How A Loving Dog May Help With Depression
January can be a dismal month for many people, especially in northern countries with short days and cold climates where people may suffer from winter Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or get out less. The festive season can actually be a lonely time and going back to work or school in January can leave people feeling stressed or low.
Dr Cliff Arnall of Cardiff University has calculated that Monday 22nd January is ‘the worst day of the year’ using six factors: weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action. While many of us feel glum at the start of the year, for some people these thoughts can spiral into serious depression.
Read more from Dr. Arnall HERE
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults age 18 or older or about 9.5% of the U.S. population each year.
Everyone, at some point in their life, will either be affected by symptoms of depression or by someone else suffering with the disease. 15% of the population in most developed countries suffers from severe depression reported World Health Organization (WHO) on BBC-Online. A percentage of those affected by depression who do not receive help may commit suicide.
Studies have shown that animals can reduce tension and improve moods in humans. Alongside treatment, pets can help people who suffer with mild to moderate symptoms of depression find comfort. Experts in medicine, psychiatry, veterinary studies and epidemiology studies came together to contribute to PAWSitive InterAction’s “A Scientific Look At The Human Animal Bond.” Throughout the paper they presented scientific research and case studies that validate the therapeutic effects and benefits of human-animal relationships.
“Pets offer an unconditional love that can be very helpful to people with depression,” says Ian Cook, MD, a psychiatrist and director of the Depression Research and Clinic Program at UCLA. (via depression on WebMD)
According to Dogs For Depression, dogs help reduce the symptoms of depression because they are naturally pack animals who “instinctively form close bonds with other members of their pack or family.” They offer support, loyalty and affection to others, which makes them perfect companions for humans.
The healing power of pets has been scientifically proven. According to Dr. Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond, School of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University, animals offer an array of health benefits. Dr Stanley Coren also shared some of the scientific evidence of the benefits of puppies and dogs in our documentary series.
“The companionship of animals decreases loneliness and stimulates conversation,” Beck says. “By encouraging touch and giving humans a sentient creature to care for, interaction with animals stimulates physical reactions that are very necessary and important in humans.”
Pets are not a replacement for medical or expert attention and are not for everyone, but
For people who have been feeling lonely, sad or depressed, here are some ways a Dog might be able to help:
Unlike relationships with family and loved ones, the love from a pet is uncomplicated, nonjudgmental and unconditional. They are always there with a warm welcome and a wagging tail. With a pet, you are never alone.
In a survey conducted by the American 4 Pet Products Manufacturers Association in 2001, 94% of people indicated that companionship, love, and company are the top benefits of owning a dog. We found similar results in our surveys and contests.
Many studies have examined the effect the human-animal bond has on mental health.
According to a 1998 study published in the Delta Society’s “Healthy Reasons to Have a Pet,” in which 241 patients underwent animal-assisted therapy sessions. The researchers studied how the animals reduced the anxiety level of varied hospitalized psychiatric patients. Group A patients participated in animal-assisted therapy with a dog while Group B participated in regular therapeutic sessions without animal assistance. In conclusion, the study found that the animal-assisted therapy sessions had a significant positive effect on patients. The dog’s presence brought a significant reduction in anxiety for patients who suffered from mood and psychotic disorders.
Experts suggest that the responsibility of owning a pet can help those that are feeling blue. Having a dog means adding a positive focus and a daily schedule to your life. One friend of mine who suffers from depression and chronic pain told me that caring for her dog is her reason to get up in the morning.
Studies around the world have shown that people with dogs do get out and walk more than those without. This makes sense to me as I know Kilo forces me to take breaks from the computer and get exercise every day. Physical activity is good for you and your pet’s physical and mental health. Having a dog can help to “stimulate exercise, encourage laughter, and facilitate social contact”. Dr. Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond explains that “these benefits add up to an improved sense of well being.”
More physical activity means more social outings, and pets are perfect natural icebreakers. For some, social situations can cause anxiousness or a rise in blood pressure, having a canine companion can help ease these feelings. Even having a quick chat with other dog walkers in the park or on the street will help to gently push you to get more social contact.
Research has found that owning a dog can help lower blood pressure and stress hormones while boosting levels of feel-good chemicals in the brain. Dogs can fulfill the basic human need for affection and touch. In our Puppies Rock and Dogs Make A Difference episodes, Dr Stanley Coren explains that there can be an immediate release of chemicals in the brain when you pat, cuddle, look at and/or smell a cute puppy or dog that are similar to taking anti-depressants or holding a human baby.
People and animals have lived close to one another for centuries. Only recently have we been exploring all the talents of dogs. We are really fascinated by the way dogs can mentally and physically help seniors, people in hospitals, children with autism, people with PTSD or other anxiety disorders, students with stress about exams, and children learning to read. It is very inspirational to see the work dogs like Bocker, Gizmo, Surf Dog Ricochet, Chopper, Zoe, Smiley, an many others have done in our Dogs Make Difference Episode and we hope to explore this area more with a new feature length documentary in the spring (we are applying for research funding now).
Many programs like NSD, Dog Guides Canada, R.E.A.D and ReCHAI (the Research Centre for Human Animal Interaction), have been working on facilitating hands-on programs, in which dogs help people suffering or in need. It is very inspirational to see the work these individuals and dogs have done using the natural human-animal bond to help heal.
Pets aren’t for everyone and are not a substitute for medical or therapist expert help but rather a possible complement.
If you have a loved one with depression, don’t assume that getting them a dog is the right choice. Dogs are a lifetime commitment and careful research is always the best option.
How has your dog helped you?
Share your positive stories in the comments below along with any tips, suggestions or comments about the human-animal bond.


How to Replace the Drive Belt on a Cub Cadet Walk-Behind Mower
These instructions will explain how to replace a drive belt on a Cub Cadet walk-behind mower. It's important to replace the drive belt if it is worn-out, cracked or torn. Waiting until the belt breaks to replace it can inconveniently delay your mowing. Depending on your model, the instructions listed below may vary slightly. Always be sure to check your operator's manual for detailed instructions.
Step 1 - Prepare the mower for maintenance
- Remove the spark plug and ignition wire.
- Drain the fuel tank using a siphon, or place plastic beneath the cap to prevent leakage. Until maintenance is complete, keep the fuel in a portable fuel container (PFC) that conforms to government guidelines.
- Tip the mower on its side with the air filter up.
- Remove the self-tapping screws from the side of the deck.
Step 2 - Remove the lawn mower blade and access the drive belt
- Wearing gloves for protection, secure the blade using the Universal Blade Removal Tool.
- Carefully remove the blade retaining bolt and then remove the blade.
- Remove the self-tapping screws that secure the engine baffle and mower drive belt cover to the deck. Next, remove the baffle and belt cover.
Step 3 - Remove and replace the mower drive belt
- Remove the drive belt from the blade adapter and drive pulley, then remove the blade adapter from the crankshaft.
- Working from the rear of the mower, carefully remove the mower drive belt from the transmission pulley.
- Push down on the deck baffle to access the engine pulley. Slide the drive belt off this pulley and out from under the deck.
- Replace with a new lawn mower drive belt. Work it between the deck and the baffle. First, route it around the transmission pulley and then around the engine pulley.
- Tighten the self-tapping screws that secure the deck baffle to the deck.
Step 4 - Reassemble the lawn mower for us
- Replace the engine baffle and secure it with the self-tapping screws.
- Wearing gloves, secure the blade using the Universal Blade Removal Tool. Replace the blade retaining bolt and blade adapter.
- Tip the mower back onto its wheels.
- Reattach the spark plug ignition wire, and refill the fuel tank.
Check your mower belt regularly for any signs of damage and remember to follow your operator's manual when performing any mower maintenance. It's also a good idea to keep a Cub Cadet replacement lawn mower drive belt on hand in case of an unexpected break. Non-OEM parts can wear out more quickly due to an imprecise fit, which could lead to more frequent repairs and less-than-optimal performance.
Always use genuine OEM replacement parts when servicing your equipment. Use our parts finder to locate and order any replacement parts you may need for maintenance. Refer to your owner's manual for additional maintenance information.


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The Lumia 900 is a hell of a phone. Plus, it's cheap: just $100 regularly, and temporarily FREE while Nokia works out some software issues. But it's not for lack of quality parts: iSuppli crunched the numbers and determined it costs $217 to build and manufacture. That's more than the iPhone.
For comparison's sake, the iPhone 4S's 16GB model costs an estimated $188 to build and retails for $200. The Lumia's component prices are about the same, but strangely, it shoots ahead with an expensive screen compared to the iPhone. The Lumia's screen is larger physically, but has a much lower pixel density than the iPhone's retina display.
Nokia—and its partner in crime Microsoft—desperately wants to get a foothold with the Lumia line of Windows Phones. That's why the Lumia 710 was just $50 on T-Mobile, and why the regular price for the 900 is just $100. Nokia's willing to subsidize hardware to gain market share. If this works, it'll be absolutely worth it. If not, well, that's a mighty big bill Nokia just stuck itself with. [iSuppli]

domain: economics


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hire a table for any occasion - weddings, birthdays, corporate, fundraising...
The Football Pool UK X-5 has landed in Peterborough with bookings and hire outs available throughout September. Get your christmas POOL PARTY booked in ASAP!
The nationwide Football Pool machine would not be complete without a top provider running in the South. We are taking bookings NOW for October 2015.
Our premium X-5 tables are available to hire in Southampton & wider Hampsire with a number of table themes American-style or UK-style pool balls & coloured cloths!
Football Pool fans in the North now will soon have football pool available in your area! Our teesside team's table is about to land. We are taking advance bookings NOW!
Our Northern team are ready and raring to go taking bookings in all parts of the North. Need a venue? Have your own? Nothing is too much trouble. Book now!
We have now expanded our UK coverage to cover as far as Sheffield and South Yorkshire. Be one of the first in the North to play Football Pool! Available now...
Arugably the biggest football city in the UK, if theres one thing you want to be able to do in Manchester - its play football! But wouldn't it be better on one of our HUGE tables?
The UK's third biggest city behind London and Birmingham, Leeds is the home of Football Pool UK. With an abundance of venues including high quality casinos and bars.

domain: geography


I'm sort of curious what percent of the people who read this post will know where the title comes from. Prior to my heading to SE Asia, by far the thing I knew best about Malaysia, was their massive (At least European) ad campaign to promote tourism. Basically, the country has put it all on the line and makes some pretty bold claims. See two good examples of their ads here:
So at some point in the mid 2000s, these Malaysia commercials started to show up on CNN International and other such channels...constantly...clearly the country spent some series funds on this campaign, and I believe it was not only successful, but also won a number of awards internationally for advertising. They certainly have raised their awareness levels well above many of their neighbors, such as Vietnam or the Philippines. I don't know exactly what kind of increases have been attributed to the campaign, but needless to say I found it very effective in getting the name out across Europe.
So going into my visit with that in mind, I have to say, while I probably only scratched the surface of the country, mainly KL and then diving in Sipadan (which I'll cover separately), I found it to be a very pleasant place to spend time. Kuala Lumpur, or KL, was quite a bit more sophisticated than I expected, and really does seem to have a unique mix cultures as is claimed (Technically 54% Malay, 25% Chinese, and around 8% Indian). Interestingly, I found that KL feels a bit like a mid to large sized US city, in that cars seem to be the dominant form of transportation (they make their own btw, called Protons), and as a result the infrastructure build-out has yielded massive overpasses and highways scattered across town, just like in the US.
I found Malaysian foods spicy and really very tasty, and KL itself has a lot to offer from the world famous Petronas Towers, to significant malls and shopping, and numerous tourist sites of various types.Overall, it was an excellent visit, and I’d much enjoy the chance to go back again and see more of the less urban areas of the country.It sounded to me like the wildlife and nature tour opportunities available, could easily constitute an entire visit focused on them alone.
In any case, I think I came away with some interesting shots from my visit, here are a few, and if you want to see the rest, go ahead and click the link below for the main gallery…
Past galleries from SE Asia


Jonathan Gaull created the Bike Strap, which lets cyclists carry all sorts of things beyond a water bottle He is also a cofounder of Bike Pretty, which sells clothes and accessories “for people who want to look as good as they feel while riding their bikes.“
Here, Jon talks about being an entrepreneur and how Shapeways has allowed him to grow his business.
How did you get involved with bicycles?
I started riding a bike when I was in college, getting to and from class. I never really liked going out on long recreational rides, but I found I loved riding to get somewhere.
In 2010 I moved to San Francisco, where I met my wife, Melissa. Our mutual love of bikes and disregard for authority has always been at the core of our relationship.
After spending a few years working as a designer and programmer in the games industry, I decided I couldn’t handle working for the man. After 6 or 7 years of biking to work, it was obvious that the typical bike commuter puts up with a lot of crap. Not all of that crap can be solved with clever, mass-producible products, but piles of it can be. So my wife and I cofounded Bike Pretty, and began to take shape.
How has the design of the Bike Strap evolved?
The first Bike Strap was just an off-the-shelf hook-and-loop strap holding a Bluetooth speaker to the top tube on my bike. It worked terribly. But I learned a ton about the problem without spending much time or money, and kept ruminating on the idea.
The first breakthrough came when we added a bottle cage mount to the Bike Strap improve stability. Early versions were the result of a brutal massacre of several off-the-shelf bottle cages with my Dremel. The new design was better, but still terrible.
It was around this time that a friend of mine showed me Shapeways. Soon after, we replaced my bottle-cage amputees with White Strong and Flexible Plastic delivered to my doorstep.
We finally made something resembling the current version when we upgraded to a three-inch-wide hook-and-loop strap. The new design redistributed the load being carried, which increased capacity to five pounds as well as taking object stability to a whole new level. We love it so much that we also sell Just the Strap.
Do you still work in 123D Design? Or have you moved on to more sophisticated 3D modeling software?
We are insanely lucky to have two uberfans who are experts in mechanical engineering and mass-produced injection molded parts. They are financing the next phase and making the necessary tweaks for mass production. They are way more knowledgable than I am, so I defer to their superior brains and software with all matters engineering-related.
But I still mess around in 123D when I have an idea I want to test since it’s ridiculously quick to make something functional.
As your Bike Strap operation expands, will 3D printing be replaced by other manufacturing processes?
The next step for the Bike Strap is selling through local bike shops and other resellers. To achieve this we need to bring down costs. Switching to injection molding is the most efficient way to do that, so we probably won’t be using a Shapeways-made bracket as a component in the Bike Strap for too much longer.
That said, the Bike Strap isn’t just a plastic bracket and a hook and loop strap. It’s also the manufacturing process necessary to consistently produce a high Bike Strap. To achieve this we use tooling made by Shapeways. Our tool is able to attach a hook and loop strap to a plastic bracket with sub-millimeter precision and costs about $25. So we expect that Shapeways will play a role in every Bike Strap made for many, many more units.
How has your experience expanded your sense of what’s possible?
Starting a business is hard. Melissa and I put everything we had into Bike Pretty and didn’t see returns for years — all while rent in San Francisco was skyrocketing. We were broke as a joke. Having powerful, simple, and inexpensive tools like 123D Design and Shapeways available meant that I could still pay rent without giving up on my dream of selling useful bike stuff.
The funniest part is that we thought the Bike Strap would take only three months to go from idea to ready for sale. In reality it took three years, dozens of redesigns, and thousands of miles of test riding. But we were patient, and the end result is a simple design which works great.
To me, the disruptive power of 3D printing is its capacity to reduce the upfront cost of making a commercially viable product. Gone are the days where the phrase “it takes money to make money” applies to many types of manufactured products. Stick it to the 1% and get your next idea off the ground using Shapeways!


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Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly and Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Hildegarde Naughton welcomed the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill passing all stages of the legislative process in the Dáil. The Bill will now proceed to the Seanad. The Ministers’ intention is that the law prohibiting the sale of nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes to under 18 years old will be enacted and commenced as soon as possible.
The Bill contains wide-ranging measures to tackle smoking and vaping among children and adults. These measures focus on preventing young people from beginning to smoke or vape to protect their health.
Along with prohibiting the sale of nicotine inhaling products to under 18s the Bill will also prohibit the sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products at events for children, prohibit the self-service sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products, introduce a strict licensing system for the retail sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products, prohibit the advertising of nicotine inhaling products around schools and on public transport and provide additional enforcement powers to the Environmental Health Service for measures in the Bill and for all previous Tobacco Control Acts.
Minister Donnelly said: “The Bill will ensure that our children cannot legally buy nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes and I look forward to introducing this measure as soon as possible. We are also introducing a licensing system for both tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products in order to better reflect the potentially harmful nature of the products being sold. Under the new system, retailers will have to apply for and be granted an annual licence for the sale of these products.”
Minister Naughton said: “Ireland is recognised as a global leader in tobacco control. We are continuing to innovate with the measures in this Bill with a particular focus on children. We are banning the sale of tobacco and nicotine inhaling products at events for children and further restricting the advertising of nicotine inhaling products in order to reduce the exposure of our children to these products in their daily lives.”

domain: news


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Regulators had accused Mutual of Omaha of denying policies to applicants, mostly gay men, who took medication to protect against the infection. (Ny Times Science) More
Insurer to cover users of Truvada Arkansas Online
Settling allegations of discrimination filed by the Massachusetts attorney general's office, Mutual of Omaha has agreed not to deny insurance to people who use ...
Posted on 12 January 2019 | 2:43 am | Google News
"We'll use all our resources to make sure that we're careful there," said Thomas Donohue, the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. In other ...
Posted on 11 January 2019 | 8:50 am | Google News
First Edition: January 11, 2019 Kaiser Health News
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Posted on 11 January 2019 | 6:37 am | Google News
Regulators had accused Mutual of Omaha of denying policies to applicants, mostly gay men, who took medication to protect against the infection.
Posted on 10 January 2019 | 6:32 pm | Google News
Insurer agrees to cover people who use HIV-prevention medication The Boston Globe
The insurer Mutual of Omaha has agreed to stop refusing to provide certain types of coverage to Massachusetts residents who take a medication that prevents ...
Posted on 8 January 2019 | 3:00 am | Google News
‘Mary Queen of Scots’ Review: Sexy, Spirited and Almost Convincing The New York Times
Is there room for two queens on a single island? In a single movie? The answers, according to “Mary Queen of Scots,” are “not quite” and “almost.
Posted on 6 December 2018 | 3:00 am | Google News
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This will be one of your top 5 favorite releases this year. NatStar delivers the best album of his life. Stream before you purchase below!
This is a single off his upcoming debut album The Lovestory LP. Head to iTunes now to support.
From Minnesota-based Hip-Hop Artist, Mike Dreams’ forthcoming mixtape, “Youngin’ from ’88”, a remake over the classic 2000 Next hit, “Wifey””, Produced by Eddie Berekely, the first single from their sophomore album “Welcome II Nextasy,”. Mike’s […]

domain: artistic


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"Fifteen advanced-stage Parkinson's patients (three from the UK and 12 from France) were followed up a year after being injected with low, mid and high doses of a modified virus containing genes required for brain cells to produce dopamine, as part of the phase I/II study. A lack of dopamine causes patients with Parkinson's to experience tremors and difficulty in coordinating their movement.” The researchers observed that after receiving the treatment the patients' scores on movement tests improved on average by 30 percent.(Gene Therapy Special News Items, 1.)” Genetic engineering, and its form dealing with humans, gene therapy, is a process in which genes are replaced or "tweaked" to acquire a certain trait or cure an illness or disease. This can be performed in the fetal stage through adulthood. While genetic engineering and gene therapy can help prevent disease and create the "ideal human," these scientific advancements may also affect the worth of future generations as well as continuing to divide social classes.
What is it
It is unknown to the common human what genetic engineering and gene therapy are, as these are widely known subjects spoken upon with everyday people. In the early stages of man, fire, weapons, and electricity were discovered, though today modern technology is trying to adapt humans to their environment instead of inventing tools to make everyday tasks simpler. “Genetic engineering is the process of manually adding new DNA to an organism (What is genetic engineering and how does it work?).” In other words, genetic engineering can be described as adding a desirable trait from one organism with the trait to another in a completely separate species without the trait. The desired gene is taken from an organism with that gene, and put into the genetic material of another organism without it. “When gene transfer occurs, the resulting organism is called a Tran genetic or a GMO(genetically modified organism, 1).” An organism that has been treated with gene therapy is commonly referred to as a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) which describes an organism that is not “natural” due to it’s “tweaked” gene or genes. "Experimental technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease. In the future, this technique may allow doctors to treat a disorder by inserting a gene into a patient's cell instead of using drugs or surgery." The future of Genetic Engineering is predicted to save many lives if deemed safe and effective. However, consequences must be kept in mind if therapy fails, the body has an unpredicted reaction, or if there are side effects that are non-reversible. The social and economic gap would greatly increase resulting in the emergence of “genetic castes”. A caste can be described as “any rigid system of social distinctions.(Caste)”. Physical features as well as abilities would make it easy to distinguish which class a person belongs to. Children would be treated like objects while their parents pick and...

domain: medical


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Modern Opera Explores Middle East Conflict
* Additional fees apply. No coupon or promo codes necessary to enjoy the displayed discount price.
The last date listed for The Death of Klinghoffer was Saturday March 22, 2014 / 2:00pm.
Currently at Long Beach Performing Arts Center, Terrace Theater
- Full Price:
- $26.00 - $29.00
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The magical world of Disney comes to life in Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales Presented by… More

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Improving and prolonging lives — with your help
You may know someone impacted by cancer.
Whether it’s a friend, a neighbour or a loved one. Cancer touches everyone.
With cancer remaining the leading cause of death in Canada and an estimated 2 in 5 Canadians anticipated to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, having access to world-class care close to home has never been more important.
Thanks to our donors, OTMH’s Cancer Care Clinic continues to grow and provide compassionate care to thousands of patients every year, close to home.
But with Halton region being one of the fastest growing communities and an increasing aging population, the number of visits to our Cancer Care Clinic has increased by 77% between 2019 and 2021. Over the next ten years, it is anticipated the number of visits to the Cancer Care Clinic will double.
With your help, we can continue to expand and meet the growing demand for cancer care in our community.
We can offer the latest surgical techniques and procedures.
And we can ensure our patients have access to care, treatment and hope, right in their own backyard.
Help cancer patients get the care they expect and deserve, right here in Oakville.Give Now
In 2016, the Cancer Care Clinic opened its doors, completely shifting how cancer care is delivered in our region. Patients were no longer forced to find treatment elsewhere, in unfamiliar hospitals and far from home. They could stay here in their own community, close to their support system.
With the help of donors, our Cancer Care Clinic is always evolving. The addition of two medical oncologists further developed our cancer care services. We also expanded treatment options to help patients with solid tumour disease.
Another incredible step towards better care was the creation of OTMH’s Breast Diagnostic Assessment Program (BDAP). BDAP offers a patient-centered approach to care and provides women with access to timely, effective diagnosis and treatment right here at home. Funded through donations, the Breast DAP does not receive any government funding. Generous community support funds one of the pivotal roles in this operation, the patient navigator who acts as the main contact and support for the patient and referring physician throughout the DAP process. In the first five years of the program, more than 4,000 women in our region were referred to this program and received life-saving care from the Breast DAP.
Donor support has also contributed to the much-needed expansion of the cancer clinic pharmacy. While the cancer program is expanding its daily hours to accommodate more patients in their current space, the first physical space change needed in the clinic is adjustments within the pharmacy to make room for additional staff to keep up with demand for making systemic therapy medications on-site, most commonly chemotherapy.
Thanks to our donors, the growth of OTMH’s Cancer Care Clinic will continue to bring crucial cancer treatments and quality care closer to home for patients.


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Hollywood icon and the leading heroine Angelina Jolie says she never expected to find true love in life before meeting her fiance Brad Pitt.
Mother of Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne reveals that she envisioned a very different life for herself. She raising six of them with Pitt, 50.
The 38-year-old actress said "I never thought I'd have children, I never thought I'd be in love, I never thought I'd meet the right person. Having come from a broken home - you kind of accept that certain things feel like a fairy tale, and you just don't look for them."
Ten years and six children have only brought Jolie and Pitt closer.
She said, "You get together and you're two individuals and you feel inspired by each other, you challenge each other, you complement each other, drive each other beautifully crazy."
"After all these years, we have history, and when you have history with somebody, you're friends in such a very real, deep way that there's such a comfort, and an ease, and a deep love that comes from having been through quite a lot together," she added.
She was previously married to Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton and queen of thriller's parents are Jon Voight and late Marcheline Bertrand, whom were separated in 1976 and divorced in 1980.

domain: celebrity


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On 29th January, 1872, Hilton College, opened under the headmastership of William Orde Newnham, with one assistant master and a matron. They came on horseback or in wagons, for the only railway line in Natal at that time was between Durban and the Point. In fact, the railway did not reach Pietermaritzburg until 1880. So, Hilton opened in a South Africa where diamonds had only recently been discovered, where there was as yet no knowledge of the gold of the Witwatersrand, and where the founding of Johannesburg was not to take place for another fourteen years. Newnham introduced the English public school system and appointed the first prefects in January, 1873.
In Newnham's day the rising bell rang at 6 a.m. and classes ended for the day at 4 p.m.At the end of 1877 Newnham returned to England and the lease of the school was taken over by Henry Vaughan Ellis, who was destined to be headmaster until 1904. During this time the Hilton College of the twentieth century began to be moulded.
In 1860, Gould Arthur Lucas, who was one of the survivors of the 'Birkenhead' disaster, purchased part of a farm which he named "Upper Hilton". In 1855 an Anglican priest, William Orde Newnham, arrived in Natal. He opened a school in Pietermaritzburg, where he first met Lucas. Later Newnham decided to join Lucas at Upper Hilton and to open a school on the property. Thus we can regard Newnham and Lucas as the founders of Hilton College.
Many were the achievements during the long reign of Ellis. He imprinted indelibly upon the life of the school the main characteristics of the public school system as known in England, but modified it to suit South African conditions.. As a former pupil of Rugby School, Ellis brought much of the Rugby tradition to Hilton; thus began an unofficial link between the two schools, perpetuated today in the Hilton crest.
Hilton was the first Natal school to play rugby football, and to Ellis goes most of the credit for Hilton's early prowess in the game.
During the headmastership of Ellis South Africa was disturbed by three wars - The Zulu War of 1879 and the two South African Wars. In the second South African War of 1899-1902 Hiltonians were to be found on both sides, for while Natal boys joined the British forces, boys who were burghers of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State went on commando. After the unhappy war, the bonds that united all Hiltonians were resumed and the bitterness of the war was forgotten.
Ellis became the owner of Hilton when he bought the property from Lucas in 1882, but as time drew near for his retirement it was obvious that a school which was the headmaster's property could not necessarily be assured of continued existence. It was at this stage that a group of Old Hiltonians, former pupils of Newnham and Ellis, formed a company known as Hilton College Limited. The company bought school from Ellis, and thus the ownership of the school by its Old Boys began. This was in 1903.
In 1906 William Falcon became headmaster. Falcon was to guide the destinies of the school until the end of 1933. He must rank as one of the great headmasters, not only of Hilton but of Natal. During his headmastership the William Campbell building was completed, the chapel was built and the buildings ceased to be red brick and came to be built in the Cape Dutch style.
On the 31 March 1928 the original shareholders of Hilton College Limited signed a Solemn Covenant of Dedication which, in 1930, established the Hiltonian Society, a non-profit sharing association of the Old Hiltonians which has owned and controlled the school ever since. The shareholders of the old company made a gift of their shares to the Society.

domain: history


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Immerse yourself in culinary experiences bakeries, sweets, coffees + teas
You’ll be treated with smells as rich as rising beignet dough or as sharp as pickled ginger, and with a half dozen craft breweries dotting the landscape, the sound of clinking glasses often lingers long into the night.
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Ideas to get you started
Here you will find a guide to some of the many options for those looking to eat fresh while visiting South Bend Mishawaka.
You’ll be treated with smells as rich as rising beignet dough or as sharp as pickled ginger, and with a …
Skip the drive through, and try one of these local spots to help curb your appetite. You won’t be sorry!
For those looking for an authentic and unique place to dine, look no further than Moser’s Austrian Café.

domain: food


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Although we Yanks and select Euros already have iPhone 4Ses in our pockets, the iPhone 4S launch is hardly over. Far from it.
Today, Apple started selling the iPhone 4S in twenty-two other countries. Those countries are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Any Liechtensteiners care to report on how the lines are looking over there?


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DUE TO A MIS-PRINT IN OUR CHRISTMAS CATALOGUE, WE ADVISE THAT THERE ARE NOW 200 UNITS AVAILABLE PRE-CHRISTMAS AND NOT 50 AS PREVIOUSLY STATED.
A truly unique semi-original personalised typewriter art heart print, with hand-typed personalisations, framed a wooden box frame in white, black or natural pine.
This gift takes a little more time to be crafted to perfection. It's why only 200 can be made in time for Christmas.
Perfect for celebrating a wedding, anniversary, or any occasion for men or women or animals - we've all got a heart after all!
Design is digitally printed onto high quality watercolour paper, onto which your personalisations are hand-typed in your choice of red, black - or a combination of the two typewriter ink colours, making it a semi-original print. You can add any extra words as well as the name and date - let your imagination run free!
Feel free to ask if you want run an idea past me as I can position your text anywhere you like around the design, and totally fine to try a few things before committing to one.
Framed in your choice of white, black or natural pine solid wooden box frame.
Can be leant against a wall, or hung from the wall with the fixing attached to the backing board.
Available with personalised details hand-typed in red ink, black ink or a combination of both.
I have some accents and other alphabets at my disposal (Greek, French, German, Eastern European - so please do ask if you have any special accent/alphabet requests!)
Framed in a white, black or natural pine wooden box frame
Digital print on watercolour paper
Hand-typed personalised details , typewriter ink in red or black
solid wooden frame in black, white or natural pine.
W19.5 x H 19.5 x D3.5cm, approx 300g


Over the last week, the noise for the Colorado Rockies to call up their top prospect, Brendan Rodgers, has only gotten louder.
This season, the Colorado Rockies have gotten little production from the second base position. The duo of Ryan McMahon and Garrett Hampson have combined to be in the bottom third of the Major League in most major statistical categories, including third-to-last in Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Add in the fact that Rodgers, the #14 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America, has been running roughshod over Triple-A pitching, hitting .333/.398/.588 in 114 at-bats, making his call-up becoming more inevitable by the day.
When that inevitable and highly anticipated move is finally made, there is one big question remaining: Who does he replace on the Rockies’ roster?
More from Colorado Rockies News
- A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
- Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
- Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
- Colorado Rockies: 3 things we appreciated from Tuesday in San Francisco
- What Bill Schmidt’s comments mean for the Colorado Rockies in 2023
On the surface, the obvious move would be to send Garrett Hampson down to Albuquerque and be done with it. Hampson has struggled early on and a move down to the minors, where he could see everyday playing time, could do him wonders.
The 35-year-old Reynolds has been a total disappointment backing up Daniel Murphy. In 61 at-bats, he is batting .180/.325/.361 with three home runs, 11 RBI, eight runs scored, and an absolutely head-shaking 27 strikeouts (44 percent K rate).
This move is intriguing because the roster becomes even more versatile. Rodgers, a natural shortstop, can play multiple positions around the infield. Hampson has some useful experience in the outfield and McMahon can become the backup at first base and at third.
And let’s not forget about Ian Desmond. The most criticized Rockies player in recent memory has finally lost his starting spot in the outfield to Raimel Tapia (at least we all hope he has, but Bud Black might have a different opinion). This demotion would allow them to use him as the super-utility player they envisioned he could be when they signed him before the 2017 season. He could be the fourth outfielder, spell Trevor Story at short in a pinch, and most importantly, be the right-handed bat at first. Yes, he was a bit of an adventure defensively at first, but thankfully, he wouldn’t be starting on an everyday basis.
Brendan Rodgers is making the decision to call him up to the Majors easier by the day. The hardest part may be deciding who he replaces when they pull the trigger.


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The Taming of the Shrew is in Shakespeare's Plays.
Diary of Samuel Pepys 09 April 1667. 09 Apr 1667. Up. and to the office a while, none of my fellow officers coming to sit, it being holiday, and so towards noon I to the Exchange, and there do hear mighty cries for peace, and that otherwise we shall be undone; and yet I do suspect the badness of the peace we shall make. Several do complain of abundance of land flung up by tenants out of their hands for want of ability to pay their rents; and by name, that the Duke of Buckingham (39) hath £6000 so flung up. And my father writes, that Jasper Trice, upon this pretence of his tenants' dealing with him, is broke up housekeeping, and gone to board with his brother, Naylor, at Offord; which is very sad.
So home to dinner, and after dinner I took coach and to the King's house, and by and by comes after me my wife with W. Hewer (25) and his mother and Barker, and there we saw "The Tameing of a Shrew", which hath some very good pieces in it, but generally is but a mean play; and the best part, "Sawny",1 done by Lacy (52), hath not half its life, by reason of the words, I suppose, not being understood, at least by me.
After the play was done, as I come so I went away alone, and had a mind to have taken out Knipp to have taken the ayre with her, and to that end sent a porter in to her that she should take a coach and come to me to the Piatza in Covent_Garden, where I waited for her, but was doubtful I might have done ill in doing it if we should be visti ensemble, sed elle was gone out, and so I was eased of my care, and therefore away to Westminster to the Swan, and there did baiser la little missa.... and drank, and then by water to the Old Swan, and there found Betty Michell sitting at the door, it being darkish. I staid and talked a little with her, but no once baiser la, though she was to my thinking at this time une de plus pretty mohers that ever I did voir in my vida, and God forgive me my mind did run sobre elle all the vespre and night and la day suivante.
So home and to the office a little, and then to Sir W. Batten's (66), where he tells me how he hath found his lady's jewels again, which have been so long lost, and a servant imprisoned and arraigned, and they were in her closet under a china cup, where he hath servants will swear they did look in searching the house; but Mrs. Turner (44) and I, and others, do believe that they were only disposed of by my Lady, in case she had died, to some friends of hers, and now laid there again.
So home to supper, and to read the book I bought yesterday of the Turkish policy, which is a good book, well writ, and so owned by Dr. Clerke yesterday to me, commending it mightily to me for my reading as the only book of the subject that ever was writ, yet so designedly.
So to bed.
1. This play was entitled "Sawney the Scot, or the Taming of a Shrew", and consisted of an alteration of Shakespeare's play by John Lacy (52). Although it had long been popular it was not printed until 1698. In the old "Taming of a Shrew" (1594), reprinted by Thomas Amyot for the Shakespeare Society in 1844, the hero's servant is named Sander, and this seems to have given the hint to Lacy (52), when altering Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew", to foist a 'Scotsman into the action. Sawney was one of Lacy's (52) favourite characters, and occupies a prominent position in Michael Wright's (49) picture at Hampton Court. Evelyn, on October 3rd, 1662, "visited Mr. Wright, a Scotsman, who had liv'd long at Rome, and was esteem'd a good painter", and he singles out as his best picture, "Lacy (52), the famous Roscius, or comedian, whom he has painted in three dresses, as a gallant, a Presbyterian minister, and a Scotch Highlander in his plaid". Langbaine and Aubrey both make the mistake of ascribing the third figure to Teague in "The Committee"; and in spite of Evelyn's clear statement, his editor in a note follows them in their blunder. Planche has reproduced the picture in his "History of Costume" (Vol. ii., p. 243).

domain: library


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Nowadays we can literally say to Alexa “Hey Alexa, please turn on living room lights.” and she does… which I am still getting used to. I remember when I was younger going to stores like Ikea or going online to look for lighting fixtures on websites like Wayfair, mostly for lava lamps, and they only ever turned on by a switch. Now that we are using our voices to control the lighting within our home, I feel like we are really experiencing the things we envisioned being futuristic. In this case, the Flithero’s Domino Lamp seems to be a tad impractical, but we promise that the design is intentional. The idea behind this lamp was to delve into interacting with something that is unconventional but fun all at once, while focusing on the simplicity of the process of switching a light on by an electric circuit.
Glithero’s co-founder Tim Simpson says ““With so much technology in our lives it is easy to take for granted that even simple things such as turning on a light are made possible by the physical properties of materials.” This lamp was designed for an exhibit at the Design Museum in London and it is titled ‘Reconsidering Canon’. This lamp is so much cooler than any lighting pendant we have seen yet and there are many interesting lighting stores here in Sarasota, such as Bee Ridge Lighting. We can only hope that inventive lights like this will hit stores soon in the future so we can get our hands on them!
The action to turn this lamp on is very elaborate and brings out the inner child in all of us. The Domino Lamp comes equipped with many copper dominos inside of it. Once you take them out and arrange them from one end of the table to the other, in any shape of your choice, you’re now ready to turn the light on. The user tips over the starting domino, or the “rocker”, and as they all fall over, they still are in contact, which forms the circuit that reaches the last domino, or the “receiver”. Once the circuit completes, you will be rewarded, not only by participating it making this light turn on using a set of dominos, but you will have light! Let there be light!


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Led by Regents Professor Ken Crawford, Director of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, the study team consists of a diverse collection of meteorological experts from the National Weather Center. The team will evaluate the current monitoring equipment in place throughout Croatia and the forecasting techniques currently in use, and develop a plan to modernize all aspects of the country’s monitoring, analysis, forecasting, and warning systems.
Adverse weather, flooding activity, and environmental hazards cost the Croatian economy approximately $218M annually, severely impacting the quality of life of its citizens and reducing economic development. The upcoming Feasibility Study will provide critical justification and evidence required to proceed forward with obtaining the necessary funding to implement a national upgrade and modernization of the DHMZ services. The project will include a series of in-country visits to all parts of Croatia and is expected to require approximately one year to complete. This feasibility study will be performed utilizing and harmonizing the outcomes of the Feasibility Study on the Strengthening of the Hydrometeorological Services in the South Eastern Europe completed by the Finish Meteorological Institute, Finish governmental organization VTT and the DHMZ under the umbrella of the World Meteorological Organization, World Bank and UNISDR.
“The selection of the University of Oklahoma to carry out this feasibility study is further evidence of the high international regard for the several University weather and climate programs involved,” said John Snow, Dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences. Snow also noted that “we are excited about the possibilities this selection opens up for our programs to do similar studies throughout southeastern Europe.”
This study has been organized through the recently established Office of Weather Programs and Projects at OU. A part of the Weather Sphere -- a collaborative partnership centered in Norman, Oklahoma, growing to become international leaders in weather and climate-related education and training, research and development, and operations and services -- OWPP specializes in the transfer of meteorological knowledge to applied meteorological projects both nationally and internationally.
Sarah Swift | EurekAlert!
Antarctic Ice Sheet mass loss has increased
14.06.2018 | Technische Universität Dresden
WAKE-UP provides new treatment option for stroke patients | International study led by UKE
17.05.2018 | Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
In a recent publication in the renowned journal Optica, scientists of Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) in Jena showed that they can accurately control the optical properties of liquid-core fiber lasers and therefore their spectral band width by temperature and pressure tuning.
Already last year, the researchers provided experimental proof of a new dynamic of hybrid solitons– temporally and spectrally stationary light waves resulting...
Scientists from the University of Freiburg and the University of Basel identified a master regulator for bone regeneration. Prasad Shastri, Professor of...
Moving into its fourth decade, AchemAsia is setting out for new horizons: The International Expo and Innovation Forum for Sustainable Chemical Production will take place from 21-23 May 2019 in Shanghai, China. With an updated event profile, the eleventh edition focusses on topics that are especially relevant for the Chinese process industry, putting a strong emphasis on sustainability and innovation.
Founded in 1989 as a spin-off of ACHEMA to cater to the needs of China’s then developing industry, AchemAsia has since grown into a platform where the latest...
The BMBF-funded OWICELLS project was successfully completed with a final presentation at the BMW plant in Munich. The presentation demonstrated a Li-Fi communication with a mobile robot, while the robot carried out usual production processes (welding, moving and testing parts) in a 5x5m² production cell. The robust, optical wireless transmission is based on spatial diversity; in other words, data is sent and received simultaneously by several LEDs and several photodiodes. The system can transmit data at more than 100 Mbit/s and five milliseconds latency.
Modern production technologies in the automobile industry must become more flexible in order to fulfil individual customer requirements.
An international team of scientists has discovered a new way to transfer image information through multimodal fibers with almost no distortion - even if the fiber is bent. The results of the study, to which scientist from the Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology Jena (Leibniz IPHT) contributed, were published on 6thJune in the highly-cited journal Physical Review Letters.
Endoscopes allow doctors to see into a patient’s body like through a keyhole. Typically, the images are transmitted via a bundle of several hundreds of optical...
13.06.2018 | Event News
08.06.2018 | Event News
05.06.2018 | Event News
22.06.2018 | Materials Sciences
22.06.2018 | Earth Sciences
22.06.2018 | Life Sciences


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Gardens > Feldafing Park and Rose Island
King Maximilian II of Bavaria enriched the existing Wittelsbach parks on the Starnberger See with two masterpieces of garden design: Feldafing Park (from 1850) and Rose Island, begun four years later.
On the former fishermen's island of Wörth, the garden designer Peter Joseph Lenné created a fragrant rose paradise which was later to become one of Ludwig II's favourite places. Among the guests he entertained here were Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the Russian Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna and Richard Wagner.
Feldafing Park, which was laid out by the court garden director Carl von Effner opposite Rose Island, is popular for its splendid views of the countryside framed by old oaks and beeches, with the Starnberger See and the Alps in the background. Plans for a summer palace on a hill in the park were abandoned with the early death of Maximilian II in March 1864.
The remains of prehistoric pile dwellings on the bottom of Lake Starnberg by Rose Island have been included on UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list.
Usually the first blossom begins around mid-June, the second around mid-August, each lasting for about 4 weeks. Depending on the climate the roses may bloom (even weeks) earlier or later.
Wittelsbacher Park 1
Open all year round
from Munich to "Feldafing"
Ferry to Rose Island:
Ferry service from Feldafing Park to Rose Island (May to mid-October)
Rose Island is open to the public; it is not allowed to bring dogs or bicycles to the island.
Außenstelle Starnberger See
Fax 08151 550730-9
seeverwaltung. starnbergersee@ bsv.bayern.de


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Woah, Khloe Kardashian, you getting all the feels out on instagram, aren’tcha?
On Tuesday, Khlo posted a couple words of cryptic wisdom just one day before the premiere of her new show Kocktails With KhloÃÂ©. This isn’t new- the girl is pretty pro at posting text graphics that make you go “you doing okay, lady? Need another latte or are you just gonna go ape at the gym later?” But this post I guess seems more ominous, advising her fans to “stay away” from toxic matters of heart.
Given her Hunger Games style love triangle withÃÂ James Harden AND Lamar Odom, it’s hard to know who she’s taking about.
Check out the post below and let us know who you think she’s thinking of: James or Lamar?


To say that there is a burden of over-auditing on the International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA) vessel operators is without doubt. In an effort to reduce this burden IMCA intends to improve the integrity and quality of their Common Marine Inspection Document system (CMID) by adopting a greater degree of oversight of the system. This will enable greater cooperation with the Offshore Vessel Inspection Database (OVID).
The Accredited Vessel Inspector (AVI) scheme is already proving successful, and changes will be made that ensure that by January 2018 only AVIs are able to use the eCMID database and only eCMID reports, rather than paper versions, will be recognised by IMCA as a formal report.
IMCA’s Technical Adviser, Chris Baldwin, announced these changes at a workshop held at Seawork International 2016 in Southampton which was welcomed by the attending inspectors and clients. The changes are set out in IMCA Information note IMCA M 07/16 aimed at companies that are members of the IMCA Marine Division and at the eCMID User Community.
“We believe that these steps are necessary for this widely used vessel safety management system audit process, to ensure it keeps pace with current and future expectations of stakeholders in the offshore energy industry,” explains IMCA’s Technical Director Richard Benzie. “We encourage, and welcome, feedback and recommendations from members on all our guidance documents and any questions on the new regime for CMID and Marine Inspection for Small Workboats (MISW) should be forwarded to Chris Baldwin at IMCA Head Office at [email protected].”
IMCA has provided the IMCA M 149 -Common Marine Inspection Document -for 17 years and it has seen a number of iterative changes over this period and has also seen the introduction of IMCA M 189- Marine inspection for small workboats (Common marine inspection document for small workboats). Since 2009, when the eCMID database was introduced, there have been calls from the industry to increase the integrity of the common marine inspection document (CMID) system.
IMCA has already taken steps to address the competence assurance of vessel inspectors through its recognition of the AVI scheme delivered by the International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS). This scheme has now attracted well over 200 applications and continues to grow, and is delivering a level of assurance expected of any professional cadre involved in vessel safety management systems auditing. The whole CMID system is now based on ISO 19011 Guidance on Auditing Management Systems and closely follows the guidance of the International Register of Chartered Auditors (IRCA).
The next step is to address the absence of control over the conduct, distribution and cyber security aspects of CMID and Marine Inspection for Small Workboats (MISWB) reports, which IMCA intends to do in two ways.
Firstly, IMCA will only recognise formal inspection reports conducted using the eCMID database. This means that paper reports not uploaded into the database will no longer be considered by IMCA to be ‘authorised’ CMIDs.
Secondly, only validated AVIs will be able to use the eCMID database and thereby conduct these authorised IMCA CMID and MISW inspections. In order to ensure that the CMID user community can adapt to this revised arrangement the new regime will commence in January 2018 enabling vessel owners/operators sufficient time to register on the eCMID database and to manage their vessel details accordingly.
Information on the CMID system can be found at http://www.imca-int.com/cmid.


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But if I import a new copy of the model from an fbx file into the blender file, the baked AO result is fine, leading me to believe that my AO settings are correct, and that something with the models are wrong. I don't want to just use the newly imported model, since the old models have some slight modifications. With the old models, I did some testing with AO baking into the vertex, and probably some other stuff that I may have forgotten. The old models only have one other UV map (for their main texture) and the newly created UV map for the AO map, so I can't figure out what else may be causing the strange baking results.
Anyone seen this sort of issue before? I'm hoping that my old models have some problematic option set, that I may be overlooking.

domain: hobby


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Welding is a fabrication process that joins metals by using high heat allowing them to cool to form fusion. A welder in turn is a person who uses welding equipment, and has specialized in fusing materials together.
In the world we are living in, many people have assets that require total security. Here is where welders come in.
Welders play a very big impact in security issues if you never knew. They are the ones who are responsible for making strong gates and doors.
Think of this situation, in the past people used doors made from wood right? What if the doors were still there and your house has assets worth millions? Burglary could be easy don’t you think so?
Do welders make good money? Yes. Welders in Kenya make good money. Specifically you may wish to know what is the monthly income of a welder? A welder salary in Kenya ranges from a minimum wage of Ksh. 45,800 per month to a maximum wage of Ksh. 600,000 per month.
What is the highest paid welder in Kenya? The highest paid welder makes an average of Ksh. 600,000 per month. This welder is highly skilled and being an expert secure high end jobs that pay well.
Starting Welding Business in Kenya
If you desire to start a welding business, the following tips can help you know how to start welding in Kenya and be successful:
1. Purchase a Welding Equipment
Be sure to buy your products from a reputable source. Keep in mind there exists fake counterfeit products which may not last longer and can lead to loses.
2. Find Metal
Metal is the key material for your business. As a result, you need to know where to source your materials at a cheaper price to run your business.
Do a good market research so that you can buy your materials much cheaper and make good profits in turn.
3. Get a Good Location
Find an open space where you can showcase your expertise. A place that is near the road and with good traffic of passersby can be a good place.
Also, approach people in persons such as building owners and offer to make windows and doors for them.
4. Showcase Your Designs
Be as creative as possible and make outstanding beautiful and unique design with great finishing.
When you have great products, customers will come and you can also get referrals.
5. Set Your Pricing
Set a standard pricing within the market range. However, some products with great prowess can be sold higher than the standard market price.
Simply make a balance and offer reasonable discounts without making losses to your customers.
Other than word of mouth, make use of technology. Spread your work and great products across social media.
Once you get clients, encourage them to tell others about you and even give them a better discount when they bring in a customer.
Also, issue of giving commission to someone who brings client is a great way to grow your business.
If you want to be a welder or rather you want to begin your own welding industry, then nothing should stop you. Somebody somewhere needs something strong for security purposes.


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The England midfielder, speaking to NBC, also praised manager Brendan Rodgers’ abilities, and spoke of his desire to win silverware at Anfield.
Lallana has made 12 appearances since moving to Merseyside from Southampton in the summer, but Liverpool have struggled generally. The Reds resume their Premier League campaign this weekend 11th in the table, having lost five of their 11 games so far.
Much of that has been attributed to the departue of Suarez to Barcelona in the summer, and then the loss of Sturridge to injury in August. The pair contributed 54 goals between them last season, and Lallana says it has been hard to replace that output. Rodgers’ side have managed just 14 goals as a team in the league so far this term.
Lallana said: “After losing Luis Suarez and missing Daniel Sturridge up top lately, it’s been difficult.
“But we’ve had to find different ways of winning games; other people have had to chip in with goals.
“It was great for Mario Balotelli to get a goal against Swansea in the League Cup and now we are through to the quarters.
“We know we’ve not been playing to our maximum but we are still in transition. We feel that if we keep working hard, a really good performance is around the corner.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Lallana also spoke about his relationship with Rodgers, praising the Ulsterman’s man-management skills.
“Working for Brendan Rodgers has been brilliant,” he said. “He’s a great manager, he’s very hands on, works very much with the players, and his man-management skills are good.
“He even speaks Spanish to a lot of the lads who can’t speak English. He’s tactically clever and sees things. And he always wants to improve. He’s always watching games, looking to tweak things different. He’s a very, very clever manager.”
Lallana’s own Reds career was delayed by a knee injury sustained in pre-season, but the 26-year-old is back in action now, and keen to make his mark, though he admits he is still adapting to life on Merseyside.
“Moving from the South Coast to the northwest has been different,” he said. “My wife and I have never lived outside of south England. You take it for granted, having your family around you and friends. It’s been difficult. Our friends and family have been up to visit and the lads have been great helping us settle, so I can’t complain, really.
“I suppose last year was a bit of a whirlwind. I don’t really take much time to sit down and look back. But it has been enjoyable, put it that way. I’ve enjoyed the last 12 months. Like last season, I enjoyed a great season at Southampton, and I really enjoyed playing under Mauricio Pochettino.
“But things change. I got the opportunity to come to Liverpool, and it was something I couldn’t turn down, really. It was a chance to play Champions League football at a huge, historic club.
“For instance, playing against Real Madrid was really a great experience. To be on the same pitch as Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema … it was great. But it was disappointing. I thought we started well, especially in the first leg, but they showed their quality and why they are holders of the competition.
“And then to get a chance to play against my old youth team colleague Gareth Bale at the Bernabeu — I never thought that would happen.
“At that moment, I could only think back to when Bale was 15 or 16, and then to now. It’s remarkable how well he’s done, but he’s grafted and worked hard, and he deserves all of the success he gets. I don’t talk to him too often now — I’ll have a chat with him when we play against each other — but he’s busy. He has a family of his own and it’s a credit to him how well he’s done. I always look forward to seeing him, though.”
Lallana also confirmed long-known stories that he grew up an Evertonian, though he revealed that one member of his family was always a Liverpool supporter.
He said: “My dad and I are Everton fans, but my sister is a Liverpool fan. Growing up she had a Liverpool kit.
“I don’t know if that was just to be different from me and my dad. I’m not too sure really, it’s just the way it goes! Growing up, she came to a lot of my games as well and she followed my football closely. It’s strange isn’t it, how I’ve ended up playing for Liverpool?”


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In a world where your place in society is dictated by the mere roll of the dice, and the place you called home could be cruelly ripped from your grasp before your adolescence, Lost in Random starts weaving its tale in a town called OneCroft, a destitute town right at the very bottom of the social pecking order.
At the tender age of twelve, each child across the Queendom is given the opportunity to find their true standing in society. Two sisters, Even and Odd, are torn apart when their roll of the dice leaves Even in the destitute town of OneCroft and Odd immediately swept away to live in the Queen’s realm without so much as a goodbye to her family.
So, we join Even as she plays out a misshapen fairy tale, questing across a dark realm with naught but a magical talking dice for company.
Whilst the story plays out with eccentric, Burton-esque characters and narration to boot, the music is also reminiscent of that of Danny Elfman. Beautifully composed and crafted by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra, each piece is perfectly arranged to evoke whimsy and intrigue whilst drawing you deeper into the world of Random. If you loved the style and atmosphere of games like American McGee’s Alice, Lost In Random will feel like the natural evolution of that. The phrase “Burton-esque” is perhaps a little reductive sometimes.
We tend to just boil anything that looks slightly quirky and gloomy into that category, and it doesn’t really do things justice. After all, most people’s frame of reference for that is The Nightmare Before Christmas, and that wasn’t even directed by Tim Burton. Yes, Lost In Random has some familiar elements to its visual design, but it does put a lot of work into forging its own world, too. It’s not just cashing in on the 90’s goth crowd nostalgia.
You’ll be exploring Random and progressing through each tier of the fortune-based society on Even’s quest, which gives the game ample opportunity to showcase the creativity behind it. There are sidequests to pursue should you wish to flesh out even more of the world around you, but these are generally of little consequence or interest. They can just feel like sidequests for sidequest’s sake, rather than genuine extensions of the world and its characters.
It’s a solid adventure for the most part, but I feel like the biggest selling point is probably that gothic fairy-tale art style, and once that novelty starts to wear off it’s possible you’ll lose interest before you see the game’s ending. The same goes for the combat – it’s an interesting fusion of concepts, but sometimes it just doesn’t really stick the landing. There is some pretty hardcore talent behind the game’s story, penned by Ryan North of Squirrel Girl and Adventure Time comics fame, but that may not be enough to hold your attention by itself.
The combat is equally Lost in Random‘s best and worst feature. On one hand, combat is really innovative. Doing damage to monsters breaks off shards which power up a card deck mechanic. This can then be used to unleash your dice power manifesting giant swords, magical bow and arrows, damage deflecting shields and more. Which in itself is pretty cool. However, the throwing dice animation is needlessly slow and grinds the battle to an almost painful halt. Due to this, each fight takes at least twice the time you would expect it to and so you almost start dreading getting into battles as Lost in Random progresses.
These fights are pretty central to your progression through the game, and for them to feel so clunky and time-consuming is a massive wound to Lost in Random‘s momentum. You want to push forward, to see what’s next, but the game just drags to absurd degrees whenever it lurches into a fight. It’s probably one area where the game could have benefited from being a little less experimental, but major props to the developers for trying something new.
Lost in Random overall thoughts
Lost in Random won “Best Indie Game” at the 2021 Gamescom Awards, and it’s easy to see why. The line between indie and triple A development is getting finer and finer – and that gives brave titles like this a chance to shine. Is it the best game it could possibly be? Maybe not. But it does deliver a solid story alongside an art style we rarely see done so well.

domain: game


GS1, ETSI and CEN, three major standards organisations, have launched the Global RFID Interoperability Forum for Standards (GRIFS), a support action project funded by the European Union. Its aim is to improve collaboration and maximise the global interoperability of RFID standards.
GS1, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) will be leading the two year project. It will initiate a forum that will continue to work and develop through a Memorandum of Understanding and continuous co-operation between key global standard organisations active in RFID.
GRIFS will work to characterise the variety of standards activities taking place globally;
- To align RFID standards development globally
- To create a number of liaison activities to disseminate information about the
importance of global standards
- To put in place the 'Global RFID Interoperability forum for Standards' (GRIFS)
comprising global stakeholders
- To ensure continuous close collaboration between standards activities
This will create synergies, increase co-operation and avoid duplication of developments in order to minimise unnecessary business expenses caused by the development of incompatible localised standards, and maximise the use of standards development resources. As enterprise networks and intelligent supply chains grow in number, size and reach, the requirement for coherent global standards becomes a necessary requisite.
This support action will focus on the use of RFID in supply chains and related activities. These activities primarily encompass the tracking and tracing of physical items as they move through supply chains in many different businesses, both in the public and private sector.
The project is funded by the European Commission's Framework Programme 7 for Information and Communication Technologies, in which the European Union has recognised the importance of organisations aligning their systems in a standard way as the industry moves towards an intelligent environment where most devices are connected to seamless, ubiquitous networks.
More information is available from the GRIFS project website: http://www.grifs-project.eu .
GRIFS is a Support Action Project supported by the European Commission's FP7 Programme
It is a 2 year project which started in January 2008 and which will focus on developing liaisons between standards organisations and initiate a long-term forum of exchange and collaboration for global RFID stakeholders.
GS1 is a global organisation dedicated to the design and implementation of global standards, technologies and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand chains.
GS1 has more than 30 years experience in the development and support of global supply chain standards and technologies.
GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit standards and services organisation.
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, non-profit organization, whose mission is to produce telecommunications standards for today and for the future. Based in Sophia Antipolis (France), ETSI is officially responsible for standardization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) within Europe . These technologies include telecommunications, broadcasting and related areas such as intelligent transportation and medical electronics. ETSI unites 696 members from 62 countries inside and outside Europe , including manufacturers, network operators, administrations, service providers, research bodies and users - in fact, all the key players in the ICT arena.
The European Committee for Standardisation is contributing to the objectives of the European Union and European Economic Area with voluntary technical standards which promote free trade, the safety of workers and consumers, interoperability of networks, environmental protection, exploitation of research and development programmes, and public procurement.
CEN is a non-profit making technical organization set up under Belgian law.
About the Framework Programme 7 ICT
The objective of ICT research under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) is to improve the competitiveness of European industry as well as to enable Europe to master and shape the future developments of these technologies so that the demands of its society and economy are met.
The EU Member States have earmarked a total of 9.1 billion for funding ICT over the duration of FP7; making it the largest research theme in the Cooperation programme, which is itself the largest specific programme of FP7 (with 64% of the total budget).


Data breaches have always been an issue for companies, but it's finally become one that can't be ignored. After consecutive breaches on big-name companies like Target and Neiman Marcus, Congress is forcing businesses to ditch magnetic strip cards for new smart card technology. An infographic released by Computer Science Degree Hub helps illustrate why the shift to EMV cards is a smart choice for the U.S. market.
What's the Deal with EMV Cards?
The first EMV smart card was introduced in France in 1992, and finally started making appearances in the U.S. last year. It's estimated that between 50 million and 70 million smart cards will be used by the end of this year. Congress's deadline for the rollout of smart card technology in the U.S. is set for October 2015, and the deadline for gas stations is October 2017 because of cost reasons.
Europay, Mastercard, and VISA, or EMV, smart cards ensure stronger security of credit cards by using chip and PIN or chip and signature technology along with numerous layers of security. The cards feature a magnetic strip that provides customer identifiable information, like account numbers, and require users to enter a PIN number to access this information.
Data off of magnetic strip cards can be easily read, written, deleted, or changed with inexpensive equipment. This obviously leads to high credit card fraud for markets that rely on magnetic strips. On the other hand, hackers are less likely to attempt to collect information on a chip and create a counterfeit credit card because of the complication and the hassle.
The Perks of Smart Cards
According to the report, EMV cards are proven to have helped diminish credit card fraud and security breaches. However, EMV cards isn't a cure-all solution; consumers are still vulnerable card fraud attacks. There was a 50 percent drop in fraud losses and a 78 percent drop in counterfeiting after a market's first time using EMV. On the other hand, magnetic strips increase the likelihood of fraud; 50 percent of the world's total credit card fraud occurred in the U.S. despite the country's 25 percent overall card use.
If EMVs make so much sense, why didn't they catch on in the U.S. market sooner? First off, there's fairly strong legal protection for citizens who have their cards stolen, so many people don't see the problem of the continued use of magnetic strips. It's also pretty hard to get a large market like the U.S. to adopt EMVs after it's been using magnetic strips for so long.
The switch is also unsurprisingly expensive; the change to EMV cards will cost about $35 billion. In order to implement EMV technology, three major sectors must work together: retailers, big banks, and card associations like Visa and MasterCard. Even though most Americans are just being introduced to smart cards now, they're used successfully in plenty of other markets. It's high time that the U.S. starts to use EMV technology.
Click on the image below to view the full infographic.
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Serra da Estrela Natural Park is situated in the largest mountain range in Portugal - the Serra da Estrela, and is the source of the rivers Mondego, Zêzere (tributary of the Tagus), and Alva. The park is the largest natural conservation area in Portugal and occupies about 1,000 km². More than half of its area is located above an altitude of 700 m. At 1,993 m it contains the highest peak in Continental Portugal (named Torre) and a ski resort (named Vodafone Ski Resort).
Human occupation of Berlenga Grande dates back to antiquity, being mentioned as the island of Saturn by Roman geographers. Was subsequently visited by Muslim navigators, Vikings, French and English buccaneers.
The Ginjal Quay is situated on the bank of the Tagus river, near Cacilhas. Where once there were factories and warehouses of fish transformation industry today there are abandoned and vandalized buildings. Next to lift "Olho de Boi", a pleasant area recovered with a small garden you can see in the image and one of the best views over Lisbon


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Champagne Wine Gummies
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Take a Swig with these 6oz Champagne Stemless Champagne Flutes! Swig Vacuum Insulated technology will keep champagne perfectly cold throughout the whole celebration. These Stemless Flutes are perfect gifts for bachelorette parties, weddings or to ring in the New Year!...
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Meet a mixology selection guaranteed to raise the bar. Our 4-piece commercial-grade barware set is perfect for creating cocktails of quality, whether you're a pro or just starting out. Set of 4, Stainless Steel & Professional Grade Bar Tools. Includes: Crystal...
Festive Iridescent Champagne Flute
Break out the bubbly! This champagne flute is finished with a pretty rainbow iridescent shimmer that adds a festive touch to any celebration. Sold individually. Food safe. Clear with ion finish. Adds subtle iridescence to special occasions and a touch...
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Much cheaper than couples therapy. The creator of this workbook has no scientific, psychiatric, or marital expertise. Use at your own risk. Makes a funny engagement or wedding gift. 8-page workbook with prompts. 6" × 8". Made in the USA from 100% post-consumer recycled paper....
Ever After Wine Box
You have something special to celebrate, and you've picked the perfect Pinot! While memories stay with us forever, our Wine Boxes serve as physical reminders of important moments long after the celebration ends. Product Details: Outer dimensions: 14" x 4.5"...

domain: design


Agendas are available prior to the meetings. Minutes are available following approval.
The Moraga Town Council is made up of five members of the community elected at-large. Each Council position has a term of four years. Council elections are held biannually in November of even numbered years, with the number of open seats being filled alternating between two and three. The Mayor’s position is filled by one of the members of the Town Council and is annually nominated and voted to that position by the Town Council.
Please note that all emails submitted through this website will be shared with all Councilmembers and certain Town staff members. These emails are considered public records under the California Public Records Act (Govt. Code Sections 6250 et seq.)


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Activision announced that Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X / S and Nintendo Switch on March 12. Bob’s acclaimed platform game, released in October 2020 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, will also be released for PC via Battle.net in late 2021.
It should also be noted that if you have Crash 4 on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, you can upgrade the game for free within the same console family and continue your progress where you left off. The popular adventure game will run natively at 4K 60 FPS on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions, while the Xbox Series S version will run at 60 FPS with an upgrade to 4K.
Performance will increase with the new version of Crash Bandicoot 4
With the new generation game console version, Crash Bandicoot 4 will have faster loading time and three-dimensional sound technology.
Additionally, the PlayStation 5 version of It’s About Time will take advantage of DualSense’s adaptive triggers when using weapons such as Neo Cortex’s blaster and Tawna’s Hookshot. At the same time, the “Event Cards” in the system will provide progress statements of all sizes.
Finally, users who did not own the game before will have to pay $ 59.99 for the PS5 / Xbox Series versions and $ 39.99 for the Switch version. It should also be noted that the new generation game is available for pre-order in some regions as of today.


KNOXVILLE — Voters in Iowa House District 28, which covers portions of southeastern Jasper, Marion and Lucas counties may find little to differentiate the two candidates running for office other than the letter behind their names. Both Democratic candidate Ann Fields and Republican candidate Jon Thorup found plenty of common ground during a debate Wednesday night at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum in Knoxville.
In their opening statements, each candidate pointed to their long history of public service — Fields, as the past president of William Penn University and Thorup, a member of the Iowa State Patrol, who became a first responder at the age of 19.
In her opening remarks, Fields said she decided to run for office because she cares about her local community.
“I have a real passion for helping people and putting people first,” Fields said.
For her opponent, the focus is on safety. Citing his career in law enforcement, Thorup said he has seen Iowa become an increasingly dangerous place during his time patrolling the state’s highways. Distracted drivers, many on their cell phones, are leading to an increase in dangerous accidents, Thorup said.
“I want this community 25 years from now to be safer, more robust economically, and I want more people moving in,” Thorup said.
The candidates were asked a series of prepared questions by a moderator from the Marion County Tribune; the first question dealt with tariffs. After President Donald Trump instructed the United States to impose tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports in June, China struck back, slapping a 25 percent tariff on 435 US goods, including soybeans. China is the largest purchaser of US-grown soybeans, importing 1.35 million bushels from United States farmers last year, 33 percent of the total crop. Now the United States Ambassador to China, former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad faces a tough road, with economists suggesting a trade war could cost Iowa farmers as much as $624 million in lost revenue. With local farmers continuing to struggle, candidates were asked what they planned to do in response.
Thorup said he has spoken with farmers across the district about the issue, and they have told him Iowa farmers “have been on the short end of the stick” for a long time, but he’s not sure how much influence a state legislator can wield dealing with what he sees as a “federal” issue. Even so, Thorup said he will keep listening to local farmers as he keeps tabs on the issue.
“My patience has been wearing thin on this issue,” Thorup said. “We’re going to listen to what farmers have to say and go from there.”
Fields said she favors a multi-pronged approach to dealing with tariffs. She would like to see Iowa farmers look to diversify their crops by growing other products, naming marijuana and hemp as two she would like to see produced. As the wife of a farmer, Fields said she understands the issues farmers are facing firsthand. The second part of Field’s approach, if elected, she said she’ would push the state legislature to increase manufacturing jobs in Iowa.
Noting corn is present in one out of every four products found in the grocery store, Fields said Iowans need to manufacture those products, rather than shipping their commodities out of state.
“Why aren’t we manufacturing those? We have the commodity here,” Fields asked the crowd. “We can capitalize on our commodities and make a profit in these communities.”
Increasing Iowa’s manufacturing capability would also help draw more residents to state, something candidates were asked about during the debate. A past president of William Penn University, Fields said she was concerned about the student loan debt graduates have. By offering a loan forgiveness plan, Fields said she believes the state could entice young graduates to stay in Iowa. Outlining a plan that would offer $5,000 per year in student loan debt forgiveness for graduates who remain in rural Iowa, Fields said the plan would re-energize Iowa’s small communities.
“I’m really saddened to see students leave with this debt,” Fields said. “We need to create more manufacturing jobs, we need to improve rural broadband, and we need to provide housing.”
Thorup said he would focus on increasing the number of vocational training opportunities across the state, but he was hesitant to back Field’s plan to offer a debt forgiveness program for college graduates.
“I’m a little reluctant on that. I don’t know where we’d come up with the money,” Thorup said. “If we could come up with the money I’d be all for it.”
When it comes to fixing the state’s Medicaid mess, both candidates agree — Iowa’s privatized Medicaid system is not working, and it’s time for the state to explore other options to provide care for Iowans in need.
On Wednesday, Thorup painted himself as a Republican candidate who isn’t afraid to go back to his party and ask tough questions about why the private system is not working. Asking for a show of hand, he asked the audience if anyone thought the system was working. Fields said she wants to see the state move to bring the program back in-house. According to Fields, it is one of the biggest issues she has heard from voters.
“I agree 100 percent with everything you said,” Thorup told Fields. “I’m one of the few Republicans willing to say that.”
Both candidates often found themselves in the same corner at Wednesday’s debate. Both support restoring collective bargaining rights, with Thorup, a longtime member of the Iowa State Patrol’s Union board, calling the move to strip those rights “shortsighted.”
“If I emerge victorious in this campaign, I’m going to bring that into the caucus room,” Thorup pledged to the audience.
To Fields, leaving nurses and EMS personnel without collective bargaining rights is unfair.
“No collective bargaining for EMS, aren’t they essential?” Fields asked. “No collective bargaining for teachers, aren’t they essential? We have to go back and get rid of collective bargaining. We have to do better than that.”
Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or email@example.com


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Gosh, it's been quite a while: time flies when you're locked down, as they say. I could say that we've had bigger fish to fry than Soul Harvest during Covid, and indeed we have, but the truth is we've been losing momentum for some years now. It is brought home to me that all projects have an invisible deadline, even pet projects, because one's motivation is not a limitless resource: even if a project is your "baby", your interest in it will gradually fade and new babies will be born, sometimes literal ones. After a few years people will want to work on something new and will have more and more trouble staying motivated, especially if they aren't being paid (as was the case for us).
For the record Matthieu and I started working on the game "in the before-time", back in 2014. It looked looked like this after about a month's work:
It was great to see results so quickly but, as they say, "there's the first 90% of the work... and then there's the other 90%". True enough it took us about another year of prototyping to truly "find the fun", and by then the local multiplayer wave we'd hoped to surf on was starting to peter out. My mental health wasn't doing so well either, as evidenced by my defeatist tone of voice when I presented the game at JOIN:
In spite of doubt and disappointment though we were able to put forward a build and a trailer and to get the game through Steam Greenlight - one of my prouder achievements!
We're extremely grateful to those who supported the game during development, but the sad fact is that we only ever sold a few hundred copies in total. We've never made enough money from Soul Harvest for any of us to even consider quitting our day jobs, and these day jobs (and our lives) have gotten in the way of the project at various times since 2014. It has been a stupidly long development cycle, and I think we all badly need some closure. As such, after much deliberation, we have decided to put the project out as-is for free on Itch and Steam (if Valve will allow it), as a sort of Halloween present to the world. It's pretty clear we're never going to break even, so we might focus on just getting the game played by as many people as possible!
For this final build then we've done a last few tweaks, fixes and optimisations, and have gotten the Bitterness campaign missions up and running, bringing us to a total of 12 solo missions. However the other two campaigns aren't finished yet, nor are the faction editor, the additional game modes or the Celestial faction. We might do the odd update post-release, but I don't want to commit to finishing any of these features: we really do need to move on. I hope those of you who bought into the EA understand where we're coming from, and don't feel too betrayed.
I would mention that the game is playable online these days using Parsec and similar tools, so maybe we can have a match some time, wherever you are. Till then, remember-
Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe!
William 'wilbefast' Dyce
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AHMEDABAD: After several China-linked loan apps were removed from the android store between September and December 2022, the gangs that set up these apps have begun sharing android application package or kit (APK) — executable files carrying the app data — on WhatsApp.
“We have spotted this trend on social media. The gangs target gullible victims through local messaging and then share the APK files of the apps to be run on their phones. The file works in the same way as the app and has access to all digital data of the individual,” said a senior CID (crime) official under conditions of anonymity.
The modus operandi involves deduction of processing fees from the loan, combined with penalties, and charging higher rates of interest in cases of delay in payments. Police officials say that instant loan apps charge an annual interest of 36% to 50% and heavy penalties on a daily basis for not repaying the loan on time, which can go up to 50% of the loan amount.
“If you are the victim and are being harassed by a recovery agent associated with the app, you should file a complaint with the police as a primary move,” said a senior cybercrime cell official in Ahmedabad police.
“Citizens should be extremely careful of apps willing to give loans without credit history check. Unfortunately, if somebody falls prey to these scams, the only option left for them is to approach the police,” said inspector Manish Bhankharia of the CID (crime) forensics and prevention wing.
He added, “Some due diligence that citizens should do is check if the lender is approved by the RBI or is associated with a financial institution. Check details of their website, physical office location, company identification number (CIN) and details of the certificate of registration (CoR) besides the terms and conditions of lending.”
The Union Home Ministry had earlier written to states and Union territories urging them to take strict action against the offenders in light of the growing threat posed by predatory Chinese loan applications that have resulted in numerous suicide cases in India.