Fbtech, with 14 years of battery know-how, our daily output is about 300,000 pcs. FBTech's factory has been certified under ISO9001 through BSI certification institute. We have obtained the UL and RoHS as well as CE certifications in 2008 Headquartered in Shenzhen, PRC, Shenzhen FBTech Co., Ltd, is a professional battery manufacturer that we have Rechargeable NiMH and Li-ion productions in two manufacturing facilities. Our company was established in 1999 and renamed when relocated to Shenzhen in Jun 2009. We specialize in Rechargeable Batteries of chemistry NiMH, NiCd and Li-ion as well as Battery Chargers while also carry different types of battery.
Our products are widely used in electronic devices such as cameras, power tools, electric razors, flashlights, toys, cordless phones and cell phones. We export to most countries in Europe, United States and Southeast Asia with annual sales exceeds US$60 million and annual output about 100m cells.
We are one of the leading battery suppliers in China with certified factories and well managed Quality Control System supported by state-of-art Testing Centre. Our total workshops area is about 44,000sq meters in which warehouse occupies about 5,000sq meters. Factories' daily output is about 300,000pcs. We commit to produce high quality batteries with competitive price and provide best services which include on -time shipment and technical support. We have ISO9001:2000 and ISO14001:2004 certificates, all batteries are certified and complied with CE, UL, RoHS and Directive.
We welcome and are capable to support OEM and ODM productions that we have good business partnership with famous corporate and worldwide brands. With more than 14 years of business in the industry, we have been earning a good reputation and are complimented through our passion and commitment to business partners. We are proud of continuing our services that beyond customers' satisfaction.


Share these Fathers Day poems in your greeting cards to Dad to wish him a Happy Fathers Day. Father's day is one that we recognize, acknowledge and thank our Dads. Fathers are people who play an important role in our lives. In North America it is celebrated on the third Sunday of June.
Thanks for all you do, I love and appreciate YOU!
He's always my first call.
I want him to know first.
He's the first one to hear me burst.
How I am so very blessed.
My dad makes me glee.
If I need a helping hand.
Love you Dad and wishes for your happiness!
He believes in me cause he's my Dad.
Because I am happy he is my Dad.
The choice is always theirs.
Or to stick around and care.
And always did whats right.
And never hugged too tight.
But at least have this date.
To me you're the greatest one.
That I feel should be announced.
And this should be undone.
And Happy Father's Day to the Dads.
Know you're loved and have made us glad.
We need to say "Thanks Dad", not just on Father's Day but throughout the year. Being a parent is a wonderful experience but there are challenging times and there are rewarding times. Let your Dad know how much you love and appreciate him.
Fathers Day Poems From Daughter - daughter and fathers have a special relationship, let these poems written by a daughter help express your thoughts to your Father on this special day.
11 Short Fathers Day Poems - short poems, to share; ones expressing respect and fondness of the man we cherish and treasure, our Dad.
Step Dad Poems - For that special man, your step-dad. Being a step-father is not an easy task. But they grow to love their step-children as their own. The relationship is different but there is still a close attachment and relationship to this man.
Fathers Day Inspirational Poems - Let these inspirational poems say thank you to your father or to someone who has made a positive difference in your life.
Father Quotes Short quotes about fathers to share, inspire and encourage.


text:
Special Master Lukoff issues rulings related to protective order
Posted byYoung Conaway Staff September 8, 2014 Posted inSpecial Master
In a series of related cases (e.g., Inventor Holdings, LLC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., C.A. No. 13-096-GMS (D. Del. Aug. 27, 2014)), Special Master Paul M. Lukoff issued an opinion relating to a number of protective order disputes. The parties had disagreements over: "the scope of the prosecution bar, the use of laptop computers by plaintiff's attorneys and experts in the stand-alone computer access facility and the extent to which the plaintiff can obtain hard copies of source code pages." Id. at 2.
As to the (bilateral) prosecution bar, the plaintiff wanted its litigation counsel to be able to "consult with [prosecution counsel]" in re-examination, inter partes review and covered business method review, "explaining that coordination is necessary to avoid taking inconsistent positions." Id. at 3. The Special Master, relying on recent case law regarding prosecution bars in this District (Versata Software, Inc. v. Callidus Software, Inc.), concluded that the risk of inadvertent disclosure merited a "limited prosecution bar exemption similar to the one noted above in Versata," where litigation counsel would not be allowed to consult with prosecution counsel if they reviewed source code in the litigation. Id. at 4. The Special Master observed that, since plaintiff's litigation team may soon grow from three to five attorneys, it appeared that plaintiff would be able to "implement a response to the potentially irreconcilable situation created by access to source code on one hand and possible proceedings at the PTO on the other." Id. at 5. The Special Master further decided that 1) the duration of this bar would be two years and 2) the subject matter of the bar would be "the broad subject matter of the patent-in-suit," as defendant requested, because "[e]specially as a non-practicing entity, the risk is that the ambitions of the plaintiff are quite broad in terms of the reach of the technology they own." Id.
Regarding the laptop computer issue, plaintiff requested laptop computers when accessing source code to facilitate note-taking. The parties had already agreed that no mobile phones would be allowed and that the source code would only be available at a stand-alone computer. The Special Master pointed out that "the plaintiff, having already agreed to create a fairly impervious environment . . . has already conceded that any device that could undermine that environment would jeopardize the integrity" of the confidential information. Id. at 6. Under these circumstances the Special Master explained that a laptop computer, even if lacking a camera or unable to transmit information from the stand-alone computer, would not qualify as acceptable. Id. Therefore, plaintiff's notes would have to be hand-written.
Finally, regarding printing source code, plaintiff wanted to print 1,000 pages aggregate total, while defendants requested a limit of 250 pages aggregate total. The Special Master observed that the parties had yet to make all exchanges contemplated by Paragraph 4 of the District's Default Standard for Discovery, and in light of "this state of incomplete discovery, we are probably not at a point yet where we know enough to establish the appropriate boundaries for 'excessive' printing." Id. at 8. Therefore, the Special Master deferred decision on this issue, directing the plaintiff to apply to the Special Master if necessary and to note page numbers that "had the present 'excessive' threshold not been extant, they would have requested to be printed, so that those pages . . . can indeed be printed in the event the Court permits such." Id. at 8.
Judge Robinson rules on motions for summary judgment, motions to exclude
Judge Stark grants leave to amend answer with inequitable conduct claims and defenses

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
ARTIST Kaiser Chiefs
ALBUM Ruby single
britpop • indie • indie rock • rock • seen live
Ab--G
Bbm	Fm	Eb
Bbm	Fm	Eb  /Db  /C  /Bb
Bbm	Fm	Eb  /Db  /C  /Bb /Ab /G /F /Eb
Bbm	          Fm
Let it never be said, the romance is dead
Cm	            Eb
Cause there's so little else,   occupying my head
Bbm	                      Fm
There is nothing I need,    'sept the function to breathe
Cm	                      Eb
But I'm not really fussed,    doesn't matter to me
Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby
I'd do ya, do  ya, do ya, do ya
Bbm	   Fm	Eb
The way you do it, do it to me
Bbm	           Fm
Due to lack of interest, tomorrow is cancelled
Cm	                  Eb
Let the clock's be reset, and the pendulum's held
Bbm	                   Fm
'Cause there's nothing I'm told, 'sept the space in between
Finding out what you're called, and repeating your name
Chorus - E -
Fm					  Dd
Could it be, could it be, that you're joking with me
Bbm			        Eb    E
And you don't really don't see, you and me—
https://ukutabs.com/k/kaiser-chiefs/ruby/
~Monday 18th of January~
Kaiser Chiefs are a post-britpop band which formed in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England in early 2003. The band consists of Ricky Wilson (vocals), Andrew "Whitey" White (guitar), Simon Rix (bass), Nick "Peanut" Baines (keyboards) and Vijay Mistry(drums). Nick Hodgson is the band's former drummer and main songwriter but left the band in December 2012 to focus on other projects. The band has released five albums as of 2014 and have released 16 singles, including the hits I Predict a Riot, Oh My God, Ruby and Never Miss a Beat.
All songs by Kaiser Chiefs


text:
<?php
/**
 * @author: Ilson Nóbrega <ilson@inobrega.com.br>
 * @since: 03/05/2015 - 00:50
 */

namespace SONRest\Service;

use Zend\Http\Response;

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    public function process() {
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        return $this->response;
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    {
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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


As picture editor for the New York Times, Morris helped grant front-page exposure to this historic photo, taken by Nick Ut Cong Huynh.
As picture editor for the New York Times, Morris helped grant front-page exposure to this historic photo, taken by Eddie Adams.
PARIS — John Morris, a celebrated American photo editor who helped bring to the word's eyes some of the most iconic photographs of World War II and the Vietnam War, has died at 100.
His longtime friend, Robert Pledge, president and editorial director of the Contact Press Images photo agency, told The Associated Press that Morris died Friday at a hospital in Paris, the city where he had been living for decades.
Morris edited the historic pictures of the D-Day invasion in Normandy taken by famous photographer Robert Capa in 1944 for Life magazine. In addition, as picture editor for The New York Times, he helped grant front-page display to two of the most striking pictures of Vietnam War by Associated Press photographers Nick Ut Cong Huynh and Eddie Adams.


This is a one-time event and will not happen again.
DESCRIPTION: Girls Night Out! It is our annual FUNraising season and all proceeds from GNO will be donated to Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation, Cancer Schmancer movement, Childrens Miracle Network, CAST, Eyes on Cancer, Food 4 Africa, No Limits Foundation, Thirst Project, Gary Sinise Foundation, Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation.
We will be having a gift auction so anyone willing to donate a basket/gift card, etc. – it is much appreciated. We also will have wine tastings, food, a DJ, many chances to win great prizes, and awesome vendors. Our Future Professionals will also be performing beauty services.
To purchase a ticket, donate an item for the gift auction, or to become a vendor give us a call.
Tables for vendors are $50 to sell your products and/or promote your business.


Ethan must now live as Drew Bohner—a petite blonde with an unfortunate last name—and navigate the treacherous waters of freshman year while also following the rules: Never tell anyone what you are. Never disobey the Changers Council. And never, ever fall in love with another Changer. Oh, and Drew also has to battle a creepy underground syndicate called "Abiders" (as well as the sadistic school queen bee, Chloe). And she can't even confide in her best friend Audrey, who can never know the real her, without risking both of their lives.
Fans of the books of John Green, the Joss Whedonverse—and empathy between humans—will find much to love in this first of a four-part series that tracks the journey of an average suburban boy who becomes an incredible young woman . . . who becomes a reluctant hero . . . who becomes the person she was meant to be.
Love it. Love it, love it, love it. Seriously. Read this.
I absolutely love the subject matter of this book. I think the topic is phenomenal, and it challenges the way you think about "girl" and "boy".
I remember when I was pregnant with my son. I really wanted a girl and thought in the beginning that I was having a female. A few weeks before I found out, and people would ask me what I thought, I always hesitated to say. I did not want to call it a "she" in case it was actually a he and I was giving him a complex before he even entered the world. Silly, yes, but pregnant women are not the most rational beasts on the planet.
I love this book because it makes you think about how society treats you, and how you treat others, based on gender. And the very best part of it all is that the lead character, Ethan-turned-Drew, is okay with it. Of course things are murky and strange at first. But as Drew navigates 9th grade, she is simultaneously attracted to her female bff and this guy she meets. And it is okay.
I want my son to grow up in a world where it is okay to explore who you are, how you identify, and one where you love people based on their soul, not what is in their pants. I think a lot of teens struggle with identity, and this is a book that can make them feel better that they just don't know who they are.
The authors start to bring up some social issues, though they do not go much into why the Changers exist or why the Abiders do not want them to. They also do not really explain the renegade Changers. However, it is only 9th grade, and Ethan/Drew/whoever else has a lot of time to unearth the reasons. I am absolutely looking forward to the next book and so very curious to see who Drew wakes up as in 10th grade!
I strongly encourage you to pick this up. It is great... And there are no vampires.
An interview with the authors, T and Allison!
1. The concept behind Changers is very unique. How did you come up with the idea?
We were literally sitting on a blanket in the park talking about our then 11- and 12-year-old daughters, and how they seemed to wake up as different people day to day. And bam, just like that, we thought, what if that actually happened? We decided to take the journey all humans go through as we find our way to adulthood, the stumbling through various phases and personalities, and make it literal. We are also big believers that every person contains multitudes. That we are all a little bit of everything. And this concept allowed us to explore those themes as well. Lastly, we love a good love story. And to us, Changers is essentially about how we can love one another no matter what shape, size, gender, race, etc. we become.
2. Writing for one person is hard enough, but having two authors could be even more difficult. How did you collaborate to write this book?
It was both easy and challenging. Easy because we trust each other. Difficult because we are both stubborn people used to having dominion over our words. It became an exercise in compromise. But it was also really exciting to meld our voices and see the twists and turns that came about from collaboration. There were fights. But no blood was shed. Yet.
3. I assume this will be a 4 book series. Do you have the other changes already in mind, or are you just waiting to see how things develop?
We do know the other three changes that our lead will go through, and yes, it's a four-part series, one identity per year of high school. We also know who our protagonist will choose to be at the end of the series. That said, the process of writing is always a little bit magical, and that alchemy could certainly affect the end result. As with everything, you have to be open to letting the work take off on the life you've blown into it.


Is your lovely kid's birthday coming up soon? Well, you have some serious planning to do. Birthday parties for kids are getting more and more detailed day by day and you will need to start your preparations well beforehand if you want to make it a special day for him or her.
If you are planning to hold a big party for your kid, you must definitely be looking for some nice ideas for the party. There are so many questions that you will need answers to and this article offers you some of the best tips to organize a kid's birthday party in India.
You must first decide about the guests for the party. You must definitely ask your kids whom he/she wants to invite before you make the list. It is best to include all his/her friends in school and the neighborhood. You must make sure you make a list and start inviting because, it would be not be nice if you missed a few kids for the party. It is okay to call a few relatives to the party, but remember, the party is for your kids, so their friends are the priority.
You also have to choose a good venue for the party. There are plenty of kids party halls in the major cities of India like Delhi, Cochin, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The kids party halls would have so many games set up and the kids can have the best time of their lives for the birthday party. Most importantly, you must choose a venue that would fit all your guests. You don't want the place to be over crowded and congested for the kids. So choose a big enough place to make them feel free and comfortable. A kids birthday party should not last for more than a few hours time. It is not an easy job to keep the kids entertained the whole day. The best time would be either in the morning from about 10 AM to 2 PM, which can include lunch or in the evening from 6 PM to 8 PM where you can include dinner.
After you have decided the time and the venue, you have to think about the invitations. It is best to use online invitation tools like Yoovite. You cannot imagine how easy it is to get everything done online via Yoovite. It has options to design a good draft for the invitation and send it to several recipients at the same time. You can also personalize the cards for several people if you want to make them sound more personal. With a nice range of templates, Yoovite is the best tool to make inviting an easy job.
If you are holding a kids birthday party, then you must definitely choose a theme for the party. Kids birthday parties are all themed these days and the decorations, the cake and everything you choose would depend on the theme that you select for the party. There are so many kinds of themes available for kids birthday parties in India. You have to choose something that your kid would love. It can be based on her/his favorite cartoons, storybook characters or TV programs she/he loves. You could also plan a costume party and ask the kids to come dressed as characters of a particular show or movie like say Harry Potter. Decorate the venue like a magical school and have the tables set up like Hogwarts. The kids are gonna love it!
It is best to go for some fast food when you want to give kids a treat. Fried Chicken, Pizzas, Burgers, French Fries and soft drinks would be the best choice. You could just get everything ordered in advance. If you are planning to make the food at home, you must choose treats that you feel the kids will eat. Remember, not everything will appeal to them and you have to make something that would satisfy their hunger.
For a kids birthday party, it is always nice to have some nice takeaway gifts for the kids coming to the party. Kids always love gifts and you don't have to get anything very costly to make them happy. There are plenty of inexpensive goodie bags available in the market these days. Most of these goodie bags would include crayons, coloring books, homemade bookmarks, candies, cookies or kids music CD's. Always have a couple of extra goodie bags ready. You don't know if you will need them.
Make sure you organize some good games for the party too. Kids' party can include singing and dance competitions, musical chairs, video games etc. You don't have to restrict it to kids. Even adults can sing and dance if they want to. It would be great if you can arrange some small prizes for the best performer in the games and don't forget to add that in your Yoovite invitation card.


Diablo Cody writing the script for the big screen adaption of Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High isn't news, however, in the wake of the book release of Sweet Valley Confidential, which revisits the Wakefield twins as adults, there's an update on the movie. Word is, the script is written.
On the heels of this week's release of the long awaited book Sweet Valley Confidential comes word that Diablo Cody will help bring twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield to life on the big screen. A source confirms to E News that the Oscar winner will be writing and producing the project.
I read some of the Sweet Valley High books growing up but I was more of a Babysitters Club girl. Maybe it's an East Coast/West Coast thing. I guess I related more to the enterprising girls who teamed up to babysit as many kids as they could find in their small Connecticut suburb much more than I did two blond twins from California. All the same, I'm strangely fascinated by the idea of Diablo Cody's take on the series.
One of the things that works so well in Juno and Jennifer's Body (a movie I can't not watch whenever I come across it on HBO) is the dialogue among the female characters. It's realistic and blended with an above-average level of wittiness and humor. Juno, Leah, Jennifer and Needy aren't these squeaky clean images of what some might say an American teenage girl is supposed act or talk like. Thinking back to what I remember of Sweet Valley High, I can't picture Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield hanging out with with those girls. Sure, Jessica was more likely to cut class occasionally, while Elizabeth was more reserved, but I don't remember either of them as being all that edgy.
It should probably be noted that it's been more than a few years since I've read those books and I'm certain there's some stuff from the adapted TV series in the '90's mixed in with what I remember of the characters. Regardless, fans should love the idea of Cody on this project and I'm very interested to learn more about the film as more details emerge and whatever surprises Cody referenced in her tweet are revealed.


Our highly skilled therapists treat patients of all ages, from newborns to seniors, for a variety of short‑term and chronic conditions. We believe a strong partnership among everyone in the chain of care can lead to positive outcomes and lasting results. Whether you are working toward a first step or a fast run, our experienced clinicians are here for you throughout your journey.


text:
The Fantastic Island
Doc Savage #34
by Kenneth Robeson
Bantam, 135pp
Published: Original 1935 Bantam 1966
December 1935's issue of 'Doc Savage Magazine', credited, as always, to Kenneth Robeson, was the fifth novel in a row to be written by a different author. Lester Dent had finished a run of five books in August, then handed over to a relay team comprised of J. Allan Dunn, Harold A. Davis, Lawrence Donovan and, finally, W. Ryerson Johnson, who had previously contributed 'Land of Always-Night' back in March.
'The Fantastic Island' has something of a poor reputation with fans, many of whom truly loathe the mechanism that lies behind a number of mysterious deaths in the book, but I find that it's a real mixed bag. It's consistently inconsistent, from the first few pages to the last few. It begins, for instance, with some clumsy language, which is odd given the vibrant prose of 'Land of Always-Night', but Johnny is kidnapped in the very first line. In other words, it starts horribly and wonderfully all at the same time.
He disappeared while on an archaeological expedition to the Galapagos Islands, prompting Doc to ask a couple of his other assistants to investigate. Fortunately, Monk and Ham aren't far away, vacationing on a yacht called the Seven Seas somewhere off Panama; with Pat Savage. Now, why Monk and Ham are sharing a boat in the middle of nowhere with Pat, I have no idea. Even if we put all our dirty thoughts aside, Monk and Ham spend their time annoying everyone around them with the constant bickering that constitutes the vast majority of their dialogue. Yeah, we know they're secretly best friends but they're not best friends that anyone else ever wants to be around, so I don't buy into Pat volunteering to spend a holiday in between these two perennial opponents.
Anyway, they head over to the Galapagos and find themselves suckered into a graveyard of ships, red lightning flaring all around them as they become the latest wreck of over two dozen. At least the prose quickly improves, as they survive the wreck and escape inland, and so does the imagery. If the red lightning wasn't hellish enough, they discover a volcanic landscape honeycombed with pits, the stench of sulphur pervading the atmosphere as a small army of slaves dig within the pits, under the thirsty whips of their guards. Johnson had us visit some wild locations in 'Land of Always-Night' and this one is worthy of the same praise.
But then he turns it into a gothic. Here, on a remote volcanic island, they find a mediaeval Slavic castle, lorded over by Count Alexander Ramadanoff, a very polite, if clearly insane and wildly dangerous, Russian noble. He is completely in charge of his domain, as any villainous noble worth his salt must be, not only over his men and his slaves, which include Johnny and his crew, but everyone else who's been shipwrecked in the vicinity, such as Monk, Ham and Pat, who promptly become 'guests' of the Count, or in other words, prisoners without bars. At least until they piss him off, anyway, and then it's the pits. Or the thumbnail death.
Johnson builds the story well, gradually introducing Doc and his men as needed. Long Tom arrives in chapter 4, witnessing a 'grayish-blue streak' of a tiny creature attacking the boy who operates Doc's special elevator. Doc's not far behind him, showing up later than he has perhaps showed up at any point in the series thus far. Naturally he figures out that the boy was bitten by a venomous centipede indigenous only to the Galapagos islands, as the Count has both a surprisingly long reach and the arrogance to be so frickin' obvious. And, finally, Renny joins the fray, calling Doc and Long Tom back to headquarters after the centipede strikes again, killing a two-hundred-pound cop before Renny could kill it. And so we have the whole gang involved, including Pat, for the first time since 'Fear Cay' fifteen books earlier.
A few things become quickly obvious, the first being that Johnson hadn't done his homework. Only two books earlier, in 'Dust of Death' we'd learned about the simple trick that Doc and his men use when sending telegrams to ensure authenticity: each line begins with a five letter word. Johnson didn't notice and ignored that here, with Doc and Renny trusting an important cable from Monk even though their code would have proven it obviously untrustworthy.
Another is that he wanted an overt villain. Most of Lester Dent's novels thus far involve a villain doing all the villainous things that villains do, but at a distance and usually behind a mask or a fake name to which even his own men aren't privy. Count Alexander Ramadanoff is probably the most obvious bad guy the series had seen thus far. We know he's the villain from his first appearance and he only gets more villainous from there. He's a worthy opponent for Doc but he knows it too and he relishes it. When the man of bronze fails to hypnotise him, he simply ignores him and carries on with his villainy.
For a third, as the logical counter to Ramadanoff's villainy, Johnson wants Doc to be the epitome of the hero. Simply saving the day, rescuing the girl and defeating the villain just isn't enough for him; he has Savage dive into shark infested waters to save Renny, setting up an overtly heroic repeat of the alligator incident in 'Quest of the Spider', albeit without the ensuing idiotic disguise. I believe that the shark scene was written for a couple of reasons: Johnson is clearly a cliffhanger serial sort of guy, ending each chapter like it's setting up next week's thrilling instalment, and he really doesn't like Renny.
I have no idea what our favourite big engineer ever did to W. Ryerson Johnson, but the author treats him poorly throughout. It's one thing to face him off against Count Ramadanoff in a bare knuckle fight, in which the Count plays with his opponent and, becoming bored with his pitiful challenge, knocks Renny out, proclaiming that, 'It appears that I must live all my life without meeting a foe worthy of my efforts.' That's embarrassing, to be sure, but Johnson even has him fail to punch his way through a wooden door panel, his signature move, even wailing to Doc afterwards. That's mortifying. Having a bullet throw a high torch thistle, some sort of Galapagos cactus, onto Renny's shoulders a couple of chapters from the end, prompting him to spend the next three weeks pulling barbs out of his skin, is adding insult to injury for absolutely no valid reason.
The cliffhangers work much better, though they do get progressively wilder until they make no sense outside of the cliffhanger concept. I appreciate the army of starved iguanas—'scabrous monsters, with frenzied grunts and a blood-chilling grate of serrated teeth'—though they really ought to have been given more to do, and the horde of wild pigs is a fantastic addition, giving Habeas Corpus something to do in the process, but the tidal wave of carnivorous crabs makes no sense at all. How did the Count's men capture them again after each use? At least it all happens quickly. For all that the first chapter started so clumsily, boy, does it get moving! The action comes fast and furious and it doesn't quit.
Sadly, it means that Johnson runs out of space to finish things up properly. He's too busy setting armies of wild animals into motion as living weapons to pay attention to his word count and that means that the book finishes in annoyingly rapid fashion. We can almost hear his mind realise his predicament and mutter directions to him, like a second rate Cecil B. DeMille. Cue the volcano! Blow up the house! Ah, crap! We're supposed to find the treasure! Just look over there! Oh, and we need explanations. Throw out some explanations! That'll do. Now, I want lava flowing over there to wipe out everything! And... cut! That's a wrap! Where's my lunch?
As outlandish as some of this got, I was with Johnson after a couple of chapters and I was with him all the way until a couple of chapters from the end, when he lost me completely. Yes, part of that is the revelation about the mechanism behind the thumbnail death, which is underwhelming and frankly unbelievable. Most of it, though, is the speed with which it all wraps up. We're supposed to believe that the Count has used an army of slaves to search for the McGuffin for twenty years, without distraction because he's on an island with nothing except his mediaeval Slavic mansion, but Doc Savage can track it down in three hours? No. we don't buy into that at all.
The other thing we wouldn't buy into except for the date is Robbie the Robot. No, not the one we all know and love from 1956's 'Forbidden Planet'. This is the first in a surprising number of precursors; after Johnson created a Robbie the Robot here in 1935, Isaac Asimov followed suit in a short story and even Tom Swift designs one in a children's book right before the film. Here, Robbie is used in conjunction with neatly designed landscaping outside the Hidalgo Trading Company, Doc's hangar on the Hudson waterfront. It's all set up to make attackers feel like they can perform a successful ambush, but instead of Doc popping his head out to be shot to death, it's, 'A mechanical likeness of Doc. Robbie, the Robot.' Cool, huh?
Well, as cool as it is, it's about the only element anywhere in the book to add to the Doc Savage mythos, other than Pat's holidaying habits, and the only word that stands out for attention is 'knout', a heavy and vicious whip from Russia that resembles a cat-o-nine tails. Really, this isn't a book of particular interest to the series, except as a second outing for W. Ryerson Johnson which both succeeds admirably and fails dismally to echo the work of Lester Dent that preceded it. Mostly, it's an argument point for fans. Put four of them on a convention panel, kick them off with, ''The Fantastic Island': good or bad?' and let them at it for an hour. ~~ Hal C F Astell
For other Doc Savage titles click here


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Municipio de Sagua la Grande är en kommun i Kuba.   Den ligger i provinsen Provincia de Villa Clara, i den centrala delen av landet,  km öster om huvudstaden Havanna. Antalet invånare är . Arean är  kvadratkilometer.

Källor

Externa länkar

Indelningar i Provincia de Villa Clara

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


service the following day at the funeral home or a church.
deceased to the funeral home, hearse, and a memorial package.
Excluded are casket, vault, cash advances, and all applicable taxes.
services, burial will be the following day at the cemetery's discretion.
A tribute service consisting of family and friends held at the cemetery.
This includes transfer of the deceased to the funeral home followed by a direct burial.
to the funeral home, hearse, and a memorial package.
be as special as the life you are remembering and we are committed to helping you create this meaningful service.
funerals are doorways to healing for the bereaved." says Dr. Alan Wolfelt, noted author, educator, and grief counselor.


Our team is committed to servicing you.
We have a true passion for paint.
Our most valuable resource is our people and our team is dedicated in building relationships within and with our suppliers, and customers. Albar has three primary objectives: on-time delivery, on target cost, and the highest quality.


Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper on the communication process using Exhibit 11.1 and Exhibit 11.3 in Ch. 11 of Organizational Behavior as your models.
· Describe the communication climate in your organization as a whole.
· What are the strengths and weaknesses of your organization's communication?
· Does the management approach of your organization's supervisors, managers, and executives contribute to or detract from effective communication? Explain.
· Provide an example that supports your view.


Posted: November 5, 2018 in Postcards from Cancerland.
It's Sunday night and I find myself in the Emergency Room.
That's not where I expected to be.
My Mom and Sister were here this weekend.
In a strange twist of suckiness, Mom was diagnosed with cancer the same day as me.
She fought her own brave fight.
She underwent six weeks of radiation.
My amazing sister, Hope, was by her side the whole time.
A few weeks ago, Mom was able to ring the bell.
It was good to hug her, hang out, and celebrate life a bit.
They flew home and things got weird.
I have felt really groggy today.
Then I got the chills and I got a fever.
That's not a good thing with my beat up immune system.
So my doctor told us to head to the ER.
I was put in an isolation room with comfortable chairs and given a mask to wear.
After putting the mask on I was immediately thankful that I brushed my teeth before coming.
I was taken to one small room for a few tests and then taken to a bigger room where I was hooked up with a very ventilated green gown.
In the last few hours I've had people take blood and take chest X-rays.
I had to pee in something that looks like a plastic milk jug.
A pharmacist came up and quizzed me about drugs that I'm on. But she was wearing a mask so it sounded like "dooooth yoousth taaketh jour medths".
They are giving me antibiotics and a "crap load" of fluids. (Those were my nurses exact words, I like exact measurements. I think crap load is part of the metric system).
So far the fever has just risen.
We were just admitted into a regular room where they are running more tests and taking my vitals every three minutes.
Another nurse just took a nasal specimen swab with a long stick. (It was a Q-tip from hell). They stuck it up my nose and I felt it touch my brain. That wasn't pleasant.
Hospitals are tough places to rest.
Diana is trying to rest on the weird little hospital room vinyl couch.
Tomorrow was supposed to be the beginning of round six, instead I'm wearing lovely purple non-skid hospital socks.
Sometimes Sundays don't work out the way you think.


Ganesh Himal is located 70km north of Kathmandu, nearly in the center of Nepal, extending all the way to the Tibetan border. Its name is derived from the Hindu deity Genesha, which is generally depicted as a seated elephant and is the God of good fortune. Some say the southern face of Ganesh IV actually resembles an elephants head with the descending ridge reminiscent of a giant trunk. The Peaks of Ganesh 1-4 rise above everything in sight like timeless, gigantic sentinels with diamond eyes, ever watchful; this range is part of the Great Himalayan Chain. The regions boundary to the east is Trisuli Gandaki valley separating Ganesh Himal from Langtang Himal and Buri Gandaki Valley to the west separating it from Sringi and Mansiri Himal.
The torrents of seasonal trekkers usually do not frequent this gem of a trail, but it is no less captivating than many other famous and more popular treks. Yangra (Ganesh1) at 7,422m is the highest mountain in the area with still 3 others above 7000m and over fifteen mountains above 6000m, the scenes are astounding beyond compare with many side options for unforgettable panoramas. Daily life here consists of farming, animal husbandry, praying, eating and living in harmony with the thousands of plants and animals that occupy the region. There are two very ancient and unique temples, Gorkhanath and Kali, which are both a must see for those trekking this route!
Day 2 :Kathmandu valley sightseeing &Trek; Preparation (1,300m/4,264ft).
Day 4 :Trek from Pairo Bensi to Kispang (1900m) 5-6 hours trek.
Day 5 :Trek from Kispang to Gonga (2, 800m.) 6-7 hours trek.
Day 6 :Trek from Gonga to Rupchet (3, 720m.) 5 hours trek.
Day 7 :Rest & acclimatization day at Rupchet, explore around Rupchet.
Day 8 :Trek from Rupchet to Singla Bhanjyang (4,750m) - Phedi (3,545m.) 7-8 hours trek.
Day 9 :Trek from Phedi to Pansang Bhanjyang (4, 000m.) 6-7 hours trek.
Day 10 :Trek from Pansang Bhanjyang to Tipling (2, 500m.) 5-6 hours trek.
Day 11 :Trek from Tipling to Sertung (2, 050m.) 6 hours trek.
Day 12 :Trek from Sertung to Sapchet (1, 500m) 5-6 hours trek.
Day 13 :Trek from Sapchet to Darkha (1, 250m.) 5-6 hours trek.
Day 14 :Trek from Darkha to Lapang (1, 000m.) 5-6 hours trek.
Day 15 :Trek from Lapang to Khahare (9, 00m) 5- 6 hours trek.
Day 16 :Trek from Khahare to Arughat (700m) 5-6 hours trek.
Day 17 :Drive to Kathmandu and we go for a farewell dinner in the evening.
Day 18 :Transfer to the airport for your onward flight home sweet home.


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Q: WPF Telerik Rad Map Polygon Data binding to Polygon Data within class I am trying to add polygons to the telerik rad map with a PolygonData class embedded within a parent class.
public class PolygonClass
{
    public int ID { get; set; }
    public PolygonData Polygon { get; set; }
}

I'm trying to bind my VisualizationLayer.ItemSource to the 'Polygon' Property within 'PolygonClass' because I need to reference an ID value in various other places of my application. The only way I've recently been able to make this work is by binding to a property of ObservableCollection.
Has anyone else ran into this and knows of a solution? Thanks in advance.

A: There are several ways to achieve your requirement.
You can populate the Items collection of VisualizaztionLayer (instead of ItemsSource) with PolygonData objects. Any additional information, like the the ID, can be stored in the ExtendedData property of the PolygonData.
PolygonData polygon = new PolygonData();
polygon.ExtendedData["ID"] = 3;

Or you can use the map bindable wrappers inside the ItemTemplate property of VisualizationLayer. In your case the wrapper that should be used is MapPolygonView.
<telerik:VisualizationLayer.ItemTemplate>
    <DataTemplate>
        <telerik:MapPolygonView Points="{Binding Polygon.Points}" />
    </DataTemplate>
</telerik:VisualizationLayer.ItemTemplate>

Note that in this case, you won't need the PolygonData in your PolygonClass, because the MapPolygonView will automatically generate one and add in the VisualizationLayer. Instead, you can define the shape information (like points and fill) in PolygonClass and data bind to those.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Smithfield Pediatrics uses the Patient Centered Medical Home model of care. PATIENT CENTERED is a way of saying that your child is the most important person in the health care system. Your child is at the center of his or her health care.
A Medical Home is an approach to providing total health care. In a medical home, you and your child will join a team of health care professionals to help you with your child's health care. The doctors and staff here at Smithfield Pediatrics are a part of your child's medical home. We are here to help your child reach his or her health care goals. We will coordinate your child's care with other physicians to provide evidence-based care, along with self-management support.
The Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a model that emphasizes improving and maintaining healthy lifestyles. We are committed to providing our patients with the support they need to manage their treatment plans.
With a Medical Home, you, your child and your team will work together. As an active member of the team, you and your child will have a chance to explain things that are really important to your family. To assist us with providing the best possible care, you and your child will need to provide a complete medical history including any care your child has received outside of our practice.
Children of any age can experience depression, anxiety, school and/or behavioral problems. Children may also need help adjusting to family changes such as divorce or new siblings, or to change unhealthy habits such as poor sleep or diet. Our providers are ready to discuss these issues when they occur. We also have in-house child and family therapy services available, as well as an extensive referral network of specialists to address your child or family's particular needs, so please discuss these needs with your provider. We can also provide social work services.
Smithfield Pediatrics accepts most health insurances. Please check with our staff to make sure your coverage is accepted.
If necessary, we will work with you to establish a payment plan.
Dinusha W. Dietrich, MD, Care Team Leader – supported by Allison Pennine, Medical Assistant.


For some the Cheltenham Festival may now seem like a distant memory.
And many racegoers have already booked their tickets and accommodation for next year's event.
But don't fret as the April Meeting is just over three weeks away, followed by Race Night on Friday, May 3- and racegoers are in for a real treat.
The latter newly named fixture - which is the only one scheduled in the evening at Cheltenham Racecourse - will finish with a bang as BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James takes to the decks for an evening of party anthems.
He said: "Race Night is the perfect way to start your Bank Holiday weekend and end the racing season at the racecourse.
"I look forward to returning and entertaining everyone with some fantastic tunes to party the night away."
This is the second time the DJ has performed at The Centaur and it's sure to be a night to remember.
Tickets start from £8, but those who are up for making a night of it may want to purchase the Centaur Party Package ticket for £37 which includes entrance to the after party, raceday ticket (Club/Tatts), a £10 betting voucher, £9 towards food and drink plus a racecard.
Gates open at 3.30pm on the day and the first race is at 5.30pm.


A northwoods-inspired element of design will be the perfect finishing touch for your stationery ensemble. The red flannel design with buck sillhouette on one side and your address on the other is a stylish finish that will get noticed.
Size: 2 1/4" x 3 5/8"
Personalization Options: Red plaid and white buck design is printed as shown. Background and wording are printed in your choice of colors and fonts.


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Pure passion for badminton fuels Mar
December 9, 2019 — by Lihi Shoshani and Joann Zhang
In August, sophomore Adrian Mar went to Russia to compete in the 2019 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Junior Championships (WJC) in Kazan, Russia, after winning the regional trials in Livermore.
To earn a spot in the competition, players had to win one of the three events — doubles, mixed and singles.
Competing in doubles and mixed, Mar advanced in the mixed event and made it to finals. In both mixed and boys' doubles, Mar placed first with partners, respectively, Mills High sophomores Kalea Sheung and Richard Wang.
Mar was younger than the other players at the WJC, and unfortunately lost in the first round.
"It was a great experience being able to play against older players from around the world," Mar said.
After the WJC, Mar sparred with opponents for fun to make new friends and learn from high-level players. Next year, he hopes to do better at the WJC after more training
Mar first became interested in the sport when, at the age of 7, he tagged along with his mother to open gyms for fun. A year after he began playing, his mother took him to watch a tournament; the game's intensity and complexity intrigued Mar, and he decided to pursue badminton competitively.
"I love the competition, even if I lose," Mar said. "It's always a good experience to play against a skilled opponent."
After playing the sport for eight years, his competitive nature has paid off in success in the sport.
Last February, Mar competed in the Northwest Open Regional Championships with his usual tournament partners, Monta Vista High junior Aaron Low and Mission San Jose High sophomore Emily Han, winning 10 out of 11 matches.
In August, he flew to Japan to compete in the Shonai Invitational, where he won all three matches. Later that same month in Mukilteo, U.S., Mar played in the Harbour Pointe Open Regional Championships, winning eight out of 11 matches.
To further his skills, Mar travels to various parts of Asia, where badminton is a much more prevalent sport. While there, he trains with international coaches. He looks forward to traveling to Hong Kong during winter break and Malaysia in the summer, and enjoys practicing in different countries because seeing other players helps him improve. In addition to coach-run practices, Mar conditions on his own time with weightlifting and running.
The sport's extreme commitment has left Mar with less time to finish school work; his hectic schedule occasionally stresses him out. Mar practices three hours a day, not including conditioning, and tournaments outside of the state and country often cause him to miss school: for the WJC, Mar missed a week of school to travel to Russia.
His love for the sport, however, makes the sacrifice worth it.
"I love badminton because each match is a new and fun experience," Mar said. "The community is full of passionate badminton players who also want to win, making the competition even harder."
Badminton has also connected Mar to friends around the world and within school. When playing for the school team last year, he played doubles with junior Ryan Hsiao.
"He was a great friend on and off the court," Hsiao said. "He always seemed relaxed, which helped us both play better, since there was less pressure."
Mar will be playing for the school team this year too, with Hsiao as his doubles partner, and is hoping to have fun, play matches that aren't as intense and help his teammates get better throughout the season.
Looking forward, Mar aims to one day compete in the Olympics if he can continue to improve his skills.
"I haven't accomplished everything I want to do yet," Mar said. "There's a lot more I can do in the sport, and it's my biggest passion."


When it's time to revisit your Business Insurance coverage, or purchase your first policy, give Sheri Wilson a call at The Insurance Store of CT! The Insurance Store of CT is your local independent agency serving Manchester CT and surrounding towns. When you choose an independent agent such as Insurance Store of Connecticut, you can be certain you will receive the best coverage at the best rate available. Preparing for unforeseen circumstances is what small business insurance is all about. Having the right business insurance coverage may be the one thing that will keep you in business should you get sued, experience a disaster or vandalism, or endure a period when business is interrupted. Most small businesses that experience an interruption in service do not reopen after a disaster due to the loss of income while their doors are closed.


text:
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These challenges call for a multidisciplinary approach which focuses on communication to aid societal embedding as much as technology. Our team of experts have experience in the whole life cycle and can help you resolve these challenges.
Green Age supports clients in finding innovative solutions for delivering successful projects, while respecting the environment and neighbouring communities.
We offer a wide range of services for land acquisition, following international best practice such as the performance requirements of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). We deliver project management, develop information management solutions, help communication with landowners and manage key issues including temporary disruption of land use, population resettlements and related compensation mechanisms as well as grievance management. We can also advise on project compliance with international standards and managing health and safety risks during construction and site operation.
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Discussion in 'The Artist's Corner' started by The_Jewfather, May 4, 2006.
I just finished this bad boy in photoshop. Everything that you see was done by me entirely from scratch. The only two things that I didn't make are the picnic basket, the lawn chairs, and the picture of earth. This took about three days to make. Feel free to use it as your desktop, or anything you want with it... Just remember to give credit to the original artist .
Thanks. Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, It came from a drawing I did one day in class. All of my doodles seem to relate to astronomy and planets, I like the whole surrealism deal.
where has Ron Paul been?
Anyone been to a funeral where no one cried?
Bloody hell, has no one grown this before?
So no one else has ever smoked "Chop" Before???????


CAIRO – 20 August 2017: Ahmed Kabouria, Al-Masry SC former player, spoke on August 20 after joining Zamalek SC in an LE 8 million transfer.
Speaking to Filgoal, Kabouria revealed why he preferred to join Zamalek SC and not Al-Ahly SC. Zamalek's new striker also talked about what Al-Masry SC manager, Hossam Hassan, told him after joining Zamalek, he also revealed his Zamalek idol.
Kabouria joined Zamalek SC after excelling with Al-Masry SC in the past two years leading Al-Masry SC to the finals of the Egyptian Cup last season before losing to Al-Ahly SC 2-1.


text:
Tinkering Pages
Bookish Lists
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Review by Title
The Bookish Fairy
Young adult, magical realism, and every book in between infused with fairy dust...
Cover Reveal: Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
Genres: contemporary, YA Contemporary, YA Romance
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes & Noble, Buy on Books & Books
After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately.
Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she's cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel.
In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel's charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he's stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel.
To uncover the writer's puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.
Happy Holidays! When I laid eyes on this book cover I seriously thought that this was a YA-cozy-winter-read with the Hallmark feels! This book just SCREAMS a winter read for me and I was surprised to find out that this book comes out on April 16, 2019! Just feast your eyes on this adorable cover by Jenn Bennett who is also the author of the much-talked-about summer book Alex, Approximately!
The synopsis of the book sounds like the perfect cozy read. This book has a mystery element to it and I am not an avid mystery reader but I love the fact that it has a combination of a romance and that the mystery is set in a historic Seattle hotel. Serious Moonlight sounds like the perfect novel to read on a rainy day with some pie and a warm cup of coffee! Pre-order your copy here!
Filed Under: YA News Tagged: contemporary, cozy read, Jenn Bennett, romance, ya, ya contemporary
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha, #1) by Tomi Adeyemi
Series: Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha,
Published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers on May 6, 2018
Genres: fantasy, Fantasy > Magic, Young Adult Fantasy
They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.
Catfairy's Bookmix
This isn't my playlist but I think it's a perfect playlist to go along with this fantastical masterpiece!
"They may have a thousand men in their army, but not one of them has the support of the gods. We have magic on our side, so stay strong, stay confident…"
-Zelie
CatFairy's Thoughts
Children of Blood and Bone is not usually my typical read and fantasy books, in general, are not always in my comfort zone. As soon as I picked up this book, I was taken by surprise because skies…this story is insane! Insanely good!!! The story literally sucked me into the world of Orisha! I love how the world building doesn't interfere with the plot development and the characters. I think sometimes in fantasy books there is too much world building and not enough plot development and this story was such a delight because it has everything an epic fantasy story should have!
Reading COBAB was a pure adrenaline rush! This book has everything you could ask for from politics, racism, romance, magic, adventure, African mythology, and dynamic multi-dimensional characters that you fall in love with!
Catnopsis
"It doesn't matter how strong I get, how much power my magic wields. They will always hate me in this world."
-Tomi Adeyemi
In the land of Orisha, magic is dead. Years ago, magic was alive with the residents of Orisha and they all held different magical powers from people who had diverse abilities such as manipulating fire and connectors who could read the minds of others. The ruler of Orisha, King Saran has a deep hatred for magic. King Saran has abolished magic and will kill anyone who dares to practice it.
Zelie is a diviner and her mother who was a diviner was killed by King Saran many years ago in what was known as The Raid, where many Orishans were slaughtered for practicing magic. Until Zelie gets a vision that she will travel with a magical scroll to a faraway temple to revive magic in the land of Orisha again. Zelie will not be going on this journey to bring magic alone. She will be going on this adventure with her brother Tzain, Princess Amari, Amari's brother Prince Anan, and of course Zelie's beloved lionaire Nailah! Throughout this experience, they learn about the power of their own magic and the strength they have in themselves.
Meet Zelie
Zelie is a ruthless and strong character. Also, she is immensely loyal but there is so much dimension to her character overall. Zelie is the kind of person who could get her heart broken at the same time but has no problem smacking you with that staff if you cross her! I haven't read a character like Zelie in a long time and I was fascinated with her. Although, I have to say that the only complaint that I have with Zelie is that she gave Amari quite a hard time for awhile in the story. Even when Amari was clearly on her side, it was difficult for Zelie to accept her. Despite Zelie's stubbornness, I admired Zelie's character and her unequivocal strength.
Meet Tzain
Tzain is an underrated character in this story and I hope that in the second book they give him a chance to develop his character a bit more. I found Tzain to be such a loyal and patient character. Tzain and Zelie are an adorable brother-sister combo and they compliment one another very well. While Zelie is always getting herself into trouble Tzain is trying to get her out of trouble! Every Zelie needs a Tzain!
Meet Amari
Amari is my favorite character in this story because she shows a huge character arc and it develops rather nicely. Amari began the story as a very meek character. Although throughout the story you can see how she changes and her quiet strength slowly comes out with a vengeance. Even though, Amari learns to stand up for herself she is still a sweet character and develops a strong bond with Zelie in the process. Amari is a mix of sweetness and "kickassness" and that's a great combo if you ask me!
Meet Inan
Inan…Inan…Inan…where do I begin with Inan?! Inan drove me, insane people. Inan wasn't my favorite character at all. This character is so deeply flawed and didn't know what the heck he wanted. He would make a decision and then change at the drop of the hat. Inan was constantly battling his mind and he was so indecisive that it drove me nuts! Although I could understand where he was coming from and the intense amount of pressure he was in but I was struggling with this character and found it hard to find a connection with him.
CatFairy's Final Thoughts
There are many people out there that compare COBAB to a Harry Potter level and I wholeheartedly agree with this opinion! This book is such an entertaining read because it's not your typical cardboard cutout characters. These characters are flawed, brave, and beautiful all at the same time. COBAB is one of the few fantasy books where all the characters are African American and this makes the book so refreshing and different from the others. COBAB is riveting from beginning to end and there aren't any parts in the story where it was dragging in the least bit. The whole time that I was reading Adeyemi's story I felt like I was a part of Zelie, Inan, Tzain, and Amari's adventure. I am looking forward to continuing their adventure to bring back magic in the second book!
"The book was written during a time where I kept turning on the news and seeing stories of unarmed black men, women, and children being shot by the police."
-Adeyemi
Racism is a huge part of this book. Zelie has dark colored skin and she is looked down upon in the land of Orisha. The gentry has a lighter-toned skin and they are constantly skin bleaching. King Saran sends out the message to the Orishans that skin color determines their status in society. Unfortunately, King Saran's message reflects our own society today and we are living in a world where people are constantly being diminished if they don't meet the status quo. Adeyemi sends out a strong message through this story about what happens when hate takes over the world and how it damages everything around us. Although Adeyemi sends out a hopeful message that even though there is hate in the world around us…love is magical and stronger than hate.
FIVE CHARLIE CHUCHI STARS (HIRE HIM FOR THE ROLE OF NAILAH!)
FOLLOW ME @CHARLIECHUCHI
View my Pinterest board of Children of Blood and Bone to view my bookcasting, aesthetic, fan art, and bookstagrams!
Filed Under: Catfairy Categories<3, Reviews by Title Tagged: african mythology, fantasy, fiction, high fantasy, romance, tomi adeyemi, young adult, young adult fantasy
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Published by Dutton Books on January 10, 2012
Genres: YA Contemporary, YA Romance
"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once."
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.
Catfairy's Booktape
Enjoy my angsty playlist inspired by The Fault in Our Stars!
..."There is always a hamartia."
This book has literally broken my heart and it was definitely a "privilege" in the words of the ever so eloquent/thought-provoking/unique/utterly charming Augustus Waters. (I just love that name. I will name my future child after Augustus.) It's rare for me to find a book with such unique, witty and smart teenage characters who live their lives with such self-awareness that it's a bit scary. If only there were more teenagers like Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace…it would definitely make the world a more interesting place.
… "I liked that he was a tenured professor in the Department of Slightly Crooked Smiles with a dual appointment in the Department of Having a Voice That Made My Skin Feel More Like Skin."
…"Oh I wouldn't mind Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you."
This starry-eyed/teary-eyed book is about two teenagers who have lived with cancer for most of their lives. The narrator of the story Hazel Grace has terminal thyroid cancer that has completely destroyed her lungs and she has to lug an oxygen tank around to be able to breathe. She goes to school and has an obsession with re-reading Peter Van Houton's book a million times and terrible reality shows. She goes to a cancer support group that she is dragged into even though she prefers to watch endless marathons of America's Next Top Model and who can blame her? Fortunately, missing marathon episodes of models in stage cat fights weren't so bad when she met the "metaphorical cigarette hanging" Augustus Waters in the support group. Augustus Waters leg was claimed by a malignant bone tumor. Before he had the tumor he used to play basketball but now resents his past. He also goes to school as well and has a penchant for "Call of Duty" style video games and The Price of Dawn sci-fi series. Augustus is basically your classic geek with hunka hunka good looks and body.
…"What a slut time is. She screws everybody."
Catfairy's Pop Culture Time Warp
If you loved The Fault in Our Stars and you want to cry some more I highly recommend you give A Walk to Remember a go! For anyone that has seen A Walk to Remember didn't it kill you a little bit inside when Mandy Moore said…"You have to promise you won't fall in love with me…"
SHE IS EVIL!
This story is not your stereotypical story about two cancer kids that fall in love. It's about these two amazing characters that view the world in such a completely and devastatingly honest way than any of their peers. They embrace life for what it is…the good and the bad. They don't sugarcoat their cancer at all. Hazel even calls herself the side-effect when it comes to her cancer at all. They live their lives with wild abandon and if that means having their first kiss in Amsterdam on a tour of the Anne Frank house then so be it! Although at the same time these characters are aware of what their fates are. It's the kind of story that will make you appreciate the simplest things such as breathing without relying on Phalanxifor (which is fake by the way) and being nostalgic about running around a playground which sadly these characters didn't have the luxury to do. These are one of the few books where I read the ending about 10 times till I was satisfied and realized that I still wasn't. Isn't that like life?
"Ok…bye."
…"You gave me forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful."
Five Charlie Chuchi Stars!
Have you read The Fault in Our Stars and what book just made you ugly cry after reading it?
Filed Under: Reviews by Author, Reviews by Genre, Reviews by Title, YA Review, YA Reviews A-Z Tagged: cancer, contemporary ya, romance, ugly cry
If you like my blog…
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
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Cloud computing is the trend. We have the options to sync our own files through public services such as Dropbox, SkyDrive, or Google Drive. We also have the options to sync through self-hosted cloud storage solution on our own computer. Now let me introduce you a 3rd option that lets you sync files through your own hosting platform via the most common network protocol, FTP, assuming if you have a hosting plan anywhere that hosts your own website, data.
In short, FTPbox is an open-source application that allows you to synchronize your files to your own host, via FTP. This way, you can access your files anywhere, without having to pay for disk space on some 3rd-party website!
And it's very easy to set up. Simply download the client file and install it on your computer where you have the data that you want to sync and back up to the cloud. Then go through a setup wizard to put in FTP information, local folder to sync, and a remote FTP folder to save the data. And you are all set. Check the photo gallery below to see the process. It's very straightforward and easy to get it done, when you have all information handy.
It supports both FTP and SFTP protocol. SFTP protocol is recommended in order to use the TLS/SSL encryption to secure your file transfers. If you are concerning about the data on the hosting platform, you can encrypt the local folder and only sync the encrypted folder to the FTP. There are plenty of free tools out there that can help you do that.
Once you have all set up, save or copy a file to the designated local folder and that file will be automatically uploaded to the remote FTP server.
And you can even share them with other people via a public link by right-clicking the files saved in the local folder.
It's pretty cool and could be a very useful tool if you already have a hosting plan with you. If you don't, there is also one plan we can recommend that is fairly reliable and cheap. By the way, if you do happen buy one through this link, we will thank you because we do get a fraction of recommending fee from this hosting company.


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Home Something Special Spain outlines plans to welcome back foreign tourists in July
Spain outlines plans to welcome back foreign tourists in July
Foreign tourists can enjoy a summer holiday in Spain from July, the country's prime minister confirms.
Bars, hotels, restaurants and hotels inland were told to prepare to do business again in a few days.
The news means the country's hospitality industry can start operating just in time for the peak of the summer season, the Express reports.
At a conference held this afternoon, Mr Sanchez said: "We must start to restart economic activity.
"Some of these sectors are inn and tourism, which play a fundamental role in job creation.
"The time has come. I announce that there will be a tourist season this year and I invite all the tourist institutions to prepare from today to resume their activities in a few days."
He said tourism would be "in safe conditions" in July.
foreign July outlines plans Spain tourists


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No Consent to Sex when a Woman is Unconscious LEAF Arguments Accepted by Majority of Supreme Court of Canada
Read the R. v. J.A. (2011) full case summary
May 27, 2011, Toronto — The Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision today in the case of R. v. J.A., a case in which an accused charged with the sexual assault of his unconscious common-law spouse argued that the complainant had consented to the sex "in advance". LEAF intervened in the appeal to argue that there can be no such thing as "advance" consent to unconscious sex. Consent must always be active, voluntary, ongoing and contemporaneous with the sexual act. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed.
"The Court reaffirmed the last 20 years of equality-driven developments in the law of sexual assault" explains LEAF Legal Director, Joanna Birenbaum. "The decision confirmed what is already clear in the Criminal Code and what is, or should be, common sense. When a woman is unconscious she is not sexually available. Any sexual act perpetrated on an unconscious woman, who is unable to say "yes" or "no", is assault. This is a simple proposition. And it is uncontroversial."
The facts of the case involve an abusive spouse who strangled the complainant into unconsciousness and, while she was unconscious, bound her and penetrated her anally with a dildo, at which point the complainant came-to. The accused argued that the complainant had consented to the strangulation and had consented "in advance" to the sexual acts performed on her body while unconscious. The trial judge convicted the accused of, among other charges, sexual assault. The Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the conviction on the basis that the complainant had consented in advance to the sexual acts performed on her while unconscious.
The Supreme Court of Canada restored the conviction and held that "an individual must be conscious throughout the sexual activity in order to provide the requisite consent" and that "the definition of consent…requires the complainant to provide actual active consent throughout every phase of the sexual activity. It is not possible for an unconscious person to satisfy this requirement."
"This decision offers important protection for women who are most vulnerable to sexual assault" explains LEAF counsel Elizabeth Sheehy. "Women who are unconscious because of drugs or alcohol, whether taken voluntarily or involuntarily, or because of disability, are sexually assaulted at shockingly high rates, often with impunity for the offenders. This decision ensures that predatory men cannot rape unconscious women and then say "well, she said it was OK before becoming unconscious."
Birenbaum adds that "the decision also affirms the law, taken for granted by most if not all Canadians, that a wife can say "no" to sex with her husband. Consent cannot be assumed from the spousal relationship. The fact that a spouse, or any woman, said "yes" at some point in the past, is not a perpetual consent to sex. Sexual partners have an obligation to ensure consent on an ongoing basis. Women must always have the right to withdraw consent at any moment. Withdrawal of consent is simply not possible when a woman is unconscious."
Joanna Birenbaum
LEAF Legal Director
(416) 595-7170 ext. 223 (office)
Elizabeth Sheehy
LEAF co-counsel
Susan Chapman
Read the full case summary
R. v. Brown
This case concerned using extreme intoxication as a defence to assault and sexual assault.
A.S. v. H.M.Q.
This case concerns the rights of complainants in sexual assault trials.


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#Business #Featured #Ideas
How Artificial Intelligence is Enabling Fight Against COVID-19
Shimonti Paul
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Deep Learning-these are the buzzwords today. These are the technologies of future. World over, Bots are helping humans to achieve efficacy in operations, right from manufacturing to surgical processes.
Currently, we are in an unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it is natural for the scientific community to resort to AI for prevention, faster diagnosis and even cure. Technologists believe that AI can contribute to the fight against COVID-19 by helping in early warnings and alerts, tracking and prediction, diagnosis and prognosis, treatments and even social control.
Tracking and predicting the spread of COVID-19 are valuable data inputs for public health authorities to plan, prepare and manage the pandemic, and AI can play a vital role in achieving this. Fast and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19 can save lives and limit the spread of the disease. AI can provide useful input in this regard.
In this respect, several initiatives are underway.
The Canadian-based AI model, BlueDot is protecting people around the world from infectious diseases with human and artificial intelligence. BlueDot was among the first in the world to identify the emerging risk from COVID-19 in Hubei province and notify its clients via its Insights platform. BlueDot disseminated bespoke, near-real-time insights to clients including governments, hospitals and airlines, revealing COVID-19's movements. Its intelligence is based on over 40 pathogen-specific datasets reflecting disease mobility and outbreak potential.
COVID-Net
Canadian start-up DarwinAI has developed COVID-Net, an AI system that can diagnose COVID-19 in chest X-rays on the basis of the data obtained from patients with various lung conditions. This data is open source and available to the general public. COVID-Net is a Tailored Deep Convolutional Neural Network Design.
COVID-Net is also expected to make predictions using an explainability method in an attempt to gain deeper insights into critical factors associated with COVID-19 cases, which can aid clinicians in improved screening and timely treatments.
"The response has just been overwhelming", says DarwinAI CEO Sheldon Fernandez. More datasets of X-rays were contributed to train the system, which has now learnt from over 17,000 images, while researchers from Indonesia, Turkey, India and other countries are all now working on COVID-19. "Once you put it out there, you have 100 eyes on it very quickly, and they'll very quickly give you some low-hanging fruit on ways to make it better," Fernandez said.
AlloCovid
Artificial Intelligence systems mimic humans and emotional support form an intrinsic part of human behaviour. In these difficult times, people, especially the elderly need a lot of counselling. This is what AI Voice Assistant Service, AlloCovid is providing to the people of France.
AlloCovid is an AI Voice Assistant Service, developed by French research institute Inserm, the University of Paris and French railway company SNCF to help COVID-19 patients. Anyone in France can now ring the 'AlloCovid' service.
On the line, a female voice greets callers with "Bonjour, I'm your virtual AlloCovid assistant … Are you ready to start the questionnaire?" Callers are asked for their postcode but not their name. Depending on their symptoms and pre-existing conditions, they are directed to the right medical professionals. The system can handle 1,000 calls at a time.
BenevolentAI
BenevolentAI is a London-based drug-discovery company, which began turning its attention towards the coronavirus problem in late January. The company's AI-powered knowledge graph analyses large volumes of scientific literature and biomedical research and identifies links between the genetic and biological properties of diseases and the composition and action of drugs.
The company has modified its AI system to work on COVID-19. "Because of the amount of data that's being produced about COVID-19 and the capabilities we have in being able to machine-read large amounts of documents at scale, we were able to adapt [the knowledge graph] so to take into account the kinds of concepts that are more important in biology, as well as the latest information about COVID-19 itself" says Olly Oechsle, lead software engineer, BenevolentAI.
DeepMind, the AI arm of Google's parent company Alphabet, has released a deep-learning library called AlphaFold, which is using data on genomes to predict organisms' protein structure. Protein structures determine the shape of receptors in an organism's cells. Once the shape of the receptor is known, it becomes possible to work out which drugs could bind to them and disrupt vital processes within the cells. By predicting organisms' protein structure, AlphaFold is helping scientists to discover which drugs could work against COVID-19.
Challenging AI experts
When intelligent minds are challenged, more innovative solutions crop up. This thought is making companies throw COVID-19 related challenges to AI experts. For instance, Google-owned machine-learning community Kaggle is setting a number of COVID-19 related challenges to its members, including forecasting the number of cases and fatalities by city as a way of identifying exactly why some places are hit worse than others.
"The goal here isn't to build another epidemiological model… there are lots of good epidemiological models out there. Actually, the reason we have launched this challenge is to encourage our community to play with the data and try and pick apart the factors that are driving difference in transmission rates across cities" Kaggle's CEO Anthony Goldbloom shares. Currently, the community is working on a dataset of infections in 163 countries.
Several governments have also issued calls for contributions from AI experts worldwide to help find solutions to the COVID-19 crisis.
The COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge, launched on 16 March 2020 by the U.S. Government in partnership with academic and industry organisations is making over 29,000 academic research articles available to AI experts worldwide. The experts, by applying data mining tools to this data will try to find out more about the history, transmission, diagnostics, management measures etc. for COVID-19.
The AI-ROBOTICS vs COVID-19 initiative of the European AI Alliance, launched by the European Commission, is collecting ideas on deployable AI and robotics solutions that could help COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis or treatment.
The CoronaHack – AI vs. Covid-19 organized by the UK's Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) is calling on businesses, data scientists and biomedical researchers from world over to share ideas on how to apply AI to control and manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Deep Learning have a lot of potential in helping the medical community finding solutions to COVID-19 pandemic. The bright minds need to put in all the efforts possible to come up with highly accurate predicative models as soon as possible that can help us all live in a safer world.
Funding in the geospatial industry – the who and how
Hassan Safieddine 08.1.2022
The Geospatial Index Fund
The Geospatial Investor 01.16.2023
#Business #Ideas
3 Reasons Behind My Becoming The Geospatial Investor
#Environment #Featured
Map shows locations where building foundations may crumble in US
Ishveena Singh
In 2015, a unique construction issue began to surface in the suburban communities of Connecticut, US. Homeowners reported that their houses were falling apart.
Investigations found that as many as 34,000 homes constructed in northeastern Connecticut between 1983 and 2000 were at risk of crumbling foundations. Why? Their foundations contained a corrosive mineral known as pyrrhotite.
What is pyrrhotite and what makes it dangerous?
A 4.5 cm collector sample of pyrrhotite
Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide that can be found naturally in rocky materials such as gravel, sand, or stone – all the things you add to cement to make concrete.
When pyrrhotite is exposed to air and water over time, it can break down to form secondary minerals that expand and crack concrete. This causes concrete structures, such as home foundations, to crumble or deteriorate. But the damage can take decades to make itself apparent.
The only safe and effective method to salvage a house with a crumbling foundation is to lift, prop, and hold up the structure as workers replace the existing foundation completely. The process can take six to eight weeks, costing anywhere from $100,000 to $250,000, according to the Connecticut Department of Housing. Worse still, insurers are not liable to cover a foundation collapse, which makes pyrrhotite a mineral of grave concern for states, homeowners, and the construction industry alike.
First-ever map of pyrrhotite occurrences in US
In 2019, the US government mandated the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to assess the national risk of pyrrhotite. As a starting point, the USGS has released the following guide map which shows that pyrrhotite may be distributed widely in the metamorphic rock along the Appalachian Mountains and in smaller pockets in the western US.
The map uses data from three sources: the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation, the USGS Mineral Resources Data System database, and the Mindat.org database. In addition, it was refined and improved by taking feedback from 35 state geological surveys. In the absence of any existing data on pyrrhotite, USGS scientists have used their geologic knowledge of where and how pyrrhotite forms to infer which rock formations may have it. But they are not guaranteed to have it.
Recognizing that pyrrhotite in concrete has caused enormous problems for homeowners in parts of Connecticut (and also Massachusetts), USGS scientist Jeff Mauk, who led the project, quips "This project was a bit unusual for us, because typically we are trying to help people find mineral deposits that they want, not minerals that they don't want." This issue will likely end up collectively costing homeowners billions of dollars in repair, the same way that the inclusion of lead paint in homes has, and is yet just another thing homeowners need to be aware of that could otherwise crumble their dreams.


Do you have a clear picture of your goals and dreams?
Have you written out your financial goals?
Are you comfortable with your present financial situation?
Are you keeping track of your cash flow?
Are you managing your cash flow for liquidity, long term returns or safety?
What are your wealth accumulation goals?
How do your current investments support your accumulation goals?
What are the milestones at which you need the money?
How might unforeseen events impact your family's goals?
Have you provided for your dependants?
Do you understand how current tax laws apply to you?
Are you eligible for specific tax deduction?
Have you taken advantage of all provisions under Income Tax Act?
Have you decided upon a plan for your assets after you are gone?
Have you written out your will or created a trust?
What purpose do you want your legacy to serve?
Will your current plan let you achieve these goals?
Merlot Financial Advisory Services offers a complete range of solutions that complement its advisory services. The range includes a combination of best of breed proprietary and nonproprietary (third party) products. The approach is to recommend its clients product solutions within their overall asset allocation in an unbiased manner after evaluating all the options available in the market.
A new home, education, retirement or just plain wealth creation and management are what make financial goals. Merlot Financial Advisory Services provides direction and meaning to its clients' goals through a 3-step process to create the right financial plan.
This step essentially involves construction of recommended investment portfolio. The portfolio is continuously tracked to keep a check on recommended asset allocation for a client. Rebalancing of portfolios, where there is deviation from recommended allocation is achieved through system driven alerts and triggers. Tactical (short term) and strategic (long term) calls are taken on client portfolio through active portfolio management.
Merlot Financial Advisory Services provide a comprehensive financial plan and investment solution set. Merlot Financial Advisory Services is specially designed for its clients who want to start a relationship on a productised basis, and then scale it up to a level where they avail of wealth advisory services as well.
Based on the clients' needs, a particular product is thoroughly reviewed to check its investment suitability, and then recommended to clients. Merlot Financial Advisory Services also provides periodical updates / recommendations to its clients on their Mutual Fund portfolio, which is achieved through active portfolio tracking.
ASK Wealth Advisors offers a complete range of solutions that complement our advisory services. The range includes a combination of best of breed proprietary and nonproprietary (third party) products. The approach is to recommend its clients product solutions within their overall asset allocation in an unbiased manner after evaluating all the options available in the market.


Maren Morris, who performed "My Church" at the CMA Awards in Nashville last month, released one of 2016's most memorable albums.
It was an all-around great year for music.
Each week, it seemed, brought a new must-hear album. And it wasn't one genre that dominated. There were worthy offerings from basically every genre — from hip-hop and mainstream pop to indie-rock and country.
That's why it was so challenging to finalize a top 10 list this time around. Many fine contenders simply couldn't make the cut. But that's a good problem to have.
Here are the Top 10 albums of 2016.
1. "Hero," Maren Morris: The Texas native sounds both refreshingly new and achingly familiar on her stunning major label debut. It's a rare gift — one that keeps right on giving throughout its 11 cuts, which range from big ballads ("I Could Use a Love Song") to pop-rock cuts ("Sugar") to sing-along anthems ("Drunk Girls Don't Cry"). Morris excels at each turn, showing why she's country music's most promising talent. This clever storyteller has already landed one smash hit ("My Church") and numerous Grammy nominations (including a nod for best new artist) — and there should be many more to come.
2. "Teens of Denial," Car Seat Headrest: Thank you, Car Seat Headrest, for delivering the best indie-rock album in years. It's just what the genre needed, full of engaging guitar work, curiously entertaining lyrics and hooks big enough to land a whale. The album is charmingly lo-fi, bursting with both attitude and heart. It often comes across like the long-overdue spiritual successor to the Lemonheads' "It's a Shame About Ray," but there also moments reminiscent of the best of the Strokes, Dandy Warhols and Modest Mouse. Bravo, guys.
3. "Lemonade," Beyonce: "What's worse," the Queen Bey ponders near the start of her sixth solo offering, "looking jealous or crazy?" Quickly deciding she'd "rather be crazy," Beyonce bounds off on a breathtaking journey through passion, betrayal, disillusionment and, ultimately, survival. "Lemonade" feels autobiographical, even though it utilizes legions of co-writers, and trying to figure out just how much of it is actually based on Beyonce's experiences is part of what makes the album such a fascinating listen.
4. "This Is Acting," Sia: It's hard to believe that this is a collection of compositions that Sia first offered to such artists as Adele and Beyonce, who turned them down. I mean, what were they thinking? This album is chock full of can't-miss radio singles, some of the most notable being "Alive," "Cheap Thrills" and "The Greatest." But their loss was Sia's gain; it's doubtful that anyone could've gotten more out of these tracks than the original author. This is the vocal tour de force of 2016.
5. "We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service," A Tribe Called Quest: The year's best hip-hop album comes courtesy of some old friends whom we hadn't heard from in years. To be honest, I wasn't sure we'd ever hear from them again (at least with a new album). Then A Tribe Called Quest unexpectedly returned with its first studio outing since 1998's "The Love Movement," reminding us of all the reasons — including the insightful lyrics and bold beats — that made us fall head-over-heels for the group in the first place. The album serves as a glorious memorial to the Tribe's Phife Dawg, the longtime East Bay resident who died in March.
6. "Midwest Farmer's Daughter," Margo Price: This is a wonderful throwback that should appeal to longtime fans of Kitty Wells, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and other classic crooners as well as to young hipsters who despise the pop sheen found on so much of today's country music. Price's solo debut is a bit rough around the edges — in all the right ways — and full of gritty country soul. Merle Haggard would've loved this record.
7. "Blackstar," David Bowie: The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's swan song is a griping work of art, made all that more poignant by the great artist's death on Jan. 10 — just two days after the album was released. It's a densely complex and mysterious affair, revealing more with each listen. Leave it to Bowie to come up with such a fascinating farewell, adding to a legacy that was already among the greatest in pop music history.
8. "Hardwired … to Self-Destruct," Metallica: James Hetfield and crew went eight years without releasing a new album, which is pretty close to an eternity in the music world. Yet they returned with a vengeance on their 10th studio album — and their first release since 2008's double-platinum-certified "Death Magnetic." The biggest Bay Area band of all time is in fine form on this double-disc affair, thundering through some of the best Metallica offerings to come around since the early '90s.
9. "The Proclamation," A. Doulos: The Oakland native first came to prominence as Ant Diddley Dog, slinging gangsta-rap-style rhymes in the promising '90s duo Bad-N-Fluenz. Now, after years away from the scene, the rapper (whose real name is Anthony Nelson) has re-emerged with a powerful new album in the Christian hip-hop realm. His vocals and lyrics are outstanding, yet it's his passion for (and knowledge of) the subject matter that really makes "The Proclamation" shine.


I grew up in New Jersey, just a hop, skip, and jump across the river from New York City. Now I live 3,000 miles away in Seattle where I write books and stories for elementary and middle grade kids like you!
• I have curly hair that I tried to iron when I was a kid.
• I have a three-tone laugh.
• I write stories about things I like to eat (bagels) and love to do (whale watch and swim).
• I have a dog named Mr. Darcy, who's named after a pretty famous literary character. Can you guess the book?
More fun activities and projects coming. Check back soon!