text:
Q: Second smallest eigenvalue of matrix The matrix is banded and symmetric, and is positive definite. It's very similar to a Laplacian matrix, though it's slightly modified, signs are flipped and every value is divided by the same constant. I need to find the smallest two eigenvalues in MATLAB, without using the eig() function.
Since I know it's positive definite and symmetric, I coded Rayleigh Quotient Iteration with an initial guess for the smallest eigenvalue as 0. So, I have the smallest eigenvalue and it's respective eigenvector. However, I'm not sure what to do next.
I can't transform matrix to send the smallest eigenvalue to exactly 0, since the value for the smallest eigenvalue isn't exact. The matrix is also extremely large and sparse, so I'd like to avoid taking the inverse of the matrix since that would be expensive.
Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

A: Matlab has eigs to give the largest or smallest few eigenvalues of a matrix. See the documentation. The sm option takes the matrix inverse, but the sa option does not, which might be more efficient in your case.

A: i might be wrong, because i think my idea sounds really naive: let $\lambda_{M}$ be the largest eigenvalue of $M$. (It should be possible to get a good approximation for the greatest eigenvalue of any symmetric positive definite matrix at least by an iterative method) Let $C\geq \lambda_M$ be any constant (to compensate the fact that we have an approximation for the greatest eigenvalue only). Let $I$ be the identity matrix. Consider $N:=CI-M$ and let $\nu_M$ be the greatest eigenvalue of $N$. Let $P=N-I\nu_M$ and $\rho_M$ the greatest eigenvalue of $P$. Now $C-\rho_M$ should be the second smallest eigenvalue of $M$ and $C-\nu_M$ should be the smallest.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package consulo.csharp.lang.psi;

import consulo.csharp.lang.CSharpLanguage;
import com.intellij.psi.tree.IElementType;
import com.intellij.psi.tree.TokenSet;

/**
 * @author VISTALL
 * @since 28.11.13.
 */
public interface CSharpSoftTokens extends CSharpTokens
{
	IElementType PARTIAL_KEYWORD = new IElementType("PARTIAL_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType WHERE_KEYWORD = new IElementType("WHERE_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType WHEN_KEYWORD = new IElementType("WHEN_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType JOIN_KEYWORD = new IElementType("JOIN_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType ON_KEYWORD = new IElementType("ON_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType EQUALS_KEYWORD = new IElementType("EQUALS_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType ASCENDING_KEYWORD = new IElementType("ASCENDING_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType DESCENDING_KEYWORD = new IElementType("DESCENDING_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType GLOBAL_KEYWORD = new IElementType("GLOBAL_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType ADD_KEYWORD = new IElementType("ADD_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType REMOVE_KEYWORD = new IElementType("REMOVE_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType SET_KEYWORD = new IElementType("SET_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType GET_KEYWORD = new IElementType("GET_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType ASYNC_KEYWORD = new IElementType("ASYNC_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType VAR_KEYWORD = new IElementType("VAR_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType YIELD_KEYWORD = new IElementType("YIELD_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType AWAIT_KEYWORD = new IElementType("AWAIT_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	// linq
	IElementType FROM_KEYWORD = new IElementType("FROM_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType LET_KEYWORD = new IElementType("LET_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType SELECT_KEYWORD = new IElementType("SELECT_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType GROUP_KEYWORD = new IElementType("GROUP_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType BY_KEYWORD = new IElementType("BY_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType INTO_KEYWORD = new IElementType("INTO_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType ORDERBY_KEYWORD = new IElementType("ORDERBY_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	// attributes target
	IElementType ASSEMBLY_KEYWORD = new IElementType("ASSEMBLY_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType MODULE_KEYWORD = new IElementType("MODULE_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType FIELD_KEYWORD = new IElementType("FIELD_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	// event is normal keyword IElementType EVENT_KEYWORD = new IElementType("EVENT_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType METHOD_KEYWORD = new IElementType("METHOD_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType PARAM_KEYWORD = new IElementType("PARAM_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType PROPERTY_KEYWORD = new IElementType("PROPERTY_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	// return is normal keyword IElementType RETURN_KEYWORD = new IElementType("RETURN_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType TYPE_KEYWORD = new IElementType("TYPE_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	IElementType NAMEOF_KEYWORD = new IElementType("NAMEOF_KEYWORD", CSharpLanguage.INSTANCE);

	TokenSet ALL = TokenSet.create(PARTIAL_KEYWORD, WHERE_KEYWORD, GLOBAL_KEYWORD, ADD_KEYWORD, REMOVE_KEYWORD, SET_KEYWORD, GET_KEYWORD,
			ASYNC_KEYWORD, VAR_KEYWORD, ASSEMBLY_KEYWORD, MODULE_KEYWORD, FIELD_KEYWORD, METHOD_KEYWORD, PARAM_KEYWORD, PROPERTY_KEYWORD,
			TYPE_KEYWORD, YIELD_KEYWORD, AWAIT_KEYWORD, FROM_KEYWORD, SELECT_KEYWORD, GROUP_KEYWORD, BY_KEYWORD, INTO_KEYWORD, ORDERBY_KEYWORD,
			LET_KEYWORD, ASCENDING_KEYWORD, DESCENDING_KEYWORD, JOIN_KEYWORD, ON_KEYWORD, EQUALS_KEYWORD, WHEN_KEYWORD, NAMEOF_KEYWORD);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Any traveling brewers have a recommendation on where to find a good brew pub in Shanghai?
Late to reply (I just found this post) but if you plan to be in Shanghai you must plan a visit to Boxing Cat Brewery, easily the best craft brewery in the city. I grew tired of the light pilsners and had to find something like back home...and I wasn't disappointed.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'm sure I will be back to Shanghai this summer.


Totally improvised madness as lightning-fast performers mould short scenes entirely from audience suggestion, drawing on their vast general knowledge. Quick-fire games and Whose Line is it Anyway challenges mean everybody can be involved. The short form design of the show makes for an always-evolving, highly volatile show and an unforgetable improv experience. 'Hilarious, very witty and wonderfully daft' (Sheffield Star). 'Very funny' (ThreeWeeks). 'Genuine LOL' (BroadwayBaby.com). 'Anything could happen... ensures you're never bored' (Exposed).


text:
Cell Phone Guides and How-Tos
Retrieve Text Messages Online
By V Saxena
Transmitting text messages from your cell phone is one thing, but imagine if you could retrieve text messages directly from the Internet? You could print them easily, as well as organize them in a logical way that will make it easier for you to find them later. Fortunately, this is in fact perfectly possible with any phone that has both Internet and texting capabilities.
Spy Phone Software (Smartphones)
The primary way to receive SMS messages online entails utilizing a spy phone software. You must install such a suite on your phone and set up an online account. Afterward, the software will automatically forward every single text you receive to its online portal.
Mobile Spy supports Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Symbian and Widows Mobile phones. In addition tracking SMS messages, it can also keep a log of your contacts, tasks, memos and e-mails. Keep in mind using it requires paying an on-going fee, as it's not available as a single, one-time purchase.
Cell Control works on BlackBerry, Android, Palm OS, Symbian OS and Windows Mobile phones, as well as jail broken iPhones. It keeps track of all incoming/outgoing activity, and it allows you to review all said information through an online portal. There is a cost to purchase the software, but there is no monthly fee.
How to Get Old Text Messages from Cell Phones
Blocking Text Messages
How to Check the Balance on a Walmart MoneyCard
Mobile E-Mail (Non-Smartphones)
The only way to receive text messages online with a non-smartphone is to email each text message that you want to be able to access later to yourself. Some carriers provide a free e-mail address for this very purpose. In case yours doesn't, you can still forward any text to a non-carrier e-mail address, but you may incur a data transfer charge in the process.
Legalities of SMS Reception
Intercepting the text messages of an adult is an invasion of privacy that can be prosecuted at both the federal and state levels, depending on your country and state's particular laws. Such rules, however, don't apply to minors if you are their legal guardian.
Why Receive SMS Online?
You may be questioning the value in retrieving a text message from the Internet in the first place. However, an examination of the following list should answer this question.
Retrieving your messages online means you may then store them on your computer. This is particularly useful for retaining hold of messages that hold some sort of sentimental value to you.
Online SMS reception permits concerned parents to intercept their children's text messages and then either approve or reject them based on their content.
Replying to text messages through a computer keyboard can be much easier than using a non-smartphone keypad or even a smartphone QWERTY keypad.
Use It Wisely
If your only intention is to track your own text messages through the Internet, then you have absolutely no reason to worry. If, however, you intend to invade the privacy of an employee, business partner, spouse or friend, think wisely before you proceed, lest you end up paying a penalty under the law.
By Andrew Border
By John Casaretto
By Allison Martin
Romantic Mobile Phone Text Messages
Texting Abbreviations
How to Find and Use Free TracFone Airtime Codes
By Mychelle Blake
How Do I Download Pictures from My Cell Phone
How to Access a Sears Credit Card Account
By Mary Gormandy White
Cell Phone Privacy Laws
By Audrey M. Jones
Parental Controls for Cell Phones
By Lori Soard

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


That's a bit vague. Can you describe your problem?
X venue is showing the wrong numbers. How can I fix that?
Me too dude. Shoot us a line at help@whenwillimayor.com or send us a Tweet @mayorplease and we'll let you know if it's possible.
Uh - yes. Follow us at @mayorplease.
I'm an advertiser and want to place ads on your site. How do I contact you?
Well that is fantastic. Check out the adveritse advertise page and click the link at the bottom to sign up. Or if you don't want to do that - send us an email at ads@whenwillimayor.com.
WWIBM is not affiliated with Foursquare. Wouldn't it be cool though if we were?


A little while ago, Reductive Lab's Teyo Tyree was in town to host some Puppet training. I grabbed him for short podcast over some coffee at The Hideout (hence the 80s sound-track).
We talk about what Reductive Labs is up to and the kind of next generation automation that Puppet gets involved in.
Disclosure: Reductive Labs is a client. See the RedMonk client list for other and related clients mentioned.
I really don't have hobbies except for the flitting around in the technology world. You may know me from DrunkAndRetired.com, RedMonk, strategy at Dell, my work at 451 Research , or Pivotal. And the Twitters!


Wall Street see-sawed on Monday, rarely straying far from opening levels as investors eyed ongoing U.S.-China trade talks, potential congressional gridlock and a diminished 2019 earnings outlook. Classic, elegant looks ruled the night! Michael Twizell managed to outsmart a police safety camera van parked on the side of the A658 in Harrogate, North Yorkshire last February. New research shows that hyper-involved parenting is the route to kids success in todays unequal world.


This may be the coolest fundraiser of all time.
So what 20 Tweedy songs would you pick? Remember, they will be played solo, in your own home.
How unbelievably awesome would it be to have Tweedy play a show in your home?
20 songs? "Via Chicago" is a given, as it's been my absolute favorite Wilco tune lately. The rest? It'd be tough narrowing 'em down.
I had no room for so many others... "Chinese Apple," "Dash 7," "Pot Kettle Black," "Hummingbird," "Hell Is Chrome"... etc.
Im sure it would be DINO-MITE!
That is just not cool, Andy. Not cool at all.


In this job you can imagine how many people I have met, I've been a local Estate Agent for nearly 20 years and sometimes my memory of names, addresses and even specific details or events surprises me. There are times when I can recall useless information about a sale or a purchase from 15 years ago but sadly there are also times when I meet people and although I recognise them, I have absolutely no idea where from.
I'm not the best with names either, I'm sure some of you will sympathise, that horrible moment where you hope the name you've used is right or the just as awkward conversation where you have to avoid names altogether. The strange thing about dog walking is that I think I know nearly all of the local dogs by name but have no idea what their owners are called. My wife and I are expecting a baby so it'll be interesting to see if the same is true with children. Do you get to know all the kids names and none of the parents?
I had to laugh this week when a friend showed me a letter his son had written. This was Jack's letter to Father Christmas and after explaining he'd felt that he'd been a good boy, the Christmas present wish list began. He'd asked Santa for a new bike, a dog and a James Bond Scalextric set which, if he's lucky enough to have received, I'll be round to play with! I'm sure as Jack gets older this list will become far more extensive. Much to his Dads annoyance I suggested that next year he could cut things out of the Argos catalogue and stick them on. It got me thinking, it's been a long time since I've written to Santa but what would be on my wish list?
From a personal point of view the Audi A7 looks like a great car, I'd like the new iPhone that talks to you and a season ticket for Northampton Saints would be lovely.
As an Estate Agent there are lots of things I would have liked from Father Christmas. It would be nice if we could hurry up and sort out the global financial crisis, increase Mortgage lending especially to first time buyers, get some positive media attention for the housing market and stop drunk people from moving my for sale signs!
In truth 2011 was a good year for Gatehouse Estates. We have expanded into St. Neots in the summer and having a base there in addition to our Godmanchester office has given us great coverage of Brampton, Buckden, the Offords & Paxtons as well as the smaller villages like Toseland, Yelling & Graveley.
We sold far more houses in 2011 than we honestly expected to at the beginning of the year. We've had numerous successes in St. Ives, Kimbolton & Brampton as well as in St. Neots and Godmanchester. I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has chosen Gatehouse over the last year and especially to those who have been kind enough to recommend us to others. All of your support is very much appreciated.
Whilst I may have a long wait for a new Audi and the season ticket, we are optimistic about the market in 2012. I think banks will continue to lend a little more, I don't think we'll see interest rates rise, people looking to sell will have to continue to be realistic on price and buyers confidence will grow as the market strengthens. I'm looking forward to getting more people moving.
Rightmove's latest Consumer Price Forecast reveals that the majority of prospective home movers do not expect house prices to be lower by the end of 2012, despite the on-going economic gloom at home and abroad. The survey, which polled more than 25,000 people, found that nearly two thirds (63%) expect house prices to be the same or higher 12 months from now, with less than a third (30%) expecting prices to be lower.
There is speculation that the much publicised housing shortage in the UK, which is currently pushing up rental values and the continued population increase will eventually push up property prices. The Centre for Economic and Business Research have predicted price rises of 15% by 2016 which I think is optimistic but we'll have to wait and see. Whilst the future remains unknown I can offer a free, current, up to date valuation if you are looking to sell and any advice you may need on achieving the best possible price for your property.
If you are thinking of selling or letting call Phillip on 01480 434290 or pop in and see him.
I'll be honest the window by my desk looks out over the river on The Causeway so you might catch me glancing out of the window regardless of the time of day.
When you walk into Estate Agents offices there are always desks manned with guys shuffling paper or busily typing away on a computer but what do we really do all day?
We start with a quick team meeting to catch up on the day before and to plan the day ahead. Nothing worse than not knowing what's going on. It may not always look like it but our office in Godmanchester is busy, there are five of us based here and three more colleagues now based in our new St. Neots office.
On the letting side of our business we manage hundreds of properties for landlords, looking after everything from monthly rent payments to emergency repairs. When we are instructed to let a new property photographs and details need taking. These are uploaded to several websites and prepared for the Hunts Post newspaper advert. Office window adverts are printed, a 'To Let' board arranged, we contact prospective tenants from our mailing list, handle telephone enquiries, arrange and accompany viewings at the property, prepare inventory and condition reports, take a holding fee when we find a tenant, reference & credit check them, prepare the tenancy agreements, arrange the move in, collect the deposit and take the first months rent. When you think we can have around thirty properties available to let at any time, we can take ten new ones on some weeks and all within a 15 mile radius of here, it keeps you busy!
On the sales side the initial valuation of a property takes time to prepare for, we always do our research on a property and prepare a report for the owner before turning up to an appointment. Valuations can take an hour or so, we discuss not only value but our marketing, fees, the legal requirements, the selling & buying process and we can answer any other queries. Once instructed the initial marketing & viewing process is similar to rental but we often need to negotiate with buyers and check chains and mortgage arrangements.
from us 20 years ago. I have had numerous viewings on different properties for sale and to let. I have taken three more houses onto the market and sold one already. I've collected contracts from lawyers, got them signed and returned them. I've delivered keys to a new home owner, put two 'For Sale' boards up, carried out a couple of routine inspections on houses we manage, ordered some new lighting for our St. Neots office, had lunch with my mum, got a lady's printer working for her, prepared the newspaper adverts, spoken with hundreds of people on the phone, arranged the weekend rota, updated the websites, hoovered the office and still found time to look out of the window!
This is a great career for meeting people, most of whom are a pleasure to deal with. I met a couple this week that have lived in Godmanchester for longer than I've been alive and another couple who only moved to Brampton because whilst driving up the A1 from Hertfordshire they needed a toilet stop and they fell in love with the village.
A good Estate Agent has to be a jack of all trades, from photographer to economist to negotiator. We have to do marketing, advertising, selling, PR, counseling, IT, driving, arranging, sales chasing, buying, accounting and communicating. The office diary can change at the drop of a hat too so we have to be flexible and accommodating to strike whilst the iron's hot.
The downsides? I'll get no sympathy for mentioning the hours we work. Often appointments will be early evening or weekends but that is the nature of the job. It's better now than it used to be thanks to technology.
Over the years I've had a few problems with burglar alarms, I've broken keys in locks, been bitten by a dog, ripped my trousers on a fence, fallen into a flower bed and lost a shoe. I've been to several unpleasant repossessions, been stood up countless times, I've found squatters in a house cooking Pizza, broken a window and found people asleep in bed.
All in all, I love what I do and after nearly twenty years I still don't want to be doing anything else. Hopefully my passion & enthusiasm comes across to our clients and must be one of the reasons for our success.
Set in the heart of Godmanchester this two bedroom Victorian end terrace house has a sitting room with open fireplace, a re-fitted kitchen and bathroom, a 15'5 x 10'10 master bedroom, a second bedroom and a walled courtyard rear garden with brick built store/workshop.
Double glazed window to the front, radiator, wood effect laminate flooring, an open fireplace with marble hearth and a pine door leading through to the kitchen.
Re-fitted with a range of base wall and draw units with worktop and integrated stainless steel oven, grill with gas four ringed hob and filter hood over. There is a stainless steel sink and drainer with mixer tap. There is space for a fridge, a double glazed window to the rear, stairs leading to the first floor, a fold down breakfast table, wood effect laminate flooring and a doorway to the rear lobby.
Double glazed door leading out to the rear courtyard, wood effect laminate flooring and a pine door leading to the bathroom.
Re-fitted with a white suite and fully tiled There is a WC, a Victoriana style wash hand basin with chrome pillar taps, a bath with an independent shower over and a Victoriana style radiator with towel rail. There is a frosted double glazed window to the side, wood effect laminate flooring and recessed downlighting.
The stair lead from the kitchen to a small landing area with radiator, an overstairs cupboard houses the gas fired central heating combination boiler, there is access to the loft space and door to both bedrooms.
Double glazed window to the front, radiator and a boarded fireplace with timber surround and mantelpiece.
BEDROOM TWO – 2.10m x 2.53m (6'11 x 8'4) + entrance lobby.
Top floor penthouse apartment in a converted hay barn with two bedrooms, a cloakroom & bathroom, an open plan sitting, dining & study area with vaulted ceiling, a fitted kitchen, exposed beams throughout. There is a garage and parking, additional visitor parking and communal gardens.
Access to loft space, doors leading to the bedrooms, bathroom, cloakroom, lounge area and airing cupboard.
Velux window to rear. Toilet and wash hand basin, wall tiling and exposed beams.
Two velux windows to front. Wall mounted electric storage heaters. Exposed beam work. Vaulted ceiling. Wall lights.
Velux windows to front and rear. . Exposed beam work. Storage heater. Vaulted ceiling. Wall lights.
Two velux windows to rear. Range of base, wall and draw units with work top over. Tiling to surrounds. Stainless steel one and a half bowl sink and drainer. Space for electric oven. Stainless steel canopy over. Under pelmet lighters. Space for fridge freezer and plumbing for washing machine. Laminate flooring. Exposed beams.
Two velux windows to rear. Toilet and wash hand basin. Bath and separate corner shower cubicle. Fully tiled. Electric storage heater. Extractor fan.
Two velux windows front. Storage heater. Exposed beams. Vaulted ceiling.
Two velux windows to rear. Exposed beams. Storage heater.
Communal gardens surround the property. There is a single garage with eaves storage, a parking space in front of the garage plus visitors parking spaces.


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Q: Keeping const data in one place I'll need to store keywords in my C project. Now I'd have to write
const char firstThingKeyword[] = "foofoofoofoo"
const char secondThingKeyword[] = "barbarbarbar"

The names are long, so I'd rather reference them
keywords.firstThing

Is there any way to do this in plain C? (possibly GCC extension)
I thought about using a struct, but I have trouble doing anything with it, having left the C++ comfort zone.

A: Here's a quick example of how to accomplish this using a struct:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

struct _keywords {
    const char *first;
    const char *second;
};

const struct _keywords Keywords = {
    .first = "AAA",
    .second = "BBB"
};

int main(void) {

    printf("first: %s\n", Keywords.first);
    printf("second: %s\n", Keywords.second);

    return 0;
}


Happy Tuesday, everyone! I have a confession to make that is a bit hard for me to admit. I don't go shopping much these days. It's not for lack of inspiration or desire, I just simply don't make time for it and would rather spend my money elsewhere. But, while I was home over Mother's Day weekend, my mom and I did a lot of shopping! We ended up going to one of my favorite places to find unexpected pieces, Target.
Within the past year, Target has really improved their clothing selection and the quality of the items themselves. One of their lines that I've been loving is from Who What Wear. Their new summer line is so unique and affordable and I ended up buying this gorgeous, fun polka dot blouse. Keep reading to see how I styled it and shop the look!
Though the whole Who What Wear collection is incredible, this blouse stood out to me a lot. I love that it's sheer, making it appropriate for a chilly spring or summer day. The ruffles are fun and unlike anything I already have in my closet. Since it's black and white, it's easier to mix and match it with other items in your closet. P.S. For some reason, only the plus-size version of this top is available online right now but check your local Target store too!
I also think that this look would be absolutely perfect for a summer date night! Besides the ruffles, it's simple and understated. I opted to keep it classic with blue jeans and gold and black accents. Aviators make it a bit more laid back and my Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac is the perfect finishing touch. I added some tassel earrings, a trend I've surprisingly come to love, for a bit of playfulness. I have to say, this blouse isn't usually something I'd see myself wearing but I'm so glad I got it. It's pushing me out of my comfort zone!
What do you think of the Who What Wear collection at Target? Have you had a chance to check it out? Let me know in the comments below and have a great week!
Target is stepping up their game! I didn't know that they had a Who What Wear collection, I am going to go check it out this weekend!
Oh my gosh i love this top! The Who What Wear collection is, all around, absolutely amazing. But these polka-dots might actually take the cake!
I love the Who What Wear stuff at Target. And love the polka dots on you!


I like the idea of this dog feeder. Not only because of it's stylish design and the fact that raised bowls are better for your dogs. I like it that it comes with a drawer underneath that you can store food, treats or your dog's toys. An especially nice feature for dog lovers with limited space.
Ten Dollar Ledges Fancied Up. This site has plans for building just about anything: tables, beds, shelves, bookcases, desks, consoles, toys, etc.
One of the best things about IKEA pieces is the many ways you can tweak, hack, tinker with, and customize them to create beautiful, unique pieces on a reasonable budget. Here are some of our favorite, easy, do it yourself ways to customize your furniture to fit your needs.
Warm up to our cozy winter bedroom, perfect for those days when you just want to nest. Snuggle into the velvet cushions and dive into a good book with the help of a brass task light on your beside table. Discover endless possibilities for bedroom styling in-store today.
My daughter moved in to the tiniest room of the house. She made the choice herself because al she needed was her ereader, iPad and ancient Macbook. I couldnt find a bed to fit in the room so I designed this platform bed. 3 kitchen cabinets from Ikea form the base. One of them is on wheels to get acces to the storage space in the back. Instead We used plywood for the bed and the doors. The bed is at the same height as the windowsill so she sees the trees when she wakes up!
Selbstgenähte Wasch-Pads aus Mikrofaser Tüchern.


"As it turns out, I AM the guy who stole the safe from the Motor View Drive Inn back in June, 1971."
SALT LAKE CITY — A 59-year-old Utah man who wrote his own obituary before he died last week used the opportunity to come clean.
Friends and family of Val Patterson learned Sunday that the man they thought held a doctorate from the University of Utah received the degree thanks to a paperwork mistake and that he never even graduated.
Patterson died from throat cancer on July 10. KSL-TV reports he wrote his own death notice in the first person last fall.
His widow, Mary Jane, told KSL-TV the confessions are true.


Jamie loves the Vineyard Famer's Market and goes every Saturday! So when we were talking about ideas for a family photo shoot, using the location of the farmer's market just seemed right! She put together a pretty basket full of fresh veggies (from the actual farmers market) and we timed it just right to get that pretty light peeking through the arbor. Jamie is my soon to be sister in law and i'm so blessed to get to be apart of such a sweet, beautiful family!


text:
How Twine remade gaming

March 10, 2021, 11:00am EST
By Adi Robertson
Illustrations by Maria Chimishkyan
In the video game Howling Dogs, released in 2012, players wake up in a prison with few options: a shower, a nutrient dispenser, a garbage chute, and a recreation room with a virtual reality headset. For the first few clicks, all you can do is navigate the prison: getting your nutrient bar, cleaning up, examining a photograph by your bed. Then you put on the headset, and you're thrown into a world of strange, vivid imagery. You live out a strange snapshot life before being thrown back to the same tiny room. You click through the same motions again and again, each time visiting a different world, as sparklingly strange as the prison is dull.
This was Porpentine Charity Heartscape's Howling Dogs: a poem, a game, and many people's first introduction to an idiosyncratic piece of free software called Twine. It was — and still is — one of the easiest ways to start making games. An open-source program that produces web-based interactive fiction, Twine can create branching stories simply by putting brackets around words. But the tool is also nearly as flexible as the web itself. Since its release in 2009, it's helped create a new kind of interactive art — strange, small, lyrical, and often way outside the world of commercial gaming.
Porpentine followed up with other surreal worlds — where raw intimacy and hints of nostalgia collided with violent, nightmarish cavalcades of trash and sex. Cyberqueen spun out the messy psychosexual undertones of the '90s System Shock series, drowning a stock first-person shooter premise in slime and bodily fluids. Cry$tal Warrior Ke$ha sparkled like a glitter-strewn Tumblr post and turned the "Tik Tok" singer into an otherworldly avenging feminine entity. Ultra Business Tycoon III is an absurdist parody of a '90s business simulation game, until its fourth wall cracks to reveal a melancholy parallel narrative. Her writing was simultaneously incredibly personal and transcendently detached from reality, and Twine shaped it into something that felt like a space to explore rather than words on a screen.
In an industry obsessed with photorealistic graphics, focus-tested gameplay, and ever-evolving open worlds, Twine's simplicity felt liberating. It imbued games with the DIY spirit of homemade zines, many of them weirder, sharper, and queerer than their mainstream counterparts. According to some of its biggest fans, Twine was nothing short of a revolution.
The reality was a lot more complicated and less utopian — but it would still help reinvent a medium.

"Mostly, video games are about men shooting men in the face"
The Twine editor looks like an architect's drafting table crossed with a conspiracy chart. Users start by creating a "passage," or a simple text field, that can be linked to new passages. When you're done with the story, you "publish" it as a single web file, which you can load in any ordinary browser.
But Twine is much more than a branching choice simulator. It's an open-ended system for making almost any kind of game with text, with a scripting language that lets authors determine how each word appears on a page. Twine encourages writing with a crude, hand-coded look, but a meticulous control of rhythm. Passages can make readers wait for agonizing seconds until a single word appears, or they can drop a wall of forking hyperlink paths in an instant.
If it sounds like a blogging platform, that's because it was — at least at first.
In the late 2000s, Twine's creator, Chris Klimas, was a full-time programmer and part-time student at the University of Baltimore, slowly eking out a graduate degree in interactive design. Klimas was inspired by old-school text games like Zork, but when he started building his own games, he was frustrated by their puzzle-heavy conventions. So he started looking for his own storytelling system and ended up building one on top of TiddlyWiki — a "non-linear blog analogue" designed by programmer Jeremy Ruston.
Twine — and Twee, the language Klimas wrote to underpin it — wasn't, fundamentally, a new idea. Authors in the 1990s had experimented with digital hypertext fiction, creating multi-threaded novels through websites or programs like Apple's HyperCard. But at the time, Klimas wasn't familiar with hypertext. His software also had two big advantages: it could be used with very little practice, and to play the resulting games, all you needed was a web browser.
Klimas started using Twine to write short fiction and personal essays. One of his first pieces was about experiencing syncope — a dreamlike, almost hallucinogenic fainting spell brought on by stress. The episode had sent him to the hospital, and he wanted to convey it in a way that readers could explore at their own pace. "That story was me trying to talk through what happened there and what that experience was like," he says. "Just sort of saying, like — this is this experience that happened to me, and what happened afterwards."
Unfortunately, other writers weren't nearly as compelled. "I was trying really hard at the time to get writers interested in it. I was like, 'Hey, writers! You know, like, you like writing stories. Maybe you'd like making an interactive story!'" he says. "There was sort of a small community. But for about a year, I think it didn't really go anywhere."
After a couple of years, Klimas was nearly ready to write Twine off. It was tough to even gauge the program's impact since it produced tiny files that people hosted on personal websites or even storage services like Dropbox. "I had kind of moved on," he says. But slowly, he realized he was getting bug reports from people he'd never met — asking him to fix a tool he wasn't sure anybody used. And he saw an article in The Guardian with a proclamation: the Twine revolution had arrived.
Klimas had designed Twine from within the small world of interactive fiction. His community revered classic text-based adventure games, and they often scorned newer and visually splashier successors. "It was like, text adventures are a cut above 'video games.' These are serious things," he describes it now. "We were a little bit self-serious."
What he'd discovered was weirder — and quite a bit lewder — than he'd expected. The Guardian had interviewed game developer Anna Anthropy, known for the BDSM-themed platformer Mighty Jill Off, as well as the short and personal Dys4ia, about her experience with gender dysphoria. Anthropy was also the author of a book called Rise of the Videogame Zinesters, which urged people to express themselves with simple do-it-yourself games.
Many now-legendary games were built by one or two core developers. And tools like HyperCard and Adobe Flash — as well as Doom and other moddable games — turned millions of ordinary people into amateur game designers. But when Zinesters was published in 2012, the term "video game" evoked glossy action franchises like BioShock and Gears of War. "Mostly, video games are about men shooting men in the face," Anthropy wrote. "I have to strain to find any game that's about a queer woman, to find any game that resembles my own experience."
Like Klimas himself, Anthropy started using Twine as an alternative to complicated text adventure tools. "I was trying to find something I could use to make choice-based stories," she recalls. "Twine was the least bad."
Her first story adapted a world from ZZT — an iconic 1991 shareware game from Tim Sweeney, now the CEO of Epic Games, the studio behind Fortnite. Soon, she was giving Twine workshops and promoting it as one of the most affordable, approachable ways to make games.
Mainstream gaming had become sclerotic and timid, Anthropy contended. Studios relied on hundred-person teams with multimillion-dollar budgets, reworking old ideas that they knew would sell. "Mainstream games are really depersonalized. They don't really tell us a lot about the human condition," Anthropy told Guardian writer Cara Ellison. "What I want to see more of in games is the personal — games that speak to me as a human being, that are relatable."
Anthropy wasn't the only person saying this. The year she published Zinesters, The Atlantic feted Jonathan Blow — developer of the hit indie game Braid — as a disgruntled "maverick" who might finally "establish the video game as an art form." But Blow was still a professional programmer who spent $200,000 painstakingly crafting Braid. Anthropy was interested in people with far less money and little formal training, using off-the-shelf tools like GameMaker and Twine.
At first, Klimas didn't know what to make of this new community. "I kind of came into it sideways," he says. "It sort of percolated through to me — like, this is people really doing interesting things with Twine."
In the years after Twine's launch, it had expanded beyond those original TiddlyWiki snippets. Twine stories were ultimately web pages, and designers started adding images, sound, and JavaScript or CSS snippets that produced new special effects. Some shared their work online — like Leon Arnott, one of the key architects of Twine.
Arnott's code snippets played with how words appeared on a page. "Most of the features my code provided were to add dynamic changes to text within a single passage," he says. A cycling hyperlink, for instance, would simply change from one word to another as you clicked it. A timed remove could erase words if a player spent too long reading a passage. Some ideas were Arnott's own invention, and some were features other writers had come up with but had struggled to create with Twine's core feature set.
As Klimas kept building Twine's open-source editor, he gave Arnott free rein of its default scripting language, Harlowe, cementing the idea that Twine was about playing with words and timing, not just choices.
A Choose Your Own Adventure book might spell out readers' options, but they can read the book at any pace in any order. Twine games — even ones mostly based around branching narratives — can compromise that sense of control. In Anthropy's Queers in Love at the End of the World, for example, your unnamed protagonist is facing the apocalypse. You pick an option for one last moment with your lover: kiss her, hold her, tell her you love her. How do you kiss her? Hungrily? Softly? Fiercely? What do you tell her afterwards? You keep clicking, scanning the text for more options. But at the end of a 10-second timer, each game ends with the same text: Everything is wiped away.
It represented everything the stereotypical gamer despised
The "Twine revolution" wasn't simply about non-programmers making games. Twine offered a home for people who felt alienated from the larger industry, particularly historically marginalized designers. "Twine is this amazing queer and woman-orientated game-making community that didn't even exist a year ago," Anthropy told The Guardian.
And if you found an intriguing Twine game, the tools for building your own were just a few clicks away. After interviewing Anthropy, Cara Ellison found herself thinking about the kind of design that Twine encouraged. "The more I thought about the rhythmic nature and the poetic nature of Twine — placing words on the page so that your eyes would fall to the right kind of part of the sentence at the time that you wanted — the more I thought, well, that's quite sensual and a little bit sexual," she says. So she began work on Sacrilege, a melancholy story about romantic encounters at a nightclub. The short game struck such a chord that, when a bug cropped up years after its publication, a devoted fan discovered and repaired it. That fan has maintained the game ever since.
Twine's rise overlapped with a bigger shift toward games that told stories about real-world experiences or social marginalization. An NPR article dubbed the genre "empathy games": nonviolent, often mundane projects that tried to convey human struggles through rules and virtual spaces. Many of these projects were tiny, but some became breakout hits — like the exploration game Gone Home, which sold 50,000 copies in its first month.
Some Twine projects earned praise from the broader industry. In 2013, Howling Dogs made a surprise appearance at the Independent Games Festival, where grand prize winner Richard Hofmeier spraypainted its name over the booth for his own game Cart Life, telling them to play Howling Dogs instead. Hofmeier described its effect as a kind of "holy dread."
But Twine writers were more likely to ridicule the gaming world's excesses than seek its approval. Author Michael Lutz created a comically literal Call of Duty adaptation called Tower of the Blood Lord, complete with a fake text-based online multiplayer and buttons for crouching and jumping. He said he'd only played 20 minutes of the real game, though — so the multiplayer mode is a food stand simulator, the "campaign" lets you swallow your commanding officer whole instead of selecting a weapon, and the story involves talking animals and questions about personal identity and the nature of fiction.
Conversely, The Writer Will Do Something is an unsparingly unromantic farce about big-budget game-making. Players join the production team of troubled franchise ShatterGate, where they navigate byzantine internal politics, impossible player expectations, and a dictionary's worth of pretentious buzzwords. The game was created by Matthew S. Burns and Tom Bissell — who based it on real experience working on Call of Duty, Halo, and Gears of War.
Even when they weren't explicitly poking fun at traditional video games, Twine authors toyed with players' mechanical expectations. Tom McHenry's Horse Master is nominally about buying, rearing, and training a horse for a competition. But your horse's carefully managed stats — "uncanny," "realness," "pep," and other strange descriptors — aren't actually what's being measured.
For that matter, a "horse" probably isn't what you think it is. Because Twine games also often exploit writing's power to casually suggest unsettling mental images or intriguingly confusing commands — something that graphical video games simply can't do. In another game, your central power is the option to "unleash rat chaos." What is rat chaos, exactly? Players can only guess.
The sublime fever dream of Howling Dogs helped put Twine on the games industry's radar. But it attracted mainstream attention through a very different project called Depression Quest.
Depression Quest is a deliberately unexciting "choose your own adventure" story. You're a normal 20-something person trying to get by at work, get along with your girlfriend, and work on a passion project in your free time. Unfortunately, you're also deeply depressed, so your brain won't let you do this. Each day gives you a healthy path forward: order some food in the evening, go hang out with a friend, talk to people at a party. These options are crossed out, leaving behind choices like procrastination, long nights alone, and awkward silence.
Depression Quest — created by Zoe Quinn, Patrick Lindsey, and Isaac Schankler — earned positive mentions in outlets like Rock Paper Shotgun, as well as an official exhibition slot at the Indiecade festival. Like a lot of so-called "empathy games," it used rules to convey the feeling of being limited and powerless, rather than omnipotent and unstoppable. (Eventually, your life can take a turn for the better, but only with some concerted work.)
But in 2014, a year after Depression Quest's release, Quinn's ex-partner published a rambling diatribe and urged a mob of internet trolls to harass them. The accusations included an unfounded claim that Quinn had an affair with a journalist to promote Depression Quest. And the movement — soon dubbed Gamergate — tarred Twine itself as the tool of an "anti-gamer" cabal. It represented everything the stereotypical gamer despised: terrible graphics, unapologetically rough edges, and experiences that poked fun at macho fantasies.
Klimas remembers being integrated into the edges of Gamergate's sprawling conspiracy theory — which included many journalism outlets; the creators of nonviolent and LGBT-themed games like Gone Home; and somewhat paradoxically, the Pentagon's experimental research wing DARPA. He wrote to friends in academia, warning them that Gamergaters had dug up their names as well. But mostly, he was bemused by people who complained that "any idiot" could make a Twine game. "I'm like, congratulations, you understand now!" he says. "Any idiot can pick up a pencil as well. The prejudice related to computational complexity — like if a tool is complicated to learn, it must be better — I completely disagree with."
As Klimas readily admits, his experience was very different from Gamergate's primary targets. Quinn — as well as others like cultural critic Anita Sarkeesian and developer Brianna Wu — were accused of bizarre moral infractions and driven from their homes by threats. The movement painted critics of sexist or transphobic cliches as greedy criminal insurgents attacking defenseless big-budget studios, rather than tiny communities who put most of their work online for free.
Gamergate's influence resonated across mainstream politics. The movement bolstered the careers of right-wing outrage merchants like Milo Yiannopoulos, who would later help promote the white nationalist "alt-right." It fueled the growth of anonymous forum 8chan, which became a base of operations for the violent QAnon conspiracy movement. The controversy also forced companies and news outlets to reckon with much broader, older online harassment problems. Ultimately, many Gamergate supporters probably weren't that passionate about niche game design software. But they saw ammunition for an endless, ever-evolving culture war — one that continues to this day.
"It manages to essentially teach you how to write well for video games"
Meanwhile, the "Twine revolution" was more fragile than it looked.
Within a few years, the term "empathy game" turned from a straight-faced description to a wry, bitter joke. To critics, the phrase implied queer or non-white game developers were attempting to explain themselves to outsiders, and that playing a 10-minute game was equivalent to living under oppression. Anthropy balked when people described Dys4ia as a way to safely understand being a trans woman. In 2015, she produced an art installation called Empathy Game that was simply a pair of her old shoes and a pedometer — making fun of the idea that players were literally "walking a mile in her shoes."
A game could lay out someone's personal experience, or it could help explain social systems that were often invisible. But simply knowing about that system wouldn't necessarily spur people to change it. Awareness, it turned out, wasn't a substitute for action.
Expressing vulnerability online felt increasingly fraught. Developer Merritt K, who had created games about BDSM and sex, took much of her old work offline after Gamergate. "A lot of it felt personal in a way that I was uncomfortable with," she told The Creative Independent. "Not that those kinds of things didn't happen before, but being personal online was a much more dangerous proposition after that for a lot of people."
Twine itself wasn't quite as simple and universal as mainstream coverage of it suggested. The tool's interface and scripting languages were designed for writers who spoke English and understood the conventions of branching storytelling. Learning its more complex features requires sifting through a now-dormant Twine wiki, a still-active Twine "cookbook," and myriad help threads across multiple forums. Publishing a story requires a basic understanding of web hosting or storefronts like Itch.io. It's easier than many professional design tools but doesn't have the radical simplicity of a stapled-together zine.
This tension had existed for years. Back in 2014, Dan Cox — who authored some of the most comprehensive Twine guides — denounced what he dubbed the "lie" that Twine didn't require programming. "Twine has never been free of code and never will be," Cox wrote. Today, a wide array of Twine script re-creates or integrates other languages like JavaScript or CSS.
Unfortunately, Twine also doesn't work well for big and highly complex projects. Passages start to freeze up if you type too much text in them, and if you're developing a game with another person, it's easy to accidentally overwrite their work. Klimas maintains the Twine editor alongside a full-time job, funded by a Patreon campaign that earns up to roughly $1,400 a month. It works remarkably well for such a small project, but it's not as full-featured as commercial software or a massive open-source collaboration.
Some Twine supporters have drifted away from the medium. Porpentine had begun working outside Twine soon after Howling Dogs, and in 2017, she distanced herself from other queer developers who had fostered Twine, publishing an essay that accused unnamed community members of abuse. When I contacted her, she described the essay as her farewell to any coherent Twine community. "Twine is pretty old now, and kind of died as a communal thing," she wrote in an email.
Over time, the online landscape for Twine has changed. Many older games were posted on Philomela — a simple hosting platform created by programmer Colin Marc. "At that time, a lot of Twine games were hosted on Dropbox, which obviously sucked," Marc says. "The site was a way for me to be involved and helpful." (He also attributes it to a "pretty embarrassing desire to be friends with all the cool game dev people I followed on Twitter.") But over the years, Marc drifted away from Twine, and the internet in general.
"My honest appraisal of Twine is that although it is really useful if you have no technical expertise, it is actually quite constricting," he says now. "There have been really clever, interesting things done with Twine, but they were done by people working around the limitations of the tool." Marc realized that Twine might never have a breakout moment, the way Gone Home had sold mainstream audiences on exploration games. In 2019, he set off on a year-long travel expedition with limited internet service, and he decided to pull the plug on Philomela — moving its existing games to Google Cloud Storage and retiring one of Twine's original hubs.
More than a decade after its creation, Klimas's work remains a significant force in gaming and interactive fiction. Browse the Twine tag on the Itch.io storefront, and you'll find a steady stream of new titles — even if the "popular" tab includes a lot of games created years ago.
Many designers use Twine or Twee to prototype branching narratives they'll adapt for other platforms, including Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, who worked with Twine for the interactive special Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. University instructors use Twine to help students learn game design basics before they start working with general-purpose tools. Even without a unified community, Twine still serves its original purpose: to give people an easy framework for imagining nonlinear stories, whatever form those stories ultimately take.
Twine has helped inspire other software. The platform influenced Yarn Spinner, for instance — the branching dialogue tool used in award-winning indie adventure game Night in the Woods. "Ironically, I think a lot of Twine's influence since 2013 has been in the form of tools derived from it," says Arnott.
It's also still evolving. Klimas is currently developing a Harlowe alternative called Chapbook, and while Twine remains open-source, he helped design a proprietary tool for porting stories to iOS — and released his first game with it, Night in the Unpleasant House, last year. During the pandemic, Arnott decided to overhaul Harlowe with new features and fuller customization options, releasing what he calls the first "full" version of the tool in January. "I feel like Harlowe is currently in a state of stability it's never had before — my long-standing desperation to improve it has abated," he says.
While many people use Twine without any kind of support, there's an active Twine community on Discord and Reddit. It offers help with design problems and organizes Twine-focused game jams, most recently a "Valentwines Day Poetry Jam" in February.
Some Twine designers have made the leap to professional game development, fine art, or other fields. Porpentine has released numerous games alongside zines, short stories, and a Sundance Film Festival installation; in 2017, her games were exhibited at the Whitney Biennial. Ellison's Sacrilege led to work on the big-budget stealth game Dishonored 2, as well as acclaimed lo-fi shooter Void Bastards. "It's a really good educational tool for figuring out whether you like working in games or not," she says of Twine. "It manages to essentially teach you how to write well for video games, because it requires you to be concise and plan out how you're going to make a conversation go."
And the minimalist, white-on-black "Twine story" format instantly evokes text adventures and the early web. It's easy to convey big, abstract concepts with a gloss of absurdity — like Kris Ligman's You Are Jeff Bezos, where your job is simply to spend Jeff Bezos's money better than he does. Like a pixelated Mario Bros.-style platformer or the camera of a first-person shooter, it offers a recognizable template for translating almost any idea into a game.
If those services shut down, players' work could be lost forever
I put my first Twine story online in 2018. I chose the platform because I had an idea for a silly pastiche of a first-person shooter series, I wanted to make it quickly, and I was an experienced writer but had no meaningful background in programming or art design. Then I got hooked on learning its scripting system and web design possibilities. A few months later, I convinced The Verge to publish Wake Word, a short game about a "helpful" AI-controlled apartment that keeps accidentally killing you. Its structure was shaped by the surreal, cyclical prison experience of Howling Dogs.
I've released a handful of other short games since then, all of them built in Twine. And sometimes learning its scripts first instead of "real" coding feels like it was a mistake. I usually don't make the branching narratives or experiential poetry Twine is best for, so I've spent a lot of time accidentally working against its constraints — like the time I wrote the start of a narrative game with a single fight scene, only to end up building a real-time word-themed combat system by forcing Twine to reload randomly selected links using dozens of overlapping timers. Still, coming incredibly late to the Twine party, I've benefited from years of forum members answering each other's remarkably complex scripting questions.
As a woman who started writing about video games a decade ago, I've benefited in less tangible ways as well. Twine's popularity helped raise the profile of several now well-known female gamemakers. There are still huge problems with misogyny in the medium, but in 2021, I feel a lot less pressure to represent women in games — and more space to do what I really want, which is apparently making jokes about smart homes and cyberpunk tropes.
And sometimes Twine's reputation as simply a beginner's game-making system feels like a disservice. Because for all its limitations, Twine is one of the only tools custom-built for speaking the language of the web. The past several years have seen the rise of video games that mimic digital spaces, like the instant-messaging simulation Emily Is Away or the faux website Mackerelmedia Fish. At its heart, Twine is an easy way to write stories that take place in web browsers, and the more our lives play out online, the more powerful that can be.
One of the Twine jam organizers, who goes by Lee, says he grew up reading Choose Your Own Adventure books. But, "I got bored with the traditional [interactive fiction] format pretty quickly," he says. He wanted to make something that didn't feel like a branching novel, but also didn't require extensive coding or art experience. So he began making horror games inspired by phone apps, websites, and creepypasta — the short, scary stories that circulate on internet message boards.
Lee's first published game, from 2019, is Please Answer Carefully, which is supposedly a web survey about your screen time habits. After a few pages, though, the survey's questions start getting strangely needy. Then, the possible answers start getting a lot more sinister. The experience is short and simple, without even the branches or multiple endings many people expect of interactive fiction. But it's also very effective, slowly twisting what's supposedly a blank mirror for the player's personality.
These kinds of pseudo-software games can comment directly on the larger conditions of the internet. Mark Sample's Content Moderator Sim gives you an 8-hour (actually, 5-minute) shift at "ViralTitans," a fictitious content moderation contractor. Under a relentless timer and some passive-aggressive messages from a supervisor, it dryly describes social media posts that range from distasteful to terrifying, asking you to make a call on each one. It hints at the stress and frustration of being a moderator, but it's not just a plea for empathy — it's a test of which horrors you will personally let slide.
In 2021, Twine's web-based design has proven surprisingly resilient. "I believe really strongly in the web," says Klimas. "Things have been moving in the wrong direction for quite a while in terms of the web as a medium for consumption, not creation. But I think the battle isn't completely over yet."
Twine is far from the only free and approachable game-making program, but its openness is still unusual. "There are more tools, but many of those tools are tightly gatekept by platform owners," Anthropy notes. "Tools like Super Mario Maker or Dreams make game-making way more achievable for non-professionals, but everything you create is owned by Nintendo or Sony." If those services shut down, players' work could be lost forever.
Many Twine stories could disappear at some point, lost to changing browser standards or lapsed web domains. But whether their work is ephemeral or stays online for decades, Twine lets people make art on their own terms — even if, eventually, everything is wiped away.
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text:
Feature Requests, Feedback and New Ideas
Just a suggestion on profiles
By AfterGeometry, May 11, 2017 in Feature Requests, Feedback and New Ideas
AfterGeometry 1092
I was thinking it might be handy to include one extra bit of info to the personal profile section : after the "Role" where the new member puts either "Spanker/Spankee/Switch, etc" how about a field right after that for the preffered sex of the play partner.
Name: AfterGeometry
Role: Spanker (prefers spanking females)
Or, likewise:
Name: NastyNatasha
Role: Spankee (prefers female spanker)
Name: DiaperDan
Role: Spankee (prefers male or female spanker)
Or something like that. Along those lines. You get the drift. This allows for more information that can be gleaned at a seconds glance, and perhaps cut down on the personal requests via Chat PM for male spankees asking male spankers (who spank females) to spank them, etc. I also know quite a few female spankees who prefer that only women spank them, so this may help cut down on their PMs as well. Etc. Etc. Ad infinitum.
Yes, I know many people end up putting these preferences elsewhere in their profile, like in the About Me section...but really who gets that far when they're looking for someone to PM with.
Just a suggestion...for what it's worth.
goodboyotk 439
Permanently Banned
Location:India
That's a good suggestion AG. It could sure save some time for those people who are searching for the right spanking partner.
gingerlee 717
Although I do like that suggestion in general, you're assuming that everyone will care what it says. Yes, many will but I've had conversations with multiple people who I can explicitly tell that I'm not interested in something and they will continue the chat as if I've said nothing. Of course, they get blocked so I don't have to deal with them again.
(Ex. Me: "I'm not interested in anything parental."
Them: "I'll make you regress to being a little girl and raise you right."
Me: **hits block button**)
where in the world is profiles?
i wonder how others knew what someone was looking for?
helpppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
bi_kellie 211
On 5/10/2017 at 11:19 PM, AfterGeometry said:
Sounds like a good idea...but I still get people asking whether or not I'm a spanker or spankee. So I think people not willing to look at the "about me" section aren't going to look for those kinds of details anyway, even though they'd be helpful.
One thing I've noticed is that it's hard to get to the "About Me" section on mobile. So that could be an issue too--make it easier to see the "About Me" section on mobile, or have a little blurb show up. But honestly, all of the changes we've seen to the site have been because of technical considerations (the bitcoin hack thing, the license running out for the previous software, etc.)
Poison's 1101
Location:Wouldn't you like to know?
On 1/1/2018 at 4:28 PM, bi_kellie said:
One thing I've noticed is that it's hard to get to the "About Me" section on mobile. So that could be an issue too--make it easier to see the "About Me" section on mobile, or have a little blurb show up.
You actually found it on your phone? You're doing better than I am! I have yet to figure it out lol
On 5/10/2017 at 9:19 PM, AfterGeometry said:
Heck from my experience, not a whole lot read the about me section either. It would safe people a lot of time.


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The Best Rotary Tool Kit for Beginners
Marcie McGoldrick
After more than 20 hours of engraving, polishing, and shearing tests, and 15 hours of research and interviews with craft and hobby experts, we found that the Dremel 3000 2/28 is the best rotary tool kit for most people looking to buy one for the first time. It's one of the lightest tools we tested, and has a soft rubber grip, making it comfortable to hold for long stretches. It's also versatile: The 3000 can handle fine detail on engraving and jewelry work and is powerful enough to hold its own on more taxing jobs like cutting metal and hardwoods, and removing rust and grout.
Dremel 3000 2/28
The best rotary tool for most people
This Dremel model is comfortable and easy enough to control for detailed craft and hobby projects but is also powerful enough to use on most home repairs.
$70* from Walmart
*At the time of publishing, the price was $68.
Unlike many of the tools we tested with similarly powerful motors, the Dremel 3000 doesn't suffer from excessive vibration. That, along with its smaller size, makes it easier to control while working on projects that require precision. It comes with a set of standard bits that make it easy to get started right away, and because it's compatible with Dremel's wide variety of attachments, no matter what sort of project you want to use it for, you should be able to find the right bit to tackle it.
Best high-performance rotary tool
With a fast, powerful motor, the Dremel 4000 is ideal for home repair projects. It is a bit larger and heavier than our main pick, so it isn't as ideal for detailing or for use over long stretches.
$81 from Home Depot
If you are looking for more of a power tool for home repair, the Dremel 4000 3/34 is the way to go. The harder the material you're working with, the higher the speed you want. The 4000's motor maxes out at a higher speed than the 3000's, turning tasks like cutting drywall, shearing bolts, or sharpening tools into shorter projects. As you'd expect for a more powerful unit, it's a bit bulky, and therefore less comfortable to hold for longer projects than our main pick. If you do want to do fine detail work, you can pay a bit extra for a flex-shaft attachment.
Wen 2305
A solid performer for less
The Wen 2305 is not as smooth, quiet, and precise as the higher-end models we tested, but it's reliable and impressive for its low price.
$20* from Amazon
If you are interested in testing out the capabilities of a rotary tool but aren't ready to make a big investment, we recommend starting with the Wen 2305. The Wen was a steady performer in our engraving and polishing tests, and we think it will give newcomers a sense of what the rotary tool is capable of. It is not as comfortable or as precise an instrument as the Dremel 3000, but you can't beat the value Wen offers.
Who should buy a rotary (Dremel) tool
How we picked
The best for beginners: Dremel 3000
Upgrade pick: Dremel 4000
Budget pick: Wen 2305
What about cordless?
As a craft editor for over 15 years I have used rotary tools on various projects, including DIY furniture, Christmas ornaments, and jewelry. I am also a ceramicist and regularly use them to shape, grind, and remove excess glaze from finished pieces, and to shape and sand models for casting. More recently I have used them to set porcelain pieces into silver and gold ring and pendant castings.
I also interviewed several experts who use rotary tools on a daily basis, including Celina Muire (woodworker), Jamie Locke (glass and wood engraver), Tim Delger (designer/maker), Nancy L.T. Hamilton (jeweler/ instructor), and Dremel brand manager John Hauter.
Video: Caroline Enos
If you are someone who likes to tackle small projects around the house, or who sees craft ideas and thinks, "I could make that," then a rotary tool might be just the thing for you. A rotary tool's versatility is what makes it such a valuable addition to any garage workshop, craft room, or office. Most models come with a selection of about 20 bits that let you tackle a multitude of tasks like cutting, drilling, sanding, engraving, and polishing, to name just a few. These tools won't replace their larger counterparts for big jobs, but they can prove indispensable for quick tasks and for getting into spaces that are hard to reach with larger power tools. Their size also makes them a bit less intimidating for users.
A rotary tool's versatility makes it a valuable addition to any garage workshop, craft room, or office.
In addition to basic repairs around the house, rotary tools are useful for craft endeavors like wood carving, jewelry making, glass engraving, and more. Once you have the basic tool it's the bits and attachments that really expand your capabilities. A rotary tool is especially valuable when workspace is at a premium because it can do the work of several bulkier tools. Celina Muire, a woodworker from Austin, Texas, told me that she uses her Dremel to do everything from predrilling holes and sanding to cutting nails from recycled palettes. A Wirecutter editor uses his Dremel for tasks ranging from cutting bolts to length to cleaning out an espresso machine boiler. The more you use the tool the more uses you will find for it.
To narrow the field, we looked at editorial and user reviews, and interviewed five experts who use rotary tools daily. Though Dremel is the best known brand of rotary tool—to the extent that most people refer to any rotary tool as a "Dremel" or "Dremel-like" tool—we found plenty of models available from other manufacturers. The price range is quite wide, with basic tools starting around $20 and high-end models and deluxe kits topping out at $150.
Most rotary tools come with a set of bits, similar to a drill-bit kit, with attachments for tasks such as cutting, sanding, drilling, and polishing. But there are plenty of others. The tools are usually offered with various kits of bits at different prices; however, simply choosing the lowest-priced kit isn't always the best idea and may end up costing you more in the long run if you discover that you want to expand your tool's capabilities, because the bits and attachments included in these kits can cost more than twice as much to buy individually. We factored in the usefulness of the included accessories when evaluating each kit.
Bits attach to the drill using either a collet (a metal collar with prongs) and collet nut (which tightens over the collet), or a universal chuck, like you'd find on a power drill. Collets come standard with most kits and are the preferred method for certain tasks like routing (hollowing). They come in different sizes, and can be switched out to accommodate bits of different diameters. A universal chuck is usually quicker to use, and you don't need to switch it out depending on the bit you want to use. The drawback is that a chuck doesn't grip the bits as securely as the collet system.
In addition to bits, a variety of attachments are available to make tasks easier. Some of the more useful attachments for most beginners are the safety shield (which helps keep debris and sparks contained when cutting or grinding) and the flex shaft (a 36-inch long flexible cord with a thin tip). You grip the flex shaft like a pencil, letting you work more accurately on detailed tasks like engraving and jewelry making. Flex shafts were available for all the models we tested, either included in the kit or as add-ons.
Besides accessories, power was the most important thing to most of the experts we interviewed. Rotary tools rely on speed and not torque for their power. The lack of torque gives the user more control, allowing for more precision, John Hauter of Dremel explained to me. Most of the tools available are in the range of 5,000 to 30,000 rpm, with some offering speeds as high as 35,000 rpm. But most people need only 28,000 to 30,000 rpm for craft or home repair projects.
Rotary tools come in cordless and corded models, but we recommend corded for most people. A majority of the experts we interviewed favored corded models because they have more power and do not require down time for recharging. Still, a cordless tool can be convenient if you're out of reach of an outlet, so we didn't rule them out, and if you do prefer a cordless tool, we do have a pick below.
Weight, vibration, and ergonomic design are three factors particularly important for detailed work and projects that require prolonged use. Some of the lower-cost models we tested were twice as heavy (3 to 3½ pounds vs. 1 to 2 pounds) as pricier models, and had negative user reviews regarding excessive vibration, which can make tasks like engraving and carving a challenge.
We decided to set a price cap at $100 for people buying their first Dremel tool because most models costing more tend to be professional-grade products or base models sold with a deluxe assortment of attachments that would be overkill for beginners.
We only considered models with variable speed settings. They offer more versatility than single-speed tools.
Using the above criteria, we selected nine tools for testing: five corded and four cordless models.
Dremel with universal chuck attachment. It works like a traditional drill chuck making it easy to change bits. Photo: Caroline Enos
The Craftsman rotary tool in action cutting nails. Photo: Caroline Enos
Rotary tools and supplies on testing table. Prepping for rust removal from garden tools. Photo: Caroline Enos
Dremel flex shaft attachment in use for the glass engraving test. You can hold the flex shaft like a pencil, making it easy to maneuver Photo: Caroline Enos
We devised several tests to evaluate each tool's power, detailing ability, comfort, and handling.
Glass engraving: We used a diamond engraving bit to trace a design taped to the inside of a glass. After outlining the design we used a silicone carbide grinding bit to fill it in. We evaluated a tool's power by its ability to carve into a hard surface, and its precision by its grip, handling, and the ability to control vibration while creating the design. We also took into account how easy it was to change bits, because this project required us to use bits of different diameters.
Nail cutting: We hammered ¼-inch-thick steel nails into a piece of wood and then used each tool to cut them off as close to the wood as possible. This test judged the tool's power and ability to cut through metal, the ease with which we could maneuver the tool to cut, and the ability to control it at a high speed.
Polishing: This test was less about power and more about control. We polished silver spoons and removed rust from and sharpened a set of old garden tools to judge how each handled during a longer duration task and its effectiveness for cleaning and polishing.
In addition to these formal tests I also used each of the tools for several hours on different ceramic and jewelry projects, like sanding inconsistencies and excess glaze on the surface of my ceramic pieces after firing. When making the jewelry, I used the tool to grind down castings and to do fine sanding and polishing of rings and pendants.
The Dremel 3000 has the best combination of power, comfort, handling, and price that we found, and it comes with the standard bits most people will need to get started right away. It is lightweight and comfortable to hold thanks to its ergonomic design and soft rubber grip.
The 3000 has a 1.2-amp motor that goes up to 32,000 rpm. Though not as powerful as the speedier Dremel 4000 and Dremel 8220, the 3000 held its own in our test shearing off nails we'd driven into wood. It easily cut through the nails, and because of its smaller size, it was easier to control and maintain a consistent pressure. This consistency also helped to reduce the "skipping" that occurred with several of the models we tried. We'd be happy using it on anything from cutting drywall to removing rust, sharpening garden tools, and removing grout.
The 3000 is slightly thinner, shorter, and lighter than the Dremel 4000 and Dremel 8220, which makes it easier to maneuver and more comfortable to hold. Its smaller scale helps it perform better on detailing projects, and makes it less taxing to hold for longer tasks. The 4000 has more power, but for most people the 3,000 rpm difference will be negligible, and most would be willing to sacrifice a bit of power for a tool that is much better at handling detailing work.
The Dremel 3000 has relatively low vibration and is still easy to control at its maximum speed.
In fact, the Proxxon Micromot 50/E was the only corded tool that handled better than the 3000 for detailing, but it costs nearly twice as much. There is also value in the 3000's versatility: It performs well on both craft and power-tool applications. Other hobby models, such as the Dremel 8050, for example, are good for detailing well but didn't cut through metal as effectively.
Unlike the cheaper Wen and cordless Genesis models we looked at, the 3000 has relatively low vibration and is still easy to control at its maximum speed. In our tests, it was easy to maintain consistent contact with the glass, enabling us to finish the engraving faster than we could with the Dremel 4000 and Dremel 8220 and several cordless models.
The Dremel 3000 is compatible with all of Dremel's attachments and accessories, it has a twist cap that makes changing and tightening bits easier than on most of the tools we tested, and its motor brushes can be easily replaced, extending the life of the tool. Dremel is the only maker of the models we tested that includes both multiple bits and attachments with its rotary tools. I change bits quite frequently while working, so one of my favorite Dremel attachments is the universal chuck. It replaces the need to change collets and it tightens like a traditional drill chuck, making changing bits quick and easy. (We recommend the 2/28 kit because it includes a good set of bits for beginners looking to get started right away. But there are other combinations of bits to choose from.)
Dremel-branded tools come with a two-year warranty, with a US service center that processes needed repairs. Its website has always-available live chat with a customer service rep, and a troubleshooting guide.
One slight drawback to the 3000 is its limited control over speed. It has five set speeds ranging from 5,000 to 32,000 rpm. The speed settings are numbered 1 through 5, but you'll have to look in the manual to translate those to rpm ranges. The Dremel 4000, 8220, and both Proxxon models we tested have either a dial or a slide that allows finer-grained, continuous control over speed.
Photo: Caroline Enos
If you plan to do mostly projects around the house that require power, we recommend spending a bit more to get the Dremel 4000. With a 1.6-amp motor that goes to 35,000 rpm, it was the most powerful corded rotary tool we tested. Where the Dremel 3000 (1.2 amps, 32,000 rpm) feels like a good middle ground between a power tool and a hobby tool, the 4000 really feels like a power tool. When faced with cutting hardwoods or metals, this is the tool I'd grab.
Where the Dremel 3000 feels like a good middle ground between a power and hobby tool, the 4000 really feels like a power tool.
It performed well in all of our tests, but was the fastest at shearing off nails. You can feel the extra force in the motor, though without the excessive vibration you might expect. And even with the added power, it was relatively easy to control. The 4000 did not perform as well on the engraving test as our main pick or the Proxxon Micromot 50/E because it is a bit heavier and larger, making it less comfortable to hold and more difficult to maneuver. It ended up making the detail project take a bit longer. It still worked well, and given the lack of vibration, I was able to etch effectively. But it was less comfortable, and that led to the detailing being slightly less precise.
If you must have the extra power but also want the flexibility of use for more detailed work, we recommend getting a base model like the 4000 2/30 and purchasing the flex-shaft attachment for around $20. We repeated the engraving test with the 4000 using the flex shaft, and finished about two minutes faster, with a much clearer finished design than we could get using the base tool itself. (We still prefer the 3000 for most people, however, because it handles just as well on fine detail work without needing the flex-shaft attachment, making it more versatile for less money.)
I have used the 4000 for a few years now for sanding, grinding and polishing ceramic, and setting jewelry. Besides the extra power, I prefer its speed-adjustment dial—it gives you a lot of flexibility and makes selecting the specific speed you want easy. Like our main pick, the Dremel 4000 is compatible with all Dremel bits and attachments, the wide variety of which means you can expand the tool's capabilities significantly. You can also replace the motor brushes to make the tool last longer.
If you don't want to spend much on a tool you think you'll use only occasionally, or if you aren't sure a rotary tool is for you, the Wen 2305 is a solid, inexpensive choice that is good for basic tasks. Though not the best in any of our tests, it performed adequately, and its included kit of 80 bits was larger than those of any of the pricier models we tested. The Wen is surprisingly lightweight for a budget-priced tool, and for a fraction of the price of our main pick, its 1.0-amp motor has a variable-speed adjustment (8,0000 to 30,000 rpm). In our tests, it provided enough power to cut through metal and hardwoods.
The Wen 2305 is not a precision instrument, and the collet and bit connections weren't as tight as those of our main pick or either Proxxon model we tested. There's also quite a bit of vibration during use, making it somewhat harder to control. However, the Wen comes with a flex-shaft attachment—a separate purchase with our main and upgrade picks—which allows you to work on small-scale and detailed projects that are difficult to do without the attachment.
The Wen comes with a flex-shaft attachment and a larger set of bits than any of the pricier kits we tested. Photo: Caroline Enos
We used the Wen with the included flex shaft for our engraving test. It performed the test quickly and was easy to handle. It also cut down on the amount of vibration, and the tool did a nice job engraving the design. The downside was that in a relatively short time it became hot; a few minutes more and I would have had to stop and let it cool down before continuing. I encountered this problem only while using the flex shaft—I used the Wen for several other tasks without the flex shaft, some over 30 minutes, and did not have the overheating issue, so I don't think it is a consistent problem with the tool itself.
Our test engraving results using the Wen 2305 (left) and the Dremel 8050 (right). Photo: Michael Hession
If you stay around 15,000 to 20,000 rpm the Wen gives off less vibration and actually performs better; we cut nails easily at that speed. However, if you select speeds much higher than that, the vibrations increase, making the Wen harder to handle.
The Wen has only two collet sizes—⅛ inch and 3/32 inch—compared with the Dremel's four, and it isn't compatible with Dremel collets, which does limit the variety of bits that you can use with the tool. On the plus side, Wen does sell replacement collets and collet nuts, so the tool is not useless if you lose or break them. You can also replace the motor brushes—rare for lower-cost models—which can extend the life of the tool significantly.
Wen's warranty isn't as generous as Dremel's; it offers just one year of coverage and you must have a purchase receipt to validate the warranty. Repairs are farmed out to local, third-party service centers.
Best cordless rotary tool
The Dremel 8220 has the convenience of a cordless tool with the power of a corded model, but you'll have to remember to charge the battery before use.
$90 from Walmart
We don't think a cordless rotary tool is the best choice for most because they tend to be less powerful than their corded counterparts, and you have to remember to charge them before use. However, if you know you'll be working some distance from an outlet and want a cordless model, the Dremel 8220 was the only cordless whose performance and speed were on a par with the corded models we tested. Combined with its portability and its detachable, quick-charging battery, it's the best option if you need the freedom of cordless.
The Dremel 8220 and our upgrade pick, the corded Dremel 4000, were almost identical performers in the cutting test in terms of power, speed, and handling. Both had enough force and power to easily cut through the nails. Unlike all of the other cordless tools we tested, the 8220 did not shut down when taxed, even after multiple test cuts.
Unlike all of the other cordless tools we tested, the Dremel 8220 did not shut down when taxed, even after multiple test cuts.
It is almost identical in scale and weight to the Dremel 4000, but slightly easier to handle while engraving. It was not, however, as easy to maneuver as our main pick, the lighter and more ergonomically designed Dremel 3000.
The portability of this tool is a decided advantage over corded models, especially when working outdoors or anywhere with limited access to electricity. It is also easy to maneuver into small spaces that would be difficult for larger tools, and you don't have to make sure that the cord is out of the way while working.
The 8220 uses a sliding scale, not a dial, for speed adjustment, which makes selecting a specific speed easier and more precise. Photo: Michael Hession
The 8220 comes with a high-performance, detachable lithium-ion battery, which has a recharge time of one hour, much faster than the three hours needed to recharge another Dremel cordless we tested, the 8050. The ability to detach the battery eliminates down time—an advantage over the Genesis cordless and the Dremel 8050. You can buy an additional battery or grab the deluxe kit that comes with two (for the same price as the kit plus an extra battery), so you can charge one battery while the other is in use. The Hitachi was the only cordless model tested that had a longer battery life than the 8220, but it did not match the 8220 in performance or handling.
Another standout feature is the 8220's speed adjustment, the best of all the tools we tested. It uses a sliding scale instead of a dial, which makes adjustment easier and more precise. That comes in handy for certain types of craft projects.
Cordless tools tend to be more expensive than comparable corded units. The Dremel 8220 is pricier than our main pick, but on a par with our upgrade pick. Another downside to cordless tools in general is that you can't replace the motor brushes, so they may not last as long as any of our corded picks.
Like our main and upgrade picks, the 8220 is covered by Dremel's two-year warranty. The company has a US-based service center for repairs, and a Web-based live-chat service that's available 24/7.
The Craftsman rotary tool is almost identical to the Dremel 3000 in both looks and performance. It is also compatible with all of Dremel's attachments, bits, and accessories. The only differences that we noticed were the color (the Craftsman is all black) and the price tag. The Craftsman costs between $5 and $10 more than the 3000 depending on the kit. We suspect that Dremel manufactures both tools but have not been able to confirm it through either company. If the 3000 is out of stock or if you prefer a black to Dremel's gray, we would not hesitate to buy the Craftsman instead.
I was initially a bit skeptical of the Proxxon Micromot 50/E because it was the only tool we tested that plugs into a transformer instead of directly into an outlet. Instead of making it awkward to work with, the benefits of extra cords far outweigh that inconvenience. You do need be careful not to pull too hard and knock it over, but the transformer makes for a much lighter tool with very little vibration and lets you to work safely on wet applications.
The Micromot was by far the smoothest and quietest of all the tools tested. It gave us the best result in the engraving test and made for the quickest completion of any of the tools that didn't use the flex-shaft attachment. It is also the thinnest and lightest of all of the tools we tested, making it easy to grip like a pen and comfortable and easy to handle. Not coincidentally, it is also among the most expensive tools we looked at. Its top speed is 20,000 rpm, but that didn't seem to affect its ability in the cutting test. It took a bit longer to cut through but it was one of the easier units to control. This is a good tool for people looking for a true precision instrument. It comes with six sizes of three slit-hardened steel collets—most other models come with either two or four collets with four slits and made of a flimsier metal. This Proxxon's collets ensured the tightest bit connection of all the tools we tested.
The Micromot 50/E is sold alone; to get the transformer and bit set together with the tool, it's sold as the Proxxon Model Building and Engraving set. The small included kit has high-quality bits but no attachments. For the price it would be more appealing if it came with a more comprehensive kit like Dremel offers.
Similar to the Micromot, the Proxxon FBS 115/E also has extremely low vibration and runs extremely quiet compared with the other models we tested. It is a not as light or as easy to handle as the Micromot because it does not use the transformer and plugs directly into the wall. It comes with a keyless chuck, which makes changing bits a little easier, though it is still compatible with Proxxon collets. Like the Micromot, the 115/E caps off at 20,000 rpm and comes with a limited selection of bits for the price.
The Dremel Micro 8050 is the most lightweight of all the cordless tools tested. With a variable speed range of 5,000 to 28,000 rpm, it was one of the best performers in our engraving test. It is really comfortable to hold and is great for intricate work. As a bonus, it has an LED built into the nose cap, which was great for seeing detailed work. Unfortunately, the 8050 did not perform well in the cutting test: Even at 28,000 rpm it lacked the strength to cut through the nail, shutting down twice before finally cutting through. Its battery runs for about 45 minutes and is not detachable, so it needs to charge on the stand. This makes longer tasks impractical, as it takes three hours to fully charge.
By far the worst performer was the Genesis Pistol Grip Cordless. Based on customer reviews I had high hopes for this tool as a budget cordless option. The noise it makes—it sounded like mice running around in the motor—was almost enough to disqualify it outright. But during the engraving test I found it difficult to make consistent contact with the glass because the tool's pistol grip was awkward and hard to control, and there was a lot of vibration. As a result, the Genesis produced the worst-looking glasses. The cutting test was equally unsuccessful: With a max of 18,000 rpm, the Genesis shut down three times before finally cutting through a nail.
The Hitachi GP10DL Cordless performed well in all of our tests and had the longest battery life of the cordless tools. It is actually a few ounces lighter than the cordless we recommend, the Dremel 8220, but not as easy to handle because of the battery's heft. It uses the a 12-volt lithium-ion battery common to Hitachi's other cordless power tools, and the weight distribution ends up being a little awkward for engraving and sanding. The tool also got quite hot rather quickly during the engraving test. If you already have Hitachi cordless tools and you are looking to add a rotary tool for shorter, less detail-oriented tasks, this might be a good option for you, but for the same price you could go with our much more comfortable and versatile main pick from Dremel.
John Hauter, Dremel brand manager, interview
Celina Muire, woodworker and Dremel Maker in Residence, interview
Jamie Locke, glass etcher, interview
Nancy L.T. Hamilton, jeweler, interview
Tim Delger, designer/maker and Dremel Maker in Residence, interview
Roy Berendsohn, Can Anyone Top the Dremel: 6 Rotary Tools Tested, Popular Mechanics, August 15, 2013
Bob, Best Rotary Tools, Best Reviews
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Q: absolute path in the anchor tag for php function I have binary which will generate html file. I am trying to call php function in the  tag but it will take the relative path from current file. My code is as below.
cpp file
cout<<"<?php"<<endl;
cout<<"if (isset($_GET['function'])){"<<endl;
cout<<"echo 'clicked'";
cout<<"      }"<<endl;
cout<<">"<<endl;

sprintf(retStr,"%s%s%s", "",errorcode.c_str(),"");
cout<<retStr.c_str();

Generated php:
<?php
 if (isset($_GET['function'])){
echo 'clicked'      }
>

Html:
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I want to call php function from the link, but it will take it as relative path of same binary. When i hover the link it will show http://localhost/dir/binary?function
How can I make it take the php function ?
NOTE: I don't have knowledge of php.

A: Your code has error which is generating PHP code it should be as following:
cout<<"<?php"<<endl;
cout<<"if (isset($_GET['function'])){"<<endl;
cout<<"echo 'clicked';";
cout<<" }"<<endl;
cout<<"?>"<<endl;
sprintf(retStr,"%s%s%s", "",errorcode.c_str(),"");
cout<<retStr.c_str();

Above code will work for you.
EDITED:
sprintf(retStr,"%s%s%s", "<a href=\"<?php echo $_REQUEST['SELF'];?>?function\">",errorcode.c_str(),"");