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Essex woman convicted of social housing tenancy fraud
A 31-year-old woman has been convicted of social housing tenancy fraud, a crime which deprives people in genuine need of council accommodation.
Miss Hannah Lambulla, also known formally as Oluwadamilola Owobamirin, of Horn Lane, Woodford, Essex, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013, at the City of
An investigation into her tenancy at a City Corporation-managed social housing flat in Petticoat Tower, Middlesex Street, in the Square Mile, began after another occupier was found living in the property by the estate’s management.
Investigation officers spoke to the occupier and found that the flat had been illegally sub-let by Miss Lambulla.
She was interviewed under caution and admitted to the offence of unlawfully sub-letting.
She was ordered by a judge to pay a £3,300 unlawful profit order, a fine of £120, a £34 victim surcharge, and costs of £185.
Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Community and Children’s Services Committee, Ruby Sayed, said:
“We are determined to ensure that our social homes are used to house those who are genuinely in need of housing.
“We will continue to take a firm stance against those involved in the subletting of social housing, which not only deprives families of permanent accommodation but also costs the taxpayer.”
The City Corporation manages two social housing estates in the Square Mile and 10 others across six different London Boroughs, including Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets.
Notes to editors
The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally-successful UK. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
The City Corporation is a social landlord with 12 housing estates across the City of London and six neighbouring London boroughs:
1. Avondale Square Estate
2. Golden Lane Estate
3. Holloway Estate
4. Horace Jones House
5. Isleden House
6. Southwark Estates
7. Sydenham Hill Estate
8. Dron House
9. Middlesex Street Estate
10. William Blake Estate
11. Windsor House Estate
12. York Way Estate


The most exciting of all Super Bowls was in January 2000, the one that pitted St. Louis and Tennessee in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. In that Super Bowl XXXIV, the Rams squeezed out a 23-16 win when St. Louis linebacker Mike Jones tackled Tennessee wide receiver Kevin Dyson at the 1-yard line as time expired.
Coaching wide receivers that season for the Rams was Al Saunders.
Tennessee's defensive coordinator was Gregg Williams.
Saunders and Williams are on the same mission now, trying to help Joe Gibbs lift the Redskins even deeper into the playoffs. Saunders was introduced as the Redskins' associate head coach-offense on Monday afternoon.
The next step up the ladder for the Redskins, who are just off their first postseason appearance since 1999, would be to win the NFC East and garner a home-field playoff game.
The way things have shaped up in terms of off-season coaching coaches, they may have already taken key steps toward those goals.
So far, there have been three highly significant coaching changes in the division. Andy Reid and the Eagles and Bill Parcells and the Cowboys have lost key assistants while Joe Gibbs and the Redskins have come up with a real coup.
Earlier this month, Reid saw offensive coordinator Brad Childress move on to become head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. In the meantime, Parcells lost assistant head coach/passing game coordinator Sean Payton to the New Orleans Saints, where he's become head coach. Parcells also lost linebackers coach Gary Gibbs, who will become the Saints' defensive coordinator.
Of course, the Redskins will be keeping an eye on Childress, Payton and Gibbs, given that both Minnesota and New Orleans are on Washington's 2006 schedule.
The point is that while the Eagles and Cowboys have lost key members of their respective coaching staffs, the Redskins have added a celebrated coach to fill the team's most vital need.
With the addition of Al Saunders, Gibbs has brought in one of the NFL's sharpest offensive minds. Working alongside Gibbs, Saunders should be to the Redskins' offense of 2006 what Williams has been for the Redskins' defense the past two seasons.
It's quite evident, judging simply from their two 2005 playoff games, that the Redskins' need to invigorate their offense.
They struggled with just 120 yards of total offense in their 17-10 Wild Card win at Tampa Bay. In their season-ending 20-10 setback at Seattle, the Redskins lacked spark offensively, even after being provided with a golden opportunity when league MVP Shaun Alexander of the Seahawks was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with a concussion.
Into such a backdrop steps Saunders, who has been in the NFL for 23 years, the most recent five in Kansas City for Dick Vermeil. Saunders was assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the NFL's most prolific offense, with front line players such as Tony Gonzalez, Trent Green, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson and Willie Roaf.
Saunders, who was born in London and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1960, is an accomplished long distance swimmer and marathoner. He grew up in the Bay Area and went on to play defensive back and wide receiver at San Jose State.
After college coaching stints at Southern Cal, Missouri, Utah State, Cal and Tennessee, Saunders joined the NFL in 1983 as receivers coach for the San Diego Chargers. With Dan Fouts at quarterback and Kellen Winslow, Sr., Charlie Joyner and Wes Chandler among his options, San Diego led the league in passing and total offense in 1983 and 1985. Saunders replaced Don Coryell as Chargers head coach during the 1986 season and went 17-22 in two-plus seasons.
Subsequently, he's become widely recognized as one of the NFL's most innovative offensive minds during his two stops at Kansas City and one at St. Louis. He plans to keep that momentum going next season with the Redskins.


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(vt The Life, Loves and Adventures of Omar Khayyam) US movie (1956). Paramount. Pr Frank Freeman Jr. Dir William Dieterle. Spfx John P Fulton. Screenplay Barré Lyndon. Starring John Derek (Prince Malik), Raymond Massey (Shah), Debra Paget (Sharain), Michael Rennie (Hasani), Cornel Wilde (Omar). 101 mins. Colour.
An Arabian Fantasy more in the spirit of The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and Kismet (1930) than The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (12th century; trans 1859 anon by Edward Fitzgerald [1809-1883], revs as trans EF; rev 1868; rev 1872; rev 1879), although it is studded with quotations from the Fitzgerald version. Here the poet has an "aw, shucks" style and a habit of lurching into homespun cliché. Not only a poet but an expert on clocks and the Calendar, he is employed in all capacities by the Shah of Persia, with whose newest wife Omar is in love. Many buckles are swashed in a routine adventure.
This is a disappointing movie from Dieterle. One of the co-stars is indeed the same John Derek who would direct such movies as Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981; > Tarzan Movies) and Ghosts Can't Do It (1990). [JG]

domain: literature


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This celebrated contemporary ballet company is guided by its uniquely global artistic vision. Drawing on a diverse set of deeply rooted cultural traditions, the company’s works imbue classical ballet with new expressive potential. Alonzo King’s visionary choreography is renowned for its ability to connect audiences to a profound sense of shared humanity—of vulnerability and tenderness, but also of furious abandon and exhilarating freedom. The performance includes Rasa, a deeply evocative and shimmering piece, set to an original score created and performed live by tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain.
Post-show Q&A with Alonzo KingFriday night only
Premiered November 2007 Rasa, a deeply evocative and shimmering piece, set to an original score by tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, which was called “an intriguing wonder” by the New York Times. Zakir Hussain’s mastery of classical Indian percussion and unique vision of world music have brought him worldwide renown, including a Grammy nomination, and his collaborations with Alonzo King renew classical forms in an entirely innovative way. Tabla music began as dancing music, in Northern Indian courts in the early 1700s, and its hypnotic intensity and complex rhythms convey the strong feeling that they are meant to move the body. Rasa is thus both a continuation of a deep tradition–the interdependence of dance and tabla music as art forms—and an expression of the contemporary global vision of both artists.
About Concerto for Two Violins
Premiered October 2013Concerto for Two Violins surrenders to the rhythms of Bach, utilizing music first immortalized by Balanchine last century. From its opening, the 16 minute ballet unfurls with energetic passages of uniform formations and exploding solos, the exacting movements defining King’s brand of “muscular classicalism.” Called “smart and satisfying” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Concerto for Two Violins delivers emotionality equal to the rich, textured voice of the accompanying strings.
About Writing Ground
Premiered October 2013Commissioned in 2010 by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, King’s masterfulWriting Ground draws inspiration from poems by award-winning author Colum McCann. An emotionally searing and lyrical work, set to a collection of sacred early music from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, Writing Ground challenges the Company to explore new physical territory. Writing Ground “illustrates the power of Alonzo King’s story-telling at its height” (Huffington Post).


More than $40,000 raised for YK firefighter with rare cancer
A Yellowknife firefighter being treated for an unusual form of cancer is “overwhelmed and unbelievably thankful” after donors raised more than $40,000 to help, a friend says.
Dave de Lugt set up an online fundraiser after firefighter Greg Pratt was diagnosed with a rare type of bile duct cancer. Pratt has been receiving treatment in Edmonton since mid-December.
By Saturday afternoon, one day after its creation, the GoFundMe page – which had a goal of $10,000 – had reached $40,500 and counting from nearly 300 separate donations.
De Lugt told Cabin Radio the response to Pratt’s plight had been “overwhelming.”
“We know that Greg has a pretty big impact on everyone around him but it’s been way bigger than any of us could have expected,” he said.
The money will help Pratt and partner Chrissie Carrigan to cover some travel expenses and get “the best treatment and care possible” for him, De Lugt added.
“The donations, of course, are incredibly nice,” he said. “From their perspective, it’s really the thought that counts, and they can’t believe how many people are rallying behind them to help Greg through this. So a big thank-you from both of them to everybody.”
De Lugt said Pratt began developing symptoms such as indigestion last summer. Tests revealed a mass thought to be on his pancreas, a diagnosis that later changed to a form of cancer named cholangiocarcinoma.
“He’s had a bunch of surgeries. There have been some drains put in his abdomen and so on. Biopsies have been done and we’re waiting for some results, but it’s thought to be this pretty rare form of bile duct cancer,” said De Lugt.
“He’s just been discharged from hospital for the first time in three weeks. He’s in a lot of discomfort still. He’s stable, he is in good spirits – as always, somehow, as positive as hell.
“They’re just waiting to meet with the cancer clinic and figure out what the next steps are going to be over the next few months.”


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Terrace Arch II Posters
Terrace Arch II Posters is immoderately superior and makes a exquisite wall decoration, this unit dimension is 24 x 18 inch and the price is $29.99. If you're trying to seek out top recommended Terrace Arch II Posters with affordable price, the one is the imposing deals for you.
Type: Art Print
Dimension: 24 x 18 inch
Terrace Arch II Posters is perfectly framed there are no scratches and the photograph is in brand new condition. A unique feature of this produce is that all fractal posters and wares can be customized shop you. This item is famous heavy sparkling paper and absolutely quite big. The produce is as compelling as selection, and has many similarities that ground the painting in a world that is tremendously relatable to them. Terrace Arch II Posters provide superior tools and insights on how to obtain your projects and ideas and turn them into real action plans. This poster is marvelous, the colors are exceedingly dramatic, and it has a essentially cool composition. The product is top-notch and the photo is polished as hell. The product is any number of very superior item, each with an interactive ware embedded into the text. This is so glowing and tiny that any details are completely transcendent. Terrace Arch II Posters itself is highly large and of high peculiarity photograph.

domain: design


text:
Conor O’Brien from “Villagers” says he’d “love to” release songs from his previous band “The Immediate’s” unreleased second album.
In exciting news for fans of the critically-acclaimed bands “The Immediate” and “Villagers”, singer and guitarist O’Brien, told Kieran McGuinness members of the band have talked about releasing the unheard demos for their much anticipated second album – unfinished as the band unexpectedly broke up in 2007.
Speaking on the Nova Guestlist for the 15th anniversary of “The Immediate’s” debut album, “In Towers and Clouds”, Conor said “that would have been a really weird one… if “In Towers and Clouds” was an extrovert, this would’ve been like the introvert Cousin! It just had a lot of very dreamy strange songs. It would be cool to get them out, We were actually talking about that. Yeah, that’d be amazing! I’d love to get them out there.”
“The Immediate” were critically acclaimed, and The Irish Times‘s rock critic Jim Carroll called the record “one of the best Irish debut albums of the last 20 years”. They surprisingly split up in 2007.
Villagers new album “Fever Dreams” is out on the 20th August and the band will play a series of live sold out dates across Ireland, including: Tuesday, 2nd November – Opera House, Cork, Wednesday, 3rd November – Set Theatre, Kilkenny, Thursday, 4th November – Dolans Warehouse, Limerick, Friday, 5th November – Black Box, Galway, Sunday, 7th November – Empire Music Hall, Belfast, Saturday, 11th December – Vicar Street, Dublin.
Tracklisting for Fever Dreams: Something Bigger, The First Day, Song In Seven, So Simpatico, Momentarily, Circles In The firing Line, Restless Endeavour, Full Faith In Providence, Fever Dreams, Deep In My Heart.
From their new album, “Villagers” recently performed “The First Day” on U.S television. YOU CAN WATCH BELOW:

domain: entertainment


text: This adorable one of a kind little fairy door, has been hand sculpted from silver clay. With wood paneling detail and a little peephole in the door. The pendant is hung on an 18"inch chain. This would make a magical gift for someone special. The necklace comes beautifully presented in my signature eco-friendly packaging.

domain: artistic


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The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (iGEA), New Zealand’s interactive games industry body, reports that sales of gaming software, hardware and peripherals generated $179.6 million in 2011.
The data was compiled by market research company NPD Group and has captured close to 100 percent of New Zealand’s offline computer and videogame retail data for the first time.
The data does not include sales from the online retail of physical and digital games, online game subscriptions, in-game microtransactions and mobile game downloads.
The iGEA’s director, Mark Goodacre, acknowledges that the rapidly growing popularity of online retail means the true figure is likely to be higher.
“As people increasingly consume interactive entertainment through mobile devices and online, it’s becoming more difficult to collect sales data through a single source. Looking at the latest Digital New Zealand report, we see that Kiwi gamers are almost buying equally through online stores and local retailers.”
The Digital New Zealand survey reports that 24 per cent of Kiwi gamers buy games new from a download store, and 14 percent buy boxed games new from an online store, with 37 percent of those consumers shopping online locally.
Another study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers corroborates the growing trend in online purchasing, saying it expects revenue for online purchases in New Zealand to increase by 12.5 percent to $13 million in 2015, and mobile games are predicted to rise by 10.5 per cent to $99 million in the same period.
Stephen Knightly, Chairperson of NZ Game Developers Association, sees the growth in digital distribution of games as an export opportunity for New Zealand.
“New Zealand is already a net exporter of digital games. Local game studios selling our games over the Internet and smartphone App stores earn more than Kiwi gamers spend playing digital and online games.”
“Online, social and mobile games have been the fastest growing parts of the games industry in recent years and they’re also the kinds of games that Kiwis are good at making.”

domain: news


Having issues with Screen Sensitivity Issues In Android Phones touchscreen being too sensitive or not sensitive enough? Screen sensitivity problems can be frustrating, but are usually easy to fix.
Solutions For Screen Sensitivity Issues
Here are some troubleshooting tips to get your Android touchscreen working properly again.
Check Your Screen Protector
If you have a screen protector installed, it may be interfering with the touchscreen’s sensitivity. Remove the screen protector and test the bare screen to see if sensitivity improves. If so, the protector was likely the issue. Try installing a new high-quality screen protector or go without one temporarily.
Adjust Touch Sensitivity Settings ( Screen Sensitivity Issues )
Many Android phones have a touch sensitivity setting you can adjust. Go to Settings > Display > Touch Sensitivity and try changing to a higher or lower setting. Some Samsung phones have a Touch Sensitivity option under Advanced Features in Settings. Increase sensitivity if the screen isn’t responding well or decrease it if it’s too sensitive.
Turn Off Touchscreen Enhancements
Some Android phones try to enhance the touchscreen experience with sensitivity boosts and palm rejection. This can sometimes make things worse.
Go to Settings > Display > Touch and turn off any enhancements like Touch Sensitivity, Touch Improvement, or Increase Touch Sensitivity.
Check for Screen Damage
Make sure there are no cracks, scratches, or other physical damage to your phone’s display. Any damage can interfere with proper touchscreen operation. Carefully inspect the screen under bright light and run your finger over it to feel for imperfections. If any damage is present, the screen will likely need to be repaired or replaced.
Update Your Android Version
Touchscreen drivers are contained in your phone’s Android operating system. Updating to the latest OS version can sometimes fix sensitivity problems.
Go to Settings > System > Advanced > System Update to check for and install any available updates for your phone.
Toggle Airplane Mode
As a quick fix, try toggling Airplane mode on, waiting a few seconds, then turning it off again. This resets all wireless connections which can clear up screen glitches.
Navigate to Settings > Network & Internet > Airplane mode and switch it on and then off again.
Restart Your Phone
One of the simplest fixes is to restart your Android phone. This will reload all system components from scratch, which can resolve temporary touchscreen issues. Hold down the power button and select Restart or simply turn your phone off completely, wait 30 seconds, then turn it back on.
Consider a Factory Reset
If all else fails, doing a factory reset can get your touchscreen working properly again. This will wipe all user data and settings and revert the phone back to like-new condition. Make sure to backup anything important first. Open settings and search reset and enrase all data.
When to Get Professional Help
If you’ve tried all the above steps and are still having Android touchscreen problems, it may be time to have it looked at by a professional. Screen sensitivity issues can sometimes indicate a hardware defect or a problem with the phone’s digitizer. A phone repair technician will be able to diagnose the exact issue and recommend the right solution.
With any luck, one of these troubleshooting tips will get your Android phone’s touchscreen to respond properly again. Adjusting sensitivity settings, removing screen protectors, updating software, and restarting your phone are good initial steps. If this problem is not get solved just reach a professional. A phone repair expert can get your touchscreen working smoothly again.
|Check screen protector
|Remove any screen protectors that may be interfering with sensitivity.
|Adjust touch settings
|Increase/decrease touch sensitivity in your phone’s settings.
|Turn off enhancements
|Disable any touchscreen enhancements that could cause issues.
|Check for screen damage
|Inspect for any cracks or scratches that could cause problems.
|Update Android OS
|Install any available system updates.
|Toggle Airplane mode
|Turn Airplane mode on/off to reset connections.
|Restart your phone
|Reboot your phone to reload the system.
|Wipe your phone to factory settings as a last resort.
|Get professional help
|See a phone repair tech if you can’t resolve the issue yourself.
FAQs About Screen Sensitivity Issues
Q: Why did my Android phone’s touchscreen suddenly become too sensitive?
A: This can happen due to a software bug, outdated drivers, or installing a faulty screen protector.
Q: I scratched my Android phone’s screen. Could this cause touchscreen problems?
A: Yes, any physical screen damage can interfere with proper touchscreen operation.
Q: My Android phone’s keyboard is typing the wrong letters when I try to text. How can I fix this?
A: Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard > Text correction and adjust settings like Auto correction and Spell checker.
Q: I toggled all the recommended settings but my Android phone’s touchscreen still isn’t working right. What now?
A: At this point your best option is to take it to a phone repair technician who can diagnose hardware-related issues.


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City of Toronto wanted to prevent physical distancing violations
May 12, 2020 By CBC News
Toronto has reopened High Park after having temporarily shut it down during the late April-early May cherry blossom bloom. Visitors typically flock to the park in large numbers to see the blossoms, but the city didn’t want to compromise the need for physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Such a complex book! Book one in the Forever Us Series by Nivia Borell is Shattered Love. This book was written with such great poise and descriptive manner. This author really takes you on a journey of deep feeling and emotion. Shattered Love follows Bria du Mont on her 25th birthday and the encounters of the past. Bria was meant for Damien du Sky. From the time that they were little, they were tied by such a great bond. That bond being an immense forever kind of love. One that they thought was impenetrable. But on the night of her 18th birthday the unspeakable happens, which destroys everything they are about. Damien catches Bria in bed with another man. However, Bria doesn’t remember it happening at all. At that point, Bria goes into the hospital from a heart attack. Damien finds himself in a bottle and the chase to be the very best CEO. For the next 7 years Bria drowns herself in work and finds herself incapable of having any feelings whatsoever. So she starts planning to disappear so that she can no longer hurt the ones that she loves any longer. Like I said before, this book is complex and has so many facets to go along with it. It’s a book that you need to pay attention, otherwise you will miss something. Good news is that the writing envelops you and you can’t seem to pull yourself out because you keep wanting more and more. I can’t wait for the next in the series!
Review by @vegasdaisie

domain: library


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The Fisherman Hut: This upbeat and popular steak, barbeque and seafood restaurant is a great place for some good seafood, and great drinks, and live music during the night time.
View Point Cafe: An awesome place to enjoy cake, coffee, and drinks with a breathtaking view of the bay.
Pizza & Pasta: If you are missing Western food, then this Italian food-joint is a great place to go and have some delicious pizza, and wine at reasonable prices.
Noochy Seafood: One of the best seafood restaurants at the Ao Yai fishing village that is known for its friendly and attentive staff and delicious seafood dishes including shrimp, scallops, flathead lobster, squid, and crab.
Chiang Mai Restaurant: An excellent place to try large portions of Thai cuisine items at fair prices.
Tawan Eco Bar: A chill place to enjoy great food, drinks, and live music in the evening. If you want, you can even whip up a drink for yourself here but don?t forget to leave a tip in their ?honesty jar? if you liked the place.

domain: food


text:
Salt Water Pools in Ettingerhof (North Rhine-Westphalia) Other Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia > North Rhine-Westphalia > Germany
The best pools to swim are certainly indoor olympic pools. Please check the nearest Salt Water Pools in Ettingerhof or Contact us to ADD IT. It's free! There are often discounts on the market to senior citizen and tiny children. Discover by contacting your nearest pool in Ettingerhof.
Nearest Salt Water Pools in Ettingerhof, found 1
Updated on 2016 Olympiazentrum , Drachenbahn 18 , Schilksee , Kiel , GERMANY (Postal Code: 24159). This sports center gives 25 meters, 5 lanes, 2.3 meters - 4 meters depth, 2.3 meters - 4 meters depth, Salt Water, Indoors. For this Swimming Pool, only phone number is number here.

domain: hobby


text:
TALKS to shape the future of housing and employment in Nuneaton and Bedworth took place behind closed doors – as residents staged a banner-waving protest just yards away.
They were angry not to be allowed into a meeting of the borough council’s Local Plan working party, which is made up of six members of the controlling Labour group and two Tory councillors.
Green Party councillor Keith Kondakor has been campaigning for all discussions over the Local Plan to be held in public.
He led a 30-strong group to lobby the working party before the start of Thursday night’s meeting. They stood on the Town Hall steps and then proceeded upstairs, to gather outside a locked door leading to Committee Room A.
“We wanted to let them know how we feel and to lift their veil of secrecy,” said Coun Kondakor.
“I was able to have a few words with the working party chairman Danny Aldington, but most of the other members of his panel avoided us and sneaked into the committee room through a side door.
“The way they are going about the whole issue is just pathetic.
“This is going to be the most important document produced by the council for decades and yet the public is being denied the opportunity to hear how it is being put together.
“The council says that it will eventually be offered for public consultation, but by then it will be virtually all done and dusted.
“We will be presented with the working party’s plan, with no options on the table.”
After the meeting, Coun Aldington said: “The risk of further delays to the Borough Plan cannot be under-estimated as it is playing right into the developers’ hands.
“I appeal to the few protesters, whose goal is to cause this disruption, to join the majority of residents in waiting until the full public consultation stage where they will be able to help us shape the future of the borough.
“There have been accusations of secrecy and conspiracy which is just mind boggling.
“The group has no decision-making authority and we are purely looking at a number of options and factors that could affect the Borough Plan.
“This cross party working group is no different to any other in that only the councillors who sit on the group are invited to attend.
“The next step is a public consultation where the council will be inviting feedback, suggestions, views and opinions from local people and that is the time for the protesters, along with all other residents, to have their say and help us shape the future of our borough.”

domain: sociology


text:
In 2014, astrophysicists discovered a spectral line in observational data from the Herschel Space Telescope and tentatively assigned it to the amide ion. It would have been the first proof of the existence of this molecule in space. Physicists within the group of Roland Wester from the Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics at the University of Innsbruck have now shown this assumption to be incorrect.
In addition to stars, galaxies are populated by regions that contain gigantic dust and gas clouds. Such regions, making up the interstellar medium (ISM), act as the birthplace for new stars which form when the clouds collapse under their own gravity and reach sufficient densities for fusion reactions to occur. In order to better understand these processes, it is important to know exactly the chemical composition of the ISM which is most often determined via the frequencies (spectral lines) measured by radio telescopes.
In the case of the amide ion, the team led by Roland Wester has measured two previously unknown frequencies in the laboratory for the first time. The adopted method, known as terahertz spectroscopy, has allowed the lines to be determined a hundred times more accurately than was previously possible. "In this technique, wavelengths between microwaves and infrared light are used," explains the physicist. "This allows the rotation of very small molecules to be studied. For larger molecules, vibrations of whole molecular groups can be determined."
In a project funded by the European Research Council ERC, the group of Roland Wester has developed a method by which molecules confined in ion traps are excited with terahertz radiation. "The amide ion consists of a nitrogen atom and two hydrogen atoms, looks just like water and behaves very similar in terms of quantum mechanics," says Olga Lakhmanskaya from Roland Wester's team. "For the first time, we directly measured the elementary excitation of the rotation of this molecule." The proof also came about thanks to a close collaboration with the theoretician Viatcheslav Kokoouline of the University of Central Florida, who was a visiting professor at the University of Innsbruck for a semester.
Tentative assignment disproved
The physicists from Innsbruck have now been able to show that the previously measured spectral line cannot be produced by amide ions by comparison with the data obtained from the Herschel Space Telescope. "We were able to show, with our measurements, that this tentative assignment is not correct," stresses Roland Wester. In the Universe one can find various nitrogen molecules such as ammonia but, according to the Innsbruck experiments, it remains to be shown that the amide ion is also present. The second spectral line determined by the physicists however could assist in searching for this species in space. "We hope that in the future, with new telescopes, this line can be observed leading to its detection in space." Wester’s team now wants to apply the new method to molecules with four or five atoms, where vibrations and rotations are much more complex than with the triatomic amide.

domain: chemistry


text: Avant-garde musician, Don Van Vliet, passed away on Friday. He was better known as Captain Beefheart, a stage name he adopted because of the "beef" he had in his heart, against society. He was a longtime friend and collaborator of Frank Zappa's. His breakthrough album, "Trout Mask Replica," came out in 1969 and was produced by Zappa. Click through for the song "Veteran's Day Poppys" off of the album, "Trout Mask Replica."

domain: celebrity


text:
Jon Burch Photography
Photograph - Digital Capture
Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is the name given to an ape-like creature that some people believe inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid.
Most scientists discount the existence of Bigfoot and consider it to be a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, rather than a living animal, because of the lack of physical evidence and the large numbers of creatures that would be necessary to maintain a breeding population. A few scientists, such as Jane Goodall, Grover Krantz, and Jeffrey Meldrum, have expressed interest and some measure of belief in the creature.
Bigfoot is described in reports as a large hairy ape-like creature, in a range of 6 to 10 feet tall, weighing in excess of 500 pounds, and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair. Purported witnesses have described large eyes, a pronounced brow ridge, and a large, low-set forehead; the top of the head has been described as rounded and crested, similar to the sagittal crest of the male gorilla. Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell by those who claim to have encountered it. The enormous footprints for which it is named have been as large as 24 inches long and 8 inches wide. While most casts have five toes - like all known apes - some casts of alleged Bigfoot tracks have had numbers ranging from two to six. Some have also contained claw marks, making it likely that a portion came from known animals such as bears, which have five toes and claws. Proponents claim that Bigfoot is omnivorous and mainly nocturnal.
About a third of all reports of Bigfoot sightings are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, with most of the remaining reports spread throughout the rest of North America. Some Bigfoot advocates, such as John Willison Green, have postulated that Bigfoot is a worldwide phenomenon. -Wikki
Photograph copyright Jon Burch Photography
May 13th, 2013
Viewed 161 Times - Last Visitor from Beverly Hills, CA on 06/28/2015 at 8:57 PM

domain: biology


With battery pack mb-20 – Nikon F4 User Manual
Attention! The text in this document has been recognized automatically. To view the original document, you can use the "Original mode".
With Battery Pack MB-20
To switch camera on: while pressing
lock release, turn film advance mode
selector from L (lock) position to S,
or Ci) ■
Next, lightly press the shutter release button and confirm viewfinder LCD appears.
LCD stays on for approx, 16 sec. after you take your finger off button. This indicates
sufficient battery power.
If it turns off immediately after you remove your finger from the button, replace batteries.


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Associate Professor Dr Lai Mei I
BSc (Biomed), PhD (King’s College London, UK)
She is an Associate Professor of Haematology.
Her research focus was built on the foundation of exploring hereditary red blood cell disorders particularly in thalassaemia. Her current researches include investigating the effects of α-thalasaemia on renal development thalassaemia mouse embryos as well as single-based gene editing for specific thalassaemia mutations.
The other thrust of her research work is on creating low cost innovative tools for screening purposes with a patent filed. Her other research interests include designing and gamifying pre-clinical courses for the purpose of complementing conventional lectures.
ScopusiD: 13605357700, 56123951100
Google Scholar: M.I. Lai
ResearchGate: M.I. Lai
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,
Universiti Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang,

domain: medical


Adelaide, South Australia – The future is here: a new luxury ship will be built off the coast of Adelaide in the capital’s harbour in 2019.
The $2.4 billion ship will replace the old fleet of eight luxury ships and replace the ageing Sydney-class frigate fleet.
It will replace Adelaide’s ageing fleet of 11 luxury ships, and Adelaide’s old fleet, which includes the Sydney-Class Frigate, which is a supercruise vessel.
Adelaide is the third largest port in Australia and is home to the country’s largest naval shipyard.
The shipyard said the ship would be capable of handling a number of roles and would be equipped with a range of systems to ensure the ship meets all requirements, including security.
The Adelaide shipyard says the shipyard is currently contracted for the design, fabrication, commissioning, and construction of a super-class ship for the Navy.
It will be named after the Adelaide Harbour Bridge, the city’s landmark structure, and is to be named Adelaide, after the City of Adelaide.
The Government says it wants to build the ship for $2 billion, but the shipyards cost estimate is $2,500 million.
The Adelaide Dockyard will be able to make its first order of the super-cargo ship in 2019, with construction expected to begin later this year.
The navy said the supercargo ships were expected to be capable and cost effective.
“These vessels will provide a platform for Australia’s future supercruises, as well as complement the existing fleet of ships in Adelaide,” Defence Minister David Johnston said.
“It will further expand our ability to engage with world partners, as our super-cruise fleet grows.”
The Adelaide-class supercruisers are among the fastest super-ships in the world.
The first super-ship was launched in 2008.
A new super-carrier is due to be completed in 2020.
The Sydney-based shipyards ships have been plagued by delays and cost overruns.
In June 2018, an Australian government audit found a $2 million shortfall in the cost of the Adelaide- class supercruiser ship.
The Navy said it was committed to completing the ship by 2022.
The company that built the ships said the ships were designed to be fully self-sufficient.


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Great Wall Motor Co Ltd (601633.SS)
14 Feb 2018
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|53||Chairman of the Board, Executive Director|
|46||2016||Vice Chairman of the Board, General Manager|
|54||2010||Chief Financial Officer, Deputy General Manager|
|44||2007||Deputy General Manager|
|45||2005||Deputy General Manager|
- BRIEF-Great Wall Motor Co Posts Jan Total Sales Volume Of 110,040 Units
- BRIEF-Great Wall Motor Expects FY Profit Attributable To Be RMB5.03 Bln, Down 52.28%
- Global carmakers to invest at least $90 billion in electric vehicles
- UPDATE 1-Fiat Chrysler CEO says no plans to sell brands to Chinese
- Fiat Chrysler boss says no plans to break up company

domain: economics


Contemporary Christian Music
|SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS
Contemporary Christian Music (or CCM) is a term originally used in the 1970s to describe a new form of pop and rock music that was lyrically based in the Christianity. The music had its roots in Jesus Music which sprung from the hippie Jesus Movement of the early 70s. An entire Christian music industry soon sprang up, with Christian-only artists, record labels, radio stations, and record stores. By the 1980s, CCM was a large music industry with artists such as Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith selling millions of records.
Mainstream artists sometimes deal with Christian themes in their work, such as Bob Dylan and U2, but fall outside of the CCM genre.
Many Bands have also played music with Christian Lyrics in less popular Genres of Music, such as Christian Hard Rock/Metal, Christian Alternative Rock Music, Christian Punk Rock, Christian Hip Hop/Rap, and Christian Country Music. Bands that have played Christian Music in these Genres are:
- Kutless (Christian Hard Rock/Alternative Rock Band)
- Stryper (Christian Pop Metal Band)
- TobyMac (Christian Hip Hop Solo Artist)
- Divinefire (Christian Heavy Metal/Black Metal Band)
- Narnia (Christian Power Metal/Melodic Metal Band)
- Rob Rock (Christian Heavy Metal Solo Artist)
- Demon Hunter (Christian Hardcore Punk/Hard Rock Band)
- Skillet (Christian Hard Rock/Alternative Rock Band)
- P.O.D. (Christian Nu Metal Band)
- Brian "Head" Welch (Christian Nu Metal Solo Artist)
Contemporary Christian Music and other Christian Genres has been a topic of controversy in various ways since its beginnings in the 1960s. Some conservative Christians have felt that the medium of popular music is unholy, and thus unfit for Christian participation. However, other Christians have said that the music David played was the mainstream Music of the day, and to God it doesn't matter what genre of Music someone plays, for as long as the music is spiritual, uses the music for a ministry, and gives God glory.
CCM also draws criticism from those who feel it is simply a "Christianized" imitation of mainstream music, thus lacking originality and creativity. On Reformation Day (October 31), 1998, in homage to Martin Luther's 95 theses, CCM artist Steve Camp sent out 107 theses calling for a "Reformation" in contemporary Christian music, challenging Christian artists to "recover Biblical Christianity in the arts" and bring a new level of excellence to the field.


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Oaks Hails Enactment of Meth Law
Assemblyman Robert Oaks (R,C-Macedon) today hailed Gov. George Pataki for signing into law legislation to aggressively attack the growing problem of methamphetamine (meth) production and abuse in New York state.
"Methamphetamine is highly dangerous and easily manufactured," Oaks said. "The signing of this bill into law today by the governor will give our law enforcement and the courts the tools to aggressively investigate meth cases, arrest the manufacturers and users, and prosecute crimes related to this highly addictive drug."
The law establishes a stronger state policy regarding operation of illegal meth labs by creating three new felony offenses, ranging from Class D to Class B, for unlawful production of the drug. The law also increases the charges and penalties for theft of anhydrous ammonia, the pressurized corn fertilizer used in a popular meth recipe. It boosts penalties against individuals who threaten public safety and the environment by carelessly disposing of dangerous meth ingredients.


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~ The Countdown Has Begun!
The house is twinkling, the tree is decorated, and there are constant carols being sung. It can only mean one thing: the countdown to Christmas has officially begun! I have always loved this time of year, but it is especially enjoyable when you get to share it with children. My daughters are so much fun to watch because everything is so exciting to them. Even a simple evening drive results in oohs and ahhhs over all the Christmas lights.
Sierra and Makenna had a wonderful holiday dance recital. It was so much fun to watch both of them up on stage. I think Makenna, especially, felt very special to be taking part in such a “big girl” activity. She sat with the other dancers in her class through the entire recital, and went up on stage with no problems. No slips, no melt-downs. The evening was a success! Dance classes will start again the end of March. The girls will miss it, but honestly, I’m looking forward to the break.
This week has kept us all busy. The girls and I started wrapping presents, and we’ve made quite a dent. I had hoped to be done with my Christmas shopping by this point, but I’m pleased to say that I do have most of it done. One more trip should cover it. We also got to pick out our Christmas tree and decorate it. I strung all the lights, but didn’t put one ornament on ~ the girls decorated the entire tree! It was such fun to watch them, and they did a fabulous job.
I have finally started a few sewing projects for our new little sugarplum. I’m kept pretty busy sewing for my online baby boutique which has left little time to sew for my own sugarplums. But now that I’m entering the third trimester I have come to the realization that I may not feel like attempting these projects later on. It’s now or never! Anyway, I finished my nursing cover (a handy little luxury I didn’t even know about when I was nursing my two daughters!). This should get a lot of use if our new little one is anything like her sisters. Sierra nursed until she was 20 months, and Makenna nursed until a little after her second birthday. I also was able to finish two blankets, a bib and some burp cloths. I’m feeling very productive!
Tomorrow my mom, mother-in-law, the girls, and I are going to visit The Pittock Mansion ~ a beautiful mansion-turned-historical monument that will be decorated for Christmas. This year’s theme is ‘Twas the night before Christmas. 23 rooms in the mansion will be decorated featuring verses from the poem. It should be a fun outing. We are in search of the ‘perfect’ holiday tradition, and we haven’t found one yet, so we continue to look
Friday is my follow-up ultrasound and check-up. Hopefully we will find that my cervix is behaving and that all is well. I will keep you posted! It will be fun to get yet another peek at our little princess.
Enjoy these last couple of weeks before Christmas!


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With enough money — and talent — Take-Two could buy its way to the top. At least, that was the plan.
Since its formation by the son-of-a-billionaire Ryan Brant in the early 1990s, Take-Two had existed as a mid-level video game publisher, the sort that produced the shovelware you’d find collecting dust in a cardboard bin at Wal-Mart. Stuff like Austin Powers: Oh Behave! and Big Bass Fishing.
But in 1998, Take-Two purchased BMG Interactive. BMG had just released DMA Design’s Grand Theft Auto, a minor hit on the PC.
In 2001, the same team, under the name Rockstar Games, released Grand Theft Auto 3. The game, the first open-world crime simulator, was a colossal financial success; the series would go on to make both Rockstar and Take-Two very wealthy over the course of multiple sequels.
As a result, in the mid-2000s, Take-Two was suddenly flush with cash. Brant and his board had a plan to essentially recreate what had worked to make them rich to begin with. They’d buy some of the industry’s best talent and fund them — with minimal input — to create massive hits.
Between 2005 and 2006, Take-Two Interactive spent over $80 million to acquire and construct a suite of developers, among them, Irrational Games in Boston and Firaxis Games in Baltimore. Like Rockstar, the studios were established as homes to quality games and big personalities. Firaxis had strategy-game god Sid Meier and Civilization, and Irrational had storytelling folk hero Ken Levine and System Shock 2.
Take-Two, distancing these new studios from the publisher’s tawdry past, named its new publishing subsidiary 2K Games, after the line of sports titles that had also been plucked up in the spending spree.
This is the story of the definitive 2K game: a project given ample creative freedom, an exceptionally talented staff and — for better and worse — minimal corporate oversight. A game that has been in development, in some capacity, since the studio’s founding and which has only just now come to light. After nearly eight years, at least three names, three genres, three lead studios and innumerable reboots, that project is finally complete.
This is the story of the game now known as The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, as told, chronologically, by numerous anonymous sources.
In 2005, Take-Two purchased the rights to sci-fi strategy franchise X-COM from Atari. In retrospect, its motive was obvious. The publisher was in the midst of acquiring an enormous amount of talent, and wanted an established video game franchise that could be pushed immediately into development.
X-COM was a beloved PC strategy franchise that pitted humans against alien invaders. But like so many things in the 1990s, it had become distorted into a vapid and shallow form of its original self.
An X-COM game hadn’t been mentioned publicly since Infogrames’ first-person shooter X-COM: Alliance was canceled (for a second time) in 2002. And Atari, a falling star, needed cash.
Following their acquisition by Take-Two in 2006, Irrational Games and sister-studio Irrational Games Australia were renamed 2K Boston (we’ll continue to call it Irrational for clarity, since it switched back to its original name later) and 2K Australia.
Both studios quickly began conceptualizing X-COM games.
At this point, Irrational was still a year away from releasing BioShock, which would rocket the studio and 2K Games to mainstream relevance. Irrational team members liked the idea of a second project, and Levine was an outspoken fan of the original X-COM games.
A small group crafted a handful of pitches.
One of the earliest pitches, claims a source, was a loyal sequel to the classic X-COM games. The engine Irrational used to power its tactical superhero game Freedom Forceseemed like a perfect fit for X-COM’s tactical strategy design. However, that concept was scrapped early on for an X-COM first-person shooter.
First-person shooters were popular. Call of Duty 2 had just been released on the Xbox 360. Plus, Irrational had plenty of experience stretching the genre’s potential with games like SWAT 4 and System Shock 2.
But translating the storied strategy franchise into a new genre proved difficult. Concepts were created in rapid succession, most of which never made it past the storyboard phase. Ownership of the project bounced back and forth between the Boston and Australia offices as both teams struggled to find a way forward.
The pitches shared some similar elements, like the theme of resistance.
One pitch imagined Earth post-invasion and full of resistance fighters. The intention was to create scenarios in which humans were outclassed, outmatched and outsized.
A source describes one storyboard pitch in which a hero — who resembled Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl — placed boom boxes on plinths in a city square, inspiring humans to rise up against their alien overlords.
In another pitch, which developed into a full demo, the player escaped a commandeered an alien vessel by selecting a location on Earth and transitioning from the ship, through the cloud and onto the ground. In a later scene, the player climbed the back of a giant alien, searching for a way to kill it. This demo was, according to a source, “E3 ready.”
Most of the single-player pitches came from Irrational. 2K Australia, meanwhile, focused on creating a multiplayer mode. One demonstration involved asymmetrical team-based multiplayer, with one side playing as humans and the other as aliens. The mode, according to one source, was similar to the Aliens vs. Predator series, with the various races having unique abilities and weapons.
The see-what-sticks pitch method is common in the video game industry. The cost in dollars and man hours is nominal. The goal is to find and nurture a truly excellent idea, an idea that can sustain dozens of employees and a year or more of development.
For the first few months, that idea just didn’t exist.
By 2007, BioShock had taken shape. Seeing BioShock’s potential, Irrational head Ken Levine decided the studio wouldn’t continue development of an X-COM game, and the project transferred fully to 2K Australia.
The multiplayer prototype was scrapped, and 2K Australia began work on a single-player campaign. Though, according to a source, team members at 2K Australia chose to build off one of Irrational’s final concepts: a first-person shooter set in the 1950s in which humanity is woefully under-equipped to fight an invading alien menace. The rest of the game — the story, the mechanics, the point — would be revised.
Then came the speedbumps.
From late 2007 to early 2010, 2K Australia was tasked by the publisher to act as the developer equivalent of the supportive best friend to the publisher’s other studios. First it helped Irrational finish BioShock, then contributed to the game’s PlayStation 3 port.
In 2007, a handful of high-level employees left Irrational to found a California-based studio called 2K Marin, which was built initially to create BioShock 2 and become a premier studio within 2K Games, producing a new IP of its own.
2K Marin needed help, though, so 2K Australia supported the development of BioShock 2until its release in early 2010.
For three years, alongside this work, a small group within 2K Australia continued work on X-COM, but finding time and resources was a chore. Progress slowed. With BioShock 2finally out the door, the team looked ahead to finishing X-COM and establishing 2K Australia as leading triple-A studio.
Neither were to be.
2010 should have been a great year for 2K Australia. With BioShock 2 shipped, the studio finally had its chance to lead a game, and escape this unexpected de facto helper role.
Some people at the publisher side of 2K believed 2K Australia had had a good deal of time — three years by their count — to nurture the X-COM pitch. They were pleased with the initial concept — even though, one source claims, the original vertical slice had been built by a skeleton crew.
In early 2010, 2K Australia’s creative director was Jonathan Pelling, its art director was Andrew James and its design director was Ed Orman. Pelling and Orman had been with the studio since 2001, and James since 2002. This was an opportunity for them and their team of roughly 40 employees to own a game and shed the identity of support studio.
They named their pitch “X-COM: Enemy Unknown.”
The creative leads at 2K Australia wanted the game to be mysterious, and hoped to create a first-person shooter that elicited fear and confusion. The subtitle, Enemy Unknown, wasn’t just a play off the original X-COM’s European title, which was also Enemy Unknown. It was more like an explicit mission statement: You could see the enemy; you could fight the enemy; but you could never truly know the enemy.
The elevator pitch was essentially the original X-COM meets The X-Files, set in the 1950s to 1960s. The time period — something close to it, at least — would survive years of revisions. Practically everything else would not.
As a government officer, the player had neither the weapons nor the technology to fight the futuristic aliens that were invading Earth. But they did have a handy camera. The core mechanics of the game were researching and running, with a splash of shooting. The player’s most important skill was photography.
The pitch was, in some ways, strikingly similar to those of the original X-COM games, despite being first-person. The player would select missions from a number of locations on a map. While the general construction of a stage would remain the same each playthrough — the streets and homes of a suburb would be static, for example — certain aspects of the missions would be procedurally generated. So the enemies you encountered, the location of valuable information, the entrances to rooms, the time of day and the mission goal would be a different combination each time, allowing the player to freshly experience the same stage multiple times.
The other half of the pitch focused on the X-COM base. After collecting information, the player would return to an appropriately retro 1950s military base. Here, the player would complete research goals and devise strategies for future missions.
The art direction was abstract. Aliens would be wisps of air, globs of goo or puffs of clouds. The first enemy was the titan, the large obelisk that would later be the iconic centerpiece of the game’s marketing materials.
Numerous sources interviewed for this piece feel the pitch was promising, but needed additional time to be conceptualized. However, the publishing team at 2K believed the rapid addition of nearly 80 employees from 2K Marin — nearly 80 percent of the studio, and twice as many people as 2K Australia’s entire staff at the time — could serve in a support role, as Australia had done on BioShock 2, and have X-COM shipped by 2011.
From the start, both parties had their concerns.
Following the release of BioShock 2, 2K Marin’s staff was divided into three groups. The first was a small, multi-discipline team assigned to BioShock 2’s downloadable content. The second consisted of five of the studio’s senior employees — including Creative Director Jordan Thomas, Lead Artist Hogarth de la Plante and Lead Designer Zak McClendon — who would conceptualize and pitch a new IP for Marin to begin following X-COM’s completion. The final group, which consisted of most of the studio, was assigned to X-COM.
All three groups were guided by Studio Head Alyssa Finley, who was, according to sources, beloved by her employees.
To alleviate communication issues between two continents, the publisher assigned 2K Marin to multiplayer responsibilities, while 2K Australia continued work on single-player, a reversal of the original order back when Irrational had the lead, and the chance for 2K Australia to prove it could play the starring role.
The work seemed doable, according to multiple sources, if not ideal. The division of labor resembled something akin to a outsourcing, and Marin was too large and responsible for too much to have minimal creative input.
Marin spent the first few months developing multiplayer designs, building a framework and modifying 2K Australia’s single-player engine to run multiplayer settings.
The earliest multiplayer prototype was a survival game in which four players worked to reach a certain point on a map. It resembled Left 4 Dead, complete with an artificial intelligence director deciding when and how to spawn enemies.
Meanwhile the relationship between 2K Marin and 2K Australia remained creatively and structurally confusing, further troubled by the difficulty of simply scheduling a daily conference call across an 18-hour time difference.
Most communication took place between the mid-level producers at both studios, who would pass along task lists from Australia to Marin. Team members at 2K Marin felt they didn’t have a direct line of communication back to 2K Australia for when they had questions or alternative ideas. Both sides craved the simple ability to sit in a room with co-workers and hash things out.
On April 14, 2010, the publisher merged 2K Marin and 2K Australia under the single banner of 2K Marin. It’s unclear whether or not this was an intentional play to artificially bond the two studios.
Whatever the case, the name change was not well received by many members of both studios. Australia felt it was losing its identity. Marin felt that it was absorbing a team of developers it hardly knew. The press release quaintly referred to the two as “sister studios.”
On the very same day, 2K announced XCOM to the public.
XCOM, just XCOM
In the press release, the game was simply called XCOM. No hyphen. No subtitle. The words “Enemy Unknown” were abandoned, though the press release emphasized the “unknowable” theme of 2K Australia’s original pitch, mentioning the player’s “frailty — against a foe beyond comprehension.”
The press released described XCOM as a “Mystery-filled first-person shooter from the creators of BioShock 2,” which wasn’t entirely true. When pressed for comment by 1UP.com, 2K representatives clarified that the game was being led by the the Australian division, referred to by this wordy label: “the Canberra, Australia arm of 2K Marin.” (For the sake of clarity, we’ll continue calling the studio 2K Australia.)
Renaming the studios didn’t fix their problems. The team in Marin continued to receive instructions via task lists from Australia, and resentment began to build within both studios. Marin wanted more creative input — its name was now on the project. Australian wanted its chance to lead a project — even if it was now the “wing” of another studio.
The name didn’t fix the the studios’ biggest problem: a fruitful line of communication wasn’t coalescing.
By May, it was clear that Marin’s multiplayer and Australia’s single-player would not meet the alpha milestone scheduled for November 2011.
2K chose to scrap the multiplayer and assign Marin to help Australia complete the single-player campaign.
The two developers, separated by half a world, had barely a month left before XCOM’s scheduled first public presentation at E3 2010.
Two teams, one campaign
XCOM needed to be finished.
The publishing group in 2K still wanted the game to be completed quickly, and believed the added manpower of 2K Marin would help make that possible. To maintain a degree of compartmentalization and prevent communication issues, 2K Marin was assigned “Field Ops,” the first-person missions, while 2K Australia worked on the strategy layer of the XCOM base.
2K Australia no longer had its name, and the assignment of single-player to 2K Marin could be perceived as less help from a sister studio, and more as creative encroachment on their passion project. Whether 2K Australia was the leader or, once again, the supporter, was less and less clear.
The team at 2K Australia made the most of XCOM base. The location was now the center of the game’s story, and where high-level strategy, research and upgrades took place within the campaign. According to sources, 2K Australia briefly planned to connect the base to an XCOM Facebook game set in the same location.
Though designing the base was 2K Australia’s priority, the studio’s leads also directed the design for field ops, being developed by Marin. This, according to many sources, caused a good deal of creative tension.
2K Marin’s various departments struggled to execute on Australia’s direction of mysterious levels and unknowable enemies. Sources say the themes were difficult to express in moment-to-moment gameplay. Animators struggled with telegraphing the attacks of the amorphous goo enemies, and programmers failed to express how the enemy or the player took damage.
Despite the game being labeled a first-person shooter, its core mechanic was research, via taking photographing evidence and retrieving information. The goal of a mission was typically to keep an enemy alive, and extract research from it. But because most enemies lacked faces, artist and programmers labored over ways to express the direction a character looked and whether or not the player was in its line of sight. This made the stealth nature of research missions particularly difficult.
The very simplest mechanics of most games — like knowing whether the enemy was looking at the player — were made difficult by the too-alien nature of Australia’s enemies.
With many of 2K Marin’s directors busy trying to develop the studio’s new IP there was, in the words of multiple sources, little high-level representation on Marin’s behalf and minimal involvement from 2K’s publishing team on XCOM.
If the project wanted to progress, problems needed to be worked out face to face, person to person. So the leads at both studios agreed to make it happen. To ease the tension and clear the lines of discussion, the two studios began swapping small groups of employees, sending developers on the nearly 12-hour journey across the Pacific Ocean from one location to the other, for weeks and months at a time.
And it sort of worked. According to many sources, communication gradually improved, but the building frustrations had taken a toll. An exodus of employees had already begun.
With communication improving, 2K Marin slowly influenced the creative direction of the project. Leading up to E3 2010, the studios began to focus on research and upgrading abilities within XCOM, and decreased the emphasis on strange, mysterious encounters.
The design was changing.
Representatives from 2K Australia brought a vertical slice for their behind-closed-doors presentation at E3 2010.
The entirety of the demonstration was never shown to the public, but a trailer containing moments from the sequence still lives on YouTube. The demo was highly scripted, and wasn’t representative of what was currently completed in the game — though this is hardly uncommon for early demonstrations of big budget games.
The press and internet commenters reacted coolly. Many outlets wondered why the studio chose to turn the X-COM franchise into a first-person shooter. The similarities to the original X-COM games were not made clear by the game’s publicity, and were broadly ignored.
The months after E3 were turbulent, albeit not because of the game’s public reception.
In late 2010, 2K Australia was rocked by the high-level departures of Art Director Andrew James and Design Director Ed Orman. The two men departed to form Uppercut Games, which would release the iOS third-person shooter Epoch.
2K Marin plunged into the leadership void, quickly taking on additional creative responsibilities. Members of Marin had already been promoted to senior roles, even before the departures, so they were easily slotted into the updated org chart.
There was internal concern amongst leads at both studios and the publishing side of 2K that XCOM would not be completable if it continued down the path of “mysterious” enemies and a research-based mission structure. The project underwent a small reboot.
The leads wanted to protect much of the work that had already been done on the game. The hope was to find something that would improve XCOM, and allow it to ship sooner, rather than later. The overall structure would remain the same, but the in-level experience would change.
During the reboot phase, the game’s leads at 2K Marin wanted to establish whether the backbone of the game would be shooting or stealth.
Members of the various departments within Marin began rapidly creating pitches and prototypes for supplemental features, pushing again for familiar, readable tropes from other games. Some of these included a Splinter Cell-like mechanic where enemies saw the player’s last known position. Another prototype resembled a traditional third-person shooter. At one point, a suspicion system was in the game, in which the player’s unusual behavior would alert the aliens, a la Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Around this same time, the designers decided to give the player control of the two squad mates, an option that hadn’t been available in the 2010 builds. Control of squad mates was initially limited, but made the game more strategic, and inspired some team members to pitch the shift from first-person to third-person, allowing the player to see more of the battlefield.
The ideas would be grafted onto the current build to, ideally, strengthen what was already there. One source describes this iteration of XCOM as “a victim of its own timeline,” stuck with systems and tools that had been chosen years earlier.
Intentionally or not, the groundwork was being laid for a larger reboot.
The Marin directors who had been working on the new IP were gradually put on XCOM, and the new IP was canceled, further damaging the morale of the team at Marin. One source claims many employees had taken jobs with the studio on under the impression BioShock 2 would be followed by the new IP and the studio would become one of 2K Games’ premier developers.
XCOM had been seen, at first, merely as a small, quick support job for 2K Marin. Suddenly, the new IP was gone and the team was stuck in what was beginning to feel like a development quagmire. Some at 2K Marin felt as if they’d inherited another studio’s problems.
Whether or not XCOM would be released seemed, briefly, inconsequential. The purpose of 2K Marin had changed. It wasn’t to be 2K’s new premier studio which would — alongside Irrational and Firaxis — produce high-budget games based on its own IP.
Instead 2K Marin had become something else: a clean-up team.
However, one source says the influx of director-level talent showed promise, and gave the team something, however small, to latch onto.
Jordan Thomas, who served as the studio’s creative director, became the narrative lead and overhauled XCOM’s story. The previous version hinted at American civil rights issues in the late ‘50s and ‘60s. Thomas brought these story details into the main storyline, and moved the story to the year 1962 to play off global Cold War paranoia.
To streamline the development, the game was restructured as a linear sequence of levels — casting the randomized level sets to the wind. Furthermore, humanoid enemies were introduced to the cast of villains, with the previous mysterious enemies taking supplemental roles.
2K Marin was becoming the lead studio.
Multiple sources claim senior level employees at 2K Marin weren’t happy with the state of the game leading into E3. One source describes the early 2011 build as a hodgepodge of previous iterations.
In the spring of 2011, senior team members asked 2K for permission to put the current version aside and instead spend the 10 weeks leading to E3 constructing a demo for the game the team wanted to make.
This was a chance for a fresh start — or something like it.
According to one source, the publishing side of 2K was supportive. With the random levels and detective mode of 2K Australia’s pitch removed, the current version of XCOM lacked a hook that elevated it above a generic first-person shooter. The source claims that 2K executives were and still are vocal about releasing high-scoring games — like Grand Theft Auto and BioShock — and believed more time might produce a better final product.
In theory, the task was comparably straightforward: switch the perspective and add some new powers and alien abilities. The art assets could be salvaged. The game could be saved.
For the demo, the senior team members wanted to add a third-person perspective and expand squad control, but neither fit the current build of the game. There wasn’t enough time to make the entire demo run in third-person, so for a second time 2K presented XCOM at E3 as a first-person shooter — despite the fact that the 2K Marin team knew the game would ultimately use the third-person perspective.
In the demo, a first-person character directed squad-mates by shifting to a third-person perspective — the shift to a paused third-person meant they didn’t have to animate the lead character just yet.
2K Australia’s XCOM base featured prominently, with a mission being assigned to the player by a woman dressed in period 1960s clothes and sporting a beehive haircut.
The press reacted favorably to the demo, more so than it had the year prior during the behind-closed-doors presentation. Typically, a game’s E3 appearance is followed by a slow-drip of publicity, including screenshots, trailers, developer diaries and interviews, but the XCOM project had been totally silent. Jordan Thomas explained this to PC Gamer by saying, “We just felt it wasn’t X-COM enough.”
At the trade show, 2K announced the game’s release date: March 6, 2012, less than a year away.
XCOM had been scheduled to launch against Mass Effect 3, possibly the biggest sci-fi game of the generation.
The creative reboot was approved.
The E3 2011 demo served as the template for the revision of XCOM as a tactical third-person shooter. Spirits were, if not high, higher than they had been before.
The first half or so of 2011, according to sources, showed promise. Beginning with the creation of the E3 demo, both studios felt there was a clearer sense of creative direction. It was the most collaborative year, according to one source, with many more employees shuttling back and forth between the Marin and Australia offices.
One source describes the environment at 2K Australia as heated, and the developers there, at first, skeptical of visitors from Marin. The suspicion cooled in time, and visitors from Marin were eventually invited to join the team at weekly Thursday pub nights. Another source describes the Australian team as an incredibly close group with a wonderful, friendly bond.
There was now clear leadership at Marin, first with Jordan Thomas as creative director and Chris Proctor as senior systems designer and later, Zak McClendon as design director.
According to one source, Thomas decided XCOM would be a bridge between the Firaxis game and the original series. The gameplay would pivot on the third-person tactical shooter genre, making a clear and definitive cut from the stealthy, horror style of the original pitch. The team even contracted a voice cast, recording the script in 2011. (According to another source, most of those roles would be recast over the next year.)
But even with the improved work environment and creative guidance, development was taking longer than expected — particularly because the switch to the tactical genre required many environments to be completely redesigned.
Meanwhile, 2K Games was becoming concerned it wasn’t the publisher it had aspired to be. The subsidiary was built to fund the best creative talent and the production of successful games, both financially and critically. But now, they were developing a reputation as a publisher that couldn’t control its projects.
Irrational’s follow-up to BioShock had been in development for four years, and would be delayed multiple times. XCOM was on a similar track, except its creative confusion was crippling two separate studios.
At this point, there was no visible path to success. 2K Games’ original purpose was evaporating, along with its money.
The publisher had, in the words of numerous sources, been too uninvolved, too slow to fix the communication problems between Australia and Marin and too out of touch to recognize that a full-length first-person shooter couldn’t be sustained by photography and mystery alone.
2K needed to make a move.
Around October of 2011, members of the 2K publishing team called the XCOM teams together to announce Marin would be given extra time to complete XCOM, but that there would be major changes.
In order to resolve the communication issues, Australia would be removed from the project entirely. While a sense of creative tension had always existed between 2K Marin and 2K Australia, the two studios had eventually bonded over the project. In the wake of 2K’s pronouncement, 2K Marin invited many of 2K Australia’s employees to work at the Marin office; some took the offer, many didn’t.
In addition to the removal of Australia from the project, 2K demoted Studio Head Alyssa Finley, and installed 2K Games Director of Development John Chowanec in her place. The demotion was symbolic, claims one source. After Chowanec took control, Marin was led by a triumvirate of executive heads. Chowanec had ultimate say, Finley led production and Morgan Gray handled creative issues.
The publisher would give the developer more time, but in return expected all employees to give something back. According to a source, Chowanec instituted mandatory nine-hour days for crunch. The crunch was called “seven in five,” as in the team would be accomplishing seven days of work in just five.
This wasn’t 2K Marin’s first crunch, but this time it was different. Employees had voluntarily crunched on BioShock 2. For XCOM, 2K was making crunch mandatory. Morale sank.
On Nov. 8, 2011, 2K publicly announced what the team already knew. XCOM would miss the March 6, 2012 release date, with 2K stating in an earnings report that the game would release “sometime between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013.”
Triple-A games are often scheduled for broad release windows, especially in advance of completion, or, as in the case of XCOM, after periods of uncertainty or change. But a launch window of an entire year is almost unheard of, especially after so many months of development — and a missed concrete release date.
With the announcement of XCOM’s launch window, 2K Games was acknowledging it had no idea when the game would be finished, and that its best guess was sometime before March of 2013.
A full year window is like giving a project plenty of runway to land on. It’s not pretty or cheap, but it’s safe.
XCOM would miss it.
The bad times got worse. The project had been in development, in some form, since 2006, beginning with Irrational Games, and in earnest with a large team since late 2009.
The project was taking much longer than expected, threatening to become a financial sinkhole.
In 2012, Ken Levine asked Jordan Thomas to help Irrational finish BioShock Infinite. It wasn’t clear when Thomas would return. (In fact, he would not. Instead he would go independent.)
In January, Firaxis announced the development of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a traditional strategy game similar to the original series. The game was received by fans and critics with open arms.
Inside 2K Marin, the year became entirely about buckling down and completing their XCOM. By spring, the team believed XCOM was heading for the finish line, but didn’t want to take 10 weeks away from development to create another demonstration for E3. Marin feared it would look too similar to the aspirational demo the studio had created the year prior.
In September, a marketing survey and screens of the third-person version of XCOM leaked on Kotaku. The Kotaku post speculated whether or not 2K would “pull an I Am Alive,” with XCOM, “cutting its losses on a troubled project and trying to make the best of a bad situation by selling it on the cheap.” (I Am Alive was an ambitious first-person game from Ubisoft, before being volleyed between studios and released on digital marketplaces as a low-priced third-person adventure.)
2K Marin’s team members were not allowed to comment publicly. They couldn’t defend the game. 2K’s official response was “We have not made any new announcements regarding the XCOM title currently in development at 2K Marin, and it is our policy not to comment on rumors or speculation.”
Fans of the XCOM franchise expressed their concern on forums and in comments, fearing the game was doomed to live a short life in the budget bin.
Darkest before the dawn
To dull the pain of so many setbacks, staff members tried to establish some normalcy and positivity in their routine.
The former members of 2K Australia that had moved to 2K Marin instituted a new pub night, which served as a vent for mounting frustrations. With team members spread across the Bay, though, the pub night never quite took hold like it had in Australia.
2K Australia never returned to the project. Having been folded under the 2K Marin label for two years, the team eventually regained the 2K Australia name and began support work on BioShock Infinite. A considerably smaller team remained in the 2K Australia office. One source was surprised the studio wasn’t shuttered. Another felt its existence served as testament to 2K’s determination to make its games and studios work.
Meanwhile XCOM underwent another massive reorganization. Zak McClendon, the lead designer on BioShock 2, became design director. According to multiple sources, McClendon was the man to get the job done.
Under McClendon’s supervision, the various departments tried to maintain their creative spark. 2K Marin instituted rapid amounts of experimentation, testing organic enemies, crystalline enemies and “classic” enemies that mirrored those from the original XCOM. One source says 2012 was the first year the game included sectoids, a fan favorite.
2K’s product development group had previously told Marin not to include the tiny gray aliens, but after the success of Firaxis’s Enemy Unknown, sectoids had become a cornerstone of the brand. Suddenly sectoids were a mandate.
Still, the game wasn’t progressing fast enough. The launch window was going to have to change.
In a Take-Two report from May 22, 2012, the publisher announced that it expected “to release XCOM, its shooter version of the franchise that is in development at 2K Marin, during fiscal year 2014.” Some employees at Marin were convinced the project would be delayed again, perhaps to holiday 2013. In the words of one source, it “felt like a sick joke.”
And then, in mid-2012, the game hit an alpha milestone.
Many team members had resisted using the word “alpha.” So many alphas had been missed. First, the alpha in November 2010, then the alpha in March 2011. The word had lost its meaning.
This one felt different. According to a source, it felt like an actual alpha milestone. The game could finally be played from beginning to end. There was structure and story and a fun gameplay hook. XCOM felt like a real game.
XCOM reached beta in March 2013. Around this time 2K’s publishing team began intensifying work on marketing and promotions. It created cover art. There was an ending around the bend. Some saw it. Some didn’t know what they saw.
According to one source, Marin had nothing else in pre-production beyond the possibility of post-release downloadable content, and there was concern about what role the studio would play within 2K after XCOM’s eventual release.
On April 15, 2013, 2K shut down XCOM’s old website, causing speculation outside the studio about the game’s status. On April 26, the publisher announced the game under a new title, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.
In interviews with press, team members highlighted the tactical nature of the re-envisioned game, drawing comparisons to the now popular XCOM: Enemy Unknown strategy game from Firaxis — no one noted that Enemy Unknown was originally the subtitle.
While talking with Eurogamer, 2K Marin Creative Director Morgan Gray said:
“The team has been working hard to leverage core XCOM elements like tactical decision-making and permanent death of squadmates in a purposeful way that makes this a unique tactical shooter. To that end, The Bureau will challenge players unlike any other third-person tactical shooter.”
In an interview with Joystiq, Nico Bihary, a senior producer at 2K Marin, said:
“There’s quite a bit of familiarity between what we’re doing versus what [Firaxis] is doing. [...] it really allowed us to put together a really compelling origin story because [Enemy Unknown] already established the current version of XCOM. It’s been contextualized for us, so if we tell an origin story, people understand what we’re talking about.”
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified was finally given a release date it would ultimately keep: Aug. 20, 2013.
Today, with The Bureau: XCOM Declassified on store shelves, 2K Games and its studios look different than they had when the XCOM project — and its publisher — began.
In the intervening years Irrational Games has established itself as 2K’s dominant creative force, thanks to the successes of BioShock and BioShock Infinite. 2K Australia, formerly a creative equal of Irrational, now plays a small support role.
That press release that boastfully announced 2K Marin as the next premier studio seems like a distant memory, as does the proposed new IP. The studio looks to rebuild with a new project and more staff.
Much of the original talent is gone. Many of 2K Marin’s employees, including senior team members, have departed. 2K Australia shrunk following its split with the Marin banner. And Ryan Brant — along with the majority of the original board members that founded 2K games — was ousted by investors in March 2007. Brant had pled guilty a month prior to falsifying business records that had inflated the company’s revenue between the fiscal years of 2000 and 2001.
Many sources believe that 2K Marin is in good health. They claim 2K, as a publisher, works hard not to lay people off, close a studio or interfere creatively — sometimes to a fault.
“[Whether the game does well or not] I’d be surprised if you hear anything bad about 2K Marin,” says one source.
Multiple sources praise the work of Morgan Gray, Zak McClendon and Alyssa Finley for getting XCOM to a finish line, and every source interviewed for this piece praises both the talent that left 2K Marin and the talent that remains. The positivity and camaraderie, of both 2K Marin and 2K Australia’s team members, was a recurring point of pride.
2K chose not to participate in this story and sources were reluctant to speak about the final days leading to the game’s release. Though it’s perhaps worth noting that, following the game’s completion in July, many senior level staff were able to take an overdue vacation.
As a publisher, 2K — and its parent company Take-Two Interactive — remains publicly dedicated to creative talent and critically acclaimed products. In Take-Two’s 2013 annual report, two key bullet points are: “Diverse portfolio of industry leading intellectual property” and “world-class creative teams.”
In September 2013, Rockstar will release Grand Theft Auto 5. The developer and its publisher will again — barring apocalypse — make lots of money. Whether The Bureau will contribute to that windfall remains to be seen.
The general consensus of those close to XCOM’s production is that XCOM was victim to two early decisions: First, the original idea wasn’t ready for such a large team. Multiple sources wondered if Marin would have been more receptive to Australia’s first pitch if it had had further time in pre-production. Second, co-developing a game across two countries was impractical, and Marin was too large to take a true outsourcing role.
Despite these problems, the people interviewed for this piece generally have a Zen-like outlook on the experience. After all, these problems aren’t local to XCOM. To paraphrase one source: This is a story that’s been told before and will be told again.


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224Mar 28, 2011
Panel on Border Security
Panelists talked about U.S. border security. Topics included improving border security, illegal immigration and violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, and border security along the northern ...
246Mar 10, 2009
U.S.-Mexico Border Violence
Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. officials testified about mounting drug-related violence in Mexico and the spillover into the United States. Among the topics they addressed were ...
174Mar 10, 2009
U.S.-Mexico Border Security
Witness at a hearing titled “Secure Border Initiative and Control of the Land Border,” testified about border security issues related to violent drug wars between competing cartels in ...


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Apathy versus taking action
To the editor:
Joanna Macy is a scholar and author who nudges her readers into a more active and healing relationship with planet Earth. In her book “World As Lover, World As Self,” she writes, “We are bringing on destruction ourselves, mindlessly consuming, ignoring the consequences of our actions.
Worse than the threats we face is the deadening of our response. Apathy, the inability or refusal to suffer pain, is the greatest danger.”
Nobody likes to experience pain — it makes us feel weak, depressed, stupid, afraid, guilty, hopeless, angry, unloved – so we avoid it.
Macy points out, however, that our pain for the world is healthy because, when we learn that our actions are killing us, we change.
It’s only when we repress or deny our pain that it becomes dysfunctional.
Macy suggests we spend some time in a damaged place and notice the life struggling to heal itself. I imagine everyone who has ever participated in a highway cleanup knows how good it feels to assist with the process of healing.
There are some encouraging signs:
People are working, individually and through many organizations, to lessen our negative impact on the earth.
Scientific breakthroughs are giving us the tools we need to move from an Industrial Growth Society (fueled in the past 100 years by the earth’s blood, oil), to a Life-Sustaining Society.
Universal access to ancient wisdom is helping us see that we are all part of the same web of life and that viewing ourselves as separate from nature is a recent and destructive idea.
One cause of our apathy, according to Macy, is abusive power that makes us feel our efforts are ineffective.
Power-with (synergy) is far better than power-over (domination.) A good leader recognizes talent in others and fosters cooperation to solve problems.
Active involvement in some positive and worthwhile cause is the best antidote to apathy.
Macy tells the story of a Tibetan monk who, after years of exile, returned to Tibet, where a temple, destroyed years before, was being rebuilt.
Feeling discouraged at the magnitude and unlikely success of the project, she admired the pluck of the monk. “There was too much at stake to let the past lure him into bitterness. No one had better reason to be angry, but he found better uses for his mind.
In the long run, it is persistence that shapes the future.”


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Life Hack Pack - Set of 6 Greetings Cards - Colour Pop Geometric Design
Never get caught short for a card again with this colourful selection of geometric greetings cards!
With 6 different designs, these cards cover a range of occasions, from 'Happy Birthday', 'Thank You' and 'Just to Say' - keep this life hack pack in your desk drawer and you're sorted!
Printed on sustainably sourced, quality white card, each card is blank inside for your own message and comes with a white envelope. Cards are 10.5cm by 14.8cm.
The greetings cards are wrapped in tissue paper and shipped to you in a strong, cardboard envelope.
Cards and packaging are 100% recyclable.
Designed by us and printed in the UK.
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Markets across the island will now open from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday to Saturday.
This is an extension of the previous restricted hours from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., put in place by the Government as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The additional hour will also apply to vending in public arcades and public transportation centres.
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, made the announcement during a digital press conference on Monday (June 29).
He said that markets will remain closed on Sundays as this is “usually the period of time that the various municipal authorities do their sanitisation and clean-up.”
To date, Jamaica has 698 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 521 recoveries.


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Over the years, Seeing Things has been part of Nespresso's campaigns and activations in the Middle East and North Africa. Our team has provided a complete packaged service from photography, film, production, creative direction, graphic design, content creation, food styling, and event coverage.
In 2021, we produced a large-scale photo and video for Nespresso's Ramadan campaign for the Middle East and North Africa. The brief was to create visuals that celebrate the culture and heritage of the region during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Between our talented in-house team and our extensive network of freelancers, we were ready to take on every aspect of this project. We developed an extensive production plan that included creative direction, set design, prop production, and food styling and made the four-day photo and video shoot efficient and successful.
One of our most notable projects include the production of their Ramadan Recipe Book, which included photography, styling, and graphic design.


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San Antonio Oeste is the most important port city in Rio Negro Province of Argentina, with 20.000 inhabitants. It is well known because of its beach in the suburb of Las Grutas, a nice seaside resort. The town is located near the Bay of San Antonio in the Gulf of San Matías.Whether the proper San Antonio Oeste is a quiet and lovely town, the Las Grutas beach becomes very crowded in January and February, as it has converted into a “in” place since the 1990s. It is mostly visited by families and young people. Best time to visit is late summer and early autumn, when the water is very warm – it’s the warmest of Argentina because of the good climate of the area – and there are less tourists.San Antonio has an airport with only 2 connections per week, but the flight (which starts in Santa Fe and ends in Comodoro Rivadavia) stops at many cities, including Buenos Aires and Córdoba. Most people will go to San Antonio by bus, with connections to all important cities in Argentina. There are three terminals, the most active at Las Grutas.A inexpensive train serves the line between Viedma and San Carlos de Bariloche twice per week, stopping at San Antonio. For train lovers, it is recommended to take the “Expreso Arrayanes” (only in summer, once per week) a luxurious train with restaurant, cafí-concert, cinema and disco. Prices of the “Expreso” are about 20 AR$ higher than that of the normal train (and there is no tourist class), but not really expensive.The city is divided into three barrios: the proper San Antonio Oeste, the port of San Antonio Este (at the other side of the bay) and the Las Grutas beach (7 km south).There are local buses (San Antonio – Las Grutas every 30 min, to the port and Las Conchillas beach only 3 times per day!).The harbour section in the proper San Antonio Oeste is full of pictoresque old wooden houses, but most of the area is run down. There are no special buildings in the city centre or Las Grutas.The beaches are the main attractions of town and surroundings. The Las Grutas beach is crowded and rocky, about 4 km south is the very pictoresque Piedras Coloradas beach with red rocks. An interesting alternative are the beaches of San Antonio Este, above all the Las Conchillas beach, where there is also a little sealion colony. The beaches of San Antonio Oeste itself (near the fishing port) only have water when tide is high!In Las Grutas and San Antonio Este you have a lot of attractive beaches, and you can practice diving and fishing in many areas. The San Antonio Bay loses nearly all its water when the tide is low, and nature lovers can make large walks “on the ground of the sea”.Many restaurants offer good fish specialities. They are concentrated in Las Grutas but San Antonio itself and the port also offer good choices.In summer, Las Grutas has a active nightlife, but music in the clubs tends to be very poor. The rest of the year there are a few pubs and a disco in San Antonio itself.Most visitors of Las Grutas sleep in rented apartments, there are few hotels and a lot of camping grounds. It is highly recommended that you reserve your place in advance, even in the campings (above all at weekends, when many families of the Rio Negro Province come). In the proper San Antonio Oeste and San Antonio Este the situation is less tense, but there were cases with the whole area without a single free bed!Internet and locutorios (telephone centers) exist in all parts of the city. In Las Grutas they are most expensive (there seems to exist “tourist prices”).A little known and attractive area is the surroundings of Sierra Grande, 120 km south of San Antonio, with a sea-lion and penguin colony, nice desert hills, very attractive beaches and much tranquility.
Airport: OES Antoine de Saint Exupery Airport Cities in Argentina

domain: travel