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0.039758 | <urn:uuid:ae203bb9-9f04-4020-b4ee-2980336d9a5c> | en | 0.968315 | User Blog: wildcatblue31 Posts made by wildcatblue31 on What to make of the Kyle Wiltjer talks? wildcatblue31 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:31:45 -0400 <p><br>Saw some tweets (ya reliable, I know) about Kyle transferring? I mean, there's no way he'd decide to do this so quickly after the end of the season, would he? I gotta think its just rumors, but sometimes those tend to be future headlines. Word is also its gonzaga. As I'm writing this, it sounds so premature/concocted by those who just can't comprehend this incoming class and the fact that maybe no one wants to leave so they can be a part of another once in a lifetime team. Anyone else heard anything? <br><br></p> | http://www.sbnation.com/users/wildcatblue31/blog/feed | dclm-gs1-206280002 | false | false | {
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0.048856 | <urn:uuid:15c387e9-4873-4155-b739-8f01001d2c4c> | en | 0.960367 | An app that lets you text like the Queen
Last updated 05:00 07/06/2012
The Queen's Speech
WE R MST AMUSD: The Queen's Speech app suggest words the Elizabeth would likely use in text messages.
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In celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, a mobile app is adding a royal touch to emails, texts and tweets by suggesting words that the British monarch would be most likely to use.
"It solves a probabilistic problem which is 'what is the person most likely to say next'?"
It revealed several trends, including the Queen's avoidance of colloquial contractions such as 'it's' in favour of the more formal 'it is', and her tendency to maintain a positive tone in communications.
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"One of the key things that we're trying to solve is a problem around the use of the spacebar in typing and we call the technology 'smart space'. It allows you to type sequences of text without using the spacebar and it automatically recognizes where the word boundaries are," he said.
The app, which is available in more than 45 languages, is sold worldwide for Android handsets and tablets for US$3.99. The app is available for a free one-month trial.
- Reuters
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Sponsored Content | http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/7053861/An-app-that-lets-you-text-like-the-Queen | dclm-gs1-206360002 | false | false | {
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0.311471 | <urn:uuid:36f6abbb-0776-47f9-9aa6-a3feee717a17> | en | 0.964815 | or Connect
New Posts All Forums:
Posts by lesamourai
Finally got a hold of my side zips. I was worried they wouldn't properly fit due to everyone else complaining about it, but turns out that they fit just fine. One boot was missing the stud for the strap though and I couldn't find it in the box
Congrats on the dub hon
I wish I got a collar on my moto. Now I'll live with this regret for the rest of my life.
Well uh...the game isn't out until 2014.
Sorry to hear man. Is it something that's less pronounced when the jacket isn't zipped up?
Can't you just decline to fulfill the order? Might get neg rep though, but really, the rep system on ebay is shit anyways.
can't hurt to go to a mac store, try some out and be brain washed probably a mba, even though the screen is mediocre i'm just a big proponent for lenovo because i find the nub way better to use (for me) than any trackpad, and i used to own a mbp
I like using foobar2000. it's a simple, light, customization program. if you don't need to sync anything (which i imagine is why most people use itunes for their iphones) then it's perfect. might look at something like winamp too. can't speak for the samsung's durability, but it feels nice, is very light and portable though. i've owned lenovos all my life though and they've been absolutely reliable throughout. not sure if you're looking for something slim/portable or that...
lol nerds. the only cool way to do it is to build your own desktop awwwwwwwwwwww hell no T. itunes is the shittiest piece of software that has ever stained my os. i'd do a fresh install if it somehow ever go back on there. Lenovo X1 is pretty good, might be able to find something in their think/idea pad lines that you might like. Samsung Series 9 Ultrabooks are good. I don't care for all these "look, it's a laptop, WAIT A MINUTE NOW IT'S A TABLET" things coming out...
Look, I don't believe they would vindictively sabotage your order for any reason. Thinking that they would is just being paranoid.
New Posts All Forums: | http://www.styleforum.net/forums/posts/by_user/id/100854/page/70 | dclm-gs1-206380002 | false | false | {
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0.138609 | <urn:uuid:90e74f90-db99-40fc-b783-6b26a2c8f9de> | en | 0.973678 | Wildlife photographer's Close Encounter in the Everglades
Wildlife photographer Mario Aldecoa had his camera setup a foot from the waters edge to photograph glowing eyes of the of at least 100 alligators at the Everglade Alligator Farm. When suddenly an aggressive alligator lunged out coming within inches of Aldecoa and chomped down on his camera. He tried to save his camera by grabbing the tripod but could not compete with the power of the gators massive jaws.
alligator eyes
The next day Aldecoa and others came back to wade through the pond attempting to find any remains of his equipment. With no luck his camera, flash, and tripod were not found.
On Friday Aug 23rd (8 months later) during the alligator feeding one of the keepers noticed a gator dragging a camera around its foot. The keeper managed to retrieve the camera and notified Aldecoa that his camera had resurfaced.
image of camera retrieved
After inspecting the waterlogged camera he pulled the memory card, cleaned it the best he could and popped it into a card reader. To his disbelief it worked immediately and had 6 long exposures including the last photo taken before the gator snatched his camera.
Since this experience Aldecoa has bought a new camera and is back to taking photos with a more cautious approach.
You can view Mario’s photography at http://www.marioaldecoa.smugmug.com/
Source: GrindTV | http://www.superstock.com/Blog/author/damonsuperstockcom | dclm-gs1-206390002 | false | false | {
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0.102297 | <urn:uuid:7f6503f5-6c11-425c-a121-eebc28a80208> | en | 0.973815 | User Topic: What is it going to be like after D for kids?
Member # 40274
Default Posted: 7:28 PM, September 6th (Friday)
I am really struggling today. I am waiting for my kids to come home from day with Douche Dad. I have been thinking a lot about a more permanent schedule, one where I do not have to see him so much- but nothing seems normal.
This is my family. I don't want to give up half their time. I don't think they are going to want to be staying in some apartment with him a few nights a week.
If he is the one that wanted to leave, why doesn't he just leave- and let us do what we were doing- we are just fine. He can visit them, but what does it look like when you really have "two households."
I have so much anxiety about all this. I am freaking out.....
Me BW- 40ish, awesome
Cheating scusband 40ish
2 kids, elementary school age
Bomb dropped Aug 4 out of nowhere...
Posts: 401 | Registered: Aug 2013 | From: Hell
Member # 33226
Default Posted: 9:33 PM, September 6th (Friday)
It sucks, honey. It really does. But "normal" isn't the same thing post-D for the vast majority of people.
But it isn't the end of the world, either. I promise. The kids will likely adjust easier than you will. ((((hugs))))
You can call me NIK
"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in." -Cohen
Posts: 21942 | Registered: Aug 2011
Topic Posts: 2 | http://www.survivinginfidelity.com/print.asp?tid=507203 | dclm-gs1-206400002 | false | false | {
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0.021352 | <urn:uuid:87d9f666-f2e7-40a0-996e-c56fc5ec3748> | en | 0.933012 | Patrick Rose: Manatees ARE endangered, and should be so classified
Patrick Rose
Patrick Rose
On Sept. 12. the World Conservation Union (IUCN) officially declared the Florida manatee endangered using exactly the same criteria state officials are attempting to use to justify downgrading the manatee’s status from Endangered to Threatened. After a scientific status review at the international level, the Florida manatee was declared Endangered on the Red List, which is recognized as the most reliable evaluation of the world’s species.
The manatee’s status evaluation was conducted and also reviewed by some of the world’s most qualified sirenian scientists, who based their recommendation on the most recent scientific data.
Incongruously, that was the day the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission was scheduled to vote on whether to reclassify the manatee to a lesser-state imperiled status — a vote that marine industry representatives and go-fast boating interests have supported for many years. But just two days before this monumental vote, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist came to the rescue and asked the commission for a reprieve for manatees, wisely urging them to postpone the vote, while also questioning the accuracy of the method used to estimate the size of the manatee population.
Ultimately, the commission listened to the governor and unanimously voted to postpone the manatee’s reclassification, but under pressure from boating and development interests it will revisit this issue at its meeting Dec. 5.
How could the FWC, claiming to be using IUCN’s widely supported listing-delisting criteria, conclude that manatees are no longer endangered and move to downlist them? The answer is simple.
While the FWC adopted IUCN’s criteria for Endangered species, it opted to call species that met those criteria Threatened, instead of Endangered. Ironically, the commission openly declares that manatees, with less than 2,500 adults, face a “very high risk of extinction” but want to wait until a species’ risk of extinction is “imminent” before declaring it Endangered. A sure recipe for future extinctions.
The FWC continues to nonsensically argue that protections won’t change if manatees are downlisted. In light of the hundreds of manatees killed since the unjustifiable reclassification process began, this argument seems disingenuous at best. At worst, a change in status at this time could have serious consequences like cuts in funding for research, rescue and enforcement programs. Already numerous law-enforcement positions are proposed to be cut to meet state budget shortfalls.
Furthermore, it is widely recognized that the natural springs and power-plant discharges that most manatees depend upon to survive the coldest winter days are likely to be lost in the not-too-distant future. Unless Florida’s springs are protected and alternatives to the power plants are found and implemented, there is also consensus that manatees could suffer catastrophic winter losses leading to more than a 50 percent decline in the current population.
With mortality continuing at a brisk pace this year, with threats from both human and natural causes escalating, and with the manatee’s international biological status confirmed as endangered, it is time for the FWC to kill the unwarranted downlisting effort. Looking beyond manatees to Florida’s other imperiled species, it is time for the commission to fix its imperiled species classification system by adopting one where all of Florida’s most at-risk species can be fairly reviewed, classified properly, and managed accordingly to sustain and recover their numbers in the wild.
As someone who has worked a lifetime to see manatees and other imperiled species recovered and ultimately taken off the Endangered Species list for biologically sound reasons, I will do all I can to resist this politically driven subversion of Florida’s imperiled species listing rule. I simply cannot celebrate such a tragic and irreversible mistake that will further endanger manatees and all the other imperiled species we steward by continuing to employ an inappropriate and widely criticized classification system.
Please join me and the more than 20 million Americans who have already made known their objections to this politically driven subversion of imperiled species protections in Florida.
Rose, a leading expert on the Florida manatee, is executive director of the Save the Manatee Club. Online:
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Comments » 1
astroman writes:
What Pat Rose KNOWS, and disingenuously MISLEADS the public about, is that IUCN's middle level of imperilment is called, "ENDANGERED", whereas Florida's middle level is called, "THREATENED". Both are based on the SAME criteria. Therefore, to be in alignment with internationally accepted criteria, Florida is classifying manatees as "THREATENED". If the IUCN determined manatees to be "CRITICALLY ENDANGERED" then Florida would have to list manatees as "ENDANGERED" -- based on the criteria that BOTH agree upon.
So, what's in a name? Apparently, that which we call a Rose, by any other name would smell as...sour.
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0.094973 | <urn:uuid:d165468d-7e4a-4b7d-a0b1-550733eb0028> | en | 0.965561 | BAGHDAD—Iraqi officials said Saturday that a jailbreak where al-Qaida-linked militants escaped death row had help from inside, further tarnishing state authority and raising new concerns over corruption.
A day after the escape in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, scores of prisoners are still at large.
The Interior Ministry said there had been "clear collusion" between some guards and inmates in the Tasfirat prison. Weapons were brought in during family visits, and wardens left locks inside the facility open.
"The cells were not searched for a long period, which indicates more deliberate negligence that led to this incident," the ministry said in a statement released late Friday.
The escape occurred after a riot and firefight that left 20 dead, including 16 inmates and four guards, the statement said. After taking over a large part of the prison, rioters used other inmates as human shields in order to make their way out, it added. Of a total 303 prisoners, 102 escaped, including 47 al-Qaida-linked inmates awaiting execution. Some 23 were recaptured.
On Saturday, state television announced a reward for information leading to the arrest of the fugitives, and a curfew remained in force until the afternoon. Salahuddin provincial spokesman Mohammed al-Assi said "security forces have intensified efforts to hunt down those still on the run."
He refused to say how much the reward is for.
The incident generated sharp criticism for Iraqi security forces, who have been unable to stabilize the country almost a year after the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Several smaller escapes and attempted jailbreaks have already deeply embarrassed the government, which is eager to demonstrate it can run its justice and detention systems.
The Interior Ministry statement also said that Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim al-Khazraji, the police chief of Salahuddin province where the jailbreak occurred, was fired.
Iraq has a poor track record of keeping inmates behind bars.
The Tikrit prison itself was moved to a different location after 16 prisoners, including five al-Qaida-linked inmates awaiting execution, made their escape after prying open the bars on a prison bathroom window with a pipe wrench in September 2009.
And in southern city of Basra, a dozen detainees held on terrorism charges broke out of a prison in 2010, disguised in police uniforms. And last year, al-Qaida smuggled weapons and grenades into a prison in Mosul, supposedly one of the country's most secure detention centers, and attempted an ultimately unsuccessful jailbreak that left 17 dead.
Authorities earlier reported 12 people dead and 32 wounded in Friday's break in Tikrit.
Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report. | http://www.times-standard.com/ci_21660120/iraq-jailbreak-was-inside-job-20-killed | dclm-gs1-206580002 | false | false | {
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0.146029 | <urn:uuid:82ae3010-d524-4bb4-aa20-e4dba8b05fe6> | en | 0.934311 | Damn, you're watch is ugly compared to the Hamilton X-01 Watch. It looks nifty, although I'm surprised to learn it is a relic from the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey. Luxist tells us, "Time flies as the saying goes but one piece of time, in the form of a watch used in the movie, is making a return. The Hamilton X-01 is based on the original Hamilton commissioned by the makers of the film in 1966"
From Time Zone: Movements are a central automatic (base ETA 2824) and 3 separate ETA quartz modules for HomeTime, DreamPlaceTime and GMT. The case, in titanium, measures 55mm X 36mm X 28mm. The crystal is sapphire and it is water resistant to 50 meters. MSRP = $1250 | http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/hamilton-x-01-watch | dclm-gs1-206610002 | false | false | {
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0.210601 | <urn:uuid:20e99280-a574-4c6b-abf6-040af8514293> | en | 0.945562 | Twitter Trends
PETA's been known to produce some pretty sexy ads. For the Rude Food PSA, they've steered away nude celebrities (who would rather go naked than wear fur) and instead used some very hot, steamy imagery without so much a glimpse of a person.
The video show that even fruits and vegetables can turned into objects of lust, showing how enticing an animal product-free diet can be. '
Now that's hot!
Implications - Sexuality continues to be a very lucrative advertising technique that is used across varying industries. Businesses who want to instantly make a statement and capture media attention should consider touching upon taboo topics or sexuality in order to garner the mass audience they need to sell or promote their product. | http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/peta-rude-food-psa | dclm-gs1-206620002 | false | false | {
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0.970914 | <urn:uuid:70728a6c-163d-48a9-87b7-27df3d3106e4> | en | 0.923194 | Does the thought of Mount Bethel make your mouth water? Then share your best restaurant tips with other foodie travelers. What kinds of cuisine is Mount Bethel known for? What are the best established restaurants? Where are the trendy of-the-minute eateries? What are the local delicacies? TripAdvisor travelers hunger for your suggestions! | http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g53245-s5/Mount-Bethel:Pennsylvania:Dining.Scene.html | dclm-gs1-206640002 | false | false | {
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0.064088 | <urn:uuid:1b15d448-d29f-40a8-8118-59f207fd844d> | en | 0.926998 | Subscribe English
look up any word, like tittybong:
Insult used to replace "F*** yourself" when the target is being pompous or pretentious. By using it, you are telling the person to go away and use wikipedia to become more full of themself.
This is also signaled by extended the pinky, ring, and middle finger in a "W" shape.
Person1 is being arrogant
Person2: Go wiki yourself!
by Shayvd February 07, 2008
12 13
Words related to [Wiki] yourself:
wiki fuck yourself full of it pompous wikipedia | http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=%5BWiki%5D%20yourself&defid=2840054 | dclm-gs1-206660002 | false | false | {
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0.04082 | <urn:uuid:a86fdc0f-ff1e-4763-abe4-b6065edef2e8> | en | 0.835882 | First: Mid: Last: City: State:
Dena Palazzola
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Insert additional details into the search fields on the left to narrow down your results. A first name, middle name, last name, city, state and/or age can be the key to locating Dena Palazzola. The map is a great way to get a sense of their whereabouts. When you locate the Dena Palazzola you need to find, you can then access any public records data we have on Dena Palazzola. Our exclusive and dependable database makes gathering information about anyone quick and easy.
Name/AKAsAgeLocationPossible Relatives | http://www.usa-people-search.com/names/p/Dena-Palazzola | dclm-gs1-206670002 | false | false | {
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0.020296 | <urn:uuid:fd4f7f97-ce96-4689-9f39-b4984b8b7cf0> | en | 0.971572 | Road Kill
Not all of them reached the other side. In 1988, Bernard Hudesman, 59, escaped with a broken leg when he was struck while walking across Sunrise in Rockville Centre. The next year, Danielle Bjurnstad, 15, was killed crossing in Shirley. In 1990, Candido Lopez, 27, died in Freeport, and Matthew Horan, 32, died in Lindenhurst nine months later. In 1991, Frederick Behan, 40, died after being slammed by two cars in the westbound express lanes in Bay Shore, not far from where, four years later, Robert Conway Jr., 65, was fatally struck when his car broke down and he went to look for help. Last year, Victor Marans, 76, made it less than halfway across before he was killed in Rockville Centre.
Just as Sunrise Highway in Bay Shore separates a shopping center from a school and quiet residential streets, so Route 25 in Middle Island separates neighborhoods from a park. Bicycle advocate Russell Ainbinder of Brookhaven says he's hopeful the DOT will engineer the widening in Middle Island safely, but he worries about what could happen if the agency fails and kids get killed when, inevitably, they head out to play.
"At some point in the future, you have a certain number of deaths and people will say it's dangerous and we have to take down the park," Ainbinder says. "Then you lose the park, not because of the town or the community, but because of a piece of asphalt."
The man in the knit hat stands in front of the Wyandanch train station with his arms crossed, scanning the length of Straight Path.
With four lanes, few crosswalks and a generally ignored speed limit of 35 miles per hour, the road may be the most dangerous in Suffolk. Identifying himself only as Sabu, the man watches as the people of his largely poor, African-American hometown pick their way through the tangled intersection, crossing from laundromat to fast-food place to rundown strip mall with few crosswalks and no pedestrian signals. They step gingerly between heavy trucks and pause precariously on the double yellow line in the center of the street, waiting for traffic on the other side to clear.
For the people who live near it, Straight Path has become a killing field. Donald Walker, 38, was struck as he rode a bicycle along the street in March. Last December, Dorothy Finley-Armstrong, 50, was struck and dragged 250 feet as she walked home from the store. In December 1996, Calvin Finney, 37, was hit by two cars. Two years earlier, Huesie Walker, 56, was run over while crossing Straight Path, just four months after cyclist Lorenzo Birt, 25, was killed. The line of victims extends for more than a decade, and includes Tyrone Turner, 38, who stumbled into the path of a car in 1986.
For Sabu, the deaths are a matter of social justice. Wyandanch has too many liquor stores and pawn shops and drug dealers that prey on the black community, he says, and it has too many blood stains on the pavement. "If this was a white neighborhood," he says, "you know the type of traffic precautions that would be made. It's not about human beings. It's about money."
Community leaders in Wyandanch, part of the Town of Babylon, have long tried to get something done about Straight Path. Designed like a drag strip between Sunrise Highway and the Southern State Parkway, it has become an unofficial freeway for commercial truckers and commuting drivers hoping to shave a few minutes off their journeys.
The Rev. Henry Bacon has buried nearly a dozen people killed on Straight Path. The leader of Wyandanch's Compel Community Action Church wants the street's crosswalks repainted and its lighting improved. He wants officials to crack down on speeding and hook up pedestrian signals. He estimates that fixing the street will require $3 million and the cooperation of federal, state, county and town officials. After all, the road belongs to Suffolk, but it intersects town streets, links state highways and almost reaches the federally funded Long Island Expressway.
"All of the factions must be real," Bacon says. "You must find the money when the lives of our people are at stake."
Like other minority communities on the Island, Wyandanch has suffered from governmental indifference. In the Village of Hempstead, some bus stops are situated opposite elderly or handicapped housing with no crosswalk in sight. "I don't know if they think it's a demolition derby," says Renée Baturin, who lives on Jerusalem Avenue and uses a wheelchair. "It makes it harder for the disabled, because we can't cross as fast."
In Wyandanch, homes don't even have sewer service yet, let alone a central street where people feel safe walking to the corner grocery. Suffolk's chief engineer, Richard LaValle, has been meeting with Weed and Seed, a local civic group, to talk about ways to upgrade Straight Path. LaValle says he's hopeful the county can redesign the road to have only two lanes in the village center, but he cautions that constricting traffic and removing on-street parking could discourage customers and shopkeepers from doing business there. "People say we want to slow people down, but the people in Wyandanch also want to develop a downtown area," he says. "If you want to create a downtown area, you want to make sure people can enter and leave."
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Sort: Newest | Oldest | http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-12-21/long-island-voice/road-kill/3/ | dclm-gs1-206720002 | false | false | {
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0.627445 | <urn:uuid:0ac86c75-85b3-4c36-92fd-f89565a7d7f4> | en | 0.973148 | Terror by the Numbers
Random searches are as much about the appearance of safety as safety itself
Let's play a game. You be New York City, and I'll be the terrorist.
You don't know when or how I'll strike. You also don't know what or where I'll attack—subways seem like my new target of choice, but they could be just a passing fad. You know that I want to kill people, but you don't know how many, because to me sowing fear might be as important as taking lives. And you don't know whether I'm willing to sacrifice my life in order to take others'. A burglar wants loot, a rapist wants sex, but what I want is a little fuzzy—so predicting my next move is a dice roll.
I'm not your only problem. There are also my potential victims, the people who live and work in New York City. You've got to protect them while making sure that you don't cause more disruption than my potential attack. You've got to convince people that they are being protected, without scaring them so much that their anxiety shuts down the city.
imageEvents like 9-11 or the London bombings are human dramas, but the policy choices they force are supposed to be cold calculations about the game that killers and protectors play, the costs they bear, and the chances they take.
Last week the New York Police Department began random searches of passengers' bags on subways, buses, and commuter trains. Officers aren't targeting every bag and—according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly—won't use any profile to target particular subway riders. That means the cops are taking a chance that they will search enough bags to catch a bomber—if there is a bomber—before one strikes, or at least dissuade him from trying to get through the turnstiles.
It's a shot in the dark, but so is the terrorists' mission, says Columbia business professor Geoffrey Heal. "There's a lot of chance in it. Presumably they don't know which train they're going to get on, what car they're going to get on, how many people will be in it," he tells the Voice. "All of this is decided at the last minute."
Heal's expertise on terrorism concerns the choices that governments make to defend against the threat of random violence. In this calculus of security, there are certain givens, says Heal. One is that suicide bombings are easy to pull off as long as you've got volunteers. "The first few times it happens," he adds, "it's virtually impossible to stop."
The surest way to protect the subway system from bombs would be to screen every passenger's bag. But that would not only be enormously expensive in terms of time and manpower, it could have a human cost. The subways would become very inconvenient to ride, more people would drive cars, and there'd be more fatal road accidents. That's not to mention that the long lines of riders waiting to get screened would pose a tempting target.
So searching every single bag is out. But what about searches using a profile, so that not as many innocent people are inconvenienced? Besides the civil liberties questions, there's a basic problem with targeted searches: The targets know they've been tagged. "This transparency . . . enables the system to be reverse engineered," wrote M.I.T.'s Samidh Chakrabarti and Aaron Strauss in a 2002 paper about screening air passengers. "You know if you've been questioned. You know if you're asked to stand in a special line. You know if you've been frisked. All of this open scrutiny makes it possible to learn an anti-profile to defeat [the screening system], even if the profile itself is always kept secret."
Random searches, of course, mean there's a chance that a bomber will get through. With 4.5 million subway riders daily, the potential bomber is a needle in a human haystack. The cops' goal is a psychological one, aimed at terrorists, says one ex-NYPD officer: "Keep them thinking that they may be searched at any time and any place."
A terrorist might still gamble that he or she will get through the screening, because a subway system is really hard to defend. While the London bombings took far fewer lives than 9-11, they actually posed a tougher task to security agencies, because subways are meant to be open and easily accessible.
"That's the downside," Heal says. "The upside is you can kill far fewer people in public transport than in airlines." For that reason, he adds, subways are "very second-best as far as the terrorists are concerned. It represents a move to a lower-value sort of target."
That terrorists are switching to lesser targets could be a sign that the airlines have become more secure since the 2001 attacks. But it also reflects a reality of the security business: As you harden one target, others become more appealing. Israel is a case study of this shifting risk. El Al employs legendary security measures, so terrorists don't bother trying to hit Israeli jetliners. Instead they target malls, buses, and nightclubs. The casualties are lower, but there are still casualties.
However, the armed airport patrols after 9-11 also had a political impact. Even if they did reassure some people, the gun-toting men in camouflage also reminded passengers that there was a reason to be afraid in the first place. It's fear that spurred New York's random bag inspections, and fear might mute civil liberties complaints about the checks.
After all, the bag checks were not ordered because of a specific threat, according to Mayor Bloomberg. Instead, the new policy is addressing the general risk posed by the stuff that terrorists might carry onto trains. That risk isn't new, but the worry about it has been stoked by the attacks on the Tube. In fact, New York's random bag checks were only implemented after the second wave of U.K. attacks. It's a little like putting on your seat belt after witnessing not one head-on collision, but two. Your chances of an accident aren't any higher, but your fear of one is. You buckle up.
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My Voice Nation Help | http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-07-19/news/terror-by-the-numbers/full/ | dclm-gs1-206740002 | false | false | {
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0.026764 | <urn:uuid:646872c5-b65d-4cd7-824e-1193ec87e9b0> | en | 0.912717 | Isle of Reckoning
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The Isle of Reckoning
The Isle of Reckoning is the large island located off the northeastern coast of Kun-Lai Summit, just across the water from Zouchin Province. The mogu ruins have been taken by the Zandalari trolls as part of their conquest of the area. They can be found practicing voodoo and praying to their dark gods.
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Random Wiki | http://www.wowwiki.com/Isle_of_Reckoning | dclm-gs1-206780002 | false | false | {
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0.172476 | <urn:uuid:35d9671a-0e1c-4fc2-8248-9429d65b8f4e> | en | 0.950252 | The surgical procedure known as 'amputation,' or removal of a limb, sometimes becomes necessary in cases of gangrene, cancer, or as the result of an accident.
Head injuries
Orthopedic rehabilitation
Orthopedic problems can vary greatly in the amount of rehabilitation therapy they require. Some common sports-related injuries or simple bone fractures may only require a few hours of physical therapy.
Pain management
Pain may be the result of injury, disease, surgery, or other medical procedures. It may also be brought on by stress or other emotional factors. How pain is treated depends on its cause, which should be diagnosed through a medical examination.
Stroke and neurological rehabilitation
Blockage in an artery that leads to the brain can cause a stroke, which causes part of the brain to die from lack of blood flow. A stroke can be debilitating and many of the aftereffects may be permanent.
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0.042806 | <urn:uuid:088d2b80-9f39-44df-911b-6779655bcc06> | en | 0.978577 | Curbs relaxed as Pakistan women cricketers leave Barabati
Curbs relaxed as Pakistan women cricketers leave BarabatiCuttack: As Pakistan women cricketers left the city today after drawing curtains to their ICC World Cup campaign here, police arrangements in and around the stadium for the remaining matches have been slashed significantly.
The Odisha Cricket Association too has relaxed curbs on spectators wishing to watch the Super Six matches. Cell phones, food packets and water bottles are now allowed inside the stadium.
The stands would now have at least some spectators to encourage women cricketers, who still have a long way to match their male counterparts.
The Pakistan team ended a disappointing World Cup campaign after losing all their matches in the tournament.
Ever since the Pakistani players arrived here on January 27, they were kept inside the stadium premises in the OCA Club house and were not allowed to step out of the stadium due to security reasons.
Protests and demonstrations welcomed the players from the neighbouring country and even on the last day of their match yesterday, protests were held outside the stadium opposing their very presence in India against the backdrop of last month`s tension in the LoC. | http://zeenews.india.com/sports/print.aspx?nid=756172 | dclm-gs1-206870002 | false | false | {
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0.048099 | <urn:uuid:2079d922-0196-414a-8069-42bd968bfa04> | en | 0.987762 |
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Snowbound Seduction
Rachel Ellington is used to being invisible to men, and that's fine. One example of male deceit in the past was enough to put her off for life! Now she's being pursued by millionaire businessman Zac Lawson--but what can this dazzlingly handsome man see in her?
It's with trepidation that Rachel accepts Zac's invitation to a Christmas country house party. And when they end up stranded because of the wintry weather, she suddenly knows exactly why she's been feeling so nervous.... This is the perfect setting for slow, sweet, seasonal seduction...something Rachel's never experienced before!
Author Information
Helen BrooksNotify me of new titles added by this author
Helen Brooks was born and educated in Northampton, England, where she still lives today with her husband and family. Although having enjoyed some wonderful holidays abroad she has never been tempted to live anywhere else, although she rather likes the idea of a holiday home close to the sea one day.Helen met her husband at the age of 16 and 35 years later the magic is still there.They have three lovely children, Cara, Faye, and Benjamin, and have always had a menagerie of animals in the house, which at the present is confined to two endearing and very comical dogs who would make a great double act on TV! The children, friends, and pets all keep the house buzzing and the food cupboards empty but Helen wouldn't have it any other way.Helen began writing in 1990 as she approached that milestone of a birthday--40! She realized her two teenage ambitions (writing a novel and learning to drive) had been lost amid babies and hectic family life, so set about resurrecting then.Her first novel was for Harlequin Mills and Boon and was accepted after one rewrite, and she passed her driving test (the former was a joy and the latter an unmitigated nightmare!) She has just finished her 38th novel for Harlequin as well as several sagas.Being a committed Christian and fervent animal lover Helen finds spare time is always at a premium, but long walks in the countryside with her husband and dogs, meals out followed by the cinema or theater, reading, swimming, and having friends over for dinner are all fitted in somehow. She also enjoys sitting in her wonderfully therapeutic, rambling old garden in the sun with a glass of red wine, (under the guise of resting while thinking of course!)Since becoming a full-time writer Helen has found her occupation one of pure joy and often surprised when her characters develop a mind of their own--but she loves exploring what makes people tick and finds the old adage truth is stranger than fiction to be absolutely true. She would love to hear from any readers on both sides of the Atlantic c/o Harlequin.
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Excerpt from Snowbound Seduction by Helen Brooks
Surely the run-up to Christmas wasn't meant to be like this? Driving rain, a bitter wind and everyone looking as though they could do murder. Children all over the world were opening the first little window of their Advent calendars today; there should be excitement and anticipation and a warm snuggly feeling for them at least, even if snow wasn't provided.
Rachel Ellington looked after the grim-faced mother with two screaming toddlers and a baby in a pushchair who had just elbowed her out of the way with such force it had hurt. And the harassed mother wasn't the only one with a face like thunder. The pavement was full of sullen schoolchildren with huge bags and even huger attitude; power-dressed commuters of both sexes hunched against the spray from passing traffic as they used their umbrellas like weapons; and a group of students jostling each other in a manner that suggested a fight might break out as they waited in a bus queue that stretched for ever.
Rachel glanced in the shop window she was passing and an enormous Father Christmas with a sack of gaily wrapped presents and a somewhat hideous grin stared back at her. It had been there since October, along with the fairy-lights and tinsel and Christmas tree.
Of course, that was half the trouble. The TV advertisements and shops and all levels of commerce began to whip up seasonal jollity so far in advance that by the beginning of December it was all used up. She grimaced as she realized she sounded just like her mother. But it was true, she thought, trying to ignore the drips of freezing water trickling down her neck. She'd forgotten her umbrella this morning--again.
She wouldn't go as far as her mother, who advocated a return to the days when the tree was dressed and decorations put up not an hour before Christmas Eve, and children should be presented with a stocking containing an orange, apple and nuts, along with a shiny coin and one present only, but there was something to be said for the old days when the latest 'must-have' toy costing an arm and a leg had been unheard of. And when a man saying 'I love you' meant more than just a nicety before getting you into bed.
She stood stock still as she realized what she'd just thought, causing major chaos for a moment as the people behind cannoned into her and each other.
Where had that little piece of cynicism sprung from? she asked herself as she apologised all round and started walking again. She was over Giles, she had been for months. And after the first caustic, devastating weeks in the summer when she had felt the whole world knew she'd been taken for a fool by the man she'd thought she'd be spending the rest of her life with, she'd become aware Giles had hurt her pride more than her heart. Which had caused her a few more sleepless nights. How could she imagine herself madly in love to the point of accepting his proposal of marriage one minute, and then be glad he was out of her life the next? It was positively scary when you thought about it.
Not that it had exactly been the next minute, she qualified silently. She'd endured a few hellish weeks before that had come about, crying herself to sleep each night and losing nearly a stone in weight, which had given her a scrawny alleycat look. Already too thin by her own estimation it had been the spur she'd needed to start eating again, and she'd indulged in chocolate eclairs and other calorie-packed treats by the bucketful until her modest curves were back. Jennie and Susan, her flatmates, had been green with envy, which had been infinitely preferable to their pity of the preceding weeks.
As she turned off the main thoroughfare into the maze of side streets that eventually led to the tiny mews in Kensington where her flat was situated, a gust of wind and rain almost blew her off her feet. She normally enjoyed the brisk fifteen-minute walk home from the office but tonight was an ordeal. She should have travelled by tube but she had an aversion to the underground at the best of times, and a rainy December day with damp bodies steaming and lethal umbrellas by the hundreds definitely wasn't the best of times to journey in one of the packed rush-hour trains.
By the time she turned the key in the lock of the door of the downstairs flat she'd shared with her two best friends since the three of them had left university five years before, she was soaked to the skin. Her hair was plastered to her scalp, her mascara had run in rivulets down her cold cheeks and she was frozen to the marrow. She wanted nothing more than to lie in a scalding-hot bath for an hour with a glass of wine and a good book, and as she was always home long before Jennie and Susan, there was no reason she shouldn't.
She almost fell into the small square hall and stood for a moment with her eyes shut. Today had been a foul day altogether. After leaving university with a very acceptable 2.1 in business studies and marketing, she had obtained a post as assistant to the marketing manager of a fast-food chain. The pay was excellent and she knew her strengths were a keen awareness of client needs and a very good business sense, along with a natural flair for organising and planning. Unfortunately, on the latest project the sales team had failed to adequately follow up their part of the master plan, but due to a catalogue of half-truths and downright lies, it had been she who'd been left with egg on her face when the whole job had collapsed.
Rachel pulled off her sodden coat and kicked off her shoes, the memory of her manager Jeff's face when he'd taken her to task earlier that afternoon humiliatingly vivid. He'd been livid, having had a roasting from the managing director himself, and hadn't listened to a word she'd said in her defence.
She had entered the marketing world knowing promotion could be fast, but her chosen career was not for the faint-hearted: pressures were intense and security was mostly non-existent. She had been earmarked to take on Jeff's role when he transferred to the northern branch of the company early in the new year, but whether that would happen now was anyone's guess.
She frowned fiercely. All in all, she wouldn't be sad to see the back of this year and Christmas was going to be an endurance test. She had met Giles at a daytime Christmas party her firm had held for clients past and present the previous year, and they'd had their first date that same evening. This Christmas was going to give rise to some unwelcome memories.
'Hi, there.'
The deep male voice caused her to jump violently, and as an involuntary gasp left her lips, she looked up to see a tall, dark stranger standing in the doorway of the sitting room. Her heart thumping so hard she put a hand to her chest to contain it, she bit out, 'Who on earth are you and what are you doing in my flat?' as her mind raced. What was within reach to defend herself with? Only her handbag, and much as she loved the sweet little red bow bag Jennie and Susan had bought her for her last birthday, it was hardly the stuff to strike terror into a burglar's heart.
There had been a spate of break-ins in the area over the last months and always when the householders were at work. Only last week one occupant of the mews had returned home to find her place being ransacked and the assailant had turned very nasty.
'Hey, it's OK.' The male voice was lazy. 'Don't panic.'
As he moved a pace or two towards her, Rachel felt in her bag for her perfume. 'This is a pepper spray and you come one step closer and you're getting it in the face,' she grated with more aggression than she was feeling. In truth she was scared to death. He was so big and broad. She hadn't turned the hall light on when she'd come in and he'd clearly just put a lamp on in the sitting room because the chink of light coming through the half-open door was so dim it merely shrouded him in shadow. Nevertheless, she could see she'd stand no chance.
'Let me give you a tip,' he said mildly. 'If you're going to use something like pepper spray, it's best not to give a warning. The element of surprise is crucial.'
He was now so close she could see his features and she received her second shock of the evening. As burglars went, this one was to die for. She already knew he was tall and dark, now add handsome multiplied by ten. Black hair, straight nose, firm sensual lips, and his eyes...She stared into the heavily lashed golden-brown gaze almost mesmerized. Pulling herself together, she said icily, 'Now, look here--'
'The name's Zac Lawson.' He said it as though it would clarify everything, and when she still continued to hold herself tense and at the ready, he added, 'Jennie's cousin? She called you and Susan earlier to explain.'
'Explain?' she echoed a little vacantly. The tawny eyes were compelling. Too compelling, a separate part of her mind stated ominously. Whoever he was, this man had more than his fair share of magnetism. Just like Giles. And like Giles, she had the feeling he'd use it to his advantage without any compunction whatsoever. Not reassuring in the circumstances.
'Have you checked your mobile recently?' he said patiently.
A little too patiently, Rachel thought critically. His voice carried more than a touch of long-suffering in its velvet depths. And, of course, today would be the day she'd turned her mobile off when she'd been called in to Jeff's office for her dressing-down and forgotten to turn it on again.
Stiffly, she said, 'I've been extremely busy.'
He nodded. A fairly benign action and his face was quite impassive, so why she should find the movement so offensive Rachel wasn't quite sure. Perhaps it was his resigned air?
'I'm Jennie's cousin,' he said again in the same patient tone. 'Our families lived in the same street while we were growing up so we saw a lot of each other before my parents moved to Canada when I was sixteen and Jennie was eleven. I'm over here on business for three weeks, and when I rang Jennie to say hi she insisted I have dinner with you all tonight.'
That explained the smoky, sexy burr to his voice. She hadn't been able to place the accent, it was so slight, but it added to his overall attraction a hundredfold. Not that she was attracted to him, she added hastily. She'd had her fill of arrogant, handsome charmers and Jennie's cousin seemed full of himself.
'I called in at Jennie's office and picked up her key earlier--she insisted the flat was a better place to chill out after the flight than a hotel room,' he continued lazily. 'I'm afraid I've been dead to the world on the sofa.'
Rachel forced a stiff smile. 'That's fine.' Remembering her manners, she added, 'Can I get you a drink?' as she reached out and switched on the light.
She became conscious of several things at the same time. Jennie's cousin was even more devastatingly gorgeous now she could see him properly. There was a touch of grey in the black hair above his ears but it only increased the male magnetism, and the golden gaze was truly spellbinding in the bright light. She had never seen another person with eyes like his. Secondly, those same eyes were surveying her with definite amusement. Thirdly, his clothes--not to mention the gold Rolex on one tanned wrist--screamed wealth and taste, and last-ly--but most importantly--she looked like something the cat wouldn't deign to drag in.
Ignoring the puddle of water that had formed at her feet, she kept the smile on her face through sheer willpower. 'A glass of wine?' she persevered. 'Or I think we have a bottle of brandy somewhere. Or perhaps you'd prefer coffee or tea?' she added graciously, the effect being somewhat spoilt when she shivered convulsively and then sneezed three times.
His voice had gentled to the tone one would use with a very young child. 'Why don't you go and change out of those wet clothes while I fix us both some coffee? I think of the two of us you're in need more than me right at this moment.'
She couldn't deny it, with her teeth chattering loud enough to wake the dead. Besides which, she wanted nothing more than to escape those lethal eyes and make herself presentable. She had never fooled herself she could compete with Jennie's dark-eyed voluptuous beauty or Susan's delicate blonde appeal. Her own brown hair and blue eyes were fairly nondescript in her opinion, but looking like a drowned rat was something else.
Clinging onto the shreds of her dignity, Rachel nodded brightly. He had said and done nothing wrong, not really, and she didn't know why she had taken such an instant dislike to Jennie's cousin, but she had. Nevertheless, he was a guest and she knew her manners. 'Thank you. The coffee and sugar pots are on the breakfast bar and there's a fruit cake in the cake tin in the cupboard. Side plates and mugs are--'
'I'll find everything. Why don't you have a hot bath?'
Now his voice was distinctly soothing as he interrupted her and it made her want to kick him. Feeling more than a little unnerved by the strength of her own feelings and completely out of her depth, she decided retreat was the only option. 'I won't be long,' she managed as she left for the bathroom. 'Please make yourself at home.' As if he hadn't already.
Rachel for went the hot bath for a warm shower, stuffing her wet clothes in the laundry basket before pulling on the towelling robe she kept on a peg behind the bathroom door and padding through to the bedroom she shared with Jennie to dry her hair. When the three of them had moved into the flat it had been agreed Susan would occupy the tiny second bedroom owing to the fact she snored--loudly.
The ravages of her make-up having been removed in the bathroom, she applied fresh eye shadow and mascara before drying her hair whilst sitting at the small dressing table. She left her thick shoulder-length hair loose, she hadn't got time to fiddle with it, and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a warm sweater, surveying herself in the full-length mirror on the wall before she left the room. | https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/helen-brooks/snowbound-seduction/_/R-400000000000000302410 | dclm-gs1-206900002 | false | false | {
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0.022293 | <urn:uuid:20ff7e4d-e204-4864-98e0-77e4e4ef1db0> | en | 0.949649 | Lew: Dimon and I share ‘incredulity' on bitcoin
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Published: Thursday, 23 Jan 2014 | 8:03 AM ET
By: | Producer, CNBC's "Squawk Box"
Bitcoin phenomenon needs more study: Lew
Thursday, 23 Jan 2014 | 7:15 AM ET
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew comments on the "phenomenon" of bitcoin. "We have to make sure it doesn't become an avenue to funding illegal activities," Lew says.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew called bitcoin a "phenomenon," but told CNBC on Thursday that the U.S. government needs to make sure the digital currency doesn't become a funding haven for criminals and terrorists.
In an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Lew told "Squawk Box" he has spoken to JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon about bitcoin, and the two share a certain "incredulity" about it.
(Read more: Dimon: Economy starting to fire on all cylinders)
"From the government's perspective, we have to make sure [bitcoin] does not become avenue to funding illegal activities or to funding activities that have malign purposes like terrorist activities," Lew said.
"It is an anonymous form of transaction. And it offers places for people to hide."
(Read more: Treasury launches new security—first in 17 years)
Patrick Bucci | CNBC
Jack Lew at 2014 WEF in Davos, Switzerland.
In a separate interview, Dimon told CNBC Wednesday that JPMorgan would be unlikely to have much to do with bitcoin.
"The question isn't whether we accept it. The question is do we even participate [with] people who facilitate bitcoin?" he said. "The people who are going to eventually really get upset with it will be governments."
Bitcoin will eventually be made to follow the same standards as all other payment systems, Dimon predicted. "That will probably be the end of them."
Lew said the government has made it clear through enforcement actions that it will look at bitcoin and similar transactions and will "enforce all the rules on illegal money activity."
Treasury and Congress at odds on debt limit timetable
Congress should act as soon as possible and make sure there are no more self-inflicted wounds, says U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, discussing why lawmakers need to act in a timely manner to increase the nation's debt limit so the government can pay its bills.
On the issue of the nation's borrowing authority, Lew told CNBC that Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling as soon as possible and not wait until the last minute.
The U.S. economy is doing pretty well, and lawmakers should avoid another self-inflicted wound to growth, he said.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Lew warned the government would likely run out of borrowing authority by late next month, if lawmakers do not act swiftly to raise the federal debt ceiling.
The Treasury can use so-called "extraordinary measures" to forestall default, but those measures do not include delaying refund checks to American taxpayers, he said.
Congress passed a two-year budget deal in December, but did nothing to address the need to increase the debt limit.
Heated debates in Washington over the borrowing ceiling roiled financial markets in 2011, when the risk of default prompted Standard & Poor's to downgrade America's debt rating.
Political dysfunction rattled Wall Street again during October's government shutdown.
On Iran, Lew said sanctions have worked and gotten the country's attention concerning its nuclear ambitions. But he added there's no "open for business" signup in Iran yet.
Introducing Morning Squawk: CNBC's before the bell news roundup
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew called bitcoin a "phenomenon," but said the government needs to make sure the digital currency doesn't become a funding haven for criminals and terrorists.
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0.370399 | <urn:uuid:d41d7ca1-5da8-46b5-b972-50ffbdda4a17> | en | 0.937831 | Reviews for Sometimes, Dreams Can Come True
mickkila chapter 48 . 3/1
Awesome story
lizzynava chapter 48 . 1/27
I loved that story
HLPotter chapter 48 . 12/20/2013
I love it
kantorkan chapter 48 . 11/17/2013
I very much enjoyed this story and can't wait to start the sequel.
kantorkan chapter 43 . 11/17/2013
poor peter can't ever catch a break,Ha 's nice that all of Bella's troubles are over,so far. now all she needs to do is birth those babies. can't wait to see what kind of gift they have.
kantorkan chapter 41 . 11/17/2013
that asshole needs to die right now.
kantorkan chapter 40 . 11/17/2013
dumb ass doesn't know he is dead . I am getting tired of this crap why don't they call in some reinforcement I know they have friends around that would be happy to help.
kantorkan chapter 39 . 11/17/2013
this craps getting old.
kantorkan chapter 34 . 11/17/2013
so who is the mystery traitor,who would turn on their own? don't have a clue.
kantorkan chapter 33 . 11/17/2013
yes you did ,well since you finished the story i guess you got enough incentive to go on. no I don't want any wolf drama there is enough crap going on without that.i just want to read about Maria becoming a pile of purple ash. so i guess with enough blood it made her strong enough to bite into his flesh.
kantorkan chapter 32 . 11/16/2013
My guess is that Marco doesn't that he is dead and just doesn't realize it yet, make a deal with the Major over the human not gonna happen since he will be a pile of purple ash.
kantorkan chapter 31 . 11/16/2013
What I can say is that I really do enjoy this story.I am just wondering why you don't have Jasper or peter calling for reinforcement like Garrett or Randell or any of their other friends that have a hard -on for Maria.
kantorkan chapter 30 . 11/16/2013
the wedding
because she will be dead before the wedding
3. Libby for the girl, the boy named after one of Jasper's brothers or father or a combination of the peter the middle name.
kantorkan chapter 29 . 11/16/2013
So Bella doesn't completely understand the world she lives in. also she is only 19 so she is still young . what is the deal with Lucian who is he setting up.
kantorkan chapter 27 . 11/16/2013
So what kind of trouble did the crazy girls get Bella into now?
1,264 | Page 1 2 3 4 11 .. Last Next » | https://www.fanfiction.net/r/6570962/ | dclm-gs1-207020002 | false | false | {
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0.278454 | <urn:uuid:ed406b4f-9647-490c-a6da-0d354cb6ef48> | en | 0.992527 | Can't Take it Back
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the television series Highlander and I'm not making any money from this fic
Summary: Spoilers. After Connor tricks Duncan into taking his head, Connor feels unable to continue without his mentor and friend. Methos steps in
Warning(s): Spoilers; spanking; some mentions of violence
Author's Note: Sort-of sequel to I Want Him Alive, but it can be a standalone story too
Duncan's hands trembled on the hilt of his sword as he stared at Connor's body. If he ignored the fact that the body was missing its head, he could almost imagine that what he was seeing was a temporary state; that Connor would come back to life, just like he did every other time.
But it wasn't going to happen. Connor was dead and Duncan was filled with the effects of the quickening; filled with all of the experience and feelings the older immortal had gone through during the many years he'd lived for.
But even having all of that couldn't make up for Connor dying.
The sword slowly fell from Duncan's hand, landing on the ground with a clatter that seemed to go on for a long time. He might have said his goodbyes to Connor, but that didn't mean he'd been prepared for his mentor to die. That was something he could never have been prepared for.
Duncan didn't want to leave Connor for clean-up by the watchers, but what else could he do? He couldn't take Connor's body back to Scotland for burial, even assuming that his friend and mentor would want to be returned to his home country. And Duncan knew that he was currently putting off having to walk away from the last physical remains of Connor, but he couldn't help it.
Connor shouldn't have died like this, with his head taken by his former student.
Duncan felt the buzz of another immortal approaching and turned round immediately, grabbing his sword from the ground. The next moment, he lowered the sword when he saw that the immortal standing behind him was Methos. "What do you want?"
"I was going to offer you help, but it looks like you've already had some," Methos commented. He looked past Duncan at Connor and then back at Duncan once more. "We should go. Let the watchers take care of him."
"Is that all you're worried about? Getting the mess cleaned up?" The words left Duncan before he could stop them. "Connor's dead... and it doesn't make a difference to you?"
"I've lost friends as well as enemies over the years," Methos replied, his face unchanging. "Eventually, you get used to it." He shrugged. "I've lived a very long time. Death is a part of every human's life, immortal or not."
" And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" Duncan didn't need to say what he was talking about. And from the way Methos' eyes darkened, it was clear he knew what Duncan was talking about. A stab of guilt went through Duncan, but he refused to apologise. Methos acted like he didn't feel anything, but he carried wounds, just like the rest of them.
He wanted someone to hurt as much as he was.
The darkness in Methos' eyes faded, but his voice was still cold when he spoke. "Duncan, you are coming with me, if I have to drag you there by whatever part of your body I can grab hold of first."
Duncan's mouth opened to form a protest, but when he saw the warning look on Methos' face, he closed it again. He realised he was already pushing the older immortal far more than was healthy and even though he felt bad, he knew Methos would have no problem carrying out his threat. Slowly, he put the sword away again. "Where are we going?"
"I think your place works well enough." Methos turned to start walking.
Duncan bristled a little at the way Methos just expected him to obey, but he found his feet automatically heading after the older immortal. Unable to help himself, he glanced back over his shoulder at Connor's limp form, still not wanting to just leave his oldest friend lying on the ground without any kind of proper burial or even memorial.
But he didn't have a choice.
It took Duncan several moments to realise that he was following Methos tamely, like a prisoner being led to slaughter. Not wanting to dwell on that image, he sped up his steps, so that he was walking next to Methos. The other immortal glanced sideways at him, but didn't say anything. Even though his face revealed nothing, Duncan had the feeling that his comments had affected Methos more than he would ever admit.
Maybe he should apologise... but he couldn't find the right words.
The trip back to Duncan's apartment was a silent one. Duncan was lost in his own thoughts and he guessed Methos was doing the same... or just keeping quiet rather than losing his temper with Duncan. It was difficult to tell what Methos was thinking. Duncan might have helped him through his own negative emotions before, but that had been relatively easy to guess how Methos was feeling.
On this occasion, Duncan didn't have one single idea.
When they got to the door, Methos stood silently to one side, watching while Duncan took out his key and fumbled with unlocking the door. Well, that's what it looked like. Duncan was trying to convince himself that the pause wasn't because he was slightly worried about what Methos was going to do or say. He'd faced countless numbers of enemies, but right now, he felt like he was merely a child.
Finally, Duncan couldn't put it off any more and he unlocked the door of his apartment, stepping inside. Idly, he considered closing the door in Methos' face, putting off whatever the immortal planned to do – at least temporarily. That idea was quickly discarded, however, when Methos walked into the hall and closed the door behind him.
"Listen, Methos, I..."
"Save it." Methos cut him off. "Do you remember what I told you before?"
Duncan didn't have to ask Methos what he meant. He remembered what the other immortal had said very well. However, he'd thought that Methos was jesting – and even if not, why should he need Methos to switch roles with him?
"I see you do." Methos stepped closer to Duncan and wrapped a hand around his wrist. "You and I both know you need this, so let's not waste time with discussions or arguments."
Duncan thought about testing the grip on his wrist, but he somehow couldn't bring himself to. Maybe, on some level, he wanted... even needed this. He looked down at Methos' hand and found himself trailing after the older immortal as Methos led him through to the living room and seated himself on the couch, pulling Duncan forward in front of him.
Why Methos had decided to punish him in this position when Duncan had had to make do with an under-the-arm position, Duncan wasn't entirely sure. He didn't have much of a chance to think about that, though, because Methos was undoing his trousers and easing them down around his ankles, closely followed by his boxers.
Duncan let out a slight grunt when Methos pulled him forward across his lap, his hands shooting out automatically to catch his balance. Methos' thighs were firm and solid under his stomach and Duncan's backside felt horribly exposed. He waited with bated breath for the first smack and wasn't surprised when Methos' hand landed solidly on one side, the sound echoing crisply in the room and the sharp sting driving deep into Duncan's skin.
When the next hard smack landed in exactly the same place, Duncan grunted a little. He couldn't help the gasp when the next three each fell directly on top of the first two, wondering where Methos had learned this trick from.
The next smack landed on the other side of Duncan's backside, followed by another four in the exact same place, making Duncan wonder if he had two red patches on each side of his backside in the shape of hand prints. A low groan escaped through tightly clenched teeth as Methos' hand landed in a new place, along with five others. This continued all over Duncan's backside, until it felt like his whole bottom and the tops of his thighs were on fire. Tears slipped out of his eyes and down his cheeks, but he wasn't sobbing... not yet, anyway.
When Duncan heard the sound of leather being removed, he couldn't help tensing a little. Methos wrapped an arm around his waist and Duncan couldn't stop the yell as he felt the harsh, unforgiving leather of a belt land on his already-flaming backside.
Methos didn't give Duncan a chance to react further before he landed the belt a second time, directly below the first. The sting drove the burn further into his sore backside, forcing more tears out of his eyes and the first sob to catch in his throat.
There was no pause in the blazing blows, though. If anything, the sob seemed to spur Methos on and the next strike from the belt was far harder. Duncan cried out, remembering Connor's still, limp body. That, combined with the harsh licks, forced more sobs out. Duncan couldn't even tell where each individual strike landed anymore.
But a part of him welcomed the pain... welcomed the punishment. It was far less than what he deserved for failing to stop himself from murdering his friend and mentor.
Finally, Duncan just collapsed over Methos' lap, sobbing out the pain and the terrible guilt he was feeling. He didn't even notice when Methos stopped the painful punishment, but after several moments, he felt himself pulled into a hard, solid embrace.
Unable to help himself, Duncan just stayed in Methos' arms. Finally, he was able to get out a broken apology, knowing that what he had said to the other immortal had been uncalled-for.
Methos didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Duncan knew he was forgiven, even with a backside that felt like it was on fire. And Methos was holding him with his arms wrapped comfortingly around Duncan, who figured it would be all right to just let it all go – for now, anyway.
Later, he would have other things to deal with. But right now, he just wanted to make the most of the temporary peace and try to forget what he'd done. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7700152/1/Cant_Take_it_Back | dclm-gs1-207090002 | false | false | {
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0.018969 | <urn:uuid:5e1a20bd-5f65-4d3b-ae73-e528e5129383> | en | 0.980962 | Castle Wyvern atop the Eyrie Building, Manhattan April 10, 1998 4:28 Am
It took about five minutes for them to get back to the castle, and upon landing, the rest of the clan emerged from inside followed by the Xanatos Family, Owen, and Elisa. Staghart quickly went about introducing himself to the other members of the clan, whom he hadn't met in London, as well as to the Xanatoses, Owen, and Elisa.
"Who's yer Friend?" Hudson asked.
"This is PK, a local Furry." Staghart replied. We met when I'd saved him from some thugs."
PK waved shyly to everyone, and stood silently.
"I've heard about them," Lexington piped up, getting all excited about something he knew about from what he'd read on the internet. "They share an interest in Humanized animals, and have conventions all year round all over the world."
PK nodded, and the clan took their places on the parapets. Just as Staghart was about to join them, PK grabbed Staghart's arm, and pulled him close, then he kissed Staghart fully on the lips. After a few seconds of passionate kissing, Staghart broke the kiss, surprised that his new friend had just done that.
"I love you, Amp" PK said, and nuzzled Staghart.
I love you too." Staghart replied, as PK tried to stifle a yawn.
"Tired, kitten?" Staghart asked.
PK nodded slightly. Staghart smiled at PK, and nuzzled him, then gave him a gentle pat on his black Crushed Velvet backside. The Human smiled back, and gave Staghart a quick cuddle then made his way over to where the Xanatos Family, and Elisa, and Owen were standing.
Turning back to look over at the Gargoyles, PK suddenly gasped as in that very moment, they turned to stone with the rising of the sun. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8312810/10/Friends-Come-In-All-Shapes-Sizes-Species-Orien | dclm-gs1-207110002 | false | false | {
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0.096262 | <urn:uuid:27355de1-803d-4082-834f-9ce6ca8eb45e> | en | 0.971736 | A/N: Hey dudes I'm back and I want to say thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited and liked the story once again you guys are FREKKIN AWESOME! I went to Guitar Center and got some awesome new gear for Zeires (that's the name of my guitar) and a new tuner so now im able to get a correct sound on it, so yea that's it. Please review but you don't have to if you don't want to.
Disclaimer: I…OWN…NOTHZING!
"Oh my freaking frek!" Nero whined from the sofa
Dante sluggishly came down stairs and flopped onto the sofa not even feeling like sitting, he just laid there with his face towards the ceiling.
"What is it?" Dante asked lazily
"See for yourself" Nero said tossing his phone to Dante who looked at it and it displayed the temperature which was 94 degrees. Dante sighed in irritation ever since the weather started to break warm it's been kind of boring, sure he loved that the past 6 months were over with and winter was gone but, the heat was pretty irritating "You can't always believe these phone reports yaknow, turn the TV on and turn to the weather channel" Dante said tossing the phone back to Nero
Nero turned on TV and he changed the channel to Fortuna weather base, a cliché weather channel theme came on and the repater began to speak about the weather.
"Welcome back to FWB central" the male meteorologist spoke "And according to the weather tracker it looks like summers has come early with a record setting 94 degrees on the first day of June! And by the looks of things Fortuna is expected to be blessed with a heat wave from now up until further notice!" the weatherman said with a hint of cheer in his voice
"Blessed!? This is a fucking curse!" Nero grumbled
"The heat is going to be fluctuating from 88 to 106 degrees over the next couple of days" the weatherman said
"Urgh" Dante and Nero groaned in unison
"The humidity is going to rise dramatically making it feel even hotter" the weatherman spoke
"Uuurrrggghhh" the demons groaned in unison
"And there is a city wide advisory that due to the heat wave, there are expected to be some power outages and state officials are pleading with the residents to preserve power and water their yards to prevent ground fires that could spread into the streets as the heat could rise to the hundreds today" the weather man reported
"Uuuurrrrgggghhhh" Nero and Dante again grumbled
"That's all for the weather right now but please stay tuned for our continuous coverage of the heat wave and have a wonderful day" The man smiled as the music came on in the background and screen faded going to a commercial
"Fuck you" Dante said glaring at the screen
"I hate the suuun" Nero whined
"Stop your whining bitch" Dante insulted
"But its freaking hooot" Nero said in a sobbing way
"And it would be a lot cooler in here if shut your mouth and seal up that dragon breath" Dante spoke in an annoyed tone
"Why don't you catch a heatstroke!" Nero lazily raged
"If I can escape the my demise from your dragon breath, then hell yea I hope I pass out" Dante said nonchalantly
"Shut up!" Nero said
"You shut up, with your crooked lookin' teeth" Dante said
"My teeth aren't crooked they're unique" Nero defended
"Uniquely fucked up" Dante chuckled
Both spawns glared at eachother until the weatherman said that the temperature had rose to 99 degrees, and then they both sighed.
"Look its gunna be hot all frigdin day, so until further coolness let's call a…truce" Dante offered regretting every word
"Uhh, I dunno…I mean it would feel weird yaknow" Nero uneasily said
"Yeah, okay how about this, we can insult and threaten eachother, but we can't act upon it" Dante said
"~Nero sighs~ fine"
A couple of minutes passed, Nero decided to turn the channel to something less 'a man telling you that you're going to burst into flames if you step outsidey' and as they were watching tv, the heat felt as if they were sitting in frekkin hell!
"Dante crank up the AC" Nero asked
"I can't" Dante answered
"Why?" Nero questioned
"I can't move" Dante said
"C'mon man don't be lazy" Nero whined
"I'm not the one who wants it on, you go do it" Dante slothfully said
"I'm too weak from complaining" Nero said in a sob like manner "Can you just please do me this solid" he pleaded
"You're abusing the solid dude for you own personal need…niiice, but I'm still not gunna do it, it's too hot to move and theres not anything that will make me move" Dante said
Nero gave another sob like whine of irritation that was beginning to annoy Dante. Lucia came down stairs wearing a grey mid length tube top, denim shorts and grey tassel heeled sandals, her crimson hair bounced freely as she went into the kitchen, and Dante's lips curled into a smirk.
"I misspoke" Dante said then he got up and strolled into the kitchen
"Get me a soda" Nero lazily asked
Lucia took a plate and sat it down on the counter along with all the other ingredients that was needed to make her sandwich and started preparing it. She felt arms wrap around her waist and she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not in the mood Dante" she said
"What'cha mean?" Dante innocently asked
"Look I'm extremely hot and-"
"Yes you are" Dante seductively purred in her ear
"I just don't feel like the back and forth between us today, so right now im going to give you two options" Lucia said
"Does one of them include you and me making out?" Dante suggested with a kiss on her cheek
"No, You can either tell me all of your pick up lines for the day or try to kiss me and I'll punch you, your choice lover boy" She said
"Ok, I'll take the first one" Dante answered
"You're not going to try and kiss me?" Lucia asked in a somewhat sad tone
"Don't get me wrong I wanna kiss you but, I drinked a whole bunch of soda and ate a lot of chips, pop rocks and Twix bars so if you punch me I might puke and since Nero and Vergil aren't in here I have nothing to puke on but the floor and also it's hot and there is nothing worse than heated puke, with the stench and the heat, and nobody will wanna clean it because well it's puke and I won't clean it because if I look at it I'll barf again and then it'll make a bigger mess-"
"Okay!" Lucia outburst and Dante furrowed his brow while chuckling "Okay so you usually flirt with me at least 89 times a day so make it quick" she said as she turned around looking him in the eye
"Alright ~he runs his hand through his hair thinking of a good line~ Ahh! I got one" he smirked
"Only one?" Lucia asked in confusion
"Yea" he smiled
"Okay, fire away" the red head said
"Do you know why it's so warm?" he asked
"I dunno, why?" she shrugged
"Because the sun is trying to compete with your hotness" Dante kissed her cheek then smirked
"Aww, okay I actually like that one" Lucia smiled
"Can you help me with something?" Dante asked
"Sure, what is it?" Lucia asked
"Well it's not just for me it's benefits everybody" Dante suggested
"Aww, I like this new generous side of you" Lucia smiled
"Well we know you're really hot, so the sun is fighting a losing battle so I was wondering if you would help me make it a little cooler around here?" Dante asked
"How" she asked and he whispered in her ear and her jaw dropped in a mixture or anger and confusion "you are such a creep!" she glared
"You're right what was I thinking, the shower is more private" Dante purred and she slapped him in his face
"Urgh!" she past Vergil and stormed out the kitchen in disgust
"What did you do this time?" Vergil asked Dante who was rubbing his face
"I just told her that she was hot and asked her to cool down" Dante said and Vergil furrowed his brow
"What did you say?" Vergil asked, Dante whispered to him what he said and Virgil punched him in the stomach, Dante immediately puked on him and Vergil glared in disgust and rage at him
"Instant karma bitch" Dante walked out of Vergil's face laughing but slipped in his puke and fell into the puke puddle "AHH FUCK! OH MY GOD!"
"Now what were you saying about karma?" Vergil laughed in amusement
Dante squirmed trying to get to his feet and it seemed like the more he struggled the slipperier it got, the more it stinked and the more hilarious it was for Vergil. After a couple of minutes of struggling he slipped again and fell on the floor.
"Help me" Dante extended his hand to Vergil hoping to get a little help
"Im not touching your hand" Vergil said
"Please?" Dante asked
"But you're covered in vomit" Vergil cringed his face
"Don't be a smartass!" Dante insulted
"Flattery will get you nowhere" Vergil said
Nero walked in and slipped into the disgusting puke puddle and his eyes widened and he started to take deeps breaths
"Oh…my…god-" he couldn't the sentence because he barfed and Vergil laughed his ass off and recorded the whole thing with his phone after a couple of minutes, he decided to help his friends so he grabbed a mob and extend the stick part to them they took it and stood up and Vergil's face cringed at the smell.
"You're tried being covered in puke" Nero snapped in a mean tone "And who the hell puked in the first damn place ~Dante slowly raised his hand~ OH OF COURSE!" Nero was beyond pissed
"All right pee wee you had your big boy burst now shut up" Dante insulted and Nero flipped him off, Vergil took dishwashing liquid and squirted them with it "what're you doing!" Nero asked
"Shut up, I'm being nice" Vergil said then he grabbed the hose from the sink, turned it on medium blast and sprayed them "clockwise" he said and they turned "Counter clockwise" Vergil turned off the hose, he had completely sprayed the puke off of Nero and Dante who stood there cold and dripping wet as their hair dripped over their eyes.
"I'm c-c-ca-cold" Dante said in a freezing state
"I killed to birds with one stone you're clean and cool" Vergil said
"A-a-ar-are there anym-ma-more paper towels or anything I'm really c-c-ca-cold" Nero shivered and Vergil sighed
"Come with me" he headed out to the backyard and they followed
They walked to the back and Vergil stopped, grabbed the leaf blower and turned it on and dried off the guys. When he was done Dante and Nero's hair was blown all the way back, Vergil couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Your hairs no better toothpick head" Nero insulted
Nero and Dante shaked their hair to get their natural styles back, they got out of the heat because they began to feel the blistering heat, they came through the kitchen where Nero got some grapes from the fridge then they walked to Vergil's study…well…Vergil was going to his study and Dante and Nero followed out of boredom. When they got to the study Vergil took a book from one of the shelves and sat at his desk.
"Holy shit dude" Dante said
"Holy hell" Nero said looking around
"What is it you fouled mouthed morons?" Vergil asked
"Vergil this place is…nice, a little gothic but nice" Dante complemented
"Yeah, it's awesome V" Nero agreed and Vergil slowly lowered the book from his vision and looked at them like they were crazy.
"What?" Nero and Dante said in unison
"Thank…you?" Vergil thanked them in shock; it's a rare occasion when he sees them being genuinely polite.
Dante sat on the recliner and Nero sat on the other one, they kicked there feet up and took a breath of relaxation.
"Sooo…whadaya guys wanna do?" Dante asked
"I'm reading I don't know what you two are going to do" Vergil stated
"I want to go to Chuck E Cheeses" Nero sadly said
"Oh hey yeah, we can go there, im in the mood for some pizza anyway" Dante said
"We can't go" Nero said sadly
"Why?" Dante asked
"They shut it down for renovations remember?" Vergil recollected
"Oh yea…what about Dave and Busters?" Dante brought up
"Arius's stupid ass burned it down because he was one ticket short for the fuzzy singing fish" Nero rolled his eyes at the memory.
"Let me get a grape" Dante said to Nero who threw one and Dante caught it in his mouth but felt a wrinkle tip and spit it back in Nero's hand "Wrinkle tip dude, let me get another one?" Dante asked and Nero threw another one in his mouth and Dante ate it.
"You guys are disgusting" Vergil said looking at the whole thing
"You are too man" Dante said with a air laugh
"Yeah, but you got a way more disgusting since we rubbed off on you" Nero tossed a grape up in the air and caught it in his mouth
"I will admit that I am slightly distasteful a little bit" Vergil spoke
"A little bit, are you kidding me? That's rich" Dante said "Shall I recall the cereal thing" Dante said and Vergil chuckled
"Cereal thing?" Nero asked
"When we were little, Vergil would make a bowl of cereal and after he ate it if there was any milk left in the bowl he would slurp it into his mouth hold it in there until he got the milk jug and spit it back in there and put it back in the fridge, he would wipe his bowl and spoon with a dry rag and put it back in the dish rack" Dante recalled
"Eww hahahaha" Nero laughed "Why did you do that" he asked
'I didn't want to waste any milk" Vergil shrugged "grape" Vergil asked and Nero tossed one and he caught it in his mouth
"See told ya, you're disgusting" Dante stated
"Whatever" Vergil said
"You guys and Credo…ya'll are my bestfriend" Nero honestly said
"I honestly see you more as a brother" Dante said
"Me too" Vergil said putting down his book
"Thanks guys" Nero smiled
"Did we just bond?" Vergil asked furrowing his brow
"Yeah" Dante said
"I guess so" Nero said
"Alright then?" Vergil smiled
"Dudes im hungry" Dante said
"Go make something" Vergil said turning on the TV
"No it's too hot to cook" Dante whined
"Why not just order some food?" Nero suggested
"Yeah why not" Dante pulled out his phone and ordered 4 pizza's, Nero asked for Peperoni cheesy bread and Vergil asked for Garlic knots. The order came out to 47 dollars and Dante hanged up. "Vergil let me borrow 47 bucks" he asked
"What? No" Vergil declined
"Please?" Dante asked
"Why do you always order something and you never have the money to pay for it?" Vergil asked
"Because I know either you or Nero will back me up" Dante said
"Do we look like walking banks to you?" Vergil said
"Of course not…I kind of think of it as like an ATM type thing" Dante smiled and Vergil rolled his eyes
"I'm not funding you the money again" Vergil stated
"C'mon don't be cheap be charitable" Dante pleaded to his big brother
"Alright but this is the last time" Vergil sighed and handed Dante the money
"Thanks and I promise you that this will be the last time" Dante took the money walked out the room
"You know he lying, right?" Nero said looking at TV
"Yup" Vergil said looking at the TV as well
I'm very sorry for being gone for a long time my summer has been sucking since it started so I've been kind of distracted but I'm just going to block out the ignorance and indulge myself into writing for the remainder of my summer. Be on the lookout for my new Tekken fic which should be coming out in a couple days or a day or two, I already posted a new chapter my Soul Caliber story so check it out if you want, thanks for reading, later. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8356760/13/Everythings-cool-sorta | dclm-gs1-207120002 | false | false | {
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0.144593 | <urn:uuid:182b41ce-c40e-4b87-a6ab-063d5a18dc21> | en | 0.987864 | Sorry it's been so long to update, I've had a lot of stuff going on D= ah well! Here's the next chapter, it's a bit intense :P
"Where is it you little Mudblood?!"
"We didn't take it, I swear! No please!"
The most blood-curdling scream rang through the entire Burrow. Even the Ghoul in the attic became deadly silent as he was awed by a more powerful shriek. Fred sat bolt upright.
"Hermione?!" he yelled as the screams continued, splitting his ear drums. He flew up the stairs, three at a time, glancing briefly at the clock as he ran. One in the morning!
Throwing Ginny's door open he saw her, huddled up under the duvet, shaking uncontrollably with tears pouring down her face.
"Hermione? Are you alright? What happened? What's wrong?"
She looked at him for a while, frowning slightly as she slowly recognised him.
"F-…Fred?" she looked thoroughly confused for a few seconds before putting her head in her hands, letting out a shaky breath.
"I'm…It was a dream…I'm ok…" she whispered.
He looked at her intently. Whatever her dream was, it had genuinely scared her and left her shaken up. He walked over and sat next to her on the bed, wrapping his arms gently around her.
"Ssh, love. It's alright," he rubbed her back soothingly as she curled into him. "Do you want to tell me about it?"
She shook her head slightly, her bottom lip trembling. She looked so much like a scared child that Fred automatically began rocking her slowly to and fro. After a few minutes of silence, Hermione whispered one word. It had evidently been bothering her for a while whether she should say it or not, but Fred had waited patiently.
He paused the rocking. His arms tightened around her and he looked at her directly in the eye.
"She is dead, Hermione. You're okay now, she's dead!" Hermione simply nodded and leaned back against him. "C'mon. You're tired, you need sleep." He moved to lie her down but she clung tightly to him, again like a little child. A petrified look was set across her face.
"I don't want to go back to sleep! Please! She'll come back!"
Fred's heart contracted as he saw her white knuckles, gripping his arm tightly, and her small, pale face.
"I'll be here, 'Mione. I'll stay and keep you safe, I promise, come on," and he sat back down on the bed before lying down and snuggling up to her. Her tiny body was still trembling slightly.
"Go to sleep, 'Mione, you'll be alright, I'm here."
Feeling reassured, Hermione closed her eyes, sinking into the warmth and safety of Fred's protective body.
The memory of Bellatrix's face danced across her mind, a cruel and knowing smile playing on her lips. Screwing her eyes tighter, Hermione shivered again. Fred was here. He would protect her. He wouldn't let anything happen to her.
Fred stirred. Something had woken him. Again. He must have been asleep for only a few hours, it was still night time. He yawned, stretching out his arms and froze. The bed was empty and he could hear some strange snuffling noises coming from the bottom of the bed on the floor.
"'Mione? Is that you?"
A ragged gasp came and Fred heard her voice. It sounded possessed, almost demonic.
"She won't leave. Get out. Get out. GET OUT!"
"Freakin' hell! Hermione?!"
"Mudbloodmudbloodmudbloodmudb loodmudblood!" she repeated the word again and again in her horrific rasp of a voice.
"What the HELL?! Shit!"
Fred swore as he reached the end of the bed and saw her. She had tears streaming silently down her face like before but there was a vacant look in her wide unseeing eyes. Her hand was clawing at her 'mudblood' scar which was, to Fred's utter horror, oozing out blood. It didn't look like normal blood. It was too thick and a very deep red, it almost looked black! And it was everywhere. The dark red was smeared all over her body as she'd evidently been clawing and rubbing at her arm for a good 10 minutes or so. The thin sheets she was tangled in were also stained. Her hair looked wild but not in the usual cute way.
"Hermione stop! Stop! Damn it! Where's my wand?!"
Her eyes rolled back so that all Fred could see were the whites of her eyes.
"Hermione?! I need to know where my wand is! Where have you put it? Hermione! Shit!"
She collapsed back onto the floor and started convulsing violently, coughing a fine spray of blood.
"Bloody Hell! HERMIONE! Where's my wand?!" She was still convulsing and making awful gargling noises from the back of her throat. He lifted her onto the bed cautiously, before grabbing her wand that lay on the dresser.
"Accio Fred's wand!" He hadn't expected much to happen; the wand wasn't his and therefore wouldn't be very effective seeing as it had chosen Hermione. However, he heard a slight tapping noise from his and George's room, next door. He tore through the doors to his room and followed the tapping to inside his wardrobe. The wand was moving a little and had been tapping the door feebly.
"Clever…" he muttered with a hint of a smile as he grabbed his wand. Suddenly he heard a heavy thump from Percy's room followed by complete silence. "Hermione?" he ran back to see her on the floor in a still, bleeding heap. "Shit. Hermione! WAKE UP! Damn it!" he picked her up and carried her carefully downstairs to the fireplace. After somehow managing to grab a handful of the floo powder, he threw it into the fire before shouting clearly:
"St. Mungos."
The room was quiet. A little too quiet seeing as the entire Weasley clan plus Harry (who had been affectionately dubbed Harry Weasley, instead of his own surname, by his brothers-in-law) were crowded into the small hospital room. Even Ron and Luna had returned early from their honeymoon.
A very still, deathly pale Hermione was the centre of attention as she lay on the bed, unmoving, barely breathing and looking closer and closer to death with each passing minute. Fred sat down next to her, gripping her hand with a determined, stony face. He saw nothing else but the small woman on the bed. It had been this way for the several hours they had all been in St. Mungos.
After Fred had stumbled out of one of the fireplaces at St. Mungos, cradling a bleeding unconscious Hermione, she had been rushed off to some rooms that Fred wasn't allowed in. He'd collapsed in a heap of blood-stained clothes on the pristine stone floor and stayed there with a strained look of desperation until someone had managed to get his name out of him and contacted his family.
Now, they all sat in silence as they waited for the Medicinal Wizards of St. Mungos' diagnosis.
Shortly after, a tall man with greying hair walking quietly into the room.
"Good morning. My name is Dr Greg Ramshaw. How are you all?" he asked politely, yet unsmiling. However serious his countenance was, he had kind eyes that took in the tense red-head, who had carried the young lady in, tightly gripping her small hands. Mumbles of "We're fine" and "Worried" came from the rest of the group but Fred stayed silent, watching the woman on the bed. Ah. So that was the way of things. He must love her or at least care for her deeply. Well he wouldn't like what Greg was about to say. He sighed wearily.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news." The intense hazel eyes flickered up at last to meet his own green, solemn ones. Greg wasn't given to awkwardly shuffling his feet or anything of the like, but he certainly felt uncomfortable and guilty as he was about to bring this young man's world crashing down around him.
"I'm so sorry. There is no cure. There's nothing we can do. I'm afraid…she will die."
It's a bit of a cliff-hanger or 'cliffy' as my friend would call it! Sorry about that xD But now you know that we're about halfway through the story? Maybe 3/8ths? :P Keep an eye out for the next one, Laddies and Ladies :) xxx | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8683034/11/The-One-That-Matters | dclm-gs1-207130002 | false | false | {
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0.131887 | <urn:uuid:659aff66-55d5-4ea3-a986-b882139158eb> | en | 0.99178 | Ren-sama's Note:
This is the sequel of "Touch Me." Since all of you guys made a request that I wrote a sequel, here it is. Though I'll admit that it took almost forever to write… Treat it as my thanks for the nice and gratifying reviews that I received on that fict! I hope you enjoy it as much as you enjoyed its prequel!
This will be my Valentine's Day gift for you! ˆoˆ
Tsuna woke up feeling the sunlight pricking his eyes. He groaned as he immediately shut his eyes once again. He knew the window was open, and yet he was so sure he closed it last night. Reborn must have opened it again to wake him up early. Wait, why did it feel like a déjà vu? He sat on his bed and yawned as he rubbed his eyes. He absentmindedly looked at the wall and saw his calendar. He squinted his eyes when he saw that the day had a red ink mark on it. Someone's birthday maybe..? But he guessed he wouldn't be able to celebrate it with that person, whoever he/she was, since he would be locked up inside his room doing paperwork the whole day. And with that, his eyes immediately widened.
"Oh, crap!" He jumped out of his bed and immediately went to the bathroom. He promised Reborn last night that he would definitely do his paperwork early today. He wasn't able to do anything last night and the night before because of his exams – the night before was spent on reviewing while last night he wanted to get back the sleep that his body so deeply craved. And so, the current predicament…
When he went out of the bathroom several minutes later, he was already dressed in his usual clothes inside the house – green turtle-neck long sleeves and brown jeans. He immediately went to his desk without sparing a glance at the calendar because he would just feel guilty if he saw who it was. And perhaps, he was glad that he wouldn't make it…
He remembered two faces and he knew that this would be the first time he would thank his paperwork. He was sure that those two would be there too, in the Vongola Style celebration. Reborn would definitely do something to make sure Kyoya goes and Mukuro would go if Kyoya would, if not just to spite the raven.
He blushed deeply, not from giddiness but from embarrassment, before he let out a shiver. It had been two weeks since that and he still couldn't help but shiver every time he remembered it, not that Reborn didn't remind him every other minute. He remembered everything of course. He was just drugged, but he had no amnesia. And he wished he had… He remembered all the touches, all the kisses, all the moans and screams of pleasure, all the–
"Stop thinking about it!" He pulled his hair roughly when he realized he was already half hard just from thinking about the incident, as he called it. He panted, face blushing madly as he willed himself to calm down.
And he was so angry when he woke up that time.
He was sure that Mukuro didn't mind going to the hospital after that. But Kyoya never talked or even looked in his direction for two whole weeks now after he broke half of the Reception Room and also some other parts of the school because of anger. Well, he was basically taken advantaged of! He was raped by two of his sadistic guardians! How could he not be angry after that? He sighed when he remembered the death glare he received from the passing out prefect after his boss hyper mode wore off. And then Mukuro and Kyoya spent a whole week in the hospital.
No, he was not that cruel. The two were only meant to be hospitalized for a day or two, but they wouldn't stop fighting even in the hospital and ended up having more and more injuries everyday, or so he heard from his other guardians because he never visited. He was too embarrassed to even be in the same room as them. Or maybe it was really cruel of him to place their rooms beside each other's.
After that incident, he made sure to make it clear as the Vongola Tenth Boss that Reborn and Verde were not allowed in the same room at the same time. EVER. Reborn only smirked at him when he said that while Verde didn't look particularly interested. He could only sigh at those two Arcobalenos' stubbornness.
Of course, everyone questioned him for his sudden outburst that afternoon. But nobody knew the real reason because Tsuna was too upset and embarrassed to say anything and his two guardians also had their fair share of reasons for trying to hide what happened. Kyoya was too pissed that his beloved Namimori suffered multiple damages, though he had the brain to not use his tonfas against Tsuna at the time because he knew he was the one responsible for the brunette's anger. And thus, his mouth was shut tight. Not that anyone in their right mind would be willing to make him talk any time soon.
Mukuro, on the other hand, felt that Tsuna in bed writhing in unmistakable pleasure and moaning continuously while begging for more was a very, very private matter. It wasn't for anyone to know of and certainly wasn't for the world to see. And thus, his mouth was shut tight for he was a very, very possessive lover. Tsuna, that time, was only for his eyes to see. Not that he hadn't enjoyed it even if it was a threesome.
And with that, no one talked about it until now. Mukuro was back in his turf and Kyoya was finally able to get his Reception Room renovated. Thanks to that, the three of them had never made any interactions for the past two weeks now. The Vongola boss had made sure that he wouldn't get any detention at all. And he hadn't, not for the last two weeks. It was actually a record for him.
He was still upset that his guardians didn't even apologize to him, but he knew the word 'sorry' was not in either of their vocabulary.
And thus, the brunette did his paperwork in absentmindedness, still trying to block the memories of that day. He would shiver and blush up to the tips of his hair whenever he remembered how he begged for more and how they gave him what he wanted, and with much pleasure at that. He sighed again as he continued working. He worked for about half day and he realized he hadn't eaten breakfast yet, and it was already lunchtime. He was glad that he managed to do most of his paperwork, at least. He sighed before he pulled from his seat and walked towards the door. He moment he opened it was the moment his face was assaulted by Lambo who immediately jumped on him while crying.
"Dame-Tsuna! Waaahhhh!" He shrieked and Tsuna who was really hungry by now immediately grabbed the baby away from his face before he asked the problem. Lambo mumbled everything in one-shot before he cried out loud again.
Tsuna sighed at the prospect of having a headache on top of a rumbling stomach. "Lambo, please stop crying first and tell me what happened."
"Dame-Tsuna, why aren't we having any celebration!?" The baby sniffed before he half asked and half demanded.
"Celebration? For what?" The Vongola asked in confusion. And then his eyes reverted back to the calendar. He walked towards it and when the date and mark were big enough to read, his eyes immediately widened. Oh, Kami… Today is Yamamoto's birthday! How could he forget something like that?! That had never happened before.
And of course he already knew the reason behind all this. He had missions, paperwork, babysitting jobs, training with Reborn, school, paperwork, exams, missions, dodging Reborn's sadistic acts, training with Colonello, school, training with both Reborn and Colonello, paperwork, and of course, the latest was the incident with his two overly egoistic guardians. How could he even have time to remember?
"Oh, damn…" He clutched his head as he cursed under his breathe as dread started to replace his shock. Yamamoto was part of Vongola… which meant that he would end up having a Vongola-style birthday celebration… which could end up in a very traumatized Tsuna in a hospital… or a very embarrassed Tsuna doing some punishments… or plain and simple, a very doomed Tsuna…
And to think he was actually worried for a second that he wasn't able to go with them.
He knew that he felt guilty for not remembering Yamamoto's birthday and also not wanting to celebrate it with the black-haired man. But the mere thought of a Vongola-style celebration was enough to make him wish for more paperwork to do. And that was saying something.
"Dame-Tsuna! You're not listening to me!" Lambo whined and wailed at the same time that Tsuna had to tighten his grip on the baby just so he wouldn't end up throwing the small one outside the window, much like what Reborn usually did whenever Lambo managed to piss the hell out of him.
The teen shivered just at the thought of a pissed off Reborn. "W-What did you say?" He asked instead.
"I said that we will be having a celebration in Clidoren Inn this evening with no candies and snacks, thanks to you!" Lambo really looked sad and Tsuna had to sigh in return. Clidoren was a place famous for its hot springs and that Inn was the most extravagant hotel in the area. What Lambo was talking about was the fact that one couldn't bring any kind of food or beverages inside the inn. One should just go with his own clothes and everything would be prepared for him at that place. Talk about wealth… Vongola surely had it all…
Wait… that would mean… Tsuna's eyes widened when the meaning of those words dawned to him. They would be having a Vongola-style celebration tonight… And damn, he was not yet too late to attend it! No, he was so sure that Reborn timed it then so that he would be able to attend… using the excuse that he was the Decimo and he's supposed to be there for the celebration or it wouldn't be a Vongola-style celebration at all. And damn it all… That also meant that all guardians would be present. Including those two…
The brunette sighed again as he rubbed his temple for the oncoming headache. "I'll treat you later with candies then." He looked at the still sniffing toddler and, when Lambo pouted at him cutely but still nodded, he couldn't help but smile. It seemed the little cow was starting to grow up. Well, actually, Tsuna would be damned if Lambo didn't.
Tsuna gulped as he stared at Gokudera and Yamamoto having another one of their verbal quarrel in front of the Inn. Ryohei was butting in once in a while with his extreme words – since he had no one to talk to because his girlfriend Hana wasn't able to come – but Gokudera chose to ignore the boxer for once and continued his one-sided fight with Yamamoto. The brunette was beside them, but his mind was reeling. They were all present there, and Tsuna had somehow managed to look at everything else except his two guardians – Mukuro and Kyoya who were currently having a glaring contest, though none of them had started speaking a word yet. The atmosphere between the three of them was very tense, though only Tsuna could feel it since he was the only one not doing anything, not to mention the only one who cared about such things.
Kyoko and Haru were conversing animatedly about a cake shop that just opened some streets from their houses. I-pin and Lambo were playing with one another as usual, but more subdued since they just received some quite-deadly glares from both Kyoya and Mukuro for being so loud earlier in the mini bus that the Vongola owned.
Reborn told them all to wait outside while he prepared something for them, but it seemed the baby had just decided to ditch them all for they were already waiting a little bit too long. It seemed his devilish tutor has some plan again. And he would bet with all the Vongola's treasures that he was involved in it, if not the center of it.
"Ciaossu!" Reborn suddenly spoke from behind Tsuna, making the teen yelped. All the others stopped conversing/fighting and looked at the baby as well.
"Reborn! Where were you?!" Everyone was so impatient they were already running all over the place and fighting! Tsuna added in his mind as he looked at his tutor with an expression asking for an explanation.
"It's because you're such a Dame-Tsuna that your subordinates don't listen well to you." Reborn immediately read what was on his student's mind and pointed a gun at him, to which Tsuna immediately shrunk with fear – though more subdued than when he was still only Dame-Tsuna and not the official Boss of the Vongola.
"Alright. Our rooms are ready. We'll be spending our night here." Reborn merely added as he guided everyone inside the Inn. The place wasn't that large, but it was luxurious enough to cater to royalty. Tsuna felt the need to rub his temples as he imagined the Vongola funds that had been wasted on the inn when there were so many other places with lower prices they could have afforded.
When they entered, the staffs greeted them all with a smile. Some rich female customers even made some not-so-subtle flirtatious moves on the male guardians. Tsuna didn't know if he would be glad or ashamed that there were people trying to flirt with him too for the first time – though all of them were males.
Mukuro gave them all a death glare and they immediately backed-off, since his glare was accompanied by a more subtle but a lot deadlier glare behind him courtesy by one pissed off Kyoya Hibari.
Tsuna was a little confused as to why the customers all decided to just pretend they weren't just staring at him with lustful gazes but he nevertheless shrugged it off. He looked at Reborn as the latter handed out the keys for the rooms. Kyoko, Lambo, and I-pin shared one room while Haru would share a room with Chrome and Reborn. Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei were sharing one room, much to the silver-haired male's shock. He really thought Reborn would be more astute than that and let him share a room with their boss – though if someone could ever read the Arcobaleno's mind, he decided the room assignments exactly because he was more astute than most people.
Tsuna could feel his insides getting colder by the second. Now, he knew what evil plan Reborn had that his intuition kept warning him about.
Reborn smirked from underneath his fedora hat as he announced the last trio to share a room with one another. "And the last room will be shared by Dame-Tsuna, Hibari, and Mukuro."
"Reborn!" Tsuna didn't know if his face was heating up because of embarrassment or because of anger with his tutor. His two roommates stiffened up a bit, though not so obvious as to draw any attention to either of them. Other than that, they didn't act like they heard anything.
"But Reborn-san! Juudaime can't be with them! They're still not in good terms with one another!" Gokudera immediately burst out with a heated glare towards Mukuro and Kyoya, to which the two latter simply ignored. "What if they hurt Juudaime! I can't let them have Juu–, I mean, I can't let them hurt Juudaime!" None of the other guardians knew what really happened so they could only assume that Tsuna had a big fight with Mukuro and Kyoya.
"Sorry, Dame-Tsuna, Gokudera. You two just have to endure since it's not your birthdays." The Arcobaleno smirked again when Tsuna looked flabbergasted at his unrelated reply. "Okay, everyone will meet at the Dining Area at exactly 9pm, one hour form now, to start our Vongola-style celebration of Yamamoto's birthday. That area is reserved only for us during that time. And don't be late." He eyed his doomed student one last time, especially when he said that last statement, before he gave Tsuna the key to the room and walked together with the others.
Gokudera and Yamamoto both gave their boss a worried look before they too walked towards the direction of their room.
Tsuna stiffened greatly when he realized Reborn and the others just left him with Mukuro and Kyoya – ALONE. He could feel their gaze from behind him and he didn't dare turn his head. He was still a little angry, and a lot embarrassed because of what happened. He knew that, as the boss, he shouldn't be doing something like ostracizing his two guardians. But he couldn't help it. What they did to him shouldn't even be forgivable. And yet, Reborn who knew everything, just made it so he was sharing a room with the two of them? How shocking could that be? Maybe his tutor really hated him deep inside or something.
Mukuro's patience was a lot thinner than Kyoya's thin ones, and he didn't want to be patient anymore. "Tsunayoshi-kun, if you don't want to be in the same room as us, you can just hand over the key. We can manage to share a room with one another… somehow." He glared at Kyoya, who glared back with clear distaste, before he returned his gaze to his boss. "You can share with Gokudera and the others."
Tsuna thought it was a good deal. He almost wanted to just hand in the key to them and ask Gokudera or Yamamoto to let him share a room with them. But Reborn would definitely kill him if he did something as cowardly, in the Arcobaleno's view, as that. He let out a shaky breathe before he shook his head. He knew he wouldn't be able to run away from all of it anyway. As the boss, he had the responsibility to clear the mess he was in. "N-No… It's okay. I-I'll share with you two… t-the room, I mean." He sighed again when he finished talking, still not having the courage to even turn around and face his companions.
Kyoya was clearly more than just irked when he suddenly walked passed Tsuna without any word. He headed directly to their room without even a backward glance or any recognition that he had roommates. Tsuna's eyes widened when he realized something. Somehow… that action hurt him inside… His chest hurt so much he wanted nothing more than for Kyoya to at least give him a glare. Even a cold glare would suffice…
"Don't worry. He's just angry at himself." Mukuro said behind him. Tsuna looked at him and saw that Mukuro had a kind expression – something that Tsuna initially thought of as creepy even in a dream. But now he thought it wasn't so bad on his guardian's face… just weird, that's all. "Do you hate us so much now, Tsunayoshi-kun?"
"E-Eh?" Tsuna's mouth opened like a fish. But he found out he didn't have any answer to that. Mukuro smiled again, a little painful this time, but was immediately hidden by his wicked grin before walking past the brunette. He followed Kyoya to their room without waiting for the key, much to Tsuna's quiet disappointment. So they really had no intention to apologize huh… Somehow, the thought made him want to cry.
He started walking as well, heading to the direction that Mukuro and Kyoya went off to. He didn't want to just forgive them without an apology, but he didn't want them to hate him as well. He realized he didn't hate them as much as he thought he did. He was just hurt that they did something like that to him. He was hurt that they did it, probably for fun, and didn't even give him an ounce of apology.
No, it wasn't the act itself that he disliked. It was the fact that they did it without his permission. And that thought made Tsuna blush up to the tips of his hair. Did he just admit that he'd have liked it if they asked permission first?
"Oya, what are you blushing up for?"
"Hiiiieeek!" Tsuna almost jumped out of his wits when a sudden voice interrupted his thoughts, and that same voice was spoken just mere inches from his ear. He immediately clutched his reddening ear and looked at the owner of the voice as the latter did his kufufufu signature laugh. "M-Mukuro!"
"You made us wait for too long, Tsuna." Mukuro said as he smiled seductively, making Tsuna blush more. It was the first time Mukuro called him by that name after all, added to the fact that his statement sounded more than just literal as well.
A huff made both of them turned to Kyoya who merely scowled. It seemed Tsuna really did make them wait long. Kyoya was fuming. "A-Ah, the key… H-Here it is." He handed the key to Mukuro, too afraid to even get three meters near Kyoya for the latter looked really irritated if not totally angry.
When they got inside the room, Kyoya immediately took the bed farthest from the door and slept without a word. Hibird quietly nestled on his head, humming a quiet Namimori Anthem to itself to lull its owner into slumber.
"Tsuna." Tsuna, who was looking at Hibari as if expecting the latter to wake up at the slightest of sound, looked at Mukuro disapprovingly, making the latter chuckle. "Don't worry. He won't wake up. He's too tired thinking to himself."
"He's still angry that I destroyed the school." Tsuna mumbled to himself, not realizing his expression looked dejected to the point that even someone like Mukuro would be concerned. The brunette immediately covered his mouth to suppress a yelp of surprise when he felt arms hugged him from behind. "M-Mukuro..?" He blushed deeply when the hold tightened.
"Do you hate this?" Mukuro whispered, but not in a seductive way. It was a lonesome voice painted with pain. "Do you hate us, Tsuna?"
Tsuna immediately shook his head. "No… I just…" He stopped when Mukuro buried his face on the juncture of the brunette's neck. "I just… want you two… to apologize…" He then felt Mukuro smiled.
"We won't." Tsuna, hurt at the blunt words, was about to say something but the illusionist silenced him with the next word. "The things you apologize for are the things you regretted doing. We never regretted even a second of that afternoon. That's the only thing I'm sure Kyoya and I share."
"But–" Tsuna was about to say something again but was stopped abruptly by a low growl.
"Do that somewhere else. Or I'll both bite you to death." Kyoya, obviously awake and glaring, almost spit the words toward the two of them. His tone was that of utter coldness and indifference.
Mukuro, unfazed by Kyoya's attitude as ever even if the tuna in his arms was trembling with fear, hugged Tsuna tighter as he smirked at the raven. "You should show more of your emotions sometimes, Hibari-kun. It'll make you–" The door opened and closed with a loud bang as Kyoya walked out of the room without any word. "–feel better."
The pineapple-haired male was about to say more things when he realized that the teen in his arms was quietly trembling. "Tsuna?" And he felt them, the hot streaks of wetness that fell down from the teen's cheeks. Tsuna was crying… all because of Kyoya's cold and indifferent attitude. He hugged the teen tighter as he thought of the things that he would do to Kyoya for making the person they love cry. Maybe he'd try barbecuing the raven together with that fat yellow bird using his trident.
"You're late, Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn remarked when the young Vongola boss entered the Dining Hall. And yet, the first thing he noticed was Mukuro's protective stance just behind the brunette. And most of all, the brunette's lack of energy and swollen eyes hidden by his fringes. Something definitely happened. He wanted to, but he knew he shouldn't act this time. Tsuna needed to solve this problem all by himself.
Tsuna celebrated Yamamoto's birthday with everyone, though his eyes would once in a while dart to Kyoya or Mukuro's direction. He didn't even know what he ate and what they were all talking about. He celebrated with everyone, talked with them once in a while, and even joked with them. But his mind didn't comprehend anything at all. All he could think of were Kyoya and Mukuro.
He didn't know what he would feel anymore. He should be happy that Kyoya chose to ignore his very presence instead of always wanting to bite him to death. He should be happy that the raven didn't want to have anything to do with him. And yet his chest hurt like hell… He should be crept out that Mukuro just hugged him the whole time he was crying, not comforting him with mere words but supporting and cradling him with the man's very presence and warmth. That should have crept him out since the man had just basically raped him two weeks before that. And yet he felt like half the pain he was feeling subsided a little… He felt strangely comforted…
Even now, he still felt hurt that Kyoya continued to ignore him while talking to the girls once in a while. Kyoya wasn't the type to do that… They just finished eating and were now doing a Vongola-style truth-or-dare game, no matter how clichéd that was. Since they reserved the Dining Hall anyway, they already used the place for their game as they all sat circling a bottle of wine. He watched as everyone played the game very well, though their eyes would dart in his direction if he wasn't looking. And his eyes widened when Haru suddenly knelt in front of Kyoya and kissed the latter's cheek. He didn't hear about the dare.
Haru blushed a little, making everyone laugh and cheer, and Kyoya merely huffed before he closed his eyes and spun the bottle. The scene somehow got stuck in the brunette's mind. It hurt him… It hurt him a lot. It was Haru, his friend and a girl who claimed him as her husband. And that was Kyoya, the man he supposedly feared and avoided at all costs. He knew it was merely a game. And yet… it hurt so much he felt like his chest was being pierced by thousands of glass shards… His breath hitched and everyone immediately looked at him.
"J-Juudaime?" Gokudera called, more than just a little worried for his boss. "Are you alright?" Yamamoto looked worried as well. Lambo sniffed and offered Tsuna some of his candies. I-pin suddenly looked sad as well.
"Hahi! Is Tsuna-san sick?!" Haru exclaimed with a worried expression. "Should we call a doctor?!" Kyoko nodded her assent, looking at Tsuna with worried eyes.
"Where's the doctor to the extreme!?" Ryohei was about to get up and do something when Tsuna shook his head.
"N-No, I'm alright, everyone! Don't worry about me!" Tsuna laughed sheepishly, trying his best to hide his pain. He could now understand what Reborn had been trying to tell him during those first months of training. His pain wasn't his pain alone. If he's hurt, his famiglia would worry as well. And thus, he did the only thing he could. "I'll return to the room for now. Happy birthday again, Yamamoto!" He looked at the smiling raven apologetically and Yamamoto merely laughed, indicating it's alright.
Reborn only tipped his fedora hat to the side. Good luck, Tsuna.
Tsuna bowed to everyone and immediately left the room in a daze. It hurt so much. It felt like his heart was about to be ripped off from his chest. He went back to their room and readied himself to sleep, but backed out at the last minute. He'd see both Mukuro and Kyoya again if he stayed in their room.
He immediately took his bathrobe and left the room without any word, heading for the hot spring. Tsuna found that the place was deserted, much to his gratitude since he wasn't able to hide his tears anymore. He sat in the hot pool and cried his heart out quietly. He was much too confused. He didn't know why he's so hurt. He didn't know why he's crying and acting as if he was grieving for someone's death.
Some not-so-quiet laughter reached his ears before the door to the bathhouse opened. Three rich male students from Namimori entered and stopped at the sight of him crying.
"Woah, if it isn't Dame-Tsuna!" One of them said as he walked towards the brunette. "Ooh… I think he's crying!" But his voice wasn't that of concern but of mockery. The other two laughed together with him.
"What are you saying? He's always crying!" The other one jeered. "We all know he's crybaby!"
Tsuna remained motionless as he wiped the tears off his face. He felt the trio approached him but he didn't feel the need to fend himself off. Fighting right now would be disastrous, what with his emotions currently uncontrolled. It might even be worse than when he destroyed the Reception Room and almost half the school. He was just thankful it was afternoon then and most students were already home.
"Hey, didn't you hear us? Are you deaf?" One of the males tapped his cheek with their four fingers, slapping him with more force than he initially thought. They all stopped when they heard the door opened and closed once again followed by two distinct growls.
"Get away from him, herbivores. Or I'll bite you to death." A cold, deadly voice spat the words. Tsuna was so surprised he immediately turned around. He felt his heart leaped from his chest when he saw Kyoya's signature scowl back to place. He felt his face blush when he saw Mukuro approaching them with that feral grin of his. Somehow… all of those felt right.
Both Kyoya and Mukuro's eyebrows furrowed when they saw the streaks of tears on their beloved little tuna's cheeks. Those bastards made him cry… The students immediately recognized the huge dark aura behind their Disciplinary Committee President and gulped. They also saw Mukuro's eyes gleaming darkly, making them tremble a lot despite the fact that they didn't know who the man was.
In less than a minute, the three students were lying on the floor unconscious, clearly bitten to death, with a little doze of illusion denying them consciousness.
"Are you alright?" Mukuro smiled playfully as he approached the brunette, who immediately nodded with a small smile.
Tsuna felt like his face would explode from too much embarrassment when he saw his two guardians taking their clothes off. He was blushing up to the tips of his hair as he watched them bicker and growl once in a while. "A-Ano… A-Are you two… uh, going to take a bath as well?"
Both looked at him with serious faces before they both glared at one another. Kyoya was the first one who talked, much to Tsuna's surprise. "We want to talk."
"With you." Mukuro added since Kyoya didn't elaborate. "And we want to have a nice bath as well, with our little tuna fish."
"Eehhh? T-Tuna!?" Tsuna blurted out when he heard his new nickname. No, it wasn't exactly a nickname. He felt even the tips of his ears reddening. "W-What–?" All his coherent thoughts stopped the moment his two guardians entered the bath as well, wearing nothing but bathing towels.
"Shall we start the interrogation with our little tuna fish then, Hibari-kun?" Mukuro sat just beside their boss, making the latter stiffened greatly. Kyoya sat on Tsuna's other side without any word, as usual. "Tsuna, what do you exactly feel… about us?"
"Eh?" Tsuna blinked at him, not really understanding very well the meaning of the words. He furrowed his eyebrows before he thought of it. "W-Well… I think that you're really strong, both of you… And you both do what you want. And… you both do your jobs as guardians nicely…" BY the end of his statement, he was already smiling shyly. He was happy somehow. Kyoya wasn't angry anymore… and Mukuro wasn't wearing a pained expression anymore…
"That's not what we're asking, Tsunayoshi." Hibari cut him with a glare, making him shrink towards Mukuro's side. That action somehow irked Kyoya a lot and made Mukuro chuckle.
"I guess he won't understand unless we say it in words, huh. Alright." Mukuro breathed deeply, aware of the fact that Tsuna was looking at him with curiosity. "We're both in love with you, Tsuna." He said it so casually, with a smile on his face even, that Tsuna wasn't able to comprehend anything at all for the first few seconds.
The brunette simply stared at the violet-haired male blankly for a while, gaping cutely, before everything dawned to him. "H-Hiiiieeeee!" He immediately stood up, walking backwards and away from his two guardians. "W-W-What are you saying!? T-That doesn't… That doesn't make any sense!"
They could see his confusion and the two had to sigh and glare at one another again for making the plan fail miserably. Kyoya was annoyed that Mukuro said it in a very shocking way, making their tuna fish confused and shocked. Mukuro was angry at the raven because he's the only one who had to talk while both of them gained.
"Tsunayoshi." Kyoya looked at Tsuna with a serious expression. "We want to know how you feel." He stood up and walked towards Tsuna, followed by Mukuro. "Do you hate us? Do you hate what we did that much?"
Tsuna could feel himself blush deeply at the sudden confession. It was supposed to be impossible, not to mention shocking. Those two had never been close to him before, unlike his other guardians. They were always bullying him, harassing him, and biting him to death. And yet, now that he thought about it, they were the only ones who behaved differently towards him… Was that because of their feelings?
"S-So… You say you're both in l-love with me..?" Tsuna could feel his whole body turning red from embarrassment just from having to say it. Kyoya huffed and averted his eyes before nodding, while Mukuro simply smiled at him and nodded. And somehow, those answers made his heart a lot warmer. It made him… happy.
Wait, did that mean he likes them too? Tsuna could feel his panic surfacing on his face. Two of them!?
Kyoya smirked. "I think this might lessen your confusion." He walked passed Tsuna before turning around so that he was behind the brunette, giving his eyes the full view of Tsuna's slender back. Mukuro smirked as well before he walked in front of Tsuna and held him by the waist.
"H-Hiiiee–mph!" Tsuna's voice was muffled when Kyoya suddenly lifted his face and kissed him forcefully but passionately. Mukuro licked and sucked his jaw, making him moan in the raven's mouth. "Ahh! W-Wait–!" He yelped when Mukuro suddenly grabbed the towel covering his body and threw it away together with his towel. Kyoya did the same with his own, before kissing the brunette full in the mouth once more.
The brunette flushed when his two guardians smirked at the sight of his half-erect manhood. Mukuro leaned down and started sucking his nipples, earning some muffled moans from him in return. Kyoya left his mouth and traveled towards his earlobes, biting and licking them, and down to his neck and shoulders, giving him butterfly kisses and bite marks in the process.
"W-Wait…" He clutched Mukuro's shoulder and bit his lower lip to prevent himself from moaning when the illusionist traveled even lower, down to his abdomen, licking and sucking every skin on the way. Kyoya's left hand pinched the brunette's nipple, earning a pleasured yelp from him, while the raven's other hand groped his dripping length and starting massaging it slowly. "Hibari…san… Mukuro… ahh… Please… s-stop… unh…"
Tsuna could feel his legs wobbling. He would've already fallen on his knees if it weren't for Mukuro's hands supporting his sides and Kyoya's hands supporting his chest and front. Both older males smirked when they saw Tsuna's expression while the latter was begging them to stop. His expression looked like asking for more, just like his expression that last time. It seemed that expression wasn't because of the potion. It was his natural expression when high in pleasure.
Mukuro started sucking their boss's length, much to Tsuna's embarrassment and pleasure, despite the fact that Kyoya's hand was still massaging it. Tsuna shivered before he let out a suppressed moan. He came inside Mukuro's mouth after several seconds.
The two semes decided that it would be better if Tsuna were to sit down. They both knelt in front and behind him while waiting for his post-orgasm daze to lessen. Mukuro swallowed everything that Tsuna gave him before licking his lips and giving the brunette a chaste kiss on the lips.
"I love you, little tuna fish." Mukuro whispered beside the brunette's ear, making Tsuna's breathe hitch and making his ears red. Kyoya glared at the pineapple herbivore's annoying ways of outdoing him in Tsuna's eyes.
The raven lifted Tsuna and made the brunette sit on his lap while hugging him tightly from behind. That act made Mukuro arched an eyebrow to. "Hibari-kun, I was so sure we made it clear that we'd share little tuna fish to one another. Why are you hogging him all on your own now?"
"Shut up, pineapple herbivore." Kyoya glared before he kissed Tsuna's nape. "Try to relax, Tsunayoshi."
Tsuna blinked wearily. "Eh..?" He was still a little out of it because of the earlier orgasm. The sudden intrusion of a finger inside him made him yelp in pain. "H-Hibari-san..!"
"Shhh…" Mukuro voiced before kissing the brunette's forehead. "Try to relax, Tsuna." He kissed Tsuna on the lips with much gentleness and patience before he started pumping the Vongola boss with opposite strength – fast and forceful, just enough to drive the small teen insane with pleasure. Kyoya added the second finger at that same time, making Tsuna moan in Mukuro's mouth with both pleasure and pain.
Tsuna was already a blushing and moaning mess by the time the third finger was added. He could feel the fingers moving inside him and it's making him feel all sorts of tingling feeling. He knew he should have been disgusted. And yet, he couldn't deny to anyone how he liked it only so much…. Mukuro stopped his ministrations to prevent the brunette from cumming prematurely. The two older males looked at one another before they grudgingly decided to cooperate for once.
"Hibari…san…" Tsuna panted. "The water…" He blushed even deeper when they all realized what he was trying to say.
"Kufufufu~ Don't worry, tuna fish." Mukuro kissed his lips again. "The water won't be able to get inside you after this moment." Mukuro helped Kyoya turn Tsuna around, so the brunette was riding the raven. The latter removed his fingers, earning an audible whine from their boss which made them both smirked.
Tsuna didn't know what was happening at first or why the hell they turned him around to face Kyoya. But he was sure the smirk his two guardians had was too sadistic to even be considered adorable. And just as he thought of that, he found himself yelping in so much pain when he felt his insides almost being ripped apart. He clutched Kyoya's shoulders so tight, enough to draw blood while his tears ran down his cheeks.
"Shhh… It's okay… It'll get better soon." Kyoya whispered beside his ears as the raven's hand cupped his cheek. That alone made him stopped sobbing.
"Unh… It's too tight, Hibari…" Mukuro grunted from behind them. "You should get out."
"No, you should get out. Tsunayoshi is mine." Kyoya replied with a snarl.
"As if..!" Mukuro replied with a pleasured grunt when both of them shifted a little.
Tsuna's eyes widened when he realized what was happening. What the?! Both of them were inside him!? He knew he couldn't blush any deeper than how he was blushing right now, but he still did. "Y-You two..!" And he couldn't help but scream in extreme pleasure mixed with a small doze of pain when his two guardians pulled out a little before slamming into his sensitive spot in sync. Both Kyoya and Mukuro grunted in pleasure as well at the tightness of their beloved tuna fish, though half of it was because they were both inside.
The two repeatedly thrust in and out of Tsuna in sync, earning moans and screams from the youngest teen. Tsuna almost blacked out when waves after waves of pleasure ravished his body and senses to the limits. He was riding the two while Mukuro helped him lift himself up before the two would raise their hips to meet him half-way down. The feeling was so foreign, and yet too intoxicating, not to mention too pleasurable, for him. Other people would probably call it rough sex, but he preferred to call it intimate and passionate lovemaking.
The brunette gave one last shiver before he came on both his and Kyoya's stomach. Just as the walls of his insides tightened to the point of being painful, Kyoya and Mukuro reached their climax as well and came inside him. The three of them found themselves panting hard, skin sleeked with sweat, and hearts beating very fast as they reveled on their post-orgasm. Added to the steam that the hot bath had accumulated, the three felt a little lightheaded… and happy.
"Tsunayoshi, do you hate that?" Kyoya was the first one who talked. "Do you hate what we did? Do you want to blast the herbivore and I to the wall with your X-Burner again?"
Tsuna, still a little dazed, immediately shook his head. "I… I…" Mukuro kissed his nape, giving him the strength to continue while he stared at Kyoya's gray eyes. "I liked it…"
"And?" Mukuro asked. He wanted to hear more. He didn't want to expect anything since Tsuna seemed to like Kyoya alone. But he still hoped. "How do you feel about us, Tsuna?"
"Eh?" Tsuna looked at them now, blushing deeply when he realized he was still on Kyoya's lap, with both Mukuro and the raven's manhood still inside him. "Uhmm… a-ano…" He averted his gaze as he tried to think, though that was proving to be a little more difficult than he thought right now. "I… feel warm right now and happy… I guess I don't mind doing it with you two… much…" He blushed deeper with that, making both his guardians smirked. "And… I don't fear you two anymore… I feel happy when you're around, both of you… I feel pain and loneliness when you ignore me… My chest hurts when you ignore me… I think I want to be with you two more… Are those feelings okay?"
"Kufufufu~ Little tuna fish…" Mukuro kissed his neck. "Did you just realize what you said?"
Kyoya smirked. "That's a nice love confession you got there, Omnivore."
"Ehhhh!?" Tsuna blushed even deeper, if that was even possible. "C-C-Confession?!"
"Shall we finish bathing now?" Mukuro smirked. "I think I already want to strip some tuna fish in a yukata in our little room."
"Ehhhh!?" Tsuna's eyes widened when he heard that. Not more of that double penetration!
"Agreed." Kyoya nodded to Mukuro.
"Ehhhh!?" Tsuna gaped at the raven, making his lover smirked at him sadistically. No way would he let himself– and they were already carrying him!
"S-Someone, HELP ME–mpfh!" And he found his mouth covered with smirking lips, courtesy of one Kyoya Hibari just as Mukuro carried him in nothing but a disheveled yukata.
Everyone in that floor that night pretended they couldn't hear the muffled moans and screams of pleasure that made their pants tight as they walked passed one particular door.
Ren-sama's Notes:
Alright! That's it, people! No more sequel, but I hope I made your fantasies come to life for a while there! Please review! ˆoˆ | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9016115/1/Love-Me | dclm-gs1-207140002 | false | false | {
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0.976575 | <urn:uuid:e7dc74ae-5152-43c7-b793-ffdb881c2d9e> | en | 0.972167 | View Full Version : why oh why no sort by # of recs?
Mar 3, 2004, 02:48 PM
why is there no way to sort by # of recs... i'd like to browse through the rock area but that so many songs its hard...if i could see what people like on top it would be easier...
am i missing this? is there a way to do this? there really should be! | http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-62905.html | dclm-gs1-207540002 | false | false | {
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0.091817 | <urn:uuid:4bc5538f-5300-4156-a383-e25af0c2087f> | en | 0.670586 |
Re: "wrapper format" (was: restarting discussion)
From: Dave Crossland <dave@lab6.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 19:25:07 +0100
Message-ID: <2285a9d20907031125r13dfbda7g372b52cfab64ce06@mail.gmail.com>
To: cfynn@gmx.net
> Why do we need another "wrapper format" to contain font + meta-data??
Because the need for better metadata is required by various files
found on the web, not just fonts; but fonts prompt a solution since
they are new to the web. http://noeot.com/mame.html explains in more
Received on Friday, 3 July 2009 18:26:06 GMT
| http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-font/2009JulSep/0197.html | dclm-gs1-207700002 | false | false | {
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0.878929 | <urn:uuid:c2a06bf8-716f-457c-aa56-8e5dbc05a8bb> | en | 0.962863 | I've read on internet a jackrabbit user saying the following: "*AFAIK the version storage was not intended to be removed completely by ** the JCR spec, since one idea of versioning is to be able to recover deleted nodes. That's why it's not entirely possible to delete all things inside the versioning storage (let's say this use case was not **considered*)." I don't agree because in my opinion versioning makes sense when we wanna modify a file and may wanna restore the previous file versions in the future. When we delete a file, we don't think of restoring previous file versions. Moreover, deleting a node(representing a file) we won't get a reference for your version history, then why should we keep the version history of this node? | http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/jackrabbit-users/200901.mbox/raw/%3C90a13c760901051019s4f40b830l6bdaa8f23a74512e@mail.gmail.com%3E/1 | dclm-gs1-207720002 | false | false | {
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0.045781 | <urn:uuid:36daae59-a954-4479-a1d4-cc898b60a141> | en | 0.972255 | March 5 2008: 8:02 AM EST
Email | Print Type Size - +
The man who must keep Goldman growing
By Bethany McLean, editor at large
Just a few years ago, though, Goldman was more an embattled kingdom than an empire. Among rivals there was a palpable sense that it was vulnerable. The firm's traditional franchise - advising companies that were being sold or helping companies go public - was being encroached on by larger banks that would also lend those companies money. Goldman didn't want to take that risk, and in truth, its balance sheet was too small - small enough that Goldman was routinely mentioned as a takeover target. "People were speculating, making book, on how long we would survive as an independent company," Blankfein said in London.
Today, as Blankfein relishes pointing out, the rap is that Goldman is too big and too powerful. But it's more than just a super-sized version of the former firm. Goldman, in a comparison Blankfein likes to draw, remade itself into a modern, and global, incarnation of the old J.P. Morgan, the bank that dominated American finance in the early part of the 20th century. "Goldman Sachs has undergone a brilliant transformation," says Ken Griffin, the CEO of Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group. "It is now one of the world's greatest merchant banks."
“People were speculating, making book, on how long we would survive as an independent company.”
That means Goldman doesn't simply execute orders on behalf of its clients but makes loans and often puts its own principal at stake, just as Morgan did. For example, Goldman not only advised Mittal Steel on the $34 billion acquisition of rival Arcelor in 2006 but also arranged, and contributed to, the $16 billion in financing. And Goldman doesn't act as a mere broker. Instead of earning a commission for selling 500,000 shares of IBM to, say, Fidelity, Goldman is more likely to earn a spread between its cost of acquiring those shares and the price it sells them for. The transformation of Goldman into a merchant bank began years ago, but Blankfein has pushed the strategy at every opportunity. "If we had not gotten into the principal business, we would be a boutique," he says.
Goldman's activities are also integrated in a way that is unique on Wall Street, where firms tend to consist of competing fiefdoms. For instance, a utility may call up a Goldman Sachs investment banker because it wants to hedge the cost of natural gas for ten years. Goldman's commodity trading operation may learn of that opportunity from the banker and offer the hedge, but also offset that position by, say, shorting natural gas in a separate trade. A Goldman M&A banker may be approached by a company that wants to sell, and Goldman's private equity operation might end up buying it. "Five years ago, if you were in investment banking, you'd go all-out to win an assignment, but you wouldn't worry about the other parts of the firm," says Chris Casciato, a former Goldman partner who now works for Lightyear Capital. "Now the mindset has changed. You think, 'What is best for Goldman Sachs as a whole?'"
Its range of operations gives Goldman unparalleled access to information and ideas from around the world. "Goldman has more touch points to more clients around the globe," says Jeff Harte, an analyst at Sandler O'Neill. "It gives them more opportunities and better collective intelligence." Indeed, Goldman's clients give it an information edge that the very best hedge funds don't have. "Clients are our bread and butter," says Blankfein. "Without them we would starve to death."
At the same time, Goldman has to advance its own interests, which may put it in conflict with its clients. And different clients may have clashing interests. Take a private equity firm that uses Goldman as an advisor but then finds itself bidding against Goldman to buy a company. Or a mutual fund that uses Goldman to execute a large purchase of stock. Does the fact that the trade becomes part of Goldman's collective intelligence mean that the mutual fund somehow loses? "We always put our clients ahead of the firm," says Jon Winkelried, Goldman's co-chief operating officer.
But for years Goldman has heard accusations that it puts its own profits first, to the detriment of its clients. "They have embarked on a very aggressive course of having their cake and eating it too," says one private equity executive, who, like many, will not speak on the record because he does not want to lose access to what the firm has to offer. "Are we a client-focused firm with an appetite for risk, or are we a trading firm with client relationships?" asks a former Goldman partner, explaining that he thinks Goldman has tipped to the wrong side of that fine line. And some clients find themselves in a bind: They may worry about the edge their information gives the firm, but they turn to Goldman anyway because often it can do a trade that no one else on the Street can or will. A common refrain is that you "do business with Goldman not because you want to, but because you have to."
Recent events provide a window into one type of conflict Goldman can face. In February the credit crisis spread to obscure instruments known as auction rate securities, long-term debt on which the interest rate is reset frequently via a bidding process. The higher the demand for those securities, the lower the rate. Goldman and other investment banks had supported this market by committing their own capital to buy the securities. But in February the banks abruptly stopped doing so. As a result, even issuers with strong credit, such as the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, found themselves paying exorbitant interest rates.
Although UPMC considered Goldman its advisor - Goldman underwrote a recent UPMC bond offering and also manages a portion of its investment portfolio - treasurer Tal Heppenstall says Goldman (and other Street firms) withdrew from the auction bond market all at once and without any notice. As a result, UPMC's rates on $450 million of auction rate securities began to leap as high as 17%. UPMC believes that its interests were subordinated to the interests of Goldman and the other banks, and Heppenstall says he wonders who benefited from the higher interest rates. Goldman says its decision to stop bidding for auction rate securities was necessary to protect its balance sheet in a market that seems scarier by the day. "We hate disappointing people, but market conditions are extraordinary, and selling pressure has been unprecedented," says a Goldman spokesman. In other words, even mighty Goldman is vulnerable to today's turbulence.
The episode shows how tough Goldman's balancing act can be. As Philip Murphy, a former Goldman partner who is now the finance chair of the Democratic National Committee, says, "Conflict resolution is not an A- business. Either the client felt like Goldman was looking out for its interests or it didn't." Murphy feels that Goldman does get an "A," as do others. "The world is awash in conflicts," says Ken Griffin, whose fund does business with Goldman. "Firms either pretend they don't exist and get in trouble for it, or they recognize that conflicts exist and deal with them thoughtfully and openly. Goldman does the latter." Nor does client dissatisfaction show up in Goldman's numbers. Goldman, as Blankfein frequently notes, has market-leading positions in many client businesses, including M&A. "Can you imagine how much worse the criticism would be if we weren't No. 1?" he asks. "People say these things, but that is not how they are responding to us." Says Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney: "Ultimately people vote with their feet, and the feet keep marching toward 85 Broad Street."
Which isn't to say that Goldman itself isn't worried (that word again!) about - maybe even obsessed with - the questions of conflicts. During the past year Blankfein has held 30 Chairman's Forums at Goldman offices around the world, in which he talks to a small group of managing directors about an area of concern for the firm. His focus? Client relationships.
The most recent Chairman's Forum was what brought Blankfein to London last fall. Blankfein told the assembled managing directors, "We feel we get clients right, but people out there are saying, 'The industry has gotten selfish. The industry is subordinating the interests of clients. And Goldman Sachs, we don't think you're any different. In fact we think, You especially.'" There was dead silence in the room.
The group then talked through several case studies. The first: "A major private wealth-management client calls her GS coverage person to express frustration that while GS is generating record results and outperforming as a firm, returns on her portfolio have been mediocre." This scenario could have been ripped from the headlines (although Goldman says it wasn't). Last August, Goldman's flagship hedge fund, Global Alpha, plummeted. For the year the fund finished down 37%, in sharp contrast to Goldman's record results. The managing directors didn't seem to have any solutions beyond informing clients that their investment objectives were different from Goldman's. At least for now, though, the strength of Goldman's brand is such that despite Global Alpha's results, Goldman was able to raise $7 billion for a new hedge fund last fall.
Another hypothetical could have come straight from a Goldman Sachs detractor. "An investing client delivers the message to his GS salesperson that GS has not been selected to execute a large and potentially profitable trade. When pressed, the client says that his decision was based in part on the assumption that GS is more focused on proprietary investing than client service, and that he and his firm fear that its data and ideas might be used by GS for our own purposes."
"Would someone ever have this reaction about GS?" asks Blankfein sarcastically. The whole room knowingly cracks up. But as Blankfein points out, every Goldman Sachs trader who has left Goldman to start his own hedge fund has chosen Goldman Sachs to handle his business. If Goldman misused clients' information, those traders would know - and presumably pick another firm.
Company Price Change % Change
Pfizer Inc 31.98 -0.44 -1.36%
Cisco Systems Inc 21.82 0.21 0.97%
Microsoft Corp 38.27 0.25 0.66%
AT&T Inc 32.38 0.15 0.47%
Intel Corp 24.76 -0.00 -0.02%
Data as of Mar 12
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 16,340.08 -11.17 -0.07%
Nasdaq 4,323.33 16.14 0.37%
S&P 500 1,868.20 0.57 0.03%
Treasuries 2.75 0.02 0.73%
Data as of 9:00am ET | http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/02/news/companies/mclean_goldman.fortune/index2.htm | dclm-gs1-207800002 | false | false | {
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0.039413 | <urn:uuid:19746ef5-8fcc-4ceb-ae4b-cf50c7123350> | en | 0.960829 | Philip J. Berg was on Dr. Laurie Roth’s Show
Philip J. Berg was on Dr. Laurie Roth’s Show 1/18/10
Did you hear the show? Phil Berg dropped a few new bombshells! listen now:
5 Responses to “Philip J. Berg was on Dr. Laurie Roth’s Show”
1. John Nevettie says:
Phil, this seems bigger than Barry Soetoro a/k/a Obama. It seems there are hidden societies (IE The Bilderbergers) people in power that have control the media and the courts are why this illegal man is now in the oval office. There are empty recently constructed FEMA camps all across the country as well as large amounts of coffins in Georgia and Indiana. It’s been investigated that there is a HUGE bunker under the Denver airport? As well as the Wal-Mart family built a just finished underground bunker on their property? What do they know the rest of us do not? I encourage you to watch The President Who Told The TRUTH
I think you made mention about The Federal Reserve and posed questions about 9/11, that makes you a normal thinking individual to dispel rumor from truth. Accordingly, the next buzz is a US city is being nuked and blamed on terrorism or the bankruptcy of New York and California, or citizens vaccine refusal to cause social unrest then martial law would be enacted. Hence, that maybe the need for the bunkers, FEMA camps and coffins. Perhaps you would agree the people need to be aware and keep asking questions.
Keep up the excellent work! I have supported you in broadcast emails and monetarily. >>>Thank you Phil<<<
2. Paralegal says:
Thank you. I have sent your post to Phil to ensure he sees it. The Office has been extremely busy, so our apologies for not responding sooner.
3. Anoymous says:
Stick to the case please. All the sensationalism accomplishes nothing. I am sure the courts will not find “jokes” amusing. You need to redesign your site so it sticks to the facts. Perhaps you find some amusement or entertaining some things, but really if you are serious you need to remain serious or it hurts your credibility. Are you sincere ? Why didn’t Alex Jones include Berg’s case in the “Obama Deception” video since Berg went on Jone’s show as one of the first. And why does “new” news have to be announced on these off beat radio shows ? Put the “breaking news” on this site first * Why doesn’t Berg go to 20/20 or better, 60 minutes * the tv show * and let them do a report on it ? Again stick to the facts, we don’t need tangents such as 911, Alex Jones and such. Those might or might not be real issues but they are tangents that the courts will not find very amusing or accomplish anything. Are you getting anything accomplished ? Cause, I am finding it had to tell what Berg has done thus far ?
4. video
OTC: The Time Has Come For Obama’s Impeachment!
Leave a Reply | http://obamacrimes.com/?p=433 | dclm-gs1-207830002 | false | true | {
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0.019596 | <urn:uuid:a44b64fb-64d7-4e8c-907d-155f8fb0d8e3> | en | 0.9681 | WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama relieved Gen. Stanley McChrystal of his command of international forces in Afghanistan Wednesday with relatively little deliberation and a stern warning to his national security team: The time for dissent is over.
Less than 40 hours had passed between the time Mr. Obama read the Rolling Stone article, "The Runaway General," on Monday night and the moment he met that general for a private Oval Office meeting Wednesday morning.
President Obama named Gen. Petraeus, the architect of the surge of troops into Iraq, to replace Gen. McChrystal as commander of all U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Also, Jon Hilsenrath analyzes the Fed's latest rate decision, which was more cautious about U.S. growth.
President Obama announces his acceptance of General Stanley McChrystal's resignation.
The president asked Gen. McChrystal to explain statements by him and his aides casually mocking the vice president as a nobody, National Security Adviser James Jones as a "clown" and the president himself as uncomfortable with military leaders and initially unengaged on defense policy.
He then accepted the general's resignation and ended the meeting, less than a half hour after it began. Just hours later, Mr. Obama named Gen. McChrystal's immediate superior, Gen. David Petraeus, to take over the Afghan war effort.
"This mission demands unity of effort across our alliance and across my national security team. And I don't think that we can sustain that unity of effort and achieve our objectives in Afghanistan without making this change," he said in the Rose Garden three hours later.
"I strongly support the president's strategy in Afghanistan and am deeply committed to our coalition forces, our partner nations, and the Afghan people," Gen. McChrystal said in a statement. "It was out of respect for this commitment—and a desire to see the mission succeed—that I tendered my resignation."
The furor that erupted over the Rolling Stone story put Mr. Obama in a difficult position. A chorus of advisers said leaving Gen. McChrystal in command would be seen as a sign of presidential weakness, according to administration officials. It could send a signal of tolerance for dissent and even insubordination, advisers said.
But as one of the military's foremost experts on counterinsurgency and the strategy of flooding a war-ravaged country with troops tasked to protect civilians against guerrilla forces, Gen. McChrystal embodied the president's war policy. Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed strong support for the general, who also had advocates in neighboring Pakistan.
Gen. McChrystal arrives at the White House Wednesday morning for his brief meeting with President Obama, who accepted his resignation. Reuters
For a president famous for extended deliberations, the decisions on Gens. McChrystal and Petraeus were uncharacteristically swift. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, tipped off by press aide Tommy Vietor, had brought the article to the president in the White House residence on Monday night. After Mr. Obama had glanced at the first few paragraphs, Mr. Gibbs said, the visibly angry president called a meeting in the Oval Office that night with Gen. Jones, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, White House adviser David Axelrod and top National Security Council aides.
At that first meeting, the possibility of dismissing Gen. McChrystal came up, a senior administration official said. The idea was raised again in a private White House meeting Tuesday with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the official said.
The official said Mr. Obama didn't take great offense in the comments about him, which were relatively mild, saying he appeared uncomfortable in his first meeting with senior military officers and didn't seem to know who Gen. McChrystal was in their first meeting.
"If you're in public life, you're going to be called much worse than that," the official said.
But the insults leveled at the vice president and Mr. Jones were serious. There was concern about how allies, already wearying of the war effort, would read the article, and that lower-ranking officers and rank-and-file service members would see a slap on the wrist as a breakdown in the application of the military code of conduct.
McChrystal in the Field
Gen. McChrystal made frequent visits to Afghanistan.
Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images
On McChrystal's Watch
Key events from his time in charge
Who's in Charge?
Getty Images
Gen. McChrystal left the Oval Office alone. A few minutes later, Mr. Obama met with Messrs. Biden, Emanuel, Jones, Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss the decision and the appointment of Gen. Petraeus.
Mr. Obama said that code "applies equally to newly enlisted privates and to the general officer who commands them."
Mr. Obama then met privately for 40 minutes with Gen. Petraeus, who was in Washington for the monthly meeting of the Afghanistan war council.
The war council meeting, usually a protracted affair, was brief. Aides described Mr. Obama's tone as stern as he chided his team for "pettiness" and personality clashes. After only a half hour, he ended the meeting, saying a more extended discussion would be rescheduled. He called Mr. Karzai, Sens. Harry Reid, Carl Levin and John McCain to discuss a swift confirmation of Gen. Petraeus, then went to the Rose Garden.
The president lauded Gen. McChrystal as "one of our nation's finest soldiers," but said the conduct shown in the Rolling Stone article did "not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general."
Mr. Obama said his decision didn't reflect "any sense of personal insult" or disagreement over policy in the conduct of the war in Afghanistan. But the callous bravado shown in the article "undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system, and it erodes the trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan," he said in the Rose Garden.
"Our nation is at war," Mr. Obama said. "We face a very tough fight in Afghanistan. But Americans don't flinch in the face of difficult truths or difficult tasks. We persist and we persevere."
By turning to Gen. Petraeus to take over command, the president signaled continuity in war strategy. Gen. Petraeus crafted the Army counterinsurgency strategy and led the surge of U.S. forces into Iraq in 2007. As head of Central Command, he was Gen. McChrystal's commanding officer.
Pending Gen. Petraeus's confirmation by the Senate, which could happen by next week, the British deputy commander of international forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Nick Parker, has assumed command. British Prime Minister David Cameron told Mr. Obama in a Wednesday phone conversation the mission in Afghanistan "would not miss a beat" during the interim, a Cameron spokesman said.
In the U.K., the second largest contributor of troops to Afghanistan, Gen. McChrystal was popular both with troops and defense secretary Liam Fox. After the announcement that Gen. Petraeus had been selected to lead the war effort, "a sigh of relief could almost be heard throughout" the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence, one British official said.
In the U.S. Gen. Petraeus's success in Iraq has made him something of a hero with congressional leaders in both parties. "He deserves great credit for his leadership in helping to stabilize Iraq and bring it to a critical transition point this summer," said House Minority Leader John Boehner. "I believe he is the right person take over this command."
—Alistair MacDonald contributed to this article.
Write to Jonathan Weisman at jonathan.weisman@wsj.com and Peter Spiegel at peter.spiegel@wsj.com | http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704629804575324673218719434 | dclm-gs1-207850002 | false | false | {
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0.105029 | <urn:uuid:fbeb5d81-9e1e-453b-8b6a-94ca4cf0b1f4> | en | 0.941082 | MKTG 431 Mini Test 2
Created by dailydoesit
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10 terms · SFSU
Younjin is a purchasing agent for Acme Enterprises. One of the products she is responsible for is the copier paper for the company's copiers. The company makes lots and lots of copies so they use more than 60 cases of copier paper each week. Younjin will probably treat copier paper as a ____________ decision?
Straight rebuy
Which of the following buying criteria is a business buyer likely to use and an individual consumer NOT likely to use?
The production capacity of the supplier firm
Many complicated products such as computers or automobiles are assembled using many component parts. Once a sales forecast for the main product has been established, it is relatively easy to estimate sales of the component products because of the ____________ characteristic of business markets?
Joint demand
Which of the following statements comparing the consumer buying process to the business buying process is TRUE?
Both businesses and consumers solve problems using a five-step process.
Which of the following situations describes a business customer?
A not-for-profit organization that buys copier paper in order to make flyers announcing a charity fundraising event.
Perception deals with...?
How we interpret the world around us
Kris decided to go shopping for a pair of tennis shoes. She went to the mall where there were several stores selling shoes. The first store was poorly lit, seemed to be kind of dirty and was very crowded. The second store was brightly lit, sparkning clean and had the shoes attractively displayed on shelves. She walked past the first store and into the second store in order to shop for shoes. Kris was influenced by ___________?
Which of the following statements about attitudes is FALSE?
Attitudes are permanent
The Myers-Briggs personality inventory is one typology discussed in class. Which of the following is NOT one of the dimensions of the Myers Brigs personality inventory?
Desiree knows that she does not have very much money. Yet she dreams of being rich and famous like one of those Hollywood stars you see on television all the time. Her one luxury is to buy fashionable designer dresses just like those worn on her favorite television shows. Desiree's desire to be seen as a high-fashion person is motivated by her ____________?
Ideal self image
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Create Set | http://quizlet.com/8710105/mktg-431-mini-test-2-flash-cards/ | dclm-gs1-207890002 | false | false | {
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0.066655 | <urn:uuid:b8125216-d309-45c6-b24f-5f1b53ce4d3e> | en | 0.962585 | Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy review (Game Boy Advance)
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Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy is better suited for novice players who mainly want to see how the Crash-Spyro crossover turns out.
Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon have been popular ever since games featuring the two mascots first appeared on the original PlayStation console. Vivendi Universal has had the rights to both characters for a while, so it was only a matter of time before someone at the company came up with the idea to pair them together in a crossover of some sort. That crossover has finally achieved fruition as two separate games--Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy. They're both side-scrolling action games, and the story is basically the same in each (Ripto and Cortex have joined forces to try to get rid of Spyro and Crash once and for all). Besides the abilities that the characters in each game possess, the biggest difference between the two is that one (Spyro) is geared toward novice players while the other (Crash) is geared toward seasoned players. On its own, there really isn't enough to Spyro Orange to keep players interested for very long.
Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracyscreenshot
Most of the action in Spyro Orange happens in the minigames contained within each level.
Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy is very different from the previous Spyro games that have been published on the GBA. There are five worlds. Each world consists of two main levels, which are set up like a typical side-scroller, so Spyro can jump, double-jump, float for a short period, and perform a fire-breath attack that burns enemies to a crisp. Within each world, there are five minigames situated behind locked portals. These portals open up once you collect the indicated number of gems, and then you need to finish all five minigames to make it to the boss at the end of the world. There isn't much more to it than that, which is why this game is best suited for novice or younger players. The three previous Spyro games were set up so that Spyro acquired new attacks as the game went on. They also used the isometric viewpoint, which, besides giving the games a vivid 3D look, allowed players to cut loose with Spyro's flying ability. Spyro Orange isn't as involved, so it probably won't appeal to seasoned players.
The minigames in Spyro Orange are OK, but they're nowhere near as interesting or as intricate as the minigames in Crash Purple. There also aren't as many of them (six as opposed to more than a dozen). The best of the bunch is a side-scrolling shooter that puts Spyro into the cockpit of a giant walking robot. The robot can fire rockets and switch from walking on the floor to walking upside-down on the ceiling--similar to the old NES game Metal Storm. Other minigames include a Breakout-style pinball game (that's also in Crash Purple), various games where you have to mash the A button to yank an obstacle out of the way, and a pair of scrolling spaceship shoot-'em ups (one horizontal and one vertical) where you need to shoot stationary enemies and dodge obstacles until you reach the gateway at the end.
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Quick Specifications
• Release date06/3/04
• ESRB Everyone
• Developer Vicarious Visions
• Genre Action
• Number of players 1-2 Players | http://reviews.cnet.com/game-boy-advance-games/spyro-orange-the-cortex/4505-9975_7-30971832.html | dclm-gs1-207910002 | false | false | {
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1. Google, Europe Near Antitrust Deal, Really This Time?
This may explain why go-to advertising outlets like Google, Facebook and Twitter are refusing to allows sponsored content promoting recreational marijuana use. Yet, cannabis dispensaries like the newly-opened ones in Colorado feel they are entitled...
The content that finds its way through the complicated maze of devices, social connections, and search algorithms to an individual consumer is only as good as the story it tells. In local, there was Yelp.
We live in a three-device world – leading to attribution and content iteration challenges. Attribution and Content Clearly, content has become the catalyst that has driven a dramatic rise in the importance of earned media.
| http://searchenginewatch.com/topic/local_content_advertising | dclm-gs1-207940002 | false | false | {
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0.189742 | <urn:uuid:2e8b6a7b-2b48-44fa-b83b-1c58caaa9579> | en | 0.881926 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
Is there any way to tell iswitchb to ignore buffers based on mode not string? I would like to exclude the buffers opened in dired mode which are very often the most numerous and it's hard to find opened files in minibuffer among them. Any help on this would be appreciated.
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2 Answers
up vote 1 down vote accepted
You can add a custom function to iswitchb-buffer-ignore to do this. There is actually an example in iswitchb.el -- based on that, this will do the trick:
(defun iswitchb-ignore-dired-mode (name)
"Ignore all dired mode buffers."
(with-current-buffer name
(derived-mode-p 'dired-mode)))
(setq iswitchb-buffer-ignore '("^ " iswitchb-ignore-dired-mode))
This preserves the default behavior of ignoring buffer names that begin with a space, and adds the filter for dired-mode buffers.
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Based on a similar example in the iswitchb source code:
(defun iswitchb-ignore-dired-buffers (buffer)
(with-current-buffer buffer
(eq major-mode 'dired-mode)))
(add-to-list 'iswitchb-buffer-ignore 'iswitchb-ignore-dired-buffers)
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| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12406774/iswitchb-ignore-dired-buffer/12409802 | dclm-gs1-208020002 | false | false | {
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0.521157 | <urn:uuid:2f0c3821-594d-4919-a901-0956c9f4cee7> | en | 0.891867 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
What zero-width characters exist in UTF-8 that are not treated as spaces1? I am particularly interested in those which glyphs that do not render on major browsers: the not-found rectangle should never be shown.
There are many web services that order user entered data alphabetically (eg. Gmail's labels). I would like to use those invisible characters to enforce custom ordering.
1 Treated as spaces: not removed by commonly used implementations of trim and similar. With the gmail example, U+202F (Narrow no-break space) is trimmed.
Edit: Only one invisible character should suffice. After all, they may be repeated without having an effect on the visual representation (assuming a lower code ascii text follows):
[char]Z on first position
[char][char]B on second position
[char][char][char]C on third position
Unfortunately, all characters I could think of are either trimmed right away or ignored by sort functions.
Edit: I've browsed through all UTF-8 characters that seemed zero width / invisible and none worked as required. U+0 - U+20, DEL, Control chars, even symbols such as U+034F: COMBINING GRAPHEME JOINER (alias CGJ), all are treated properly and thus unusable for my purpose. I keep searching though.
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1 Answer
You could try the following ones:
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Unfortunately these are all treated as spaces. While not trimmed right away, they are ignored when the strings are sorted. I'm afraid the same goes for most invisible characters (also including those with the not-found rectangle, for example all * digit zero chars). – Mikulas Dite Sep 24 '12 at 18:04
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| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12570110/zero-width-invisible-characters-to-force-custom-ordering | dclm-gs1-208030002 | false | false | {
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0.126782 | <urn:uuid:5b6612e2-4a52-41b8-bd87-05bfdf3631d7> | en | 0.913199 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I need to speed up some particle system eye candy I'm working on. The eye candy involves additive blending, accumulation, and trails and glow on the particles. At the moment I'm rendering by hand into a floating point image buffer, converting to unsigned chars at the last minute then uploading to an OpenGL texture. To simulate glow I'm rendering the same texture multiple times at different resolutions and different offsets. This is proving to be too slow, so I'm looking at changing something. The problem is, my dev hardware is an Intel GMA950, but the target machine has an Nvidia GeForce 8800, so it is difficult to profile OpenGL stuff at this stage.
I did some very unsientific profiling and found that most of the slow down is coming from dealing with the float image: scaling all the pixels by a constant to fade them out, and converting the float image to unsigned chars and uploading to the graphics hardware. So, I'm looking at the following options for optimization:
• Replace floats with uint32's in a fixed point 16.16 configuration
• Optimize float operations using SSE2 assembly (image buffer is a 1024*768*3 array of floats)
• Use OpenGL Accumulation Buffer instead of float array
• Use OpenGL floating-point FBO's instead of float array
• Use OpenGL pixel/vertex shaders
Have you any experience with any of these possibilities? Any thoughts, advice? Something else I haven't thought of?
Thanks in advance D
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This sounds advansed is there any chanse we could se a screenshot? – Peter Feb 26 '09 at 14:34
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4 Answers
up vote 4 down vote accepted
The problem is simply the sheer amount of data you have to process.
Your float buffer is 9 megabytes in size, and you touch the data more than once. Most likely your rendering loop looks somewhat like this:
• Clear the buffer
• Render something on it (uses reads and writes)
• Convert to unsigned bytes
• Upload to OpenGL
That's a lot of data that you move around, and the cache can't help you much because the image is much larger than your cache. Let's assume you touch every pixel five times. If so you move 45mb of data in and out of the slow main memory. 45mb does not sound like much data, but consider that almost each memory access will be a cache miss. The CPU will spend most of the time waiting for the data to arrive.
If you want to stay on the CPU to do the rendering there's not much you can do. Some ideas:
• Using SSE for non temporary loads and stores may help, but they will complicate your task quite a bit (you have to align your reads and writes).
• Try break up your rendering into tiles. E.g. do everything on smaller rectangles (256*256 or so). The idea behind this is, that you actually get a benefit from the cache. After you've cleared your rectangle for example the entire bitmap will be in the cache. Rendering and converting to bytes will be a lot faster now because there is no need to get the data from the relative slow main memory anymore.
• Last resort: Reduce the resolution of your particle effect. This will give you a good bang for the buck at the cost of visual quality.
The best solution is to move the rendering onto the graphic card. Render to texture functionality is standard these days. It's a bit tricky to get it working with OpenGL because you have to decide which extension to use, but once you have it working the performance is not an issue anymore.
Btw - do you really need floating point render-targets? If you get away with 3 bytes per pixel you will see a nice performance improvement.
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thanks for your answer! i didn't make this clear in the original question but i'm really interested in leaving nice trails, which need float images so you can fade them out smoothly over a long time... – damian Mar 1 '09 at 14:29
You could use half-floats or 16 bit per channel integers then... – Nils Pipenbrinck Mar 1 '09 at 14:44
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It's best to move the rendering calculation for massive particle systems like this over to the GPU, which has hardware optimized to do exactly this job as fast as possible.
Aaron is right: represent each individual particle with a sprite. You can calculate the movement of the sprites in space (eg, accumulate their position per frame) on the CPU using SSE2, but do all the additive blending and accumulation on the GPU via OpenGL. (Drawing sprites additively is easy enough.) You can handle your trails and blur either by doing it in shaders (the "pro" way), rendering to an accumulation buffer and back, or simply generate a bunch of additional sprites on the CPU representing the trail and throw them at the rasterizer.
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Try to replace the manual code with sprites: An OpenGL texture with an alpha of, say, 10%. Then draw lots of them on the screen (ten of them in the same place to get the full glow).
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thanks, but the performance issue isn't happening in the sprite render (since i'm just drawing single pixels anyway). – damian Feb 26 '09 at 13:54
As I said: Stop drawing this yourself and replace each particle with several semi-transparent sprites. The more sprites you draw at one place, the more "glow" you should get. – Aaron Digulla Feb 26 '09 at 16:40
i didn't make this clear in the original question but i'm really interested in leaving nice trails, and the glow is secondary. nice trails need float images so you can fade them out smoothly over a long time. – damian Mar 1 '09 at 14:28
Have you tried to reduce the alpha value over time? That should give you a fade effect, too. – Aaron Digulla Mar 2 '09 at 9:39
yep, tried that. 256 steps isn't enough for a nice fade... – damian Mar 8 '09 at 13:01
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If you by "manual" mean that you are using the CPU to poke pixels, I think pretty much anything you can do where you draw textured polygons using OpenGL instead will represent a huge speedup.
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hanks; i'm not poking pixels on the graphics hardware, rather using additive blending on a floating point array then drawing that as a texture. the biggest problem with using textured polygons directly is subsequently getting access to/modifying the FBO so i can do trails that fade out over time – damian Feb 26 '09 at 14:08
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| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/590504/graphics-best-performance-with-floating-point-accumulation-images | dclm-gs1-208060002 | false | false | {
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0.077958 | <urn:uuid:c3f30a67-b238-4509-bcd0-7efc59bcefdd> | en | 0.812939 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
Possible Duplicate:
How do I remove/delete a folder that is not empty with Python?
How do I delete a file or folder in Python?
I am using the Python scripting language running on the Windows XP operating system.
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stackoverflow.com/questions/185936/… – Mob Aug 9 '11 at 13:08
read this documentation – CloudyMarble Aug 9 '11 at 13:09
This is not a duplicate because removing a folder is not the same as removing file or folder and the two require different code in Python. – vitaut Jan 27 at 18:59
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marked as duplicate by Jacob, Chris, agf, katrielalex, Shadow Wizard Aug 9 '11 at 13:24
2 Answers
up vote 139 down vote accepted
os.remove() will remove a file.
os.rmdir() will remove an empty directory.
shutil.rmtree() will delete a directory and all its contents.
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Use shutil.rmtree(path[, ignore_errors[, onerror]]) (see compelte doc on shutil) and/or os.remove and os.rmdir (complete doc on os)
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| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6996603/how-do-i-delete-a-file-or-folder-in-python | dclm-gs1-208080002 | false | false | {
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0.351772 | <urn:uuid:aea40ff0-1a5c-4d6c-8a6b-ca9c69fbb4bf> | en | 0.858134 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
Like in curL, we have a bind address option, we can download using a certain interface..
For ex, to download from eth0:0 we use $curl --interface eth0:0 http://www.google.com
This way, my aim is to download files but since curL doesnt support segmented downloading, i dont want to use it. We have a speed restriction on every IP. To overcome this restriction, I can start many interfaces like this, and download some part of the file from each interface.
How do i make any other download manager like AXEL to bind to a particular address? I am asking for some idea like changing variables in BASH shell, so that the whole shell binds to a particular interface, lets say eth0:1...
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3 Answers
up vote 3 down vote accepted
It sounds like what you really want is an application that can download a file in parts from different interfaces and join them together at the end. Eg, if you knew your file was 100MB, and you wanted to grab chunks of roughly 10MB, you'd want to do:
1. start a download of bytes 0..10000000 on eth0, saving to filename.part1
2. start a download of bytes 10000001..20000000 on eth0:0, saving to `filename.part2
3. start a download of bytes 20000001..30000000 on eth0:1, saving to filename.part3
N-1. wait for all downloads to complete
N. join all filename.part* together to get filename.complete
I know wget can resume a partially-downloaded file. I'm pretty sure that works by reading to the end of the existing file and then requesting the file, starting from the next byte, from the server.
It looks like curl supports partial downloads like this using the --range <byterange> option. So you could script the above steps like so:
1. curl --interface eth0 --range 0,10000000 http://some.server.com/bigfile -o bigfile.part1
2. curl --interface eth0:0 --range 10000001,20000000 http://some.server.com/bigfile -o bigfile.part2
N. cat bigfile.part* > bigfile
Caveats: this doesn't always work; if the HTTP/1.1 server doesn't have the partial-download feature enabled, you'll get the whole file on each call. See man curl for details on the --range option.
Edit: fixed byte ranges in examples
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Here is a blog post about splitting a download with curl. I tried in Windows, but couldn't get it to work, but you might have success with Linux.
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Make eth0:0 the default route instead of eth0. The command:
netstat -rn
will show you what your current default interface is. If it is not eth0:0, delete it with
route delete
then add it with something like
route add default eth0:0
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I want to use all the interfaces simultaneously. Like in one terminal, i use eth0:0 and in the other i use eth0:1 .. Now, are u getting it what i actually intend to do. – shadyabhi Sep 17 '09 at 12:52
You have different terminals but only one kernel. The kernel uses one set of rules for routing, no matter what application the traffic comes from. If you set up static routes to different subnets or individiual hosts, the kernel can route the traffic through different ports to get there. Or you can set up Xen which will give you a whole new IP, port range, and routing table. – kmarsh Sep 18 '09 at 12:07
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| http://superuser.com/questions/41140/how-do-i-make-any-application-use-my-eth00-interface | dclm-gs1-208130002 | false | false | {
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0.02118 | <urn:uuid:84228166-fb3c-430a-a169-b07ada065272> | en | 0.846826 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'd like to create a video file from 3 sources mixed: audio file, video file and slides. Could you recommend me a tool? I must say I have no experience in video edition.
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What operating system are you using? – SleighBoy Nov 19 '09 at 1:13
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4 Answers
On linux, the best tool is dvd-slideshow. You could get this to run under windows, but it would take a bit of work.
dir2slideshow -n "Thanksgiving 2009" <Your images directory>
The finished product are all the files you need to provide to a standard burner to make a dvd. There are several simple examples to get you started.
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1.AviDemux (windows, linux and mac)
• Pro: Powerful, Easy to use, Well documented tutorials
• Con: As with any other video editing program, it can be confusing.
2.VirtualDub (windows only)
• Pro: Great piece of software for the power user who is really familiar with video editing
• Con: Can be quite confusing for the average user.
3.Pincale Video Spin (windows only)
• Pro: Very simple interface with some cool features
• Con: Lack of advanced tools gives this program a childish feel.
Source: gizmo's freeware
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have a look at Windows Movie Maker, you can add audio to video files or create slideshows from images, it's pretty easy to use and novice-friendly.
caveat: it can only create WMV videos (which can be converted, of course),
unfortunately, Microsoft has removed many interesting features from the new Windows Live Movie Maker (e.g. creating slideshows from images), but all is not lost: you can download the fully featured, portable Windows Movie Maker 2.1 here. works with XP, Vista and Windows 7.
and here is a tutorial: Adding Music and Sounds in Windows Movie Maker
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You can do this with ffmpeg.
ffmpeg -f image2 -i img%d.jpg /tmp/a.
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| http://superuser.com/questions/72420/tool-for-creating-a-video-from-an-audio-file-video-file-and-slides/103373 | dclm-gs1-208150002 | false | false | {
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0.039292 | <urn:uuid:19ebaaa7-87ed-4fe3-ac2e-136af627430b> | en | 0.98613 | As much as I try to see it in my mind and create it, so often it is really created in the darkroom. The last two that I have been working on - and then working on some more - would have been very tough to pre visualize and therefore tougher to see a more primal message in them. One was a scene, shooting into the sun over a marsh with cloudy skys. The film captured the whole range of hues and my eyes could only take in a piece at a time when I was there. It was when I was in the darkroom that I saw the image and previsualized how the print needed to look to say what I felt. The other example was in infrared - I had no idea that the image would look as it did. I knew from experience that the sky would go black and plants would lighten but the image I got made the mountains look like tinker toys and the cactus illuminated like lightbulbs giving me a new idea when I started printing.
I do, however, try to capture on paper what goes through my heart when I am presented with a collection of things to photograph. Most common for me is when I do old buildings; I try to make the photo ask the question, who lived here? What was life like, what did they think of this place? And then I add my cast - There are those that see mankind as smart monkeys and those that see man as a spiritual noble being. Being the latter, I have no desire to record man at his worst. Plenty of folks have that covered. In any situation, I would like to portray man at his best - even if in challenging circumstances. So, when I photograph a building that is a ruin, I don't want it to show the despair of when they left, but the dream of why they built. It is my challenge to get that idea into the photo - especially if the object is a ruin.
On the other hand, being in Southern California, a lot of times I take the picture because what is see is just TOO COOL MAN. ----life has no dress rehersal---- | http://www.apug.org/forums/viewpost.php?p=10467 | dclm-gs1-208320002 | false | false | {
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0.047678 | <urn:uuid:0a5c238a-c33b-46a2-ada0-260295e99f27> | en | 0.955701 | Baptist Doctrine?
Modern day Baptists were known as Separatists in the beginning. They were led by a pastor named John Smyth. The Baptist doctrine are the beliefs that all Baptists hold as true.
1 Additional Answer
The Baptist doctrine are a set of beliefs relating to God, the nature of God, the Bible, Man, Salvation, the Church, and the Second Coming that are all held to be true by all Baptists. Baptists believe that on other, smaller doctrine issues they may disagree about details...but the subjects mentioned above are set and not open for discussion or debate.
Q&A Related to "Baptist Doctrine?"
One may not reliably assert one set of principles over another set of principles as being "the" baptist doctrine. This is because of the most common principle among those
A member of a Christian denomination that baptizes believers by immersion and that is
baptistic doctrine: any of various doctrines closely related to Anabaptism
It is once saved always saved. It does not come from calvin or arminius or anyone else. It comes from the Bible. John 6:39-40. God is knowable and personal : Jesus is God, and He
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The Southern Baptist Doctrine is basically a list of beliefs or a description of beliefs that are attributed to the Southern Baptist Church. Most of these beliefs ...
The Missionary Baptist Doctrine is the doctrine of the church of different Missionary Baptist churches. There are many different Missionary Baptist churches in ...
Baptist is a follower of Baptistic doctrines. Baptists do not have one distinctive Baptist belief. It is a combination of various beliefs, which make Baptists ... | http://www.ask.com/question/baptist-doctrine | dclm-gs1-208340002 | false | false | {
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0.037455 | <urn:uuid:a010d19c-8481-4884-b1eb-92b05cb105e0> | en | 0.951513 | or Connect
New Posts All Forums:
Posts by walford
A Bing or Google search on the model number will find lot better prices then the price you posted. I am surprised that a full array LED backlit model has different light levels in the corners this problem normally only occurs on edge lit backlighting models. A local dimming LED backlit model will have better picture quality then a full array LED backlit model which has the same light level over the entire array.
Is your power line frequency (50 or 60 cycle) match the frequency required by both the TV and the two game units?
The HDMI receiver chip is the most power fluction sensitive chip in most TVs especially TV models which are several years old. Does your TV power line have a surge protector?
If the SD programing is received as standard NTSC SD resolution then the Sony probably does do a better job of upscaling it to todays 720p,1080p and 4K TVs. If the SD original programing is up scaled by the TV station to and is broadcast in 720p or 1080i then top of the line models of all of the top tier manufacturers do an excellent job, howeve4r probably does the best in scaling to 1080p displays. Currently a lot of attention is being given to what manufacturers will...
Unless you are a gamer who uses 720p based games I see no point in not getting a 1080p model I have seen 1080p models as small as 19" advertised. On of the 1080p 32" model is also more likely to have Smart TV features.
In Southern California many 2013 LCD models have full array LED backlighting without local diming. These are less expensive to manufacture and have no flashlighting problems causes by edge lit LED backlighting. These LCD models are advertised as LED or LED/LCD models. They are AFAIK however thicker then the edge lit models but not enough IMHO to matter.
Analgraph 3D source and playback is done as 2D. A 3D DVD player will only 3D content using the current 3D blu-ray standard format and will send it to your TV in HDMI 1.4a packed buffer format. Not all versions of the popular PC based DVD players will play standard 3D disk in 3D. The top models now do but some lower end players do not.
What different brightness and contrast settings are in the mode you are using. see the following Link: http://www.ehow.com/info_12217949_dynamic-settings-samsung-lcd.html
At 10 feet I would be more worried about neck strain due to the amount of the up angle to view the screen. I see no problem with ventilation since the LCD screen uses a lot less power then your RP unit did Have you considered using a low stand where you had your RP model so that you can have your eyes at the recommended center of the screen viewing level. A stand also lets you have any STBs such as a DVR, or DVD player right under the TV. I suggest going to a store and...
Does the documentation from TW for the smart hub STB tell you how to enable/choose the startup option that you say it has?
New Posts All Forums: | http://www.avsforum.com/forums/posts/by_user/id/70197 | dclm-gs1-208350002 | false | false | {
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0.608894 | <urn:uuid:d7fe6075-517e-4e47-a6da-5bde12806fcd> | en | 0.921399 | Italian vote points to impasse
Projections suggest Pier Luigi Bersani's centre-left bloc has a narrow lead in the lower house while Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right is ahead in the powerful Senate.
A protest movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo surged into third place, as Gavin Hewitt reports.
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0.029071 | <urn:uuid:a518a6fc-3884-486c-ba37-7e2560f90c18> | en | 0.949613 | Her Story Matters!
Call in to speak with the host
(858) 220-7937
Laura Urenda is the founder of a faith based outreach and support group for women in the sex industry in the Detroit Metro Area called My Sister Song. Laura’s parents were simple people from the south who left the treachery of the mines to move to Detroit to build a better life. However, her father’s alcoholism created an atmosphere of unpredictability and fear that would set her on a course of destruction for many years…Drugs, alcohol, dysfunctional relationships, a broken marriage, and a glimpse into the secret world of the sex industry.
Little did Laura know that God had a plan that would take her pain and struggle and use it to help others to find their way. Laura goes into strip clubs with gifts for the girls containing a contact card for help and a variety of resources. She inspires women in the sex industry to break free of their chains, and spreads awareness of human trafficking that is happening in our own back yards. People are under the impression that women are involved in the sex industry for easy money, but there is nothing easy about the money they make. My Sister Song believes that every woman has a story that matters and their story is a song that has the potential to impact others for generations.
My Sister Song
sex industry
human trafficking
Laura Urenda
women support group
Broadcast in Women | http://www.blogtalkradio.com/suzymanning/2012/10/24/her-story-matters | dclm-gs1-208390002 | false | false | {
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0.02606 | <urn:uuid:94614d1a-3c0b-41f3-9925-2bc07b32a2fb> | en | 0.809543 |
Top Tuberculosis Articles see all
Displaying items 1-5
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Pese al progreso, la tuberculosis persiste en ciudades del oeste de Europa
Por Kate Kelland LONDRES, 7 mar (Reuters) - La tuberculosis se está concentrando en inmigrantes, adictos a las drogas, pobres y vagabundos en las grandes ciudades de Europa occidental pese a los progresos para reducir los Ãndices nacionales de la...
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Medical aid group MSF allowed to reopen some Myanmar clinics
BANGKOK, March 2 (Reuters) - Myanmar has allowed Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to resume work in parts of the country, days after it ordered it to close its clinics, but not in the western strife-torn state of Rakhine, the medical aid group said. MSF... | http://www.courant.com/topic/health/diseases-illnesses/tuberculosis-HEDAI0000083.topic?page=1&sortby=docdatetime%20descending | dclm-gs1-208510002 | false | true | {
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0.093135 | <urn:uuid:f66f5dc3-bfb1-4385-b341-3b6adc3d9a3c> | en | 0.929394 | View Full Version : Hobby Lobby has Disney scrapbooks half off
06-06-2009, 08:45 AM
I happened to go into Hobby Lobby yesterday and caught the 1/2 off album and album pages sale. I bought the Disney 12 x 12 album for 15.00 dollars instead of 30.00 for our upcoming trip later this month:cool1:.
They had a Disney Princess one too!
They tend to run this sale quite a bit so keep an eye out for it. | http://www.disboards.com/archive/index.php/t-2196544.html | dclm-gs1-208590002 | false | false | {
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0.119954 | <urn:uuid:e44ddf6a-f736-4e1b-b5cf-e5f506e08f38> | en | 0.845672 | Register New Player - Log In
A Cold-blooded Music Quiz!
Created by JellyTrollMorton
Fun Trivia : Quizzes : Animals in Songs
A Coldblooded Music Quiz game quiz
"Reptile and amphibian references in songs."
15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit
1. First off, an easy one. According to Three Dog Night, what was Jeremiah?
A bullfrog
An iguana
A Gila monster
An anaconda
2. What group named themselves after a line from a skit by a comedy group whose name contains a reptile?
The Lounge Lizards
The Turtles
Toad the Wet Sprocket
3. What group is lead by David Coverdale?
Toad the Wet Sprocket
The Turtles
The Lounge Lizards
4. What group sang "Happy Together?"
The Turtles
The Lounge Lizards
Toad the Wet Sprocket
5. What reptiles are mentioned in "Ventura Highway" by America?
King snakes
Sea turtles
Alligator lizards
6. What car (with a reptilian name) did the Rip Chords sing about?
Frilled lizard
7. In what song did Elton John hop and bop along with Suzy?
Crocodile Rock
Horned Lizard Rock
Alligator Rock
Rock Python Rock
8. What did Jim Morrison of the Doors sometimes call himself?
Frog Prince
Lizard King
Alligator Squire
Mamba King
9. What song by the Doobie Brothers refers to a snake?
Cotton Mouth
China Grove
Lizard Lips
Black Water
10. According to Jim Stafford, what does Mary Lou not like?
Green Iguanas
Alligators for Breakfast
Gila Monsters
Spiders and Snakes
Copyright, FunTrivia.com. All Rights Reserved.
Legal / Conditions of Use
Compiled Jun 28 12 | http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz17413213f0d68.html | dclm-gs1-208670002 | false | false | {
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0.030276 | <urn:uuid:1d06ed87-0783-4111-ad75-006c70597188> | en | 0.951396 | Welcome to Gaia! ::
Ah~ Um..Well I would say I myself is a huge shoujo manga fan...Aha...(Romance FTW LOL) So I would recommend...Magico, Kyou Koi wa Hajimemasu, Bokura ga Ita, Virgin Blood, Kiss Made no Kyori,Honey x Honey Drops, aand Are: After Boyfriend. I'm just going to stop at there since those were a few of my favorites~ Idk..Lol Just like ya... cat_redface
rajin90's avatar
Newbie Member
450 Points
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i can recommend a dozen romantic manga still going on. VIRGIN BLOOD ended
ppl should try AKAIITO
Akagami no Shirayukihime
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2,300 Points
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Interesting Rogue
Title: Yumekui Merry (Dream Eater Merry)
Rating: Idk.
Genre: Action, comedy, fantasy, supernatural, shonen
Basic premise/ Basic plot: Yumeji Hujuwara-kun is your ordinary adolescent boy , but 10 years ago he noticed he had a power to see multicolored auras surrounding the persons body which he looks upon through his fingers. Every so often Yumeji has dreams about a war with cats , but one day a girl fell on top of him ....( No, this manga is not about cats.)
I really don't like this description because it's weird. It doesn't fully explain everything neutral
The girl that fell on him is Merry Nightmare. Eventually, he learns about nightmares; inhabitants of the dream world. All nightmares have a certain reason for going into the human world, but there is one that is generally evident in the story. In order to go into the human world, the nightmare has to take possession of the body that is having a nightmare, and Yumji happens to be able to see when that occurrence takes place in a person. And so, Yumeji and Merry team up to stop the nightmares.(There is another reason but no spoilers. You have to read it your self. 3nodding )
Your Rating for the Artwork: A blaugh
Your opinion/review of the art: Personally, I like the art. I think it goes nicely with the manga. Nuff said. cat_cool
Your Rating for the story: A
Your opinion/review of the story: I actually like the story a lot. It gets more and more interesting as it progresses. There can be some thinking involved, but I think that it makes it interesting. There are some twists in it, and some answers are currently unanswered( It will be answered soon enough smile ) It's up to you if you like the story.
Suggested to people who like: DREAMS rofl
Love The Stars
Title: Uzumaki
Author: Junji Ito
Rating: T
Genre: Horror, mystery
Your Rating for the Artwork: A
Your Opinion/Review of the Art: The art is unlike anything I've seen in manga. I don't quite know how to describe it, but it's definitely not your typical style. You'll have to see it for yourself.
Your Rating for the Story: A
Your Opinion/Review of the Story: The manga is relatively short. It reminds me more of a television show in the sense that the current chapter isn't always directly related to it's predecessor, at least not at first, whereas in other works, the manga is one continuous story broken up into many chapters. In short, some chapters tell the stories of specific events.
The story can be hard to follow, and in some instances, you really need to pay close attention. Towards the end, the story tends to get rather confusing, and the very ending may throw you for a loop. I suggest re-reading it until it makes sense, because it eventually will.
This manga is different from what I usually read (Fullmetal Alhemist, Elfen Lied, Magudala De Nemure), but it is definitely worth checking out.
Suggested for people who like: Horror mixed with the element of the supernatural all tied together with a confusing story that actually makes perfect sense when read carefully.
Gyo and Tomie (both by the same Mangaka) are amazing too.
I cant really give a plot summery of either without ruining them!!
Title: Doubt (Rabbit Doubt)
Rating: I would say older teens for gore?
Written by Yoshiki Tonogai
Published by Square Enix
Genre: Mystery/Horror/psychological thriller
Basic Premise/Basic Plot: [no spoilers, please]The series focuses on the "Rabbit Doubt" cell phone game, with rules similar to Mafia. The players must find the wolf, or killer, amongst their group of rabbits as they are picked off one-by-one. Six players of this game find themselves trapped in a building with one of the group already dead; to avoid the same fate, the remaining five must play a real-life game of "Rabbit Doubt" and find the wolf (liar)hiding among them.
Your Rating for the Artwork: [A through F] b
Your Opinion/Review of the Art: Could be a bit better imo but over all really good
Your Rating for the Story: [A through F] A++++
Your Opinion/Review of the Story: I sat and read the short 30 or so chapters within a few hours, then reread them several times!
Suggested for people who like: [here you can suggest other titles that are similar or just the type of person who would like it] Mirrai Nikki, Liar game
Title: Nozoki Ana (A peep hole)
Rating: ADULT
Written by Wakoh Honna
Published by Shogakukan
Genre: Ecchi
Basic Premise/Basic Plot: [no spoilers, please] Basically, it follows Art student Tatsuhiko Kido and his neighbor Emiru Ikuno as they peep at each other through a hole in the wall between their apartments. it gets ADULT, there is nudity, sex and alot of drama tbh.
Your Rating for the Artwork: [A through F] B+
Your Opinion/Review of the Art: again, could have been better
Your Rating for the Story: [A through F] A
Your Opinion/Review of the Story: you wont be able to put this down.
Suggested for people who like: Ecchi Manga, Perverts, Cute girls and a bit of a harem situation.
There are a few more, But these are my top two that haven't been mentioned yet.
Title: Oyasumi Punpun
Rating: R
Genre: Dark Humor
Basic Premise: An alienated child with parental difficulty struggles with relationships as he develops into adulthood.
Your Rating for the Artwork: A
Amazing detail which gives the reader a keen sense of the setting, just absolutely beautiful.
Your Rating for the Story: B+
Your Opinion/Review of the Story: There are many solid characters that develop as the plot does, but the story is long and there are two plots to follow which slowly develop into one. It also has to be kept in mind the main plot is the development of the main character, and there is merely sub-events as the characters ages.
Suggested for people who like: 20th Century Boys, Aku No Hana, Onanie Master Kurosawa
I recommend Shingeki no Kyojin
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0.023678 | <urn:uuid:eef6905f-8780-4ebf-9b23-6b37939417ec> | en | 0.943901 | The person
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Last Login: 02/24/2014 7:19 am
Registered: 10/24/2007
Gender: Female
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Birthday: 12/22
Call me Xi. I'm twenty years old and very much a gaming and technology geek. I identify as a non-binary homoromantic (pronouns are they/their/them) and am currently seeing someone. I have been through many things in life and I am not afraid to speak openly about what I've been through. I have a Tumblr, YouTube channel, Twitter, and a account as well as a PSN, 3DS and Wii/Wii U code. If you want any of these, feel free to ask and I shall (most likely) give. | http://www.gaiaonline.com/profiles/pixylit3/10229976/ | dclm-gs1-208700002 | false | false | {
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0.026568 | <urn:uuid:e0892264-81b7-4c98-95ba-8d320b468726> | en | 0.889798 | Search Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »
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1. Advanced Patent Search
Publication numberUS3578626 A
Publication typeGrant
Publication dateMay 11, 1971
Filing dateFeb 24, 1969
Priority dateFeb 24, 1969
Publication numberUS 3578626 A, US 3578626A, US-A-3578626, US3578626 A, US3578626A
InventorsWalter A Kornicker
Original AssigneeMonsanto Co
Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
Process for the polymerization of acetylene compounds
US 3578626 A
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Description (OCR text may contain errors)
May 11, 1971 w. A. KORNICKER 3,573,525
' ATTORNEY M y 11,1971 w. A. KORNICKER PROCESS FOR THE POLYIIERI'ZATION 0F ACE'IYLENE rsormnmns Original Filed July so. 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet I ANODE CATHODE MAGNETIC STIRRER GROUND GLASS FLANGE JOINTS GASKET FIGURES FIGURE 6 DIAPHRAGM HOLDER (GLASS) INVENTOR FIGURE 7 WALTER A KORNICKLR ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 260-941 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE As a new composition of matter solid linear crystalline trans-polyacetylene having nickel therein. The product is produced by a process of polymerizing acetylene or acetylenic compounds by subjecting to electrolysis the complex compound of a nickel dihalide and an electron donor and acetylene or an acetylenic compound or mixtures thereof in the presence of an inert polar solvent.
This application is a division of applicants copending application Ser. No. 475,918, filed July 30, 1965.
It is known that carbonyls of iron, cobalt and nickel, as well as also many of their organic and inorganic derivatives, are catalysts for the polymerization of acetylene compounds in which the catalytic activity of a particular metal carbonyl derivative can be notably specific for a given monomer. Polymerization is defined for the purposes of this specification and the claim to cover dimerization, trimerization and the formation of higher polymers.
With a catalyst of the formula Ni(CO),,(PPh the acetylenes and substituted acetylenes, for example, propargyl alcohol (W. Reppe and W. I. Schweckendiek, Ann. 560, 104 (1948)), phenylacetylene, phenylethinylcarbinol (J. D. Rose and F. S. Statham, J. Chem. Soc., 69 (1950) 3 methyl 1 butine 3 ol, isopropenylacetylene (C. H. McKeever and I. 0. Van Hook, US. Pat. 2,542,551 (Feb. 20, 1951)), 2-butine-1,4-diol (R. F. Kleinschmidt, U.S. Pat. 2,542,417 (Feb. 20, 1951)), vinylacetylene (British Pat. 824,417 (Dec. 2, 1959)), and bis(trifiuoromethyl) acetylene (J. F. Harris, Jr., US. Pat. 2,923,746 (Feb. 2, 1960) or acetylene plus divinylacetylene (C. T. Handy, French Pat. 1,213,148 (Mar. 29, 1960)) and acetylene plus Z-butine (J. C. Sauer and T. L. Cairns, I Am. Chem. Soc., 79, 2659 (1957)), could be trimerized or copolymerized to the corresponding benzene derivatives. The composition of this catalyst seems to be very specific because if a=1 or 0, no polymerization occurs, for example, with l-heptine.
Later it was also announced (J. Org. Chem, 26, 5155 (1961)), that with bis(triphenylphosphine)nickeldicarbonyl at higher temperatures (boiling benzene, acetonitrile, cyclohexane), in addition to trisubstituted benzenes such as 1,2,4 trimethylbenzene, 1,3,5 triethylbenzene, 1,2,4- and 1,3,5-tripropylbenzene and 1,2,4-triphenylbenzene, linear dimers and oligomers are also obtained. These correspond, if the monosubstituted acetylene has the formula RC=CH, to the formulas in which R means an alkyl with up to 5 carbon atoms, a diethylmethyl, a-hydroxyisopropyl, fi-methoxyvinyl, cyclohexyl, a-hydroxycyclohexyl, phenyl, or p-nitrophenyl; and n ranges from 0 to about 8-10. Also, with terminal, non-conjugated acetylenes, mixtures of various end products (linear and cyclic) are obtained. For ex- 3,578,626 Patented May 11, 1971 ample, with 1,6-heptadiine -80% viscous, non-distillable, brown tar, which was soluble in benzene or cyclohexane and gradually hardens in air in addition to 20- 25% of aromatic trimers, i.e. 1,3-bis(5-indanyl)propane.
With other monosubstituted acetylenes in which R was methylol, vinyl, isopropenyl, carbomethoxy, carbethoxy, phenoxy or acetyl; or with butadiine, there were obtained, however, aromatic products exclusively, such as 1,2,4- and 1,3,5 trimethylolbenzene, 1,2,4 trivinylbenezene, 1,2,4-triisopropenylbenzene, 1,2,4-tris(carbomethoxy) benzene, 1,3,5-tris(carbethoxy)benzene, 1,2,4- and 1,3,5-tris (phenoxy)benzene, and 1,3,5-triacetylbenzene or 1,3,5- and 1,2,4-tris(1-ethenyl)benzene.
Generally, with the catalysts named, no polymerization could be eifected in 2-butine, 3-hexine, diphenylacetylene, 2,5 dimethyl-3-hexine-2,5 diol, 3,6-dimethyl4-octine3,6- diol, 1,4-dichloro-2-butine, 2-butine-1,4-diacetate, acetylenedicarboxylic acid, dicarbethoxyacetylene, 2,7-dimethyl- 3,5 octine-2,7-diol, 1,8-dimethoxy-1,7-octadiene-3,5-diine and 1,4-bis(l-hydroxycyclohexyl)buta-1,3-diine, because the Reppe catalyst is, insofar as is konwn, effective only in u-acetylenes. An exception is 2-butine-1-ol, 2-butine- 1,4-diol and l-phenyl-1,3-pentadiine-5-ol, which, however, also give only aromatic product. Because of immediate decomposition of the catalyst by acetylene halide, even if the chlorine is further removed as in S-chloro-l-pentine, or by acetylenes containing carboxyl, such as propiolic acid, acetylene dicarboxylic acid and because of inhibition of the catalyst by the coordination of nickel through the N-atoms of amides and nitriles, such as propiolamides and cyanoethylene, these monomers, too, cannot be polymerized according to the known processes.
It is therefore desirable to have catalysts with which such special monomers can possibly be polymerized.
Thus, insofar as acetylene monomers can be polymerized with the Reppe catalysts, it is a case of final products being either exclusively cyclic trimers, or mixtures of such with lower oligomers. In spite of a, good conversion of the monomers, polymers (aromatic and linear oligomers) were seldom isolated in more than 30-40%, as a result of tar formation. A high molecular, crystalline polyacetylene has not been described.
The originally introduced nickel complex was always ice decomposed in the productive reaction, and, according to the reaction conditions, it was converted into triphenylphosphine or its oxide and into a nickel metal or its salt (oxide, hydroxide). Further, some carbon monoxide from the catalyst seemed to be built up into the oligoacetylene, since products containing significant carbonyl are given oil.
It is further known (W. Reppe et al., Ann. 560, 1 (1948): N. Hagihara, Chem. Abstr. 47, 104901 (1953)) that acetylene can be tetramerized to cyclooctatetraene with certain nickel (ID-complexes, for example with nickel (II)-bis-acetylacetonate, nickel (II)-bis-salicylaldehydate, nickel (ID-cyanide and nickel (II)-acetylacetatenolate. The formation of the cyclooctatetraene takes place between and C. at an acetylene pressure of 15 to 25 atmospheres. Various products are formed at the same time. In addition to about 70% cyclooctatetraene, one obtains up to 15% of benzene, a resinous polymer and a dark brown, insoluble mass. Further, small amounts are formed of styrene, 1-phenyl-1,3-butadiene, vinylcyclooctatetraene and traces of azulene. The reaction is limited practically to unsubstituted acetylene. Under similar conditions, substituted acetylenes afiord lower linear polymers and benzene derivatives; in the copolymerization with acetylene corresponding monoand disubstituted cyclooctatetraenes form. The catalysts lose their activity quickly.
Also definite nickel(O)-complexes, such as nickel(0)- bis-acrylonitrile and nickel(O)-bis-acrolein (suspension in tetrahydrofuran) permit acetylenes to polymerize (G. N. Schrauzer, I. Am. Chem. Soc. 81, 5310 (1959)). In general, higher temperatures (70120 C.) and higher pres sures (85 atmospheres) are required. The process takes place with acetylene in a manner that is stoichiometric rather than catalytic because only about 1 mol each of benzene and cyclooctatetraene form per mol of catalyst. The catalyst quickly loses its effectiveness. Phenylacetylene gives mainly a resinous polymer. Propargyl alcohol, phenylpropargyl aldehyde, propiolic esters and acetylenedicarboxylic acid esters react strongly, at times even explosively. Definite products have not been isolated. Also at lower temperature the components of these catalysts are built up into the final product. With tolan, for example, tetraphenylbenzonitrile or tetraphenylbenzaldehyde form in addition to hexaphenylbenzene.
It is therefore desirable to have stable catalysts which contain none of the organic components taking part in the polymerization. Further, it is important in certain monomers to be able to increase or decrease the activity of the catalyst in the course of the polymerization as desired.
It is further known (German Pat. 1,159,951, Dec. 27, 1963) that various types of acetylene compounds, e.g. propargyl alcohol, 1 butinol 3, 3-methyl-1-butinol-3, 4 methyl 1 pentinol 3, 2 methyl 1 butenine-3, phenylacetylene, methyl propiolate, 3 diethylarnino-1 butine, 3-dimethylamino-l-propine, 3-piperidino 1 propine, propargyl ether, 1,4-butinedioldimethyl ether and 1,4 butinediol can be trimerized along with complex nickel(O)-compounds with 2-4 attached atoms or groups, free of carbon monoxide (such as fumaronitrile, cinnamic acid nitrile, acrylonitrile, acrolein and duroquinone), among which at least one (preferably 2-3) is an organic phosphite, thiophosphite or phosphorous acid amide. This reaction requires a high temperature in the range of 70 to 150 C. The addition of the above-named Lewis bases to the nickel(O)-compounds prevents the formation of linear polymers completely. As a rule, equal parts of 1,3,5- and 1,2,4-trisubstituted benzene derivatives form. It is known that with strong Lewis bases, e.g. with trialkylphosphines, the benzene combination is also tied up; that is, practically no polymerization takes place with, e.g., nickel(O)- or nickel (ID-compounds. Linear polymers are not obtained with such catalysts.
Further, it is also known (I. R. Leto and M. F. Leto, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 83, 2944 (1961)), that catalysts of the formula Ni(PX (X=F, Cl, Br) and Ni(PhPCl convert methyl and ethyl propiolate into a mixture of the corresponding aromatic trimers and cyclooctatetraene derivatives. With this very specifically acting catalyst, ac etylene, amylacetylene, phenylacetylene, propiolic acid, their potassium salt and amide, 3-chloro-l-propine, 3-hydroxy-l-propine, cyanoethylene, methyl 3-butinecarboxylate, diethyl acetylenedicarboxylate and Z-butine were not changed under the conditions applied (room temperature).
All catalysts hitherto described lose their activity quickly in cases where linear products are formed. It is supposed that in the side reactions the high molecular products render the catalyst inactive. It is important to have a catalyst which can always be regenerated during the course of its inactivation.
A linear, high molecular, solid polyacetylene has neither been prepared nor described with the catalyst described above.
By catalysts with iron chloride plus phenyl magnesium bromide (A. Job and G. Champetier, Bull. Soc. Com. M 176, 448 (1936)) or with triethylaluminum plus titanium tetrachloride (G. Natta, G. Mazzanti and P. Corradini, Rend. Accad. Naz. Lincei 15, 3 (1958)), a solid, black, powdery, linear polyacetylene has been obtained for the first time. The product was amorphous according to the investigation with X-rays. With the last mentioned Ziegler catalyst the portion of low molecular, oily side product amounted to about 20% and the yield of polyacetylene to about 3 g./g., based on the catalyst. This was not significantly increased by a longer reaction period. With Ziegler catalysts soluble red to black polymers were also obtained from 1,6-heptadiine; and from 1,7-octadiine and 1,8-nonadiine, insoluble, cross-linked polymers were obtained. (Ph. Theyssie and A. C. Korn-Girard, J. Poly. Sci. Part A, vol. 2, 2849 (1964)). The polymers of l,6-hepta diine mentioned here earlier, which had been obtained by means of bis(triphenylphosphine)nickeldicarbonyl in boiling cyclohexane, was not used structurally. Various catalyst can form dilferent polymers with the same monomers. Also diphenyldiacetylene could be converted to linear polymers; at the optimum proportion of Al/Ti=2.7 at 25, a yield of about 33% was obtained. After about 15 hours the catalyst becomes ineflfective, that is, no further chain growth occurs.
With a stereospecific catalyst, such as triethylaluminum-l-TiCl or VCl a mixture of polymers can be obtained with a poorer conversion of acetylene, which further contain a high percentage of oily products, which are separable from the black polymer by extraction with acetone, (G. Natta et al., loc. cit). Thus, with a Natta catalyst, which consists of a suspension of 0.05 mol 0c- TiCl and 0.05 mol tn'ethylalurninum in 400 ml. of nheptane, there were obtained at 35-40 C. in 10 hours, 21 g. of polymer, which held 18% of a substance extractable with acetone. Extension of the reaction time to 20 hours usually gave 24 g. of polymer, of which 20% was extractable. From the studies With various reaction times it is concluded that the catalyst applied is inactivated rather quickly. The solid, black polyacetylene obtained under these conditions and freed of catalysts showed only a weak crystallinity in the studies with X-rays.
A higher crystalline polyacetylene is said to be obtained in the use of a catalyst from titanium alcoholates soluble in hydrocarbons and a metallorganic compound. (Natta et al., Italian Pat. 530,753 (1955)). With a solution of, for example, 0.1 mol triethylaluminum and 0.04 mol tetrakis(propoxy)titanium in 500 ml. n-heptane, 35.5 g. of polymer were obtained at 45 C., in 15 hours, which polymer contained 4.5% of low molecular substances extractable with acetone. At higher reaction temperatures C.), the yield increased to 48.5 g. and the extractable portion to 11.1%. At lower temperature (20 C.), only 4 g. of polymer were obtained in 10 hours. The yields based on the catalyst are therefore low and in the best circumstances lie in the range of about 2 g./ g.
Finally, it is known (L. B. Luttringer, I Org. Chem. 27, 1591 (1962) that acetylene or acetylene derivatives can polymerize with a salt or complex of a metal of the VIII Group such as NiCl bis(tricyanoethylphosphine-2)nickel dichloride, bis(tri 2 cyanoethylphosphine)nickel dibromide, bis(triphenylphosphine)nickel dichloride, bis(tri-nbutylphosphine)nickel dichloride in the presence of a manifold molar excess of a reducing compound, such as sodium borohydride and potassium borohydride in alcohol, acetonitrile or Water. With bis(tri-2-cyanoethylphosphine) nickel (II) chloride and NaBH (in a mol ratio of 1:27 to 1:47) in ethanol or acetonitrile, acetylene gave a high molecular solid, black, probably somewhat linear, polyacetylene. In an alcoholic or acetonitrile solution continuously saturated with acetylene, there was obtained only about 1 g. of polyacetylene, either with 43.8 g. of catalyst mixture at 40 C. in 4% hours or with 24.9 g. of catalyst mixture at 9 C. in 5 /2 hours. The increase of reaction time to more than four-fold and use of pressure gave also no higher yield, nor did the use of bromide instead of chloride. Monosubstituted alkylacetylenes with this process gave mostly lower linear and aromatic products, the type of which is mainly dependent on the acetylene used. In most cases the products consist of dimers and trimers. When linear products were formed, tetramers and higher homologs were observed in several cases, e.g. with l-butine', l-pentine and l-heptine. In contrast thereto, the isolatable products with phenylacetylene were mainly 1,3,5- and 1,2,4-triphenylbenzenes, probably in addition to linear trimers. However, tarry by-products always form. The process is not suitable for the polymerization of propiolic acid and propargyl chloride. The latter reacted with the sodium borohydride. While aminoacetylene and 3-diethylamino-l-propine formed linear dimers and trimers, ethyl propiolate gave only the aromatic trimer. Cyclooctatetraene derivatives were not formed. Propargyl alcohol reacted in water almost explosively to form the corresponding 1,2,4- and 1,3,S-trimethylolbenzenes. 1,6- heptadiine dimerizes with relatively poor yields (15%) and only with 1,7-octadiine could a high molecular, linear polymer be obtained. Disubstituted acetylenes react according to this known process in a much less degree than do the monosubstituted. With 3-hexine a mixture forms of various products with lower yields (15%). Insofar as linear polymers form under typical conditions, these are hydrated through the hydride present in great excess, for example, in dimers of l-heptine to 90% with 1 or 2 mols of hydrogen. In other cases a dehydrogenation took place, for example, in tetramers of l-pentine under typical conditions it amounted to 1 mol of H lmol. Diphenylacetylene did not react at room temperature and gave hexaphenylbenzene at 78 C.
A new process has now been developed in which, in addition to cyclic trimers and tetramers, and also linear dimers, certain oligomers but especially high molecular, solid crystalline polyacetylenes can be obtained. The process obviates the disadvantage Of the hitherto known process and fulfills the wishes expressed earlier. It permits the obtaining of a single product without application of pressure and at lower temperatures.
The process according to the invention rests in principle on an electrolytically initiated catalytic system, which consists essentially of (a) a definite transitional metal compound, (b) an electron donor and (c) possibly one or more auxiliary components. The catalytic system dissolved or suspended in a liquid medium forms an electrolyte which permits a sufiiciently large flow of electric current. The electrolytic initiation is undertaken in a device provided with an electrolyzing device.
As transitional metal compounds, there are used those of transitional metals from Group IVb-VIIb and VIII of the Periodic System. All transitional metals are suitable if their salts or derivatives can form such complexes with an electron donor as can be dissolved in the necessary amount in a suitable liquid medium (possibly with the help of auxiliary components) as are dissociable in the form present during the electrolysis and do not permit the polymerization of the respective monomers by the formation of an all too stable complex, and the metal portion of which is again capable of being solvated after the cathodic discharge.
As transitional metal compounds suitable salts of carboxylic acids, e.g. acetates, propionates, butyrates, laurates, stearates, naphthenates etc.; salts of mineral acids, e.g. chlorides, bromides, iodides, fluorides, sulfates, nitrates etc. and other salts, such as cyanides, cyanates, thiocyanates etc. In case halides are used these can be prepared by a pre-electrolysis or by electrolysis during the polymerization. For this purpose the electrolyte contains an adequate amount of a reactive organic halide, e.g. methylene dichloride, benzyl chloride, ethyl bromide and the like, which then forms by electrocorrosion of a corresponding anode, e.g. of nickel, the desired metal halide, e.g. nickel chloride, nickel bromide.
In many cases it is suitable to use complexes of transitional metals or transitional metal salts with unsaturated aliphatic or alicyclic compounds, e.g. such as butadiene, cyclopentadiene, cyclobutadiene, cycloheptatriene, cyclooctatetraene, azulene etc. or with B-diketones, such as acetylacetone, 2,4-hexanedione, 3,5-heptanedione, isopropylacetylacetone, 3,5-octanedione, isobutylacetylacetone, 4,6-nonanedione, 1,3-dipheny1-1,3-propanedione etc.; or with c p-unsaturated nitriles, such as acrylonitrile, fumaric acid nitrile, cinnamic acid nitrile etc.; or with alkyl substituted p-benzoquinones, e.g. such as toluoquinone, p-xyloquinone, duroquinone etc.; or with arenenes, e.g. such as benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene etc.; further, with salicylaldehyde, acetoacetic ester, dimethylglyoxime, bis-N-alkylsalicylaldimine, 1,10-phenanthroline, u,a-bipyriyl, nitrilotriacetic acid, ethylenediaminotetraacetic acid, 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino) ethane, hydroxyethane-l,l-bis-phosphoric acid, the monoethyl ester of aminoethane-1,1bis-phosphoric acid and other chelate forming agents. In contrast to the hitherto known catalysts, compounds can also be used which block not only one, but rather two, cis-positions in the active complex, without completely poisoning the catalyst thereby. Besides this the complex compounds {for example, nickel acetylacetonate), in contrast to the simple salts (for example, nickel dichloride, nickel dibromide), show a better solubility, and their handling is easier in many cases (e.g. in bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium dichloride in contrast to titanium tetrachloride). Further, they have a significant influence on the type of final product.
It has been mentioned as a preface already that certain Ni(II)- and Ni(O)-complexes are able to convert acetylenes into the corresponding cyclic trimers and tetramers and/ or lower molecular linear dimers or oligomers. As a rule, a mixture of different products is obtained. With, for example, Ni(II)bis-acetylacetone, Ni(II)-bis-cyanide, Ni(II)-bis-salicylaldehydrate or Ni(II)-bis-aoetylacetatenolate there are obtained between and 100 C. (optimally 95 C.) at an acetylene pressure of 15 to 25 atmospheres, based on the acetylene, about 70% of cyclooctatetraene, in addition to increasing amounts of benzene, up to 15% of a resinous polymer and a dark brown insoluble mass. The electrolytic initiation of such systems in the presence of the monomer leads, however, at room temperature and without application of pressure, either to other (and at the time new) products or, in cases where mixed products have been obtained until now, to single products, such as trisubstituted benzenes, cyclooctatetraenes, linear dimers, trimers, oligomers or high polymers and by copolymerization monosubstituted cycloheptatriens, monoor disubstituted cyclooctatetraenes, tetrasnbstituted benzaldehydes or tetrasnbstituted benzonitriles etc.
The transitional metal compounds suitable for use in the reaction can have a valence which corresponds to their highest state of oxidation or to a lower one. Also mixtures of compounds of various transitional metals and mixtures of transitional metal compounds with various valences may be suitable. In the complexes the coordination positions may be partially or completely filled (e.g. up to 4 in the case of nickel) by attached atoms or groups.
The transitional metal compounds thus contain no covalent metal-hydrocarbon linkage (sigma-linkage) when they are introduced, in which fact they differ from the organic derivatives as they are applied hitherto in certain modifier Ziegler catalysts or as they are probably always formed in the ordinary Ziegler catalysts from the treatment of transitional metal halides (e.g. TiCl TiCl with metalloorganic compounds of I to III main groups of the periodic system (e.g. LiC H C H MgBr, Al(C H Such metalloorg-anic compounds are not generally added to the reaction mixture in the process according to the invention.
Electron donors, preferably Lewis bases, serve as the second essential component of the catalytic system. All Lewis bases are suitable, which, with the transitional metal compound, are able to form a soluble coordination compound dissociable in the organic or aqueous solvent, the solution of which has the properties of an electrolyte.
Primary, secondary and tertiary amines enter into the question, including polyamines of the formula RNH R NH and R N, in which R represents aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic, aromatic or heterocyclic radicals containing possibly further amine groups, phosphorus groups or other groups, in which two Rs together may form a heterocyclic structure with the hetero-atom. Examples are: trimethylamine, triethylamine, tri-n-propylamine, triisopropylamine, tri-n-butylamine, triisobutylamine, tri-t-butylarnine, trioctylamine, N,N-dimethylcyclohexylamine, N,N-diethylbenzylamine, N,N,N,N-tetramethylethanediamine, N methyl-N-propyl-N,N'-diethylethanediamine, NAN -dimethy1-N ,N -dibenzylpropanediamine, pentamethylguanidine, N,N-dimethylani1ine, N- ethyldiphenylamine, N-butylpyrrol, N-methylpyrrolidine, N-propylpyrazole, pyridine, lutidine, a,a'-dipyridyl, 4- rnethoxypyridine, 2-isopropylpyridine, morpholine, 3-tbutylmorpholine, pyrazine, pyrimide, pyrazine, N,N-dioctylpiperidine, quinolin'e, isoquinoline, N-ethyltetrahydroquinoline etc., besides NH and its analogs, in which 1 or 2 of the radicals attached to the nitrogen atoms'are replaced by hydrogen atoms.
Further primary, secondary and tertiary phosphines, including polyphosphines of the formulas RPH R PH and R P; phosphites of the formula (RO) P; thiophosphites of the formula (RS) P; phosphates of the formula (RO) PO; thiophosphates of the formula (RS) PO, (RO) PS and (RS) PS; aminophosphines of the formula P-(NH (RNH) P and (R N) P; phosphoric acid amides of the formula (NH- PO, (RNH) PO and (R N) PO; thiophosphoric acid amides of the formulas (NH2)3PS, and (R2N)3PS.
Examples are: trimethylphosphine, triethylphosphine, tri-(2-cyanoethyl)phosphine, tri- (n-propyl) phosphine, tri- (r-butyl) phosphine, tri- (isobutyl) phosphine, tri( t-butyl) phosphine, triphenylphosphine, tri-(o -cresyhphosphine, tri-(p-cyanophenyl)phosphine, tri-(p-t-butylphenyl)phosphine, tri (o diphenylyl)phosphine, tri-(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl) phosphine, tri-(dimethylamino)phosphine, tri-(N- methylanilino)phosphine, tripyridinophosphine, trimorpholinophosphine etc.; also PH and analogs, in which 1 or 2 of the radicals attached to the phosphorus atoms are replaced by a hydrogen atom; and phosphorus derivatives, in which the radicals mentioned are attached to the phosphorus atom through an oxygen or sulfur atom instead of through a carbon atom, or in which the radicals mentioned are attached to a P=O, P=S, As, Sb or Bi.
Further, phosphorus trihalides, phosphorus tricyanides, phosphorus tricyanates and phosphorus trithiocyanates of the formulas XPH X PH and X P, in which X means chlorine, bromine, fluorine, iodine, cyanide, cyanate or thiocyanate; analogs which contain a combination of these with the above mentioned organic radicals; analogs in which the radicals mentioned are attached to the P=O, P=S, As, Sb or Bt.
Further ethers and thioethers, including polyethers of the formulas ROR and RSR. Examples are: diethyl ether, di-n-butyl ether, diisobutyl ether, dimethoxyethane, dipropoxyethane, furan, tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydrofurfuroxy-tetrahydropyran, -dihydropyran, anisole, di-p-tolyl ether, etc.; analogs, which contain sulfur instead of oxygen.
The proportional parts of the transitional metal compound and of the electron donors in the catalyst system to be electrolytically initiated can be determined by the composition of the desired complex. However, it is also possible to use one or the other of the components in excess. The mol proportion can vary in the range of 0.001 to 100,000. In great excess the electron donor can be the solvent at the same time. By adjusting the relative proportions of the 3 components, that is of the acetylene monomers, the transitional metal compound and the Lewis base, varying systems can be obtained which determine the type of end product. The proportion of Lewis base to the acetylene monomers may be very small. It
has been found that even the small amount of hydrogen phosphide present in technical acetylene is sufficient to convert acetylene in a solution of, for example, NiBr in acetonitrile, after previous electrolytic initiation into a linear, high molecular, crystalline product. The electron donor can be introduced continuously with the monomer to be polymerized. Special advantages would also result if the transitional metal halide were allowed to form continuously in the way described earlier by electro-corrosion of a corresponding anode.
For carrying out of the process according to the invention, a vessel with an electrolyzing device is necessary. Known devices can be used. For large scale production, it is suitable to use an installation such as is customary for the preparation of perborate, in which the container is provided, if need be, with a closure having valves.
The electrodes can be made of platinum, aluminum, magnesium, titanium, iron, copper, mercury, nickel, cobalt, graphite and the like. The reaction container itself, or parts thereof, can serve as cathodes. The anodes and the cathodes can be of similar or dissimilar materials. Further, the electrodes can be provided with scraping device or with a vibrator to prevent the sticking of high molecular polymers. They can also be separated by a diaphragm. It is advantageous to stir the reaction solution strongly.
The process according to the invention is carried out in a liquid medium in which the polymer accumulates either as a solution, emulsion or suspension. Straight or branched chain paraffins which contain up to about 10 carbons per molecule may serve as liquid media. Such parafiins are propane, n-butane, n-pentane, isopentane, nhexane, isohexane, 2,4,4-trimethylpentane, n-decane, etc.; cycloparafiins, such as cyclohexane, methylcyclohexane etc. Aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, ethyltoluene, diethylbenzene, isopropylbenzene, isopropyltoluene, monoand dialkylnaphthalene, as well as hydroaromatic hydrocarbons, such as tetralin, Decalin, etc., are also suitable. The solvents mentioned may contain inert substituents. Strongly polarized substituents, such as cyano-, trifluoromethyl-, carbonyl-, sulfonyl-, sulfoxyl-, amide, ester groups and the liike, are preferred because the polar solvents with high dielectric constants give better electrolytes and are all useful as they do not render impossible, as a result of strong coordination, the replacement of at least one of the transitional metal ligands by the alkine to be polymerized during the electrolysis. As examples may be mentioned: acetonitrile, benzonitrile, acetone, diethylketone, dimethyl sulfone, dimethylsulfoxide, tetramethylenesulfoxide (sulfolan), dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, diethyl sulfate and ethyl acetate. Also suitable as solvents are: alcohols, such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol; and water and aqueous solutions of organic solvents miscible with water. Fluid Lewis bases, too, especially ethers, as they have been listed earlier, can at the same time form a portion of the catalyst system and serve as solvents.
In general, a suitable medium is selected according to the electrolytic properties of the system to be prepared, according to the strength of the bond or participation in the spin orbit uncoupling of the ligands possibly present on the transitional metal, according to the reaction temperature at which the polymerization should be carried out, according to whether one wishes to obtain the end products either as soluble or insoluble phases; further, according to the kind of the monomer to be polymerized and finally also according to the type of end product desired.
Organic halides are to be mentioned as possibly successful auxiliary components in the charge. With these the desired transitional metal halides can the prepared batchwise or continuously through an electrolytic process as further below described. In many cases it is advantageous to add electrolytic conductors, such as amine salts, e.g. mono-, diand trim-butylamine hydrochloride; mono-, diand tri-tert.-butylamine hydrochloride; mono-, diand tri-n-octylamine hydrobromide; or quaternary ammoniurnor phosphonium salts, e.g. tetra-n-propylammonium chloride, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, tri-n-octyl ethylphosphonium chloride, or salts of organic sulfonic acids, eg sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, tetraisobutylammonium toluenesulfonate etc.
The process can be carried out batchwise or continuously. In a batch the actual catalyst is first prepared separately or in an electrolyzing container by mixing a transitional metal compound (e.g. nickel(II)bromide) with an electron donor (eg. triphenylphosphine) in an inert solvent (e.g. acetonitrile) of the pre-catalyst. The addition of the components can be carried out in any desired sequence; there are rather weighty practical considerations in this. If necessary the solution is prefiltered. In this connection it can be worth the trouble to keep out air, carbon dioxide and moisture from the reaction container. Small portions of these materials can, however, be present in the reaction mixture and can even be useful under some conditions. Suitably the work is done in an inert atmosphere, e.g. in nitrogen, argon etc., or the monomer itself is used in those cases where it is a gas.
With the above compounds given as examples, a dark green solution of a complex-compound is obtained which, at the corresponding mol proportion of the components, can have the chemical formula of (PPh .NiBr for example. With such compounds, until now the corresponding cyclic derivatives were obtained only from acrylic acid and acetylene. Their catalytic activity for the polymerization of acetylene was attained only by an electrolysis in the presence of an alkine. The otherwise expected separation of the metal (nickel) at the cathode is completely prevented by the alkine. It was surprising since it is known that 2-butine-1,4-diol and propargyl alcohol in the electrolytic nickeling are added as a glazing material.
It has already been mentioned that the hitherto known catalysts lose their activity rather quickly and in certain cases must even be used in stoichiometric amounts. In nickel(O)-complexes the zero valent nickel atom is the active catalytic particle, which quickly loses its activity as a result of the formation of metallic nickel, which under the conditions prevalent until now can be re-solvated only with ditficulty.
It is an advantage of the new process that the catalyst reaches its activity through electrolysis, because the electrolysis has turned against the processes taking place during the polymerization, which lead to the inactivation of the catalyst. The catalysis can be disturbed by change on the current density, and the duration of the electrolysis in a simple manner with great accuracy and uniformity. On this basis, the total amount of the precatalyst to be initiated electrolytically can be kept smaller, in many cases, than in the processes hitherto. Based on the monomer, it can vary between 0.01 and 2 mol percent. If desired, a higher proportion can be used in order then to have more room for play in the electrolytic activation. The concentration in the diluent can lie in the range of 0.01 to 5% by weight, and the desired conductivity of the electrolyte will be proportional thereto.
It was mentioned that the electron donor can be introduced simultaneously with the monomer into the reaction mixture. By the introduction of technical acetylene, which contains small amounts of hydrogen phosphide into a solution of nickel(II)bromide in acetonitrile in one study at room temperature, 24 g. of a solid polymer could be obtained by initiating the polymerization with a current strength which sufiiced theoretically for the production of only 0.12 g. of zero valent nickel on the cathode. Only insignificant amounts of benzene and cyclooctatetraene were formed additionally.
It is known that complexes with strong coordination (strong field of ligands), as they exist, for example, in
the extreme tetrahedral structure, are inactive. A relatively weak Lewis base, such as triphenylphosphine, permits a coordination deficiency of the transitional metal complex, e.g. nickel(O)bis-acrylonitrile, to be blocked so strongly that under conditions that are otherwise the same as in the cyclooctatetraene synthesis, 15 hours at 20 atmospheres, instead of cyclooctatetraene being formed with triphenylphosphine-nickel(O)-bis-acrylonitrile, benzene is now formed in addition to some styrene and a small amount of higher boiling fraction. With stronger Lewis bases, such as tri-n-butylphosphine, there are no more benzene derivatives formed. In contrast to this, the polymerization of acetylene always takes place in the process according to the invention after the electrolytic initiation of, e.g. the red solution of the complex NiBr .2PBu in acetonitrile.
In addition to acetylene itself, there are many other acetylene compounds useful as starting products for the new process. Examples are: the aliphatic straight chain and branched acetylenes, such as propine, l-butine, 3- methyl-l-butine, l-hexine, 2-hexine, 3-hexine and the corresponding higher alkylacetylenes, such as l-dodecine, 3-dodecine, 4-dodecine, l-octadecine, tert.-l-octadecine, 3-octadecine etc., including the diand poly-acetylenically unsaturated representatives, which may be conjugated, such as 1,3-butadiine, 2,4-hexadiine, 1,3,5-hexatriine; or may be non-conjugated, such as 1,4-pentadiine, 1,5-hexadiine, 1,6-heptadiine, 1,7-octadiine, 1,8-nonadiine, 1,11- dodecadiine, 1,17-octadecadiine etc.; the aromatic acetylenes, such as phenylacetylene, diphenylacetylene (tolan), diphenyldiacetylene, alkinylnaphthalene, alkinylanthracene, including the diand poly-acetylenically unsaturated representatives, such as o-, mand p-dialkinylbenzenes, dialkinylnaphthalene, dialkinylanthracene etc.; the substituted acetylenes, in which one or more hydrogen atoms of the organic radical are replaced by the following atoms, groups or heterocyclic rings: chlorine, bromine, iodine, fluorine, =0, :8, OH, OR, SH, SR, -COOH, CO-OR, OCOR, OCOOR, -CONH CONHR, CONR CN, ASH, SSR, AO OH, SO OR, SOR, SO R, NH NHR, -NR NO (R=organic radical), pyrryl, furyl, thienyl, pyrazolyl, thiazolyl, oxazolyl, 1,2,3-, 1,2,4- and 1,3,4-triazolyl, pyridyl, pyranyl, thiopyranyl, piperidyl, piperazyl, morpholinyl, thiazinyl, pyrazinyl, pyrimidyl, pyridazyl, triazinyl, quinolyl, quinazolyl, quinoxalyl etc., including the partially or completely hydrogenated heterocyclenes; the acetylenes, which at the same time exhibit one or more ethylenic linkages, that is acetylenes in which one or more hydrogen atoms of the organic radical are replaced by alkenyl, cycloalkenyl, aralkenyl, or alkenaryl, such as vinyl, allyl, methallyl, propenyl, isopropenyl, l-butenyl, Z-butenyl (crotyl), S-butenyl, pentenyl, hexenyl, butadienyl, cyclo pentenyl, cyclohexenyl, cyclohexadienyl, styryl, vinylphenyl, divinylphenyl, phenylallyl, allylphenyl etc.
Of the numerous compounds are the several mentioned below:
chloroacetylene, 3-chloropropine, 1,3-dibromopropine, 3-bromo-1-butine, 5-fiuoro-l-pentine, 1,4-dichloro-2-butine,
o-, mand p-chlorophenylacetylene, 3,4-dibromophenylacetylene, propiolyl chloride, tert.-butylpropiolyl chloride, bromopropionic acid, S-bromofuryl-Z-propiolic acid, 1-bntine-2-one,
ditert.-butyletheny1) -ketone, methoxyactylene,
propargyl aldehyde, phenylpropargyl aldehyde, tetrol aldehyde,
1 1 3-methyl-3-pentene-l-in-5-al, propargyl alcohol, l-butine-Z-ol, l-butine-3-ol, 2-butine-1-ol, 2-butine-1,4-diol, 1-pentine-3-ol, 4-methyl-1-pentine-3-ol, dimethyl-3-hexine-2,5-diol,
-, mand phydroxyphenylacetylene, tris(tert.-butylethinyl)-carbinol, 1-ethinylcyclohexane-1-01, dipropargyl ether,
propargyl ethyl ether, 1,4-dimethoxybutine, phenoxyacetylene, propargyl-butylsulfide, propiolic acid,
tetrolic acid, 3-butinecarboxylic acid, stearolic acid,
phenylpropiolic acid, carboxyphenylacetylene, acetylenedicarboxylic acid, 1-decine-l,10-dicarboxylic acid, vinylpropiolic acid,
methyl propiolate,
ethyl p-dimethylaminophenylpropiolate, propargyl acetate, 2-butine-1,4-diacetate,
, 1,2-dibutoxyacetylene,
The electrolytically initiated polymerization process can be carried out in a wide temperature range, for example from 75 to +300 C., and at pressures or partial pressures of fractions of an atmosphere to pressures of 350 atmospheres. Ordinarily temperatures higher than about 100 C. and pressures higher than about 30 atmospheres are not necessary. The type of product formed depends also on the temperature. At room temperature and normal pressure, linear high molecular polymers can be obtained. Although in the former processes the upper temperature limit in which the process might still be carried out was in many cases determined by the decomposition tempera ture of the catalyst, a limitation based on such a premise no longer exists in the present process, because the catalysts are contniually reformed or reactivated during the passage of the electric current. The stability of the catalyst may also be varied over wide limits by the type of ligands.
The type of the end product can be influenced decisively by the duration of electrolysis. With a relatively unstable catalytic system, it is possible to stop the polymerization momentarily by interrupting the direct current electrolysis possibly by a short depolarization. In a continuous process the electrolyte, which contains a certain amount of dissolved monomer, can stream by to the electrodes with a definite velocity. According to the duration of the time, which can vary from fractions of a second up to several minutes, the end products have a variable structure, since they may be aromatic, alicyclic or linear, and, in the last case, low or high molecular. Special advantages result from this also in the strongly exothermic and also often explosive polymerization, which until now could not be regulated in the manner described, particularly if the total amount of catalyst plus monomer were combined, as was the case, for example, in the closed vessel under pressure. With relatively stable catalysts the polymerization can be further carried out after interruption of the current input for a certain period (several seconds to hours).
The course of the polymerization can also be influenced in view of the desired end product, if the electrolysis is carried out with alternating current instead of with direct current or pulsating direct current. The alternating current can have a frequency varying from fractions of a period up to 5000 periods per second.
It has been found that technical acetylene, for example, can be converted, on catalysis initiated by alternating current (50 periods/second) with nickel (II) bromide dissolved in acetonitrile, at room temperature into a linear, black, high molecular, crystalline polyacetylene without the simultaneous formation of cyclooctatetraene as in the older processes. At higher frequencies (1000 periods/second) under the same conditions, no solid polyacetylene is formed. In case solid polyacetylene is formed, it contains, as a rule, lower valent transitional metals, whose content and distribution can be adjusted possibly through the above described procedure (duration at the electrodes, intensity of the electric current, direct current, pulsating direct current, alternating current, velocity of addition of the monomer). The contaminant of the polyacetylene by nickel (II) bromide formed on the anode can be prevented by means of a diaphragm. The nickel content of the polyacetylene can amount to about 620%, that is to about 630 acetylene units per 1 nickel atom.
The examples below are intended to explain the method of carrying out the invention rather than to bring a usable procedure into the technology. From the description hitherto given and the following examples, one skilled in the art will have no difliculty in finding the apparatus for a large scale production, especially since already known devices of this type can be used.
EXAMPLE 1 A glass container with an electrolyzing device according to FIG. 1 is used. The cathode consists of platinum foil (0.05 mm.). The anode consists of a rod of nickel. The electrodes are arranged as concentric cylinders (height 60 mm., diameter of the anode 10 mm. of the cathode 7-0 mm.).
The electrolyte solution is prepared with the exclusion of moisture in an atmosphere of nitrogen. Anhydrous nickel bromide (1.2 g. dried in a vacuum at C.) and acetonitrile (250 ml. dried over phosphorus pentoxide and distilled) are put together and stirred until a green solution forms (about 1-2 hours). The solution is filtered through a glass frit (porosity 02) into the electrolyzing container. The clear solution is saturated with acetylene gas (impure, commercial carbide-acetylene). At an applied direct current potential of 14 volts, an electric current of 0.2 ampere flows through the cell. The electrolyte is immediately colored a deep black. Further acetylene is introduced, upon which a storng absorption takes place, and a fluocculent black suspension of solid polyacetylene forrns with the evolution of heat. After 40 minutes the electric current is interrupted. At this time about millifaradays of current have flowed through the cell. The pick up of acetylene continues for about minutes more after the interruption of the current. At the anode the calculated amount of nickel (2.5 mg. atom) has dissolved off. The solid polyacetylene is removed by filtration, washed twice with acetone, and dried in vacuum at 40 C. 4.9 g. of a black, finely dispersed polyacetylene are obtained. According to analysis the product contains 81% C, 7% H, 4% Br and 6.6% Ni. The polyacetylene can serve as a semiconductor and as a carrying material for heterogeneous catalysts. It can also be added to artificial fibers. 0n washing with dilute hydrochloric acid the nickel and bromine are removed. The IR-spectrum shows a strong absorption band at 1012 cm.- An X-ray powder diagram shows the strong reflection at an angle size which corresponds to a distance of 3.65 A. units between the peaks of maximum density. It is the case therefore of a linear, high molecular, transpolyacetylene. The electrolysis conditions can be adjusted and/or the solid polyacetylene can be treated, e.g. with a mineral acid, to adjust the nickel content to a desired level of from about to parts per million or even parts per billion, if desired. The desired level of nickel my vary depending on the use, e.g. as a semiconductor the desired level may be quite low near the lower end of the range suggested above. With other transition metal catalysts the same levels of metal in the polymer are desirable and can be obtained. For other than semiconductor use desirable levels of metal in the polymer will normally be in the range of 0.1 to 15%. From the filtrate 0.3 g. of cyclooctatetraene are isolated. If the same study is carried out with alternating current (50 periods/second), no cyclooctatetraene is formed in addition to the solid polyacetylene (gas chromatographic estimation).
EXAMPLE 2 Impure acetylene is introduced into a solution of 3 g. of nickel dibromide in 260 ml. of acetonitrile and the solution electrolyzed for only minutes. At-this time 2.1 millifaradays of current have flowed through the cell. There were now introduced during 100 minutes more acetylene, and after filtration 24.5 g. of solid, black polyacetylene was obtained, which has a crystalline structure.
EXAMPLE 3 A glass container with an electrolyzing device according to FIGS. 2-6 is used. It consists of 2 parts which are separated by one diaphragm (filter paper, about 0.1 mm.) between perforated glass plates (7 holes with 15 mm. diameter each). The electrodes (distance 160 mm.) consist of thin foil plates (diameter 60 mm), the cathode of platinum and the anode of nickel. The volumes of the anode and cathode portions amount to 275 ml. each. The addition of the electrolytes follows that in Example 1 with the use of 2.4 g. of nickel dibromide at 550 ml. of acetonitrile. At a PD. of 135 volts the electric current amounts to 0.2 ampere. Impure acetylene is introduced in 2 portions. In the cathode part, black, insoluble polyacetylene forms at once. Only in the cathode portion is acetylene absorbed and used. In the anode portion the concentration of nickel dibromide rises in the course of the electrolysis, and it forms a precipitate of bright yellow nickel bromide. After 40 minutes, the electric current is interrupted. Up to this time about 5 millifaradays of current have passed through the cell. After filtering ofi of the cathodic suspension, one obtains 1.8 g. of black polyacetylene. In contrast to the product from Example 1, it contains no nickel bromide.
If the same study is carried out with purified acetylene (free of PH and a catalyst of nickel bromide plus tri-nbutylphosphine (1:1), black, insoluble polyacetylene forms also.
EXAMPLE 4 The same apparatus was used in Example 1. The electrolyte consists of a solution of 0.55 g. of anhydrous nickel dibromide in 250 ml. of anhydrous tetrahydrofuran, freshly distilled over LiAlH To this solution 15.0
20 g. of dimethylacetylene are added. The initial P.D. amounts to 300 volts, the initial current milliamperes. The red solution becomes brighter, and the conductivity gradually sinks. A black precipitate forms at the cathode. The study is broken ofi" after 78 hours. At this point 17.2 millifaradays of current have passed through the cell. The solid product of the solution is filtered oil with exclusion of oxygen, washed with petroleum ether, and dried in a vacuum. One obtains 1.0 g. of poly-2-butine, which Is extremely sensitive to oxygen. Analysis shows that the product contains 31.2% C, 4.24% H, 29.87% Br and 30.51% Ni. An X-ray powder diagram shows that the product is extensively crystalline and contains no metallic nickel. It contains monovalent nickel (a red solution with nickel (I) cyanide). The product can serve as a catalyst. 35 In a similar study cobalt (II) bromide is used instead of nickel (II) bromide. Hexamethylbenzene is obtained exclusively.
What is claimed is:
1. Solid linear crystalline trans-polyacetylene having nickel therein, and resulting from subjecting to electrolysls a complex compound of a nickel compound and an electron donor; and, acetylene, an acetylenic compound or mixtures thereof.
References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,092,613 6/1963 Kennerly et al 260941 3,098,843 7/1963 Luttinger 26094.1X 3,174,956 3/ 1965 Luttinger 26094.1X 3,271,378 9/1966 Daniels 26094.1X 3,119,799 1/ 1964 Natta et al 260-94.1
JAMES A. SEIDLECK, Primary Examiner w. F. HAMROCK, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.
Referenced by
Citing PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitle
US4093790 *Jan 5, 1972Jun 6, 1978Labofina S.A.Polyphenylene resins
US4371393 *Jun 2, 1981Feb 1, 1983Rohm And Haas CompanyZero valent metal recovery with polyacetylene
US4640749 *May 7, 1985Feb 3, 1987Basf AktiengesellschaftElectrically conductive pyrrole copolymers and their preparation
US5028354 *Oct 5, 1987Jul 2, 1991Regents Of The University Of CaliforniaConductive articles of intractable polymers method for making
U.S. Classification528/392, 524/435, 205/414, 526/285
International ClassificationC08F38/00, C08F10/00
Cooperative ClassificationC08F10/00, C08F38/00
European ClassificationC08F38/00, C08F10/00 | http://www.google.com/patents/US3578626 | dclm-gs1-208760002 | false | true | {
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0.150653 | <urn:uuid:2c423e1f-c950-4b44-9385-5217679cb221> | en | 0.942425 | 1 83 bellevue ave bristol, CT 06016
Specializing in American Continental and Italian cuisine, chef Oscar Monterroso immerses taste buds into gourmet meals packed with emerging trends and flavors. With nearly a decade of restaurant experience tucked into his apron, Chef Oscar has doled out dishes across the United States. Today, having planted his fork-emblem flag on the East Coast, he showcases his talents by travelling to clients' homes and preparing three- to five-course gourmet meals. Chef Oscar also leads interactive dinner parties, enabling groups of students to chop, dice, and whisk their way to becoming better cooks.
Indulge isn't currently running any deals
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0.142281 | <urn:uuid:31bd9424-299b-4ee7-8241-59cfa1185f8d> | en | 0.910414 | 10.3886/ICPSR09430.v1 Sutch, Richard Ransom, Roger Southern Agricultural Households in the United States, 1880 Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research 1991 agriculture American Civil War census data crops farming household composition households livestock national economy nineteenth century race Southern United States wages and salaries 1991-03-05 2007-09-19 1879 1880 census/enumeration data 9430 1 This data collection describes the organization of agriculture and the operation of the Southern economy following the Civil War, with emphasis on the relationship between race and tenure status of farm operators. Economic and agricultural data were compiled from the 1880 Census of Agriculture. Information provided includes the location of the farm (region, state, county, and enumeration district), tenure of the farm operator, number of acres in tillage, meadows, woodland, and other uses, type of crops being farmed and production figures, and the number of various livestock (horses, mules, oxen, cows, sheep, and swine). Additionally, data are presented on the value of the farm, farm implements, livestock, and farm products, and costs associated with fences, fertilizer, and wages. Demographic information drawn from the 1880 Census of Population includes the race, literacy, age, and birthplace of the farm operator, number of people living in the house, and number of people working on the farm. | http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/datacite/studies/9430 | dclm-gs1-208810002 | false | false | {
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0.394871 | <urn:uuid:243347f4-30be-495a-a89c-a4459d6428a7> | en | 0.951535 | Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics
Critic score distribution:
1. Positive: 25 out of 32
2. Negative: 0 out of 32
2. 91
3. 80
Entertaining and subtle at once, it doesn't just dazzle us with the hows and whys of a particularly wily brand of thievery; it transports us to a specific time and place that often seems to fall between significant eras. The Bank Job is set in a country that's in transition, an extended metaphor for the way its characters are in transition, too.
4. 75
5. Slick, ice-cold and enjoyable, The Bank Job is a bit of all right.
6. 75
7. Feels both absolutely of the 1970s and absolutely fresh.
8. Reviewed by: Steve Winn
A brisk, entertaining crime thriller.
9. 75
A surprisingly tight, clever, twisty heist tale.
10. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
Imagine a blend of "Snatch," "Ocean's 11" and "The Italian Job." Then juxtapose the staples of the caper genre with real events involving national security and high-level corruption, and the result is The Bank Job.
11. 75
A heist movie in the classic tradition - it details every aspect of the caper, from its genesis to its aftermath. The fact that there's political intrigue and espionage swirling around the edges only makes it more fascinating.
12. Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
The suspense aspect works like mad, but what's also noteworthy is the character component, which at times evokes a "Smash Palace"-era Donaldson.
13. Statham fans weaned on the adrenaline flowing through "The Transporter" and "Crank" may feel short-changed, but the rest of us can appreciate the unassuming, old-fashioned craftsmanship of The Bank Job, which is based on a true-life heist.
14. Based more on rumor and supposition than fact. It's a highly entertaining set of hypotheses.
16. Statham's totally believable. He might yet become Bruce Willis.
17. 70
The film dawdles at times. but for the most part Donaldson keeps just the right amount of tension present in each scene.
18. Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
There is not a lot of scintillating dialogue in The Bank Job, but there are plenty of kinky sexual allusions and it includes a torture sequence about as brutal as anything you're likely to see in the movies these days.
21. 70
22. 70
Fascinating: supposedly the crooks kept all the cash and jewelry, but their sponsors in the MI5 were really after sexually explicit blackmail photos of Princess Margaret and other aristocrats that were being held by the revolutionary Michael X.
23. Reviewed by: Josh Rosenblatt
Unlike the other great caper films of the last 10 years, like "Ocean’s 11" and "The Italian Job" – stylish affairs in which punishment is close enough to give the audience a sense of lingering danger but never so close that it gets in the way of the technological fetishism and love of tailored shirts that apparently make grand larceny such a kick – the blowback in The Bank Job is real and ugly and involves some sort of pneumatic paint-stripping machine that would freak out the Coen Brothers.
24. One doesn't want to oversell the film; you could catch it on DVD and regret nothing. But, frankly, in a marketplace that tends toward cranked-up action thrills, it's just nice to watch a level-headed crime movie aimed at actual grown-ups.
25. Semi-decent, somewhat okay, not-half-bad.
26. A slow-paced and often confusingly plotted crime drama that never lives up to the delicious potential of its premise.
27. Reviewed by: Stina Chyn
The Bank Job secures the viewer’s attention pretty quickly and does not relinquish that hold for a second.
28. The workmanlike title The Bank Job is a nice fit for this wham-bam caper flick.
29. Reviewed by: Leslie Felperin
An engrossing if underwhelming period thriller.
30. 58
Donaldson also misses the chance to score some easy laughs from his petty criminals, who are infinitely more audacious than they are competent.
31. 50
What The Bank Job ends up stealing is all your precious time.
32. 50
The movie doesn't hang together as a thriller, and the characters don't hang together as interesting people.
User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 96 Ratings
User score distribution:
1. Positive: 37 out of 39
2. Negative: 1 out of 39
1. LeeT.
Oct 1, 2008
2. TerryG.
Jul 14, 2008
Statham does more thought provoking movies than anyone out there. And if you think you can keep up with him physically, well he'll just kick your ASS there, too. Full Review »
3. RJ
Mar 16, 2008
Not very exciting. not too intriguing either. Even if it was based on a true story, this film sucked. | http://www.metacritic.com/movie/bankjob/critic-reviews | dclm-gs1-208880002 | false | false | {
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0.158397 | <urn:uuid:9c258cbe-c5b4-41cf-8fda-871059fe0c2f> | en | 0.942111 | Mixed or average reviews - based on 38 Critics
Critic score distribution:
1. Positive: 10 out of 38
2. Negative: 9 out of 38
1. If In the Cut falls short of the masterpiece Campion intended, it's unquestionably the most ambitious and important film to come along in months.
2. Reviewed by: Clint Morris
Like “Basic Instinct”, it’s a sexually charged thriller centering around a cop and a sex-mad and slightly perplexing woman.
3. Ryan's performance burns with a rare and passionate veracity. The other half of the delight comes from director Jane Campion, whose sensualist eye and scabrous heart infuse In the Cut with guts and glory.
4. The movie has a nasty, creepy edge that never lets up, and the characters are deliberately grating and alienating. This is a thriller that, like some classic noirs, glories in its own mean aura, its casual profanity and grotesque violence.
5. Grim and sordid though it often is, the film has a steady flow of visually absorbing images. It's an art movie for the masses.
6. Actually, the film may be too grubby and sordid and ghoulish for its own box-office good. It's certainly going to send more than a few of the New Zealand director's sensitive women fans running from the auditorium.
7. Jane Campion's astonishingly beautiful new film may be the most maddening and imperfect great movie of the year.
8. The best (which also means the sexiest) Campion feature since "The Piano," featuring Meg Ryan's best performance to date and an impressive one by Mark Ruffalo.
9. 63
Meg Ryan does such an effective job of evoking her sexually hungry lonely girl that it might have been better to just follow that line and not distract her and the audience with the distraction of a crime plot.
10. As a thriller, In the Cut, with its red herring characters and plot twists, turns dopey and predictable. As a portrait of a single woman, burned by love and wary of what's in store, Campion's movie has its trenchant, telling passages.
11. Reviewed by: Ken Fox
12. Reviewed by: Emma Cochrane
Romantic images are subverted, the sex scenes are graphic and desperate. It's less grim than Susanna Moore's original novella, but the foreshadowing that all is not right is in everything, from the music to the dialogue.
13. A disjointed, sometimes fascinating mélange of moods, associations and effects.
14. 58
An intermittently gorgeous and evocative film that's so taken with its trangressively bloody and erotic content, it neglects such fussy niceties as coherent plotting and the creation of characters of middling intelligence, plausible psychology or sympathetic nature.
15. 50
The result, sadly, is a mess.
16. 50
A disappointing erotic thriller from director Jane Campion that amounts to an implausible update on "Looking for Mr. Goodbar."
17. Reviewed by: Mike Clark
An OK mood piece but story-hungry murder mystery that flubs its whodunit fundamentals.
18. 50
19. More ambitious, but also much harder to swallow than the average Hollywood hack effort, In the Cut is a muddle of thriller and art-house phantasmagoria.
20. Ultimately never slices things as sharply as it attempts, but it’s definitely a cut above.
21. 50
22. 50
Aggressively grim and gory.
23. Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
Beautifully crafted and highlighted by an arresting change-of-pace perf by Meg Ryan as an English teacher erotically awakened by a homicide detective. But the story's unpalatable narrative holes and dramatic missteps will hold sway over the pic's better qualities.
24. 50
At once belabored and muddled movie, whose dreamy visual style and daring sexual material can't elide glaring inconsistencies in tone, plot and logic.
25. 40
Campion and company may like to think they've made something provocative, moody and new but it's really just "Looking For Mr. Goodbar" with extra nuts.
26. 40
Isn't just a movie about decapitation; it's a decapitated movie. It has no idea where its head is at.
27. Campion is dabbling in several different types of movie here: police procedural, film noir, romantic melodrama, sex fantasia. None really succeeds.
28. A remarkably dislikable film, long on atmosphere -- I admired Dion Beebe's brooding cinematography -- and desperately short on vitality.
29. 38
The movie is all moist grime and seedy atmosphere, and it's certainly something to look at: It's beautifully lurid. But it's an empty, unengaging movie, and by the end, it has become ridiculous, too.
30. Campion has made something that's almost unbearably pretentious.
31. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
It might even work if In the Cut was remotely convincing as a thriller, but Campion can't help wrinkling her nose at genre.
32. 30
As a movie, it must stand or fall by intense chemistry between the lead characters. Sadly, as co-written by Campion and Moore, In the Cut suffers from a fatal emotional and erotic imbalance.
33. Although Ryan is cannily cast against type, she doesn't bring much more than muttery incoherence and nudity to the role.
34. 30
In the Cut is completely controlled and all of a piece, and yet, apart from one performance (Mark Ruffalo), it's terrible--a thriller devoid of incidental pleasures or humor, or even commonplace reality. [27 October 2003, p. 112]
35. 25
In the Cut is a disaster. Familiar to the bone, arty on the surface, it could serve as the doomed pilot for a nightmare TV spinoff: Law & Order: Literary Victims Unit.
36. Campion has no clue how to sustain suspense and no actress of the caliber of Holly Hunter, Nicole Kidman or Kate Winslet (her recent leading ladies) in the main role.
37. Ryan radiates neither desire nor terror. She's freeze-dried in a world of lifelessly abstract feminine fear, and so is the movie.
User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 26 Ratings
User score distribution:
1. Positive: 8 out of 15
2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
3. Negative: 7 out of 15
1. HoinzaA.
Jun 22, 2006
[***SPOILERS***] The movie's edge seems to lay in the fact that the main female character "knows" unconsciously (until the very end) that the guy she is sleeping might be a killer. The plot is just a context to explore human relationships and the power they have to bring someone out of the slumber and numbness of everyday life. Full Review »
2. MattP.
Oct 17, 2005
This is an entertaining movie with breathtaking cinematography... if anything, that brings this movie to be worth viewing. I haven't seen many films that have such evocative cinematography. Full Review » | http://www.metacritic.com/movie/in-the-cut/critic-reviews?dist=neutral | dclm-gs1-208890002 | false | false | {
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0.023739 | <urn:uuid:06684535-bbe8-4ec3-9205-96c178d884f0> | en | 0.942999 | Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 18 Critics
Critic score distribution:
1. Positive: 3 out of 18
2. Negative: 6 out of 18
1. 38
3. 30
The script boasts more writers than the computerized menagerie's got megabytes, but they haven't come up with much variety or humor in what is essentially a string of catastrophes.
4. Mostly trite and tacky despite Robin Williams's strenuous acting.
5. Reviewed by: John Leland
6. Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
Director Joe Johnston's elaborately dressed kids' movie--about a board game that sucks its players into a perilous jungle overrun by lions, rhinos, monkeys, crocodiles and spiders--spends so much time on the how of special effects that it neglects the why of characterization.
User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 63 Ratings
User score distribution:
1. Positive: 14 out of 15
2. Negative: 0 out of 15
1. ShlumGuy
Jul 10, 2006
Metacritic got this one WRONG, this was a great movie. Too many people compare the book to the movie directly which is horribly bias, and unfair. Judge this movie without the book in mind, it is unfair to do otherwise. If you do, which you should since every other movie should be judged that way, this way a great movie! Full Review »
2. Sep 29, 2011
This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. I consider this movie as one of my all time favourite movies, and also Robin Williams as one of my favourite actors.
This is the story of Alan Parish who finds a board game, which unknown to him releases the inhabititants of the game, depending on the role of the dice.
While playing the game with a girl called Sarah from his street, they both decide to stop playing the game, but Alan un-wittingly throws the dice, and the game punishes him, by sucking him into the game with the message ' In the jungle you must wait, till the dice reads five or eight'.
Many years later Judy & Peter who have moved into Alans house, find the game, and begin playing it, and Peter eventually throws an eight, thus releasing alan from the game.
What follows in an action paced film, with great special effects.
If you want to watch a great film then get this one.
Full Review »
3. BobS.
May 31, 2008
Awesome movie. Action, adventure, comedy. | http://www.metacritic.com/movie/jumanji/critic-reviews?dist=negative | dclm-gs1-208900002 | false | false | {
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0.099151 | <urn:uuid:e062c7b9-7035-48c0-ae52-84067db45ec4> | en | 0.959239 | User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings
User score distribution:
1. Positive: 14 out of 19
2. Negative: 2 out of 19
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1. ChadS.
Jul 17, 2002
"Time Out" is an art film. "Amelie" is a commercial film that just happens to be from France. I'm not knocking the Jean-Pierre Jeunet charmer but this amazing movie by Laurent Cantet is the French import people should be going ga-ga over. Cantet nails scene after scene like when Vincent (Aurelian Recoing) parks his car for overnight lodging in the lot after a meeting with his friend/client, or when our vagabond walks through the United Nations headquarters. All those lies Vincent has to maintain, and yet so functional with loved ones. Recoing is superb. I also like how "Time Out" has the same storyline as an episode of "The Flintstones" in which Fred becomes The Gravelberry Pie King. Well, there goes my credibility. Expand
2. AndyS.
Apr 5, 2002
If the Greek tragedians were making movies set in the contempory corporate West , and if concision and compression and plot were no longer important to them, and if they were French, they might come up with something like Time Out. It ends on a genuinely tragic note, expressing an inconsolable desolation (of the existential flavor, naturalment) which is at once deeply personal to the main character and emblematic of his society. In short, this is not a good date movie. You and your companion will feel the terminal ennui of life in our soulless culture, which is not to be confused with an aphrodisiac. On the other hand, you will witness remarkable acting, beautiful pictures, and the knockout ending which is worth the price of admission. I say give it a try. Expand
3. JeanetteD.
Jun 28, 2002
I was drawn into the character as I've seldom been. Empathy big time.
4. PaulaW.
Mar 3, 2003
The concept is promising, and the movie gets off to a good start: a laid-off executive drives around all day, calling his wife at intervals to tell her he's in meetings, covering the mouthpiece when the kids at the playground get too noisy. It can't last and he digs himself deeper and deeper in an attempt to keep up appearances at home. This is a painful story to watch, and the pitch-perfect, unflinching acting makes it even more so. But the pain is ratcheted up to unbearable and, I think, unnnecessary levels by the glacial pace at which the story moves. In many scenes we watch in real time as the protagonist pulls off the highway and into a parking lot, in silence. The visuals in the movie are stylish enough in an anti-stylish way: cramped, flat, indoors, in the car or under a cloudy sky, but nothing that justifies holding each shot this long. The 132 minutes of the movie seem as long as the entire seven months of the character's ordeal. This may be the point, to make you feel the character's pain and bewilderment as he feels it, but that's more pain than I care to volunteer for. Expand
5. MarcK.
Apr 7, 2002
Stunned to see the high ratings given to this film by most critics. While not at all a boring movie, I'm bored by watching existentialism in a movie. Might be a hit with college students though!
6. HowardS.
Apr 8, 2002
A perfect follow-up to "Human Resources."
7. VidaB.
Jun 28, 2002
I liked the movie very much: plot, acting, filming, music. The double ending was confusing. But then it gave me a great deal to mull. The change in the character during the interview was superb.
8. Ryan
Sep 15, 2003
The ending makes me cry. Its heartbreaking irony, intense emotions, and beautiful music are just too much. No other film in 2002 came close to achieving the power of this film.
9. JFHarrumph
Aug 8, 2004
Um let me make an immediate point that everyone, including the critics, seems to have missed: the movie isn't about existentential crisis and high falutin abstract concepts, it's about the mental illness of the Vincent character. It's about a condition of deep denial. It happens and it's real. The movie is highly effective, and the content of the movie demanded the slow creepy pacing, anything otherwise would have been ineffective. I was knocked out by it. Collapse
10. KlondikeV.
Jul 23, 2002
this movie was terrible! it felt like a long slow death... and i'm usually a fan of "art" movies! i can't believe what high marks and praise people have given it here.. the main character was a psychopath! there was nothing sympathetic about him!
11. ButteredPopcorn
Nov 16, 2003
I think Paula W.'s review about hit it on the head. I kept waiting to find a little something more in this movie, but it just didn't come. The character who plays the smuggling kingpin stole the show.
12. JimL.
Feb 28, 2003
Boring. Didn't find anything - characters, plot or actions- of interest here.
Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critics
Critic score distribution:
1. Positive: 29 out of 30
2. Negative: 0 out of 30
1. Reviewed by: Rich Cline
This is brilliant filmmaking.
2. A well-crafted indictment of the dark side of the modern work ethic.
3. 50
Looks great but moves like molasses, is more interesting than truly involving. | http://www.metacritic.com/movie/time-out/user-reviews?user_review_id=464091 | dclm-gs1-208910002 | false | false | {
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0.021125 | <urn:uuid:2686513c-b725-44c1-96c4-06572097a64b> | en | 0.925064 | VIDEO: ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ dance-off reunion
During Will Smith and his son Jaden’s whirlwind press tour through England for their movie “After Earth,” the father and son duo topped by a Graham Norton set. In a surprise move, they brought along friends DJ Jazzy Jeff and Alfonso Ribeiro, both from “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and performed the famous theme song and busted out Carlton’s signature dance routine to the delight of the audience.
But, it wasn’t all smooth sailing in the U.K. for Will. Before the Champion’s League match, he stopped by the UEFA Champions Festival on the International Quarter to try and score some penalty kicks against Edwin van der Sar, the former Manchester United keeper. Despite taking a running start and a giant kick, Will barely tapped the ball and sent it spinning slowly to the wide left of the goal.
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| http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/gossip/2013/05/28/video-fresh-prince-of-bel-air-dance-off-reunion/ | dclm-gs1-208930002 | false | false | {
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Posts by kateaton
this exactly
I have the crazy I would like twins side too! I found out tomorrow at my ultrasound.
I don't know, I don't think I could pull that diet off for a million dollars right now! I just suffer through it. But I'm not throwing up or anything, but I just feel utterly gross and queazy 24/7. I'm pretty miserable right now. I'm trying an amber necklace, as I read positive things about that and morning sickness, but it's not helping. Ginger is not helping, as I have an aversion to it. I've tried seabands in the past, and they didn't help either. I have no...
I so want to be this way! I told myself before we conceived that I wouldn't worry this time around, I would just be chill. But, alas, I have struggled with worry and find myself getting anxious over little things. For me, I think that part of the hormonal changes make me very prone to anxiety just as I am extremely emotionally sensitive (crying over stupid things, etc).
I feel your pain- I have been there. I was at the point where I could eat about 12 foods that I didn't react to. And my kids had major restrictions too. We were the social outcasts. I also had chronic fatigue syndrome and a lyme diagnosis at the same time, so I was pretty much living on my couch. I'm not there any more, and have very few food intolerances. My kids are doing great too. Gaps was a big part of that, for my older dd and me. Also prayer was another...
Meta- I'm so, so sorry for your loss. I know that pain, and it just sucks. I hope for much healing and peace as you go forward in the coming days. You will definitely be missed here. Take care of yourself
awww, that stinks that you have to wait all weekend. a test of patience for sure. let us know your numbers when you get them. Now that I had mine done, I'm always interested in other women's numbers. Sound like it's good news to me. What else did they test for beside betas?
Inna- hopefully you will feel more human once you hit the second trimester. I always have. But yes this part is not fun. But the benefit of the brain fog is that it serves as a sort of amnesia- you'll forget just how much it sucked and you won't remember exactly what you're feeling right now. It sort of works the same for giving birth- at least for me. Last time, I was like oh I remember that this is what it feels like- I hate this, and sersiously wondered why I...
thanks for all this info ladies.. it's helpful to hear how it works for others. In reading through your lists, I feel like we are already doing a good portion of those. We own both of our vehicles outright and they're older, so we pay lower insurance/taxes. The thing is we need to start saving for replacement ones, since these won't last forever. We do have a land line, but only use trac phones for cells. These are only for emergencies and are prepaid. We...
try taking a walk during the day- it usually helps me sleep better at night. It does seem counterintuitive, but exercise will help you to have more energy during the day too, even if it's just a little.
New Posts All Forums: | http://www.mothering.com/community/forums/posts/by_user/id/137364/page/90 | dclm-gs1-208950002 | false | false | {
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0.019141 | <urn:uuid:3428f641-202c-4bdb-956c-b6a3bbcf9fd5> | en | 0.96453 | State Senator Martin Dilan Heralds Education Bill Benefiting New York’s Senior Citizens
"In 1974, seniors in New York were given the opportunity to audit courses at the State University without tuition or credit. This bill would expand on that law by enabling seniors, aged 60 and over to attend courses without tuition while also receiving credit for their courses," said Senator Dilan.
The Brooklyn lawmaker noted that while the 1974 law was a step in the right direction, it left much to be desired.
"By permitting seniors to gain credit for their course work we are providing them with an opportunity to further their education as well as challenge themselves. To be able to participate in college courses as a regular student enables them to fully immerse themselves in their studies. This legislation is especially beneficial to retirees who can use this as a way to keep themselves active and involved in the community," said Senator Dilan.
Seniors will be allowed a maximum of nine credit hours per semester, and the availability of the courses will be on a space-available basis. Once enrolled in the courses, seniors who are taking the course tuition free will be able to interact with their professors and fellow students and be graded like the rest of the class.
Senator Dilan is now urging the Assembly to act on this bill, he said, "This legislation will have a tremendous impact on seniors throughout the state. For those who are eligible to enroll tuition free, participating in college course work will enrich their lives and stimulate their minds. For some it might be a continuation of their studies, and for others the opportunity to take a college course for the first time. Either way it will have a positive and lasting impact on the senior community." | http://www.nysenate.gov/news/state-senator-martin-dilan-heralds-education-bill-benefiting-new-york-s-senior-citizens | dclm-gs1-209020002 | false | false | {
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0.027116 | <urn:uuid:5d17abc7-a865-41a9-8c39-1988368ee2cb> | en | 0.960108 | Celebrating the misfits at Weenie Roast 2010
June 6th, 2010, 1:59 pm ·
Attribute that to three factors:
With KROQ titans like Green Day, Muse, Metallica, Linkin Park and Coldplay, among others, all unavailable to cap this roster, the night became a de facto salute to sobering up and surviving the excesses of '90s rock -- a concept that would have been a disaster if all three top-tier acts weren't up to the task of engaging 15,000 sunburned and partied-out patrons.
All this might not have been planned with so much rock-history aesthetic behind it simply because, well, this is Weenie Roast, a promotional vehicle as much as a thank-you party for listeners willing and able to score tickets. The event's finish -- Love's reopened Hole, then STP, then Sublime with Rome -- was more or less dictated by the current music-biz cycle. The first two are pushing new albums, not just reunions; Courtney, good for her, seems to be mounting a long-overdue, look-I'm-not-batcrap-crazy career rehabilitation, while Scott is successfully well into his.
As for this much-debated version of Sublime, which some people (Nowell's estate, for instance) wish would go by another name -- it's nonetheless rapidly becoming a local (heck, national) phenomenon, even if the group's sole function is to peddle nostalgia the same way Journey does with its Filipino Steve Perry sound-alike Arnel Pineda. That's the whole point, and that's why this works so well: it zeroes in on a long-festering, now-insatiable desire among fans, especially younger ones who missed out the first time around, to see and hear as much of the genuine Sublime as remains.
Oh, and one other reason to like 'em: they're reliable now. Yeah, the real thing could peak higher, but take it from one who saw 'em back in the day: Sublime rarely managed to actually peak on stage; their drug-taking (both a help and a hindrance) was rarely in sync with their set times.
All the same, an hour or so of Sublime isn't everyone's favorite Weenie relish. Smartly, if only to get forever-bad Verizon traffic flowing faster, the group did its best to send nonfans home early by opening with “Date Rape,” following it soon after with “Smoke Two Joints” -- then saving the rest of the Really Big Ones (“Wrong Way,” for one) for later, thus boring some people to sleep.
Most, I bet, would agree that STP probably should have closed –- though who knew they'd rev so right this night? I haven't seen them so strong since Weiland, the DeLeo brothers and drummer Eric Kretz initially regrouped to headline the Hollywood Bowl a little less than two years ago. That time they had something to prove, and did so handily. Yet the parade of performances that has followed has been a steady decline into sometimes lazy routine.
Indeed, though the really potent stuff came during reinvigorated standbys (“Big Empty” rarely so murky yet cathartic, “Interstate Love Song” and “Plush” chrome-polished, “Dead & Bloated” as thunder-footed as ever), the retro-fresh bits worked. The '60s swing of “Between the Lines,” the Jimmy Page riffs of “Hickory Dichotomy” and the Aerosmith rethink “Huckleberry Crumble” (it's “Same Old Song and Dance” with a twist) all held up sturdily alongside more obvious crowd-pleasers.
“Between the Lines,” the new disc's first single, even provided a slogan of sorts for this resurrection of the infamous and the troubled: “You always were my favorite drug / Even when we used to take drugs.”
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Children reading a book together
Join a Babysitting Co-op
Babysitters typically charge $10 or more an hour, making it tough to justify a date night when you're pinching pennies, but babysitting co-ops are free.
"You use [the co-op] as much as you want or as little as you want, but I would say you'll save easily $100 a month," says Gary Meyer, author of Smart Mom's Baby-Sitting Co-op. According to Gary, babysitting co-ops are usually an organized group of women from the same neighborhood, church or circle of friends who take turns watching each other's children free of charge.
When Gary's wife joined a local babysitting co-op in the late '90s, his family of five felt financial relief immediately. His wife, a full-time mom, also started to feel better emotionally and was able to make thriftier choices while running errands because she didn't always have three kids in tow. "It's one thing to have the convenience of babysitting co-ops, so that you can have dates and dine out and don't have to pay $50 bucks for the sitter, but it is another thing to have peace of mind and plan your errands out [so you can] shop wisely," Gary says. Here are some tips from Gary on starting a babysitting co-op:
• Be selective. Try to find women who have a similar parenting style as you, and make sure their homes are safe and clean.
• Dads can join too. Co-ops aren't just for moms. As long as everyone in the group approves, dads can be part of a babysitting co-op too.
• It isn't daycare. Most babysitting sessions last just two to five hours, long enough to run errands, meet up with friends or go on a date. Babysitting co-ops are not replacements for daycare.
• Learn more. If you are interested in starting a co-op, you can download a free startup kit from Gary's website, BabysittingCoop.com.
How to save money on food.
PAGE 2 of 6
Published on September 09, 2009 | http://www.oprah.com/money/Families-Who-Save-Together/2 | dclm-gs1-209040002 | false | false | {
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0.019436 | <urn:uuid:52ada9db-0bf5-4614-aba1-ec83d101af55> | en | 0.894664 | Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks Bob
Think about Loose Coupling
Comment on
Sounds interesting. I have had unification on my mind a lot lately as well. Unification just makes life really nice, as you can be declarative instead of imperative. Modern functional languages like OCaml and (especially) Haskell use tons of unification. The most notable application is for the various forms of case statements you'll find in these languages (either explicit case statements or implicit conditional behavior, like function overloading & multimethods), so I think of unification mainly as a method for conditional behavior based on the structure of the data involved.
I don't know a lot about heavy-duty logic programming, so I'm wondering what (if any) kinds of logic programming paradigms aren't easily do-able with nothing but a good unification-based case statement (perhaps in the guise of multimethod dispatch)?
Again, the application to case statements makes this sound like it's in a similar vein to P6's "~~" smart match operator.
A junction/intersection is the only interpretation that makes any sense to me.
If you think of unification using a geometric interpretation, the unbound variables in the unification problem are the basis of a vector space, the constraints are linear/affine (in)equalities in that space, and the solution of the unification is the intersection of all the affine constraints. Think of unifying (x,x,y) with (x,y,y). The 2-d vector space of assignments to {x,y} collapses to a 1-d vector space.
Of course the constraints you are considering aren't affine, and the spaces aren't exactly vector spaces, but the intuition is the same. Under this interpretation, it's clear that you would want to take the intersection of the ranges of two "conditionally bound" objects.
In reply to Re: (OT) Pushing inductive systems to their limit by blokhead
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Reflective Identity: A Study of Perception
Article excerpt
Have you ever listened to your voice on tape and said, "Is this how I really sound?" As art teachers, we think in a visual world, so I propose this question, "Does the image that I have of myself match the image that others see of me?" This statement set this lesson in motion. I decided to create a more innovative approach to portraiture, not how we see ourselves, but how others see us.
Seeing through Other Eyes
Throughout history, artists have strived to leave their mark on the world. One of the core human desires is to be remembered, to shout to the world "Look I was here, remember me!" Do artists leave the right impression? Do they leave a representation of whom they truly were or do they leave a composite of how their lives were viewed by others? I have posed this question to my students in this lesson. How do you see yourself and how does that correlate to how others see you? The core objective of this project is for students to explore what identity truly is, and to incorporate the many meanings of reflection to compose a unique self-portrait.
It is my goal as an art educator to introduce the essential question to myself: What do I want my students to gain from this exploration of portraiture? I realized that many of my students had assumptions of how they thought others saw them. This is when I decided to look at the idea of "reflective identity" or how others perceive us.
Thinking in Motion
I begin every project by asking prompting questions and presenting basic information such as a definition. It is important to remember that the idea will make or break the final product. Allowing time for brainstorming now will create a dialog with your students while helping them talk to their peers. Encourage students to look beyond traditional concepts of reflection.
Re.flec.tive adj 1: Relating to, produced by, or resulting from reflection (syn: brooding, broody, contemplative, meditative, musing, pensive, ruminative. 2: capable of physically reflecting light or sound; "a reflective surface." 3: devoted to matters of the mind; "the reflective type."
I.den.ti.ty: 1: The set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group. 2: The distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity; individuality. 3: the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized by or known.
Once students identify what reflective identity is, each should brain-storm with the following prompts:
* How do I define myself?
* What are the most important aspects of my life?
* Am I defined by more physical or emotional characteristics? Who defines me?
* How does each of these people or groups see me?
* Without physical objects or surroundings, would I still be the same?
* List ten physically reflective surfaces.
* Look past actual reflective surfaces, what else in your environment reflects you?
* Of whom are you a reflection?
* Who in your life is a reflection of you?
* How do your actions reflect who you are? … | http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-135932150/reflective-identity-a-study-of-perception | dclm-gs1-209130002 | false | false | {
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How Law Is Suffocating America
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“We need a new idea of how to govern. The current system is broken. Law is supposed to be a framework for humans to make choices, not the replacement for free choice.” So notes Philip K. Howard in the new Afterword to his explosive manifesto The Death of Common Sense. Here Howard offers nothing less than a fresh, lucid, practical operating system for modern democracy. America is drowning—in law, lawsuits, and nearly endless red tape. Before acting or making a decision, we often abandon our best instincts. We pause, we worry, we equivocate, and then we divert our energy into trying to protect ourselves. Filled with one too many examples of bureaucratic overreach, The Death of Common Sense demonstrates how we—and our country—can at last get back on track.
In the winter of 1988, nuns of the Missionaries of Charity were walking through the snow in the South Bronx in their saris and sandals to look for an abandoned building that they might convert into a homeless shelter. Mother Teresa, the Nobel Prize winner and head of the order, had agreed on the plan with Mayor Ed Koch after visiting him in the hospital several years earlier. The nuns came to two fire-gutted buildings on 148th Street and, finding a Madonna among the rubble, thought that perhaps providence itself had ordained the mission. New York City offered the abandoned buildings at one dollar each, and the Missionaries of Charity set aside $500,000 for the reconstruction. The nuns developed a plan to provide temporary care for sixty-four homeless men in a communal setting that included a dining room and kitchen on the first floor, a lounge on the second floor, and small dormitory rooms on the third and fourth floors. The only unusual thing about the plan was that Missionaries of Charity, in addition to their vow of poverty, avoid the routine use of modern conveniences. There would be no dishwashers or other appliances; laundry would be done by hand. For New York City, the proposed homeless facility would be (literally) a godsend.
Although the city owned the buildings, no official had the authority to transfer them except through an extensive bureaucratic process. For a year and a half the nuns, wanting only to live a life of ascetic service, found themselves instead traveling in their sandals from hearing room to hearing room, presenting the details of the project and then discussing the details again at two higher levels of city government. In September 1989 the city finally approved the plan and the Missionaries of Charity began repairing the fire damage.
Providence, however, was no match for law. New York's building code, they were told after almost two years, requires an elevator in every new or renovated multiple-story building. The Missionaries of Charity explained that because of their beliefs they would never use the elevator, which also would add upward of $100,000 to the cost. The nuns were told the law could not be waived even if an elevator didn't make sense.
Mother Teresa gave up. She didn't want to devote that much extra money to something that wouldn't really help the poor: According to her representative, "The Sisters felt they could use the money much more usefully for soup and sandwiches." In a polite letter to the city expressing their regrets, the Missionaries of Charity noted that the episode "served to educate us about the law and its many complexities."
Law is generally thought of in its Perry Mason sense, but courtroom dramas do not touch most of our lives. The law of government, on the other hand, controls almost every activity of common interest-fixing the pothole in front of the house, running public schools, regulating day care centers, controlling behavior in the workplace, cleaning up the environment, and deciding whether Mother Teresa gets a building permit.
No person decided to spite Mother Teresa. It was the law. And what it required offends common sense. There are probably 1 million buildings in New York without elevators. Homeless people would love to live in almost any one of these. Walking up a flight of stairs is not, after all, the greatest problem in their lives. But the law, aspiring to the perfect housing abode, has accumulated so many good ideas that the only type of new housing that is permitted must satisfy middle- class standards. A law that dictates either a model home or no home is probably fine for some, but what about those trying to provide housing for the poor?
Even serene suburban landscapes are stamped out of law's mold. Have you ever noticed how new housing subdivisions have an open, almost empty look? It isn't just the absence of trees. The streets are fifty feet wide, about 50 percent wider than streets were a few decades ago. Why? Because the traffic engineers who wrote the standard code after World War II believed that streets should be wide enough to allow two fire engines going in opposite directions to pass each other at 50 miles an hour. Andres Duany, a Miami architect who specializes in designing new towns, maintains that the traffic engineers have thereby depleted human interaction and fellowship from modern America. He calls them the "devils."
The two-fire-engine rule did not evolve because it was sensible or by amazing coincidence of judgment by town boards around the country. It was part of a model code that was accepted as "modern," and cities and towns fell before it like dominoes. Once the words were designated as law, there was no longer a need to think about it. Almost no one who builds new houses knows why the requirement is there. Nor do bureaucrats. They abide by it because they have to. It's the law.
John Marshall was an early chief justice of the Supreme Court, so it is fitting that the John Marshall Elementary School on Long Island should be perhaps the first primary school in America to recognize the legal hazards involved in children's art. Children's art, as we know, is usually made on paper. At the John Marshall Elementary School, as in every other school in America, children's art is tacked to the wall. Words and letters are also tacked up for the children to see. The law in New York, you may be surprised to learn, does not permit this, or at least not much of it. The state fire code actually addresses the public hazard explicitly: "[S]tudent art displays?.?.?.? [must be] kept at least two feet from ceilings, 10 feet from exits [which means any door] and?.?.?.?not exceed 20% of the wall surface."
The issue came up during a Halloween party in 1993. The local fire chief was there dressed as Officer MacGruff, "the
police dog who promotes safety and drug awareness." As a diligent officer of the law, he noticed all the Halloween decorations and student art that had been attached to the walls. Within days, Officer MacGruff had done his duty. The school, according to one observer, now looked "about as inviting as a bomb shelter." All the art was gone. The school superintendent, having been accused of permitting a legal violation, suggested that he was aware of the law all along but had used a rule of thumb "on how much to decorate." Liz Skinner, a first grade teacher, was confused: "The essence of primary education is that children show pride in their work." No one had ever heard of fire caused by children's art, but there was a law just to make sure. So the art came down.
Amoco Oil Company needs no Officer MacGruff to tell it the law. It has regiments of lawyers. When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after years of hearings, passed a rule requiring that specific equipment be put in waste pipes to filter benzene, a harmful pollutant, Amoco complied and spent $31 million at its Yorktown, Virginia, refinery. In 1989 a chance encounter on an airplane between James Lounsbury of EPA and Debora Sparks of Amoco led to a discussion about the frustrations and inadequacies of environmental law. One thing led to another and, with some trepidation, Amoco let a team from EPA into its Yorktown plant to see how the environmental rules, written in windowless rooms in Washington piled high with scientific evidence and legal briefs, actually worked in practice.
EPA found that its precisely drawn regulation almost totally missed the pollution. The Amoco refinery was emitting significant amounts of benzene, but nowhere near the waste pipe. The pollution was at the loading docks, where gasoline is pumped into barges. Just as fumes escape when you use an old-style nozzle when filling up your car at the gas station, large quantities of benzene were escaping as Amoco pumped several hundred million gallons of gasoline every year into barges. Once EPA and Amoco officials actually stood on the dock together and realized the problem, the solution was easy and relatively inexpensive. Meanwhile, pursuant to the rigid dictates of a thirty-five-page rule that many government experts had spent years fine-tuning, Amoco had spent $31 million to capture an insignificant amount of benzene at the waste pipe. The rule was almost perfect in its failure: It maximized the cost to Amoco while minimizing the benefit to the public.
The Amoco incident brought to the surface a long-simmering suspicion that, in the words of EPA administrator Carol Browner, there are "really serious problems" with environmental regulation in this country. Environmental laws and rules, now seventeen volumes of fine print, often seem to miss the mark or prove counterproductive. Under one requirement, before industrial land with any toxic waste can be used, it must be cleaned up to almost perfect purity. It sounds great, but the effect is to drive industry out to virgin fields, where it encounters no such costs. Instead of cleaning up one dirty lot, the strict law creates a second dirty lot. Then, of course, jobs are moved away from cities, to places that workers can only reach by driving long distances, which causes yet more pollution. A final irony is that whoever cleaned the polluted land would often be required to incinerate it, literally burning tons of dirt, a process that itself generates significant pollution. Environmental laws have accomplished much, but not because the laws were generally sensible. Spending a trillion dollars in the last twenty years was bound to clean some things up, however inefficiently.
Big government is the usual suspect for these failures: If only government got out of our hair, many think, everything would work fine. But dreaming of an agrarian republic is not likely to help much. No one I know wants to eliminate environmental protection. Fire codes are a good idea; we wouldn't want the house next door built of kindling. The more important question is not why government is so big- we know in our hearts that any reduction would only occur at the edges-but why, with a few exceptions, it fails in even its simplest tasks. Government has imposed fire codes for centuries, but only our age has succeeded in barring children's art from school walls.
Politicians spend their lives apologizing for government. They all promise to fix it, but the slogans are so tired and the performance so dismal that the overall effect is more like propaganda. "A More Responsive Government" and "A New Age" are typical recent campaign slogans. Everyone wants to help. Universities and think tanks frequently put out excellent studies and ideas that Congress listens to with interest but rarely acts on. I always liked the idea of Robert Litan and William Nordhaus for a "regulatory budget": No law could be passed without a budget detailing its actual cost to society. David Osborne's and Ted Gaebler's Reinventing Government is filled with good ideas about government management, and Vice- President Al Gore and Massachusetts governor Bill Weld have picked up on them to try to improve government services. In the wake of the Amoco episode, EPA administrator Browner has suggested that Congress needs to give agencies greater leeway; another expert recently wrote a book arguing more or less the opposite, that Congress has to exercise more control over inept bureaucracies.
Most of these efforts seem to be bumping up against a larger problem. So far in my adult life nothing significant seems to have changed, except that government has become increasingly distant. "The characteristic complaint of our time seems to be not that government provides no reasons," said former justice William Brennan, "but that its reasons often seem remote from human beings who must live with the consequences." Government acts like some extraterrestrial power, not an institution that exists to serve us. Its actions have an arbitrary quality: It almost never deals with real-life problems in a way that reflects an understanding of the situation.
Most people don't think about the connection between government and how law works. Government can't do anything except as law allows. We know Congress passes laws and authorizes bureaucracies to pass rules and regulations, but we focus mainly on what we want the law to do. Only a few specialists within the Beltway question how the laws and rules are implemented. And while these specialists debate numerous
issues-for example, whether it is Congress or agencies that should establish the details of implementation-the one question they apparently almost never raise is whether the rules should be detailed.
Making rules as precise as possible has become almost a religious tenet. "Only precise, specific guidelines," said Herbert Kaufman, of the Brookings Institution, in 1977, "can assure common treatment of like cases." Otherwise, he said, "programs lose all consistency." As nearly as possible, another scholar wrote, legal rules should be "self-executing" and "aim toward solutions that can be carried into effect without discretionary administration." In 1970, during a lawmaking surge that began with Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, federal appeals judge J. Skelly Wright attacked the idea of administrators having freedom to make decisions as the "soft underbelly of the American legal system" and called on "all branches of government to join in the fight against discretion" by passing more rules: "An interlocking network of rules, laid out in advance, can serve as a bulwark which strengthens the agency and prevents co- option by the forces which it is attempting to regulate." Professor Kenneth Davis, the author of perhaps the most famous administrative law text, asserted that "[a]dministrative rule-making is?.?.?.?one of the greatest inventions of modern government." Through detailed rules, regulation would be made certain.
Certainty, we seem to think, is important to law. Of course it is, you are probably muttering under your breath. It is, after all, the law. But look up at what we've built: a legal colossus unprecedented in the history of civilization, with legal dictates numbering in the millions of words and growing larger every day. Our regulatory system has become an instruction manual. It tells us and bureaucrats exactly what to do and how to do it. Detailed rule after detailed rule addresses every eventuality, or at least every situation lawmakers and bureaucrats can think of. Is it a coincidence that almost every encounter with government is an exercise in frustration?
This system is not some constitutional mandate (although most people treat it with that kind of reverence) but a comparatively recent invention. Only three decades ago, in the 1960s, government puttered along without detailed rules to meet every eventuality. Forest rangers, as Al Gore has noted, could carry the list of rules in their shirt pockets. They did just fine armed with a pamphlet of rules and their own common sense. Now they have to consult several volumes of fine print.
It is not hard to imagine a world in which New York City could easily accommodate the Missionaries of Charity in their preference not to use elevators. No spasms of fear would overtake most principals or fire marshals called upon to take the risk, if it can be called such, of having children's art on the walls. One can even imagine that Amoco, instead of dutifully (and at great expense) trying to comply with thousands of pages of awkward legal requirements, might prefer to sit down with environmental regulators and negotiate a pollution- control plan.
But that is not the way we have constructed our modern legal system. We seem to have achieved the worst of both worlds: a system of regulation that goes too far while it also does too little.
This paradox is explained by the absence of the one indispensable ingredient of any successful human endeavor: use of judgment. In the decades since World War II, we have constructed a system of regulatory law that basically outlaws common sense. Modern law, in an effort to be "self-executing," has shut out our humanity.
The motives were logical enough: Specific legal mandates would keep government in close check and provide crisp guidelines for private citizens. But it doesn't work. Human activity can't be regulated without judgment by humans.
Blinded by Certainty
Philip K. Howard
About Philip K. Howard
Philip K. Howard - The Death of Common Sense
Philip K. Howard is the author of bestselling The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America (Random House, 1995) and is a contributor to the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Howard, an advisor to leaders of both political parties, including Vice President Al Gore and Bob Dole, is a prominent lawyer and civic leader. A native of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, he lives in New York City with his wife and four children.
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Home > World News > Article
Asteroid that nearly blew Bush's moon mission
February 27, 2004
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The good news is we're going back to the moon. The bad news is an asteroid is about to hit the Earth.
The US President, George Bush, came within hours of delivering such a speech on January 14, it has been revealed.
As he was preparing to announce a renewal of the US moon landings program, astronomers were monitoring an asteroid they believed could strike the northern hemisphere within 24 hours.
During the crisis the night before Mr Bush's speech at NASA headquarters the scientists believed there was a one-in-four chance of a strike.
Had it not been for a break in the clouds that allowed an amateur astronomer to give the all-clear, they were on the verge of calling the White House.
Observers at first believed that the asteroid was about 30 metres across. At that size it would have exploded well before reaching the ground, but it could have killed thousands if it had broken up over a big city.
"A preliminary analysis of the discovery data for this object yielded a possible impact with the Earth in less than two days' time," said David Morrison, of NASA. "And if a possibility of an impact in two days existed, what should we do about notifying governments or the public?"
As it turned out, the asteroid, named 2004 AS1, was about 500 metres across, and missed the Earth by about 12 million kilometres - about 32 times the distance from Earth to the moon.
A veteran sky-watcher, Clark Chapman, told a planetary conference in California that the object had first been spotted in four grainy images taken by two automated telescopes in New Mexico.
It had been impossible to calculate its orbit from these images, but when the information was posted on the internet an amateur astronomer noticed that the object was predicted to get 40 times brighter by the same time the next day, bringing it six times closer to the Earth.
Astronomers had then confirmed that the asteroid could be on a collision course, but the relevant part of the sky was obscured by cloud.
Several hours after the scare began, a Colorado amateur astronomer, Brian Warner, caught a glimpse through a gap in the clouds and confirmed that the area of sky was empty.
The Guardian
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5/31/2007 11:42 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
Maclaine & Lohan
Shirley MacLaine
Rob Hickman
No Avatar
Im sorry, To # 24. I think Im going to be totally sick becasue of what you said. Boy you are impressed to death by anything, arent you? How utterly dumb that "beautiful people dont deserve to be treated like this. " Do you think she is better than others becasue of looks? I hope to :Lord you never have to deal with an addict your family, you woudlnt know know what to do, and they would run all over you. Talk to any psychologist or trained professional about handling addiction. Sounds like you dont know the first thing about this. And last of all, get Lohan out of the media, TMZ. Most people (except the completly blind and misled) are completely sick of her.
2478 days ago
Larry wanna a cracker?
In the real world, any young woman pulling all the stunts LL has wouldn't be receiving such compassion and support from her fellow 'workers'. Certainly, there'd be no job awaiting her when she finally decides to clean up her act.
Shirley MacLaine wasn't exactly a hands-on mother so I think her giving LL anything remotely called advice or support is ...well...amusing. So Hollywood, though.
2478 days ago
It reallly is sad that Shirly McLaine feels that Lindsay Lohan with an addiction and on a path of destruction is going to be better for her movie then a healthy bankable actress. Shirley, if your read this Lindsay Lohan hasn't had a hit movie in quite a while. Find an actress people want to watch because she is talented not because she is an accident that people can't stop looking at..
2478 days ago
Mom of REAL Teens
How sad that she is not experiencing the full consequences of her actions. There's powerful learning lessons for all, esp troubled teens, when faced with REAL reality.
At the end of the day she is still just a very troubled teen. And she clearly is shielded from the true consequences of such behaviors by all.
I love Shirley, but she's just another enabler in this instance, like the long list of adults in LL's life who have come before her.
REAL current day teens would have been jailed LONG AGO for the behaviors celebrity teens exhibit nightly.
REAL teens who screw up a lot less than these celebrities would have gotten numerous MIP's by now. They'd simply be in jail already for a fraction of the underaged drinking Celeb-teens get away with.
REAL teens get reckless and negligent driving charges all the time in my community for a LOT LESS significant driving infractions than these celeb-teens do nightly.
How in god's name do Clubs get away with allowing underaged patrons in their doors nightly?? And after hours, too?? REAL teens can't get in to clubs - unless they have one very, very good fake id. Celeb-teens b'days are commonly known by the world.
No one's doing these teens any good by enabling them. They're just prolonging the inevitable, which makes these teens even more vulnerable to early death than REAL teens who learn pretty quickly what happens if you drink/drug & drive, speed, drive recklessly, are in possession of alcohol as a minor, or commit fraud by using fake id's.
The LAW does not enable REAL teens for such behavior. It hits them in the pocketbook, their freedom, and their records for the rest of their lives. REAL teens figure out pretty quickly they may not get to go to grad school, or get a great job in the future with misdemeanor and felonies on the youth records. In the REAL world that happens every day.
In the alternate reality of the entertainment business, apparently the adult message is "It's okay; come work when you can".
How truly sad; nothing more than a death sentence for this crop of delusioned young celeb-teens....
2478 days ago
i think that the public gets so offended with these young celebs because they appear to have it all and f#@* it up for no apparent reason...linds is a perfect candidate for addiction, she meets all the "requirements"...its in her genes and both her work and social enviorment are unindated with an endless supply of whatever she desires...i really hope and appeal to our justice system that something be done about these dance clubs that serve as serrogate homes and are hotbeds for under age drinking and drug use...pure and simply put they are the enablers (a junkies worst enemy)...lindsay is still young and worked her way to where she is at today and it would be a real shame for her to throw it all away...i too think that she is in need of some tough love...her mother should do some brushing up on the nature and treatment for addiction...alanon is a good place to start. americans love a success story...we are sadly lacking in the positive female role model department ...and i think good parents everywhere have had lindsay, straighten up and fly right or just go away,period.
2478 days ago
Brit is a f*ck up
2478 days ago
J Byrd
First of all: Great post #20!!!
Next: I predict she'll do her rehab and for a few years she'll be "lost," without any work, then she'll be hired to make more dull movies, she'll have some successful movies out but she'll never be the Oscar winning actress she's always wanted to be. Hollywood is so lenient towards celebs, so as far her partying ways, she's never going to stop at all. She'll just do it behind closed doors that's all.
2478 days ago
To hell with "LOSER Lohan"....Shirley McClain ought to hire some respectable young girl such as Hillary Duff for example...LL is a complete disgrace to 20 year olds. She needs to go straight to jail....that will dry her out!
2478 days ago
Lindsay. Paris, Anna Nicole, Nicole Richie, Brittney, it is so sad that these are the young women that are constantly being placed in the media. Our Ms. USA is a drug addict, the, presidents daughters have been in trouble due to drug problems, our vice presidents daughther is gay, New york can't catch a good man and acts like a discusting no class tramp, Flavor Flav's ho's are nasty, just like the girls on Girls Gone Wild and the sleez bags on the music channels. Cyote Ugly gals have to dance and dress really sluty to beat Victoria's little secrets that are repeatedly splash on commeriacls for my young teenage sons to see. Oh my goodness! What the hell is going. on? How does one teach their sons to treat women with respect when the girls are so trashy and screwed up? These are the Idols, the role models that our young girls are imitating. What happen to CLASS & PRIDE? I saw a show yesterday where a mother bought spray on tans for her daughter so she could look like Lindsay. WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT THEIR DAUGHTER TO BE LIKE LINDSAY? I felt that as a mother it was my job to teach my boys to respect women but respect is something you earn. Wake up ladies and think about what the affect of what your doing is going to have as a whole.
2478 days ago
Nice way to teach her that there are no consequences for her actions or for her bad behavior. She obviously didn't learn her lesson when her producer smacked her down during the filming of Georgia Rule.
Just another bunch of enablers.
2478 days ago
I for one will not see a single movie with any of these out of control, trailer trash addicts. Why do people keep putting money in these spoiled little twat's pockets? I'd rather give 20 bucks to a bum without a home than a bum with a mansion.
2478 days ago
Most of us are vindictive and would like to teach Lindsay a good lesson. However, Shirley Maclaine is NOT like that. She is a compassionate, caring person whom we should emulate, not criticize. The Lady has my respect. Lindsay may disappoint her, hopefully not, but Shirley practices what she preaches, she will find the best in people regardless of the criticism. I would like to remind all of you, (one post called her an "old hag.") that your time is coming, you will age, would you like your parents or yourself to be referred to that way? I think not.
2478 days ago
Daniel G.
Let me get this right.....Lindsay screwed...AGAIN.....screws up production and those around....and yet this little heifer still has the freaking nerve to say "Go around MY schedule, help MY needs"!?!?
....Do you see this Ms. Lohan??? It's you the finger.
2478 days ago
i say hit 'em where it hurts,their bank accounts let'em work at burger king
they need whopper floppers all the time!!!!!!there's plenty of pretty young
girls that would love to take her place.....
2478 days ago
hey LAPD,,,,GO EAT SOME DEEEEEZE NUTZ.......,,,,,,hey SHIRLEY, give the kid 30 days,,you old hag,,,GOSH THIS ISN'T 1950 anymore,,,,,,rest & relaxation Lindsey,, I SAY "STAY 90 DAYS ..YOU'LL LOVE YOURSELF 4 IT."............
2478 days ago
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Candice Quarterman
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0.0462 | <urn:uuid:216d3eeb-5dd4-44de-8c43-24e99326fc7e> | en | 0.947547 | Larsen: A killer Super Tuesday?
Perhaps for the GOP, but Democrats must wait
Whatever else one can say about the long-waged presidential primary contests, they have made for the most interesting primary in recent years, most especially in the race for the Democratic nomination.
At one point, the Democrats had nine candidates vying for the nomination. Now, the field has been whittled to three — front-runners Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel.
An even more crowded field sought the Republican nomination. Thirteen candidates entered the race. Now, only five remain — front-runners Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney, along with former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Ron Paul and Alan Keyes.
Political junkies have been having a field day following the twists and turns of the campaigns, as well as the ups and downs of the candidates. But, more important, the presidential primary campaign has invigorated the electorate.
Turnouts in primaries and caucuses have been uncharacteristically high, and a substantial number of younger voters, those 18 to 29 years old, have been casting ballots in record numbers.
Today's overloaded primary — 24 states will have either a Republican or Democratic primary or caucus — will undoubtedly be a bellwether of the presidential election season to come.
Will there be knockout votes today? Possibly yes for the Republicans; likely no for the Democrats.
The reason is simple: Delegates, not popular vote, are the prize in any primary or caucus. It doesn't matter how popular a candidate might be, he or she must secure a majority of delegates — 1,191 delegates for Republicans and 2,025 for Democrats.
At stake today will be 1,029 delegates for the Republicans, 86 percent of the total needed, and 1,678 for Democrats, 83 percent of the total needed.
McCain might score a knockout punch in today's primary because he already has 93 delegates to Romney's 77. Not a very big lead, but McCain does have momentum and, because Republicans allow winner-take-all primaries and caucuses, he could win enough delegates today to effectively end Romney's chances.
On the Democratic side, the race between Clinton and Obama seems to be in a dead heat, according to the polls — that is assuming the polls might actually be somewhat accurate for a change.
But Democrats don't allow winner-take-all contests. Delegates are awarded proportionally to any candidate who gets more than a set minimum percentage of votes.
And, for Democrats, the primary vote is a lot like the Electoral College — one candidate might score the popular votes, but if they don't have wins in the right congressional districts, they don't get the all-important delegates.
For example, in the Nevada caucuses Jan. 19, Clinton won 51 percent of the popular vote to Obama's 45 percent. Yet, Obama scored 13 delegates to Clinton's 12.
Going into today, Clinton held 232 delegates and Obama had 158. These totals includes delegates already won in primaries and caucuses, and superdelegates, elected officials and party holders. Superdelegates can endorse a candidate, but, officially, they are unpledged.
With the Democratic race nearly even, the chance of Clinton or Obama knocking the other out of the race will be slim. A better-than-expected showing by either candidate might signal the eventual demise of one, but don't expect any announcement Wednesday morning that one or the other is dropping out.
One thing will definitely be known by the end of voting today — whether voters want to retain the status quo or choose a new direction for this nation.
Status quo, in this case, means backing candidates who have a long history in Washington, D.C., politics. That rarefied political air can leave the seasoned politician with little understanding of how ordinary people go about their lives.
Two candidates running for the presidential nomination epitomize the status quo — Clinton and McCain.
Obama, especially, and Romney, to a lesser degree, offer fresher perspectives. However, Romney is worrisome because of religion, not the faith he professes, but the possibility he might put that faith above his constitutional duties, no matter that he says he won't.
A familiar refrain among those who have argued for more religious principles being used in governing this nation is that the United States needs a person of faith as president.
No, it doesn't. After the last seven years of President Bush's reign, what this nation needs most is a president in whom the people can have faith.
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shaver_one#727793 writes:
Whether you want the United States to become a Secular Progressive nation, or remain a Sectarian Regressive country, the important thing is to VOTE. Your VOTE matters. Forget about the delegates, bonus delegates, and super delegates. It is our VOTE that counts. It is your VOTE that tells the candidates what you want, and what you don't want. It is your VOTE that tells the rest of the world that America is a democracy...where ever citizen has the right (the duty) to determine which direction our country will go. VOTE for the candidate of your choice...but, VOTE! If you do not VOTE, you have no right to complain about the results.
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"keywords": "knockout, candida"
} | false | null | false |
0.113898 | <urn:uuid:29ca4480-c3ff-4a5e-b6e7-f8809abc4c51> | en | 0.850028 | Quest:The Source of the Madness
99,920pages on
this wiki
Alliance 32 The Source of the Madness
StartBrother Nimetz
EndBrother Nimetz
Level25 (Requires 24)
CategoryNorthern Stranglethorn
Reputation+250 Stormwind
PreviousControl Sample
Obtain a Whispering Blue Stone from Kurzen troops within the Stockpile[59.4, 18.9].
Description Edit
After reducing the basilisk blood out of the elixir, I've uncovered an unusual precipitate. It appears to be a blue crystal of some sort...
<Brother Nimetz consults his notes.>
It's not a [singing blue crystal]... not a [pulsing blue shard]...
<He flips forward a few pages.>
... not a piece of the [Mind's Eye]. Nope, this isn't something we've seen before in Stranglethorn. If anyone has any more of this substance, I want it. Check the high-ranking Kurzen troops, in the back of their cave.
Progress Edit
Make sure you handle that stuff carefully, <name>. We don't know what it is.
Completion Edit
<Brother Nimetz opens up a pouch and lets you place the crystal inside.>
I knew they'd have some more of this substance. I'm going to send this to my contacts at Fort Livingston, to the south. Hopefully they'll have some more luck with it.
Thank you for everything, <name>.
Rewards Edit
You will receive:
Patch changes Edit
External links Edit
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Around Wikia's network
Random Wiki | http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:The_Source_of_the_Madness | dclm-gs1-209470002 | false | false | {
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0.19312 | <urn:uuid:bfd41d1a-14f0-48e6-b108-84d52d8b39ca> | en | 0.954209 | The Elk rockery stood tall in York’s Penn Park until about 25 years ago when vandalism spelled the end of this monument. The park, York’s
The Elk rockery stood tall in York's Penn Park until about 25 years ago when vandalism spelled the end of this monument. The park, York's oldest, will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2016. File
The York area has a moment in 2016 in which leaders can pool resources to have a major anniversary celebration.
That year, the city will reach its 275th anniversary, and York Water Company and Penn Park will reach their 200th anniversary.
The York County Heritage Trust's Golden Plough Tavern, usually accorded the same founding date as the city, will also reach 275 years in age.
York Rotary will celebrate its 100th anniversary that year.
The last big city-centric anniversary celebration came in 1991 - York's 250th.
It spawned Jim Rudisill's "York Since 1741," which opened with:
"In October of 1741 by special order of Thomas and Richard Penn, Proprietaries of the colony, that tract East of the Codorus, where crossed by the Monocacy Trail, was laid out in squares by Thomas Cookson, deputy surveyor of Lancaster County. Twenty-three lots were taken up in November 1741. Baltzer Spengler, who with Ulrich Whissler, had gone two years previous in 1739 to Philadelphia seeking permission from William Penn's sons to establish a town on the banks of the Codorus."
Why are these anniversary observances important?
They provide opportunities to educate the public about the past. That's a common theme.
But often overlooked is how anniversaries also provide a goal to bring people and organizations together. Imagine the cohesion gained if all of those organizations moved together toward 2o16.
An anniversary celebration is something to head toward -- particularly for the city, which has just been plodding, maybe limping, along. It's the old if-you-don't -have-a-goal-you-won't-hit it argument.
The city badly needs a waypoint.
Further, such celebrations provide moments or checkpoints that students of history study to understand how a city or county was faring at a particular moment. And the lack of such an observance says something, too.
Simply put, an anniversary would provide an opportunity for the city to gather itself, take stock and then accelerate with verve.
It's possible that the city's 275th anniversary could come and go without notice. The date has been out there for months, and there's no sign that the city is stirring. York Rotary, meanwhile, is preparing, collecting key dates and accomplishments from its history.
You don't put together an anniversary celebration in months. It takes years.
The point here is that these groups should coordinate resources to have one big moment in 2016. Imagine a meaningful weekend event in this town on the banks of the Codorus in which all the people and venues represented by these organizations would participate.
Let's make it happen. | http://www.ydr.com/opinion/ci_24644122/our-take-york-should-have-275th-birthday-party | dclm-gs1-209490002 | false | false | {
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0.121382 | <urn:uuid:9df6ffa0-bf1b-4062-a3af-fcd9d69fd8f3> | en | 0.82973 | Under the Sea: Entertaining
Whisk your guests away on a seaside escape with this ocean-inspired collection of entertaining essentials. Charming starfish-shaped dishes, sea glass hues and nautical embellishments give your home a relaxed beach vibe, while tropical touches add a hint of whimsy and color. Why shouldn't everyday feel like a getaway?
add to my favorites
today's events | http://www.zulily.com/upcoming_events/43102 | dclm-gs1-209500002 | false | false | {
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0.018289 | <urn:uuid:4e3176a9-22c5-4cf4-abf7-4de9601bb72a> | en | 0.959209 | + Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 4 of 4
1. #1
Join Date
Dec 2013
Question Hot Water Heater Replacement in a mobile home.
Can I install a commercial grade 50 gallon hot water heater in my 1985 mobile home? I am concerned about the weght as my old hot water heater was 19 gal. Space is not a issue. I know I will have to run a line and it will need its own breaker. My concern is when I fill it up with water it falling thru the floor. Also I was told by someone (not an expert or contractor) that I have to purchase a hot water heater especially designed for a mobile home. Is this true? What is the difference between hot water heaters?
2. #2
Join Date
Jul 2010
Default Re: Hot Water Heater Replacement in a mobile home.
We just covered this topic a couple of weeks ago, if you want to search it.
Use a "mobile Home water heater" for a mobile home. There are a few reasons why:
1. Compact size.
2. Mobile homes are plumbed for specific water heaters.
3. Air supply and source.
4. Insurance: your insurer may deny a claim if they found out you installed a residential heater in your mobile Home.
5. Modifications: for a residential unit you'll have to run new water lines, vent, gas line (requires a permit).
6. Weight issue, as you mentioned in your post. A gallon of water is about 8 lbs. Do the math and see how much weight you'll be adding on the floor.
There are more, do you need more?
Of course, if you insist on doing the conversion, it could be done, with the cost.
3. #3
Join Date
Aug 2007
Default Re: Hot Water Heater Replacement in a mobile home.
Is there a difference between a "trailer" water heater and a standard residential water heater? Yes, it is a shiny sticker on the side that says "trailer rated", and the cost of this shiny sticker is a mere several hundred dollars. Is there a physical difference, no, not likely, however, if you choose to use a non-certified appliance in a trailer, you will nullify your insurance coverage, which you likely won't know about until it's too late. Your choice, just know that there are consequences.
As for a larger water heater, odds are that it won't be an issue as long as the existing floor and framing are sound. If there is any sponginess to the floor, I'd recommend opening it up and repairing it before installing the new water heater. In addition, if space is not an issue, then possibly moving the water heater where it is being fully supported by structure, and not just the cheap and cheesy particle board that trailer manufacturers love to use in everything.
4. #4
Join Date
Jan 2008
Default Re: Hot Water Heater Replacement in a mobile home.
There's no inherent difference between most home and trailer water heaters save for the sticker. The differences happen when you find it in an odd-sized location with odd-style plumbing connections, so don't expect a 'drop-in' fit. Also keep in mind the required clearances of the new unit which will be listed in it's owners manual. As to weight, I prefer to cover the whole floor area housing the WH with Advantek or equivalent to spread the load as much as possible- there's usually room to do this. That should be enough to support any reasonably sized residential WH, but if you want just make sure it has at least one joist under the WH itself or that the Advantek will transfer the load directly to 2 joists. This is almost always the case.
Trailers are built to different codes compared to houses, hence the 'trailer rating' stickers. The testing standards for homes are usually higher and the only place I worry about anything is when dealing with HVAC systems; these are often placed in tight quarters and rated for the small clearances involved whereas home-code units require more clearance for fire safety purposes. With your WH, just maintain the clearances the manufacturer wants, adapt the piping as necessary (I like shut-offs on both sides) and make sure the T&P valve drain goes directly to the outside of the envelope and will not flood the insulation underneath if it opens.
One other thing to be aware of: I'm not sure if you have aluminum wiring- the vintage you speak of was about the time trailers switched to copper. Aluminum requires special parts, handling, and techniques and must not be treated as if it were copper. And sometimes the breakers are odd ones too, those may need to be sourced through a MH supply if standard ones will not interchange.
As you're finding out, trailers are a whole lot different than stick-built homes and the differences are usually not good for your pocket when repairs are needed. Plus the parts quality is usually awful, even at three prices too costly. I recommend that as you need to work on it, you replace all the plumbing with standard stuff since it's cheaper and better, check the HVAC system for leaks and insulation as most are awful at best, and that you watch very closely for any and all water leaks which will kill a trailer in record time compared to a stick-built home. A well-kept trailer can make for a good home but they don't tolerate any maintenance abuse at all.
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0.093438 | <urn:uuid:b1209ee0-0e50-4cf7-af0f-158b20988784> | en | 0.944346 |
Messages in this thread
SubjectRe: Interesting analysis of linux kernel threading by IBM
: > No, yet again the _app_ design you propose is the bottleneck.
: I'll respect Your opinion but the mine is different.
I spent the day yesterday cutting down a tree (a college era skill I
aquired, long story), so I just went through all the mail on this
Somebody, apologies for not remembering who, said this is turning into
a "he said, she said" type of argument and I have to agree.
At this point, Davide, it has been made clear that there are a number
of people who have experience and are saying that your approach has
a strong chance of being, err, less than optimal. You and the other
fix-the-scheduler people seem pretty insistent that it is the right
thing to do.
The other side is saying ``this application design will yield poor
performance, and in general, we believe that the right number of active
processes or threads is N | N == #CPUS perhaps plus a small number of
controller threads.''
Given that there is enough controversy on both sides, and that you want
the scheduler to change over the objects of a number of experienced people
who believe that it's a bad idea, I think it is reasonable to ask that
you demonstrate that your application does indeed perform better with
your model. So please code up a pair of benchmarks, one which does
all the work in one thread (but can have N concurrent threads running)
and one that does the work in the pipeline. If you can show that the
model you propose has _BETTER_ performance than the other model, then
there is indeed a good reason to consider the scheduler changes. If the
performance is worse, or even the same, then there really is not much
reason to make any changes. If the performance were the same in both
cases, you could argue that the threaded model has a nicer programming
model and we should support it. Let's cross that bridge when we come
to it, the first step is to get the benchmarks.
I strongly feel that since you are pushing for this, the benchmarks are
something you need to do. You are perfectly qualified to do them because
you understand your application, and I at least, apparently don't. So
please come forward with the benchmarks and the results and until then,
let's drop this topic. I think we've pushed it as far as we can in this
forum. Any objections from anyone?
the body of a message to
Please read the FAQ at
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Last update: 2005-03-22 13:56 [W:0.299 / U:0.080 seconds]
©2003-2011 Jasper Spaans | https://lkml.org/lkml/2000/1/23/197 | dclm-gs1-209540002 | false | false | {
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0.318283 | <urn:uuid:9836bdd5-739d-4d54-bef2-41f7fa925d67> | en | 0.892557 | [Python-Dev] pthread sem PyThread_acquire_lock
Florian Mayer flormayer at aim.com
Sun Jun 28 00:50:18 CEST 2009
Martin v. Löwis wrote:
> Can you please explain what you mean by "swallowing"?
The signals don't get through when acquiring the lock.
> What is the sequence of actions triggering the case you are talking
> about, what happens, and what do you expect to happen instead?
Create a Lock object, call .acquire and try to press Ctrl-C, the
keyboardinterrupt is swallowed
> Also, how would you fix this (in principle, not what the specific
> patch would look like)?
Remove the loop that explicitly does this in a new function and use that
one in threadmodule.c for lock.acquire.
> Regards,
> Martin
Best regards,
PS: Sorry for sending this message twice.
More information about the Python-Dev mailing list | https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2009-June/090222.html | dclm-gs1-209550002 | false | false | {
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0.999693 | <urn:uuid:0a59575c-7e4e-4c2f-91bd-0a814e6e5e02> | en | 0.830527 | Hacker Newsnew | comments | ask | jobs | submitlogin
joshu 580 days ago | link | parent
micro-apps are small, limited functionality things you get users to code. You couldn't really write a game in this.
Compare it to, say, an SMS. Instead of a bit of text, you get a bit of text, two buttons, a camera button, etc etc etc. So it's richer than a notification, but only by a little.
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4364054 | dclm-gs1-209570002 | false | false | {
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0.085417 | <urn:uuid:8b68585b-0993-4091-9dea-d8f76c9228b5> | en | 0.97147 | Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon because if I did, I wouldn't waste my time
writing fanfics. The only thing that I own is the four new characters that I
made up. So please do not sue me! I have no money!
Author's notes: This story gets better with each chapter, so just bare with
me for awhile. And please go easy with the flames. Now on to the Prologue!
Ever wonder what it would feel like if you knew what happens every single
second of your life and you were put in charge of making sure that nothing
screws up in the process? That's basically been my job for the past eight
years. But I'm getting way ahead of myself.
The names Tyler Draco Takenouchi, but you can call me Ty. I know what your
thinking. I have the same last name as a certain DigiDestined named Sora.
Well, siblings usually do. You see, Sora's my little sister, even though
Sora isn't as small as she used to be. Anyway, this is a tale about the
Original Five meeting our two groups of replacements.
The Original Five consists of four boys and one girl. To be polite, ladies
Gwen Katano is the only girl in the Original Five (poor her!) and use to play
tennis with my sister. Gwen has long brown hair that she ties up in a pony
tail. She wears a white and blue striped tank top and blue jeans and her eyes
are green.
Then we got my best buddy, Serge Lizuka, who use to fight with me because he
wanted to be the boss. But we're pretty cool now. Though at times he can be
annoying. Serge has short spiky brown hair and wears a black shirt with a
green vest and green cargo pants and his eyes are light brown.
Then comes Serge's little brother Max Lizuka. A guy who loves video games and
playing basketball. Not to mention he's a pretty mean drummer. Max has short
spiky brown hair with blonde streaks in it. He wears a black and blue Adidas
shirt with black jeans. His eyes are also light brown.
Then you got our youngest member, Ken Ichijoji. Now he's part of the new
DigiDestined team. He was ordered by Gennai not to tell the others about the
Original Five because that was my department when the time was right. You
know what Ken wears and what he looks like so I'm not even going to bother.
Last but not least comes me! Tyler Takenouchi leader of the DigiDestined, and
bearer of the Blade of Courage. I promise I'll explain about the sword and
why I'm the only one with a weapon, but that's going to have to wait. I have
big spiky orange-brown hair and deep blue eyes. I wear a black Adidas shirt
and a red vest and blue jeans. I also wear a red bandanna around my head and
brown goggles with purplish-blue lenses. And I wear a silver necklace with a
dragon pendant.
I've been a Digidestined since I was only ten years old. Gwen and Serge were
the same age as I was. Max was only nine while Ken was seven. I don't know
what Gennai was drinking when he brought such little kids to defend the
Digital World. But hey, where still alive, aren't we?
Now we thought having our own Digimon was way beyond awesome. Yet we didn't
realize the responsibility that came with it. Until we faced our first
adversary, Dragomon. One mean dude, and really ugly. But me and Mushroomon
took care of that clod.
Oh, did I forget to mention our Digimon partners. Sorry about that! Got a
little ahead of myself again. My Digimon was Mushroomon, one rough and tough
fungus who was always itching for a fight like I was. He digivolved to
Veedramon, a huge cool-looking dino, and then into the Holy Dragon of Courage,
AeroVeedramon. Personally, I thought mine was the best, but I guess I'm being
Gwen's Digimon was Floramon. Okay, so she wasn't the only girl! Floramon was
basically a flower looking Digimon who was very kindhearted. She digivolved
into Kiwimon, and then into Blossomon.
Serge's Digimon was Gizamon. A little guy who liked to cause trouble. He
looks sort of like a yellow lizard with an orange mane and long sharp claws.
He digivolved into DarkTyrannomon and then into MetalTyrannomon.
Max's Digimon was Otamamon. One cute little Digimon with powerful attacks.
Otamamon looks like a cross between a lizard and a tadpole. He digivolves
into Tortomon and then into Triceramon.
Ken's Digimon was Wormon. A Digimon who was sincere and kindhearted and
sometimes acts sort of nervous. He never let anything happen to Ken. He
digivolves into Stingmon. Ken never got Wormon to Digivolve to Ultimate.
Like I was saying before, being the leader wasn't always a piece of cake.
Compared to Tai Kamiya, his job was simple. Not to mention he's now a retired
DigiDestined. I'm still stuck with the job! Now I have to make sure the
future of the DigiDestineds doesn't go ballistic!
Let me guess. You wondering how do I know the future of the planet. Well,
I can thank Gennai for that little talent of mine. A long time ago, Gennai
and his apprentices designed a machine that tells the future. Now if a
certain relationship between two of the replacement DigiDestineds didn't
occur, we were toast! The reason we would be burned to a crisp was because
the two DigiDestineds' love would be able to destroy the enemy that was
attacking us.
Now I get to play matchmaker! And just for fun, I'm not going to tell you who
those two people are because that would defeat the whole purpose of telling
you about it. Trust me, you'll find out by the end of this epic story.
I thought seeing my sister again would be great, but I didn't realize that
we were in for the fight of our life... | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/252778/1/The-Pain-of-Knowing-the-Truth | dclm-gs1-209590002 | false | false | {
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0.084525 | <urn:uuid:bb14738d-3b6f-4f7b-90f3-1807262e3fb7> | en | 0.982156 | This was inspired by my own online activities, and written because I am stuck on basically everything else I'm writing right now. This is not betaed, so all mistakes are mine.
Someone (I mention no names, meanie!) threatened to kick me, if I didn't post this, so I thought I'd better do so.
Enjoy, and sorry if it isn't funny, it is my attempt at humor.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, CSI is not mine and it probably never will be.
"Hey hon." Sara walked into the living room and saw her girlfriend sitting in front of the computer.
"Hi." Catherine looked up shortly before turning her attention back to the screen.
"Are you hungry?" She asked.
"Mmm." Catherine didn't seem to hear her.
"Yes?" The blonde looked up from the screen. "Sorry." She smiled
"Are you hungry?" Sara repeated the question.
"A little bit." Catherine nodded.
"Ok, I'll make something light." Sara took one last look at the blonde, who was once again fully concentrated on the screen, before disappearing into the kitchen. She shortly wondered what the other woman was doing, but quickly came to the decision that most likely it would be something work related. Catherine was rarely online, claiming that she was too old to be surfing online at all times of the day. No, she stuck to checking her mail at work and using the web for information concerning cases she worked.
"Oh, come on!" She heard the blonde exclaim from the living room.
"Did you say something?" Sara poked her head out the door.
"What?" Catherine looked up, confused. "No, I didn't."
"Ok." Sara went back to her cooking. Come to think about it, it was weird that Catherine would be online at home. Especially since, as far as Sara knew, she wasn't working any big cases at the moment. In fact, she'd just solved the murder of an elderly couple.
"Yes! Take that! Ha!" Her thoughts were interrupted by the exited scream from the next room, but she decided to ignore it this time.
The elderly couple on Catherine's case was killed by a little old lady over a game of… No, surely she wasn't… Sara shook her head, surely Catherine wasn't… Ding, ding, ding, dinner was ready. She quickly prepared two plates and carried them into the living room.
"Dinner's ready, Cath." She walked up to the blonde.
"Ok, I'll be just a minute…" She looked up shortly, before violently moving the mouse up and down, before releasing the left button. "I just need… just… no!" She screamed at the screen. "I just needed two more!"
"Hon?" Sara moved to stand behind her, so she could take a look at the screen. It seemed that she had been right earlier in the kitchen. "You got this from the case you were working last night?"
"Yes!" She huffed staring accusingly at the screen.
"Ok…" Sara tried to hide the smile forming on her lips. "And…" She didn't know how to continue.
"And now I understand perfectly well why that little old lady killed those people over a game of Yatzy!" She fumed when she didn't get the last two sixes to win the game. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3490484/1/Gambling | dclm-gs1-209600002 | false | false | {
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0.043326 | <urn:uuid:f66a14d7-31dd-4ecd-8c8a-6f37a8286a03> | en | 0.992656 | Title: Watching
Author: ghost4
Rating: M
Warnings: Rating for Language (the boys do like to curse.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. This is an original work and any similarities to persons alive, dead, or wandering the world in ghostly torment are completely coincidental. This work is a non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of any copyright holder.
Summary: Post ELAC: Bobby and Dean have a chat.
Author's Note: Thanks to sendintheclowns, for the wonderful beta-ing, the feedback, and the encouragement. Her work was awesome, and any lingering mistakes are mine. This would not have posted at all without her handholding.
I'm still not sure about this fic – this is yet another rather dark view of the boys childhood, and Sam's in particular. It's not that I have no sympathy for John, I think he's kind of an awesome character, but the boys just seem to want to talk about stuff that they don't generally bring up, lately. I started this fic years ago when I first saw ELAC. It's waited for an ending until this month. And now that it has one, I guess I should post.
As always, any feedback, good, bad, or indifferent, is welcome.
Bobby stiffened as the screen door slammed. He watched Sam go up to his brother through the dust rimed window in the kitchen – and though he had no idea what the brothers had said, he had a pretty good notion of what had passed between them. Again.
These last few days had been something of an eye-opener. He'd known John and his boys for years, and had thought he'd known them well; at least until that fight that had John cutting ties with him. But John had always been stubborn that way: if you didn't agree with him, or at least keep your mouth shut, you risked being tossed from his life. Obstinate sonofabitch.
Till then, he had always thought he'd been close to John and Dean. More-or-less. As close as he got to anybody, at least.
Dean was a hunter from early on. He'd pulled his weight, hauled his gear, moved his ass, and done his job, even as a kid. He'd also partied like a hunter; fully one of the group from the get go. They'd go out, do a little hunting, get a little bloody; then come in to get a little loose and a lot drunk. And Dean had kept up with them damn near every step of the way, generally with John somewhere just beside him.
Yeah, he'd known Dean and John a long time….
Sam though…. Over the past few days he'd come to figure that he'd never really gotten to known John's youngest as much as he thought. He'd always thought of the boy as too small to really be worth knowing, truth be told. Big enough for John to put a gun in his hand, but too small to hang with them afterwards. Too much a screw-up to be interesting.
Yeah, the past few days had been pretty damn telling about some things.
Bobby turned as the door thumped again and watched the younger boy come back into the house. Kid really didn't look good, and the lingering bruising swelling around his eye, distorting his features was only part of it. The boy was pale, hands shaking. His shoulders stooped. Bobby cleared his throat and the kid glanced up, his eyes red from an exhaustion that bit deep enough to dull his gaze.
Truthfully, Bobby was worried. The kid seemed to forget that he was also recovering from a major auto accident…and everything else. He wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating, wasn't taking his meds. He wasn't doing much of anything, except poking at his brother.
Which was another thing that Bobby was watching with interest.
But that was neither here nor there at the moment. The kid was literally swaying on his feet. He was looking in Bobby's general direction, but Bobby was pretty sure he wasn't really seeing him. Nothing much was really registering with the kid outside his own head and his own misery at the moment. Except for his brother, who had always seemed to be a bit more there for Sam than anyone else.
The same brother who now didn't seem to want much of anything to do with being around him; so Bobby couldn't much blame the kid for being a little…disconnected right now.
"Hey, Sam," Bobby said, still leaning against the counter.
The wandering gaze focused sharply. "Hey, Bobby. Didn't realize you were in here." The 'sorry' was applied in the tone. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes were squinted even in the dim sunshine of the kitchen.
"S'all right. How's your brother doin'?"
A twisted look flickered over the boy's face, something between despair and a bitter humor, and was gone again in an instant. "I don't know. Better ask somebody he thinks is worth speaking to."
"He don't mean it that way, kid."
"Yeah, I know," he said, voice rough. "I'm…I'm just tired." He rubbed at his head.
Tired hell. The boy was damn near bleeding with a … a desolation that Bobby didn't think he'd ever seen in a living human.
Just then there was a crash of shattering glass from outside, and the repeated, grating bang of metal on metal – and Sam flinched, closing his eyes. The wobble in his legs seemed to get worse with each distant blow.
Bobby fought not to look out the window and see just what kind of damage Dean was doing. He figured he'd find out soon enough. Instead he focused on the boy he knew he couldn't help. "It ain't you."
Sam just made a raw, barking sound that might have been a laugh, one hand pressed to the skin between his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, it never is." Sam took a lurching, blind step away; away from him, away from the noise, away from his brother – and Bobby gasped as the boy's knees unhinged.
Bobby moved to grab the kid, but all he could do was try and steady him, keep him upright long enough for him to find his feet. "You stay up, boy," he warned, breathless under the kid's weight, because Sam was a freakin' giant, "you stay up, 'cause if you go down I ain't gonna be able to get'cha back up."
Sam made an understanding kind of noise, and Bobby could feel him struggling to bear his own weight. Could feel the kid's panting breath on his neck as his legs finally locked. The trembling body was much too hot. The boy was so unstable that Bobby kept one of his arms across his shoulders even after he began to take his own weight.
"You okay?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah-huh," Bobby grunted. "You are headed to bed, boy." He half tugged, half pushed the kid toward the living room and the back bedroom beyond. The boy went. He only balked as he realized that they were passing the nest of blankets he'd been using as a bed in the far hall.
"You're takin' the bed tonight, kid." Bobby only had the one extra bed, and Sam had given that to Dean without thought. Sam, too long for the old sofa, had staked out a place on the floor. The only problem with that arrangement was that Dean, while once the more injured of the two, was perfectly healthy now, all contusions mysteriously and miraculously healed – while Sam was still sporting a wrenched knee, two cracked ribs, and Technicolors under his shirt.
Boy was sleeping in a real bed tonight.
And Sam was either disinclined to argue for once…or just too worn down.
He got the kid into the room, and dumped him carefully onto the bed. It wasn't made and the sheets were less than fresh, but Bobby figured Sam wouldn't mind sharing with his brother.
He just wasn't sure the opposite was true anymore.
As soon as his ass hit the mattress, the boy tumbled over. He curled up, fully dressed, on his side, one hand pushed against his eyes like his head was going to split. His eyes hadn't opened since the hall. "Thanks, Bobby," he said, voice already reedy and distant. "I'm sorry about Dean. I'll clean it up." The offer was automatic. And wrenchingly familiar. The mind behind it was already shutting down. Bobby sighed.
"Just go to sleep. We'll deal with it later."
The kid shuddered massively, then stilled – not so much falling asleep as just not fighting the exhaustion. The boy was so still. And yet his muscles were still desperately tense, and Bobby could see the lines of pain around his eyes from his headache. He seemed trapped on the edge of sleep, unable to drift off and too dog-tired to wake fully. Bobby found it vaguely… unsettling.
Clearing his throat, Bobby quietly left the room, pulling the door shut. He hoped the kid would rest better without an audience in the room. The boy really needed to sleep for a good long while, and Bobby was pretty sure that he'd be going under as soon as his over-grown frame relaxed. Though it was still afternoon, Bobby had no doubt that once the kid went out, he'd be out for the duration. He looked bad enough to be, at any rate.
Bobby stepped into the kitchen and poured himself a mug of coffee from the day old pot. Then he dropped a couple of ice cubes in it, in deference to the heat. It was better than that overpriced Starbucks iced fuckacheno shit.
It was quiet outside now. Bobby took his mug with him and stepped out onto the porch. He sipped at it as he cataloged the new dents and rips in the Impala's body, knowing they kind of matched the new dints and rips in Dean.
He sat down on the porch steps, wondering when they got to be so far down.
Dean had been watching him from the far side of the car. The older boy's eyes followed Bobby's every move, without a single twitch from any other muscle.
Bobby just looked back, letting the dust settle.
Dean swallowed. "Gonna need a new trunk lid."
"Uh-huh." He swigged some more coffee.
Dean's eyes dropped and he ran a hand roughly through his hair. "I, uh…"
Bobby shrugged. "It's your car."
The wind kicked up a bit, and died again. Bobby put a hand over his mug to keep the dust out.
"Where's Sam?"
"Sleepin'," Bobby answered, aware that the question was asked with more caution and less concern than Dean would have used back in the day.
Dean seemed surprised by the announcement. "Huh. That's new."
"You mean Sam sleepin' in the day, or Sam sleepin' at all?" Bobby asked.
Dean just sighed. "Didn't realize his insomnia'd gotten bad enough for anyone to notice."
"'Sides you, you mean."
"Yeah," Dean said sadly. "Besides me."
"Huh," Bobby muttered, sipping again at his coffee, watching as Dean carefully didn't look at anything. "Ain't the only thing I've been noticin'."
Dean's eyes snapped up, meeting his in a glare as cold as it was scared. "What the fuck does that mean?"
Bobby shrugged, not rising to the heat in the kid's tone. Normally anybody who mouthed off to him in his own yard would be getting a shotgun up the ass – but with everything that had happened, he figured he could cut the kid a little slack. 'Sides, he wanted to see how far he could push this. How much Dean might let slip; before the boy punched him in the face.
"Don't mean much," Bobby said. "Just noticin' some stuff. Puttin' some other stuff together. Stuff from when you boys was little; stuff your daddy said sometimes."
Dean glared. "You don't know shit, Bobby."
"No. I don't. But I ain't stupid, boy, and I've been doin' this work for a long time. After awhile you start to get a feel for places, for things, that are…tainted. Touched. You know it, Dean. I've seen you feel out a room. Hunter's instinct." Bobby nodded, looking out over his yard, taking a sip of his coffee.
Dean shifted, glancing over the yard, then back. "So?"
"Been feelin' that …itch for awhile now."
Dean ignored him.
"Ever since you boys walked through my door, in fact."
The young hunter's gaze sharpened. "Fuck you, Bobby."
Bobby glared. "I ain't sayin' anything you don't already know, Dean. That boy in there, he's—"
"Shut up!" Dean shouted. "There's nothing wrong with Sam! Nothing! Hell, we spent enough time here when we were little that you should know that there's nothing wrong with him!"
Bobby looked at him.
"What I know…" Bobby finally said, "what I get now, is that your daddy spent a lot of effort to make damn sure nobody ever really took much notice of Sam. You, oh, you he'd put in the center, tellin' tales and drinkin' and carryin' on. Life of the goddamned party. Sam, though… we'd get in and your dad would find some reason to get pissed at him, somethin', some little thing that we'd not question, and he'd set him in the corner with a book, or cleanin' weapons, or doin' extra training. Never could figure out why that boy could never please John. Guess I know now. It was to keep him away from us – all us hunters. And us away from him. Hunters ain't got much use for fuck-ups; which is exactly what your dad wanted us to think of Sam. If we had no use for him, we'd never look too close, never realize that he was tain-"
"Stop." The word was quiet, and low. The glint in the young hunter's eyes was deadly. Bobby, for the first time, felt that he was coming dangerously close to a full out fight with the man standing across from him.
And he felt a thin shiver, knowing he'd lose.
"You listen," Dean hissed, the danger in the tone only emphasized by the hush. "Sam is fine. Whatever shit you think you know, whatever it is you think you're picking up on, it ain't nothing. In less than a year my brother has lost his girlfriend, his future, and his fucking father. He's dealing with shit that…. " Dean shuddered and snatched a breath.
"That kind of stress," Dean continued, and Bobby noted that he had dropped what he was going to say. "That kind of shit, it can fuck with anybody. Hell, I ain't my normal, shiny self either, if you haven't noticed, Bobby. We're both over-emotional and…and fuckin' whacked right now, and we'd both probably set EMF's pinging if we got too close."
Dean rubbed a hand through his hair and blinked hard, staring out over the rusted hulls that lined the neat rows of the yard. And Bobby did have to admit that the boy wasn't wrong – people who were under severe emotional stress could produce enough electromagnetic variation to mess with meters…and instincts.
"That's all you're picking up on Bobby," Dean said, not looking at him, sounding as exhausted as Sam had looked. "We're just…raw. Not tainted, not spooked. Just…" he laughed bitterly, "just fucked up and fucked over."
Bobby sat quietly for a long time. Dean's gaze was wandering over the yard, his jaw working as he fought to control himself.
Bobby sighed. "If that's true," he said, and just saying the words made him tired. "If that's true, Dean, then why are you frightened of him?"
Dean stood there for a moment, in what looked to Bobby like total shock. But what Bobby couldn't tell was whether he was shocked that Bobby could think that he was frightened of Sam… or shocked that Bobby had picked up on it.
When Dean spoke it was with a voice as raw as any Bobby had ever heard. "I am not scared of Sam. I'll never be scared of Sam. Never." And Bobby was astounded to see tears well up in the boy's eyes. "But I'm freaking –" He broke off, panting, turning his face away from Bobby, trying unsuccessfully to hide the fact that a few of those tears had gotten loose. "I'm just … I'm just so damned scared for him."
The words sat heavy in the humid air between them. Bobby searched for something to say, some way to … help, but there was nothing, no way to make things better. Dean scrubbed the tear tracks off his face with rough, angry movements. He sighed, sniffing and giving Bobby an embarrassed grin. "Fuck it. It's not like being scared is anything new for us. Hell, I spend most of my life fucking terrified. Nothin' new, right? Scared for him, scared for me, scared for my dad – but, hey, at least that part's over. Unless being pretty fucking scared that dad's in Hell counts as still being scared for him." Dean sighed, his eyes darting around the yard aimlessly.
"Dean," Bobby tried. But Dean's eyes focused in on him like a hawk, and all the unsurity left his body language so fast and so completely that Bobby would have been hard pressed to admit he'd seen it at all.
"Look, Bobby. Sam is fine. I am fine. We're getting back to fine, at least. You want to help us? Don't become another thing for me to worry about. Don't keep thinking what you're thinking about Sam. He can't take one more person… looking at him like that. He got more than enough of that shit from dad. And I can't take having one more friend that I have to watch my back around. I just can't." He took a breath. "So decide now. Do you really feel anything … off about Sam – or me? Say it, and we'll be gone. Out of your hair permanently. Or not. Your choice. But I can't have you behind us if I can't trust you with Sam. I can't fight that too."
He stood there, hands braced on his ruined car, staring at Bobby like he had already been convicted and he was waiting for Bobby to pass sentence. And Bobby sighed, knowing that there wasn't really a decision to make.
"Damn it, boy, don't be an idiot. That car ain't near ready to travel, and we both know you won't leave without it, and that's fine because both you and Sam are welcome here. You know that. So quit puffin' up and settle down. Look, kid, there ain't none of this that's your fault. Nor your brother's. I don't blame you for anything, and whether Sam's a little…well, that don't change Sam, if you follow me. Said the same thing to your daddy, but the damned fool never would listen."
Dean blanched; the blood just poured from his face. "You told dad…" he repeated in a weak voice. Suddenly his knees folded and he went down, disappearing behind the car.
Bobby huffed, rolling his eyes. Idjits, the both of them. All three of them if you counted in their daddy. The boys had come by it honestly.
Bobby picked himself up off the stairs and went around the car.
Dean was on his ass in the dust, leaning against the side of the battered Impala. His eyes were open, but hollow – there was no awareness in them.
And Bobby could figure why. His shirt was soaked through, he was covered in grime, but he was no longer sweating despite the ninety-five plus heat.
Bobby hunkered down next to him. "How long has it been since you had any water, boy?" he asked derisively. "Workin' for hours in the sun without a break and not hydrating. You're asking for heatstroke, if you haven't got it already." His tone carried the implied 'dumbass'. "And the histrionics didn't help much."
Dean blinked. He tried to swallow, and Bobby heard the click in his dry throat. "You told Dad…?"
Bobby sighed. "I told your dad the same thing I'm trying to tell you. Whatever there is going on with you or with your brother – that ain't your fault. And it don't change who you are. What you do means more than what you are. Always has, always will." Bobby made a disgusted sound. "Not that John ever took his head out of his ass long enough to listen to anybody, rest his soul. Just threw a fit, pulled a gun on me in my own house and took you boys off. Never did see him again. Bastard," the word was muttered in a friendly, almost nostalgic tone. Bobby had pulled his own shotgun that night, but hell, a person was allowed to protect themselves and their home.
Dean looked at him, his eyes dry and red, his color was a little off. His hands were shaking. "Things that aren't normal, things that are tainted… it's our job to destroy those things, Bobby."
"What asshole ever told you that, Dean?" Bobby snapped back. "The world just ain't that simple, boy."
Dean bristled, real anger lighting his eyes. "Yes. It is."
Bobby frowned, leaning back a bit. "Jim Murphy, you remember him?"
Dean nodded, his eyes narrowed. "Pastor Jim. Of course."
"He could see spirits. Not just pissed off ghosts, but honest-to-god spirits."
Dean's brow furrowed. "No way."
"Yeah. They were drawn to him as a kid. He would play with them, until one got mean and killed his twin brother. So he joined the clergy and stated hunting." Bobby sipped at his coffee. "Not surprised you didn't know. Not something he wanted to get around. Not with the way most hunters think. You know Missouri Mosley?"
Dean nodded, eye wide, expression shocked.
"Well, ain't never met her personally, but she had one hell or a reputation for hunting back in the day. She's the one taught your dad the basics. Started him out on the path. She had to give it up when a couple of hunters got wind of her abilities. They came after her. She hadn't never hurt a pure human, but that didn't matter. They just wanted to kill, and any excuse was good enough. Hunters can get like that sometimes. Get to the point they can't see anything but the taint in a person… they can't even acknowledge that there's a living, feeling, thinking person in there – sometimes the person is just doing the best they can, sometimes they're even helping save others. But that don't matter to the black and white thinkers. To them 'monster' is an easy word – and a death sentence. Your daddy was a good man, but he had a streak of that in him."
Dean swallowed again. "But not you."
Bobby shrugged. "I went through that. Got over it pretty quick, though. I met too many people who were psychics and mediums and healers. Learned too much about Shamanism and Callings. I had to face the fact that some of this shit is as natural to some people as blue eyes are to the rest of us. And then there's the other fact."
Dean looked up, "Other fact?"
"That some normal humans can get up to some very inhuman shit. You want to tell me Gacy didn't deserve to get hunted? Or Dahmer? Or any of the hundred others we could both name?" Bobby turned his head to the side and spit. "Just being untouched don't make you good, Dean, anymore than havin' been touched makes you inherently evil. All people have choices. Always. Now, truth is I don't know shit about your family, or what John suspected about anything. But I do know how he treated that boy… and I know that the quickest way to turn somebody into a monster – tainted or not – is to treat them like a monster. You'll get them to become exactly what you want, sooner or later."
Dean blinked at him. His voice was rusty. "So what do I do?"
Bobby rolled his eyes. "First thing you do is get up, go inside, and drink some water. Then you take a shower. Then you have some dinner."
Dean shook his head. "No. I meant about Sammy. I don't know. I just –" he looked up at Bobby and he was so confused, so lost, that Bobby thought for a second he would break. "Dad… Dad, he told me something, Bobby. And I don't know what to do."
Bobby sighed, as Dean dropped his head again. "John was no fool, Dean. He knew his shit. So whatever he told you might be true. And it might not. Either way, it has nothing to do with you or your brother."
Dean's head jerked around, he searched Bobby's eyes. "What?"
"Whatever John said to you – and no, I don't want to know – it don't change a damn thing, Dean. It only comes between you two if you let it. Now you can watch and be suspicious and be a hard-ass hunter all you want; and I guarantee that you'll find what you're looking for. Or you can be Sam's brother."
Dean pulled up a knee, resting his head on it, hiding his face. "Like it's that simple."
"It is. Be a brother to that boy, and he'll be a brother back. That's all you have to do. That's all you've ever had to do." Bobby levered himself up, tossing out the dregs of his cup, leaving a long, sticky patch in the dust. "Only one who didn't understand that was your father. C'mon now, boy. You can help me fix supper."
He had to help Dean get to his feet. Even then, the boy wasn't too steady, shaky and just generally sun-sick. Bobby shepherded him into the house, sat him at the table, and shoved a large glass of tepid water into his hands. He watched as the boy sipped it… then grunted his approval, turning to the stove. It was only ham steak tonight. And then he thought that some fried potatoes would go well, and so he plunked them and a knife in front of Dean.
He ignored the dirty look.
Forty-five minutes later he was setting the hot pan on the scared table. Dean had some color back in his face. And though the sun was still a couple of hours from setting, the heat of the afternoon had finally broken and the kitchen was cooler and calmer than it had been all day.
Maybe it was the smell of the food that rousted Sam out. Maybe it was his brother's growing composure. Bobby hated to think the kid had been laying in the back bedroom awake and in pain this whole time.
Either way, Sam crept into the room looking like hell. His face still bore pain lines, his gait was off, his whole body listing slightly in deference to his cracked ribs. His eyes automatically snapped to his brother. He hesitated in the doorway; his shoulders were hunched, like he was expecting to be exiled… again.
Dean glanced up from his plate.
Bobby kept his gaze fixed firmly on his own plate. Whatever was between the two of them, they'd have to sort it out themselves.
Then suddenly Dean huffed, the tension in the air receding with his breath. He kicked out the chair next to him. "Hey, Sammy. Dinner's ready. We didn't think you'd be up so we started without you. Sorry."
Sam tentatively made his way to the chair. He cleared his throat. "You sure there's enough?" Bobby could see where his knuckles had gone white, he was clinging to the chair his brother had offered so hard.
Dean snorted. "You know that when Bobby cooks he makes enough to last out the week. Sit."
Sam sat, dropping into the seat closest to Dean with a look of almost relief. Dean heaped his plate with potatoes and ham, and Bobby could tell that Sam wasn't feeling like eating, but he watched the kid force down a few bites just for the excuse to sit next to his brother.
Bobby sat back and watched as Dean teased and fussed, and teased at Sam. He watched as Sam smiled, then grinned, his head down. And he watched the sadness in their eyes... the loss and fear and worry in Dean's and the resignation and worry and pain in Sam's and he knew it wasn't over.
He saw Dean laugh.
It wasn't over. But it was a beginning. Only time would tell if the boys could see it, and each other, through to the end.
And Bobby decided then and there that he would watch over them both, till they got there. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5358560/1/Watching | dclm-gs1-209620002 | false | false | {
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0.366794 | <urn:uuid:d8f0b73f-ebf8-4fd8-bfd0-9edd0b5d0511> | en | 0.971733 | Time to Accept the Inevitable (aka Puffy Pink Death)
Gotham International Airport was dark and dull. Lana had been there for hours, and she had hours to wait for her Paris flight.
No one was paying her the slightest attention.
Suddenly she noticed a round, pink creature walking purposefully through the airport. "Aren't you cute!" she said, picking it up and cuddling it.
"Jiggly?" the thing responded.
When Lana's flight was finally called, she couldn't bear to leave the pink thing behind. "Here. Hide in my purse!"
During the flight, the Jigglypuff got bored and started singing cheerfully. Everyone fell asleep, including the pilots, and the plane crashed.
Disclaimer: I do not encourage hiding anything in your bag when getting on an airplane. Look what happened to poor Lana! | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6876213/1/ | dclm-gs1-209660002 | false | false | {
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0.337809 | <urn:uuid:18648b39-f301-4f65-9ae3-a66f5b8f06fe> | en | 0.981137 | "I've never actually been to Omega before," Anders says, looking around, eyes lingering on the drunk passed out, hopefully passed out, against the wall. "It's... loud."
It is definitely that. Music from the nearby clubs thunders through walls lined with flickering ads, and smoke chokes the air from where the ventilation's either dead or dying. Hawke keeps moving, because that's the game.
"It's worse than I imagined it," he continues, mostly to himself. "Everyone has a price here."
Aveline's mouth tightens, but Hawke just glances at him. "Apparently yours is twenty-thousand credits."
"It's not for me," Anders says. "If I could keep everything running free, I would. We had a settlement on Eden Prime for a while, we ran on donations, but the Alliance..."
Lucky for Anders, then, with that geth attack a year back. "Why not just go somewhere habitable?" Hawke asks. "Has to be better than your current digs."
"Then we'd still need funds to move everyone." Anders stops and fixes him with what could be a glare if it tried harder, but really it just sinks back into that indomitable pout. "You promised you'd help." He winces suddenly, then gasps and grabs at his temples. He stumbles forward and Aveline only barely catches him.
"Anders!" Hawke shouts, and that only makes him wince again as Aveline rights him against the wall. He holds up a hand pleadingly, eyes squinted shut.
"Hawke..." Aveline says. Hawke shakes his head, because he knows exactly what she's about to suggest, and no words in all the galaxial languages can express how wrong that makes him feel. "He's too weak to fight back," she argues. "We can book passage on a ship without all this errand running."
"And what, we just leave him here? On Omega."
"We take him into custody. He's obviously ex-Alliance, and he's a terrorist."
"And all those people back on Zanethu just rot, then." He walks past her, patting her on the shoulder before helping Anders off the wall. "I'll let you be the one to pass on the good news. My command, my rules."
She rolls her eyes, but brooks no protest, thank the Maker for small favors. "Think with your brain, Hawke."
"Aveline," he says with his best Sunday grin, acutely aware of Anders' weight against him, "what else could I possibly be thinking with?"
"Hawke," Anders murmurs, then gestures with the tilt of his head toward a man and his batarian friend sauntering toward them - maybe Blue Suns by the look of them, or maybe just thugs playing at it.
Hawke's hand is on his pistol before they take another step. "The welcoming committee's here!" he calls over the mechanical whir of Aveline's unholstering shotgun. "You shouldn't have; it's not even my birthday."
The batarian peers at him but doesn't miss a beat. "Three well-armored, out-of-place humans. We gotta think you're looking for trouble."
"Three's a bit generous isn't it?" Hawke claps an arm around Anders' shoulder. "Our friend here's basically a glorified tin can. You can practically see the bits of string."
"Your friend doesn't look so good," the batarian says, and it sounds nothing like concern. A few bystanders have stopped to stare.
Aveline steps between them. "We don't want any trouble, but we're not afraid to give it."
"Honey," the human says, and Hawke internally grimaces, "that's just too fuckin' bad."
Anders stands to his full height, and the air suddenly feels like it's been sucked out of the room as that blue glow envelops him, leaking from his eyes and fists. The odds must not look as good as they had a moment ago, because the human sets his jaw and the batarian does whatever irritated batarians do, tilts his head to the right or something, and slinks away.
Anders slumps immediately.
"They'll be back," Aveline sighs, "or someone will replace them. Our chances are better if we get inside a club."
The club's not much better. The bouncers may have thrown the first set to bother them out, but the flashing red lights and shove of bodies watching the asari flesh show probably aren't an improvement over drunks in an alleyway.
"I'm gonna get him somewhere safe!" Hawke yells over the deafening music. "Try to find the contact he mentioned. Keep your pockets tight!" Aveline nods, winces at a screeching bit of treble, and pushes away through the crowd.
Hawke scans the club, finds what he's looking for just past the bar. "Look drunk," Hawke whispers, and Anders doesn't move, still leaning heavily on Hawke, face scrunched in pain as he shields his eyes and plugs an ear. "Good."
They cross quickly to where a turian in a club uniform is standing by a hallway.
"What's the quietest, darkest spot you have?" Hawke asks him, sliding his hand down and around Anders' armored waist. "My friend and I are gonna have some fun."
The turian nods to a set of rooms down a hall just to their right. "It's pay by the minute. Try to keep it clean, you humans make a mess."
The room is dark, at least, and when the door slides shut behind them and Anders collapses onto a chair that's suspiciously large, the music softens to a muffled bass. Hawke follows suit, oozing onto a cheap couch, letting the sudden quiet and the relative safety wash over him.
They just breathe.
"You know that's probably not been washed in ages," Anders says eventually, voice soft and shaky but still startling as he breaks the silence.
Hawke shrugs. "I can always wash my hair."
Anders chuckles. "That's disgusting - were you raised by wolves?"
"Mars, actually. The accent and all." Hawke crosses his legs and makes no move to be less gross. "I get called bumpkin a lot."
They're both quiet for another moment, and finally Anders uncurls from his pained little ball.
"When I was a child, we lived in Singapore," he says quietly, "but my parents moved to Old England after the second eezo exposure. I don't really remember my first home." The noise out of his mouth is like ugly derision. "Or my second. I was sixteen when they dragged me away to BAaT training and stuck this L2 in my head."
Hawke figures he should probably be tired of this by now, Aveline definitely is, but...
"These migraines," he asks, "Medi-gel doesn't help?"
"No. Caffeine does. The implant affects the pain neurons in the trigeminal nucleus, among other things, and there's not much that medi-gel anesthetics can do."
Anders may not have seen the look on his face, but he hears the questioning silence in the air.
"I'm a doctor," he explains, then scowls beneath his hands. "Well, almost. The hospital wouldn't hire an L2 for residency. I joined the Alliance and tried to work as a field medic, but they wanted my bloody biotics more than my medicine." His voice is angry, full of vengeance, but at least the pain is probably fading. "It was the same for everyone else, no matter the implant. Go military or go hungry."
"Are you to get my sympathy so we don't drag you back to Earth?"
Anders pauses then smiles, coy as anything but with the hint of sadness that seems like it's always on his face, and he cracks open his brown eyes just enough to peer up at Hawke. "Is it working?"
Hawke considers him, his fury and his kindness and his eyes, and says, "Wasn't necessary." Then he laughs - mindful to keep it low and rumbling. "Don't flatter yourself, it's not all about you." Hawke pushes himself off the disgusting sofa, boots scraping on the ground. "My sister's an L3. I don't want her to join the military, it's too dangerous, but I'm not sure what choice she has."
Anders meets his eyes.
"That's what we're trying to change."
Hawke's radio buzzes.
"A man named Varric, right?" Aveline says. "I found him on level four, he's got work for us." | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7872769/4/The_Sceptre_and_the_Isle | dclm-gs1-209680002 | false | false | {
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0.202572 | <urn:uuid:daa14493-76e7-4fae-a6a2-4a6f111cf5d1> | en | 0.989855 | Disclaimer: Black Butler belongs to Yana Toboso. If I owned Sebastian...let's just say he would never leave my bedroom. Ever. He'd be my little sex slave...ahem...yea. Also, the image is not mine. And do you guys know how hard it is to find a pic of Bassy as a mermaid? It is neigh impossible, I tell you!
Songs Listened To When Writing: The Steamboat Willie Medley, *Foxhunter by Celtic Woman(Ciel's song)*
P.S. This ENTIRE fic was inspired by the song 'Virginia Company' from the movie, Pocahontas. Can you believe that? I sure have an imagination, lol
The wind was crisp and cool as it hit the teenager's face, whipping his slate grey hair around his head and causing the ends to tickle his face and ears. Ciel placed his foot up onto the deck's side, resting his arm on his raised knee and staring down at the dark blue waters below. He could hear Finny singing a happy tune as he swabbed the floor and the clamor from the eating hall down below.
The 19-year-old had already eaten and had made his way up here, choosing not to be a part of the drunken mess downstairs. Ciel sighed and looked off into the distance, seeing nothing but clear waters all around. He vaguely wondered how his mother and father were doing without him. He had been on the sea for about two years now, and he always contacted them with letters when the ship went into port. Their responses weren't anything to be worried about; they were proud of him, and glad that he had left the nest to do his own thing. But still, he missed them terribly.
Ciel had been born into the middle class. He and his family led modest lives and Ciel never once thought it was boring, or that he deserved better. But he always wanted, for as long as he could remember, to get out on his own and explore all this world had to offer. So when the opportunity to get out on the sea came along one day, he immediately took it, even though it meant being just a deck-hand; or as the crew liked to call it, a 'swabby'. But that didn't matter much to him though, because Ciel could get off at any dock he wanted and make a life for himself wherever he wanted, giving the teen the kind of freedom that he always yearned for. It was great.
The ship that he was aboard was called the BiàntàiHǎidào, one of the best whaling ships at the time. The ship was medium-sized, allowing for good speed and versatility, and it had a specific crew to handle every aspect of the whaling process. First of all, there was the navigator, Claude. He steered the ship and could spot a whale from remarkable distances that no one else could see. Next, there were the people who went out onto the water and harpooned the whales: Mey-Rin, Agni, Ash, Undertaker and Grell. Usually on whaling ships there was a bigger crew to harpoon the whales, seeing as it could get dangerous, but these five always got the job done without getting hurt. They were that skilled.
Then, there were the people who cooked the everyone's meals and also processed, stored and preserved the whale: Bard, Hannah and Tanaka. Their job was messy and Ciel didn't envy them, although he did wonder why Tanaka barely helped out and just sipped his tea most of the time. Next, there was William. He sold the whale parts at the port and he was damn good at making money. He had this way of talking to people that was strictly professional and polite, all the while managing to trick you into foolish deals.
Lastly, there were those who cleaned up the messes around the ship: Ciel and Finny. The ship wasn't too big to require two people to swab it all the time, so he and Finny traded off. Finny, since he always liked to be out in the sunshine, cleaned up during the day, and Ciel, since he wasn't exactly that much of a social butterfly, cleaned up at night when everyone was asleep. It was a simple system, but it worked out perfectly for the both of them.
The captain was a person that Ciel really didn't care for at all. Captain ******* was nice enough, but was certainly one weird individual. The captain popped in on the crew at random times to check up on them and steered the ship occasionally but never spent too long outside, though, and usually just talked with William and the firstmate in the captain's quarters about what to do next.
Right now, they were sailing out to sea again after having just sold a catch. Ciel could feel the money in his pocket against his leg and reminded himself, once again, that he had to stash that away soon, lest he forget about it. Ciel inhaled slowly and sighed, glad that that horrid smelling carcass was off the ship so that he could breathe again. God, did those things smell after a while...
All of a sudden Ciel was ripped from his thoughts when he heard something hit the water. Now, normally this wouldn't be anything special, but that splash had sounded way too big and also very familiar as well. The teen blinked and looked over the edge, catching a glimpse of a silver shimmering tail disappearing below the water. 'There you are again.' He thought to himself, watching the creature vanish beneath the waves. He had heard that same splash for nearly a month now and he would always just see the brief glance of that tail whenever he tried to investigate. After all this time, he still couldn't figure out what that was, and it bothered him endlessly.
When he couldn't find anything else, the teen frowned and took off his eye-patch, using both of his cerulean eyes to scan the water's surface. The patch had been a gift from his father when he was young and they used to play games together, like 'Cops and Robbers' or Ciel's favorite: 'Pirates'. Vincent had bought the patch for Ciel to play with when he was young, and it just stuck with him all his life.
''...What are you? A dolphin?'' The teen asked out loud, looking down at the water.
''Dolphin?'' Ciel blinked as Finny came to stand next to him and stare down at the water too. ''Was that what that splash was?''
''I don't know, I couldn't see.'' Ciel frowned and the two of them searched the water's surface for a few moments before someone shouted at them.
''Hey, you two! Stop leanin' over the railin' like that. You're gonna go overboard and I'm not goin' in after ya.'' Bard scolded as he made walked up the steps from the dining hall below deck.
''Oh, oops! Sorry, Bard!'' Finny said and stepped back to get to work again. Ciel moved back as well after stealing a final glance at the water. The blue-eyed boy silently tied his eye-patch back on while tuning out Bard's scolding. Honestly, Bard was good guy and all, but his constant brotherly over-protectiveness just irritated the teen sometimes. Ciel didn't even listen to the whole lecture before he just waved the cook off and walked away.
By now, people were starting to come back up from the dining hall and Ciel sighed as he heard Grell's flirtatious comments toward William. He skirted past the doorway to the eating hall before the two of them walked on deck, not wanting to see the red-haired male try to make out with Will. Ciel nearly shuddered at the thought.
''Hey, where are you going so fast, little boy?'' Ciel frowned as Undertaker stood in his path suddenly.
''Do you honestly have to ask?'' Ciel questioned, sighing and bringing a hand to his head as he heard a smooching sound and then the loud smack of Grell getting punched in the face.
''Hee hee hee I suppose not.'' The Undertaker cackled and peeked around the corner to watch the quarreling couple, giggling all the while. Ciel looked at him silently. He could never figure the old man out. All he seemed to want to do was just laugh all the time. Besides that, no one knew a thing about him, not even his real name, only his nickname. But the white-haired male was harmless, so no one questioned his odd quirks.
While the Undertaker was distracted, Ciel turned around and headed to the back of the ship, nodding to Claude and Ash as they walked past him. The pair barely acknowledged him, too caught up in their conversation about which part of the sea they should go next.
At the back of the ship, Ciel wasn't surprised when he found Hannah, Meyrin and Tanaka all sitting together. The girls usually stayed to the back of the ship, preferring the slight privacy it offered. The other crew members rarely came to the stern because there was nothing really to do. There were only barrels of cargo and other things back here including a large fish tank. Tanaka usually could be found on different parts of the ship, so he came back here occasionally. Though oddly enough, nobody ever saw him get up and switch spots.
''Oh, Ciel!'' Meyrin greeted and waved him over as soon as she saw him. Hannah silently turned around and stared at him, causing Ciel to get slight goosebumps on his flesh as he came to sit down with them. Hannah rarely ever spoke to him, just stared, and it always freaked him out.
''You barely touched your food at dinner.'' Meyrin said, frowning as Ciel sat down on one of the high barrels next to her.. ''Is everything alright? You've been acting weird lately, yes you have.'' She asked, concerned, as Tanaka concurred with his usual santa impression.
''Yes. I just wasn't hungry, that's all.'' Ciel said and leaned back against the barrel behind him, looking out over the railing to see the waves behind them. Meyrin silently decided to let the topic go for now and the girls picked up their conversation again as the teen drifted off, thinking about that mysterious silver colored tail he kept seeing.
Eventually, Ciel retired for the rest of the day and woke up when it was around ten o'clock at night. The blue-eyed teen stretched his arms above his head as he made his way on deck to do his job. When he got to the top he actually had to take off his coat because the air was so warm out here. Claude must have decided to steer them towards the tropical oceans in search of sperm whales this time.
Speaking of Claude, he, William and Ash were all sitting at a table near the right side of the bow, playing cards and smoking. Well, Ash and Claude were smoking. William was apparently too fancy for such things.
The teen silently walked past them to reach his work tools but stopped when he heard William call out to him, ''Phantomhive. Come here a moment.''
Ciel sighed and turned around. He didn't really want to deal with those three. He didn't like talking to them, mostly because they just gave off a bad vibe for some reason, like they would stab you in the back if you weren't looking. Ciel couldn't explain it.
''Yes?'' He asked, coming to stand in front of the table the three were seated at.
''It has come to my attention that you did not do a thorough job last night with the deck and that Finnian actually had to pick up your slack.'' William got straight to the point, putting down cards simultaneously with Claude and Ash on middle of the table and not even looking at the deck-hand.
''Oh?'' Ciel asked, lifting an eyebrow. He honestly didn't remember forgetting to swab anywhere...but then again, he did hear that splash again last night and had spent most of his time searching the water with binoculars. He inwardly grimaced at the thought. When had he become so obsessed over a mere sea creature?
''Yes, and if it happens again, I will dock your pay.''
''See now, you don't have to be so cruel.'' Ash said as he gathered the cards on the table into his deck. ''He's just a boy and people make mistakes.'' Ciel frowned at the insult to his pride when being called 'just a boy' but otherwise was surprised that Ash was defending his side of the story.
''Mistakes must be reprimanded.'' William countered, flipping a card again. ''You know this very well, Ash.''
''You just won't let that go will you?'' Ash chuckled and shrugged. ''You let one whale go by accident and you're branded for life.''
''Yes. That whale cost us a fortune.'' William pushed up his glasses and glared at the white-haired male.
''War.'' Claude said suddenly as the same number card appeared on the table and everyone started laying down three cards to duel.
''Anyways Phantomhive.'' William said as Claude won the duel, getting everyone's cards. ''I expect you to do your job tonight, thoroughly.''
''Of course.'' Ciel said and returned to what he was doing before being called over, feeling ashamed that he had let his mind slip so much last night by accident. Even more so about the fact that he didn't even realize it until just now. It was all that stupid sea creature's fault. If it would just come up out of the water and show itself, then Ciel wouldn't be so obsessed with figuring out what it was.
Ciel closed the door to the broom closet with a little bit more force than necessary and decided to start with the back of the ship. He didn't want to be near those three right now, not after that embarrassing lecture.
''Ciel!'' The teenager frowned and stopped when he heard a door close and footsteps approach him from behind. ''There you are. I have been meaning to speak with you.''
The blue-eyed boy turned around when he realized that it was only Agni. He had expected it to be William coming to scold him again or something. ''Speak with me?''
The teenager set down his bucket, deciding to start swabbing here so that he could still talk to Agni and also get his work done. ''Yes.'' The Indian nodded. ''Meyrin told me that you didn't eat dinner.''
''Now that is an exaggeration.'' Ciel said, swabbing the area with practiced ease. ''I did eat, just not very much.''
''Precisely.'' Agni implored, standing in front of Ciel's mop, causing the boy to frown. ''You were distracted by something today, just like all the other days for a long while now.''
''So I want to know what it is and so does everyone else. It is not like you to be so distracted.'' Ciel could see that Agni was only concerned and wanted to help, but Ciel didn't need his help, nor anyone elses for that matter. He was perfectly fine.
''It is nothing, Agni.'' Ciel said and walked off to go get his work done. Agni frowned and watched his friend shut himself up in his own little world, just like all the other times when anyone tried to get close to him. The Indian frowned and sighed before heading back to the bunks to go and get some sleep. He knew that Ciel would refuse to talk to him about his troubles tonight and could only hope that he would open up eventually about what was troubling him so much.
It was around eleven when Ciel was finally left alone and everyone was sleeping below deck. But it unfortunately took another hour of his alone time for him to actually finish his job. Now, with nothing to do, the teen went to the back of the ship and got a case before bringing it back to the bow. One would think that since Ciel was done mopping that he would go back to bed, but no. His other duty was to stay up til at least three a.m. and then wake up a crew member so that someone was watching over and steering the ship at all times. Ciel himself could steer the ship in case of an emergency, like if they were going to hit a rock or something, but that usually never happened. Claude, for the most part, kept the ship in a path that was void of any danger.
The blue-eyed boy set the case on the table and opened it, revealing the violin within. He usually didn't play his instrument on the deck at night, because he might wake someone up, but he did play it now and again when he felt that he might fall asleep if he didn't do something, like tonight.
Ciel placed the instrument at his neck, sighing at the familiar weight on his shoulder. He strung his bow across the strings, playing a tune from memory. He decided to play a song that his mother taught him. It started out slow, but progressively got much harder to play and faster as well. As he played, Ciel could faintly hear splashing from the water, but he ignored it, focusing on his song.
The teen frowned when he hit a wrong note by accident and took his bow away, looking at the strings to try and remember how a certain part went. Everything was quiet as he thought, the splashing having stopped. A few moments later he picked it up again and so did the splashing. Ciel raised an eyebrow at this and experimentally stopped playing. In response the noise stopped. Now Ciel was really intrigued.
He tried one more time and the same response was found. Ciel smirked at this, an idea forming in his mind. As quietly as possible, he went over to the side of the ship where he heard the noise and looked down. The water moved in a strange way before settling, signaling that whatever was there retreated down below. The teenager creeped back to the stairs that led to the steering wheel of the ship, carrying his violin with him. There was a crank up there that controlled the large net that was used to catch fish in the meantime when the ship was looking for whales.
Ciel grunted quietly as he turned the crank to position the net where he wanted quietly. When that was done, he took up his violin from the ground and placed it on his shoulder again, starting to play. He took his foot and lightly put it on the latch that dropped the net, keeping his eyes on that one spot where the rustling water had been.
Normally this net was used to just drop in the water and open like a butterfly net to catch stray fish as they sailed, but Ciel figured that it might work in this situation and perhaps the sea creature would get tangled up in the net somehow. He severely hoped that it would. He had tried countless times to catch this thing at night, but it always went away before he could try. Perhaps now, with his violin, he could get it to stay in one spot long enough to catch it.
As he expected, he saw the water rustle in that same spot, but he waited just a little bit longer, until he saw that silver tail. The moment Ciel saw it come up to slap at the water, he hit the latch with his foot, releasing the net on the water below.
Once Ciel saw the net wiggle, the teen wasted no time in putting his violin down and cranking the net back up again. He didn't look to see if he had actually caught anything yet and focused on moving the net onto the deck so that if he really did catch something, than it would just fall onto the deck if it managed to break free.
All the while, his mind was racing as the moved the net. 'I bet it's just a dumb dolphin.' Ciel thought as he slowly stopped the crank. 'Or it could be a shark, for that matter.' Well, whatever he was expecting to find, Ciel sure wasn't anticipating to encounter widened wine-red eyes staring back at him in shock.
Ciel couldn't believe what he was seeing. His jaw dropped in shock before he could stop it as he stared at the creature before him. It had the upper body of a male human and the shimmering silver tail of a fish.
He'd heard stories of such creatures from the drunken sailors that returned from god awful long journeys from the sea. But of course no one ever believed them: It was just a silly tale. But now, here he was, staring one straight in the face. A real…life…"Merman…" The word left his lips in an amazed whisper.
Okay, I know what you all are thinking: How in the WORLD can Ciel and Bassy get it on if Bassy is a fish? Well, it is possible, as you will find out later. XD Anyways, sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to see if anyone was interested in this. My editor/bff actually laughed at me when I said that Bassy is gonna be a mermaid in this and it made me feel bad :[ Mermaids are awesome, leave me alone D:
***I have a contest about the captain if anyone is interested. The first person to leave a review or send me a message with the correct identity of the captain will get a say on who is the seme in this fic, cuz I haven't really decided yet if Sebby or Ciel should be on top. Also, they can help me come up with some side pairings if they want too. So use your brains and tell me who the captain is! :] You only get one guess, so if you send me a response with a whole bunch of different people, I'm only gonna count the first person you said, so yea, think carefully :3***
Welp please review and let me know if you want more okay. There will be smex later on and also a lot of drama because of it and stuffs yep yep! Also, the captain will be revealed next chap, which I hope to have up sometime next week, so yea Review! And have a good day! :D See cha :DDD Thanks for reading!
P.S. I do not support whaling, just so you know :'[
~Migoto Nami
Now here's a bit of randomness, just for you!
~Random Short~
Sebastian kicked the door to his home in the demon world closed as he whistled a happy tune, carrying a bag of groceries with him that consisted of Ciel's soul, a few potato skins, a cat key chain and strangely enough a fake mustache.
He could hear the television in the other room and put his bag down in the hall, prancing over to the living room and jumping on his lover, who was sitting down. ''Hi Skully!'' The demon cooed and cuddled against his love, who threw an arm over him as he flicked through the channels.
''Hi hunny.'' The red human skeleton monster said monotonously in his very deep and smexy voice. ''Did you get the milk?''
Sebastian's eyes widened and he froze before cuddling up to his skully. ''Uh...no.''
In an instant Skully turned his head around without moving it's body and glared at Sebastian with fire in it's hollow eye sockets. Sebastian scooted backwards in slight fear as the skeleton leaned over him.
Everything was silent for a moment before Skully cried and got up from the couch. ''How dare you! MY MOTHER WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU! GET OUT OF HERE!''
''But this is MY house!''
''Then fine, I'm leaving, and I'm taking Alphonso with me!''
Sebastian felt tears come to his eyes as he saw his love pack up and leave, taking the giant jellyfish, Alphonso with him. ''Well...well fine! Who needs ya!''
''Whatever fatass! Go on a diet! All you ever think about is your own damn food!''
Sebastian collapsed on the couch and cried, knowing that it was true: All he ever did think about was food... | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8295234/1/That-Butler-Silver-Scales | dclm-gs1-209690002 | false | false | {
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0.137667 | <urn:uuid:b615a851-944c-4e6b-b85f-4991698be264> | en | 0.987689 | A/N: Guys, I'm really sorry about how long it took for me to update. I went through hard times (lost my job, lost my apartment, had to move back home, and now I'm back in school which is pretty time consuming) so I just lost my writing mojo. I was also having a LOT of trouble with this chapter.
You guys owe a lot of thanks to Anne (bkgrl, author of I'm Not Calling You A Liar which is just FABULOUS oh my gosh read it) for this update, she inspired me to get back on track with this chapter and helped me figure out a lot of things I needed to address. You wouldn't have this update right now if it weren't for her help, so go read her stuff as a thank you, k?
Also a huge heaping thanks to Kelly (Sunny Daisy, author of the birth and death of the day WHICH IS AMAZING AND YOU NEED TO READ OKAY?!) for betaing this chapter. Lots of things were added because of her notes, so yeah, you guys owe her, cos I think the things that were added are some of the best parts k.
And another GIGANTIC thank you to Inge (swinty81) for the graphic cover she made for this fic. Isn't it beautiful? I dedicate this chapter entirely to her. Thank you Inge, you are the beset graphic maker!
So yeah, thanks to everyone who helped inspire me and everyone who reads and reviews, you have no idea how much those reviews mean to me when I'm feeling down in the dumps and just shitty in general when it comes to my word vomit. Thank you everyone, I hope this chapter will please you and make up for the wait!
And now...read on
So Long, Lonesome
Chapter Six: In the daylight we'll be on our own
Here I am waiting, I'll have to leave soon
Why am I holding on?
We knew this day would come, we knew it all along
How did it come so fast?
This is way too hard, cause I know
When the sun comes up, I will leave
This is my last glance that will soon be memory
- "Daylight" Maroon 5 -
Nothing ever changes; they've always been the same, all of them, and it's a fact that has been ingrained into her since childhood. Men, boys; the unfaithful and the foolish. They come to her with desperation on their lips, and part from her with satisfaction dancing on their tongues. It's been that way ever since she can remember; uncle in the dead of night; boys longing to shed their purity and transform themselves into men; and then the men, the ones that are married or promised to another, the ones with selfishness in their eyes and infidelity hiding in their hearts.
She was made for it, born for it. She's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Glittering like a shooting star, hair like night and lips like poison. Beautiful. Uncle used to whisper that to her, as his hands brushed aside a child's innocence and forged her into a woman. Every night, until the aunt made her leave when she was old enough and she wandered from town to town, spinning lust like an expert weaver. An outcast, always, but a wanted one. Even if she was wanted in a wicked way, and for never very long at all.
Her parents hadn't wanted her, so they left her with an uncle that did. Her aunt hadn't wanted her, so she coiled herself into the lives of men that did, if only for a few weeks, sometimes just a night.
Love is an illusion, but there was a time that she let herself believe it. He was beautiful, and sincere, and maybe he had a wife, but he told her he loved her. Tatia; the one who is never loved. She believed it right up until the moment he left her alone, with his child growing in her belly, and an illusion crumbling like dust and floating away with the wind. Her tears slipped away like sparkling glass, drifted until they were gone, and the pain was forgotten. They never came back; not the men, nor the tears. She is a vessel of secret desires, a body for warmth and forbidden fruits, and she believes that now.
Love is an illusion, but she thought it was illusion she could keep with Niklaus. He was unwanted too; unloved, filled with darkness, made to be bad rather than good. Just like her. She thought he understood, thought that maybe two people unfit for happiness could perhaps imitate their own happy ending with each other.
But old habits die hard; and Elijah, good sweet Elijah, she'd give anything to be wanted by someone so wholesome.
She takes and she takes; things she was never meant to have. Goodness, love, happiness; those things aren't meant for her. And she looks at her son and thinks, bitterly; he'll be just like the rest.
She hates them all but she wants them so badly. If she wants them badly enough, maybe they'll want her too.
She'll make them want her the only way she knows how.
It's a delightful sort of awakening; filled with quiet serenity and a giddily pulsing contentment. Nik's running a hand along her bare back, and the warmth of his palm sets her alight, makes her burn and spark with vivacity. He's quiet beside her, perhaps lost in thought, unaware of her wakefulness. Caroline soaks it in, his warmth, his nearness, lets the feeling of him sink inside of her. She could awake to mornings like these every day for the rest of her life, so perfect, so serene, she could; and it would still never been enough. A smile slips across her lips as she imagines doing just that; waking up with him beside her every day, developing rituals and traditions, starting a life. A future, with Nik. It's a small, wistful smile, given with lips still swollen from his kisses. But then she shifts in his arms, notices the discomfort he's left prickling between her thighs, and the smile falters; perhaps the moment isn't completely serene.
A slight grumble tickles up her throat, and at the sound Nik presses closer, lips hot against her ear. "So you're awake now," he purrs, sucking the lobe between his teeth with playful mischievousness. It sets off a delicious frisson of pleasure, shooting all down her body.
"Hmm," she mumbles and burrows herself further against him, nosing his throat. The tranquility she felt before shatters completely as a hot flush creeps up her throat and onto her cheeks; she can't look at him. It's too embarrassing, she'll just stay right where she is and never look at anybody again, because oh gods. She's no longer a maiden.
"Did you sleep well?" his fingers bump along the notches of her spine as he speaks, the callused pads rough against the softness of her skin. When they trail back up, lethargically, they bring another shiver racing along with them.
"Will you come out and look at me?"
Caroline shakes her head adamantly, still nuzzled against his throat.
"I insist. Please, sweetheart?" So sweetly coaxing, like honey dripping over her still naked body.
But Nik will have none of that. His hands curve around her shoulders and up until they're grasping her chin, very gently tipping her face up. She peeks at him through her lashes, her cheeks still stained a vibrant red that grows hotter as he stares at her. And he's giving her this look like she's handed him the world and he's entirely smitten with it. It makes her stomach feel strange, as if her insides are running amok, and she wonders if he reads the same message in her eyes as she does in his.
Nik smiles at her, one of those slow, heart stopping smiles, and touches his lips very softly to hers; his kiss, for once, quite chaste. And as always, it sinks inside of her and twists around her heart and squeezes until she feels she might just burst into a thousand pieces. There is this incomparable yearning that she feels for him, not just all across every inch of her fevered skin but inside her heart, her mind, deep down into her very soul; it thrums to life inside of her until it's all she's breathing in.
Salaciously, his tongue slips between her teeth, hot breath fanning into her mouth; there's a little noise that claws at the back of her throat as she surrenders her lips to him, and Nik deepens the kiss. He hums, a rumbling sound, as his fingers skim across her bare thighs, fluttering, raising goose bumps along her flesh. His hand curves around her bottom, squeezing just slightly, and Caroline pants against his mouth, coiling herself around him like a snake, breasts pressed flush to his chest.
His fingers drift between her legs, slowly, teasingly, until they brush across her tender flesh. Caroline flinches, choking over her breath as the painful soreness between her thighs grows more abundant. She pulls away immediately, breaking their kiss and grabbing at his arm with a hiss.
Nik's brow crumples, his expression a picture of absolute confusion at her resistance. It's a pitiful sort of look; she almost feels sorry for him, but he's the one who did this to her so...
"Hurts," she groans by way of explanation, sinking back on the pallet, further distancing herself from him. Nik hovers over her anxiously. She's reminded briefly of the time she fell from a tree as a child (the tree he'd dared her to climb up, damn him), and he'd hopped around her like a worrisome mother hen while her lungs clawed for breath (you look like a dying fish Caroline, what should I do?!).
"Is that…typical?" He queries, and she nearly laughs at the hesitance in his voice until an unwanted thought bangs against her skull and is quickly paired with an image she does not want in her head; her retort is an acrid taste upon her tongue.
"How should I know? You're the one who's supposed to be experienced here, not I."
The bitterness that laces her tone shuts him up quickly enough as he continues to stare down at her, deflating with shame before her very eyes. Caroline throws an arm over her face to hide her mortification, but also so that she doesn't have to look at him, and remember that while this morning after may be her first, it certainly isn't his.
"How can I acquit myself, Caroline?"
Her lips twitch, remembering when he'd begged that of her before, that day at the vendor – the determination that lifted his shoulders and the unabashed stubbornness in his gaze. The most determined, pig-headed man she's ever known.
"Nothing," Caroline sighs. "Just let me rest."
She doesn't even know what he's up to until the blankets have been jerked from her body and tossed to the floor.
"Stop," she whines, still hiding behind her arm, shivering slightly as the cool air slithers across her unveiled flesh. She gropes blindly for something to cover herself with, but Nik bats her hand away and then without even a by-your-leave, his mouth is around her nipple and she's sitting up wildly with a shriek of surprise. "Gods, what are you doing?!"
"Trying to make you feel better," Nik grouses, frowning as he nudges her back down. "If you would let me."
"Nik –"
"Ssh," he hushes her, his breath fanning across her breasts. "Just relax."
He'd said the same thing to her the night before, and it has the same effect on her now as it did then; it sends a hurdling wave of heat over her body, a jolt that twinges hotly between her legs as the images and feelings all resurface; his touch, his body, filling her, taking her. All the buzzing thoughts in her mind fade and drift away as Caroline shifts uncomfortably and then stops moving altogether as Nik's tongue trails along the underside of her breast.
"At least," she huffs breathlessly, "warn me next time, you can't just, oh –" if she was having trouble breathing before, now she can't seem to breathe at all, as he takes the bud of her breast into his mouth and rolls his tongue over it playfully.
Without meaning to, her hands rise of their own accord, gripping onto his hair tightly, smothering Nik's face against her breast as she arches up towards him. She can feel his lips curling into a smile against her flesh, and it only excites her more. When his teeth scrape just slightly over her nipple, all she can breathe is oh.
His hands wander all across her body as his tongue and teeth worship her breasts, and it feels like he's touching her everywhere all at once; dancing along her collarbone, palm sliding along her throat as she swallows thickly, tracing the curve of her jaw. Skimming down her ribcage and dipping around her hip. With each inch of skin that his fingers trail across, they leave behind a fire blazing hotly, and Caroline squirms as her body grows unbearably warm. Nik's hands are terrible, breathtaking instruments of bliss and obliteration. It's intolerable but oh, it feels so wondrous.
"Feeling any better?" Nik breathes as her breast pops from between his lips with an embarrassingly loud sucking sound. She can feel her skin flushing all the way down to her toes, and can only hum and nod in accordance, suddenly nervous to look at him.
His lips are placed upon her skin again, and they begin a tortuous path down her ribs. As he reaches her navel and his tongue dips inside, her whole body quakes and she makes the mistake of looking down at him. Nik's staring up at her hotly, and the roguish grin he's leveling in her direction sends the heat instantly pooling into her cheeks; she doesn't know what he's intending to do, but that grin has always meant trouble.
He takes his sweet time before she finds out exactly what he's on about. First with his tongue curling around her hipbone, lips trailing kisses over her thighs and placing them, as they shake, over his shoulders. And then Nik licks the most delicious path of all, there between her thighs, where her flesh has grown damp and desperate. Caroline's hips jerk instinctively towards him, even as she exclaims in shock, "Gods, Nik!"
He only hums, his lips vibrating against her, sending a flurry of tingles dancing across her body. Caroline's hips jerk again, and suddenly there are hands placed on either side, pressing her to the bed, commanding her stillness as the hands firmly remain. Nik kisses her, in a place she never imagined you could be kissed, and then he's sucking and it's oh, too much. As sternly as he holds her down, her hips can't help but writhe, desperately seeking further nearness to the pleasure his lips and his tongue lave upon her body.
A fresh wave of shivers race up her spine as her thighs brush Nik's cheeks, his morning stubble scraping along her flesh. Caroline's fingers claw into the bedding of her pallet, frantic to grab anything as the unbearable warmth throbs faster and faster between her legs; and as his lips suck fiercely and wrench an explosive orgasm from her body, she sobs her release, leaving her thighs shaking against his cheeks and her flushed chest heaving.
Her throat doesn't seem to be working properly; her breath keeps catching, and as Nik sits up, looking so pleased with himself, Caroline gaps a little at the sight of him, with not a stitch of clothing to his name. Her gaze slips down his abdomen, eyes widening as they drop lower and – oh my, is that painful? He's so –
Nik's own gaze drops to where she's looking, and if she isn't mistaken, his cheeks take on a pink hue. Caroline licks her lips and clears her throat, stomach fluttering with curiosity. Slightly terrified curiosity, but curiosity nonetheless.
He'd made her feel so good, and a quiet longing suddenly sifts through her still-trembling limbs as she realizes; she wants to make him feel good too.
"Can I – umm, would you mind very much if – if I tried?"
Nik chokes, and the blush creeps all the way to his ears, so red she can almost see steam billowing out.
Caroline crawls to her knees, pressing her hands to his shoulders until he lies back, his expression bemused. She sits between his legs, hands braced against his thighs, and looks up at him uncertainly; he's watching her just as warily, cheeks definitely flaming now, but his chest his heaving. Caroline licks her lips again, and the muscles beneath her fingertips jump slightly.
She's not sure what to do with her hands, so she leaves them clenched against his thighs as she bends over. Hesitantly, she runs her tongue along the underside of…It (she's not sure what else to call It, so she'll just stick to that name, thank you). Nik seems to like that; he groans and his hands ball into fists, so she does it again, all the way to the top. Experimentally, she takes the head between her lips, sucking him into her mouth, and the noise Nik makes can't even be described but she can feel the pleasure of that sound curling all the way down to her own toes.
Nik's hand latches around one of her wrists, dragging her hand up and curling her fingers around the base of, well, you know. She squeezes her fingers slightly and sucks harder, and the growl ripping from his throat sounds pure animal.
The thought of taking more of him into her mouth is more than a little frightening, so she keeps sucking, swirling her tongue, trying to keep track of her hand; it's hard to remember to keep moving it, but she haltingly manages, and Nik doesn't seem to mind her clumsy efforts. On the contrary, the way he pants her name, like she's a treasured goddess, and the way his hips keep jerking slightly forward seems to say he's quite enjoying himself. There's an odd taste in her mouth as everything starts to get wetter; it's strange, but not entirely unpleasant, and all she can think is that Nik is feeling exactly how he made her feel moments ago.
Her lips curve into a smile at the sounds he's making; Niklaus is getting quite noisy. Caroline hums a little, pleased with herself, and the vibration of her lips seems to be all he can handle. With a groan of her name, Nik's fingers grip her hair and jerk her head away, and then there's all this…stuff gushing forth.
Caroline's face scrunches; the bodily functions of a male is a little bit…ugh. Her fingers brush Nik's hand away and rub consolingly into her scalp.
"Ow." She grumbles, making a face at him that he doesn't see; he's still lying back with his eyes closed, and the silliest grin on his face.
"Sorry," Nik mutters, and the breathlessness in his voice makes her forget to be upset. When he finally opens his eyes to look at her, she's grinning like a mad person. "I didn't think you would want me to – why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing, nothing." She waves her hand diffidently, glancing away. "I just – you enjoyed it?"
Nik laughs at her, his eyes warm. It makes her heart melt to see him like that— completely beautiful and undone. She hasn't seen him so relaxed, so content, in a long, long time. She did that. There's this feeling fluttering around inside of her, flickering to life in the pit of her stomach, like a little ball of light and it's growing and leaping and dancing, and suddenly she feels radiant when he looks at her like that.
He sits up, arms sliding around her waist, nuzzling his nose along her throat and inhaling deeply. When his breath puffs against her skin, Caroline smiles at the sensation, resting her hands against his shoulders, tracing patterns in his skin.
She sinks against him as he sighs softly, and that little ball of light just grows and grows and fills her up and swallows her whole and all she can think, all she can dream, is that they'll have this forever. She wants this, him, forever.
(And oh, how she'll grow to regret that wish).
It takes some time to convince themselves to leave the little cocoon of bliss that her pallet has become and brave the morning and its endless list of chores, but eventually they do. Caroline sends him off with a firm, "I have things to do, shoo!" and Nik heeds her command with an amused roll of the eye.
Her first order of the day is finding Elijah; she'd missed him this morning. Again. When she imagines him sitting on the rooftop alone and pining over Tatia (as he is wont to do), a stirring of guilt flinches inside of her heart. She applies herself to the task immediately, and eventually finds him alone, repairing a stretch of broken fence.
He hasn't spotted her yet, so she sneaks as close as she can and bellows out a greeting: "Good morning!" He once told her, when they were children, that her 'good mornings' were more cheerful than the rise of the sun itself. Caroline wishes it were still so, that she could lift this dreadful misery that has settled upon his shoulders, but her greeting falls flat when Elijah merely sends her a pained grimace.
"Or not so good," she amends, frowning at him. "How are you?"
"I am fine, Caroline, thank you for your inquiry. Now if you would just–"
"Oh, hush. You were there for me, when I needed you," Caroline argues, crossing her arms. "Will you not allow me to be here for you?"
Elijah looks entirely nonplussed at her request. "There really isn't anything you can do, Caroline."
And it's true; there isn't. But she can't stand the idea of him suffering his pain alone, in silence. She won't tolerate it.
"At least allow me to keep you company?"
He gives in to her request, albeit disapprovingly; he says she has her own chores to attend to. But Caroline only grins at him, coming closer to give him a hand. And before long, she spies the smile that flits across his features as she attempts to hold the rails evenly aligned between the posts. And it's good, so very good, to see a true smile on his face once more.
They say that time heals all wounds; that with the passage of days, weeks, months, the pain that once punched holes into your heart will eventually close over and fade away, leaving only the barest of scars. In a way, it's true; as time goes by, so fleeting and yet so perfect, the lesions that once stung so painfully lessen until the burn is hardly noticeable. Elijah starts to smile a little more each day, and every time it's slightly less forced than the one before it. Caroline catches them sword fighting once again, as they use to do, and the bitterness that at times still cuts between them is bit by bit torn asunder.
As for herself, well, Caroline finds that Nik is a marvelous distraction from the insecurities that still lance through her. When her mother returns, it's impossible to continue their charade of domesticity within the confines of her home, but they still find ways…places to express themselves.
(Like that time at the waterhole, with patches of dappled sunlight sparkling along the water around them and Nik's arms around her, their bodies bared and beautiful and oh, so sweetly glorious when caught in such rapture; stuck in a web of passion as Nik made love to her so very fervently).
Nonetheless, they try to keep it quiet. Caroline can feel Mikael's eyes on them when she dines at their fire; the suspicion in his gaze cuts through to her even as Nik has her rupturing into laughter at his jokes. He insists that they remain a secret for now, as they know not how Mikael will react.
(Lies. They both know how he'll react, but neither one of them will voice it. Herself, because imagining Nik at the end of his father's fists sends a flurry of distress churning in her gut. And Nik, because…well, he likes to pretend he isn't scared, but she knows that deep inside of him he's terrified of his father).
Elijah knows; it would be impossible to keep it a secret from him considering the smile that is so radiant upon her features when she meets with him each morning. Caroline tries her best to reign in her exuberance, for she does not wish to pain him with talk of love and joy, but he knows just the same.
Rebekah knows, although it's quite against her will. She is Caroline's dearest and closest female companion, and brother or not, the confession of Caroline's maidenhood, or lack thereof, is quickly divulged. Poor girl; Caroline suspects that she traumatized her. But who else is she to speak to of such things?
Kol knows. Quite unfortunate, but he knows. She's rather unsure as to how (she sure as Hel didn't tell him), but when she asks Nik he clams up and won't speak until she changes the subject. Caroline suspects it had something to do with mead. Either way, Kol teases her over the whole thing; she surmised he would do as much, but she's caught a little off guard by how half-hearted it is. As if he's only doing so because it's what is expected of him.
Caroline doesn't dwell on it though; her little web of happiness has been spun so perfectly, and she's more than content to settle herself within the net of light that has ensnared her so thoroughly.
In the meantime, breakfast! She's starved already.
Caroline's seventeenth birthday comes and goes. She doesn't feel older, but she feels…different. Something about her just feels dissimilar, and she can't for the life of her figure it out. It's a peculiar sensation, almost like a premonition. However, she has no time to waste on it. Caroline is always on her feet, anxious to get her chores finished, always so restless for the moment that she can escape into Nik's arms for a brief spell.
Of course, they spend time together throughout the day, but it isn't the same. What with the work of the village, especially now that winter hovers so chillingly at their doorsteps, just barely a knock away, there never seems to be enough time. But in the evenings, when they sneak into the forest together, or cuddle up in the warmth of the straw that fills the byres, there seems to be all the time in the world. And as more days pass, and her body grows accustomed to the hard, ridged planes of his own, Caroline learns a few tricks of her own, always trying to race a step ahead of him and fill him with the same sweet surprise and awe that he evokes within her.
And she's astounded, so very astounded, that this feeling of passion and desire that so consumes her never seems to lessen with time. On the contrary, it only seems to burn brighter and faster, an explosion of fervor that crackles across her skin and ignites something deep inside of her, tearing her apart and building her anew. It moves her; he moves her.
Nothing, nothing, will ever be the same for her. Not after him. Them.
(And nothing ever is).
Mikael suspects; Niklaus knows that he must, as he's grown ever more volatile towards Nik as of late. Not that his violence hasn't always been…excessive. But for a moment, one heart stopping moment, Nik had lain there with that sword pressed threateningly against his throat, and he thought…his father might do it; might actually kill his own son.
He'd never felt so terrified in his life.
Not that he would show it. When Caroline came to find him later after word of the incident reached her ears, she'd been so shaken, so close to tears, that he'd brushed the entire event off as if it had been nothing.
She looks so pale, so delicate, so –
"Caroline, are you feeling all right?"
She wipes a hand self-consciously across her lips, as if she's just recently been sick. "I'm fine," Caroline says. "I've just been feeling a little under the weather is all."
When Nik suggests that perhaps she should lie down (even offers to handle the rest of her chores for the day, which is big of him if he does say so himself. Women's work, he scoffs inwardly), Caroline snaps that she is perfectly able to handle them herself.
"My, my, quite the temper, Caroline," he teases in an attempt to make her smile; it doesn't appear to be a good one, for she only narrows her flashing eyes at him and flounces away, head held high.
And here he'd thought she was concerned for his wellbeing. Nik rolls his eyes to himself, even as he smiles towards her retreating figure.
He allows himself to think, he can keep this—keep her. He can be good for her. Perhaps everything is secrets now, stolen glances and hidden touches, but that will change. Mikael cannot control him for his entire life. Niklaus will not allow it.
He's done a good job of avoiding Tatia, but from time to time she'll turn up, the saccharine scent of perfume cloaking her with innocence and sweetness; both of which she is not. She's a persistent little thing, irksome, and Nik barely refrains from the groan of frustration when she appears next to him one night while he's alone in the byre, tending to his horse. He's heard talk that she still doggedly pursues Elijah as well (not that his brother discusses it with him, thank the gods); what makes him frown are the rumors that his brother has started to heed her pleas of guilt and forgiveness.
"Hello, Niklaus."
Nik ignores the way she looks up at him from beneath her lashes; he has no time for her nonsense. The little wench shouldn't have been carrying on with Elijah behind his back (he should have known she was lying, the vile seductress).
"I have missed you," Tatia continues on, as if he isn't blatantly disregarding her.
"The feeling isn't mutual, I assure you."
She has the nerve to look affronted at his tone of voice; as if she hadn't been playing him and his brother the whole time, one against the other. "That isn't true." She speaks so confidently, head high and shoulders back, like she'll be damned if she'll accept his rejection.
"Look, Tatia, we had our fun but –"
"You thought that was fun for me?" Nik's gaze cuts across to her sharply, surprised at the hysteria tangled in her tone. She sounds like she might cry, but her eyes are dry; hard and sharp and so devoid of emotion it's almost inhuman. "Being taken by a virgin because he's the only one I thought would understand, the only one who –" She cuts herself off, turning away.
His face tightens at her implication, lips parting to accuse that she'd looked as if she'd been enjoying herself just fine, when she interrupts with a huff: "That's not what I meant."
"Well what did you mean, then?"
He's unprepared for the creeping of her fingers across his jawline, cradling his face. Nik frowns down at her, uneasy, ready to pull away, and Tatia smiles up at him bitterly. "Don't you see, Niklaus? We're never good enough, you and I. I thought you understood that."
Nik prepares a weak rebuttal in his mind, but doesn't bother speaking it; they both will see it for the lie it is. She's right, and he knows it; he's always known it. Mikael has beaten that fact into his head since before he could even speak.
The delicate clearing of a throat interrupts their staring contest, and Tatia's fingers slip from his face as he glances to the side and internally groans at the sight of Caroline standing in the doorway, looking furious.
His throat closes at the look on her face, and he shakes his head at her almost helplessly, at a loss for words. Caroline crosses her arms and raises her brows at Tatia, and when Nik glances back at the dark haired woman, a smile like poison has slipped across her face; it touches her eyes and the venom in her gaze nearly burns him.
"Caroline will see it too, one day," Tatia promises him, and then with a stinging kiss pressed to his cheek, she flits away.
Caroline keeps her scowl directed at him, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Well," she barks. "Explain yourself, then."
They argue.
('I did nothing wrong, we were just talking, am I not allowed to talk anymore?')
('Talking, yes of course you were, and that is why her hands were all over you.')
('All over me, gods woman, stop being so dramatic –')
('You did not just say that!')
It's probably the worst fight they've ever had, and halfway through it neither even really remembers what they're arguing about, only that they must argue and win, or die trying.
('I swear, you are just so stupid, you're like this big, stupid village idiot. Nobody likes a village idiot, Nik!')
('I'm telling the village idiot you said that.')
"And just what exactly is going on here?"
It's not exactly the most opportune moment for someone to interrupt them; snarling in each other's faces, Nik's hands painfully tight about her wrists and Caroline's fingers dangerously close to poking his eyes out. But at the sound of that voice, they both freeze, and ice drips down into her veins.
No, no, no. Not yet. You can't take him yet.
Caroline turns to look at Finn, her lips parting soundlessly; she can't speak, can't move, can't think. He's home, he's back. And the implications of his homecoming…there can be only one possible outcome that it will deliver.
"Finn," Nik says, sounding off-balance himself. "When did you return?" Very slowly his hands release her from his viselike grip, and he steps away from her. The distance is already growing, swallowing her whole, and soon enough she'll be entirely bereft.
"Just now. I've been to see Father, he asked that I fetch you. We need to make plans for the next venture out, we have only a few days time to sort things out." Finn brushes his fingers together absently, as if he's all too eager to be gone already.
"So soon?" Caroline whispers. It strikes like a poison right into her heart. She can't breathe, she can't catch her breath, he'll be gone; oh, why does she have to be so angry with Nik now of all times?
His eyes catch hers, and it's like the gap between them just grows and grows.
His father keeps Nik plenty busy with the preparations to get their voyage underway, and Caroline sometimes wonders if maybe that's a good thing after all; whether it is or isn't, she avoids him. She won't admit it, not to anyone, but she's terrified of what will happen when he returns. When she thinks of the Finn she once knew as a child, and replaces him with the man he's become, distant and changed with eyes always focused on the next adventure, she wants to weep for their lost childhood. And she's scared, so scared, that Nik will come back to her, and she won't even recognize him anymore.
Deep down, she knows he was being honest, that nothing was going on that night. But she wonders; would it just be easier to let this remain unresolved? To let him leave, see him ride off into the sunset for who knows how long, move on from the anger and the hurt, and accept the fact that when he comes home, it might be to the end of them.
So she shelters her heart and is careful not to cross paths with Nik, as preparation for what she believes must be the inevitable. But she finds that Tatia is a little less easy to ignore; every time Caroline spots her, the rage burns anew, surging in her veins. She wants nothing more than to rake her fingernails down Tatia's face and ruin her pretty little features. Oooh, that girl just boils her blood!
The wound is still too fresh, after all, too deep. Caroline wonders if she'll ever truly forgive Nik. She knows that it isn't as if he was promised to her or even saving himself for her, but she had hoped, foolishly and beyond all reason as only a young girl can…
And every time she sees Tatia, a little voice slithers insidiously through her thoughts, reminds her that Tatia had been his first, that Tatia had felt the hardness of his body against her own and perhaps even pleased him. That thought hurts the most; imagining Nik finding release in Tatia's arms, just the same as he does in Caroline's. And it's those sorts of ideas that bring back the hurt/maim/destroy urges that she feels with each glimpse of her dark-haired rival.
But Caroline tries hard, so hard, to hold back. Fight the urge, bury it deep; she is a lady and she will act as such. She will not allow Tatia to provoke her. She reckons without Tatia's ability to slink her way under everyone's skin, her own notwithstanding; an unfortunate mistake.
"Caroline," Tatia singsongs, her voice a little trill that sets Caroline's nerves on edge. The blonde huffs, tossing her hair back as she shifts the weight of the water buckets teetering in her hands. "I was hoping that you may have seen Niklaus. He's been so busy with the preparations lately," a pretty pout graces Tatia's features, "he's had no time for me."
Caroline throws the girl an indigent glance, thoroughly unimpressed by the entire situation. "Seek him out yourself, Tatia."
"We never got a chance to finish what we started the other day, before you interrupted us," Tatia continues on as if Caroline hadn't said a word. "I'm hoping to send him away to his voyage with a proper farewell."
Ignore her, just ignore her. Caroline tries. She tries so hard.
"Am I making you angry, Caroline?" The question is posed so innocently, sung so sweetly.
"No," Caroline mutters through clenched teeth; not very convincing. "I'm busy."
"Look, Caroline, I think we both know that you and Niklaus will never work."
Caroline spins to face the dark-haired little vixen, eyes narrowed. "I beg your pardon?" And yes, she had been worrying over the same thing since the moment Finn showed up, but she'd be damned if she let this girl know that. Tatia smiles at her, and there's this devilish little glint in the girl's eyes; it sparkles and it gleams, strikes like poison from a snake.
"You're too…sweet for him," Tatia's nose wrinkles like she's just smelled something distasteful. "Nik needs a woman who understands who he really is."
She did not just call him Nik, she did not!
"You're too good for him, Caroline."
Something in her snaps; breaks apart and unravels her from the seams, stirring a tornado of hatred that storms within her. Tatia can insult Caroline all she wants, but she does not get to say a word about Nik. As if she knows him! Like she's some expert on the man that Caroline has known for her entire life. This – this woman! She came to her town and she took what belonged to Caroline, everyone knew that Nik belonged to her. He's hers, and he should have only ever known love and pleasure from her arms. And he does deserve good, he does!
There's this primal sort of wave that rushes through her, makes her feel this urge to defend and protect. The water buckets fall unheeded to the ground, splashing her boots and soaking the hem of her dress. And with a hiss of rage, Caroline swings her hand back and then surges forward, slapping Tatia across her pretty little cheek.
Tatia cries out, fingers rising to touch her cheek, skimming over the red imprint left by Caroline's palm. Her eyes fly to Caroline's, filled for a moment with shock, as if she can hardly believe that anyone would dare touch her with such violence. And then her gaze narrows, and before Caroline quite knows what's happening Tatia throws herself forward, knocking the both of them to the ground as Tatia's hands strike against any surface they can find. A wild, uncouth little warrior; but Caroline holds her own.
They roll across the wet ground, grappling for dominance, mud forming beneath them thanks to the water from the buckets. When Tatia ends up on top, Caroline grabs a fistful of the mud, slopping it into her opponents face, blinding the girl for a moment as Caroline knees her fiercely in the gut. The brunette grunts, breathless for a moment, but that doesn't stop her fingers from gripping tufts of blonde curls and scraping her nails across Caroline's skin, bringing tears to her eyes.
The noise between them must be deafening; shrieks and cries and oaths of rage. It certainly brings two men running. One moment Caroline is biting Tatia's wrist in an attempt to get her hair released, and the next they're being pulled apart from each other, limbs flailing as they struggle to continue their fight.
Someone is pushing Caroline's hair back, out of her eyes, and she gazes up to see Kol hovering over her. "That was quite a bite," he teases, and for a moment he glances at her lips. "Remind me never to get on your bad side." Caroline tries to smile, but winces when it irritates the scrapes across her face.
Kol brushes a drop of blood from her chin, a look of concern crossing his features. "Are you all right?"
She never gets a chance to answer him; her attention is pulled to where Niklaus holds Tatia. Although hold wouldn't really be the right term for it. Strangling is more like it.
Caroline's eyes widen when she sees the violence that trembles all across Nik's body. His fingers are wrapped around Tatia's throat, squeezing quite brutally if the purple hue that has taken over Tatia's features is any evidence. The brunette chokes, hands tugging uselessly at Nik's wrists, to which he pays no heed.
"You will never touch Caroline again, do you understand me, Tatia?" Nik shakes the girl for added emphasis, and her whole body sort of just flops about like a fish out of water. When she can't answer him, he growls low in his throat, dragging her closer, and the look in his eyes is the most terrifying thing Caroline has ever seen. "Do you understand me?" The hiss of his voice is filled with murder.
It's almost intimate, the way Nik tilts his head towards his terrified victim, infiltrating her space with a promise of retribution, the way his eyes penetrate her as he tightens his fingers about Tatia's throat. She chokes, a pitiful sound, and gurgles something that sounds like an affirmative, but it's hard to tell. Nik's eyes hold hers for another moment as she gags and claws at his fingers, and then he nods, satisfied, and drops Tatia to the ground in a heap. And Caroline just stares at him as if she's never seen him before.
Nik turns to face her then, his whole body strained and trembling, and there's this look of death in his eyes that sends a shiver down her spine. Unconsciously, Caroline latches onto Kol's arm, curling towards him. When Nik takes a step in their direction, she shrinks away with a flinch.
"Are you hurt?" he asks, and though his eyes still bear a wild, crazed look about them, his voice is soft. Caroline nods hesitantly as Kol helps her to her feet.
"I'll see you home," Nik holds his hand out towards her, and her fingers tighten around Kol's arm. "We should –"
"I'll be fine," she interrupts him, her voice little more than a rasp, and clears her throat quickly. "Kol can keep me company."
Caroline keeps her eyes on Nik's fists as they walk away; notes with unease the way they clench and shake with barely restrained anger; doesn't dare look up to see the expression clouding his face.
He doesn't know what's wrong with himself; he's not sure why he did that. He's – he's never been violent with a woman before, even one as enraging as Tatia.
He felt like he could have killed her.
He almost killed her. Why?
There's this feeling inside of him and it just keeps growing, right in the pit of his stomach. He's always angry, quick to incense, and it's just getting worse every single day. If someone looks at him the wrong way, he feels this maddening urge to rip their head off.
Caroline is scared of him. He saw it in her eyes; he frightened her. He doesn't want to frighten her – he would never hurt her. He would never – would he?
Dear gods, would he?
Is he becoming Mikael?
That's perhaps the worst part of it all; he just can't. He doesn't want to be like this – doesn't want to be like him.
But he's not sure how to fix it.
Tatia avoids both of them after that, which is quite fine with Caroline so long as she doesn't allow herself to dwell upon the particulars of the…incident. But more often than not, she finds herself laying in bed awake at night, remembering the grip of death she felt around Nik; as if Hel herself had deemed his body an appropriate vessel for her power. Caroline could almost taste her in the air, feel her upon her skin. Caroline is afraid for him, afraid of how much he's changing and the rage that seems to always eat away at him, like some voracious canker; every restless night she breathes a fervent prayer to the goddess Eir, that she might heal the anger that has festooned to his mind and bring him calmness. But still Caroline worries for him. Soon he'll be gone, and Odin knows how changed he may be when Nik returns to her.
On the eve of his departure, as she reflects upon her fears, Caroline knows that she can't possibly let him leave without saying farewell. She must put her petty resentment and hurt aside, and go to him before it's too late. Perhaps if she can impart on him just a glimmer of light, then maybe he can follow it back home to her and conquer the darkness that seems to swallow him more and more with each day.
(In those days she never realized, never dreamed of just how dark he would become. Darkness so consuming that even the brightest light is quenched, not even the barest glimmer left in a void barren of all human emotion and feeling. Perhaps if she had only tried harder, burned brighter for him…)
It's a full three days ride to the nearest village seaport. A boat belonging to their own village is docked there, its board paid for by the trading of goods that their men loot on their months long voyage. Both Elijah and Niklaus will be joining Finn and his band of able-bodied men, and already the horses have been tethered near the outskirts of the village, as the men gather and make last-minute adjustments. Caroline stands above them on a hillcrest, watching as Nik holds himself far apart from the rest, keeping silent, his hands caressing the soft muzzle of his steed.
He looks so solemn, so austere, with his taut shoulders and the frown that mars his face. So alone.
She wills him to glance her way, heart pounding and breathless, shaking with nerves now that this moment is finally upon them; but it seems to take ages before his gaze finally lifts and spots her figure in the distance. His shoulders grow stiffer as she beckons him towards her, as if he's been dreading this moment just as much as she has, and he throws a glance at the others before he heads in her direction. Caroline disappears beneath the hillcrest, to avoid the prying eyes of the other men and more specifically Mikael, who is present to bide farewell to his boys. He claps Finn's shoulder and shakes Elijah's hand with a grin on his face, but takes no notice of his younger son. That one, he ignores.
Caroline's breath sticks in her throat as Nik approaches, his expression somewhat wary.
"I thought you were still angry with me," he comments with feigned nonchalance. Caroline lifts her shoulder in a half-hearted shrug and looks away.
"I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye." The words almost stick in her throat too, just like her breath, just like her heart; they crumble like cracked clay as they fall from her lips, her voice dry and hoarse. She's been crying all morning, thinking about him being gone, for once too distracted to wonder at the constant nausea that churns in her belly. Her heart starts to thud as he steps closer, the rugged male scent of him wafting to her nose, calming her overwrought stomach even as her heart beats faster and faster.
The heat of his body washes over her, and then his fingers are at her chin, tipping her gaze up towards his. He doesn't say anything; he doesn't have to. Nik's eyes say it all. And as his forehead presses to hers and he softly noses her cheekbone, Caroline's eyes slide shut and everything inside of her just stutters to a halt.
She wants to beg him not to go; wants to plead with him to stay with her, Mikael be damned. She wants to tell him about the growing fear that is mounting in her heart, tied to the suspicions that she can't escape, the signs that all say…oh, she wants to tell him. She's so frightened; he'll be gone, and she'll left alone to face this by herself.
Caroline parts her lips, but Nik takes this as initiative to kiss her, fervently, desperately; his lips say goodbye. The little ball of light is on fire inside of her, breaking her apart, and she finally understands. She can't stop it, she won't stop it, even if it crushes her in the end. It's too late. So when they finally break apart, and she tries to bring the words back that she'd been desperate to say before, Caroline ends up confessing to something else entirely.
I love you…
And without allowing herself a final moment to see his face, or maybe (foolishly, impossibly) say anything back, Caroline spins about and races back to the village, just as the tears well up and spill over. She chases them away with a prayer to every god imaginable.
Please, please let him return safely…
(It wasn't him returning safely that she should have worried about.)
A/N: That's all she wrote, folks. This is the second longest chapter of the story so far, and I added some sexy times (again, you have Anne to thank for that, she convinced me), so hopefully that makes up for the long absence? Yes? No? You hate me? Are you even there? Hellooooooo?!
If you ARE still reading, drop me a line and give me your thoughts, or just rage at me for abandoning you all (SORRY!). I promise I won't take as long with the next chapter. And I promise, now that Klaus is temporarily away, the next chapter will have TONS of Kol, Rebekah, and (sob) Henrik.
ALSO. Don't freak out. I'm pretty sure you can all tell where I'm going with Caroline's condition (and a few of you worried over this happening in reviews). I promise that this isn't a happy thing or unnecessary fluff; this is actually the biggest angst plotline of the fic. Umm...basically, Caroline's "condition" will eventually turn into a graphic death. Yeah, from here on out almost nothing about the human era will be happy, except for perhaps a few tiny moments. Whoops. Hope you soaked up the last of the happiness properly!
Anyway so yeah. Hope you liked this or something. I agonized over it and worked really hard and I just want to please you *wags tail*
EDIT: The beautiful, glorious Anne wrote a character sketch on the Tatia of this story, which sheds some more light on her (and will be explored some before her death), go read it guys cos it's great and it ties into this story. She's posted it to her tumblr, bkgrlrandomthoughts. Thank you Anne, I love you! | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8515364/6/So-Long-Lonesome | dclm-gs1-209700002 | false | false | {
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0.072596 | <urn:uuid:29cf65b7-2ffd-4415-b273-b0173d074867> | en | 0.984056 | Space Cases
Chapter 18 : FATE
Disclaimer: Don't own it. No offense is intended.
I'm sure there's a few spelling error type things, but my wordpad doesn't have a spellcheck and I'm too lazy to go through it word by word to fix anything. Sorry it's been like, four years. I do have plans to finish this. If I don't I will never rest, and when I die, I'm pretty sure I'll become a ghost, and haunt someone to finish it for me.
The female Lumanian walked to the pillar in the middle of the room, where she sat delicately upon a bench, meant for those who came to gaze upon the mysteries and puzzles of the Chrono. She motioned with one soft hand for Davenport to join her. Many of the ancient poems, unreadable to Davenport shimmered in some of the morning light coming from the stained glass above. As TJ sat down she realized the water she heard was actually running from the pillar itself. Liquid bubbled from the very top of the manuscript and trickled over the edges to be catch the different rays of sun drifting through the three grotesque glass paintings. It was eery and soothing all at the same time, and so Davenport joined the Lumanian on the bench.
" My name is Clover, and I happen to be the High Preistess of the Chronos Temples. If it's Chronos you wish to know about, Miss, then you won't find anyone more knowledgeable than I," Clover's voice was so silky that all Davenport could manage to do was nod once.
" You seem to be one of those unique individuals in whom the thirst of knowledge moves through every cell of the body. That is good. I don't have to hold back, this story won't be wasted. You're people, I assume are advanced enough to know of cells, and genetics and the like?"
" Yes, ma'am."
" Good, good. Then that takes care of a lot of explaining on my part," Clover looked up at the pillar and took several deep breaths.
" Our entire civilization originally built itself upon the notion that long ago, one of our own, a female, was granted the power to space and time. She first displayed her power by being in one place, and then suddenly would dissappear, only to reappear some distance a way. She could also tell us what the weather and crops would reap in the weeks and months to come. Our people worshipped her like a god, and even re-named her as such; Chronos. Her original name has never been recovered. It was that long ago. Chronos brought us many writings of what she saw in her travels to the past and to the future. Those are the very manuscripts you see before you on this pillar. However, eventually all things die away, and she did as well. On her vanishing day she imparted us with the message that she would be reborn, and that we would find her again, if we were looking hard enough. With out her my people became distraught and with out order. There is a very dark time in our history, right after Chronos disseappered, that not even I will repeat to someone. This time lasted only a blip in comparison to the rest of time, and so it is mostly regarded as a flash that need not be concerned with. Unfortubately, something happened during this time that brought about what you might call 'science.' In it's unholy pursuit we climbed away from the terrible darkness that had covered the planet. Many religious believe that Chronos left some of her powers in the cats that roamed the planet to show us the way out. Most think we just didn't notice for a very long time."
TJ shifted on the bench, her complete attention on Clover's face," What didn't your people notice?"
Clover smiled, " I can see which group YOU would belong to. Science often drives all belief away. Scientists assume that at some point we started to realize some of the cats upon our planet could perform the miracle of vanishing and reappearing at will. And in an attempt to find how we matured technologically far faster than your species might have. We devoted all things to science, no length was to far. In fact, you might say that we made science our religion. Soon we learned of genes. And since all things in this universe have one thing in common, genetics, we realized we only had to find the gene that allowed certain creatures to perform these miracles. I'm sure you have heard of 'telemorphs'?" TJ nodded numbly.
" Well these people hold the gene. The Chronos Gene. And if species out there have it, there was no reason to beleive some Lumanians didn't have this gene tucked away too. We began to exam children as they were born, to find this active ability, and anyone who was found to have it, was taken away. We have experimented to 'perfect' this gene. Discovering that it is passed through from the mother, and that it is generational has only been a recent knowledge."
" How recent?"
" I'd say only about forty of your years ago."
" You said they are trying to perfect this idea. Do mean to say you actually give up your children to experiments?" Davenport seemed ill at ease.
Clover smiled as sweetly as she could manage, " But of course. Anyone would be pleased to sacrifice anything to find our beloved Chronos again. The children, even if sacrificed do not die in vain. With their help we are constantly growing closer to the day when we find her once more, and the Lumanians live in our final Utopia."
TJ Davenport was speechless. Her eyes grew wide as the implications settled in.
Clover's face hardened as she forced out, " But what they have done to my daughter and more recent children is unforgiveable..."
Davenport only had a moment to react as Clover's had, weilding what could have been a knife came rapidly toward her head. Falling off the bench, TJ tried to crawl along the floor and put distance between her and Clover. There was a resounding CRACK, and when TJ stood, Clover was not present.
And there is nothing like the feeling of cold steel against one's throat. Clover whispered from behind, " And if I can't forgive my own people for mutating and tormenting my own child... Think of how I feel when complete strangers from far away distances do the same thing? Your no better than those military bastards!"
TJ awoke from her fitful sleep in a room. It small with flowering paper walls, and a small bed in the corner, in which Rosie was lying, unconscious. Davenport slowly moved to the window to look outside, where she could only make out the wide trunks of immense trees. The room seemed very familiar too her, but the throbbing of her head wouldn't allow her to recall from where. In fact, she realized that she couldn't remember getting here either. After Clover attacked she felt like being plunged into an icy river, where there had been voices, screams, and a violence that made her feel nauscious all over. There was so much noise that when it all finally went away, the only thing TJ's body could do was render her unconscious.
The left wall, near the door, shook visibly before melting into an image of Clover.
" Awake are we? That's good. I didn't want you to die before I got answers out of you."
Clover looked haggard and angry. Every stress of her entire life seemed to be visible upon her skin. But her eyes, burning with passion, bore their erotic purple haze into Davenport's skin. TJ couldn't help but avoid that gaze. She felt guilty, but was unable to find the reason.
" What did you do to my daughter?"
" I don't know your daughter."
" Daft beast. The ship that has protected your carcass from the harshness of space IS my daughter. Or rather an extension. The point is, she was a brilliant color last I saw her, the pride and joy of all Lumina, the next Chrono! You return her to me grey and torn! WHAT DID YOU DO!"
Davenport barely formed the words, " We, we crash landed. The ship's outer layer was burned off in the atmosphere... You. You say that the Christa is your daughter?"
A small alarm was going off in the background of the conversation. Clover took this moment to glance over at her own computer screen. Someone was at the doors of the dome. A small boy with what looked like a growth out of his forhead. He remained at the door tapping at the glass.
Clover's fierce gaze melted into that young, soft, motherly face once more and she looked over at Davenport, who was still in shock. The smile on Clover's face looked as if it had been kissed there by angels, and her voice rang with tiny bells when she said, " It looks as if I have company."
The wall returned to its natural form leaving Davenport huddled near the bed, trying to wake Rosie up.
Next Chapter : Fragments | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/926744/18/Chrono | dclm-gs1-209720002 | false | false | {
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Math: What do you call a line segment that connects any two points on a circle?
Chemistry: What is the more common term for
-log([H3O+]) ?
Biology: In the biological classification system, what comes between species and family?
Physics: Which British scientist came up with the 3 Laws of Motion?
Chemistry: What is the non-technical name for dihydrogen monoxide?
Math: Name the sequence that begins 1,1,2,3,5,8,13...
Biology: What is the movement of water through a selectively-permeable membrane?
Physics: Which star is the closest to the planet Earth?
Chemistry: What is the name for 0 Kelvin or -273.15°C?
Math: What trigonometric function is the same as sine divided by cosine?
Biology: Geometrically, what is the specific structure of a DNA molecule called?
Physics: On the electromagnetic spectrum, what type of radiation has the shortest wavelength?
Chemistry: Name any one of the noble gases that isn't radioactive.
Math: What is the more common name for a regular hexahedron?
Earth Science: What is the most abundant element in the Earth's atmosphere?
Physics: What is the SI unit for energy, named after an English physicist?
Chemistry: Complete the other half of the Ideal Gas Law: PV =___
Math: For a pair of points, what does (y2-y1)/(x2-x1), aka rise over run, represent?
Biology: Name either of two bases that completes this set: guanine, cytosine, adenine, ___.
Physics: In E=mc2, what is the name of the constant represented by c?
Biology: What German-speaking friar is famous for discovering the field of genetics?
Chemistry: What process is the opposite of oxidation, where electrons are gained by a species?
Biology: What does a plant cell have surrounding it that an animal cell does not?
Physics: What is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator?
Chemistry: Using element symbols, decode this message: sulfur polonium carbon potassium.
Math: What kind of number has factors that sum to itself like 6 (=1+2+3) or 28(=1+2+4+7+14)?
Biology: What are the hairlike sensory|motion structures on the outside of cells called?
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0.02793 | <urn:uuid:3d8d1273-585c-4130-8d7c-6411a783d7c8> | en | 0.921877 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
There appear to be various different technologies available to use an SSD to act as a cache for HHDs. The ones I know of:
• dm-cache (by Redhat - in the 3.9 Kernel, so it should be in ubuntu 13.10)
• Flashcache (developed and used by facebook)
• Bcache (developed and used by Google )
• EnhanceIO (by STEC; based on Flashcache)
Are there any noteworthy differences in the various implementations? Which one is best for regular desktop PC use - to increase performance of usual programs such as web browsers or games?
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To increase performance I found that the installation of 64bit ubuntu, worked great, my machine got even faster than before! Also, about cache you should use ram compressed cache with this package zram-config that will get priority on swap usage. And, store the game on the SDD and test it up. Some games wont work much faster, others will work great! I prefer to not use SDD as cache because of its writes limit but SDDs are getting cheaper so thats not so much concern anymore :) – Aquarius Power May 11 '13 at 16:45
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1 Answer
up vote 8 down vote accepted
I really don’t know where to start, since all this is excellent information. I will start with some info about SSD’s, then a description of all the different caching methods, and just go from there. I hope that you
• Price: SSDs are somehow expensive
• Maximum and Common Capacity: High capacity SSD’s are very rare and expensive
• Speed: This is where SSDs gets the edge
• Durability: An SSD has no moving parts
Best to have a hybrid system, to have the best of both worlds (capacity, reliability, speed, etc.)
The Linux 3.9 kernel (made available on April 28, 2013) introduces SSD caching. The kernel's Device mapper now includes a cache target called dm-cache that enables SSDs or other storage device to be used as a cache for a hard drive. It essentially speeds up data writes and reads as it allows the faster SSD to first cache data and then transfer it to the slower hard drive.
Flashcache is a module originally written and released by Facebook(Mohan Srinivasan, Paul Saab and Vadim Tkachenko) in April of 2010. It is a kernel module that allows Writethrough caching of a drive on another drive. This is most often used for caching a rotational drive on a smaller solid-state drive for performance reasons. This gives you the speed of an SSD and the size of a standard rotational drive for recently cached files. FlashCache is a general purpose writeback block cache for Linux.
The design goal is to be just as fast as the SSD and cached device (depending on cache hit vs. miss, and writethrough vs. writeback writes) to within the margin of error. It's not quite there yet, mostly for sequential reads. But testing has shown that it is emphatically possible, and even in some cases to do better - primarily random writes.
Bcache has a big disadvantage, and that it takes away memory from the system to implement the cache.
EnhanceIO is a solution that runs beneath the application layer, enabling applications to utilize the performance benefits of SSDs without major IT infrastructure changes. An SSD cache can yield most of the benefits of switching from HDDs to SSDs at a fraction of the cost of an all-SSD system. A cached system typically operates on less power than an HDD-based system of similar performance, and that creates a side benefit by reducing cooling requirements.
An SSD cache can also extend the useful life of an existing system by improving performance to meet growing demands through an incremental investment, rather than through a wholesale upgrade/replacement of the existing system.
Caching also enables faster access to the data without the extra storage administration overhead to acquire and install new disk shelves, configuring new LUNs and migrating data to the new LUNs. Caching is almost transparent and requires little if any downtime. EnhanceIO is based upon Flashcache.
bcache is the most worthless of all because it requires specially prepared (formatted) data partition. This makes it difficult (if possible) to attach cache to existing partition with data as one would need 200% capacity and to perform long data-moving in order to activate/deactivate caching.
The brilliance of EnhanceIO is that it doesn't need intermediate device at all and can be attached to any block device on-the-fly even when device is already mounted. Another super-cool thing is that you can attach EnhanceIO cache not just to partition but to partitioned block device to cache all its partitions at once. Just like flashcache enchanceio modules are built with DKMS and can be used with older kernels.
Source: Debian
DM Cache Advantages
DM caches use a simplified architecture, which makes them adaptable and easy to customize. Users can adjust the block size and the cache capacity based on the amount of data it will have to handle or on the value of the data. If a particular application needs to store a great deal of data in sequence, users can configure the cache for that purpose. If a user wants to record information in a database simultaneously with the cache, that won't interfere with the cache's operations.
DM Cache Dis-Advantages
One drawback to using a DM cache is that the Linux operating system has limited space for storing metadata. If the cache is large, and includes lots of small blocks, that adds up to a lot of metadata for the stored information. To solve this problem, the user must increase the block size. Another possible problem is that, after a server crash, the cache metadata may no longer match the cache contents, though it is possible to restore the correct configuration eventually.
Source: Complements of Fraser Sherman
So from the above information it’s clear that EnhanceIO is the way to go, but in my opinion since it’s based on Flashcache, I would go with flash cache. But I will definitely try both of them before making a final decision.
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EnhanceIO: a driver based on EhanceIO SSD caching software derived from Facebook's open source Flashcache project that's useful for using SSDs as cache devices for traditional HDDs. webupd8.org/2013/05/get-better-linux-desktop-performance.html – Qasim May 18 '13 at 9:41
Thanks for the answer! Hopefully EnhanceIO will land in the 3.10 kernel and be available in the next Ubuntu release. – Uli May 18 '13 at 13:07
Nice writeup, but I must hightlight that DM cache is totally safe, if you experience a crash, you are not loosing any data of course. In practice, the cache could be less efficient for some time until metadata is regenerated. – lzap Aug 8 '13 at 9:51
The comment about bcache memory use is incorrect, so is the (quoted) one about conversion. – Gabriel Sep 13 '13 at 17:00
@Gabriel feel free to modify, but include the source.:) – Mitch Sep 13 '13 at 17:10
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| http://askubuntu.com/questions/290502/what-are-the-advantages-disadvantages-of-different-ssd-to-hdd-cacheing-options?answertab=oldest | dclm-gs1-209830002 | false | false | {
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0.021366 | <urn:uuid:23c8f7e7-dd8d-480f-a199-967e61242c99> | en | 0.867605 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
Possible Duplicate:
How do I install the Ask Ubuntu Unity Lens, and how do I use it?
Is there an app/software avialable which would integrate askubuntu.com into my unity desktop something like GMail notifier.
This would help me to see what all question are posted on the site without logging in the site
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marked as duplicate by ajmitch, fossfreedom, hhlp, Takkat, Bruno Pereira Jan 1 '12 at 12:53
1 Answer
You want stackapplet:
stackappletInstall stackapplet in Ubuntu Software Centre
And the Ask Ubuntu lens if you're looking for search integration:
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0.081398 | <urn:uuid:42ed343b-9313-4abf-9431-b48620885f33> | en | 0.951395 | List of computer term etymologies
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This is a list of the origins of computer-related terms or terms used in the computing world (i.e., a list of computer term etymologies). It relates to both computer hardware and computer software.
Names of many computer terms, especially computer applications, often relate to the function they perform, e.g., a compiler is an application that compiles (programming language source code into the computer's machine language). However there are other terms with less obvious origins, which are of etymological interest. This article lists such terms.
The first case of an actual computer bug, a moth trapped in a relay of the Harvard Mark II
Computer room at Dryden Flight Research Center, 1949
Dennis Ritchie, having improved on the B language, called his creation New B. He later renamed it C. (See also D).
C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup called his new language "C with Classes" and then "new C". The original language began to be called "old C" which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C. In C the '++' operator increments the value of the variable it is appended to, thus C++ would increment the value of C.
The term was coined by web browser programmer Lou Montulli after the term "magic cookies" used by Unix programmers. The term "magic cookie" in turn derives from "fortune cookie", a cookie with an embedded message.
Designed by Walter Bright as an improved C, avoiding many of the design problems of C (e.g., extensive pointer manipulation, unenforced array boundaries, etc.).
It is falsely considered an acronym for Disk And Execution Monitor.[by whom?] According to the original team that introduced the concept, "the use of the word daemon was inspired by the Maxwell's demon of physics and thermodynamics (an imaginary agent which helped sort molecules with differing velocities and worked tirelessly in the background)"[citation needed] The term was embraced, and possibly popularized[citation needed], by the Unix operating systems which supported multiple background processes: various local (and later Internet) services were provided by daemons. This is exemplified by the BSD mascot, John Lasseter's drawing of a friendly imp.
A portmanteau of the names Ian Murdock, the Debian Project creator, and Debra Lynn, Ian's then girlfriend and future wife.[12][13]
According to Robert Metcalfe (one of its initial developers), he devised the name in an early company memo as an endocentric compound of "luminiferous ether"—the "substance" that was widely believed to be the medium through which electromagnetic radiation propagated in the late 19th century—and "net", short for "network".[14] When the networking team would describe data flowing into the network infrastructure, they would routinely describe it as data packets going "up into the ether".[15]
Les Earnest wrote the finger program in 1971 to provide for users who wanted information about other users on a network or system. Before the finger program, the only way to get this information was with a who program that showed IDs and terminal line numbers for logged-in users; people used to run their fingers down the "who" list. Earnest named his program after this phenomenon.[citation needed]
Named after a variety of penguin, the universal Linux mascot.
The gnu is also a species of African antelope. The founder of the GNU project Richard Stallman liked the name because of the humour associated with its pronunciation, and was also influenced by The Gnu Song,[17] by Flanders and Swann, which is sung by a gnu. It is also an early example of a recursive acronym: "GNU's Not Unix".[18]
The name started as an exaggerated boast about the amount of information the search engine would be able to search. It was originally named 'Googol', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. The word was originally invented by Milton Sirotta, nephew of mathematician Edward Kasner, in 1938 during a discussion of large numbers and exponential notation.
The source of the name is claimed to be three-fold: first, that it is used to "go-for" information; second, that it does so through a menu of links analogous to gopher holes; and third, that the mascot of the protocol authors' organization, the University of Minnesota, is Goldy the Gopher.[citation needed]
The name comes from a command in the Unix text editor ed that takes the form g/re/p meaning search globally for a regular expression and print lines where instances are found.[19] "Grep" like "Google" is often used as a verb, meaning "to search".
Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in 'mail' and finally settled for Hotmail as it included the letters "HTML" — the markup language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective upper casing.
"18" is for the number of letters between the i and the n.[citation needed] The term l10n (for localization) has failed to catch on to the same degree, but is used by some.[who?][citation needed]
ICQ is not an initialism. It is a play on the phrase "I seek you" (similar to CQ in ham radio usage).[citation needed]
Jakarta was the name of the conference room at Sun where most of the meetings between Sun and Apache took place. The conference room was most likely named after Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, which is located on the northwest coast of the island of Java.
Originally called "D", but with the connotation of a near-failing mark on a report card the language was renamed Oak by Java-creator James Gosling, from the tree that stood outside his window. The programming team at Sun had to look for a substitute name as there was already another programming language called Oak. "Java" was selected from a list of suggestions, primarily because it is a popular slang term for coffee, especially that grown on the island of Java. As the programmers drank a lot of coffee, this seemed an appropriate name. Many people mistakenly think that Java is an acronym and spell it JAVA. When one of the original Java programmers from Sun was asked to define JAVA he said it stood for nothing, but if it must stand for something: "Just Another Vague Acronym."
It was originally developed by Brendan Eich of Netscape under the name "Mocha", which was later renamed to "LiveScript", and finally to "JavaScript".[20] The change of name from LiveScript to JavaScript roughly coincided with Netscape adding support for Java technology in its Netscape Navigator web browser. JavaScript was first introduced and deployed in the Netscape browser version 2.0B3 in December 1995. The naming has caused confusion, giving the impression that the language is a spin-off of Java, and it has been characterized by many as a marketing ploy by Netscape to give JavaScript the cachet of what was then the hot new web-programming language.[21][22]
When created by programmers at MIT in the 1970s, they wanted a name that suggested high security for the project, so they named it after Kerberos, in Greek mythology the three-headed dog guarding the gates of Hades. The reference to Greek mythology is most likely because Kerberos was developed as part of Project Athena.[citation needed]
Linux creator Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix operating system on his computer, didn't like it, liked MS-DOS less, and started a project to develop an operating system that would address the problems of Minix. Hence the working name was Linux (Linus' Minix). Originally, however, Linus had planned to have it named Freax (free + freak + x). His friend Ari Lemmke encouraged Linus to upload it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave Linus a directory called linux on his FTP server, as he did not like the name Freax.
Apple stated that Lisa was an acronym for Local Integrated Software Architecture; however, it is often inferred that the machine was originally named after the daughter of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and that this acronym was invented later to fit the name. Accordingly, two humorous suggestions for expanding the acronym included Let's Invent Some Acronyms and Let's Invent Silly Acronyms.
A play on the terms "software" and "hardware". Coined in 1966, the word indicates that sometimes the computer problem is not with the computer itself, but with the user.
The original apple McIntosh
From McIntosh, a popular type of apple.
Earlier spelling of the term is "Nurd" and the original spelling is "Knurd", but the pronunciation has remained the same. The term originated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the late 1940s.[citation needed] Students who partied, and rarely studied were called "Drunks", while the opposite — students who never partied and always studied were "Knurd" ("Drunk" spelled backwards). The term was also (independently) used in a Dr. Seuss book, and on the TV show Happy Days, giving it international popularity.[citation needed]
The name of this online interactive software - that prevented CICS system abends caused by applications programs - did not originate from "Online Verification" or similar. It was the name of the author's son Oliver.
Larry Ellison, Ed Oates and Bob Miner were working on a consulting project for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The code name for the project was called Oracle (the CIA evidently saw this as a system that would give answers to all questions). The project was designed to use the newly written SQL database language from IBM. The project eventually was terminated but they decided to finish what they started and bring it to the world. They kept the name Oracle and created the RDBMS engine.
The term comes from paku paku which is a Japanese onomatopoeia used for noisy eating; similar to chomp chomp. The game was released in Japan with the name Puck-Man, and released in the US with the name Pac-Man, fearing that kids may deface a Puck-Man cabinet by changing the P to an F.
The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association is an international standards body that defines and promotes standards for expansion devices such as modems and external hard disk drives to be connected to notebook computers. Over time, the acronym PCMCIA has been used to refer to the PC card form factor used on notebook computers. A twist on the acronym is People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms.
The fifth microprocessor in the 80x86 series. It would have been called i586 or 80586, but Intel decided to name it Pentium (penta = five) after it lost a trademark infringement lawsuit against AMD due to a judgment that numbers like "286", "386", and "486" cannot be trademarked. According to Intel, Pentium conveys a meaning of strength, like titanium.[citation needed]
Since some early Pentium chips contained a mathematical precision error, it has been jokingly suggested that the reason for the chip being named Pentium rather than 586 was that Intel chips would calculate 486 + 100 = 585.99999948.
Perl was originally named Pearl, after the "pearl of great price" of Matthew 13:46.[citation needed] Larry Wall, the creator of Perl, wanted to give the language a short name with positive connotations and claims to have looked at (and rejected) every three- and four-letter word in the dictionary. He even thought of naming it after his wife Gloria. Before the language's official release Wall discovered that there was already a programming language named Pearl, and changed the spelling of the name. Although the original manuals suggested the backronyms "Practical Extraction and Report Language" and "Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister", these were intended humorously.[citation needed]
Originally called "Personal Home Page Tools" by creator Rasmus Lerdorf, it was rewritten by developers Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans who gave it the recursive name "PHP Hypertext Preprocessor". Lerdorf currently insists the name should not be thought of as standing for anything, for he selected "Personal Home Page" as the name when he did not foresee PHP evolving into a general-purpose programming language.
Many people believe that Pine stands for "Pine Is Not Elm". However, one of its original authors, Laurence Lundblade, insists this was never the case and that it started off simply as a word and not an acronym; his first choice of a backronym for pine would be "Pine Is Nearly Elm". Over time it was changed to mean Program for Internet News and E-mail.[23]
The author of ping, Mike Muuss, named it after the pulses of sound made by a sonar called a "ping". Later Dave Mills provided the backronym "Packet Internet Groper".
Named after the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus.[citation needed]
Radio buttons got their name from the preset buttons in radio receivers. When one used to select preset stations on a radio receiver physically instead of electronically, depressing one preset button would pop out whichever other button happened to be pushed in.
Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap (with red and white stripes) by his grandfather while at college. People would turn to him to solve their problems, and he was referred to as "that guy in the red hat". He lost the cap and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return the hat if found by anyone.
Based on the surnames of the authors of this algorithm — Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Len Adleman.
The name samba comes from inserting two vowels into the name of the standard protocol that Microsoft Windows network file system use, called SMB (Server Message Block). The author searched a dictionary using grep for words containing S M and B in that order; the only matches were Samba and Salmonberry.
The name of this instruction set simulator software - that allowed batch application programs to be tested interactively from online terminals - did not originate from "Simulation Online" or similar. It was the name of the author's other son (see also OLIVER).
The term spam is derived from the Monty Python SPAM sketch, set in a cafe where everything on the menu includes SPAM luncheon meat. While a customer plaintively asks for some kind of food without SPAM in it, the server reiterates the SPAM-filled menu. Soon, a chorus of Vikings join in with a song: "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM", over and over again, drowning out all conversation.
Swing was the code-name of the project that developed the new graphic components (the successor of AWT). It was named after swing, a style of dance band jazz that was popularized in the 1930s and unexpectedly revived in the 1990s. Although an unofficial name for the components, it gained popular acceptance with the use of the word in the package names for the Swing API, which begin with javax.swing.[citation needed]
Tomcat was the code-name for the JSDK 2.1[clarification needed] project inside Sun.[citation needed] Tomcat started off as a servlet specification implementation by James Duncan Davidson who was a software architect at Sun. Davidson had initially hoped that the project would be made open-source, and since most open-source projects had O'Reilly books on them with an animal on the cover, he wanted to name the project after an animal. He came up with Tomcat since he reasoned the animal represented something that could take care of and fend for itself.
Troff stands for "typesetter roff", although many people have speculated that it actually means "Times roff" because of the use of the Times font family in troff by default. Troff has its origins from Roff, an earlier formatting program, whose name is a contraction of "run off".[citation needed]
The term is derived from the classical myth of the Trojan Horse. Analogously, a Trojan horse appears innocuous (or even to be a gift), but in fact is a vehicle for bypassing security.
The logo was originally created by Larry Ewing in 1996 as an entry in a Linux Logo competition. The creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds was bitten by a Little Penguin during a visit to Canberra Zoo in 1993, which made the penguin his 'favourite' animal. The word Tux apparently comes from "(T)orvalds (U)ni(X)".[citation needed][original research?]
Derived from ubuntu, a South African ideology.
When Bell Labs pulled out of the MULTICS (MULTiplexed Information and Computing System) project, which was originally a joint Bell Labs/GE/MIT project, Ken Thompson of Bell Labs, soon joined by Dennis Ritchie, wrote a simpler version of the operating system for a spare DEC minicomputer, allegedly found in a corridor. They needed an OS to run the game Space Travel, which had been compiled under MULTICS. The new OS was called UNICS — UNiplexed Information and Computing System by Brian Kernighan.
Initialism for visual, a command in the ex editor which helped users to switch to the visual mode from the ex mode. the first version was written by Bill Joy at UC Berkeley.
Acronym for Vi improved after Vim added several features over the vi editor. Vim however had started out as an imitation of Vi and was expanded as Vi imitation.
The term virus was first used as a technical computer science term by Fred Cohen in his 1984 paper "Computer Viruses Theory and Experiments", where he credits Len Adleman with coining it. Although Cohen's use of virus may have been the first academic use, it had been in the common parlance long before that. A mid-1970s science fiction novel by David Gerrold, When H.A.R.L.I.E. was One, includes a description of a fictional computer program called VIRUS that worked just like a virus (and was countered by a program called ANTIBODY). The term "computer virus" also appears in the comic book "Uncanny X-Men" No. 158, published in 1982. A computer virus's basic function is to insert its own executable code into that of other existing executable files, literally making it the electronic equivalent to the biological virus, the basic function of which is to insert its genetic information into that of the invaded cell, forcing the cell to reproduce the virus.
Coined by Ward Cunningham, the creator of the wiki concept, who named them for the "wiki wiki" or "quick" shuttle buses at Honolulu Airport. Wiki wiki was the first Hawaiian term he learned on his first visit to the islands. The airport counter agent directed him to take the wiki wiki bus between terminals.
The name 'worm' was taken from a 1970s science fiction novel by John Brunner entitled The Shockwave Rider. The book describes programs known as "tapeworms" which spread through a network for the purpose of deleting data. Researchers writing an early paper on experiments in distributed computing noted the similarities between their software and the program described by Brunner, and adopted that name.
Acronym for What You See Is What You Get, the phrase was originated by a newsletter published by Arlene and Jose Ramos, called WYSIWYG. It was created for the emerging Pre-Press industry going electronic in the late 1970s.
X derives its name as a successor to a pre-1983 window system called the W Window System.
Yahoo!'s history site says the name is an acronym for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle", but some remember that in its early days (mid-1990s), when Yahoo! lived on a server called, it was glossed as "Yet Another Hierarchical Object Organizer." The word "Yahoo!" was originally invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book Gulliver's Travels. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos.
The file format was created by Phil Katz, and given the name by his friend Robert Mahoney. The compression tool Phil Katz created was called PKZIP. Zip means "speed", and they wanted to imply their product would be faster than ARC and other compression formats of the time.
See also[edit]
1. ^ The New Hacker's Dictionary. Compiled by Eric S. Raymond (Third ed.). 1996. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-262-18178-5.
2. ^ "FAQ - Httpd Wiki". Retrieved 2012-11-15.
3. ^ Hamilton, Naomi (2008-05-27). "The A-Z of Programming Languages: AWK". Retrieved 2012-11-15.
4. ^ a b Dennis M. Ritchie (March 1993). "The Development of the C Language". ACM SIGPLAN Notices 28 (3): 201–208. doi:10.1145/155360.155580. "The B language's name most probably represents a contraction of BCPL, though an alternate theory holds that it derives from Bon [Thompson 69], an unrelated language created by Thompson during the Multics days. Bon in turn was named either after his wife Bonnie, or (according to an encyclopedia quotation in its manual), after a religion whose rituals involve the murmuring of magic formulas."
5. ^ Cooper, Eric. "biff: Did You Know?". Retrieved 2012-11-17.
6. ^ "What does {some strange unix command name} stand for?". Retrieved 2012-11-17.
7. ^ "Jargon File: biff". Retrieved 2012-11-17.
8. ^ Shannon, Claude E. (July 1948). "A Mathematical Theory of Communication". The Bell System Technical Journal 27 (3): 379–423. "The choice of a logarithmic base corresponds to the choice of a unit for measuring information. If the base 2 is used the resulting units may be called binary digits, or more briefly bits, a word suggested by J. W. Tukey."
9. ^ Dyson, George. Darwin Among the Machines. p. 98. ISBN 9780718196950.
11. ^ Werner Buchholz (July 1956). "TIMELINE OF THE IBM STRETCH/HARVEST ERA (1956–1961)".
12. ^ Nixon, Robin (2010). Ubuntu: Up and Running. O'Reilly Media. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-596-80484-8.
13. ^ About Debian
14. ^ Cade Metz (March 13, 2009). Ethernet — a networking protocol name for the ages: Michelson, Morley, and Metcalfe. The Register. p. 2. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
15. ^ The History of Ethernet. 2006. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
16. ^ Eastlake, D.; Manros, C.; Raymond, E. (2001-04-01). "RFC 3092 - Etymology of "Foo"". Retrieved 2012-11-15.
17. ^ The Gnu Song
18. ^ Stallman, Richard. "Initial Announcement of the GNU Project September 27, 1983". Retrieved 20 November 2013.
19. ^ "The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7 IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition Copyright © 2001-2013 The IEEE and The Open Group". The Open Group. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
20. ^ Krill, Paul (2008-06-23). "JavaScript creator ponders past, future". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
23. ^ Lundblade, Laurence. "Laurence's home page: Naming Pine". Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2012-11-17. | http://blekko.com/wiki/List_of_computer_term_etymologies?source=672620ff | dclm-gs1-209910002 | false | false | {
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0.950048 | <urn:uuid:dac2d02b-b555-4f22-9ecb-6370b888a483> | en | 0.954904 | The Peace Pastor
Pursuing Peace through Faith with the Rev. Marty Troyer
Roots of Violence #3: Why did Jesus have to die?
How did the violence of the cross come to be? And how was it that Jesus, whom we proclaim to be Son of God, came to be killed there?
John allows us to sit in on a closed door meeting (John 11:47-50) of power brokers who choose the path of violence for a specific reason. They are not choosing to be evil. Nor are they choosing to appease a Holy God with a perfect sacrifice. No, they are choosing violence as a means to peace. Same script as Perry’s Texas (who will be executing it’s 500th person this spring), and Zero Dark Thirty’s myth of redemptive torture.
[Read More] | http://blog.chron.com/thepeacepastor/category/jesus/cross/ | dclm-gs1-209930002 | false | false | {
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0.11732 | <urn:uuid:53d0697f-3445-4b0d-bc08-c368ed24de5e> | en | 0.970017 | HOME > Chowhound > Wine >
What's your latest food quest? Share your adventure
can you return corked wine?
fayehess Feb 4, 2007 06:02 AM
I bought a of wine about a month ago, that I had never tried and loved it. I bought it again yesterday, and there was a definite bitter taste acrid kind of taste. The cork was moldy (I don't know anything about wine, so I don't know if it matters about the cork).
I know that you can return a wine at a restaurant, but can you return a bottle to a wine shop?
1. g
Greg P. Feb 7, 2007 05:46 PM
Also keep in mind that some states have open container laws that make it illegal to transport any alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle once the seal has been broken.
1 Reply
1. re: Greg P.
zin1953 Feb 7, 2007 07:56 PM
In most states, it is LEGAL to transport an open container in a motor vehicle providing that container is in the trunk (boot) -- out of the driver's reach.
2. o
OliveBelle Feb 6, 2007 05:07 PM
Yes. And you should. You should even try with an older vintage, because even if they can't refund your money or give you a replacement, if they are a good wine shop with a true appreciation for what they sell, they will try to make some kind of compensation.
1. c
chickstein Feb 4, 2007 02:06 PM
Check your state laws. In some state all sales of alcohol are final.
3 Replies
1. re: chickstein
Midlife Feb 4, 2007 02:25 PM
Yes. I guess I should have qualified my statement with that. Here in California, that's not the case. Thanks for clarifying.
1. re: Midlife
PaulV Feb 6, 2007 06:10 PM
That sounds rediculous; why would any state have a law that alcohol sales are final?
1. re: PaulV
zin1953 Feb 7, 2007 05:20 AM
Can you return fresh fruit? vegetables? meat? to the market?
Keep in mind that -- at least in the U.S. -- *everything* with alcoholic beverages is a sin. On a Federal level, wine has nothing to do with the USDA, for example, nor even with the FDA. (Neither does beer or spirits, but this is the wine board.) It is regulated by the US Treasury Dept., first by ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm), and now -- post 9/11 -- by the Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau.
As far as returning wine, laws vary by state, but in California the only *legal* reason to return wine is if the bottle is "bad" (i.e.: flawed), and it can only be returned for a replacement bottle of the same wine.
2. Midlife Feb 4, 2007 01:59 PM
You should ALWAYS return a truly corked wine to the place you bought it, except in the case of something (probably old) that was purchased with an 'as is' understanding. The retailer should be able to return it to the supplier for credit. The shop should take your word for it, though I have been told about shops where the staff insisted on tasting the wine and did not agree that it was corked. If this was not an older bottle, I just don't understand that, as the supplier would never be able to do the same 'test' by the time the bottle made its way back to them weeks later. In that situation they saved a fe w dollars and lost a good customer.
That said, (and on the store's side) my experience in the industry is that the suppliers do not fall all over themselves to do the credit for the store. That probably depends on the relationship and sales volume, but I have to keep after them when it happens. As to the 5%+ corked figure...... in my first year as aretailer I've had far less than 1% returned (in fact the actual number is .08%). Hopefully that does not indicate any significant number of unhappy customers who didn't bring back bad bottles. More likely, it means that most people cannot detect the vast majority of cork taint or other imperfectios in wine.
1. z
zin1953 Feb 4, 2007 09:36 AM
YES! YES!! YES!!!
1. MikeG Feb 4, 2007 06:29 AM
"which is why you have to know what you're doing when you buy older wine."
And why, more importantly, you to realize that old wines are ALWAYS a crapshoot. How the odds go depend on many factors (mostly but not only storage conditions), but it is definitely one of those things that if you're not willing/can't afford to maybe have to pour it down the drain, stick with something less iffy. If you can afford it, buy 2-3 bottles of anything you really really want to be sure of getting at least one good bottle of. (Excuse the wayward prepositions.)
1. w
WineTravel Feb 4, 2007 06:15 AM
Many stores will allow you to return a bottle that's corked if it's not a rare/old bottle. I suspect its a wine generally avail and not old as you were able to buy more easily. Therefore, if you return the unused corked bottle (with the liquid... just stick the cork back in it)... most stores will replace it. They give it to their salesman and get a credit for it. But you must bring back the bottle...
... with old/rare bottles its sort of "buyer beware"... these bottles are sold "as is" for the most part... which is why you have to know what you're doing when you buy older wine.
1. c
catsailor Feb 4, 2007 06:09 AM
Yes, as long as it's not half empty. I forget the exact numbers but I think something like 5% of all wines using cork go bad. It's a good idea to develop a relationship with your wineshop. It's also the reason I avoid purchasing wine from supermarkets and places like Sam's club, I'm never sure how wine has been handled. I buy my wine (except when I buy direct from vineyards) from a store that stores most of it's inventory in a temperature controlled climate.
1. m
munch_kin Feb 4, 2007 06:09 AM
Yes, I had the same situation and returned it to the liquor store for a replacement.
They apologized profusely and there was no problem.
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0.019842 | <urn:uuid:3291f79f-7a01-4032-9135-31cdb321f7cf> | en | 0.853906 | Abonnér Danish
The act of jerking off to pandas after calling in to work and telling them you plan to work from home
Mike called to say he is working from home, but it's obvious he just wants to engage in some pledgestabation
af Jimmy "The Catfish" 14. august 2008
3 1
Words related to Pledgestabation:
pandating pandation pledgestabate pledgestabating pledgestabator | http://da.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pledgestabation | dclm-gs1-210100002 | false | false | {
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0.182305 | <urn:uuid:4f07e1a7-9f93-4a51-8b7b-e320262667ee> | en | 0.939145 | Maha Nikaya
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"Maha Nikaya" (literal translation: Great Collection) refers to one of the two principal sects of modern Thai Buddhism. The other principal sect is Dhammayuttika Nikaya. Generally, the Dahmayutti Nikaya sect of Theravada Buddhism is more strict than the Maha Nikaya sect.[1]
The Maha Nikaya is the largest order of Theravada Buddhist monks in Thailand.
The identification of the Maha Nikaya as a single, discrete, entity is an innovation of the Thai state. After the founding of the Dhammayuttika Nikaya by the then-monk Prince Mongkut in 1833, decades later all recognized monks not ordained in the Dhammayuttika order were considered to be part of the 'maha nikaya', the 'great collection' of those outside the new Dhammayuttika fraternity. As such, most monks in Thailand belong to the Maha Nikaya more or less by default; the order itself did not originally establish any particular practices or views that characterized those adhering to its lineage. There were in reality hundreds of different Nikayas throughout the Thai areas that were lumped together as the "Maha Nikaya".
In Cambodia, a similar situation exists; the Dhammayuttika Nikaya was imported from Thailand in 1855, and those monks remaining outside the Dhammayuttika order were recognized as being members of the 'Maha Nikaya' (Khmer: មហានិកាយ Mohanikay). A separate supreme patriarch for the Dhammayuttika Nikaya was appointed by King Norodom; the previous national supreme patriarch then became the titular head of the Cambodian Maha Nikaya.[citation needed]
In Thailand, a single supreme patriarch is recognized as having authority over both the Maha Nikaya and the Dhammayuttika Nikaya. In recent years, some Maha Nikaya monks have campaigned for the creation of a separate Maha Nikaya patriarch, as recent Thai supreme patriarchs have invariably been drawn from the royalty-supported Dhammayuttika Nikaya.[citation needed]
1. ^ "Thai Temples in North America". The Buddha Garden. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
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0.024784 | <urn:uuid:db03de55-82e6-4fd4-b229-4f6141c916a6> | en | 0.918371 | • RPG Free Array Processing
I am loading a DS from a database file into an array nine length with three elements, i.e. 100101102. I want to increment the array to load each element one at a time and save it to a standalone variable ( 3 bytes long). In another forum, someone said the receiver must be a %subarr variable. In any...
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If you've seen this question before it's because when I add my code and submit and view it, it is unreadable. I'm trying to get a "clean" representation of my question. Thanks for your patience. I have loaded a data structure from a database file with three 3 byte fields, i.e. 100101102. It loads...
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• Can anyone please tell me what is the basic difference between arrays and tables in RPG.
Hi All, Can anyone please tell me what is the basic differance between arrays and tables in RPG and for which type of requirement we have to use arrays and tables. since there might be bit difference between both of them. Please explain me.
Mohan K695 pointsBadges:
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How to sort data in rpgle program countrywise in program coding only?
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0.231535 | <urn:uuid:9748f03e-1b24-43d3-a62c-9be60ec2e70d> | en | 0.957458 | Control another computer with ShowMyPC.comS does remote desktop control with an open-source attitude. By wrapping VNC, SSH, and plink into two free stand-alone executables, controlling another computer remotely is a cinch.
One executable is called "Show My PC to Remote User" and the other is called "View a Remote PC." When the user launches Show My PC to Remote User, a password is automatically generated. The Remote user just has to enter this password and they are connected. The two applications make use of's SSH servers to connect securely. Instead of turning Mom's computer into a VNC server next time she needs help, send her to and you'll be connected in no time. Thanks, Zach! | http://lifehacker.com/277442/control-another-computer-with-showmypccom?tag=remote-computing | dclm-gs1-210670002 | false | false | {
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0.083543 | <urn:uuid:fa0e799d-5fa2-4d9f-bea5-a35c28d079ac> | en | 0.935926 | , Volume 28, Issue 6, pp 693-697
Has blood volume an impact on serum PSA levels?
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Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is measured in circulating blood volume (BV), which is known to have a wide inter- and intraindividual variability. As data investigating the potential impact of different BV on PSA test validity are scant, we determined the relationship between BV and serum PSA values.
Men aged 41–60 years, participating in a health screening project, were evaluated. Serum samples of fasting patients were drawn between 8.00 and 10.00 a.m., all PSA measurements were determined in the same laboratory. Circulating BV was calculated according to the Retzlaff formula based on height, weight and haematocrit.
A total of 400 men with a mean age of 47.9 years entered the analysis. Mean PSA was 1.20 ng/ml (range 0.23–8.59 ng/ml) and mean BV was 3,370 ml (range 2,380–4,220 ml). Mean PSA values stratified from lowest to the highest third of BV were 1.22, 1.17 and 1.19 ng/ml in the total cohort. The respective figures for men aged 41–50 years were 1.08, 0.98 and 1.03 ng/ml, and for those aged 51–60 years: 1.47, 1.48 and 1.53 ng/ml. Neither BV nor three other related biometrical parameters (body mass index, waist–hip ratio, body fat percentage) revealed a correlation with the PSA values.
Our data suggest that BV does not have a significant impact on serum PSA values. To exclude a potential minor impact of BV on PSA, larger study cohorts, however, are required. | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00345-009-0468-z | dclm-gs1-210700002 | false | false | {
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SubjectNo love for the PPC
I'm sorry about the tone of this e-mail, but it is somewhat painful when,
after downloading a new kernel to play with, it doesn't compile on the
ppc. It isn't even big problems either. A single line (#include
<linux/pm.h>) is missing from pc_keyb.c and has been for at least three
-ac releases. Now, process.c in arch/ppc/kernel/ dies from an undeclared
identifier (init_mmap).
I'm sure the appropriate response would be to fix them myself, but I don't
know enough about the kernel or the ppc arhitecture. I'm also sure that
if Theo (or anyone like him) was to read this s/he would tell me to stop
Anyway, the real question is, why does the ppc arhitecture /always/ break
between versions?
I'll stop complaining now.
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©2003-2011 Jasper Spaans | http://lkml.org/lkml/2001/10/12/84 | dclm-gs1-210720002 | false | false | {
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0.045801 | <urn:uuid:0ddbc8e0-f5d5-49ce-9060-644e886d8e31> | en | 0.928736 | Switch to Desktop Site
High court to hear Exxon Valdez damages case
At issue: Should the company pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages for the 1989 oil spill?
Awaiting verdict: Steve Smith, a Cordova, Alaska, fisherman, saw the local fishing industry decline in the years after the massive 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Al Grillo/AP
About these ads
Nineteen years after the tanker Exxon Valdez spilled some 258,000 barrels of oil into the pristine waters of Alaska's Prince William Sound, the debate still rages over how much Exxon should pay beyond the $3.4 billion it has already spent on cleanup.
On Wednesday, that question arrives at the US Supreme Court, where the justices must decide whether to uphold a $2.5 billion punitive-damages judgment against Exxon Shipping. It is said to be the largest punitive damages award ever sustained by a federal appeals court.
The case, Exxon Shipping Co. v. Grant Baker, is being closely followed by shipping executives, environmental activists, oil-industry officials, and commercial fishermen, among others. It has also attracted the attention of scholars monitoring the Supreme Court's emerging jurisprudence on excessive punitive damages.
Lawyers for Exxon offer three main arguments for invalidating the punitive damages.
Under maritime law, Exxon should not be held liable to pay punitive damages for the negligent acts of a tanker captain at sea unless there is evidence that Exxon directed or participated in grounding the tanker, they say.
Second, the Clean Water Act establishes a comprehensive regime to punish and deter illegal behavior that pollutes the nation's water resources. But Exxon lawyers say Congress did not include a provision in the act permitting punitive damages.
Third, the lawyers say punitive damages are unnecessary in a situation like the Exxon Valdez cleanup where Exxon has already willingly paid criminal and civil fines, penalties, compensatory damages, cleanup costs, and other expenses.
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2008/0227/p03s01-usju.html | dclm-gs1-210730002 | false | false | {
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0.023237 | <urn:uuid:d46fa085-34e1-460f-9a75-e12d12b79f2f> | en | 0.923759 | Switch to Desktop Site
Unmanned drone attacks and shape-shifting robots: War's remote-control future
Pakistanis hold up a burning mock drone aircraft during a May rally against drone attacks in Peshawar. In 2009, the Brookings Institution estimated that unmanned drone attacks were killing about 10 civilians for every 1 insurgent in Pakistan.
K. Pervez/Reuters
About these ads
In the shadow of a heavily fortified enemy building, US commanders call in a chemical robot, or what looks like a blob. They give it a simple instruction: Penetrate a crack in the building and find out what's inside. Like an ice sculpture or the liquid metal assassin in "Terminator 2," the device changes shape, slips through the opening, then reassumes its original form to look around. It uses sensors woven into its fabric to sample the area for biological agents. If needed, it can seep into the cracks of a bomb to defuse it.
A fleet of drones roams a mountain pass, spraying a fine mist along a known terrorist transit route – the US military's version of "CSI: Al Qaeda." Days later, when troops capture suspects hundreds of miles away, they test them for traces of the "taggant" to discover whether they have traversed the trail and may, in fact, be prosecuted as insurgents.
Welcome to the battlefield of the future. Malleable robots. Insect-size air forces. Chemical tracers spritzed from the sky. It's the stuff of science fiction.
But these are among the myriad futuristic warfighting creations currently being developed at universities across the country with funds from the US military. And the future, in many cases, may not be too far off.
Page 1 of 14 | http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2011/1022/Unmanned-drone-attacks-and-shape-shifting-robots-War-s-remote-control-future | dclm-gs1-210750002 | false | false | {
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0.111445 | <urn:uuid:d8fe4333-a885-4932-a880-266e8a4da530> | en | 0.7359 | Subject: IPfilter blocking on the wrong interface?
To: None <>
From: Wouter Schoot <>
List: netbsd-users
Date: 09/27/2004 14:06:02
Hello all listreaders,
I'm using ipfilter on my netbsd machine to take some control over the flows,
and I stumbled into a weird problem lately.
Here's the situation:
--- ---
|A| ===== |B| ==> Internet
--- ---
Computer A is on an internal, local subnet. It has IP adres
Computer B has two nics, one is ex1, with IP, and the other is ex0
with (internet) ip address (Yes, the same ip that hosts the
NetBSD 2.0 beta iso's:
This is your average NAT setup, I figured:
map ex0 -> 0/32 proxy port ftp ftp/tcp
map ex0 -> 0/32 portmap tcp/udp 40000:60000
map ex0 -> 0/32
Take the following line:
block in quick on ex0 from any to
I put it there to prevent the outer networkcard (connected to the internet)
from packets destinated for internal networks. I figured, they should not
end up at my external interface.
But here's the catch. When I have that block rule enabled, machine A can't
connect to the internet anymore. Connecting to goes fine, but no
internet anymore.
When I 'ipfstat -hi' with the rule enabled, and ping some on A to the
internet, those requests do match the rule:
8 block in quick on ex0 from any to
According to, the rules should
apply in this order: "interface --> NAT --> filter --> OS --> filter --> NAT
--> interface"
I've been snooping on ex0 for 10/8 traffic using tcpdumps rule: tcpdump -n -i
ex0 'net'.
It didn't show any rules when I pinged from A to the internet.
So the interface shouldn't even be seeing any of the traffic.
ipf.conf is on
ipnat.conf is on
I use NetBSD 1.6.2_STABLE,
ipf: IP Filter: v4.1.3 (396)
Kernel: IP Filter: v4.1.3
Running: yes
Log Flags: 0 = none set
Default: pass all, Logging: available
Active list: 0
Feature mask: 0x10a
So my question is, why is the traffic blocked when I use that rule ?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Er was eens een boer. Hij had 3 koeien, 2 witte en 1 witte.
Maar dat gaf niet, want de koe gaf ook niet. De boer vond een
horloge, de koe vond van niet. Ra-ra kameel politiepet. | http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-users/2004/09/27/0005.html | dclm-gs1-210770002 | false | false | {
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} | false | {
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