Leith deals with food supplies, grain and that kind of thing.
The hinterland of Grangemouth is of great importance because within a short rail haul of Grangemouth docks there lies a great proportion, in fact, almost the whole, of the Scottish industrial region. Grangemouth also has a natural geographical advantage as a port for the importation of Scandinavian and Baltic timber and Swedish ore. It is equipped for the handling of bulk cargoes, but part of my submission is that it should be better equipped. It has an excellent rail service, every berth is actually supplied by rail, and its workers are by general agreement managing to do a good job without any particularly good equipment.
I want to ask the Minister what is his outlook about the future of Grangemouth as a port. I have been told from other sources that there is not enough traffic 1549 passing through Grangemouth to warrant a high capital expenditure. Apart from other cargoes, Grangemouth has one of the oil refineries which, I understand, form the subject next to be discussed this afternoon. I understand that the hon. Member who is to raise it will talk about Fawley. Apart altogether from oil cargoes, its annual handling of trade is of the order of two million tons, which is a considerable amount if we compare it, for instance, with the immense port of Glasgow of the size of which it represents about one-third. That fact indicates that Grangemouth is a fairly substantial port, doing a considerable volume of work.
Furthermore, some elements in the imports of Grangemouth can be counted upon as reasonably certain. So long as we are importing timber, Grangemouth is the port to which Scandinavian timber can come. So long as we are importing iron ore, so long as we have an iron and steel industry, then presumably Grangemouth is the natural port for Swedish ores and is very convenient also for North African ores. I should like to ask the Minister whether his outlook involves the acceptance of the idea that Grangemouth will in future be used to the full. The British Transport Commission recently had under review the river and ports of the Forth. I do not presume that, from that immediate and quick review, there will be any official conclusion available at this stage, but if my right hon. Friend has any information to give as a result of that or other investigations, I should be glad to hear it, and I think the House would be glad to hear it, too.
The present equipment of Grangemouth docks—and I am concerned only with equipment for heavy duty—is as follows. Its present heavy duty crane capacity is simply one 40-ton crane and two nine-tonners. That one 40-ton crane is used, for example, by the boat which has been taking regular cargoes of steel plates from Motherwell to Canada since last summer, and if that boat is at the bottom of the crane the others simply have to wait. The result is a slow turn-round of shipping. The two nine-ton cranes were originally seven-ton cranes which have been converted. They are quite commonly and casually described in the ports as cripples, for they are not able to stand up to long work.
1550 When we turn to the lack of modern equipment, we begin to realise that we are placing a handicap upon many of our industries. If anyone stands, as I have stood, on the deck of a boat in these docks, watching a couple of men standing down in the hold with their feet sinking in a mass of horseshoes, bicycle chains and iron bars which make up scrap, picking up these bits and throwing them into the cradle of the crane, he will realise that this is the 20th-century method not only of unloading a ship but of conducting one very important process in our great national iron and steel industry, and he will find it a sobering thought. I suggest that there is a strong case for improving and modernising the equipment of such a port as this.
The proposal which has been made—and I think it is to a certain extent an agreed proposal—is the introduction of one heavy duty berth consisting of four 10-ton electric cranes with grapples which could be used for the type of bulk cargo with which Grangemouth has to deal. For the sake of brevity I shall not quote the paragraph just now, but I would draw the Minister's attention to the remarks of the working party on the turn-round of shipping, as shown on page 8 of their report, in which they point out that the loss in connection with iron ore traffic through inefficient handling in the docks has been serious and consistent—I think that is the phrase—so serious and so consistent that it calls for an inquiry into the whole matter.
In the last 24 months I have taken this matter up more or less continuously. First of all, I had communications with my right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State for Scotland and with my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan), who used to assist the Minister of Transport and is now at the Admiralty. I have had communications with Lord Hurcomb, Chairman of the Transport Commission, and Sir Reginald Hill, of the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive. So far, it has mainly been a matter of refusals to agree the programme of improvements suggested. Recently, however, we have had the reports of these two committees—the working party and the committee on the mechanisation of ports—and at the beginning of this year we had the 1551 passing of the docks to the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive; and, perhaps more important than all of these, we have had the progress of the oil refinery reaching a stage where it is nearly completed and where the desirability of a new oil berth is becoming clear.
I understand that, as a result perhaps of these developments, there is some possibility of a new attitude, and that there is now some reasonable hope that the programme suggested, or something similar to it, will be approved. I hope my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport will be able to say so, and if I have had some doubts about the speed or priority given to work on the docks so far, I certainly consider the Minister to be a reasonably minded man and I hope that he will agree that the case that has been put up is a reasonable one.
I want to make this one qualifying observation in conclusion, and to stress what I said at the beginning—that I put this case as part of a national case. I would not like the Minister to think that I am arguing that he ought to equip the Port of Grangemouth against better claims from elsewhere. What I am hoping is that he will find that as part of the economic effort, it is reasonable and desirable to go ahead at some fairly early date with modernising and re-equipping the Port of Grangemouth to some extent.
§ The Minister of Transport (Mr. Barnes)
I appreciate the fact that my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling and Falkirk Burghs (Mr. Malcolm MacPherson), both in the opening sentences of his case and in his concluding remarks, was broadminded enough to link the special problem of Grangemouth with the responsibilities that, naturally, I have towards the ports of this country as a whole.
I should like to emphasise at once that not only I, but people generally in this country, appreciate the importance of our ports, because they are the terminal points in our immense import and export trade without which this country would be unable to maintain its present standards. My hon. Friend's remarks have enabled me to deal first with the problem of the investment programme. He will appreciate that, just as within a Department 1552 like my own there is responsibility not only towards the ports but towards other aspects of transport, like the railways and the roads, and the investment programme has to be balanced within the Department between equally important competing claims, so the Government as a whole must balance the investment programme between many competing interests when they are determining the amount of capital expenditure that can be permitted both on overtaking arrears of maintenance accumulated in many services during the war and new reconstruction projects to deal with modern requirements.
The problem in the ports in this country during the last five years has been largely one of overtaking arrears of maintenance and the repair of war damage. As that problem is overcome, one can look forward to more and more of the proportion of capital available being devoted to new construction programmes. According to the figures I have before me, it appears that there has been a slight decline in the tonnage handled at Grangemouth as compared with 1938, for instance. It is not a substantial decline. In some respects the Port of Grangemouth has suffered less in relation to its pre-war imports and exports than other ports in this country.
As he has indicated, I was very quickly aware, in view of the vast capital expenditure that we had to face, of the need for information on the ports and the functions they would have to perform. In view of the increased capital cost of shipping today, it becomes vitally important that shipping should be turned round as quickly as possible at our ports. Then, because of the changing character of cargoes, it is equally essential that in any capital expenditure we should provide for the most efficient mechanisation at our ports for handling those cargoes. The reports of the two committees to which my hon. Friend referred were exceedingly valuable. Many of the problems relating to specific points mentioned in the reports have been referred back to the dock and harbour authorities.
On the whole, I have found a general desire to co-operate with my Ministry in securing improvements, including Grangemouth Port which, as my hon. Friend is aware, is one of the ports which has been 1553 passed to the British Transport Commission. One of the functions of the British Transport Commission is to carry out a review of the ports of this country, and, while such a review has been undertaken, it has not yet reached the stage of any particular action; further examination of the matter is required. My hon. Friend referred to the importance of Grangemouth as an oil refinery and port. Something like half of their tonnage consists of oil and, as everyone knows, that is a very important factor in the life of this country.
These matters are engaging the serious attention of the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive and the British Transport Commission, and I can assure my hon. Friend that as soon as these negotiations are complete, it is their sincere and determined desire fully to equip Grangemouth to enable that port to carry out the tasks which it has already done in the past and will, I feel sure, be called upon to perform in the future.
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Auction Advertising is extensive and visible featuring your property exclusively.
Buyers act on your schedule.
Lacks the ability to motivate buyers, forcing you to wait for buyers to make their mind and meet on their time schedule.
Uses the Auction Method of Marketing as the catalyst to create buyers interest.
Price reduction encouraged in the attempt to create buyer interest and activity.
Realizes the property's true market value. No limit on upside potential.
Upside potential limited by asking price.
Eliminates guesswork in determining the asking price your property.
Seller risks overpricing, and thus seeing little interest. Or under pricing and selling for less than the property is worth.
All conditions of sale set in advance, thus eliminating negotiations, you are in complete control. No contingent contracts.


At one time poetry was the only medium I wrote in. I liked messing with different forms. Now, I primarily write longer stories, but I still dabble in poetry occasionally. Tonight, I jotted down some words that have been stuck in my head since September. Poetry can be very cathartic. This is a very rough draft, but I thought I would share. Sometimes I write for other people, with an audience in mind. Sometimes I write for myself. I write to heal. This poem is the latter.


While October has not yet arrived, just a day away though, there are bits of color to be found in small areas. Close to water is usually at the lead and that was the case with this image next to a swamp in North Quabbin.
This entry was posted in Autumn Color, Intimate Landscape, Landscape, Nature Photography, Western Massachusetts and tagged Autumn Color, Blackington Road, Fall Foliage, fog, foggy landscape, Gate 33, intimate landscape, landscape, Massachusetts, New England, New Salem, North Quabbin, Quabbin, Quabbin Landscape, western massachusetts. Bookmark the permalink.
I, too, am shocked how fast the month disappeared. However, if advancing fall brings us visions like this, I don't mind!
And then….dreaded winter!!! 😦 😦 But I have to admit, getting older the seasons do seem to go more quickly, even winter.
The colors are lovely, especially in combination with the fog. What really tickled me is the variety among the three predominant trees. From left to right I see a coat rack, a fan, and a drinking straw. Even without such fanciful interpretations, the variety's pleasing, and I think really adds to the image.
The trees were what attracted my eye first, Linda. I was walking the trail with a lot of trees and shrubbery between me and this scene, but I noticed the variety of shapes through all the other stuff and made my way in. Then a bunch of back and forthing to get the trees in a good position without obscuring each other. This would only have worked on a foggy day. Without it, there are hundreds of trees going for a good half mile beyond the fog. I love me a good fog.
We did the trip to Acadia at the onset of summer. Wish we had waited till now! Great photo of the fog and changing colors of the foliage.
Early June is a nice time (lots of lupines in Great Meadow) as is October. Thanks.
Lovely comp and colors Steve hoping for a beautiful fall here, we have had such a wet summer, it would be nice to see some color soon !!
Thanks, Bernie. All that wetness should produce nice color and, hopefully, prolong the time before the leaves fall.
Great composition with a variety of colors. Really looks like the beginning of fall. There is something about fog that adds much to a photograph. I like this scene a lot.
I am glad you finally found the scene to your liking.
Such a lovely contrast of rich colour and almost monotone fog.
The sun had not quite risen yet making the fog so evenly lit. A short time later the right side of this scene would have been too bright although the leaves would have a nice backlight on them.
A beautiful interpretation of Fall beginnings, Steve.


BERLIN: Russian President Vladimir Putin is flying to Austria to attend the wedding Saturday of the country's foreign minister, before heading to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Austrian authorities have imposed tight security measures around the site of the ceremony near the southern town of Graz of Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, who was nominated by the pro-Russia Austrian Freedom Party.
Putin's meeting with Merkel late Saturday takes place at the German government's guesthouse in Meseberg, north of Berlin. Topics during the bilateral talks include Ukraine, Syria and the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that the United States and some European countries object to.


text:
"""
Fast image interpolation using a pyramid.
"""

from __future__ import print_function

# TODO: This allows you to use "true" div (vs floordiv) in Python2 for the / operator;
# unfortunately it appears to also replace the overloads we've carefully added for Halide.
# Figure out if it's possible to allow this to leave our Halide stuff unaffected.
#
# from __future__ import division

import time, sys
import halide as hl

from datetime import datetime
from scipy.misc import imread, imsave
import numpy as np
import os.path

int_t = hl.Int(32)
float_t = hl.Float(32)

def get_interpolate(input, levels):
    """
    Build function, schedules it, and invokes jit compiler
    :return: halide.hl.Func
    """

    # THE ALGORITHM

    downsampled = [hl.Func('downsampled%d'%i) for i in range(levels)]
    downx = [hl.Func('downx%d'%l) for l in range(levels)]
    interpolated = [hl.Func('interpolated%d'%i) for i in range(levels)]
#     level_widths = [hl.Param(int_t,'level_widths%d'%i) for i in range(levels)]
#     level_heights = [hl.Param(int_t,'level_heights%d'%i) for i in range(levels)]
    upsampled = [hl.Func('upsampled%d'%l) for l in range(levels)]
    upsampledx = [hl.Func('upsampledx%d'%l) for l in range(levels)]
    x = hl.Var('x')
    y = hl.Var('y')
    c = hl.Var('c')

    clamped = hl.Func('clamped')
    clamped[x, y, c] = input[hl.clamp(x, 0, input.width()-1), hl.clamp(y, 0, input.height()-1), c]

    # This triggers a bug in llvm 3.3 (3.2 and trunk are fine), so we
    # rewrite it in a way that doesn't trigger the bug. The rewritten
    # form assumes the input alpha is zero or one.
    # downsampled[0][x, y, c] = hl.select(c < 3, clamped[x, y, c] * clamped[x, y, 3], clamped[x, y, 3])
    downsampled[0][x,y,c] = clamped[x, y, c] * clamped[x, y, 3]

    for l in range(1, levels):
        prev = hl.Func()
        prev = downsampled[l-1]

        if l == 4:
            # Also add a boundary condition at a middle pyramid level
            # to prevent the footprint of the downsamplings to extend
            # too far off the base image. Otherwise we look 512
            # pixels off each edge.
            w = input.width()/(1 << l)
            h = input.height()/(1 << l)
            prev = hl.lambda3D(x, y, c, prev[hl.clamp(x, 0, w), hl.clamp(y, 0, h), c])

        downx[l][x,y,c] = (prev[x*2-1,y,c] + 2.0 * prev[x*2,y,c] + prev[x*2+1,y,c]) * 0.25
        downsampled[l][x,y,c] = (downx[l][x,y*2-1,c] + 2.0 * downx[l][x,y*2,c] + downx[l][x,y*2+1,c]) * 0.25

    interpolated[levels-1][x,y,c] = downsampled[levels-1][x,y,c]
    for l in range(levels-1)[::-1]:
        upsampledx[l][x,y,c] = (interpolated[l+1][x/2, y, c] + interpolated[l+1][(x+1)/2, y, c]) / 2.0
        upsampled[l][x,y,c] = (upsampledx[l][x, y/2, c] + upsampledx[l][x, (y+1)/2, c]) / 2.0
        interpolated[l][x,y,c] = downsampled[l][x,y,c] + (1.0 - downsampled[l][x,y,3]) * upsampled[l][x,y,c]

    normalize = hl.Func('normalize')
    normalize[x,y,c] = interpolated[0][x, y, c] / interpolated[0][x, y, 3]

    final = hl.Func('final')
    final[x,y,c] = normalize[x,y,c]

    print("Finished function setup.")

    # THE SCHEDULE

    sched = 2
    target = hl.get_target_from_environment()
    if target.has_gpu_feature():
        sched = 4
    else:
        sched = 2

    if sched == 0:
        print ("Flat schedule.")
        for l in range(levels):
            downsampled[l].compute_root()
            interpolated[l].compute_root()

        final.compute_root()

    elif sched == 1:
        print("Flat schedule with vectorization.")
        for l in range(levels):
            downsampled[l].compute_root().vectorize(x, 4)
            interpolated[l].compute_root().vectorize(x, 4)

        final.compute_root()

    elif sched == 2:
        print("Flat schedule with parallelization + vectorization")
        xi, yi = hl.Var('xi'), hl.Var('yi')
        clamped.compute_root().parallel(y).bound(c, 0, 4).reorder(c, x, y).reorder_storage(c, x, y).vectorize(c, 4)
        for l in range(1, levels - 1):
            if l > 0:
                downsampled[l].compute_root().parallel(y).reorder(c, x, y).reorder_storage(c, x, y).vectorize(c, 4)
            interpolated[l].compute_root().parallel(y).reorder(c, x, y).reorder_storage(c, x, y).vectorize(c, 4)
            interpolated[l].unroll(x, 2).unroll(y, 2);

        final.reorder(c, x, y).bound(c, 0, 3).parallel(y)
        final.tile(x, y, xi, yi, 2, 2).unroll(xi).unroll(yi)
        final.bound(x, 0, input.width())
        final.bound(y, 0, input.height())

    elif sched == 3:
        print("Flat schedule with vectorization sometimes.")
        for l in range(levels):
            if l + 4 < levels:
                yo, yi = hl.Var('yo'), hl.Var('yi')
                downsampled[l].compute_root().vectorize(x, 4)
                interpolated[l].compute_root().vectorize(x, 4)
            else:
                downsampled[l].compute_root()
                interpolated[l].compute_root()

        final.compute_root();

    elif sched == 4:
        print("GPU schedule.")

        # Some gpus don't have enough memory to process the entire
        # image, so we process the image in tiles.
        yo, yi, xo, xi, ci = hl.Var('yo'), hl.Var('yi'), hl.Var('xo'), hl.Var("ci")
        final.reorder(c, x, y).bound(c, 0, 3).vectorize(x, 4)
        final.tile(x, y, xo, yo, xi, yi, input.width()/4, input.height()/4)
        normalize.compute_at(final, xo).reorder(c, x, y).gpu_tile(x, y, xi, yi, 16, 16, GPU_Default).unroll(c)

        # Start from level 1 to save memory - level zero will be computed on demand
        for l in range(1, levels):
            tile_size = 32 >> l;
            if tile_size < 1: tile_size = 1
            if tile_size > 16: tile_size = 16
            downsampled[l].compute_root().gpu_tile(x, y, c, xi, yi, ci, tile_size, tile_size, 4, GPU_Default)
            interpolated[l].compute_at(final, xo).gpu_tile(x, y, c, xi, yi, ci, tile_size, tile_size, 4, GPU_Default)

    else:
        print("No schedule with this number.")
        exit(1)

    # JIT compile the pipeline eagerly, so we don't interfere with timing
    final.compile_jit(target)

    return final

def get_input_data():

    image_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../../apps/images/rgba.png")
    assert os.path.exists(image_path), "Could not find %s" % image_path
    rgba_data = imread(image_path)
    #print("rgba_data", type(rgba_data), rgba_data.shape, rgba_data.dtype)

    input_data = np.copy(rgba_data, order="F").astype(np.float32) / 255.0
    # input data is in range [0, 1]
    #print("input_data", type(input_data), input_data.shape, input_data.dtype)

    return input_data

def main():

    input = hl.ImageParam(float_t, 3, "input")
    levels = 10

    interpolate = get_interpolate(input, levels)

    # preparing input and output memory buffers (numpy ndarrays)
    input_data = get_input_data()
    assert input_data.shape[2] == 4
    input_image = hl.Buffer(input_data)
    input.set(input_image)

    input_width, input_height = input_data.shape[:2]

    t0 = datetime.now()
    output_image = interpolate.realize(input_width, input_height, 3)
    t1 = datetime.now()
    print('Interpolated in %.5f secs' % (t1-t0).total_seconds())

    output_data = hl.buffer_to_ndarray(output_image)

    # save results
    input_path = "interpolate_input.png"
    output_path = "interpolate_result.png"
    imsave(input_path, input_data)
    imsave(output_path, output_data)
    print("\nblur realized on output image.",
          "Result saved at", output_path,
          "( input data copy at", input_path, ")")

    print("\nEnd of game. Have a nice day!")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()


In stage 4 of Chronic Kidney Disease,some obvious symptoms and severe complications are occurring. In this period,GFR is reduced severely and some renal replacement therapy can be prepared to be taken to control the disease process. In Western country,dialysis is the first choice to prevent the renal damage.
As a kind of advanced treatment,dialysis does play a significant role in maintaining patients life. It is a type of replacement therapy that replace the part of renal function to keep the whole system in balance. However,dialysis is not the best treatment for CKD patients to stop the advance of their kidney disease. If you have similar confusion,please consult our online doctor for more free information.
To almost all of CKD patients,dialysis will accompany their lifetime. It is not a good news for all of us,especially for dialysis patients. In addition to high costs,patients have to face an increasingly declining kidney. Besides,dialysis will also cause some serious complications that may worsen patients condition even cause death. According to the statistics,heart failure caused by dialysis is one of the most dangerous and serious side-affects. Besides,the long-term dialysis will accelerate the renal deterioration and promote the kidney failure.
If you would like to know other alternative natural therapy,we are glad to share you more related information. We advise you to take a conservative treatment to control your disease. One of these effective remedies is called Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy.
It is a kind innovative traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Compared with dialysis,Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy has less side-affects to control and relieve the symptoms. It can prevent the deterioration of Kidney Disease and protect the remaining renal function.
If you want to know more information about Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy,you leave message or below or Email to kidney-healthy@hotmail.com with your disease condition and we are glad to offer you more detailed and professional guidance for your own.
Previous:Why I Felt Sick and Retching when I Took Dialysis for the First Time?
Next:Can Dialytic Patients with CRF Drink Alcohol?


Friday's new hours are from 11 AM until 8 PM.
Located along RT 54 between Danville I-80 interchange and Washingtonville. On top the hill as you start down the Washingtonville side of the hill. Market is located on the right side of the hwy as you go west on Rt 54.
At the market there will be plants, flowers, amish baked goods, amish canned goods, honey, organic nutrients for plants, and lots of fresh produce.
Baked Goods – Shoe Fly Pie, Apple Pie, Apple Dumplings, Sticky Buns, Cookies (Chocolate Chip, Peanut butter, and Oatmeal Raisen), Woppie Pies, Bread, Breakfast Bread, and Raisen Bread. You can place an order for larger amounts.
Lots of mostly organic canned goods. See our canned good page here on New Creations Farm website.
Fresh Produce this week – Spring Onions, Swiss Chard, Rhubarb, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Mt Spinach, Spinach, Kale, Asparagus, Basil, Oregano, Broccoli Greens and Radishes. More produce each week as the season moves on.
Also looking for more flee market vendors. Please email at jomm777@gmail.com or text me at 570-441-6341 if you have an interest in setting up. This market is just getting started and customer base is expected to grow as more people learn about this market.
Please keep spreading the word and let everyone know about this new market.


text:
newAppName=$1
newLowerCaseName=`echo $newAppName | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'`

appRoot=`dirname $0`/..

[ -z "${newAppName}" ] && echo 'Missing required parameter newAppName' && exit 1

grep -rI 'PepperoniAppTemplate' --exclude='rename.sh' $appRoot/* | tr ':' ' ' | awk '{print $1}' | uniq | xargs -I{} sed -i.bak "s/PepperoniAppTemplate/${newAppName}/g" {}
grep -rI 'pepperoniapptemplate' --exclude='rename.sh' $appRoot/* | tr ':' ' ' | awk '{print $1}' | uniq | xargs -I{} sed -i.bak "s/pepperoniapptemplate/${newLowerCaseName}/g" {}
find . -name '*.bak' -exec rm {} \;

for fileToMove in `find $appRoot/ios -depth -name '*PepperoniAppTemplate*'`; do
  mv $fileToMove `echo $fileToMove | sed "s/\(.*\)PepperoniAppTemplate/\1$newAppName/g"`
done

for fileToMove in `find $appRoot/android -depth -name '*pepperoniapptemplate*'`; do
  mv $fileToMove `echo $fileToMove | sed "s/\(.*\)pepperoniapptemplate/\1$newLowerCaseName/g"`
done

YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
CLEAR='\033[0m'
printf "\nRenamed application to ${newAppName}"
printf "${YELLOW}\n\nIf you have previously built the application, please clean your build artifacts"
printf "${YELLOW}\n\nAndroid:\n(cd android; ./gradlew clean)"
printf "${YELLOW}\n\niOS:\nClean build folders in XCode (Option+Shift+Cmd+K)\nReinstall CocoaPods (cd ios; pod install)\n"


Find the Best Team up APK Mobile Android Apps and Games Below!
Take photos of your cheer team and frame them!
Find out what team roles suit you best and improve your team working skills. Do the test now.
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Latest news about Team Fortress game directly on your mobile device!
This app has ALL the information you need to follow Team England in the 2014 Fifa World Cup.
This app has ALL the information you need to follow Team France in the 2014 Fifa World Cup.
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This app has ALL the information you need to follow Team Portugal in the 2014 Fifa World Cup.


Because ads.txt was just the beginning for quality standards.
What do premium publishers demand partners have to say about ads.txt and the importance of quality inventory? Find out in this video from Dmexco 2017.
Publishers who don't implement ads.txt are being blacklisted by the buy side. Our advice? Implement it now so you don't have problems later.


As points and miles enthusiasts, I think we can all agree that a good credit card churn is a little bit of an adrenaline rush. Knowing that you just got hundreds of thousands of points…for free…is a very good feeling.
On the other side of the coin, a low point of the churn cycle is the dreaded retention bonus call. It's never fun to call and ask for more points "to help offset the annual fee" on a card. However, actually paying these fees on a card is even less fun, so in my opinion, these "bite the bullet" calls are must-do's.
In preparation for the New Year, I'm going all out with the old, in with the new over here. I'm cleaning out closets, straightening my desk, and making a big Goodwill run to drop off a carload of donations. So – in keeping with my theme – I decided it was time to make a bunch of retention bonus calls this afternoon. My goal was to clear out some of the unused credit cards out of both my and Josh's wallet in order to make room for new, fresh cards (with nice big sign-up bonuses).
Our marathon call session took about half an hour, but it was totally worth it. We got an extra 27,500 points for our time, plus it was such a great bonding experience for us (just kidding about that part).
1. Southwest Premier Visa – Personal. Annual fee: $99.
Notes: I've had this card for a little over a year, and I would say that I've used it on a fairly regular basis, but haven't put a ton of spend onto it. I just got an "anniversary bonus" of 6,000 points on this card.
Verdict: I'm going to keep this card, mainly because it's a Chase card and I want to use it as a bargaining chip for my next Chase application (Chase will often approve an application for a new card if you agree to close an existing account, or they will sometimes let you transfer credit from an existing card to your new card).
2. Southwest Premier Visa – Business. Annual fee: $99.
Verdict: Keep, for the same reasons. Also, since this card is a business card, the credit line does not show in my personal credit report and impact my credit utilization or credit aging, so it doesn't impact my personal credit score.
3. British Airways Visa – Josh's card. Annual fee: $95.
Notes: Josh has had this card for over a year. We didn't cancel it at the one-year mark because we wanted to get the remaining 50K Avios (he signed up for the deal where he got 50K Avios on sign-up and an additional 50K at the one-year mark). We do not put much spend at all on this card. The annual fee is not actually coming up until May.
Retention bonus offered: If Josh spends $1500/month on this card for the next 3 months, he will get an additional 9,000 Avios. Since we can fly to Mexico for 10,000 Avios, this is a good deal for us.
Verdict: Keep. After earning the 9,000 bonus Avios, he can use this card as a bargaining chip.
1. Citi HHonors Visa – Josh's card. No annual fee.
Notes: we got this card to earn massive amounts of Hilton points a couple of years ago. We haven't used it in months.
Retention bonus offered: if Josh spends $1000 on this card within the next 3 months, he will get an additional 5,000 Hilton points.
Verdict: Keep for now. Since there is no annual fee, we might as well get the 5,000 points, and then cancel the card.
Notes: this is a duplicate of the exact same card. Josh got two because we wanted as many Hilton points as we could get at the time.
Retention bonus offered: for the next 16 months, each month that Josh spends $750 or more on this card, he will get an additional 750 Hilton points.
Verdict: Close. $750/month is a big spend for a wimpy return.
3. Citi AAdvantage Visa – Josh's card. $95 annual fee.
Notes: we haven't used this card in months.
Retention bonus offered: convert to the Citi Bronze Advantage card. This card is not available except as a downgrade from a current card. There is no annual fee on the Bronze card, and you earn 1 point for every $2 you spend on the card.
4. Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve. $95 annual fee.
Notes: I got 2 of these cards when we were on our Hilton bender. On this one, I've spent over $10,000 this past year, so I will receive an anniversary bonus of 1 free night. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm not sure that it was worth the spend. Live and learn. Actually, maybe we can use the free night in Asia or Europe. I'm going to look into that.
Verdict: Keep. I'm kind of racing the clock on this one. If I get the free night certificate before my annual fee is due, I will cancel this card immediately. If they keep dragging their feet on sending me the free night, I might have to pay the fee, which would be super annoying but also maybe just the cost of doing business.
5. Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve. $95 annual fee.
Notes: I haven't used this card in months, plus I did not spend anywhere near $10,000 on it this year.
1. Amex HHonors Surpass – Josh's card. Annual fee: $75.
Notes: also part of our Hilton bender. Haven't used it in months, except for during the Great Amex Bonus Flurry of 2013.
2. Amex Business Gold – Josh's card. Annual fee: $175.
Notes: Josh rarely uses this card. Annual fee isn't due until May.
Retention bonus offered: 7,500 points, or $100.
Verdict: Jury is out on this one, because the customer service rep kind of hinted around that there might be a better retention offer available if Josh spent more money on the card. Hmmm.
At the end of our marathon call session, we were 27,500 points richer, just for asking. We've also got "anniversary bonuses" of a free Hilton night and 12,000 additional Rapid Rewards points. We kept five cards open, closed four cards, and are pondering the fate of one card. We have total annual fees of $200 for the five cards we kept…with another possible fee of $95 depending on the timing of when the free Hilton night hits my account.
You can call the Citi Retention line directly at 800-444-2568.
For Chase and Citi, if you already know that you just want to cancel the card (for example, if you have already received a retention bonus on the card within the past couple of months, and now it's time to close the account), you can send a secure message asking to cancel the card instead of calling.
If you decide to cancel a card, always ask to consolidate your credit by transferring the existing credit line to another credit card. This gives you some leverage when you apply for your next card with the same bank.
Anyone else planning a credit card housecleaning session? What are you thinking of canceling?
Good breakdown. Keep in mind that transferring credit lines works great with most banks before closing but not with Bank of America. They will tend to hard pull you to do this and the net result can be as bad as just closing one of their cards!
DeltaPoints – Thanks for the tip. I actually did not know this!
Did you transfer out all your membership rewards points before making a call to cancel Amex Business Gold? And if you did, where did you transfer. I have 80k points sitting in my account and don't know what to do before I make such a call.
My experience with Citi is the following. They generally waive the annual fee the year you apply. When your first annual fee hits, you can usually get a very lucrative retention offer out of them. However, when your second annual fee hits, if they gave you a retention offer the first time, they won't provide you one the next time.
Chase is a mixed bag. They generally do offer retention bonuses on their cobranded airline cards. However, they offer nothing or a very modest retention bonus on their hotel cards because they come with elite status and a free night.
Arlington Traveler – Sounds pretty accurate to me!
Does anyone know about retention offers on Barclay's and BoA cards? I just got my first cards from both last year and will annual fees hitting early next year.
I have never heard of this! In the past I have just cancelled the card. Do you have a "script" of what you should say to the CC companies?
I called on the ctit aadv. business that has a $75 an. fee coming due.
I was offered a $50 stmt credit to keep card open and I hung up and called back and was offered 10,000 for 5grand spend in next 6mo.
Dave D – Fantastic!! You are welcome!


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