text:
Started by an ex-engineering professor, this Delhi family business grew into a Rs 200 Cr turnover solar brand
By Rishabh Mansur
Gautam Solar was incorporated in 1997 by BK Mohanka in Delhi, and has now grown into a large manufacturer of solar panels, lights, pumps, batteries, etc. Here's how the family business is playing in a competitive solar market featuring large local players and Chinese imports.
At the Mohanka household in Delhi, the topic of conversation during breakfast and dinner is usually business. More specifically, it is about how the family's solar firm, Gautam Solar, is doing.
Started by BK Mohanka (an ex-professor at NIT, Patna) in 1993 as a polymer brand, the solar business was incorporated in 1997.
Since then, the founder's son, Gautam Mohanka, and various other family members joined the company, and worked to take it from a company with Rs 1 crore turnover in 2002 to Rs 200 crore turnover in 2020.
"As a Marwari family, we've accepted it is not possible to stop talking about business, even at home. At weddings and other family gatherings, our relatives have no second thoughts about directly asking us our latest turnover and profit figures," says Gautam, who is the MD at Gautam Solar, in an exclusive interview with SMBStory.
Get connected to Gautam Solar
The family business today manufactures a range of solar products, including panels, pumps, lights, fans, batteries, and more. Various government organisations, corporate companies, and individual buyers form its customer base, which it services from its four Haridwar-based factories of 250 MW capacity in total.
Building the product portfolio
Recalling the early days of the business, Gautam says, "We shifted to Delhi from Patna in 1992 as there was a lot of criminal activity in Bihar. In Delhi, my ex-professor father ran a polymers business. He soon found a business opportunity in plastic moulding and casings for solar lanterns. From thereon, we got fully involved in the solar segment."
As a young boy, the founder's son grew interested in his father's business. At the age of 14, he began assisting his father, spending his Sundays and summer holidays on factory visits. In 2002, he joined the family business on a full time basis after finishing his MBA from MDI, Gurugram.
Passionate about innovation and product development, Gautam oversaw the business' foray into various solar products - a form of horizontal integration.
"Our customers want an entire solar solution. They need special structures, electronics, and sometimes batteries so that the energy captured by the panels can be converted into usable electricity. Their requirements also keep changing between panels, pumps, etc. So we manufacture and sell all these products under one roof," he explains.
Gautam Solar panels
This man built India's largest solar business despite competition from China; is now clocking Rs 2,000 Cr revenue
Meet a new Hero every week - Get inspiring stories of entrepreneurs building Indian brands
While this model makes it challenging for the business to keep track of various raw materials and troubleshoot a range of issues, it offers a major advantage.
Gautam Solar products are all compatible with each other, and the MD says the firm offers a singular point of service, making it more efficient for customers to buy from them instead of a Chinese supplier.
"It's like walking into a trusted clothing store looking for a formal shirt, and ending up buying trousers, a belt, shoes, and some accessories in addition to the shirt," he says, adding:
"As solar products should come with a 25-year warranty, it makes sense for customers to buy from us. There is no guarantee when a Chinese supplier might shut down, whereas we, like some other Indian solar businesses, are a family-run establishment who are in it for the long run."
Imports vs local manufacturing
Gautam Solar primarily deals with small and medium-scale solar installations for homes, farmers, offices, etc.
However, for large-scale installations, Gautam says developers have been importing from China as they marginally reduced cost of two to four percent on Chinese solar products makes a big difference at scale.
"Margins are better for us in individual installations. At the large scale, almost 80-90 percent of the market is serviced by Chinese suppliers. But now, the government is actively looking to reduce this dependency and support Indian solar products," he adds.
While the Mohanka family business sources raw materials locally, it also imports some components from China to produce the finished products in India.
As there are few solar cell makers in India, they are often imported. Other components such as glass, aluminium frames, ribbons, and plastic sheets are easily available in India.
"Now the supply chain in India for solar manufacturing is becoming robust. The nation is becoming prominent in the space as more players are coming up, and customers are realising it is not easy to claim warranty and replacements from China, especially for small and medium-scale installations," Gautam says.
A solar panel installation by Gautam Solar
How a small bath fittings business in Delhi grew into a Rs 3,600 Cr market leader: the story of Jaquar Group
Future plans amidst a competitive landscape
As the Indian government aims to achieve 114 GW of solar capacity by 2022, solar firms in India are looking to increase their capacities and grab a larger slice of the pie. Gautam Solar plans to reach 2.5GW capacity in a few years.
Despite the presence of the likes of Waaree and Vikram Solar in the panels market, and Tata Power and Shakti Pumps in the pumps market, Gautam remains optimistic about the future of the Mohanka's business.
"We are a risk-averse family, and as we make many components and products, we can walk away from certain product orders or sectors where the risk is too high or the margins are low. We can simply say no. This is difficult for a company that makes only one or two types of solar products," Gautam explains.
He admits that the market is competitive, but the leading players maintain a level of trust with one another, often supplying each other with components that are not made in-house at the buyer's end.
Besides the competitive nature of the industry and presence of Chinese alternatives, the impact of COVID-19 and national lockdowns posed a challenge for Gautam Solar.
As solar is a labour and capital intensive industry, lockdowns pose difficulties in manufacturing, sales, installation, service, etc.
"Government clients were worried if they could fund solar projects, and held back from approving them. This affected the whole industry. Supply chain issues, rising prices of raw materials meant our margins reduced as well," he says.
But now, the Mohanka's business is back on track, and as demand returns, it plans to stock more raw materials and finished products so it can avoid any future backlogs.
"Apart from planning to boost our capacity, we've also been requesting our government customers to free up our cash flows, and they've been doing their best," he says.
YourStory's flagship startup-tech and leadership conference will return virtually for its 13th edition on October 25-30, 2021. Sign up for updates on TechSparks or to express your interest in partnerships and speaker opportunities here.
For more on TechSparks 2021, click here.
Applications are now open for Tech30 2021, a list of 30 most promising tech startups from India. Apply or nominate an early-stage startup to become a Tech30 2021 startup here.
Edited by Megha Reddy
gautam solar
Please let us know why you would like to connect with the company
Business Proposal
Interested to Invest
Would like to work with them
Congratulate them
Please share a crisp & clear message on why you are looking to connect.
To : Founder at Gautam Solar
08c116e0-0574-11ec-ba0a-c1e02d59c75c
No. of characters should not exceed 150
No. of characters should not exceed 1000
Email ID* LinkedIn URL
Get connected to the Company
Oops...! Something Went Wrong.. Please Try Again..!
Connected Successfully !
Your message has been shared. Kindly give some time for the company to revert. They will reach out to you on your submitted email ID.
Back to Company


text:
A Little Give and Take
October 29, 2013 Mike
[Or, we could have titled this post, "The Original Old World to New World and Visa Versa Infectious Disease Vector].
Syphilis is not some god's vengeful jest on humanity for certain "deviant" behaviors, according to various televangelists. But, it may well be revenge for the Bubonic Plague. And, Columbus and his fellow explorers could well be to blame for bringing Syphilis back to Europe in exchange for introducing the Americas to smallpox, measles and the plague. What a legacy!
From the Guardian:
Last month, Katherine Wright was awarded the Wellcome Trust science writing prize at a ceremony at the Observer's offices at Kings Place, London. Wright, who is studying for a DPhil in structural biology at Oxford University, was judged the winner of category A "for professional scientists of postgraduate level and above" from more than 600 entries by a panel including BBC journalist Maggie Philbin, scientist and broadcaster Helen Czerski and the Observer's Carole Cadwalladr. "I am absolutely thrilled to have won the science writing prize," says Wright. "This experience has inspired me to continue science writing in the future."
In the 1490s, a gruesome new disease exploded across Europe. It moved with terrifying speed. Within five years of the first reported cases, among the mercenary army hired by Charles VIII of France to conquer Naples, it was all over the continent and reaching into north Africa. The first symptom was a lesion, or chancre, in the genital region. After that, the disease slowly progressed to the increasingly excruciating later stages. The infected watched their bodies disintegrate, with rashes and disfigurements, while they gradually descended into madness. Eventually, deformed and demented, they died.
Some called it the French disease. To the French, it was the Neapolitan disease. The Russians blamed the Polish. In 1530, an Italian physician penned an epic poem about a young shepherd named Syphilis, who so angered Apollo that the god struck him down with a disfiguring malady to destroy his good looks. It was this fictional shepherd (rather than national rivalries) who donated the name that eventually stuck: the disease, which first ravaged the 16th-century world and continues to affect untold millions today, is now known as syphilis.
As its many names attest, contemporaries of the first spread of syphilis did not know where this disease had come from. Was it indeed the fault of the French? Was it God's punishment on earthly sinners?
Another school of thought, less xenophobic and less religious, soon gained traction. Columbus's historic voyage to the New World was in 1492. The Italian soldiers were noticing angry chancres on their genitals by 1494. What if Columbus had brought the disease back to Europe with him as an unwelcome stowaway aboard the Pinta or the Niña?
Since the 1500s, we have discovered a lot more about syphilis. We know it is caused by a spiral-shaped bacterium called Treponema pallidum, and we know that we can destroy this bacterium and cure the disease using antibiotics. (Thankfully we no longer "treat" syphilis with poisonous, potentially deadly mercury, which was used well into the 19th century.)
However, scientists, anthropologists, and historians still disagree about the origin of syphilis. Did Columbus and his sailors really transport the bacterium back from the New World? Or was it just coincidental timing, that the first cases were recorded soon after the adventurers' triumphant return to the Old World? Perhaps syphilis was already present in the population, but doctors had only just begun to distinguish between syphilis and other disfiguring illnesses such as leprosy; or perhaps the disease suddenly increased in virulence at the end of the 15th century. The "Columbian" hypothesis insists that Columbus is responsible, and the "pre-Columbian" hypothesis that he had nothing to do with it.
Much of the evidence to distinguish between these two hypotheses comes from the skeletal record. Late-stage syphilis causes significant and identifiable changes in the structure of bone, including abnormal growths. To prove that syphilis was already lurking in Europe before Columbus returned, anthropologists would need to identify European skeletons with the characteristic syphilitic lesions, and date those skeletons accurately to a time before 1493.
This has proved a tricky exercise in practice. Identifying past syphilis sufferers in the New World is straightforward: ancient graveyards are overflowing with clearly syphilitic corpses, dating back centuries before Columbus was even born. However, in the Old World, a mere scattering of pre-Columbian syphilis candidates have been unearthed.
Are these 50-odd skeletons the sought-after evidence of pre-Columbian syphilitics? With such a small sample size, it is difficult to definitely diagnose these skeletons with syphilis. There are only so many ways bone can be damaged, and several diseases produce a bone pattern similar to syphilis. Furthermore, the dating methods used can be inexact, thrown off by hundreds of years because of a fish-rich diet, for example.
A study published in 2011 has systematically compared these European skeletons, using rigorous criteria for bone diagnosis and dating. None of the candidate skeletons passed both tests. In all cases, ambiguity in the bone record or the dating made it impossible to say for certain that the skeleton was both syphilitic and pre-Columbian. In other words, there is very little evidence to support the pre-Columbian hypothesis. It seems increasingly likely that Columbus and his crew were responsible for transporting syphilis from the New World to the Old.
Of course, Treponema pallidum was not the only microbial passenger to hitch a ride across the Atlantic with Columbus. But most of the traffic was going the other way: smallpox, measles, and bubonic plague were only some of the Old World diseases which infiltrated the New World, swiftly decimating thousands of Native Americans. Syphilis was not the French disease, or the Polish disease. It was the disease – and the revenge – of the Americas.
Read the entire article here.
Image: Christopher Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo (1485–1547). Courtesy of Wikipedia / Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Columbusdiseaseinfectiousplaguesyphilis
Previous PostBritain's Genomics NHSNext PostLeft Brain, Right Brain or Top Brain, Bottom Brain?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Ian Scott and Henry Thompson
in The cinema of Oliver Stone
This chapter explores the representation of love in Stone's filmmaking highlighting the importance of a transition that began in the mid-to-late 1990s with U Turn. The argument here posits that U Turn represents a marker in Stone's career, not because of the loss of aesthetic vitality as some critics observed, that had been integral to earlier films, but precisely because the film marks the emergence of a distinctive melodramatic shift in Stone's work, and a shift towards the darker aspects of parental love in particular. The significance of a melodramatic filter for viewing Stone's later films is then used to assess Alexander and W. before investigating the way in which relationships and emotional love is worked into both these films and in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Savages.
Art, authorship and activism
Film, Media and Music
Oliver Stone; Hollywood; Auteurism; Vietnam; Politics
Author: Dana Mills


Ray Paganini founded Cornerstone IT in 1994 as Paganini Development Team. Paganini has since grown Cornerstone IT into a full-service Microsoft Partner IT firm providing managed IT services, IT infrastructure support, IT disaster recovery, web and application development and cloud hosting services.
Josh Rosen provides sales support services to Cornerstone IT clients including customer relationship management. Areas of expertise include Microsoft products, foreign and domestic negotiations, business planning and deployment, system administration and creative business solutions.
Todd Weisfeld provides leadership and management of client accounts, and is responsible for internal development and expanding new business.
Weisfeld specializes in project leadership for networking projects including AD, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Dynamics, Office 365 and Cloud Migrations.
Since 2005, Ellen has been responsible for managing the preparation and evaluation of all financial records, as well as human resources and benefits. Ellen also focuses on continuous improvement in the following areas: managing client credit, vendor relations, cash flow management, payroll, employee benefits, internal systems evaluations, and all government related business transactions. Prior to Cornerstone, Ellen was employed by the Lubrizol Corporation where she held positions as a Manager with the Facilities Group, a Senior Data Specialist in Corporate Finance, and an R&D Lab Technician.


This man has my name. And he uses it in the press far more than I ever do. Do you know how disappointing it is to see your name in the papers 10 to 20 times a day and none of them refer to you?
Of course this Paul Taylor gets more press coverage than all the other Paul Taylor's put together.
I know how it is to see my name in the news often as well. For me it's a GREAT feeling!


text:
City council backs Black Lives Matter murals project
Emily Ernsberger
Work on the first of two street murals displaying "Black Lives Matter" may start next month.
In late July, Bloomington's parks board approved the creation of two street murals, one on North Elm Street between West Seventh and Eighth streets in front of the Banneker Community Center, and another at a to-be-determined downtown location. The idea came from the Banneker Community Center Advisory Council. The Bloomington City Council gave its approval to the effort on Wednesday, though it will also need approval from the board of public works.
Three local Black and brown artists will be paid to each do one of the words in "Black Lives Matter" for the Elm Street project. Organizers hope to start next month and include community volunteers in the project. A location for the downtown mural is still being sought.
The artwork will be paid for with funding that had been set aside for the annual Black y Brown Arts Festival, which did not take place this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sean Starowitz, assistant director for the arts in the city's economic and sustainable development department, said the specific portion used from the festival's funding was initially designated to go to Black artists and artists of color. Money will also be used to pay for high-traffic outdoor paint for both murals, as well as maintenance.
The Elm Street mural will be designed by the artists, and community members will be invited to help with painting and decoration of the mural, while the to-be-determined downtown mural will use colors that are better used on high-traffic roads, such as the bright yellow seen on the "Black Lives Matter" murals in major cities.
The inclusion of the public in the project as well as the process of the city funding Black artists' works could segue into conversations and policies regarding greater access to projects for artists of color, as well as other community conversations about racial justice.
"Part of what we're asking for a partnership is not just to paint the mural, but there are also points of accountability that come along with this," said Nichelle Whitney, member of the BCCAC. "Some of the Banneker Community Center Advisory Council members have suggested things such as supporting Black, brown, indigenous, people of color's businesses, thinking about how can we allocate support in maintenance for Reverend Butler Park, looking at what other grants and funds can be allocated for quality of life and workforce attraction for Black and brown people — there are so many things.
"But while we know that we could dream up a list all day of all the things that we would love to see, we're really interested in partnering with you in a working session or working meeting where we can get together and talk about some shared objectives and accountability points that the council feels that they can commit to."
Should public health guidelines allow, the mural will be rededicated at the 2021 Black y Brown Arts Festival after being touched up by the invited artists.
The council passed an ordinance approving the project 8-0-1, with council member Dave Rollo abstaining from the vote, fearing the public would perceive the murals as the local government funding political organizations, specifically Black Lives Matter Bloomington, instead of endorsing the sentiment of the message. That organization is not affiliated with the murals.
The council members who voted in favor of the murals expressed pride and gratitude for those planning the project.


The oil industry is acting like the worst is over.
This week, oil prices fell to their lowest level in 6 years.
But data from oil driller Baker Hughes and the Federal Reserve this week indicated that oil companies are starting to reverse their behavior of shutting down wells and halting production, a sign that some companies may think the worst is over for the oil market.
On Friday, data from Baker Hughes showed that for the fourth straight week, the number of rigs in use rose, with the total number of rigs online now back to April levels.
Meanwhile, the Fed's latest report on industrial and manufacturing output showed that production at oil and gas wells rose 1.3 per cent in July, the first monthly increase since September 2014 when the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was closer to $95 a barrel.
WTI finished this week at around $42.10 a barrel.
Jesse Hurwitz, an economist at Barclays, didn't see this industrial production figure as portending any major shift in the oil and gas industry, however.
In a note to clients following the report, Hurwitz wrote, "This stabilization is broadly in line with the weekly data on Baker Hughes rotary rig counts. Overall, we continue to see a stronger dollar and lower energy prices as posing headwinds for industrial output and do not look for a strong rebound in the sector this year."
Oil & gas output ticked up slightly in July.
Another potential read on why the decline in oil wells shutting down has stopped, and production has ticked back up, is that companies simply need to keep drilling to meet debt obligations.
Earlier this week we got word that production out of OPEC, the 12-state oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia, hit a 3-year high in July despite a continued glut of supply in global markets and prices continuing to decline. But with The Telegraph recently highlighting data that current oil prices currently have all OPEC members missing their budget projections, governments depending on oil revenues need to bring in whatever they can manage.
And these dynamics appear part of what's behind the seemingly relentless supply of oil coming into the market, which the International Energy Agency doesn't see balancing until the end of next year.
Last week, we noted that according to data from Credit Suisse, US oil production has continued to hum along despite the decline in oil rig count. Though as some readers noted, this chart doesn't tell the whole picture as the rigs already shut down were likely not big producers anyway.
And it does look like US production and supply could soon provide the market with some relief, as the Energy Information Administration said in a report this week that daily production is set to fall to 9 million barrels a day next year from a projected 9.4 million barrels in 2015.
This, in turn, is projected to bring down crude stocks, which have been stuck near 80-year highs for the last several months.
Of course, these outlooks don't change the situation on the ground for oil, which is near a 6-year low, down 30 per cent from recent highs, and has collapsed after markets took the relative calm in oil markets through the spring as a sign the worst was over.
But recent events have proved a challenge for market. Along with oil, the entire commodity complex has been rolling over, and all this at a time when China, the world's second-largest economy is slowing down and devaluing its currency.
"There is a global deleveraging occurring in front of our eyes," Russ Certo, a strategist at Brean Capital wrote in a note to clients this week.
And while this process could mean a number of things for the future direction of markets, Certo simply noted that what we've seen in recent months - whether its in oil markets or the Treasury market "flash crash" last fall - suggests markets are more complex, and more inter-connected, than they've ever been.


Company Name HALLMARK ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PVT. LTD.
Job Info Helping The Machine Operator In A Engineering Company.
HALLMARK ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PVT. LTD. Company has vacancy of Assistant To Machine Operator (Help... job in Mumbai(Bhiwandi) city.


Your divorce is not the end of your relationship when you have kids in the mix. When you co-parent, you must still keep in contact in one way or another with your children's other parent.
Your divorce is proof that you and ex aren't always on the same page. That can lead to tension, friction, and arguments.
It's important to know how to deescalate any tense conversations and situations for the sake of keeping your co-parenting relationship as civil as possible.
We asked 4 family therapists for their best tips on how to make sure minor tension doesn't turn into major problems. Every parent's is different, but these tips might help keep your co-parenting relationship friendly.
Some people are just not compatible. Whenever they are in close proximity, they ruffle each other's feathers.
Does this sound like you and your ex?
Just make sure to think before you text, and once you send your message, you cannot un-send it. Also keep in mind that sometime text outside of context can come off as abrasive, so if you choose to use this method, choose your words very carefully.
The fastest way to go from slightly tense to full-blown nuclear is to start making a conscious effort about how you phrase concern over your ex's choices while watching your children.
You should already have a parenting plan that you both have agreed to. But, there's always more than one way to interpret something.
Just remember, a polite request loses the polite factor when the tail of it is accusatory. And, a passive aggressive approach is not a polite request.
Nitpicking over minor one-time events is more trouble than it's worth. When you are discussing the ongoing co-parenting situation, it's important to focus on the goals.
Another way to think about this is to not sweat the small stuff. You both have the goal of raising happy and healthy children, and when you focus on values instead of minor day-to-day occurrences, you have a better chance of achieving that goal.
At the end of the day, it's incredibly important to remember that the conflict, no matter how big or small, is between you and your ex. You need to keep it that way.
It may be tempted to use your children as a messenger or try to involve your new spouse who undoubtedly take your side of the altercation, but doing either will inevitably cause more long term harm than short term good.
Having a completely smooth post-divorce relationship with your ex may happen, but chances are there will be friction at one point of another. That doesn't mean you have to play into that tension.
It's almost always a good idea to try and deescalate any situation that has potential for turning into a major conflict. It will make your life easier in the long run, and it will shield your children from having to be in the middle of an extended quarrel.


The Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act) regulates the way in which all personal data is held and processed. This is a statement of the data protection policy adopted by Blinc-UK Ltd. It applies to all Blinc-UK Ltd employees. In order to operate efficiently Blinc-UK Ltd needs to collect and use information about the people with whom we work. This includes current, past and prospective employees, reviewers, professional experts, stakeholders, delegates and others with whom we communicate. Blinc-UK Ltd regards the lawful and correct treatment of personal information as integral to our successful operation, and to maintaining the confidence of the people we work with. To this end we fully endorse and adhere to the principles of the Act. Blinc-UK Ltd is registered as a data controller on the register kept by the Information Commissioner (ICO).
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that everyone handing personal information at Blinc-UK Ltd is fully aware of the requirements of the Act and complies with data protection procedures and that data subjects are aware of their rights under the Act.
'Personal data' covered by the Act is essentially any recorded information which identifies a living individual. Personal data held by Blinc-UK Ltd will include contact information for a variety of stakeholders and other personal details.
The directors of Blinc-UK Ltd have overall responsibility for compliance with the Act but individual members of staff are responsible for the proper use of the data they process.
Not be used for a purpose for which it was not collected.
Not be kept longer than necessary.
Be kept secure and protected from unauthorised processing, loss or destruction.
Be transferred only to those countries outside the European Economic Area that provide adequate protection for personal information.
Fully observe conditions regarding the fair collection and use of information.
Collect and process appropriate information, and only to the extent that it is needed to fulfil operational needs or to comply with any legal requirements.
Ensure the quality of the information used.
Hold personal information on Blinc-UK Ltd systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant purpose, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract held with Blinc-UK Ltd's Records Retention Schedule.
Ensure that the rights of people about whom information is held can be fully exercised under the Act (these include: the right to be informed that processing is being undertaken; the data subject's right of access to their personal information; the right to prevent processing in certain circumstances; the right to correct, rectify, block or erase information which is regarded as wrong information).
Ensure that personal information is not transferred outside of Blinc-UK Ltd without suitable safeguards.
Everyone managing and handling personal information understands that they are responsible for following good data protection practice.
This policy is available to each member of staff.
Everyone managing and handling personal information is appropriately trained and supervised.
Queries about handling personal information are promptly and courteously dealt with and clear information is available to all staff.
All staff should be aware of the requirements of the Act and how the rules apply to them.
All staff must complete data protection induction and annual training.
All staff have a responsibility to ensure that they respect confidential information in their possession and maintain information security. Disclosure of confidential information gained as part of your employment to a third party, or assisting others in disclosure, will be viewed by Blinc-UK Ltd with the utmost seriousness.
All staff are responsible for ensuring personal information is kept no longer than is necessary.
For further advice, please contact Mr Darren Bignall.
Blinc-UK Ltd respects your privacy. The information that you provide us with, or that is gathered automatically, helps us to monitor our services and provide you with the most relevant information.
We have appointed Mr Darren Bignall, Director, Blinc-UK Ltd as our Data Protection Officer (DPO).
If, in future, you want to know or have any queries regarding data protection or our policies, all you have to do is ask – just send an email to info@blincref.comand we can help resolve your query. You also have a right to lodge a complaint with the ICO if you wish.
Blinc-UK Ltd aims to comply fully with its obligations under the Act. If you have any questions or concerns regarding Blinc-UK Ltds 's management of personal data, including your right to access data about yourself, or if you feel Blinc-UK Ltd holds inaccurate information about you, please contact Mr Darren Bignall, (DPO) (details above). If you feel that your questions or concerns have not been dealt with adequately or that a subject access request you have made to Blinc-UK Ltd has not been fulfilled you can use Blinc-UK Ltd's complaints procedure: If you are still dissatisfied, you have the right to contact the office of the Information Commissioner, the independent body overseeing compliance with the Act: http://ico.org.uk/.


A key highlight of the Museum's Mexican Modernism exhibit, Orozco's mural masterpiece "The Epic of American Civilization," lives at Dartmouth College. So we transported that experience to Philly through a life-sized projection and customized app. Allowing visitors to view over 20 complicated panels that highlighted the artist's intentions for storytelling and allowed for a seamless, customized journey through the exhibit. Proving that tech can not only provide utility and content for the arts, but that it can bridge the gap between physical spaces. And providing a gratifying new way to engage with, and interpret art.
We created a series of scalable kiosks, dubbed Living Labels, for the Museum's permanent South Asian Art exhibit. Non-linear storytelling allows visitors to learn about various aspects of the artwork that most intrigue them without limiting individual interpretation. An intuitive experience, coupled with elegant design and content structure, allows visitors to explore the artifacts on their own time, in their own way. All built with a system that can be adapted with scale for any museum exhibit.


text:
At least the place wasn't as imposing as the larger, marble-hewn banks I'd already tried back in the capital. Banks that would laugh at anyone without their own personal standard and at least one hornblower. Banks that existed solely to help those who already had money make more of it.
This place, I hoped, would be different. Located in a part of the country bound by the Crown's laws but unfavored by the Crown's largesse, it just had to be.
Didn't it?
The oracle instructed me to look my best, so I'd purchased a sword made of at least 47% widowsteel (second-hand, but who could tell?) and a violet cloak spun from the finest imitation fairy hair. The only thing that gleamed brighter than my newly-polished breastplate was my smile.
Still, as I walked over to the man I had come to meet, it was hard to keep my heartbeat steady.
One does not simply walk into the Rootbridge Savings and Loan, the oracle had warned. One must have an appointment.
The man I'd come to see sat under a small framed tapestry bearing the spear-and-scales insignia of the house. The nameplate on his desk said, Polonius Ghent, Individual and Unlikely-Enterprise Loans. He looked up as I approached, a slight smile playing over his lips as his eyes flickered from my breastplate to my boots.
"Miss Felinia Kemp?" he said.
"The same."
"I take it you're not here to open a shop."
"No, I had something much…grander in mind." I chose my words with care. I'd met enough bankers to know they couldn't be trusted. They used words like amortization and gods, I've never seen a credit score this low; spells that drain the life force right out of you.
But that wouldn't happen here. This time had to be different. Because if I didn't stop the Corpse Lord, who would?
"Very well," Ghent said. "How can I help you today?"
I licked my lips. I hated pitching. "I'm putting together a team."
"A team."
"Yes. A kind of sisterhood, really."
Ghent arched an eyebrow. "A trade organization?"
"Well," I said, "more like a band."
"I see. And its nature? Do you have a mission statement?"
I straightened in my chair. "To journey through pain and peril, winter and woe, to the necrolands of the Corpse Lord to rid the world of his foul presence forever."
"A quest, then," Ghent said. "And you're looking for a loan?"
"I am looking for women and men of valor to –"
"Yes, but for that you need funding. Very well, Miss Kemp, I only have a few questions. I'm sure this won't take long." He produced several sheets of blank parchment. "Please fill these out."
I took one. The moment my fingers touched it, words appeared.
QUEST-LOAN APPLICATION FORM
SECTION 1A: APPLICANT INFORMATION
1. Are you a lost heir to royalty? Y/N
2. Are you currently in exile? Y/N
3. Has any member of the nobility personally solicited your aid? Y/N
4. Are you a farmboy (or farmgirl) seeking to undo a curse upon otherwise agriculturally-productive land? Y/N
5. Are you the subject of any prophecies made by a licensed, reputable prophet? Y/N
My hands shook in anger. A necromantic plaguemancer ruled the north, and this provincial little scroll-shover was giving me the same forms as all the rest? The oracle had assured me this place would be different; that here you didn't need money to make money. That I should look not in the cities to find what I sought, but rather in the more bucolic districts. That in every age of the world, it was never the great and grand that overthrew evil, but the little and low.
Now I wondered if she simply did her banking here, too. Likely we would both get a free spit-roaster if I opened an account.
"I will save you time," I said, "and tell you the answer to all this is no."
"Oh dear," Ghent said, but he was smiling from ear to ear. "Have you any other sources of funding? Any–ahem–collateral of your own?"
I swallowed. I'd spent the last of my gold on the outfit.
"Then I'm afraid I must deny your application," Ghent said.
I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. "But you haven't heard my ideas to –"
"Immaterial," Ghent said. "Quests are expensive. The going rate on mercenaries is astronomical. Then there's liability insurance, toll-road fees, backcountry permits, weapons, food–no one considers food. And of course, we'll have to commission a cartographer. Know how much they cost? The north is all corpse-lands now. It'll be years before even a semi-reliable map is produced, and you can't go on a quest without one. At least, I never knew anyone who did."
"But the Corpse Lord," I persisted. "He must be stopped."
"Politically, I agree," Ghent said. "I don't hold with centralized policymakers of any ideology. But overthrowing him would create a power vacuum which could upset capital markets." He shuddered. "We're a small, regional bank, with none of the royal connections held by some…larger institutions." The envy in his voice was unmistakable. "Our deposits are uninsured."
"So, you're saying," I snarled, "that I should wait for someone wealthier to step up. Meanwhile, people die…and the dead rise."
"What I'm saying," Ghent said, "is that you can't expect me to approve a loan for such a speculative enterprise to someone with a fake fairy cloak and a discount blade." He chuckled.
Rejected, again. Laughed at, again. And this time by a small, piss-poor, backwater branch. The fact it was less wealthy but no less greedy than its larger cousins was most galling of all. I couldn't stand it. This would not be borne!
To defeat an evil Corpse Lord, the oracle had said, let nothing stand in your way. Whatever the price.
So. It had come to this.
In a flash, I drew my sword and vaulted over Ghent's desk.
"Guards!" Ghent cried, backing against the wall. "What are-"
He stopped as I put a finger to his lips. Then, I reached behind him and sliced the tapestry from its frame.
"I'll meet many people on this quest," I said. "Women of business, men of means. Innkeepers, smiths, you name it."
"So, wouldn't they be interested to know your bank is ready to help with all their financial needs? Especially when other, larger banks might say no?"
I held the tapestry up against my breastplate. The spear-and-scales logo clear for all to see.
That'll be thirty-seven crowns, the oracle had said. Minus a ten-crown rebate if you refer a friend.
"The road to profitability is long," I said, "but it always starts with proper marketing."
Ghent's smile vanished, but there was a new spark of calculation in his eyes. He steepled his fingers. "Go on…"
The Supervisor of Accountants and the Great Grey Wolf
by Donald Crankshaw
Ah, you recognize me. I wasn't sure that you would. There are hundreds of officials in your court, and I have noticed that your eyes tend to glaze over when they're introduced to you. No, no offense meant or taken. Just because the likes of me has to remember every country squire and his bastard son that passes through, that's no reason to expect someone of your importance to remember the Supervisor of the Accountants to the Second Under-Treasurer.
But, should you wish to know, my name is Jerome. I spoke to you about some irregularities in the accounts a little while ago. Do you remember? It specifically pertained to those funds paid out to the knights hunting the Great Gray Wolf. Yes, you remember that part, I see. I pointed out that the knights were submitting expenses well in excess of what you might expect in a typical hunting expedition. For example, the rates they were paying for accommodation were outrageously high. And the other expenses–I know the price of leathers and horses, and you could outfit a small army for what they claimed they were paying. I went over the accounts, broke down the expenses for you, and explained why I believed that those knights were cheating you. I suggested that it was more likely that the knights were wandering the countryside with their wives and mistresses, children and servants, and staying at the finer inns, rather than actually hunting the beast. Do you recall what you told me then? I'm sure you do.
You said, "Perhaps you would do a better job. In fact, Accountant, take it as a royal command. Go out there, and don't return until you bring me the head of the Wolf."
For reference, I am not an accountant. I am a supervisor of accountants, and more specifically the Supervisor of the Accountants to the Second Under-Treasurer. Not to make too fine a point of it, but I do believe that people need to be recognized by their proper titles.
But, supervisor or accountant, I am certainly not a knight or a huntsman. Both you and I knew that, but I also knew that it was most improper–not to mention hazardous to one's well-being–to disobey an order from the king. So I took it upon myself to do what you asked, though it seemed impossible. I blackened my outdoor boots, put on my best bad weather hat and jacket, and hired a carriage to take me to the darkest part of the Old Woods. Or as close as it would go. The coachman dropped me off at the village of Esterby, near the River Thirel. There I went to the best–and only–inn in town, and inquired about their rates and the whereabouts of any visiting knights. I was not surprised that the knights had been nowhere near Esterby, and that the inn's rates–which they assured me were representative of those charged by inns in any village near the Old Woods–were low enough that the knights could be buying out every room of every inn of every town in the vicinity for significantly less than they recorded in their expense reports.
You'll see that rate, along with that of my meager meals, in my own much more modest expense report.
Once I had spent the night in the inn, I inquired about the Old Woods and the Great Gray Wolf. The villagers were able to point me to the woods, and a number offered their stories and rumors about the Wolf himself. There were a few who claimed to have seen the Wolf, but only from a distance and hidden by trees or mist, so I wasn't sure whether they were describing the Wolf, or some other large beast, such as a bear or an elk, or perhaps some particularly wolf-like shrubbery.
After I had heard everything the Esterbs had to say on the matter–yes, they call themselves Esterbs. I, myself, would have thought to call them Esterbians, but they were quite insistent, and, as I've said, I've always believed in addressing people by their proper titles. In any case, once I'd learned what I could from the Esterbs, I decided that there was no help for it but to go out into the woods myself. So I polished my brass buttons, brushed the dirt from my jacket and hat, and waxed my mustache, before heading out into the Old Woods.
There are no paths through the Old Woods. Well, there are, but only through the areas which we call the North Forest or the Tall Wood, which are all part of the same larger forest. But the part we call Old Woods is quite pathless. Fortunately, there is little underbrush, either, and I was able to make good time. Good time to where, though? Just deeper into the forest? All that meant was that when the sun began to lower, I was farther into the Old Woods than I might have been otherwise. By then it had become obvious that I would not be seeing the Great Gray Wolf that day, though I had seen two bears, one elk, and an oversized fox, all of which might have been mistaken for the Great Gray Wolf from a distance. I had not seen any particularly wolfish shrubberies, though. Once I decided it was time to turn back, I turned on my heel and walked back the way I had come. I followed my own tracks as best I could at first, but as I mentioned before, I am no huntsman, though I am apparently better at not leaving tracks than I am at following them. And while I had tried my best to follow a straight line on the way in, I had occasionally had to sidestep trees or find my way around streams, so I was not able to simply walk a straight line back.
I had quite lost my trail when the sun set, leaving me deep in the Old Woods.
I am not a superstitious man. I do not believe in ghosts or goblins. But the forest is another matter. There is something unnatural about a civilized man being alone in a setting as primal as the Old Woods. There were strange noises–creaking branches and scuttling in the dead leaves, animal and bird calls I couldn't recognize. And there seemed to be movement all around–the leaves and branches moving out of proportion to the slight wind, shadows and light dancing, darting shapes in the distance, growing gradually closer as the shadows lengthened. Even the smell–so earthy and brown. I will admit, I became more than a little unnerved.
To keep myself focused, I began to recount the figures for courtly banquets in my head. 1200 leris for pork, 1400 for fowl. For someone who is not an accountant, I have an excellent recollection for numbers. By the time I'd totaled the full cost of last month's Feast of St. Olus–I was off the actual amount paid by 120 leris; I still need to track that down–it was fully dark, and I came to a standstill.
I had no idea what to do. I could not continue walking. Every step, some unseen root or hollow threatened to twist my ankle and send me tumbling. I wasn't entirely sure I'd see the tree trunks before braining myself on one. But was I just supposed to lie down in the dead leaves and sleep? I wasn't sure I could bring myself to do that.
Then I heard a growl.
I turned slowly, and though I could make out neither tree nor ground nor sky, the glowing golden eyes were quite visible.
I did not see a wolf in the darkness, but I knew that I faced the Great Gray Wolf. Surprisingly, I wasn't terrified, or even unnerved. The very worst had happened. I was facing my worst fear, and I merely felt resigned.
"Good evening, Sir Wolf," I said. "Do you mind if I call you Gray?"
Gray did not respond.
"The King has tasked me with seeking you out. It seems there is a small matter of you preying on livestock in the area and, more relevant to the King I should think, the deer in the King's private reserve in the Tall Wood."
There was a deeper growl as the eyes came closer.
"He's quite unhappy with you, and he's spent a small fortune paying knights to ride around the area–not this particular area, mind, but someplace adjacent to the vicinity–looking for you. He eventually gave me the task."
Finally, Gray came close enough that I could see him, even in the dark. He had a sharp snout, sharper than that of any hound, and huge teeth, which he seemed to want me to see, as his dark lips were peeled back. And he was a great deal shaggier than any hound I'd seen, with long, scraggly, dark gray fur. And he was bigger. About three or four times the size of your big yellow bitch, I'd say. He looked like he could take down a horse, scarf it, and still be hungry. His back was level with my chest, and though I'm not a tall man, that was far taller on me than any hound I'd met, and some ponies.
"Tell me, are you prepared to answer to the King?" I said with all the irate authority of a supervisor reprimanding a lazy accountant to the Second Under-Treasurer.
The wolf growled louder.
"Stop that!" I snapped.
Gray stopped mid-growl, leaving a deep silence.
"I don't believe that you understand the seriousness of the situation. The King wants your head. And I mean that rather more literally than when I tell the same thing to my accountants. You can growl at me all you want, eat me and crack the bones and suck out the marrow, but that won't stop the king from sending knights after you. Inevitably one or two will wander this way, after all the inns get too full of the other men the King keeps sending out, or at least too full of their servants and wives, mistresses and children. I'm fairly sure one of them will be at least a little more dangerous to you than I am. Frankly, I expect one of them to get lucky slightly before the King's treasury runs out. And then what will happen?"
It was hard to tell whether Gray was actually listening to me, but his head was cocked slightly to one side, so I had some hope that he might be. Then he began to circle around me, snuffling as he stuck his cold nose in some rather uncomfortable places. This was outside the bounds of what I was used to at court, even from my more unruly accountants, so I tried my best to ignore it, looking straight ahead and refusing to track the wolf.
Finally, he came back around and sat down, looking at me. I swear, his eyes were nearly level with my own.
"Now," I said, "you can either come with me and get this straightened out, or you can stay here and wait for someone with an actual weapon and perhaps some knowledge of how to use it. I would strongly advise the former."
Gray cocked his head to one side, but didn't say anything.
"Very well," I said. "I'm heading back. If you wish to see the King, come with me."
I turned and started to walk away.
I heard the wolf chuff behind me. I'm sure the sound I heard was a chuff, though at the time it sounded for all the world like Gray was clearing his throat.
I turned to see Gray making an odd motion with his head, pointing his snout in nearly the opposite direction from the one I'd been going.
"As I said, I'm heading back." I began walking in the direction the wolf indicated. Gray was soon following in my footsteps. It was still dark, but Gray would helpfully chuff whenever I was about to collide with a tree or tumble down an embankment, so we made it safely out of the forest.
The villagers were rather alarmed to see a wolf–the Wolf–following me. The knights, once we finally saw some, were rather more so. Some of them even drew their weapons, and Gray was forced to defend the both of us. I made sure he didn't kill anyone, and most of them will surely recover, though I'm afraid that your Captain of the Guard's hand won't be growing back. But despite some challenges, we did make it here.
And so, here you have it. One Great Gray Wolf's head, delivered on your royal command, wolf still attached. I'm sure that won't be a problem. You could, I suppose, order your headsman to detach the head from the body, but you'd first have to find someone to hold Gray still, and all your guards are either too injured or too afraid to do so.
Might I suggest an alternative? I'd be happy to draw up an account of what Gray has cost you, and what he can pay or contribute through other means. A full accounting of debits and credits will go a long way toward sorting things out.
Just remember that I am a supervisor, and not an accountant. I believe I've mentioned the importance of recognizing people's proper titles. In fact, from now on I think that my proper title should be Lord Supervisor of the Great Gray Wolf.
An Evil Opportunity Employer
by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Read the contract. I tell everyone that – everyone. You know how many people actually do it?
Okay, I don't know either, but it isn't enough of them, I can tell you that. I swear half my business and 90% of my losses come from people who didn't do it. I don't suppose I should complain, since that's also at least half my income, but I get so fed up with clients who have no idea what they've signed that I just want to punch someone, even if I have to do it in my civilian identity.
Yeah, I admit it, I'm one of those dual-identity vigilantes – I hesitate to say "superheroes," because quite aside from any trademark issues, it sounds so boastful. It's not for me to say whether I'm a hero, let alone "super." I'm not going to tell you my nom d'aventure, but you'd probably recognize it; I'm not one of the really big names, not one of the Kryptonians or Asgardians or anything, but I have certain special abilities and I've earned a few headlines.
What I haven't earned from crime-fighting is a living, so I have a day job as a contracts attorney.
And I know what you're thinking – contracts? Not criminal law? Yes, contracts, because unlike some attorneys I could name, I understand the concept of conflict of interest. I also understand how difficult it is to keep from being recognized in court by someone with whom you've just had an epic two-hour brawl. Masks can slip and tear, and people do recognize voices and body language.
Most thieves and thugs don't sign any contracts before robbing a bank or taking a busload of commuters hostage, though, so I can put my law degree to use without worrying about constantly confronting people from my other work.
But there are exceptions, and I'm here to tell you about one of them.
This big guy with a battered old briefcase walked in wanting advice on whether he should sue his employer. Nothing out of the ordinary there. I was nodding and getting some papers ready and only half-listening at first because I get these all the time. He'd been asked to do stuff he thought was outside his job description and pretty clearly illegal, and he had agreed because his boss has a mean streak, but now he was having second thoughts, and he wanted to know what I thought he should do.
But then I asked who he worked for, and he answered, and I sat up straight and stared at him.
"Say that again," I told him.
"I work for Dr. Catastrophe," he repeated.
"Dr. Alice Catastrophe?" I asked, just to be sure, because yes, Catastrophe is an unusual name, but you never know.
"Yeah. The Doctor of Disaster. Her."
I sucked in my lips and considered this. I don't really like to call people "super-villains" any more than I like to call myself a superhero, but I have to admit the term fits Dr. Catastrophe better than any other description I can think of. I'd never gone up against her myself, at least not directly, but several people I knew had, and they all spoke of her with respect. I had the impression that if they weren't all professionally fearless, they'd speak of her with abject terror.
The guy – I'll call him John Doe – had my full attention now. The possibility of getting a lead on Dr. Catastrophe's current whereabouts definitely caught my interest, not so much as a lawyer as for my other line of work. "Tell me more," I said. "What exactly is it you do for Dr. Catastrophe?"
"I'm a henchman."
"What kind?"
"Non-specific."
"So you're not a lawyer or engineer or scientist or lab assistant or experimental subject?"
"No. I'm just a henchman. I run errands, operate equipment, do some security work, some light construction and maintenance, occasionally chauffeur the boss or her friends around."
"And you think she's asking you to do something outside your duties?"
I drummed my fingers on my desk. I knew something about the hireling business, albeit only from the outside, so I had a pretty good idea what henchmen and minions and serfs and underlings and the other categories did, but the exact lines were often vague. "Mr. Doe," I said, "I don't quite see how that's possible; are your duties defined anywhere?"
"Yes, they are," he said, lifting his briefcase onto my desk. "I'll show you."
I had a moment of alarm there, thinking that maybe this was all a set-up of some kind and he had one of Dr. Catastrophe's diabolical devices in there, that someone had found out about my other identity and decided to take me out, but then he flopped a sheaf of ordinary paper from the case onto my desk. He shoved it toward me.
"That's my employment contract," he said.
I just stared at it for a moment, then pulled it over and began reading.
It was indeed an employment contract, but not quite like any I had ever seen before. Parts of it were standard modern boilerplate, but other parts were strangely archaic, even more so than ordinary legalese, such as a clause giving the party of the first part – that is, Dr. Catastrophe – "full power under such circumstances to do with the party of the second part at her pleasure, be it either body, flesh, blood, or goods."
It also defined half a dozen different jobs, including henchman, but when I got to the signature page I noticed something odd.
"So all of Dr. Catastrophe's people sign this?" I asked.
"That's right. Apparently she's had some problems in the past with her employees double-crossing her, so she had this drawn up."
I knew something about that – Dr. Catastrophe spent eight years in prison after some of my crime-fighting compatriots convinced several of her flunkies to turn on her. Two full pages of this contract had been written specifically to prevent a recurrence, providing elaborate but carefully legal-sounding penalties for disobedience or betrayal. I had doubts about whether these provisions would hold up in court, given the various whistle-blower laws – in fact, since her entire operation was probably a criminal enterprise the whole contract should be unenforceable – but they certainly looked good enough to deter most hirelings.
But that wasn't what I had been looking at. I turned the contract back around to show him the signature page. "This is you?" I said. "You signed this?"
"Yeah, that's me. I'm not claiming I didn't sign, but paragraph 36…"
I interrupted him, still holding it open to the signature page. "Paragraph 36 doesn't apply," I said. "Look here." I pointed to a list at the top of the page where one box was checked, and only one.
"What did… I don't…"
"You aren't a henchman," I said. "You're a minion. It says so right there."
He leaned back, shocked. "But I applied to be a henchman!"
"Doesn't matter. What matters is what you signed, and it says right there that your employment category is entirely at the discretion of your employer, and cannot be changed once the contract is signed. You're a minion."
"The doctor said I was her henchman!"
I shook my head again. Hirelings are always surprised when they find out their bosses have lied to them. I used to be surprised when they were; what do they expect from criminal masterminds? But I'd gotten used to it. "Doesn't matter," I said again. I flipped pages. "Paragraph 83 – the party of the first part shall have full authority to lie to the party of the second part, to mislead, deceive, or defraud in service of her goals and purposes. She can call you anything she wants, but the contract says you're a minion."
He glared at the contract, his face going red. After a moment he said, "So how does that change things?"
"Well, the rules are different for minions; I'm sure you know that. Minions swear total obedience – to fetch and carry, to serve without question. See Paragraph 38? You're required to obey any order she gives you, no matter how stupid, if it doesn't directly endanger your life – or if you're in her presence, even if it does directly endanger your life. Henchmen get more latitude on what orders to obey, and how much they can argue. But there's a trade-off there – see Paragraph 44, reasons for termination and methods of termination? She can't just shoot you if she's angry, the way she can a henchman. Henchmen are responsible for their screw-ups, and minions aren't, because henchmen are assumed to be using their judgment and minions are supposed to be mindlessly obedient."
"So she thinks I'm a moron."
I managed to resist pointing out that he had signed the contract without noticing the big black check-mark in the "Minion" box at the top of the page, which did not speak well of his intelligence. Instead I tried to be conciliatory. "She may not have had any henchman openings left. It's hard to find good minions."
"So does this affect my case?"
"I'm afraid it pretty much destroys your case," I said. "Paragraph 38. Nothing she tells you to do is outside your job description. As for it being illegal, come on, Mr. Doe – you're working for Dr. Catastrophe! Everything she does is illegal, pretty much."
"So I really need to go steal all those kittens?"
I did a double-take. "Kittens?"
"Yeah. She wants… well, never mind." He picked up the contract and dropped it back in his briefcase.
"Kittens?" I said again.
I admit it, I have a soft spot for kittens. My two cats at home, Bruiser and Caliban, are both grown and both fixed, but… kittens. I love kittens.
If Dr. Catastrophe was going to do something horrible to kittens, I had to stop her.
"Hang on," I said, getting out of my chair and crossing to my reference shelves. "I'm pretty sure there's a precedent on this. Uh… do you know what Dr. Catastrophe wants with the kittens?"
"How many kittens are we talking about?"
"She said she needed at least forty, and fifty would give her a margin, just in case. She assigned three of us to fetch them."
"I think there's a precedent about minions and cute furry things. I'll need to look that up." I began scanning the shelves for the volume I wanted. "By the way," I said, as casually as I could, "did you notice that henchmen who try to leave can be hunted down and killed – it says 'terminated,' but we both know what that means – for their disloyalty? But minions who desert are ignored. The contract assumes they don't know enough to be dangerous."
He looked puzzled for a second, then realized what I was saying. "Wait – so I could just walk away?"
I nodded. "You'd be out of work, of course."
"But I wouldn't need to steal any kittens."
I could see he was thinking that over as I found the book I wanted and carried it to the desk.
"I think I'll do that," he said. "Thanks for the advice."
I waved it away. "It's nothing," I said.
"No, I appreciate it. Thanks. I guess you won't be representing me, but I've taken up your time, so what do I owe you for the consult?"
"Nothing. Really. I haven't accepted you as a client, and I'm not going to. I won't accept a cent from you."
"What? Why not?" He frowned. "Because I'm just a minion?"
"No," I said, as I flipped pages without looking at him. "Because if you're my client, this whole conversation would be privileged communication, and I couldn't tell anyone about it without your permission. If you're not my client, then we're just a couple of guys chatting, and if I mention any of this to anyone I'm not breaching confidentiality, which would be an ethics violation, I'm just making conversation."
"I don't see… oh." He lost a little color. "Maybe I do."
"Mr. Doe, have a good day – and I really think you're making the right decision not going back."
Then he picked up his briefcase and hurried out, and I put the book back on the shelf. I never did find that precedent. Maybe cute furry animals don't actually have any special legal protections.
But I took the rest of the afternoon off, and made a few calls, and that night a coalition of costumed vigilantes used their superhuman abilities to track the sound of mewing kittens to Dr. Catastrophe's lair, and to put her back behind bars.
Categories: Episodes
accountancy, adventure, Alexis Goble, collateral, Comedy, contracts, Donald S. Crankshaw, due diligence, employment law, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Jeremy Carter, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, kittens, Lawrence Watt-Evans, lawyers, loans, Marguerite Kenner, Matt Dovey, Matthew Bailey, regulation, superheroes, supervillians, wolves
Donald S. Crankshaw
Donald S. Crankshaw has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT, which was more useful for writing fantasy than he had expected, though less helpful for writing science fiction than he had hoped. He has previously published stories in Nature Futures, Daily Science Fiction, and Black Gate.
He and his wife, fellow writer Kristin Janz, currently publish a professional-rate-paying e-zine called Mysterion, which publishes speculative fiction about Christianity. It can be found at www.mysteriononline.com, and has a Patreon page at patreon.com/Mysterion.
Find more by Donald S. Crankshaw
Matthew Bailey
Matthew Bailey lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his incredible black belt-wearing wife and three amazing sons. A ghostwriter by trade, he spends his free time playing five different instruments, and in a former life was a professional saxophonist. His short fiction has appeared in Lightspeed Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Unidentified Funny Objects, and other places. You can read more of his stories at www.matthewjordanbailey.com.
Find more by Matthew Bailey
Lawrence Watt-Evans has been a full-time writer for almost forty years, with fifty novels and well over a hundred short stories to his credit, mostly fantasy, science fiction, and horror. He's best known for the Hugo-winning short story "How I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers," the Obsidian Chronicles trilogy, and the ongoing Legends of Ethshar fantasy series. He has been reading superhero comic books since 1959, and lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, just outside Washington DC.
Find more by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Matt Dovey
Matt Dovey is very tall, very English, and most likely drinking a cup of tea right now. He has a scar on his arm where he tripped in the fog as a teenager, fleeing a police drone after curfew. He now lives in a quiet market town in rural England with his wife & three children, and despite being a writer he still hasn't found the right words to fully express the delight he finds in this wonderful arrangement. His surname rhymes with "Dopey" but any other similarities to the dwarf are purely coincidental.
He has fiction out and forthcoming all over the place, including not so long ago on this podcast, with episode 364, "Remember to Breathe". He's even an indentured servant I MEAN WILLING VOLUNTEER in the PodCastle slush mines, digging for the shiniest stories to present to the castle dragon in exchange for one more day of not being eaten.
You can keep up with the rest of it at mattdovey.com, or find him timewasting on Twitter as @mattdoveywriter.
Find more by Matt Dovey
Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali
Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali lives in Houston, Texas, with her family. By day she works as a breast oncology nurse. At all other times, she juggles, none too successfully, the multiple other facets of her very busy life.
Khaalidah has been published at or has publications upcoming in Strange Horizons, Fiyah Magazine, Diabolical Plots and others. You can hear her narrations at any of the four Escape Artists podcasts, Far Fetched Fables, and Strange Horizons. As co-editor of PodCastle audio magazine, Khaalidah is on a mission to encourage more women and POC to submit fantasy stories.
Of her alter ego, K from the planet Vega, it is rumored that she owns a time machine and knows the secret to immortality.
Find more by Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali
Marguerite Kenner
Marguerite is a native Californian who has forsaken sunny paradise to live with her true love in Merrye Olde England. She frequently wears so many hats that she needs two heads. When she's not grappling with legal conundrums as a commercial solicitor, editing Cast of Wonders, or helping behind the scenes as COO of Escape Artists, she can be found narrating audio fiction, studying popular culture (i.e. going to movies and playing video games) with her partner Alasdair Stuart, or curling up with a really good book. You can follow her adventures on Twitter.
Find more by Marguerite Kenner
Alexis Goble
Alexis is a multiclass disaster-human living with her husband in Cincinnati. When she isn't prepping art for Cast of Wonders, designing pins for pin-y.com, or yelling about TV into a mic for Bald Move, she dabbles in a revolving menu of hobbies and art projects. To list them all would be sheer madness. Like any good bisexual, she has a lot of jackets. You can find her on Twitter @alexisonpaper.
Find more by Alexis Goble


Unique design interior office studio space is one images from 28 inspiring unique home interior design ideas photo of Homes Designs photos gallery. This image has dimension 800x600 Pixel and File Size 66 KB, you can click the image above to see the large or full size photo. Previous photo in the gallery is retro unique home interior design remodel. For next photo in the gallery is living room ceiling design ideas home designs. You are viewing image #7 of 28, you can see the complete gallery at the bottom below.


MUSIC SHE BLOGGED: Twin Atlantic Announce First US Tour This Spring!
Scottish rockers Twin Atlantic will make their long-awaited US touring debut this spring opening a national co-headlining tour with The Fall Of Troy and Envy On The Coast. Recently featured on the cover of the UK's celebrated Rock Sound Magazine, Twin Atlantic will showcase songs from their debut mini-album Vivarium on stages from coast to coast, including a stop at SXSW.
Twin Atlantic have shared stages with Smashing Pumpkins, Circa Survive and Taking Back Sunday in the past and recently received praise from Alternative Press, Nylon and more. Check out video of the band's impressive live performances and the new video for the song "What Is Light? Where Is Laughter?" here.
"Those present witness a beautifully subtle combination of killer melodies, jerky, asymmetrical riffs and charisma and energy to spare. The gorgeous light and shade suggests world-beating things to come..."- Kerrang !


text:
define([
        "lib/three",
        "core/framework/Tundra",
        "core/math/Color",
        "entity-components/EC_Fog"
    ], function(THREE, Tundra, Color, EC_Fog) {

var EC_Fog_ThreeJs = EC_Fog.$extend(
/** @lends EC_Fog_ThreeJs.prototype */
{
    /**
        Fog component implementation for the three.js render system.

        @ec_implements EC_Fog
    */
    __init__ : function(id, typeId, typeName, name)
    {
        this.$super(id, typeId, typeName, name);

        this._activated = false;
    },

    __classvars__ :
    {
        Implementation : "three.js"
    },

    reset : function(forced)
    {
        if (!this._activated && forced !== true)
            return;
        this._activated = false;

        Tundra.renderer.scene.fog = null;
        Tundra.renderer.renderer.setClearColor(0x000000);

        this._forceMaterialUpdates();
    },

    update : function()
    {
        if (!this._activated && Tundra.renderer.scene.fog != null)
        {
            this.log.warn("Fog is already set, only the first initialized fog will be enabled. Inactivating", this.toString());
            return;
        }

        this._forceMaterialUpdates();
        this._createFog(this.mode);
    },

    _forceMaterialUpdates : function()
    {
        // All materials need to be updated (shaders reconfigured) now that fog is
        // either removed or we are about to change the fog type.
        var meshes = Tundra.renderer.getAllMeshes();
        for (var i = 0; i < meshes.length; i++)
        {
            if (meshes[i].material !== undefined && meshes[i].material !== null)
                meshes[i].material.needsUpdate = true;
        }
    },

    _createFog : function(fogMode)
    {
        this.reset(true);

        if (fogMode === EC_Fog.Type.NoFog)
        {
            this._activated = true;
            return;
        }

        if (fogMode === EC_Fog.Type.Linear)
            Tundra.renderer.scene.fog = new THREE.Fog(this.color.toThreeColor(), this.startDistance, this.endDistance);
        else
            Tundra.renderer.scene.fog = new THREE.FogExp2(this.color.toThreeColor(), this.expDensity);

        this._activated = (Tundra.renderer.scene.fog != null);
        if (this._activated)
            Tundra.renderer.renderer.setClearColor(Tundra.renderer.scene.fog.color);
    },

    attributeChanged : function(index, name, value)
    {
        if (!this._activated)
            return;

        // mode
        if (index === 0)
            this._createFog(value);
        // color
        else if (index === 1)
        {
            Tundra.renderer.scene.fog.color = value.toThreeColor();
            Tundra.renderer.renderer.setClearColor(Tundra.renderer.scene.fog.color);
        }
        // startDistance
        else if (index === 2)
            Tundra.renderer.scene.fog.near = value;
        // endDistance
        else if (index === 3)
            Tundra.renderer.scene.fog.far = value;
        // expDensity
        else if (index === 4)
            Tundra.renderer.scene.fog.density = value;
    }
});

return EC_Fog_ThreeJs;

}); // require js

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This project uses the China Family Panel Studies data to provide new evidence on the gender gap in time use among Chinese couples in both urban and rural areas. It also investigates whether education helps narrow the gender gap in time use among Chinese couples.
This research finds a substantial gender gap in time use patterns among Chinese couples across urban and rural areas and on both work and non-work days, with wives spending much more time on personal and household care and husbands spending more time on work and leisure/social activities. Having the same or higher levels of education than their husbands helps the urban wives to narrow the gender gap in time use, but the effect is mixed for rural wives. Findings from this project help shed light on policy debates regarding gender inequality in China and around the world.
Center members working on this project: Qin Gao, Xiaoran Wang, and Fuhua Zhai.


The State of Equestria Daily - And We Now Have a Youtube Ad! Please Help Us Spread It!
Visit Equestria Daily for the Best My Little Pony News and More!
EQD And Pony References in New GoG Game "Mainlining"
New Equestria Girls Mini Shorts Released - Class With Principal Celestia" and "Sci-Twi's Lab"
For the New Lunar Republic!
Rainbow Dash Day 2017 !
Who's ready for a Rainbow?
Did I Hear a Sniffle?
PInkie Pie for personal Fundraiser!
[SFM Ponies] CMC Judges Shadow's poor choice of games.


text:
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

namespace WaypointControl
{
    public enum FollowType { Once, Loop, PingPong, }
    public enum FollowDirection { Forward, Backward, }

    public class PathFollower : MonoBehaviour
    {
        public bool logMessage;
        public PathData pathData;
        public FollowType followType;
        public FollowDirection followDirection;
        public float moveSpeed = 10f;
        public float rotateSpeed = 10f;

        [SerializeField]
        bool _flip;
        [SerializeField]
        bool _lookForward;
        [SerializeField]
        bool _smoothLookForward;
        Transform _transform;
        int _currentIndex;
        Token token;

        void Start()
        {
            this.token = gameObject.GetComponent<Token>();
        }

        public static PathFollower Create(Transform transform)
        {
            var pathFollower = transform.GetComponent<PathFollower>();
            if (pathFollower == null) pathFollower = transform.gameObject.AddComponent<PathFollower>();
            pathFollower._transform = transform;
            return pathFollower;
        }

        public static void Stop(Transform transform)
        {
            var pathFollower = transform.GetComponent<PathFollower>();
            if (pathFollower != null) { pathFollower.StopFollowing(); GameObject.Destroy(pathFollower); }
        }

        public void SetFlip(bool useFlip) { _lookForward = _smoothLookForward = false; _flip = useFlip; }
        public void SetLookForward(bool useLookforward) { _flip = _smoothLookForward = false; _lookForward = useLookforward; }
        public void SetSmoothLookForward(bool useSmoothLookforward, float rotSpeed) { _flip = _lookForward = false; _smoothLookForward = useSmoothLookforward; rotateSpeed = rotSpeed; }
        public void Follow(PathData pathData, float moveSpeed, FollowType followType, FollowDirection followDirection)
        {
            this.pathData = pathData;
            this.moveSpeed = moveSpeed;
            this.followType = followType;
            this.followDirection = followDirection;

            StopFollowing();

            var closestLineIndex = GetClosestLineIndex(_transform.position);
            _currentIndex = GetClosestPointIndex(closestLineIndex * 20, _transform.position);
            StartCoroutine("FollowPath");
        }
        public void FollowToPoint(PathData pathData, float moveSpeed, Vector2 targetPos)
        {
            this.pathData = pathData;
            this.moveSpeed = moveSpeed;
            this.followType = FollowType.Once;

            StopFollowing();

            var closestLineIndex = GetClosestLineIndex(_transform.position);
            _currentIndex = GetClosestPointIndex(closestLineIndex * 20, _transform.position);
            closestLineIndex = GetClosestLineIndex(targetPos);
            var targetIndex = GetClosestPointIndex(closestLineIndex * 20, targetPos);
            this.followDirection = (_currentIndex < targetIndex) ? FollowDirection.Forward : FollowDirection.Backward;
            StartCoroutine("FollowPathToPoint", targetIndex);
        }

        public void StopFollowing() { StopCoroutine("FollowPath"); StopCoroutine("FollowPathToPoint"); }

        IEnumerator FollowPath()
        {
            yield return null;
            if (logMessage) Debug.Log(string.Format("[{0}] Follow() Path:{1}, Type:{2}, Speed:{3}", name, pathData.name, followType, moveSpeed));

            while (true)
            {
                _currentIndex = Mathf.Clamp(_currentIndex, 0, pathData.linePoints.Count - 1);

                if (IsOnPoint(_currentIndex))
                {
                    if (IsEndPoint(_currentIndex)) break;
                    else _currentIndex = GetNextIndex(_currentIndex);
                }
                else
                {
                    MoveTo(_currentIndex);
                }
                yield return null;
            }
        }
        IEnumerator FollowPathToPoint(int targetIndex)
        {
            yield return null;
            if (logMessage) Debug.Log(string.Format("[{0}] FollowToPoint() Path:{1}, Speed:{2}", name, pathData.name, moveSpeed));

            targetIndex = Mathf.Clamp(targetIndex, 0, pathData.linePoints.Count - 1);

            while (!IsOnPoint(targetIndex))
            {
                _currentIndex = Mathf.Clamp(_currentIndex, 0, pathData.linePoints.Count - 1);

                if (IsOnPoint(_currentIndex))
                {
                    if (IsEndPoint(_currentIndex)) break;
                    else _currentIndex = GetNextIndex(_currentIndex);
                }
                else
                {
                    MoveTo(_currentIndex);
                }
                yield return null;
            }
        }

        void MoveTo(int pointIndex)
        {
            var targetPos = pathData.linePoints[pointIndex];

            if (_flip)
            {
                var deltaPos = targetPos - _transform.position;
                _transform.right = (deltaPos.x >= 0f) ? Vector3.right : Vector3.left;
            }
            else if (_lookForward)
            {
                var deltaPos = targetPos - _transform.position;
                deltaPos.z = 0f;
                _transform.up = deltaPos;
            }
            else if (_smoothLookForward)
            {
                var deltaPos = targetPos - _transform.position;
                deltaPos.z = 0f;
                _transform.up = Vector3.Lerp(_transform.up, deltaPos.normalized, rotateSpeed * Time.smoothDeltaTime);
            }
            _transform.position = Vector3.MoveTowards(_transform.position, targetPos, GetTokenStrengthAffectedSpeed() * Time.smoothDeltaTime);
        }

        bool IsOnPoint(int pointIndex) { return (_transform.position - pathData.linePoints[pointIndex]).sqrMagnitude < 0.1f; }
        bool IsEndPoint(int pointIndex)
        {
            switch (followType)
            {
                case FollowType.Once: return pointIndex == EndIndex();
                case FollowType.Loop: return false;
                case FollowType.PingPong: return false;
            }
            return false;
        }

        int StartIndex()
        {
            if (followDirection == FollowDirection.Forward) return 0;
            return pathData.linePoints.Count - 1;
        }
        int EndIndex()
        {
            if (followDirection == FollowDirection.Backward) return 0;
            return pathData.linePoints.Count - 1;
        }

        int GetNextIndex(int currentIndex)
        {
            int nextIndex = -1;
            switch (followType)
            {
                case FollowType.Once:
                    if (followDirection == FollowDirection.Forward)
                    {
                        if (currentIndex < EndIndex()) nextIndex = currentIndex + 1;
                    }
                    else if (followDirection == FollowDirection.Backward)
                    {
                        if (currentIndex > EndIndex()) nextIndex = currentIndex - 1;
                    }
                    break;
                case FollowType.Loop:
                    if (followDirection == FollowDirection.Forward)
                    {
                        if (currentIndex < EndIndex()) nextIndex = currentIndex + 1;
                        else nextIndex = StartIndex();
                    }
                    else if (followDirection == FollowDirection.Backward)
                    {
                        if (currentIndex > EndIndex()) nextIndex = currentIndex - 1;
                        else nextIndex = StartIndex();
                    }
                    break;
                case FollowType.PingPong:
                    if (followDirection == FollowDirection.Forward)
                    {
                        if (currentIndex < EndIndex()) nextIndex = currentIndex + 1;
                        else
                        {
                            followDirection = FollowDirection.Backward;
                            nextIndex = currentIndex - 1;
                        }
                    }
                    else if (followDirection == FollowDirection.Backward)
                    {
                        if (currentIndex > EndIndex()) nextIndex = currentIndex - 1;
                        else
                        {
                            followDirection = FollowDirection.Forward;
                            nextIndex = currentIndex + 1;
                        }
                    }
                    break;
            }
            return nextIndex;
        }

        int GetClosestLineIndex(Vector3 pos)
        {
            List<Vector3> wayPoints = pathData.points;

            Vector3 vClosestPoint = ComputeClosestPointFromPointToLine(pos, wayPoints[0], wayPoints[1]);
            float fClosestDist = (vClosestPoint - pos).sqrMagnitude;
            int nLineIndex = 0;

            for (int i = 1; i < wayPoints.Count - 1; i++)
            {
                Vector3 vPos = ComputeClosestPointFromPointToLine(pos, wayPoints[i], wayPoints[i + 1]);
                float fDist = (vPos - pos).sqrMagnitude;

                if (fDist < fClosestDist)
                {
                    fClosestDist = fDist;
                    vClosestPoint = vPos;
                    nLineIndex = i;
                }
            }

            //Debug.DrawLine(pos, vClosestPoint, Color.green, 1f);
            return nLineIndex;
        }

        int GetClosestPointIndex(int nStartIndex, Vector3 pos)
        {
            int nLastIndex = Mathf.Min(nStartIndex + 20, pathData.linePoints.Count - 1);
            Vector3 vClosestPos = pathData.linePoints[nStartIndex];
            float fClosestDist = (vClosestPos - pos).sqrMagnitude;
            int nPointIndex = nStartIndex;

            for (int i = nStartIndex + 1; i <= nLastIndex; i++)
            {
                Vector3 vPos = pathData.linePoints[i];
                float fDist = (vPos - pos).sqrMagnitude;

                if (fDist < fClosestDist)
                {
                    fClosestDist = fDist;
                    vClosestPos = vPos;
                    nPointIndex = i;
                }
            }

            // Debug.DrawLine(pos, vClosestPos, Color.yellow, 1f);
            return nPointIndex;
        }

        Vector3 ComputeClosestPointFromPointToLine(Vector3 vPt, Vector3 vLinePt0, Vector3 vLinePt1)
        {
            float t = -Vector3.Dot(vPt - vLinePt0, vLinePt1 - vLinePt0) / Vector3.Dot(vLinePt0 - vLinePt1, vLinePt1 - vLinePt0);

            Vector3 vClosestPt;

            if (t < 0f)
                vClosestPt = vLinePt0;
            else if (t > 1f)
                vClosestPt = vLinePt1;
            else
                vClosestPt = vLinePt0 + t * (vLinePt1 - vLinePt0);

            //Debug.DrawLine(vPt, vClosestPt, Color.red, 1f);
            return vClosestPt;
        }

        float GetTokenStrengthAffectedSpeed()
        {
            float speed = this.moveSpeed;

            if (this.token != null && this.token.Strength > 1)
            {
                int percentageReducion = Math.Min(60, token.Strength * 3);

                if (percentageReducion > 0)
                    speed = speed - ((speed * percentageReducion) / 100f);
            }

            return speed;
        }
    }
}


On November 27th, I managed to gash the inside of my left hand and we decided to visit the Urgent Care on Terracina. I was greeted by a young lady and man in reception; both of whom showed great concern and informed me that I would soon see the Triage Nurse. Once checked in, Dr. Elsayed immediately put my mind at ease. Throughout the whole procedure he was friendly, informative and comforting. My wound is now perfectly healed and Dr. Elsayed is my hero of 2015. I am exceedingly grateful for the Urgent Care team's excellent care and attention!


text:
Myrddin: libsys
Libsys
Libsys is a direct interface to system calls provided by the platform. It is a platform specific wrapper to the system. The documentation for the various system calls is largely deferrred to the systems themselves.
Any code that uses libsys will likely not be portable, but in many cases it is the only way to access system specific functionality, which may not be implemented elsewhere.
Generally, you should be able to get the C documentation for a system call by looking at man 2 syscall-name. Reading that will give a far better idea of what is supported.
For knowing which calls are wrapped up in Myrddin, look at the syscall implementation for your platform
Translating from System Documentation
Obviously, for a number of reasons, an API that perfectly mirrors the OS is not possible or desirable in Myrddin for a number of reasons:
C style unions are not supported directly in Myrddin. The system call wrappers tend to replace these with structs that get cast to the appropriate type or void pointer.
Passing a @a#, std.size pair is clunky, so these are generally replaced with a slice of the given type.
Finally, although the trend is to put system call compatibility glue into the libstd wrappers, there are a number of places where APIs are wrapped in libstd for the sake of portability. These are listed below.
All posix systems.
Sigpipe is disabled by default. It's not useful. If you want to enable it, do it manually.
Linux Quirks
Clock IDs are specified with a clock id enum, instead of just using the predefined constnats
Waitstatus is provided in order to extract the appropriate parts of the status.
OSX Quirks
the clock_{get,set}time calls are faked with gettimeofday/settimeofday
waitpid actually calls wait4
sys.uname is actually implemented as a number of sysctl calls
sleep() is actually a no-op dummy. std.sleep() calls select(, timeout), which was broken on some recent OSX versions.
FreeBSD Quirks
Because a slice is ABI compatible with an iovec, the API for readv() and writev() uses native slices instead of iovec structs.
OpenBSD Quirks
sleep(tm) is actually nanosleep
Plan 9 quirks
It's plan 9. The system calls are all completely different. Other than that, they are all translated directly.
Adding new system calls
Finding the Myrddin code
System calls live in mc/lib/sys. The list of system call numbers should be relatively complete for all of the supported systems, but in the case of new system calls, it may be necessary to add them.
Because libsys is, in theory, a library that should give full access to the capabilities of the underlying system, any pull request for adding a system call will be accepted.
Finding the information about system calls.
On BSD-like systems, including OSX, there is a file called syscalls.master which usually lives in /usr/src, /usr/include, or the appropriate vendor tarballs. This contains the most accurate syscall ABI.
On plan9, the calls are in /sys/src/libc/9syscall/sys.h.
On Posix-like systems, another place to find information on the system calls is /usr/include/sys/syscall.h or a file included by it. To save time wading through the large maze of twisty headers, all the same, in /usr/include, your final destination is /usr/include/asm-generic/unistd.h. However, raw system calls do not give argument lists, and sometimes the libc arguments will differ from the calls made to the OS -- a good example of this is mmap on OpenBSD, which has a dummy argument that needs to be passed in.
The system headers will generally contain the types used for the system calls. Be careful here, often there will be a variety of #ifdefs around which version of the struct gets used.
Debugging System Calls
The most important tool for debugging is your system call tracer. strace on linux, truss on FreeBSD dtruss on OSX, ktrace/kdump on OpenBSD, and ratrace on Plan 9.
Often, it helps to compare against what your sytem libc is doing. The various BSDs ship their libc in /usr/src/lib/libc. Apple makes their libc interface avialable on the Apple open source page. For Plan 9, look in /sys/src/libc. And for Linux, I suggest avoiding the glibc source, and instead reading musl libc


text:
Lego Batman The Movie : DC Super Heroes Unite
Batman. I really like Batman. So it was with some trepidation that I sat down to watch the Lego Batman movie. Pinpointing the source of this trepidation is difficult. The Lego movie was brilliant, Batman is amazing, there doesn't seem like much that can go wrong with the combination. The issue though was that the Lego movie relied heavily on its meta-this is controlled by human/creativity is good storyline, and this is essentially something which can only be done once. I was wondering just how they were going to play this. Well, the first thing to note is that the film works, its really good fun, the story bumbles along nicely and the film makers have really managed to carry on performing that special trick of making Lego characters engaging. This is what is confusing for the first half an hour though, the fact that it is Lego Batman, rather than just Batman, doesn't seem to make the slightest bit of difference. No one does anything specifically 'lego-ey'. It is all made far more confusing by the go to Batman reference point being the 89/97 Batman quadrilogy, its like the Nolan trilogy has not happened, until a hokey and overly self aware Joker fails to blow up a building on the first try, a la the brilliant hospital scene in The Dark Knight. Its like the fun mash up Lego-ness has morphed out of the bricks and into a confusing (but exciting) plethora of cultural references. Brilliant fun, but the question remains, why does this need to be Lego at all? Unfortunately it remains that these films are there to sell the games which may or may not be there to sell the actual, physical Lego, who knows which makes the company more money, and the tie in for DC comics is nothing short of marketing genius. As the film progresses the Lego element does become more pronounced, things get rebuilt and re-arranged, a pretty brilliant costume change involving whole legs and torsos occurs and the Green Lantern shows up, a character whose power seems to cohere so well with the concept of Lego that its a wonder the movie we saw in the cinema wasn't based around him entirely. Its a good movie, fun, interesting and just self aware enough to have something for die hard Bat fans as well as, well, people who like Lego I guess, but no matter how good it is it will never escape the fact that it exists really to sell something else.
The Raid II
Batman Comics Film Green Lantern Lego Lego Batman The Movie : DC Super Heroes Unite Review


The 5th Annual Future of Medicine Conference will explore just how far the delivery of health and care has been improved by the availability of new technology, and what the latest predictions are by those working in the field of how medicine will really be practiced in the future. Jaquie Finn, Head of Digital Health, will be presenting how AI will transform healthcare. From drug development to diagnosis and treatment. Talk details to be confirmed at a later date.
Going to the 5th Annual Future of Medicine Conference?


Your email has won �891,934.00 Pound Sterlings in the Irish National Lottery Draws For Internet Users.
This Email with the Subject "Congratulation!!!" was received in one of Scamdex's honeypot email accounts on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:39:53 -0700 and has been classified as a Lotto/Lottery Scam Email. The sender shows as Irish National Lottery <private_002@xtra.co.nz>, although that address was probably spoofed. We recommend that you do not attempt to contact any persons or organizations referenced in this email, as you may expose yourself to scammers and, at the very least, you will be added to their email address lists for spam purposes.