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1.“Agnès Varda: Light and Shadow” by Serralves
Agnès Varda (1928-2019) claims to have had three lives: first as a photographer, then as a filmmaker and, finally, as a visual artist. Going through each of these three modalities, this exhibition testifies to the way in which her artistic production developed in dialogue with her cinematographic work, being also representative of the way in which the director reinvented herself. The cinematographic work of Agnès Varda is considered the founder, if not the precursor, of the French Nouvelle Vague movement. Coming from photography, her arrival to directing was made through a direct relationship with the world, filming outdoors and reinventing the documentary approach. With about four dozen films, shot over more than six decades, it is possible to identify some recurrences in the work of the director: the taste for portraits and self-portraits, the provocative descriptions of family and love ideals, the film as a form of action politics (joined the Black Panthers, fought the Vietnam War, photographed the Cuban revolution, participated in the feminist movement), the celebration of community sharing and, at a later stage, reflection on recycling and aging issues. Filming documentary fiction and staged documentaries, Varda's work finds, in its diversity, the strength of a frankness always available to listen to the other. This cycle, programmed in dialogue with the exhibition Agnès Varda: Luz e Sombra, presents a selection of her films that reveal the internal reflections of a work marked by the power of dialogue.
2.“Warhol, People and Things” at Casa São Roque
Casa São Roque (R. São Roque da Lameira 2092), one of the most beautiful spaces in Porto, is the stage for the exhibition “Warhol, People and Things”. Open to the public until January 31, 2023, this is an extensive exhibition dedicated to Andy Warhol and its influence on generations of photographers, filmmakers, musicians and multimedia artists. The exhibition includes works by Warhol, but also by his closest friends. A unique opportunity to (re)discover one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. XX! To visit Casa São Roque and the exhibition dedicated to Warhol, the full ticket costs €8; €4 for young people between 13-18 years old and adults over 65 years old (Monday, Wednesday to Sunday (closed on Tuesdays), from 1:30 pm to 8:00 pm).
3.“Jorge Queiroz and Arshile Gorky To Go To” on Collection of the Center for Modern Art
The exhibition «Jorge Queiroz and Arshile Gorky. To Go To» brings together drawings and paintings by Portuguese artist Jorge Queiroz and Armenian-American artist Arshile Gorky, both represented in the Collection of the Center for Modern Art.
Jorge Queiroz and Arshile Gorky. To Go To is an imagined meeting between two artists from different times, places and artistic worlds, but with much in common.
Jorge Queiroz (Lisbon, 1966) is the author of one of the most fascinating artistic universes in the current panorama of Portuguese art and Arshile Gorky (Khorkom, Armenia, c. 1904 – Sherman, Connecticut, United States, 1948), is considered the «father» of post-war American Abstract Expressionism and a key reference for Western art in the first half of the 20th century. Gorky's first solo exhibition in Europe took place at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's Center for Modern Art in 1984. Works by the two painters are part of the Center for Modern Art's collection. Powerful imagery punctuated by strong and vibrant colors and a dominant abstraction, evoke memories and narratives that are expressed in indistinct and unreal ways in the works of both artists. Drawings and paintings by Gorky and Queiroz are part of this exhibition, which is an installation. The works have a life of their own, but breathe in the same atmosphere.
4. "Landscape is forever" with works by Ai Weiwei, Niek Te Wierik and Sara Leme atEugénio de Almeida Foundation (FEA)
In the long duration of history, the stones constitute a powerful reservoir of events that took place in geological time and in the slow configuration of the landscape. It is in the stone and in the material of the stone that, precisely, one finds the evidence of the landscape as an ancestral inscription, even when we know that duration exists in the transitory, as Peter Handke said, in the simple presence, in the trace of the horizon line, in the silent dialogue that the roots establish with the sky. It is in this fragile place, between eternity and sensitivity, that the works of the three artists on display intersect.
Ai Weiwei has placed his political activism in defense of freedom and civil rights at the center of an extensive and multifaceted work. But his relationships with Chinese history and culture remain fundamental for the artist, currently residing between Beijing, Germany, England and Portugal. This is what the piece now presented, from 2021, confirms. It is a marble disc originally from Afghanistan that the artist called Bi, evoking the ancient cultural roots of his country. Indeed, in classical Chinese culture Bi is a jade disc used in ritual ceremonies to reflect the sky. In this kind of gesture of cultural archeology, the artist shifts the reflection of the sky to the depth of the earth, where the veins of the stone were formed, thus bringing to the surface the thickness of the time of tradition and millenary geology.
Niek Te Wierik is a Dutch artist who has lived in Portugal for a long time. With abundant work in the areas of drawing and painting, the artist is an insatiable observer of the natural environment that surrounds him, and which he then fixes in a meticulous laboratory process (from photography to sketching, then drawing and painting). In the paintings that are part of the exhibition, the stone is color in the form of a dolmen, and it is a shadow in the form of light, crossing the millennial horizon of the stone with the ephemerality of the shadows of the olive groves of Alentejo.
It is precisely a reflection on the ephemerality that the work of Sara Leme brings us, a young artist in whose path jewellery, dance and anthropology intersect. In the exhibition, she presents Room (2021), an installation with a memory of recent global history: on a canvas, made with juxtaposed surgical masks, the artist confronts us with projected images of Alentejo’s dehesa, on an almost motionless plane, with the lightness of the wind. animating the foliage, as if trying to suspend the course of time
As part of the program of the 8th Congress of the Portuguese Association of Anthropology, the exhibition challenges the present time through the landscapes that we are, and invites us on a journey with the duration of poetry, between the tree and the shadow, between the stone and the horizon. .
5. Exposure Pablo Picasso – The Games of Love and Death - «The Vollard Suite» (1930-1937) inGuard Museum
It is a series of one hundred engravings with drawings of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) – which became known as the «Vollard Suite», executed between 1930 and 1937. Resulting from an edition carried out by the Museum of the City of Mülheim (Germany), in 1992, this collection of engravings was loaned to the Guard Museum by the Museo de Artes do Gravado a la Estampa Dixital, in Ribeira – A Coruña, thus continuing a relationship of esteem and trust between the two institutions. Curated by the Guarda Museum team, the exhibition is entitled Pablo Picasso – The Games of Love and Death – The Vollard Suite (1930-1937). This series of prints was commissioned to the Malague artist by art dealer Ambroise Vollard (1866-1939) in 1933.


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Perfect Photo Suite 7 has just been introduced by onOne Software. As you can see from the image below, most of the products comprising Perfect Photo Suite 7 are new versions while Perfect B&W is a brand new product.
I will quote here from an onOne Software press release:
"Perfect B&W (New!): Perfect B&W is the completely brand new module that gives photographers the easiest way to develop stunning black and white images. It includes powerful and intuitive tools that add dramatic, elegant, and classic black and white looks to images instantly and offers users complete creative control to reproduce time-honored black and white processing techniques.
Perfect Effects 4 (New!): Perfect Effects 4 extends the creative power offered by the popular PhotoTools and provides even more ways to create images with impact. Perfect Effects 4 delivers an extended library of professional photographic effects, frames and edges accessible from a flexible new browser with keyword search functionality and Favorites selection. New blending modes and paint-in brush effects offer even more creative options for how effects are combined and applied.
Perfect Portrait 2 (New!): Perfect Portrait 2 offers simply powerful portrait retouching, now improved with more accurate automated feature detection and enhancement tools to smooth skin, remove blemishes, brighten eyes and teeth, and correct skin color. Faster processing speeds also allow photographers to retouch images more quickly for simply stunning portraits.
Perfect Layers 3 (New!): Perfect Layers 3 gives photographers the ability to combine images and extend editing options in a layered file workflow without Photoshop. Users can create and edit multi-layered files with Perfect Layers directly from Lightroom, Aperture or as a standalone application. Included are new blending modes, textures, borders, PNG file support, and the powerful new edge-detecting Perfect Brush.
Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro (New!): Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro, formerly Genuine Fractals, increases image size faster than ever before and without the loss of sharpness or detail that might be normally expected. The same patented, fractal-based interpolation algorithms that were in Genuine Fractals are at the heart of Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro with several improvements. New algorithms for specific image types, built-in output presets, and the redesigned user interface, add to the power of Perfect Resize and make it even better for preparing all types of images for print. It is ideal to use with photos taken with DSLR cameras as well as snapshots taken with mobile devices.
Perfect Mask 5.2 (Improved!): High quality masks may be created quickly and easily with automated functionality and powerful tools that make selecting subjects and isolating backgrounds for removal extraordinarily accurate. The redesigned user interface allows photographers to focus on their image editing while keeping their most used tools readily accessible.
FocalPoint 2: FocalPoint 2 allows photographers to put the focus where they want after the shot. It’s the best way to add the most realistic depth of field and selective focus control to any image after it is photographed. A selection of lens presets is included to produce specific bokeh or the amount and kind of blur adjustment wanted."
New features to the suite as a whole can be seen on the onOne Software website. Individual features will be discussed as I review each program. I will discuss each product and stress its new and improved features. The new Perfect Brush tool is featured in most of the products.
Perfect Photo Suite 7 has a newly designed interface. As with Perfect Photo Suite 6, all products can be accessed from the one interface. The interface is, also, customizable so if the dark background does not work for you, you can change it to white or shades of grey. When you work in different modules such as Mask, Portrait, etc. all your metadata is saved.
From Photoshop, the easiest way to access the modules of Perfect Photo Suite 7 is through File>Automate. You will notice that there are more onOne Software products in the list than just those from Perfect Photo Suite 7. When I installed it, I had a choice whether to remove older programs or leave them. I chose to leave them.
Just a note on installation. I have run across this issue more and more as firewalls and virus detection programs get stronger. On my Windows 7 64-bit machine activation didn't work. Since you can have this program on two machines, it seems that after trying to activate it twice, the third time stated it was too much and I needed to call tech support. What I should have done, as I have with other software, was to disable the firewall when activating. I called onOne support to manually activate it for me. Without knowing I was a reviewer, I can report that the support was very good. The specifications for Perfect Photo Suite 7 as a whole are listed below and the manual can be downloaded from the onOne Software website.
10.6, 10.7, 10.8
Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
|Processor||Intel Core 2 Duo, Xeon or better processor(s)||Quad-core Intel Core i5, Xeon or better processors(s)|
|RAM||4 GB||8+ GB|
|Hard Drive||1.5 GB for installation||1.5 GB for installation
Fast 7200 RPM or SSD drive
OpenGL 2.0 compatible video card with 256 MB dedicated video RAM
OpenGL 4.0 compatible video card with 1GB dedicated video RAM
|Optional Application Integration||
Photoshop CS4, CS5, CS6
Photoshop Elements 9, 10, 11
Photoshop Lightroom 2, 3, 4
Apple Aperture 2.1, 3
Photoshop CS5, CS6
Photoshop Elements 10, 11
Photoshop Lightroom 4
Apple Aperture 3
Internet connection for activation, auto update checking, online help, content downloads and tutorials.
High-speed internet connection for activation, auto update checking, online help, content downloads and tutorials.
Wacom tablet for pressure sensitive input.
Hardware display calibration tool.
The program can be used as a plug-in with Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, Apple Aperture, or as a standalone.
The Preference menu offers a number of useful choices.
Some of the new tools will appear in multiple programs such as the Perfect Brush tool which detects edges so your work is more precise. In addition, the interface is the same throughout with only changes that are relevant to individual programs such as tools, etc. The User Guide for Perfect Photo Suite 7 is excellent. You can download it from the onOne Software website.
Perfect B&W can turn your color image into a black and white, tinted, or black and white with areas of color. When converted to black and white, the image retains its color information so use of color is possible. The following is a list from the onOne Software Perfect Photo Suite 7 User Guide.
- "Reproduce vintage styles using film grain and darkroom techniques quickly with a library of well crafted presets.
- Save time and stay focused on your image editing when your library of favorite effects are always nearby.
- Precisely dodge and burn, add detail, and apply selective color with a set of powerful brushes designed for black & white processing.
- Paint inside the lines with precision using the new edge-detecting Perfect Brush.
- Use Blending Modes to blend your black & white image with your original to achieve a unique hand-painted or grungy effect.
- Imply mood and depth with striking detail using the Toner Presets in Perfect B&W.
- Use built-in color filter presets to enhance contrast in your image.
- Adjust the relative brightness of the details you care about, whether it's the sky, foliage, or people.
- Optimize the balance of tone and contrast in your image with the Tone Curve.
- Adjust shadows, mid-tones, and highlights to create the exact look you want.
- Accentuate your images with vignettes, authentic film & darkroom edge effects, and borders."
The toolbars or panels will, obviously, change with the programs. Below is the left panel. The searching function allows you to search for your favorite Preset or Effect.
The tools on the right panel give the user many options to create different kinds of effects, control color, tonality, etc. The image below shows them all opened. Not only can you alter the image, but you can frame it through borders and vignetting.
And, lastly, are the tools in the Tool Well which by default are found in a position on the upper left of the canvas screen.
With Perfect B&W, you can work globally or only on a specific area. Below I used a global preset Indigo Cool and the Selective Color brush.
On the lower toolbar are options on viewing the image. They will change depending on what brush is used. Here I chose to look at the image using a simulation of the zones in the Zone System. I would have liked to see the zones labeled or differentiated more clearly.
Using the default settings, below are some examples of the many presets available. Each preset could have been tweaked almost infinitesimally. When working in Adobe Photoshop, Perfect B&W saves on its own layer so that can be manipulated as well.
As I stated in the beginning of this review, you can work globally as well as on specific areas. Here I used the Paint-In brush on the reflection. Notice there is a Paint-Out brush as well.
Thus, you can transform an image from color to black and white as well as use the original color or a tint. Below is an image changed to a rich black and white. If I had to sum up the program in a few words, I would say it has a multitude of controls to give the user an unlimited ability to work with an image.
Painting inside lines with the Perfect Brush tool did not work as in the demo. I found that if the areas are not well defined, there can be overlap. I tried in this example to mimic as much as I could the demo so I could replicate what parts of the brush (feathered area) went where. I used a brush size proportional to what was used in the demo. Had I used a much smaller brush and no feathering, the brush would not have picked up color from other parts of the image. When it overlapped as it did in the demo, it picked up some of the unwanted color.
For more information on both Perfect Photo Suite 7 and Perfect B&W click on the links. Go to those links to download either a trial of the full suite or of the individual program. The cost for Perfect Photo Suite 7 is $299.95 with an upgrade price of $149.95. The cost of Perfect B&W alone is $99.95. To download a free 30 day trial click on the link which will take you to the proper page on the onOne Software web site.
Perfect Effects 4 is the latest version of the onOne Software's library of photographic effects including presets designed by "industry experts" and frames and edges. With the new browser allowing keyword searches, it is easier to find the preset you are looking for. Included in Perfect Effects 4 are new blending modes allowing for stacking and new paint-in brushes. With Perfect Effects 4, you can limit effects to certain regions of your image.
Let's first look at what is new or enhanced in Perfect Effects 4.
- Library Effects - enhanced
- Browser and keyword search - new
- Paint-In Effect brushes - new
- Perfect Brush - new
- Blending modes - improved
- Borders from PhotoFrame - new
There are a number of sections to the interface. On the left are Effects, Favorites, and My Presets. When you click on an Effect you can show the options in one column or in more columns. Below I chose 3 columns. The right panel shows options for each effect as well as how they are to be stacked.
As stated above, the left panel will show thumbnails of all the possible effects while the controls in the right panel will change as you work to correspond to the tool or effect you are using. You will notice that as I added different effects to the stack, my options changed. Stacking effects is a wonderful component of Perfect Effects 4.
The tools can be found in the upper left of the canvas.
I took the same house as I used above and added a color correction Effect to make it warmer. Then, I took the Masking brush and brushed across the house to expose the underlying color on the base layer. Even though I clicked to activate the Perfect Brush control, I found that it did not effect how the brush erased the top layer. Again, a small brush with no or little feathering worked best. If the area had been rectangular (square) or oval (round), I could have used the masking Bug to accomplish the same thing.
A somewhat hidden screen, but one that can be both powerful and useful is the Blending Options screen. This screen allows the user to use the powerful layer blending as in Photoshop but gives controls so it can apply to various parts of the image.
Paint-In Effects are a great way to apply changes to one part of an image. You will identify the Paint-In Effect presets by the little brush in the upper left corner. In the example below when I used the brush as a Perfect brush, I could see accurate edge detection as I worked. Somehow the Perfect brush worked better for me in some programs than in others.
Many Borders from PhotoFrame can now be found in Perfect Effects 4. Just two with the categories are shown in the upper part of the image. Two possible vignettes are shown on the bottom with the Effect Option Controls pictured as well. The presets can be though of as a starting place for more advanced users while for beginners they can be used without adjustments.
For more information on both Perfect Photo Suite 7 and Perfect Effects 4 click on the links. Go to those links to download either a trial of the full suite or of the individual program. The cost for Perfect Photo Suite 7 is $299.95 with an upgrade price of $149.95. The cost of Perfect Effects 4 alone is $99.95 with an upgrade price of $69.95. Click on the link to download a free 30 day trial.
Perfect Effects 4 can be used to create not only image effects, but components of it can be used to frame your image. You can correct mistakes through Color Correction and create unique effects through presets such as Cross Process. It is a very flexible and intuitive program that works very well.
Once again, let's look at what is new and improved in Perfect Portrait 2.1.
- Automatic face detection - improved
- Automatic feature detection - improved
- New control points for precise adjustment
- Perfect Brush - new
- simplified workflow for multiple faces
While the interface for all the programs is basically the same, obviously the tools, presets and options change.
Below is a snapshot of the tools that lists their purpose. (Taken from the Perfect Photo Suite 7 manual.)
When you first open Perfect Portrait 2, a wizard will lead you through the necessary steps toward improving your image. You can turn the wizard off if you like.
The eyes and mouth groups of points can be easily moved so it does not matter where they first appear on the face. You have a few major choices when working with portraits: You can use the presets on the left combined or not combined with the options on the right as well as using the eye and mouth options on the right as well.
Using a combination of the Retouch tool, presets and Face Edit tool, I was able to smooth out the blemishes on the neck as well as smooth out the face and whiten the eyes a little as well as add a slight gloss to the lips through the Vibrance slider. The biggest improvement was in the neck area where the blemishes were smoothed out without making the change look artificial.
For more information on both Perfect Photo Suite 7 and Perfect Portrait 2 click on the links. The cost for Perfect Photo Suite 7 is $299.95 with an upgrade price of $149.95. The cost of Perfect Portrait 2 alone is $99.95 with an upgrade price of $69.95. Perfect Portrait 2 is geared to both novices and advanced users. If you are not experienced, you can initially just use presets. As you become more familiar with the program, you can add tools. As stated earlier, all these programs can be downloaded for a free 30 day trial.
FocalPoint 2 has not changed so I am only modifying or adding to my previous review of it. You will notice that the interface is different from the other programs that comprise Perfect Photo Suite 7. However, you can still work with all of the programs without ever having to close any of them.
FocalPoint allows you to control focus after you have taken a photograph. So if your depth of field is too great so that too much of the image is in focus, this plug-in and standalone product will allow you to correct this. It, also, can be used artistically for special effects. The placement of the "Sweet-Spot," the area that will remain in focus, is accomplished by placing and manipulating the FocusBug. You can also add vignetting to the image. All of the effects can be saved as presets. To control the effects you can manipulate the FocusBug or use the sliders which are on the right panel of the interface. However the FocusBug is not the only means for creating a "Sweet-Spot."
FocalPoint works by means of the FocusBug - a little bug with legs and antennae. You position the body of the bug where you want the picture to be in focus. Then, you move the legs to define the width and height and the antennae to control the blur as well as the hardness of the edge.
What does FocalPoint 2 do?
- Hides distracting backgrounds - puts the viewer's eye where you want it.
- Uses unique FocusBug control that works just like adjusting a lens.
- Recreates the look of popular lenses including selective focus, fast aperture and tilt-shift lenses.
- Affords ultimate defocus control after the shot is taken. You control the amount, feather, and type of blur.
- Creates presets for a fast and consistent look.
- Easily adds realistic vignettes to your image.
What are the features new to FocalPoint 2 from FocalPoint 1?
- Multiple FocusBugs.
- An updated blur algorithm so that it mimics camera lenses more closely.
- Built in lens presets including those that produce bokeh.
- New Focus brush to brush on focus, blur, or erase.
- Addition of a highlight bloom tool to control the strength of highlights in the bokeh or blurred area.
- Ability to use as a Smart Filter.
- An onOne Panel in Photoshop for quick access.
While you can control depth of field in Photoshop by using gradient masks, layer masks, and filters, it can be very time consuming. FocalPoint 2 allows you to do this quickly and easily. The addition of the multiple FocusBugs is great as is the ability to control the area using a brush. Below shows the options available in FocalPoint 2 to accomplish varying depth of field. (This panel was cut into thirds so that it would take up less space on the page.)
You can add FocusBugs by clicking on the + in the FocusBug pane. These are not the only options available. Under FocusBrush, notice "Paint Focus". By clicking on that button, you can change that to "Paint Blur" or " Erase." If I click on Lens, Custom under the Blur pane, I have a choice of various camera lenses to create different bokeh or blurring effects.
The FocusBug has six controls: 4 are to adjust the width of the bug, 1 is to set the vignette (lightness and midpoint), and 1 is to set the blur (amount and feather).
Below is a simple use of FocalPoint 2. I just used basic controls. While I wanted the background blurred, I didn't want it to spill over to the left and right fronts of the image. See right image.
I removed it by painting on "focus" with the FocusBrush. You have basically unlimited control.
Below I used two FocusBugs and the FocusBrush to paint on "blur."
Here are the before and after images. I redid the image so that the outcome would be a little lighter than what is shown in the above one.
I like to use custom lens configurations so that I have more control of the blurring even though the FocusBug controls that as well. The specific lens will initially regulate how the image is blurred. You can control that by manipulating the controls under the Blur panel. This panel is the one that has the fly-out for the choices of the camera lens.
Since the FocusBug determines vignetting and area of blur around the image, it interacts with different lenses differently and changes according to which lens is selected. I left the FocusBug in one position and used different lenses to see what they would do. While it is not too clear from these images, the choice of lens "moves" the blur control on the FocusBug. Below are examples where I left the lenses at their default and did not use the BlurBrush to blur the areas near the bird's legs. The FocusBug is placed in the center of the bird's body. Since the FocusBug has two shapes (oval and planar), it is often necessary to use the blur brush to continue the blur near the object in focus. You can control the intensity of the blur by controls and by setting options if you use a Wacom tablet.
Here is a better example of how the lens determines the settings on the FocusBug. Remember, you can change all of these and are not locked in to any. I arranged the FocusBug so that no part of the image was in focus (collapsed the legs and antennae). Notice the differences in the amount of blur and the position of that control on the FocusBug as I changed lenses. At f 1.2 the iris is wide open and at f 5.6 it is partially closed. You can try this for yourself using your camera set at manual.
FocalPoint 2 comes with quite a few presets. The following are some examples of using them without any modifications.
You can use a preset as a base and then modify it with the FocusBrush as well as afterwards in Photoshop. Without FocalPoint 2, the effects would take a very long time and not be as smooth.
I have used FocalPoint for years and have found it to be a very useful addition to my digital "tools."
For more information on both both Perfect Photo Suite 7 and FocalPoint 2 click on the links. The cost for Perfect Photo Suite 7 is $299.95 with an upgrade price of $149.95. The cost of FocalPoint 2 alone is $99.95 with an upgrade price of $69.95. You can download a free 30 day trial.
Perfect Mask 5.2 is used to:
• Remove backgrounds with ease.
• Create high-quality masks in just a few clicks.
• Cut around the tough stuff easily.
In Perfect Mask version 5.2 the interface has been improved. Why do we use masks? Let's pretend that we have two layers which we are blending together with the normal default. The top layer always takes precedence. However, by creating a mask, you can allow some of the bottom layer to show through. Masks are created using black, white or an infinite number of shades of gray. There are many ways to describe what layer masks do, but look at the picture and you can see it visually What is depicted here is a layer masks created just in Photoshop.
Let's now explore what can be accomplished using Perfect Mask 5.2. The image below shows the result after removing a bland sky and substituting a more interesting one. All was accomplished without having to leave Perfect Photo Suite 7.
The tools are pictured below. The different tools are used to define areas for color keeping and color removal, to paint-in color and paint it out, etc.
Below, I took a base image of a house with a lot of lacy foliage reaching into the sky. Removing or substituting a sky is usually very hard to do with this type of an image. I wanted to see how easy it would be to substitute a different sky. It took under 5 minutes to accomplish this. I did not work to refine it at all. One of the features of Perfect Photo Suite 7 is that one never has to leave the program to accomplish different steps. Initially, I worked in the Layers module which is the default one when an image is opened. I found that it helps if both the base image and sky are about the same image size. You can accomplish this either by resizing the images separately or by changing their scale and using the Transform tool within the program. I placed the sky image on top of the house image and arranged it. Then, I reversed them so that when I went into the Mask module the house image would be on top since I was removing the sky from it. There are many ways to create masks. Here I used the eye droppers to set up which colors I wanted kept and which I wanted removed. Then, I used the Magic brush. As I stated, I did not refine it, but the tools such as the Paint-In brush are available in Perfect Mask 5.2 to do that.
Below is the 5 minute or less result.
Once you have roughly removed a background, one method of cleaning up the edges is with the chisel tool. The top two screen captures are highly enlarged.
On the onOne Software website there are a number of tutorials that relate to using Perfect Mask 5. They can be found in the onOne University section of the website. I suggest that you use them so you can decide which masking methods are the most useful for you. I, personally like starting with the Magic brush using the Keep/Remove method.
When you open an image in the default module - Layers, you can choose a number of backgrounds to use with your image should you desire.
For more information on both both Perfect Photo Suite 7 and Perfect Mask 5.2 click on the links. The cost for Perfect Photo Suite 7 is $299.95 with an upgrade price of $149.95. The cost of Perfect Mask 5.2 alone is $99.95 with an upgrade price of $69.95. You can download a free 30 day trial.
What is Perfect Layers 3? Perfect Layers 3 works with programs such as Lightroom that do not support layers internally. However, it has more uses. As the module that opens first when you open Perfect Photo Suite 7, you can build layers in it to use elsewhere. If you read the part of this review on Perfect Mask 5.2, you will remember that I used two layers - the image and the sky - when I replaced my sky in the original image.
Perfect Layers 3 has both new and improved tools:
- Blending modes - improved
- Perfect brush - new
- PNG file support - new
- Borders and textures from PhotoFrame - new
- Built in Image Browser - new
In my review of Perfect Mask 5.2, I showed how using Perfect Layers 3 you could place two images on top of each other to form 2 layers. The tools in Perfect Layers 3 cover a greater scope of functions than in the other programs because they are not fixed to one goal. They contain masking tools, retouching, etc.
You normally would use Perfect Layers 3 with a program that didn't allow for layers. In Adobe Lightroom you can access it from File>Plug-in Extras>Perfect Layers 3. Or you can access it from the standalone application.
When you bring a layered image into Perfect Layers 3, all the layers are there. You can easily add borders and textures to an image. If the size of the texture, border, or background is different, you can use the Transform tool to change it. If you don't want a texture to appear in an area, you can mask it out with the Masking brush. The Masking brush is an extremely handy tool.
For more information on both Perfect Photo Suite 7 and Perfect Layers 3 click on the links. The cost for Perfect Photo Suite 7 is $299.95 with an upgrade price of $149.95. The cost of Perfect Layers 3 alone is $99.95 with an upgrade price of $69.95. As stated earlier, all these programs can be downloaded for a free 30 day trial.
What can Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro do for you? I have used a version of it since its early days when it was Genuine Fractals. I rely on it to blow up my images that I create in 3D programs and render. I can render at smaller sizes which saves me time and then enlarge it flawlessly using Perfect Resize. According to onOne Software Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro will:
- "Enlarge images up to 1000% without sacrificing quality
- Maintain the sharpness and detail of your original image
- Crop and resize images to any print size in one step
- Get amazing enlargements from your mobile phone."
Two new features of Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro, according to onOne Software, are faster processing speeds and factory presets for optimal output. Previously, the optimal resolution output to use depending on the choice of printer was stated, but there were no presets. What many people don't realize is that all optimal resolution output is not the same. For Epson printers onOne Software suggest a different optimal outputs than for HP printers. So these presets are very useful, especially for the beginner. The presets, also, show different settings depending on the image size.
Viewing distance is important when viewing an image. This information is from the onOne Software Guide to Perfect Photo Suite 7. If you have an 8" x 10" image, you can enlarge it to an 80" x 100". The viewing distance of the 8 x 10 should be 2 feet and the 80 x 100 should be 21 feet. The viewing distance is two-times the diagonal of the print. Perfect Resize cannot capture details that are not in the image. If there is poor detail in a small area, it will, obviously, look worse in a huge enlargement. So the image needs to have enough information to be able to resize it well.
I was interested in how an image from a mobile phone would work. A friend of mine took one of my dog and e-mailed it to me. The dog was moving a little and so it was a little fuzzy. However, I did nothing to it in Photoshop except crop it to about half its size. In Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro I sharpened it a little and chose high detail for my settings. I printed it on 8.5 x 11 paper and was amazed at how beautifully it printed and how well the sharpening using an unsharp mask worked. Here are the sizes. I, also could have cropped it and enlarged it at the same time as shown in my screen capture of the interface.
|Original Image||Cropped Image||Print Size|
|1.05 MB Compressed|
|17.2 MB Opened in Photoshop||5.49 MB||11.08|
|1840 x 3264 Pixels||1352 x 1420 Pixels||1920 x 2017 pixels|
|About 7 1/2 x 13 1/2 " at 240 dpi||About 5 1/2 x 6 " at 240 dpi||About 8 x 8 1/2 at 240 dpi|
The information in the User Guide is excellent. It explains resolution and how Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro works. I suggest that everyone who uses this program read the first few pages of the chapter on Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro.
It is suggested by onOne Software that Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro should be used as one of the last steps in your work flow because the concept is that you will follow the parameters for the particular paper you are using, etc. However, I would like to add that I often use it in the beginning of my workflow when I am going to use techniques that cause specific distortions to an image. I can get a better feel of how the final image will look.
Different programs support different color modes. This chart is from the User Guide.
Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro has a number of types of presets. You saw in an earlier screen capture, the presets for type of paper. You can also select presets for cropping to specific dimensions as well as type of image. These screen captures show some of the presets.
If you look at the screen shot in the beginning of this review, you will see that Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro does not have a similar batch processing command as it did in version 7. However, this only means that batch processing is accessed differently in version 7.5. As I stated earlier, I would be lost without Perfect Resize.
For more information on both Perfect Photo Suite 7 and Perfect Resize 7.5 Pro click on the links. The cost for Perfect Photo Suite 7 is $299.95 with an upgrade price of $149.95. The cost of Perfect Resize 7 Pro alone is $199.95 with an upgrade price of $69.95. All these programs can be downloaded for a free 30 day trial.
While the pro version is contained in Perfect Photo Suite 7, you can get a standard version of Perfect Resize, also. The Standard version costs $99.95 or $69.95 for an upgrade.
One of the benefits of purchasing Perfect Photo Suite 7 is that once opened, you can stay within it and work with your image in so many ways. Familiarity with one set of tools will carry over throughout all the modules. If you add up the price of the individual modules, you will see how much you save by purchasing Perfect Photo Suite 7. With the variety of programs in Perfect Photo Suite 7, you have tools that cover a tremendous number of techniques from working with depth of field to adding special effects to printing very large images. In this review, I have used my photographs as well as other images I have created to demonstrate how the components of Perfect Photo Suite 7 work. While the program is called Perfect Photo Suite 7, you are not limited to using it with only photographs, but can use it with other types of images so long as they are Photoshop compatible. I really enjoyed working with this version. Perfect Photo Suite 7 is an excellent program.

domain: hobby


text:
White Peony Bai MuDan tea is farmed and produced on Mt. Taimu, using material from Dabaihao tea trees. While this is a slightly oxidized white tea, it is produced with the same minimal processing as Silver Needle white tea, with the main difference between the two being that silver needle uses only buds, while premium bai mudan includes one or two freshly opened leaves.
The Nanguang Tea Garden is located west of Taimu Mountain at an elevation between 600 and 900 meters, and is 80% covered with forest. The weather here is warm and humid with abundant rainfall year-round; the tea plantation itself is surrounded by fog almost constantly, creating the perfect conditions for tea bushes with a rich array of micro-minerals and organic nutrients accumulating in the leaves. The plants growing here are mainly of the Fuding Dabaihaoi varieties.
This Bai Mudan tea is produced in Panxi, Fuding, a famous area of production located in the northeast of Fujian Province. Fuding experiences the subtropical monsoon climate characteristic of coastal areas, with an average annual temperature of about 18.5 Celsius and an average annual precipitation of around 1650mm. This tropical mountains coastal area is perfect for growing pekoe, with its abundant rainfall and mild temperatures; the mountains surrounding the farms are almost entirely blanketed with forests, ensuring the soil has a high natural fertility and organic content, which in turn eliminates the need to use fertilizers.
This white tea is made from the leaves of the Fuding Dabaihao plant, which propagates asexually and is shaped like a small tree, and in 1985 was certified as a national tea plant variety. It can grow up to 2.8m high with a thick trunk, and its spring leaves contain 1.8% amino acids and 28.2% tea polyphenols, marking it was an excellent base to make Silver Needle and White Peony tea.
While tea was originally grown in the area around the city of Fuding, it later spread to the areas around the cities of Shuiji, and then Zhenghe. The first type of white tea produced was Silver Needle, in the area around Taimu Mountain.
Originally, Silver Needle tea was made from the buds of the Xiaobai variety of tea bush, a smaller and slower-growing variety; because of this, the tea was more expensive and harder to find. However, around 1857, farmers near Shuiji began using Dabaihao tea bush varieties, with larger buds and the capability to produce higher-quality tea, with more fuzz on the leaves and a stronger fragrance and taste. From that point on, Silver Needle, White Peony, and other types of white tea have been made using Dabaihao tea plants.

domain: food


Mansfield Anodisers are a small anodising company specialising in high quality finishing of aluminium components.
The aluminium components are treated electro chemically to provide a coating for protection and colour. The final coat in the process requires drying to prevent staining and the company was experiencing problems with its drying room which caused uneven drying and therefore limited production.
Temperature logging showed that there was a wide range of temperature at different heights within the room, shown in the first chart.
After consultation some small, self powered temperature loggers where used to show that there was a wide temperature range being created in the drying room. It was suggested that instead of using the small desktop oscillating fan to move the air around the room, the company should invest in a de-stratifcation fan (a simple domestic ceiling fan) which would not only assist in air circulation horizontally but would also force any hot air near the top of the room downwards. The result of this was a more even mixture of air in the room which is shown in the second chart.
The adoption of the new fan resulted in a more controlled, speedier drying process. It reduced the bottleneck effect on production and minimised the heating energy required within the drying process. Asking the Environmental Technology Centre to investigate and paying the small sum of £80 for the fan provided a very swift payback on investment!
Thermal Stratification in buildings is the layering of differing air temperatures from floor to ceiling. This results from the natural process of heat rising in an internal space. Thermal de-stratification is the process of mixing these internal air temperatures to effectively eliminate the stratified layers and achieve temperature equalisation throughout the internal space. In a stratified building temperature differentials of up to 10 oC can be found over a height of 10m on average. In extreme cases temperature differentials of 10 oC have been found over a height of 1m. In a de-stratified building temperature differentials can be reduced to 1 - 2 oC or less from floor to ceiling. It has been suggested that stratification is the single biggest waste of energy in buildings today.
All contents © Environmental Technology Centre, 2010 - | Disclaimer


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According to Momondo.ro, the travel tendencies of Romanian citizens for this year are dominated by the familiar European, African and Asian destinations.
Romanians have begun choosing domestic air transportation over train or car, as last year intern flights have increased by 664 per cent, according to data registered by the country’s main airports in Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara and Iasi. This was possible thanks to the low cost carriers’ offers in 2016.
“The interest toward domestic tourism grew significantly in 2016. One of the main factors which have contributed to that tendency is the penetration of low cost operators in domestic routes, with flight offers at prices lower than implicit expenses of a trip by common or personal transport means,” Marketing Responsible at Momondo Romania Mircea Giurca explained.
On the other hand, Greece considerably grew in the polls, as Romanian mainly chose this destination to spend their holidays. A 202 per cent increase in searches was registered last year. The result can be a consequence of the political stability when compared to the previous year, as well as a consistent decrease in prices. From all the Greek destinations, the Romanians have preferred the city of Athens as the most popular holiday city.
Second in their preferences was Cyprus, with a 105 per cent increase in the searches in 2016. “A determining factor can be instability in Turkey, which caused the reorientation of demand toward Cyprus,” further commented Momondo’s representative.
Croatia closed the list of the top destinations chose by Romanians, with a 152 per cent increase in searches. Tourism analysts believe that this happened due to the fact that Dubrovnik became the new alternative to Bulgarian beaches.
Similarly, Portugal and Italy were also favorites, with 90 and 70 per cent increase respectively when compared to 2015. Source: www.travelwires.com

domain: geography


Mireia Carbonell has more than 8 years experience teaching in private music schools in Barcelona. She likes to adapt her lessons to student needs in order to improve their level and help them to enjoy their learning process. She teaches guitar for beginners; electric bass guitar for beginners, intermediate and advanced level and she also offers music theory lessons for everyone who has interest to understand the music language, learn to read scores or create its own songs.
Mireia is graduated in bass guitar for the Higher School of Music of Catalonia (Escola Superior de Música, ESMUC), qualification recognized by UK Naric as a Bachelor Honours Degree. Besides modern music, she studied classical guitar (till grade 7) at Conservatori Professional de Sabadell. She studied with musicians as Jordi Ruiz, Pep Cucurella, Gary Willis, Ignasi Terraza or Lucas van Merwijk in Amsterdam.
On 2015 she got a record deal with Topkapi Müzik record label with the album "Kendy Yolumda", she is currently finishing her first album with her own band Periscopi Invertit, leading Improjam! funk/jazz jam session, performs regularly at La Fabrica restaurant with her flamenco trio, plays bass for the afrobeat band Koroleko and played for Motown Gold function band as a dep player during the 2019 summer. Mireia has performed in several UK music festivals like Africa Oyé, London Eid Festival 2019, Britsh Academy Showcase 2019, Journeys Festival, London African Music Festival, The big Feastival, Rising Sounds Festival, etc with artists like Mim Suleiman, Nelson & Friends, Malunga and Koroleko.
Lessons Fees: 30 min -----15 pounds
45 min ---- 22,5 pounds
30 min ----- 30 pounds
For more information you can contact to: email@example.com
Copyright © All Rights Reserved


ZEV BBL17DDLC Match Grade Glock 17 Gen3 9mm 4.48" 416R Stainless Steel Black DLC Drop-In
Zev Technologies Match Grade drop-in Glock replacement barrel features extremely tight tolerances and is manufactured with pre-hardened chromium stainless steel. It provides high tensile strength, toughness, is highly corrosion resistant, and is
This model is compatible with Glock 17 Gen3 and has a DLC black finish with dimples. It comes packaged in a box with foam inserts.


Chelsea legendary goalie Petr Cech has made a historic appearance for Chelsea’s Under 23 squad against Tottenham Hotspur.
Iconic goalie Petr Cech, endured an initial error with a bizarre first touch where Tottenham capitalized on it to get an opening goal in the game. Danny Drinkwater also made an appearance in the game and was shown a red card for hitting out at Alfie Devine, 16, who was also sent off too in the occasion.
Petr Cech has made a massive comeback from football, but the former Leicester City player Drinkwater was shown the red card as Chelsea Under 23 bounces back from 2-0 slip to overpower Tottenham’s young stars by 3-2.
This game is Petr Cech’s debut match since officially hanging his boots as an Arsenal’s goalkeeper before he came back to Chelsea Football Club as their technical and performance director in June 2019.
The Czech Republic international has also been training with the first team this campaign and was listed in Chelsea’s final 25-man EPL team in the beginning of the season (September, 2020) as an urgent Chelsea’s goalie whenever there is injury or unavailability of goalkeepers.
Well, Cech had an opening disgraceful evening where his bizarre first touch which led to Tottenham first corner helped them to bring on an opening goal.
15 mins passed, Petr Cech also allowed a second goal from Dane Scarlett’s nodding as Chelsea were left behind with two goals margin.
Chelsea’s young boys didn’t relax as their work rate paid off. They levelled 2-2 in the second half with a bright two goals in 3 mins – conversion from the penalty spot by Myles Peart-Harris and Marcel Lewis’ unexpected subliminal shot.
Meanwhile, the two teams then had a player each shown a redcard when 16-year-old Alfie Devine had a brawl with former Leicester City man Donny Drinkwater – there was a heated argument as the 2015 Premier League winner responded by hitting the Spurs 16-year-old player with his leg.
Where the both team were left with 10 players, Chelsea looked on to victory as Peart-Harris found the back of the net in the 88th mins to accomplish the massive 2-0 comeback to 3-2.
Petr Cech added a role in Chelsea as a non-contract footballer in a measure due to unavailability of players which might be caused by the coronavirus global outbreak.
In his time as Chelsea’s number one before moving to Arsenal, Petr Cech registered 13 important titles, which also included 4 Premier League trophies and the UEFA Champions League during his 11-year spell.


text:
Russian investors will face margin calls if the Russian stock market continues falling for another few days, VTB bank Deputy Chairman Georgy Moos warned late on Tuesday.
"Several more days like we are seeing now and we will see margin calls," Moos said.
The global markets crisis has wiped about $200 billion off the value of local stocks with leading bourses losing up to 6 percent on Tuesday alone.
However, Moos believes that the 2008 crisis, when margin calls ruined many companies, has taught Russian banks a lesson.
"We see very few such loans. The loan portfolio to collateral ratio allows the value of the collateral to fall 50-60 percent. Only then we'll see a margin call," he said.
The Russian markets rose slightly on Wednesday morning, the RTS up 1.07 percent to 1238.05 and the MICEX up 1.35 percent to 1284.93 at 11.30 Moscow time.

domain: news


text:
I own hundreds of shares in vairous companies. Using IAG hwere ihave 700 shares as an example i could be making money now off monthly options by writing one or two contract’s. with the market moving sideways and as i OWN the underlying stock if they go up i will profit until it hits the strike price as the share would belong to other party. only my profit is capped. likewise there is Zero risk to 212 because the contract is owned, the value of the share is 100% guaranteed by the owning of 100 shares 212 could charge a fee to write the contract as well and profit off it.
2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Option trading?

domain: finance


text:
Directed by Sandburg theater instructor Robert Thompson, David Auburn’s play won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play and is a passionate, intelligent story about fathers and daughters, the nature of genius and the power of love, according to a college release.
“Proof” follows Catherine (Kaitlyn Pleshko), who has inherited the mathematical brilliance of her father Robert (Ryan Bowman), but is haunted by the fear that she might also share his debilitating mental illness.
Caught between a newfound connection with Hal (Jacob Peneueta) — one of her father’s former students — and the reappearance of her sister Claire (Laney Deborn), Catherine finds both her world and her mind growing increasingly unstable. After Hal discovers a groundbreaking proof among the dozens of notebooks Catherine’s father left behind, Catherine is forced to further question how much of her father’s genius or madness will she inherit.
Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12-13, in addition to a 2 p.m. matinee performance Nov. 14. Masks are required, and spectators will need to complete a brief health screening upon arrival. Tickets are $5 per person and can only be purchased at the door.
The house opens 30 minutes prior to each show. A free preview will be available at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 for those showing a Sandburg student or employee ID.

domain: entertainment


text:
The Oshkosh Area Writers Club was created to share in the common interest of creative writing; inspire and motivate members to write; and provide a supportive forum for constructive feedback.
Membership is free and open to anyone 17 years of age or older.
For more information, please email email@example.com
Monday, November 28, 2011
Louis Clark III at Apple Blossom in Oshkosh
January 24, 2012, our own Louis V. Clark III will be reading his awesome Native American poetry 6:30 to 7 pm at Apple Blossom Books in Oshkosh.


•Confirms Odumosu, Egbetokun as CPs
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the elevation of 175 Senior Police Officers, stepping down the promotion of 112 others. The decisions were part of the highpoints of the 9th Plenary Meeting of the Commission, in Abuja, presided over by its Chairman, retired Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Musiliu Smith.
A statement by PSC spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, said an Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Sanusi Lemu was promoted to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), to replace retired DIG Abdulmajid Ali, representing the North Central.
It also approved the promotion of Commissioner of Police (CP) Mustapha Dandaura, former CP Anambra and Rivers states to the substantive rank of an Assistant Inspector General of Police.
Also promoted were 167 Superintendents of Police to Chief Superintendents, three Deputy Superintendents of Police to Superintendents, two Assistant Superintendents of Police to Deputy Superintendents and four Inspectors to Assistant Superintendents.
The commission stood down the promotions of 112 senior Police Officers for failure of the IGP to comply with the directive of the Commission to attach the Presidential approval for the creation of additional Zonal Commands and Departments from where the vacancies for the recommended officers were harvested.
The commission stood down the promotion of 13 Commissioners of Police to the next rank of AIG, eight Deputy Commissioners of Police to Commissioners and 91 Chief Superintendents of Police to Assistant Commissioners.
The 167 Superintendents of Police promoted to Chief Superintendents include; Hezekiah Ali, Chukwuma Johnson Ubasonye, Samson Oyemauche, Ismail Lawal, Oyedele Saka Oyerinde and Nieketien George. Others were; Adamu Garba, Divisional Police Officer, Abakaliki road, Enugu State Command, Ikechukwu Ogoegbunam Udegbunam, Unit Commander, EOD, Jalingo, Taraba State Command, Abiodun Oluwaseun Ayinde, Ogun State Command and Wellinghton Omorogieva and others.
The commission also confirmed the acting appointments of 60 senior Police Officers including three Commissioners of Police and four Deputy Commissioners.
The beneficiaries are Egbetokun Adeolu, Commissioner of Police Kwara State, Odumosu Olusegun, Commissioner of Police Lagos State and Shehu Usman Shuaibu, Commissioner of Police Works in the Force Headquarters. Others are; Deputy Commissioner of Police Nwonyi Emeka, DCP Ibrahim Maikaba; DCP Ahmed Musa and DCP Jimoh Moshood, former Force Public Relations Officer and currently DCP, CID, Airport Command, Lagos.
The commission also confirmed the acting appointments of three CSPs, Azogor Edu Jude, Usman Musa, Presidential Villa and Alhassan Idris Gambo. The appointments of three Superintendents of Police were also confirmed. They are Ijomah Chidebere Joseph, Sector Commander, FIB, STS, Enugu, Ogarachi Chima Eze, O/C Marine Command Port Harcourt and Olusegun Osunbure. The commission’s decisions would be conveyed to the IGP tomorrow, October 5 2020 for implementation.


Polyethylene film has a smooth, uniform thickness. It has chemical and moisture resistant properties and is used in low-temperature applications. Tape Type Duct Tape Width (Inch) 2 Length Range 36 yd. - 71.9 yd. Material Type Polyethylene Film Color/Pattern Silver Length (yd) 50.00 Length (Feet) 150.00 Series Part Number 1900 Adhesive Material Rubber Tensile Strength (Lb./Inch) 16.00 Maximum ...
Unit 7, KPC Business Centre
TN24 0BP Ashford, kent


Almost a week after the iPhone 4's launch, questions remain overwhen gripping the phone in a particular way.
Apple has called this a "," despite users being able to repeatedly reproduce the problem. In the meantime, it's been suggested that it might be a problem that with a software update. Others have said, and Apple has suggested, that users buy a case to prevent fingers from coming in direct contact with the antennas built into the metal band surrounding the iPhone 4.
Brian Klug and Anand Shimpi at tech blog Anandtech have conducted their own hands-on experiments comparing different smartphones and their reception when the antennas are covered. They sum up their findings this way: "At the end of the day, Apple should add an insulative coating to the stainless steel band, or subsidize bumper cases. It's that simple."
The bumper case is a rubber holder that just surrounds the exterior of the device, and that Apple started selling the same day as the iPhone 4 for $29. Apple has already said. It's not clear why the company wouldn't do that, especially when the problem has been reproduced by many people, though it varies by place and person.
At CNET, we were, as have many users who've posted YouTube videos. But Klug and Shimpi have measured and recorded different ways of holding the iPhone 4 in various locations, the resulting signal drop, and compared it with the iPhone 3GS running iOS 4 and the Android-based Nexus One. They did the experiment six times with each phone and averaged the results for each device.
They conclude that Apple's design choice of putting the antenna directly into the metal band where a user normally holds the phone does improve signal strength. But when the user's hand cups the phone, the signal is markedly decreased. The signal is "very sensitive to direction, ambient conditions, and cell breathing," they write.
"The results are pretty self explanatory," they add. "Inside a case, the iPhone 4 performs slightly better than the Nexus One. However, attenuation gets measurably worse depending how you hold the phone. Squeezing it really tightly, you can drop as much as 24 dBm. Holding it naturally, I measured an average of 20 dBm."
It happens in most phones,on the matter last week. But those other phones do not have the antenna built directly into the phone's case, and that doesn't mean the problem can be avoided, Klug and Shimpi conclude.
"There's nothing Apple nor anyone else can do to get around physics, plain and simple. It's something which demonstrably affects every phone's cellular reception."


Some Democrats are concerned President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court will fail to drive the liberal and minority voters who helped him win twice to the polls in November.
When the country’s first black president selected a white male as his third and likely final high court pick, some liberals instantly responded with concerns that he missed an opportunity to fire up the so-called “Obama coalition.”
Among this groups are some African-American lawmakers and advocates, who say sending the Senate the first black female nominee would have done more to motivate the political base that carried Obama to a pair of national election victories. “I was hoping that he would pick an African-American woman,” said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a longtime civil rights leader. “My recommendation publicly was [Attorney General] Loretta Lynch.
“She’s an outstanding jurist,” Lewis said in a brief interview. “Plus, African-American women are the backbone of the Democratic Party. “They’re the ones who vote. … I think that that would have been a good rallying point to keep the coalition together — no doubt about it.”
Lynch removed her name from consideration to focus on her job at the Justice Department.
Charles Chamberlain, political director for Democracy for America, a progressive political action committee founded by former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, said “the Garland nomination hasn’t excited the Democratic base much at all.”
“People in the coalition just aren’t that driven by the thought of, ‘Let’s get another 60-something-year-old white dude on the court,’” said Chamberlain.
Data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau and one left-leaning think tank show African-American voters were a big factor in Obama’s electoral college and popular vote victories in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.
African-American voter turnout rates climbed by 13 percentage points between 1996 and 2012, according to the Census Bureau. But a closer look at that increase shows the sharpest increases occurring between 2004 and 2008, then again between 2008 and 2012. “Notably, among all race groups and Hispanics, only Blacks showed a significant increase between 2008 and the most recent election in 2012,” the bureau noted in a report titled “The Diversifying Electorate .”
And the Center for American Progress noted that in 2012, “unlike Democratic victories of the past … President Obama was also able to achieve victory with a historically low percentage of the white vote.” He won 93 percent of black voters, scored in the low 70s with both Latinos and Asian-Americans but was supported by just 39 percent of white voters, according to exit poll data compiled by CAP.
Selecting a white judge for the Supreme Court “is quite disturbing because an African-American or minority would [have] put the Senate in a very unique paradox,” said Barbara Arnwine, president of the Transformative Justice Coalition and a longtime law professor. “How would they tell these very qualified African-American nominees they’re not going to give them a [confirmation] hearing or even a meeting?”
“This could have been a paradigmatic shift” because “the president’s party has never treated the Supreme Court like the Republicans have,” Arnwine said. By nominating a left-leaning, white moderate, “it weakens advocacy — why would anyone fight for a moderate?” she asked.
The Garland pick also has exposed fissures within Democratic circles.
Some doubt the nomination will prevent the “Obama coalition” from turning out to support Hillary Clinton, who is moving closer to securing the party’s presidential nomination, and its senatorial candidates.
“It’s difficult to point to one thing that will fire up the ‘Obama coalition,’” said Donna Brazile, a former interim National Chair of the Democratic National Committee and a longtime political strategist. “I do believe there will be multiple reasons for those voters to turn out: to protect and expand President Obama’s legacy, and not just as it relates to the Supreme Court.”
She also pointed to issues such as the safeguarding the health care overhaul, as well as continuing Obama’s economic policies and foreign policy approach.
“There are plenty of reasons for those who turned out in ‘08 and ‘12 to come out in November,” she said. “There’s a case to made that in those states that have Senate races … there will be such intensity. … And added to that mixture in this already hot campaign season will be this vacancy.”
For his part, Chamberlain said he sees many of the same issues driving the 2008 and 2012 coalition to go vote in big numbers. “I do see both sides of this,” he said.
Another Georgia Democrat, Rep. Hank Johnson, said “people of my persuasion should rest comfortably knowing this nominee will be a drastic change from the man who he’d be replacing.” He was referring to staunch conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February.
“I think he will make an excellent justice on the Supreme Court. From what I’ve seen of his background, [Garland] is a Democrat,” Johnson said. “I don’t think the president wanted to tender the nomination of someone just because of the color of their skin or their sex, and have them disqualified by those in power. I don’t think he wanted to waste this selection. I think he honestly wants to get this person confirmed.”


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Users choke on mobile spam
Customer churn risk
Consumers are more likely to change their operator than their mobile number to dodge the growing nuisance of text message spam. More than eight in 10 mobile phone users surveyed in a study by Switzerland's University of St.Gallen and mobile services firm bmd wireless have received unsolicited mobile messages.
Four in five (83 per cent) of telecoms industry representatives polled in the survey reckon mobile spam will be a critical issue within the next two years. With complaints about mobile phone spam on the rise, both consumers and operators see mobile operator self-regulation as the most effective means of combating mobile spam. Customer-initiated actions are perceived to be less effective.
Most complaints about mobile spam are directed toward the mobile operators. But many consumers resent mobile marketing messages from operators, which they see as part of the problem of mobile spam rather than the solution. Mobile spam generally has a negative impact on the brand of the mobile network operator.
Operators know this, but most are only in the early phases of testing technology to limit the circulation of SMS spam across their networks, according to the study. Cancellation of roaming agreements and customer complaint hotlines were the most frequently cited actions mobile operators currently take against spam.
Tom Phillips, Government & Regulatory Affairs Officer of the GSM Association, said "Whilst there is no single solution to the mobile spam problem, there are a number of key components to any real solution, including identifying the spammers by rejecting anonymous or spoofed access and making them pay through clear and suitable charging mechanisms."
The Insights into Mobile Spam study, which was supported by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), was based on 1,659 completed consumer surveys and responses from 154 mobile service company participants. More survey findings will be released next week at the 3GSM conference in Cannes. ®
My car has a virus (and other security threats)
Trojan infects PCs to generate SMS spam
Phone spam misery looms Stateside
Pssst, wanna spam mobile phones?
Telecom Italia slammed for spam hypocrisy
UK premium rate phone complaints rocket


text:
Contemporary apartment on the second and third floor of Easy Street. Modern light and bright two bedroom, two bathroom unit with terrific views of the Easy Street Basin and Old North Wharf. . Located in the heart of Downtown Nantucket, you are within walking distance to restaurants, museums, boats and the beach. Off street parking for one vehicle. A wonderful and convenient place to spend your time on Nantucket!
- Sleeping Capacity 4
- Total Beds 2
- Full Baths 2
- Half Baths 0
What we like about Town
Often referred to as the heartbeat of the island, Town truly has it all! From historic homes to cobblestone streets and world-class dining and shopping, one can spend days on end wandering through.Learn more
Recommended for you
Questions? Let us reach out to you.
Or give us a call at (508) 228-2266
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domain: travel


Coming off of a tight victory over the Milwaukee Bucks last night, the New York Knicks might receive a little bit of good news for tonight’s matchup with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls’ star point guard missed shoot-around with a sore neck. He feels confident that he’ll play, but Bulls’ coach Tom Thibodeau called Rose a game-time decision. From ESPN:
“Hell yeah,” Rose said when asked if he would face the Knicks. “For sure I know I”m going to play. But it’s just that I’ve got to get loose.”
Rose isn’t sure when the injury occurred but thinks it must have happened at some point in Tuesday night’s season-opening 107-95 loss to the Miami Heat. The 2011 MVP did say his surgically repaired knee is fine.
“I don’t know what play did it or whatever but my body’s just got to get used to playing,” said Rose….
Given Thibodeau’s penchant for sending injured/beat-up players jogging on the court, Rose likely will play. Then again, a stiff neck is something to be concerned about, and the Bulls can’t afford to have Rose missing more games with an injury that was exacerbated by playing through it.
Either way, the Knicks will face a tough challenge with or without Rose. This Bulls team (with just a few additions and subtractions on the bench) beat New York four times in their season series last year, sweeping the Knicks in the regular season in embarrassing fashion. The size of the Bulls will present problems for the Knicks, especially on the boards. Those issues will exist whether the speedy Rose plays or not.
We’ll find out as the day goes on whether Rose will, in fact, suit up or not.
Knicks vs. Bulls tickets are available for tonight’s game if you;re looking to cheer on NY in enemy territory!


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Hal Ballard rode up to Lincoln Street Elementary School this afternoon wearing a bright yellow jacket and riding a dark green single-speed bicycle with back-pedal brakes. Ballard, who is the executive director of the Washington County Bicycle Transportation Coalition, was at the school to teach a group of 33 elementary school students how to ride a bike.
The program, which Ballard co-taught with Nancy Nelson and Steve Boughton, is part of the Hillsboro Parks and Recreation Department's after-school BLAST program. Last year, the group taught seven bike skills clinics. This year, they're teaching four. The classes last three weeks and teach kids how to choose helmets and bikes that fit and how to ride safely.
Though every clinic has at least a few kids who have never ridden a bike, Ballard said the class changes that.
"By the time we get them out in the street riding, they know what they're doing," Ballard said. "That's just exciting."
Today's class started with lessons on how to fit a helmet. The kids watched a video and then Ballard, Nelson and Boughton showed the kids one-on-one the different ways to adjust a helmet. The students -- three are named Anthony -- were impeccably well behaved. They were quiet during the video but answered questions quickly as Ballard asked them.
"Who here has crashed a bike?" Ballard asked the group.
Most of the students' hands shot up.
"I should raise three hands," Ballard said. "You never know when you're going to crash. That's what the helmets are for."
When Ballard and Nelson pulled out the Top Gear helmets -- each student earns a free one in the class, thanks to a donation from the local Rotary Club -- the kids celebrated.
"Sweet." "Awesome!" "I want that silver and black one!"
As the students waited in line for their fitting, a student named Burke twisted around. "The anticipation is killing me!" he said to no one in particular.
"When are you going to bring the bikes?" one of the Anthonys asked the instructor.
"Friday," Ballard said.
"That means we have to wait two more days!" Anthony said before running off to tell his friends.
The class continues Friday. I'll be on hand to take some pictures and make a video as some of the kids try riding a bike for the first time.
-- Casey Parks


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What the hell has happened to the evening news on television?
Remember the news?
At 6 and 11 PM you would turn on the news and they would lead off with a juicy murder, or a titillating sex scandal. There would be news about politics, theater, movies, business, and human interest stories. Every morning the producers of the news on WCBS, WNBC, and WABC would buy a copy of the New York Post and check out the lead story on Page Three, then they would turn to the gossip on Page Six and plan the news that you and I got to see that night.
It was a time when reporting the news was much more fun than making the news. It was the time of Bill Beutel, Roger Grimsby, Doug Johnson, Sue Simmons, Rose Ann Scamardella, Geraldo Rivera, Chuck Scarborough, John Roland, Jim Jensen.
One of the first women to join that rough, tough boys club was my wife, the beautiful Judy Licht. She was a young kid, not that long out of Connecticut College, who found herself covering crime stories in the South Bronx. John Johnson, who was a fine reporter from WABC-TV, once came up to me and said, "Did I ever tell you the story of the time when your wife and I were going after the same guy for an interview and when I got ahead of her she kicked me?"
"You're lucky," I replied. "I married her. She kicks me every day."
These days the news is beyond boring. It's all weather all the time. Every night at 6 and 11 the lead story is about the weather. So it's a cold, nasty winter. So what? So last week we got six … eight … up to a foot of snow in the New York area. So what?
Whether it snows a foot or an inch, our local television stations have the same reaction: panic … elation … panic … elation. They all subscribe to the new "Chicken Little" form of covering the news. They all shriek, "THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!"
I remember about a month ago a local anchorperson breathlessly announced that we could expect two inches of snow. She repeated "two inches" so many times I thought she was going to have an orgasm over two lousy inches. Then on danced the terminally happy weather guy, and he was ecstatic over the two inches, too.
Then they went out into the field and an attractive woman reporter who looked as if she was freezing told us how New York City was going to deal with these incredible two inches of snow. She could have told us this from a nice, warm studio, but the station had to tell the world that she was an on-the-spot "field reporter" and the best place for her to tell us about the dreaded two inches of snow was while she was standing on a street corner with her teeth chattering while she was freezing her ass off.
Then they switched to another news reporter who was interviewing the mayor of some godforsaken town in Connecticut who was moaning that his town was running out of salt to melt the lousy two inches of snow. Then they showed some tape of the place in New Jersey where they keep the salt to melt snow and they interviewed this salt honcho who said, "Typically, in a storm like this, we like to have 3000 tons."
Then they showed a plow pushing tons of salt in a warehouse loaded with salt and I thought of my dad. During a typical Sunday meal, he shook that much salt on his food.
That night the snow never came. Not one half inch, not one inch, nothing. "Something diverted ... there was some mumbo jumbo wind off-shore ... mumble, mumble …"
The fact is these people who cannot tell you what the weather will be in six hours are fast to predict that in six, 60, or 600 years we're going to have global warming.
Has there been a total overreaction about the weather by the media, which has gone nuts with the same story every night? That's what the media does. It overreacts. If it's an impending snowstorm, or a wave of cold or hot weather, the media is all over it.
We must understand that it is their job to make it sound worse than it is going to be. That's why no one under 60 watches the late-night news. And the only reason that those of us over 60 watch is because it's a dumb habit we can't seem to break.
What a revolting development.
On another cranky note: cell phones.
Everyone has a cell phone these days.
I hate my cell phone. I dropped it and now when I'm talking on my phone, my ear presses against the touch screen, cuts off my call, and calls another number. My ear is calling restaurants that have been out of business for years.
People have gone nuts. They walk against the light, against traffic, with cell phones stuck to their ears, daring drivers to hit them. I predict cell phones, in the future, will kill more people than war.
Which reminds me of a happier memory of when I used to call my mom, which I did every day. It was a wonderful nightmare that I miss.
It was in the early "Can you hear me now?" days of cell phones, and reception was terrible. This was heightened by the fact that both my mother and father were at a susceptible age so when they approached a ringing phone it was as though it were a time bomb, and lifting the receiver would either dismantle it or cause it to explode.
My mom couldn't hear all that well and I found myself screaming into my new cell phone and having comic conversations with a partially deaf 89-year-old lady.
"Hello [crackle] M-o[static]-m!" I would say.
"WHO IS IT?" she would scream.
"It's [static] me, [static] erry," I would answer.
"[static] erry... [crackle] erry, your son, [static] erry."
"I HAVE NO SON NAMED HARRY."
"Not [static] Harry," I would say.
"NOTARY? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?"
"It's me [crackle], Mom, Jerry, [static] your [static] son."
"JERRY WANTS TO HAVE FUN? WHO'S STOPPING HIM?"
"Not [static] fun, son ...son ... [static] son."
"SON? JERRY WANTS TO HAVE A SON? HE HAS TWO SONS. WHO ARE YOU?"
"It's me, [static] Jerry [crackle]."
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT? WHAT'S WRONG?"
"NOTH ... [static] ING!" I would scream in a panic. And then the phone would go dead. I would stare at the dead phone. Then call her back fast before she fainted from fright.
God, I so miss her.
If you wish to comment on "Jerry's Ink" please send your message to email@example.com


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Pritzker renews push to end federal oversight of state hiring
The federal court system has been watching Illinois for patronage hiring since 1972. There’s little evidence the problem is fixed.
Gov. J.B. Prizker is again pushing to lift court-ordered federal oversight of Illinois state government hiring in the executive branch, claiming it is no longer needed.
In a recent court filing, Pritzker is arguing the state has achieved the objectives set forth by the Shakman decrees from 1972 and no longer requires a watchdog to prevent patronage hiring. He also claims federal oversight should be much more limited.
Pritzker is arguing oversight can only apply to political coercion of current employees. Edward Feldman, an attorney arguing for the oversight, said the decree is about broad oversight and not just about monitoring insider hiring.
“The broadly-worded prohibition in the Decree of any political manipulation of state employment was necessary then, and is necessary now,” Feldman said.
He also said Pritzker needs to prove there have not been ongoing violations of the decree and have a plan in place to prevent violations.
Shakman oversight was expanded as recently as 2017 to include all state agencies under the governor’s control after hiring abuses were exposed in the Illinois Department of Transportation. Pritzker, himself, has played the political hiring game as a report showed this year: he hired 35 people from Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s clout list.
In 1972, a court ruling mandated federal oversight of hiring in Cook County and Springfield to ensure politics was not controlling government jobs. The orders are known collectively as the Shakman decrees, named after Chicago lawyer Michael Shakman who sued the Cook County Democratic Party in 1969 over the longstanding policy of making public employees do its political work.
Despite Pritzker’s claim his executive branch hiring is clean and internal monitoring is preventing politics from ruling hiring or employees’ duties, patronage and cronyism remains a major problem in Illinois, as federal probes have shown.
Madigan was served with a grand jury subpoena related to a federal investigation. Commonwealth Edison admitted to a scheme to bribe the speaker with over $1.3 million in payments to his political friends to gain the speaker’s favor on legislation. Prosecutors detailed how Madigan’s office provided names of potential hires ranging from meter readers on up. AT&T was also served a subpoena seeking information about similar payments and hires intended to curry Madigan’s favor.
Madigan’s patronage does not fall under the scope of Shakman, but Pritzker made his case for ending oversight just three days before Madigan was implicated in the ComEd charges.
Pritzker is asking for trust as too many in Springfield have betrayed the public’s trust.
Pritzker is under federal investigation for avoiding $331,000 in property taxes. Former state lawmakers Terry Link, Luis Arroyo and Martin Sandoval, as well as state Sen. Thomas Cullerton, have all been indicted on corruption charges. And then there’s Madigan.
Over the years, the Shakman decrees have been lifted for other offices. Cook County, the City of Chicago, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and the Cook County Forest Preserve District have all been released from the federal court oversight agreed to under the decrees.
But the oversight of state agencies is only about three years old. And Pritzker’s 35 hires at Madigan’s bidding argue that cronyism and patronage are far from dead when it comes to state jobs in general or Pritzker’s administration in particular.
Despite 48 years of oversight, Illinois government is still not ready to function on its own without a federal minder.

domain: law


drift scan image at declination 84.8
Compare with a "stare mode" (standard) image
strip84 (99KB)(strips)shut of telescope drive
Compare with a drift scan image at 84.8 degree declination, here is the orientation of the camera not correct (about 1 degree).
Informations to the image:
seconds per line 1.815695, focal length = 750 mm ,
effective exposure time is sec 926.0 ,
temperature of the CCD -17.799621 degree C
Date begin=11/27/99 ,
Time begin=05:19:21 ,
Time end=05:49:36 ,
CCD width x 765 pixel, CCD height y 510 pixel,
pixelheight 0.009 mm,
image height 998, image width 765, the image was rotated so the
width is now 998, the height is now 765.
The arcs at the top and on the bottom are coused by
The arcs at the top (north) (higher abs(Dec)) are longer then
the arcs at the bottom (south) (lower abs(Dec))
Orientation: (The image was rotated 90 deg clockwise)
The begin is in the west.


text:
Skip to content, or skip to search.
With a script written by the original novel's author.
"I ain't afraid of no reboots."
Bryan Fuller will write it, Bryan Singer will direct and executive produce it, and hopefully you'll watch it.
Copyright © , New York Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

domain: artistic


text:
Preview – Grim Leaper #3
Grim Leaper #3
Story by: Kurtis J Wiebe Art By: Aluisio Santos
Life’s no picnic. Still, Ella and Lou find some quiet time for romance. Too bad death proves to be a frequent third wheel. Don’t miss the issue that changes the game for our star crossed lovers forever.

domain: literature


text:
Young artists have been on the rise for some time now. 15-year-old YUME is unlike anyone you have seen before. The multi-skilled artist is widely known as a producer for heavy hitters like Drake, NLE Choppa, and Young Thug. She is also the face behind Chris Brown’s hit record “Go Crazy” which spent multiple weeks at the top of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop radio airplay chart. This year, YUME is reinventing herself not only as a producer but also as an artist.
After receiving a co-sign from Hip-Hop legend Lil Kim and being commended as a mix blend between Travis Scott and Aaliyah for her dope sound and personality, YUME continues to strive for greatness. On April 29, the rising artist released her highly anticipated single ‘Do It Better’ with the visuals to match. In just three days, the song has received over 262k views on Youtube.
“Anything she does, I can do it better. Put you on just like my Gucci sweater OK! See you dripping’, I can do it better. Put you on just like my Gucci sweater OK! Leave the light up, this sh*t fya. We living better, it’s okay.”
Not only did she write and produce her own record, but she also directed the video shoot. It’s amazing to see how versatile YUME is so early in her career. Later on this year, YUME plans to release an EP co-produced by Lil Kim herself.
I’m very excited to see YUME’s growth over the next couple of months. If you aren’t familiar with her yet, check out her new music video below.
I have always been a music fan who takes a producer-first approach. I just feel like there are so many hitmakers who barely get a fraction of the credit that they deserve because the artist that raps over their beat gets all the shine, but I try my best to...
Versatility is truly a key in the music industry that, when done right, can unlock an entire career full of opportunities and accomplishments. I don’t necessarily expect every single artist in the world to be able to do everything, and usually, they have one specific skill that is better than...


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Investment Type: BUY-TO-LET
Est. Completion: Q2 2024
Pure Investor are delighted to present Affinty Living Lancaster Wharf, a luxury new development comprising of 266 premium one and two-bedroom residential apartments ideally located in the ever popular city of Birmingham.
The Affinity Living name is synonymus with luxury city centre living meanign each of these stunning apartments are guaranteed to encorporate a modern design and premium amenities, meaning Lancaster Wharf is set to provide a living experience unmatched anywhere else in the city.
With a range of premium communal living areas and state-of-the-art garden spaces, Affinity Living encourages residents out of their apartments and into a thriving resident community with on site facilities including a state of the art gymnasium, tv lounge and a live/work lounge with private working booths.
If you would like further details about Pure Investor or any of our property investment opportunities, please contact us using the form below or call us directly.
Call: +44 (0) 161 337 3890
Affinity Living Lancaster Wharf boasts a location without compromise. Located on the waters edge of Birmingham canal and within walking distance of major UK railway station Birmingham New Street, main shopping centre The Bullring and the Colmore Business District.
Birmingham itself is strategically located in the very centre of England and is one of the UK’s most important regional hubs. Home to a GBP 31.9 billion economy 2, the largest city economy outside of London, Birmingham also boasts a range of popular bars and restaurants ideal for those looking to make the most of city life.
Key to the success and growth of Pure Investor in recent years has been our location on the outskirts of Manchester. Strategically located to offer all our consultants easy access to Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Leeds, we are regular visitors to all the major property developments within the key Northern Powerhouse destinations.
We are passionate about the growth and development within these locations, ensuring our consultants have a high level of expertise regarding the development opportunities within these key growth areas. For this reason, many investors choose to speak with Pure Investor first when considering property investment in the North England.
We genuinely believe in working with our clients, providing a high quality of service and information, allowing our clients to make their decision on a more informed basis. As a result of this, an increasing number of investors are choosing to return and utilise our services on an ongoing basis. This is something we are incredibly proud of, and which we are looking to continually improve on in the future.
If you are considering in investing in a property in the North of England, and don't fancy the 'hard sell' approach, please feel free to get in touch on either firstname.lastname@example.org or Tel: 0161 660 8261.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Published: 14 August 2018One BHM is our latest residential development perfectly situated in the sought after B1 area in Birmingham. One BHM will bring 165 one, two and three-bedroom apartments to the market, each designed with a bespoke and distinctive finish.


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Street photographer and writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
I picked up a camera to become a storyteller.
My work documents the life on the streets of Edinburgh.
It is an act of resistance, an attempt to squeeze a minor epiphany from all this thing.
I have fought my way through swarms of fleecing tourists.
I have cursed the weather and this damp purgatory and the bone-crushing powers of time.
My wretched nightmares rushed me into the night, haunted by the dreadful screeches of the seagulls.
And yet, I longed each morning for the possible discovery, seeking crumbs of redemption wherever I could find it.
Knowing that the swirl of street performers is just a stone's throw away.


text:
My eight-year-old son approached and asked what I was doing. I told him I was reviewing/reading a book for Ms. Beth at Books & Whatnot. He informed me he would like to read it as well because it looks amazing. He is right. The cover does hook an eight-year-old, especially with the word “Rude” in large letters on it. So I let him read it.
From the eight-year-old after finishing Rude Cakes by Rowboat Watkins:
“This book does a great job of explaining how people can be rude and not have any manners. The cake doesn’t even listen to his mom and argues with her at bed time. It has a one-eyed monster who does listen and is very nice. I really liked the one-eyed monster. He looks friendly. Mom, the cake learns to be nice to the crumbs because of the monster’s example. Some of the people in my class need to read this book.”
I couldn’t have said it better. Thanks, Mr. Watkins. I will be sharing Rude Cakes with my son’s classroom.
In the store:
As we leave the classroom for a summer break, it is the ideal time to display books for summer time “growth.” Place together books which teach morals, values, math, grammar and things to do with your children. Children need to continue to be held accountable for their behavior throughout the summer months. Some parents are seeking educational materials to keep their children’s mind sharp through the break. Make it easy for parents to find and easy for them to purchase.
In the classroom:
Headstart, along with Common Core State Standards, has aligned the early childhood development into nine major domains. One of them is the Social-Emotional Domain of childhood development. Rude Cakes illustrates multiple social settings where he is rude, domineering and abrasive. Watkins has used the crumbs to show their emotions with simple words and actions. The relationship between all characters in this books provide an opportunity to discuss behavior and attitudes with appropriate behavior. This is a wonderful story to read and a great follow-up discussion.
Rude Cakes by Rowboat Watkins (Chronicle Books | 9781452138510 | June 2, 2015


text: The Lily Mine has been a source of some beautiful rough Quartz / Opal / Chalcedony material that has been the focus of many faceters and lapidaries over the last 20+ years. A friend of ours brought this one back from Peru recently and we had to snag it as the patterning was too good to pass up. This material is often sold as Gem Silica which is essentially Quartz (or in this case Chalcedony) which has inclusions of the copper silicate Chrysocolla. What's most interesting about this stone is that each band has its own distinct color. The top most band is slightly more green than the bottom band which is a bit more blue, but if you rotate the stone in different lighting, the bands will actually shift in color and sometimes will show nearly identical coloring. The bands are divided by a well-balanced white / colorless Chalcedony section in the middle that didn't receive any of the Chrysocolla inclusions to create this eye-catching stone. If you collect Quartz, inclusion gems or naturally multi-colored stones, don't miss out on this one as it's certainly the most interesting and alluring example we've seen from this mine.


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We source the freshest organic Florida oranges to pair with the vibrant flavor of the coffee fruit. The natural sweetness of the oranges accentuates the rich aromas of the coffee fruit that we source from South America. Close your eyes when you take a sip and be whisked away on a tropical vacation.
Dried Coffee Fruit Tea, Fresh Orange Juice, Carbonated Water
12 FL OZ (355ml)
Calories 5, Total Fat 0g, Saturated Fat 0g, Carbohydrates 1g, Total Sugars 1g, Protein 0g