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Oregon Institute of Science and Malarkey
Filed under: — group @ 10 October 2007
So, in the comments, please catalog any:
1. links to articles dealing with debunkings of the previous incarnations of this paper
2. obvious errors
3. clear cherry-picking of data
4. interesting edits between versions
and we’ll collate all the pertinent stuff on the RC-Wiki page. To make things easier, please label all comments by the section or figure numbers.
Just to get you started, all versions of the paper make a mistake in the dating of Keigwin’s Sargasso Sea record by 50 years (Figure 2 in early versions, Figure 1 now) since they do not notice that the published dates are in ‘years BP’ (Before Present) which is conventionally dated from 1950, not 2000. And that’s even without getting into the question of why this is the only paleo-record they highlight, or on what logical basis they put the ’2006′ value on.
In another example, the authors appear to think that human breathing out of CO2 is contributing to accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. (Actually since that carbon comes directly and indirectly from recent plants taking it out of the air, our breathing is carbon neutral). Additionally, they take the ratio of temperature change to CO2 change in the ice core record and assume that is the climate sensitivity of climate to CO2 as opposed to the other way around.
There is much, much more. Have at it!
Title of this post courtesy of an email correspondent
138 Responses to “Oregon Institute of Science and Malarkey”
1. 51
David B. Benson says:
Nick Odoni — The Wikipdidia page on PETM (Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum) contains no serious exaggerations. This period did indeed happen around 55 million years ago, so presumably something roughly similar could happen again. I fail to see how mentioning such a possiblity does not provide clear information.
2. 52
shocked says:
So if we are all so committed to sound science, how come nobody from RC or related sites has yet provided a coherent, robust, scientifically demonstratable proof of the central proposition to the AGW argument? That is, that doubling CO2 levels in atmosphere will increase the global average temperature by 2.5 Degrees C.
The lack of response to this clear and explicit question is damning.
[Response: Been there, done that. And by the way, it's probably 3 deg C, not 2.5. - gavin]
3. 53
Paul J. Camp says:
You can add physicists to your list of recipients. I got mine today. Don’t know how they found me, but I’m glad they did. I’ll add it to my collection of crackpot science, right next to the expanding contracting universe and the guy who found the 10th and 11th planets through the use of astrology.
For what it is worth, the NAS has publicly and explicitly dissociated itself from Frederick Seitz due to his previous efforts with the Oregon Institute and in particular publishing a report that was deceptively designed to look like an official NAS journal article.
4. 54
robert davies says:
Re: comments on perceived alarmism…
I just had another look at AIT; I have to say, I see no evidence of alarmism. Alarmism involves the cherry-picking of individual bits of information, out of step with a larger body, and making unwarranted and frightening claims. Raising the alarm, on the other hand, involves taking conclusions from a broad body of evidence as a whole.
In particular, regarding Greenland and sea levels, Gore points out that the signs are troubling (dramatically increasing extent of summertime surface melt), that the scientific community that studies the large ice sheets are not at all certain what will happen, though large-scale melt is becoming more likely, and the dramatic consequences should the Greenland ice sheet melt. He does not give a timeframe, and none was implied in the film.
Furthermore, I think it’s important to recognize that, from a policy perspective, the name of the game is risk management. The IPCC has done an excellent job of cataloging potential impacts and their likelihood. In addition to effects we can project with high confidence, there also exists the potential for catastrophic surprises. Given that the stakes are so high, it is important to examine these surprises. This isn’t alarmism, it’s laying out the risks of twiddling these knobs. It’s risk management.
Suppose that 2% of all commercial airline flights ended in catastrophic crashes; i.e., a 2% probability of death when climbing on an airplane. Would anyone ever put their child on an airplane? No, of course not! Because, relative to the cost, the risk is simply too high. Risk management.
5. 55
Sue says:
The mailing went out to a lot more than just “engineers, biologists, computer scientists and geologists.” As I reported in my blog, I (a Ph.D. sociologist) received the mailing, but it was addressed to me as a member of the “Communications/Humanities/Fine Arts” faculty, so they aren’t picky who they get to sign their petition.
6. 56
Aaron Lewis says:
Re 41
Thanks! I had not seen the details when I posted.
Nevertheless, the case sets a benchmark for accuracy in school materials. I hope that such a high of standard accuracy is applied to all school materials.
I expect all science to be one sided. That is not partisan. The truth is one-sided.
However, the IPCC findings reflect the rather narrow view of scientists. It may be good science, but planners and engineers treat uncertainty differently and therefore have other views of the data. Thus, the IPCC is not the only correct and useful view of the data. AIT is informed by these other views. A climate scientist offering a “conservative estimate of predicted storms” means something very different from a engineer calculating a “conservative estimate of predicted storms.” One means that they have confidence that such storms will occur, and the other that they have confidence that no larger storm will occur. Failure to have strict conformance with the IPCC does not make AIT incorrect, partisan, or political.
Justice Burton is not a scientist, or an engineer, or a planner. He may not be aware that different forecasts are made for different purposes, and the different forecasts have different virtues. Just like King Canute on the seashore, Justice Burton is likely to see the sea rise much faster and farther than the court predicted.
7. 57
Aman Haque says:
I thought it was a petition for awareness .. and felt kind of sick when I realized it was just the opposite. Didnt take any time to trash it and start looking at Seitz bio on the web. How on earth a scientist ends up being like this?
8. 58
PHE says:
With regard to the court ruling on Al Gore’s film:
I have read several times on this website (by posters, not by lead writers), the suggestion that climate change deniers should be tried and convicted in court. It is ironic, then, that the first court judgement on the climate change debate (that I am aware of) has ruled against over-zealous AGW-promotion. The judge has not ruled against the case for AGW, or the ‘scientific concensus’ of the IPCC. He is ruling against the unscientific sensationlism that ultimately will have the effect of crying wolf. Gore’s film was the first big cry, and the judgement the first cynical response. Take note. Unless the more zealous and non-factual claims are moderated, the next two cries will follow quite quickly and the public will soon lose confidence.
9. 59
Figure 1: the unsourced datapoint for 2006 is incorrect. Hadley Centre data (HADISST1: for the Sargasso Sea (which I take to be the region 40-60 W, 25-35 N) for 2006 has a mean SST of 24.2 C, about where the “Medieval Optimum” peak is on the figure 1 graph.
[Response: thanks. That's useful, but one needs to be a bit careful since there can be offsets in the proxy-climate calibration which means direct comparisons with modern obs and inferred past temperatures can be tricky. But no prizes for why they didn't do it your way! - gavin]
10. 60
OISM, figure 2. The caption states that “the principal source of melt energy is solar radiation”, which incorrectly implies that the Sun is to blame for glacier shortening. OISM fails to consider the effect of particulate carbon falling on glaciers as a principal cause of glacial melt. If considered properly, the effect of coal usage would be approximately double that for other fossil fuels.
Other quibbles: the y-axis of the graph is mislabeled “m x 10^-2″ while it should be “m x 10^2″; and the glacier shortening line, in blue, taken from Oerlemans 2005 (not Oerlemanns 2005 as in the references), was copied from Oerlemans’ “Excluding Alps” line and not the “Global” line, as it should have been. The two lines are not hugely different, but one wonders why OISM excluded the Alps?
11. 61
Hank Roberts says:
PHE writes “the first court judgement … (that I am aware of) …”
Feed your head:
The Supreme Court’s Climate Change Decision: Massachusetts v. EPA …
On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court handed down Massachusetts v. EPA, its first pronouncement on climate change. By 5-4, the Court held hat (1) Massachusetts had standing to sue, (2) Section 202 of the Clean Air Act authorizes EPA to regulate emissions from new motor vehicles on the basis of their possible climate change impacts, and (3) Section 202 does not authorize EPA to inject policy considerations into its decision whether to so regulate….
12. 62
The old human production of CO2 is negligible compared with the much greater exchanges between the atmosphere and oceans and atmosphere and land trick eh- as Agent Maxwell Smart might have said.
This is answered very concisely and accurately at
Under questions about climate change See answer No. 7, which says “2.7 As natural emissions of carbon dioxide are very much greater than those from human activities, surely the effect of man is insignificant?
The exchange of ‘man-made’ carbon dioxide between man-made emissions, atmosphere, ocean and land, is about 7 GtC per year, which also shows much larger natural exchanges between atmosphere and ocean (about 90 GtC/yr) and atmosphere and land (about 60 GtC/yr). However, these natural exchanges have been in balance for many thousands of years, leading to the pre-industrial concentration of CO2 remaining steady at about 280 ppm. The effect of the additional man-made emissions is to unbalance the budget and lead to the rise in concentrations seen since about 1850.”
So here’s to you Mr. Robinsons Heaven has a place for those whose half truths innuendo and outright falsehoods come into play- hey,hey,hey.
Malarkey is the appropriate word for this canard.
13. 63
John Mashey says:
regarding UK, Gore, AIT:
Hopefully the Royal Society will provide comments, ideally, to accompany the DVD. The RS already covered the news item at its website.
Of course, it’s just a “mere left-leaning pressure group” according to Lord Monckton…
14. 64
Richard Ordway says:
The first line of this non-peer-reviewed paper titled ‘Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide’ states: “ABSTRACT A review of the research literature”
BOING. REJECTED. It is already rejected by Science, Nature, etc. This paper in question does not quantify or qualify what it means by “research literature” at the beginning…ie. “ninety five peer-reviewed studies, published literature from 1980 to 2005.” Is this an effort to mislead gullible readers????
Their “research literature” might be non-checked, non-refereed literature from…oh let’s say the Oregon Institute, or a non-published report that failed peer-review from let’s say…oh…the Energy and Enviornment Journal.”
Following is an actual peer-reviewed paragraph doing the same thing correctly from a *real* peer-reviewed journal (Science) quantifying and qualifying published studies (on global warming concensus!).
Science 3 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5702, p. 1686
DOI: 10.1126/science.1103618
The Oregon Institute paper gets rejected in the first line in the scientific peer-review system.
15. 65
John Mashey says:
re: #14 CobblyWorlds
If you mean Kristen Byrnes of ponderthemaunder (in)fame, I have found no trace of RRS involvement with that one, and I’ve looked pretty hard, so sorry, I think they’re innocent of that one.
OISM is at 2251 Dick George Rd
Cave Junction, OR 97523
GoogleEarth does a little better job than GoogleMaps (satellite).
According to Pipl, there’s an Arthur Robinson at 2252 Dick George Rd;
there’s a Science and Medicine Rd right nearby, which may be the real location. I can’t quite tell which of several buildings matches the picture on their home page.
If you visit their homepage,, you can see a picture of the barn-like structure where they work.
Also, their home page offers a feature that is a first for me:
of the people listed as faculty ….
two are deceased.
16. 66
PHE says:
Re; 61 (Hank R)
Thank you for enlightening my head. As I read it, in that case the court does not pass judgement on the correctness of any claim, but allows Massachusents to test a claim or claims. The report goes onto say:
“The Court’s decision leaves EPA with three options under the section: find that motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions may “endanger public health or welfare” and issue emission standards, find that they do not satisfy that prerequisite, or decide that climate change science is so uncertain as to preclude making a finding either way.”
Is there an update?
17. 67
I’m an atmospheric scientist in an atmospheric sciences department, and I received the mailing. Perhaps they thought I’d be more likely to sign because I’m a State Climatologist. Since it came on Monday, and I was debating Patrick Michaels on Wednesday, I gave it a quick, close read. The close read was useless for the debate, as Michaels and I both stuck to positions that were actually defensible. But here I can put to good use the death of brain cells caused by carefully reading the article…
Showing ‘world hydrocarbon use’ allows them to deny (p. 6) that the hydrocarbon increases are mostly anthropogenic. But no theory predicts a correlation between use and global temperatures. Putting aside the fact that a correlation (or absence) of one doesn’t prove anything, global temperatures are expected to be related to the time-lagged and smoothed integral of hydrocarbon use, not to the use itself.
The comparison of solar activity change over the past century (0.19%) and United States temperature change (0.21%) assumes that readers are sufficiently ignorant of basic blackbody radiation theory to think that the similarity of the numbers supports their thesis, rather than being convincing evidence against their thesis.
Reference #19 is private communication from one of the authors!
The first paragraph on page 8 argues that since past temperature variations were as large as they were and not considerably larger, CO2 increases cannot produce a water vapor feedback. (Yes, that is their complete argument.)
18. 68
BlackGriffen says:
You can add physicists to that list. I’m a physics grad student at UCLA and I got one of those phony letters in my inbox today.
19. 69
Timothy Chase says:
pete best (#50) wrote:
DOOMED !!!!!!!!
Oh for pete’s sake…
I figure we are already pretty well destined for “dangerous climate change” by IPCC standards – whether the IPCC knows it or not.
The big questions questions are:
1. How dangerous?
2. What will be the extent of the devastation in terms of human lives and the world economy?
We have quite a ways to go before the existence of modern civilization itself (such as it is) will be at stake, but the important point is that the longer it takes us to curb our emissions, the more carbon dioxide will be in the atmosphere and the higher the temperatures will rise. For each degree that the global average temperature rises, things will get a great deal worse than the preceding degree. No matter what we put into the atmosphere, we have a really good reason for cutting our emissions in the future, and the sooner we do it the better.
But we probably should focus on methane and black carbon to a greater extent for the time being — as this will buy us more time with regard to changing our ways — with regard to carbon dioxide. We should have an international Manhattan project for developing cheaper, less carbon intensive technologies, we should make these technologies widely available, particularly with the economic growth of China and India and other so-called third world countries, and we should try and raise the living standards of the globe as a whole more quickly so as to reduce population growth in all nations – as both carbon emissions per capita and population size will be large determinants of carbon emissions in the decades to come.
20. 70
Henk Lankamp says:
Re the ‘warming’ on Neptune. It is summertime on the Southern Hemisphere of that planet.
See here and here.
21. 71
Chris Williams says:
re #13 and #68;
My “package” came addressed with a generic dept. of “Sci/Tech” in the address. I would be curious to know who (e.g., publisher, professional society?) sold my work address and ultimately made it available to this group. Thanks for the open source debunking!
22. 72
Ray Ladbury says:
The article that accompanies the packet is such a tired repetition of the same old lies that it reminds me of Mark Twain’s description of a certain religious text: “chloroform in print”,
23. 73
Chuck Booth says:
RE # 58 PHE “I have read several times on this website (by posters, not by lead writers), the suggestion that climate change deniers should be tried and convicted in court.
Hmm….I can’t say that I have ever read such a post on RC. But, I don’t read every post of every thread. Can you provide a specific example, or two, of such a post (name of thread, # of the post that states something like this)? It should be quite easy to do with the RC search tool.
24. 74
Re #72 – I would hope that eventually, as far as the court of public opinion is concerned,those deniers who willfully try to obfuscate the issue, be sentenced to live on low lying lands in the equatorial regions.
#64 asks if this is an effort to mislead gullible readers. I can’t think of any other motivation, except perhaps self promotion.
25. 75
Re #63 and others on Gore vs UK, actually this sentence is a good thing, and should be attached as an errata sheet with the movie. Most of the errors are not errors of climatological fact, but misrepresentations of the current consensus*). Now the movie can even claim to be “reviewed” — and by a lay person, no less. A judge is a layman on climatology, but a professional on evidence and proving things, and he did one heck of a job.
(Wished my dissertation contained only nine errors!)
*) As an example, the Greenland/West Antarctic ice sheet melting. The consensus view is that this takes many centuries to happen, but some scientists (like Hansen) have voiced concern about a possible “albedo flip” making this happen much quicker. This mechanism isn’t well understood, and therefore not part of current climate models (you can only model what you understand :-) ) or IPCC AR4. The concern was prompted by the prehistorical observation of extremely steep terminations of ice ages. What Gore got wrong was failing to qualify “speculative and not well understood”.
26. 76
Mike says:
Anyone remember the standard form response to solutions for spam? Perhaps one would be useful here too. To start the ball rolling:
Thank you for your thoughts on climate change.
Your conclusion is wrong because
( ) You haven’t taken into account sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere
( ) That CO2 was extracted from the atmosphere and so is carbon-neutral
( ) The medieval warm period was not a global phenomenon
( ) The graph you refer to is designed to misrepresent the data
( ) Weather forecasting is not the same as climate prediction
( ) You cannot infer global conditions from local ones
( ) Other planet’s environments ar not a good model for Earth
( ) Correlation does not imply cause
The authorities or papers you cite to support your argument
( ) do not say what you think they say
( ) are scientists, but not in the field of climate science
( ) are not scientists
( ) are not peer reviewed
( ) have since been corrected
( ) have been completely debunked
( ) are loons
I would also like to point out that
( ) The IPCC conclusion is supported by the vast majority of
climate scientists
( ) The mass media sometimes gets it wrong
( ) Politicians sometime get it wrong
( ) Global cooling was not a widely supported hypothesis
( ) Science corrects itself as new evidence comes available
In conclusion
( ) Your points, while well made, are factually incorrect
( ) Some basic research on your part should have been done first
( ) Stop bothering the grown-ups
27. 77
Timothy says:
42, Hume – noted for bedtime reading (thanks).
63, The Met Office, have helped amend the guidance that goes with the DVD.
69, No, we should concentrate on the longest-lived GHGs first, as those have the consequences that we would have to deal with the longest. Tackling CO2 first allows us to overshoot a stabilisation target (in CO2 equivalent) and bring it back down afterwards by reducing CH4, NOx, etc.
With the situation as it is [Greenland on a knife-edge] the discussion is largely academic, because there is little sign of the determined action being taken such that it would make much difference either way.
I completely agree though, that even if we commit to losing Greenland, we can still take action to avoid losing the Himalayan ice sheets, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, limit ocean thermal expansion, limit the carbon-cycle feedbacks, etc. We can always make things better by cutting emissions. The “We’re all doomed” language does not help. A friend of mine has likened that attitude to “climate pr0n”. It would help to grow up a little.
28. 78
greensmile says:
by coincidence, I ran across OISM in a search yesterday…I was on a quest for cynically or misleadingly named NGO’s. Lobbying seems to bring out the most cynical sort of liars. This “institute” has a few superanuated old farts who seem at some point to have actually been interested in biochemistry but politics overtook their operation.
BTW, Congrats to Gore and to all IPCC scientists! It would appear the Nobel Committee does NOT judge inconvenient truths to be too political.
29. 79
J.S. McIntyre says:
re 77
Just curious…aren’t the Himalyas more “vulnerable” that the Greenland Ice Sheet?
I ask as there’s been a lot of talk in recent years that the Chinese are facing serious water shortage problems due to glacier melting.
30. 80
J.S. McIntyre says:
re #75
I concur re judges often getting it right, even in areas outside their “expertise”. Kitzmiller v Dover illustrates this idea beautifully. Not just the discussion on the science…
…but also in terms of the three ring circus that surrounded the issue and how the Judge, expected by some to rule politically, instead ruled on the evidence.
On a related note, rode public transit past the hotel Al Gore is staying at here in San Francisco. It was swarming with media setting up in the rain wanting to ask him about his Nobel Prize.
Way to go, Al!
31. 81
Nick O. says:
Re #49, #51 and those in a similar vein, much as I sympathise with your views – I too share the sense of alarm and the need for urgent action, I assure you! – I have to stand by what I wrote earlier, and the other comments on this blog which take a broadly similar view (for example #58,#69,#75,#77).
To repeat, I don’t think we clarify the science by using apocalyptic language or exaggerating our case. I think I understand why Gore felt the necessity to use rapid ice sheet melting and sea level change to ‘get home’ his message. However, the styles of presentation that can work in our favour will also be used against us, with ruthless zeal, by those who wish to deny that we are likely to have to confront very serious problems because of C02 and related warming effects in the atmosphere. My ‘hunch’ is that things are changing faster (mush faster?) in Greenland than we realise or are able to model/forecast, probably because of non-linear effects related to the basal conditions under the ice cap. But that doesn’t give me the excuse to present the hunch as ‘mainstream’ or anything else for that matter without some argument to back it up, and a warning that the ‘hunch’ is pretty speculative compared with the other science (see also #75).
Now Mr Gore has been awarded the Nobel Prize for his film. Much as I think he is to be applauded for this and for his wider efforts, I still feel very uncomfortable about the situation more generally, and I don’t doubt that this weekend we will get a raft of articles in the press stating how the Nobel Prize has been ” … corrupted by the zealotry of those supporting the ‘unproven theory’ of global warning …” or words to that effect. It wouldn’t even surprise me if some people go so far as to say that they would be tempted to send their prizes back, because they disagree with Gore’s getting the award, on the basis that he does not qualify his stronger claims clearly enough, or highlight the uncertainties properly etc etc. Anyway, stand by everyone for the attacks to start on the Nobel Prize committee itself and the Nobel award process, as being yet another established body infected by ‘global warming hysteria blah blah blah …. ‘
32. 82
Walt Bennett says:
We are in the process of inventing the language to convey urgent issues which are not evident through observation.
This is a unique time in the history of man as well as the planet.
It was always an impossible goal to expect Gore’s message to hit everybody the same way. It would be naive to think that the opponents of AGW reduction would suddenly see the errors of their ways and stop denying.
On the other hand, the science keeps advancing. Soon AIT will be obsolete, its impressions and speculations replaced by knowledge. Some of what we learn will be good news – the Northern Atlantic will not stop receiving warmer waters after all. Some of it will be bad – the ice shelves and sheets are disintegrating far more quickly than we had previously believed they would. This will go on.
AIT was a moment in time. It was meant to convey urgency. If it was strident in areas, the intent was to make people pay attention.
The general message is 100% accurate. Anybody who stoops to pick at nits will just have to be expected to be left aside as the real thinking and planning go on.
33. 83
Ray Ladbury says:
Nick O., I do not hear Al Gore speaking in apocolyptic terms–certainly less so than the neocons preaching against the “islamofascists”. You have to realize that Science tends to be conservative in its assessment of consequences. Unfortunately, we are still neophytes in developing such assessments, and underselling the consequences has the potential to breed complacency among politicians. Gore does not even begin to discuss some of the most disturbing potential consequences of a warming world trying to support a population of 9-11 billion humans. The American right has at this point abandoned science in their efforts to cater to ideology. In doing so they have handed politicians like Al Gore a formidable weapon, an Oscar and now a Nobel prize. It remains to be seen whether they will wake up before handing him the Presidency.
34. 84
J.C.H. says:
I don’t think Al Gore is going to run for President. He’s no longer a politician. Among politicians, not one speaks loudly enough to be heard – maybe Inhofe’s last gasps.
35. 85
Richard Mett says:
Very interesting discussion. Where did they get the money to do this mailing? And the 1999 one? What organizations support the Oregon Institute?
36. 86
Majorajam says:
Don’t you think the fact that the EPA tried to make its case on jurisdictional and other procedural grounds, notably refusing to make a judgment as to whether green house gases, “cause[s], or contribute[s] to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare,”, is pretty telling of the scientific evidence on hand on which to base such a judgment? To wit: if the EPA had ruled GHG’s were not an air pollutant according to the statute, the State of Massachusetts wouldn’t have had any case at all that EPA was required to regulate GHG emissions. No case, no embarrassment, no ticked off petroleum lobby- is it possible this didn’t occur to them? I should think this is a very calorie rich piece of food with which to feed your head.
As regards Al Gore’s movie, it has done nothing to affect the science. It was always educational and even political in nature. For what it has achieved in terms of publicity for a problem moneyed interests have been trying to bury for decades with increasing degrees of fraudulence, it is a success, small controversy or no. Furthermore, of the 9 issues raised by this generally fair opinion, none save perhaps the claim about Lake Chad couldn’t be addressed with some very minor tweaks in language (and meaning)- indeed, some would argue that they were addressed properly in the movie. So it is very much fair to say that the movie had the science right, as it’s been pointed out in this thread was reiterated by the judge.
37. 87
dhogaza says:
To be a bit more blunt, considering that the EPA got kicked upside the head in the lawsuit as it was argued, if they’d tried arguing against the scientific consensus they would’ve been decapitated …
38. 88
Re #76 by Mike (form letter to respond to warming deniers) — brilliant! Made me and my wife laugh out loud. Thanks.
39. 89
robert says:
In reading the comments on perceived “apocalyptic” language in AIT, I’m once again forced to beg distinction between alarmism and raising the alarm. And once again I’d ask people to stop falsely attributing comments to the film.
Gore did not articulate a time frame on the Greenland melt. I repeat, did NOT. He made the point that the glaciaologists are quite uncertain; that there are substantial worrying signs; that other parts of the cryosphere are reacting faster than predicted; that the costs of getting this one wrong are enormous. Again, the film was not only about science, but about risk management.
40. 90
Jim S says:
Re: #46
In terms of discrediting Frederick Seitz, it is not over the top to point out that:
When he was a “practicing” scientist his specialty was not only physics but a field of physics that has no possible bearing on climate science.
That he has not been an active researcher for decades.
That when he left academia he took up advocacy for politically conservative and industry causes.
In addition an interview done for a PBS special titled Hot Politics with Seitz is particularly telling. Here is one example of his thinking.
Why do you think, then, that so many scientists are putting their names on research that you think is so wrong?
Most scientists are Democrats. I think, what is it, 93 percent? And there’s got to be a political issue. I think it’s simple as that.
And you think they fake that science?
The most strident ones would. This is a long story. I’ve met many environmentalists who said personally, in private, “I would take your side, but I would cease to be funded if I did.”
And do you think that scientists who say that the jury is still out are also political?
Some of them are, sure.
41. 91
J.C.H. says:
An inconvenient Peace Prize
By Bjorn Lomborg | October 13, 2007
Little lost North Sea boy with finger still searching for a dike.
42. 92
Dave Rado says:
Re. #46, no-one has “attempted to discredit Frederck Seitz”, we have simply pointed out, accurately (and we gave many supporting citations proving its accuracy), that for the past 30 years or so he has been a full-time lobbyist – first on behalf of the tobacco industry, later on behalf of the fossil fuel industry – rather than a scientist, that when he was a scientist (and he was a very distinguished one in his field of condensed matter physics, up to 1968) he did not study climate, and that his lobbying activities have been extremely disingenuous. There is nothing controversial about those statements, they are strictly factual, and the evidence is all in the public domain, as you will see if you follow up the links several of us provided. If you really believe any of these statements not to be factual please provide some citations or evidence of your own to show the basis of your disagreement, instead of resorting to simply insulting people you disagree with.
43. 93
Ray Ladbury says:
You say that Fred Seitz’s politics is irrelevant and that he should be judged by his published work. OK, let’s look at what Fred Seitz has published in peer-reviewed science journals on the subject of climate change…
[crickets chirping]
OK, that was easy. Next!
44. 94
Jim Eager says:
Re 91 JHC quoting Bjorn Lomborg in his Boston Globe article: “Gore told the world in his Academy Award-winning movie to expect 20-foot sea-level rises over this century.”
Here’s what Gore actually says in An Inconvenient Truth:
“If this [West Antarctica] were to go, sea level world-wide would go up twenty feet.”
“Greenland would also raise sea level almost twenty feet if it went.”
Note that no time frame what so ever was stated or even implied for the breakup and melting.
Apparently Bjorn knows that If you’re going to tell a lie, tell a big one.
45. 95
Rod B says:
re 27: “…it is not the first foray into publishing garbage of this sort. Here is a link to something that they published in regards to DDT a few years back:….”
Hey! How did DDT get into this?? Actually the referenced article is predominately accurate except to a few zealots. I don’t think a good smear reference.
46. 96
Timothy Chase says:
Richard Mett (#85) wrote:
Don’t know about this mailing, but judging from their tax returns, their funding for 1999 expenditures consisted in large part of “contributions from unidentified sources.”
Anyway, this will probably tell you more than you wanted to know:
SourceWatch: Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine
I would summarize some of it, but if I tried I would probably experience a serious (albeit temporary) decline in my typing skills….
47. 97
Timothy Chase says:
Re OISM climate denial funding…?
The original 1998 petition was authored by Arthur Robinson, Sallie L. Baliunas, Willie Soon and Zachary W. Robinson.
Leaving out the Robinsons, a webtool by Greenpeace let’s us construct a diagram or “map” for Baliunas and Soon including most of the organizations they belong to, the amount to which those organizations are funded by Exxon, what their relationships to those organizations are – and which permits us to drill-down to find others who are associated with those organizations, etc.. Interestingly, the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine isn’t in the database.
I have gone ahead and included Patrick Michaels kind of at the center of it all because that is where he usually is and otherwise it might be rather disorienting. This wouldn’t be a very good “map” if it left people disoriented, now would it? So he’s in. But I have left out the organizations he belongs to except where either Baliunas or Soon are members as well.
Sure enough, while Baliuanas and Soon belong to the American Petroleum Institute and the Climate Research Journal which Michaels does not belong to – two organizations, all three people belong to Tech Central Station, George C Marshall Institute, Heartland Institute and World Climate Report – four organizations. Michaels shares four more with just Baliunas and four more with just Soon. Thirteen of the nineteen Baliunas/Soon-organizations show funding by Exxon.
Baliunas/Soon map
However, I haven’t a clue as to where the funding for the OISM climate-denial activities are coming from – beyond what you see here.
48. 98
Timothy Chase says:
My own thoughts regarding this paper….
Their paper (The rewrite of Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide) is poorly structured, highly repetitive and ungrammatical. It involves the selection of non-representative samples (e.g., an overemphasis upon the US trends), graphs by studies which do not represent the consensus. In addition to being the amateurish product of amateurs who lack any background in climatology. Two of the main authors have a history of being financed by Exxon, it would appear to be deliberately misleading with no effort to present any balance. It is propaganda.
Thoughts regarding its analysis…
Should at first be line-by-line, with the with the objective of having well referenced separate essays for separate sections. Currently I have gone through it up to but not including Figure 8.
For the purpose of speed I have done this without references, but it can be sourced and split up into separate essays later. Just going for the general gist. I would also recommend having people pick certain themes such as sea-level rise, agriculture, etc. as writing essays which begin which what is stated (in multiple places) then provide a more well-rounded picture of the real world – possibly in addition to essays dealing with specific parts of the paper.
Deleterious effects upon the Earth’s weather and climate have included:
1. Increased drought, going from 20% of the world experiencing drought at any given time to 30% at present with a projected 50% experiencing drought at any given time later this century under Business As Usual;
2. Increased flooding in some parts of the world;
3. Increased heatwaves, with the likelihood of Europe experiencing heatwaves on the similar to that during 2005 doubling;
4. Larger deadzones as the result of gigantic algae blooms;
5. Food shortages in some parts of the world;
6. Some wars are already being attributed to reduced to climate change;
7. Larger hurricanes in the Atlantic;
[with the number of hurricanes of strength 4 or 5 doubling in the past 30 years as the result of increased surface and subsurface temperatures resulting in larger reservoirs]
8. Larger cyclones in the Pacific;
9. Cyclones showing up where they have no history of doing so in the past;
Katarina in 2004 in Brazil where none had formed in the Southern Atlantic and a hurricane near the Arabian Penninsula where no had formed in modern times according to any records;
10. Forest fires which are more frequent and on a much larger scale than they have been in the past – partly due to earlier melts and drier summertime conditions;
12. While plants do better under increased levels of carbon dioxide, on the whole, increased droughts would appear to already be negating the affects of this on the whole.
Political leaders gathered in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 to consider a world treaty restricting human production of “greenhouse gases,” chiefly carbon dioxide (CO2). They feared that CO2 would result in “human-caused global warming” – hypothetical severe increases in Earth’s temperatures, with disastrous environmental consequences. During the past 10 years, many political efforts have been made to force worldwide agreement to the Kyoto treaty.
When we reviewed this subject in 1998 (1,2), existing satellite records were short and were centered on a period of changing intermediate temperature trends. Additional experimental data have now been obtained, so better answers to the questions raised by the hypothesis of “human-caused global warming” are now available.
Data is bearing out predictions, particularly since the turn of the millenia. No actual data is cited regarding satellite records.
The Sargasso Sea is hardly representative of the paleoclimate record. Where periods may have been warmer in the past, the consensus is that this was a localized phenomena due to different climate patterns which may have been the result of different ocean circulation patterns.
A great deal of data and numerous studies has borne out Mann’s original hockey stick diagram for the past 1000 years which showed that global average temperatures during the past century have been higher than in the previous nine centuries, and the the rate at which temperatures rose since roughly the turn of the 20th century has been unprecendented. The only “studies” showing otherwise relying upon the use of red noise which is 100% red being introduced into the the proxies where standard practice would normally be to employ red noise which at the highest only 15% red.
Temperatures rougly 3000 years ago may have been higher.
Glacier mass and length are also in part a function of black carbon. Hydrocarbon use is not the only source of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Levels of greenhouse gases due to human activities (particularly carbon dioxide and methane) would appear to have been rising as far back as 5000 years ago.
Finally, it would appear that the glaciers chosen for this chart were not representative.
The arctic temperature trend given for the twentieth century looks suspiciously like the continental contiguous 48 and should be checked. The forcing given for solar activity does not look correct and would appear to be ascribing the result of anthropogenic aerosols from 1940 to 1970 to solar activity. Likewise, differences between the Northern hemisphere temperature trends and the Southern hemisphere temperature trends would suggest that the actual cause of an apparent dip in the temperature graph for the global average temperature was due to aerosol emissions in the Northern hemisphere as the Southern hemisphere experienced only one year of statistically significant cooling whereas the Northern hemisphere experienced five years of statistically significant cooling.
Best estimates suggest that relative to 1880, it is only during the first year that forcing due to solar activity exceeded anthropogenic greenhouse gases.
The phenomena in which forcing due to carbon dioxide results in higher temperatures is well understood. The amplification of the effects of this forcing by water vapor feedback through increased partial pressure that increases exponentially as the result is well understood. Water vapor itself is generally incapable of resulting in forcing as any disequilibria which might result from fluctuations in atmospheric water vapor content falls out as precipitation before it could possibly raise temperatures on its own enough to maintain a higher absolute humidity.
The 6-fold increase in CO2 would appear to have had a highly significant effect over the whole of the twentieth century, particularly since anthropogenic aerosols have diminished since 1970. It is however logarithmic. With respect to glacier mass balance (the standard measure of glaciers) we have seen a highly significant loss of global mass balance which has been accelerating over the latter half of the twentieth century. In some cases, particularly at higher altitudes mass balance has actually increased, but this is by no means the norm.
Figure 1 is not illustrative. The consensus is that the global average temperature during the Medieval Climate Optimum was significantly lower than temperatures in the latter half of this century.
The United States is by no means representative of the globe but consists of only 2% of its area and would appear to be strongly influenced by a long-period oscillation. the statistically significant period of cooling for the globe as a whole consisted of only 5 years.
Between 1900 and 2000, on absolute scales of solar irradiance and degrees Kelvin, solar activity increased 0.19%, while a 0.5 °C temperature change is 0.21%. This is in good agreement with estimates that Earth’s temperature would be reduced by 0.6 °C through particulate blocking of the sun by 0.2% (18).
This paragraph is not simply misleading but incoherent. A discussion of a rise in temperature is immediately followed by a sentence which begins, “This is in good agreement…” and a discussion of a downward trend in temperature. The paragraph is misleading inasmuch as temperature is proportional to radiance raised to the fourth power. This paragraph is also misleading inasmuch as it treates the effects of aerosols as well-understood whereas the effects of greenhouse gases other than water vapor were treated as poorly understood when the forcing due to greenhouse gases is far better understood than that of aerosols – partly due to the effects of aerosols being more localized and temporary – given the fact that they tend to be washed out by precipitation, at least in the troposphere.
Figure 6 is bizarre, particularly in comparing seasonal changes between winter and summer (presumably) and it would appear that this is not based upon any sort of average but a cherry-picking of extremes. Smaller changes over an extended period of time and globally are highly significant, particularly in terms of weather patterns – as noted previously.
The fixation upon the US trend continues. Meanwhile it involves averaging over the US as a whole when precipitation is in some places increasing for only certain seasons and drought has become the norm in California. Forest fires have become larger and more frequent in the US, and according to at least one study which had taken out effects of local human population would appear to be the result of increased temperatures. (However, the study did not however rely upon data from the US.)
The increased rainfall has been the result of increased extreme weather events with a trend towards increased flooding – generally with the increase being during the winter. And as noted previously, droughts have become more common and more extended, particularly in Australia, California and parts of Africa. Then trend when viewed in terms of non-extreme weather has been towards either no change or reduced precipitation.
It is difficult to say what the change in tornado activity in the United States has been – partly due to the localized nature of tornadoes. As previously noted, hurricanes are more likely to be of higher intensity.
The rate at which sea-level rises has been increasing and is expected to as the result of the clear nonlinear response of ice to hgiher temperatures. The response of ice has included the trippling of significant ice quakes in Greenland and the loss of major ice shelves along the West Antarctic Peninsula which buttressed glaciers that are now moving at substantially higher rates towards the sea. Likewise there would appear to exist the potential for considerable positive feedback between Greenland and the West Antarctic Peninsula. Moreover, paleoclimate records demonstrate that such nonlinear responses have occurred in the past.
[Note: Current analysis ends just prior to figure 8, a chart presumably representing the ttrend in US tornadoes.]
49. 99
J.S. McIntyre says:
Re: 91
I wonder where the line is drawn between accepting an editorial piece laced with rhetorical fallacy, and one with falsehoods. I haven’t had a chance to go back and review AIT, but my recollection tends to follow Robert’s comments in 89. If this is the case, Lomborg is lying.
Where should the line be drawn?
50. 100
Jim Eager says:
Re: 99 J.S. McIntyre: “I haven’t had a chance to go back and review AIT…”
I did exactly that last night. See the pertinent transcript segments in my post no. 94.
“If this is the case, Lomborg is lying.”
Indeed, he is. I suggest everyone here write the Boston Globe to point this out.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2666 | Reasons to Believe
Cool Discoveries 2
Every now and again, a cool scientific discovery comes along that doesn't have an obvious apologetic connection. I have decided that these discoveries occasionally warrant mention simply because they are interesting.
Discovery #1
The last "Cool Discoveries" installment discussed the most recently observed distant gamma-ray burst (GRB). It occurred when the universe was a mere 800 million years old. A new burst eclipsed that record, detonating 170 million years earlier. The older GRB, resulting from one or two stars at most, ranks as the most remote object ever seen in the universe. Sticking with GRBs, astronomers–using the recently launched Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope–witnessed the most violent explosion ever seen. The total energy of this burst exceeded the output of nearly 9,000 supernovae!
Discovery #2
A company called Terrefugia recently built a prototype of "the world's first practical flying car". The Transition gets 30 mpg on the highway and just over 20 mpg in the air, where it cruises at 115 mph (for up to 450 miles). In March 2009, the prototype taxied down the runway, took off and flew for just under a minute, and landed. It repeated the process numerous times.
The car's creators hope to minimize the number of aviation accidents involving smaller aircraft by providing a means to navigate safely around bad weather–namely by driving on the highways. The Federal Aviation Administration now has a pilot's license that only takes 20 hours of training time to obtain. That license would be adequate to pilot this class of vehicle. But, with my five kids, I will have to wait until they develop the flying minivan.
Discovery #3
Researchers have two ways to study objects in the solar system: (1) observations with telescopes and (2) laboratory measurements of meteorites that fall to Earth. However, interactions as the asteroid passes through Earth's atmosphere might change its composition or structure.
In October 2008, a car-sized asteroid exploded above the Nubian Desert (not to be confused with Queen Amidala's starship in Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace). Scientists then collected numerous meteorite pieces from the desert floor. While such events regularly occur, this particular occasion is significant because astronomers had observed this object in space before it entered Earth's atmosphere. Thus, it provides the first opportunity to calibrate observations of asteroids and meteorites with laboratory measurements of the actual object taken by telescope.
As I said, no direct apologetic implications, but nevertheless fascinating discoveries by creatures bearing the image of their Creator.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Subjects: Scientists
Dr. Jeff Zweerink
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2685 | 3.2 My account at my ISP is [email protected] but my account on my Linux box is `me'. I'm having trouble getting my e-mail to work right. It keeps going out as though it is from `me' instead of from `bobt'. How do I fix this?
The simplest route would be to change your local login to bobt, but since you don't want to do that we can get sendmail to use its rewrite rules to do this for you. You're going to need m4 to do this so make sure that the sendmail-cf RPM is installed (rpm -q sendmail-cf). Now here's the procedure:
In /etc/sendmail.mc, add the following lines:
Then run m4 on it:
m4 /etc/sendmail.mc >/etc/_sendmail.cf
mv -f /etc/_sendmail.cf /etc/sendmail.cf
Now create your /etc/mail/genericstable and add the following line to translate your local address to your desired address:
me [email protected]
Now convert /etc/mail/genericstable to a hashed database:
makemap hash genericstable.db < genericstable
Now create your /etc/mail/genericsdomain and add your fully qualified host name (type "hostname -f" to find out) to the genericsdomain file.
Restart sendmail with: /etc/rc.d/init.d/sendmail restart. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2699 | Last updated on March 15, 2014 at 16:34 EDT
Trinity Researchers Report Major Eye Disease Breakthrough
April 9, 2012
The key diagnostic feature of AMD is the presence of “drusen”, which are recognized during an eye exam as yellowish/white deposits in the central region of the retina called the macula. Dry AMD is characterized by the presence of excessive amounts of drusen and there are currently no forms of therapy other than recommended lifestyle changes such as giving up smoking, which is a recognized risk factor. However, a significant number of cases of the “dry” form of AMD can progress to the “wet” form, where blood vessels underneath the retina begin to grow, leading to central blindness. If you hold two coins immediately in front of your eyes, you will see a single large black circle blocking out your central vision. This is a very realistic simulation of what it is like to live with advanced disease.
“The progression from “dry” to “wet” AMD appears to be mediated by the inflammatory component IL-18, our results directly suggest that controlling or indeed augmenting the levels of IL-18 in the retinas of patients with dry AMD could prevent the development of the wet form of disease, which leads us to an exciting new prospect for a novel therapy for AMD” says Dr Doyle.
The research was undertaken at Trinity College’s Ocular Genetics Unit, Director, Professor Pete Humphries and at the laboratories of Professor Luke O’Neill at the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, in collaboration with Professor Joe Holyfield at the Cole Eye Institute at Cleveland, Ohio.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2750 | 'Game Change' and Politics as Reality TV
Ed Harris and Julianne Moore in HBO's 'Game Change.'
Ed Harris and Julianne Moore in HBO's 'Game Change.'
Phillip V. Caruso
There's a great scene toward the end of HBO's Game Change, the controversial and shamelessly entertaining movie about Sarah Palin and the 2008 presidential campaign, starring Julianne Moore as the Wasilla Windbag. A few of John McCain's advisers hit the hotel bar on Election Eve, drowning their sorrows, cursing the day Palin came on board to capsize the campaign. Woody Harrelson, as McCain's top strategist, Steve Schmidt, complains that it wasn't a campaign at all – it was just a "reality show."
Hey, welcome to 1992, Einstein. The subtext of Game Change is not simply that political campaigns have turned into reality shows – it's that they've turned into crappy reality shows. Palin didn't blow it as a national politician because she was too reality-TV; she wasn't reality-TV enough. She didn't have the stamina, the patience or the adaptability, which means her skills were strictly amateur-level. If she had a little more of Khloe Kardashian's will to power, she might have stood a chance.
Game Change begins in the summer of 2008, with McCain's team trying to get a grip on Barack Obama's popularity. "If he heals a sick baby," says McCain, played by Ed Harris, "we're really fucked." Schmidt fumes, "This man is on the cover of every news magazine – he's on the cover of every entertainment magazine." (Hey, don't look at us, pal. We put Howard Dean on the cover too.)
Once McCain's people decide they need an Obama of their own, they find Palin on YouTube – the same way Journey found their new lead singer – pluck her from obscurity and whisk her onto the national stage, like so many overnight TV sensations before her. At first, the McCain staffers are in awe of their new find, raving that she's "the greatest actress in American politics." When they learn she's clueless about government and foreign policy (upon being informed Germany was our enemy in WWII, she enthuses, "Flipping awesome!"), they rejigger their strategy to fit what they see as her strengths. "She's a great actress, right?" Schmidt says. "Why don't we just give her some lines?"
As long as the camera is on her, she's on – as they say, "She's a red-light performer." But as the campaign wears on, and her intellectual flaws are exposed, she falls into a catatonic daze. It turns out the day-to-day strain of a campaign is not the right kind of gig for a red-light performer, since politicians have to be on even when the camera goes off. Moore's performance becomes riveting as Palin unravels into phone-throwing fits and silent stupors. The meltdown scenes are harrowing: When she falls apart trying to prepare for her debates, and she just sits there twitching helplessly, it's like watching Moore in the Boogie Nights cocaine-binge scene where Rollergirl asks her to be her mother.
Having seemingly learned nothing from the Palin fiasco, the Republicans have turned the 2012 campaign into the same loser reality-TV show. Donald Trump, Herman Cain and all those debates became an extended goof of Survivor starring a wacky bunch of contestants who keep pissing one another off. And even if they realize they're crippling themselves with these TV gaffes, they keep showing up, because they can't walk away from a camera.
Palin has dismissed Game Change, and said she isn't going to watch. That's not how politicians talk. That's not how reality-TV stars talk, either. That's the grumbling of an amateur, somebody like Kim Kardashian's ex-husband's mom. Reality TV has gotten a lot more sophisticated in the past four years – but as this crop of Republican candidates keep showing us, politicians haven't. They didn't learn a thing by watching Palin bomb. You can see why people mean it as an insult when they refer to Palin as a reality-TV star. But calling her a reality star is giving her a compliment she hasn't earned.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2755 | Anything that speaks to you is valuable
About BlueDoor
For me, no matter how common the material, how boring the subject matter, how heedless the artist, an item can still be beautiful. Most of the time I find myself coveting objects others pass by or turn down. I think of the people who looked upon them and liked them, loved and preserved them, then for whatever reason had to leave them behind and instantly the object becomes more than the mere sum of its parts. A story changes everything.
Just a few months ago I have discovered the fantastic world of estate auctions. Now it has become an addiction to go and marvel at the sheer diversity of the items we humans acquire, collect, revere or discard. This fascination has led me to the Blue Door, which is my compilation of items that have appealed to me in my journeys through auctions.
Goofy, rare, beautiful, perfect, broken or plain - they all go into my basket. Then I bring them home, clean them, sometimes fix them to the best of my abilities, research them, and present them here for you.
I hope you like them as much as I did when I first spotted them on a dusty shelf. Welcome to the Blue Door! |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2775 | See Inside April/May 2008
The Brain Region Responsible for that Word on the Tip of your Tongue
Wait, Don't Tell Me...
We all know the maddening experience of not being able to think of a certain word that is undoubtedly in our repertoire. Now researchers have discovered an association between a specific region in the neural language system and these tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) experiences, which are a normal part of aging. Deborah Burke of Pomona College and her team found that TOT moments became more frequent as gray matter density in the left insula declined. This area of the brain has been implicated in sound processing and production. The findings support a model proposed by Burke and her colleagues, which predicts that when we do not often use a word the connections among all its various representations in the brain become weak. “Words aren’t stored as a unit,” Burke says. “Instead you have the sound information connected to semantic information, connected to grammatical information, and so on. But the sounds are much more vulnerable to decay over time than other kinds of information, and that leads to the TOT experience.”
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2895 | friends in love. . .
Remember the first day we said hello…
I got no intention to get close to you at all
I showed my bad attitude and treated you rough
You acted arrogantly and you just laugh
I am pushing you away
But you just stayed
Then we became close
Friendship bloom like a rose
We shared laughter’s and even pain
You comfort me; and took me out in vain
You always make me smile
You took away the clouds in the sky
You fell in love so instantly
Making me act uncomfortably
Many times, you told me you love me
I lied when I told you it could not be
In my heart, I know I love thee
Concealing the pain within me
When I hurt you, I almost die
I do not know why I should lie
Afraid until the moment you have to say goodbye
A tear falls in my eyes and the pain I can no longer deny
If you just see me crying and begging you to stay
If my tears can help to stop you anyway
I shed them all my tears
This love I will never fear
To love you with all my heart
I will offer you all my life
This poem was written/submitted by melanie apolonio,r.n.. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2908 | Google Publishes an eBook
The nature of the Internet doesn't exactly make for an exciting bedtime story, but that's how Google is presenting "20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web."
Google's Chrome team wrote the e-book in HTML5, presented as interactive pages that you can fold and flip by clicking and dragging the mouse. The book is fun to read, at least for a little while, and educational if you're not a know-it-all. It advocates for updating to a modern Web browser (i.e., not IE6) and argues that plug-ins are relics (unless they're integrated into the browser itself, as Chrome does with Adobe Flash).
But above all, it got me wondering, what's up with Google Editions, the cloud e-book service that was supposed to launch over the summer?
I'm not the first one to ponder this. In September, CNet's Greg Sandoval wrote an article entitled, "Hey, what happened to Google Editions?" Google's response, from spokeswoman Jeannie Hornung: "The real answer is, we'll launch the service when it's ready ... We definitely have plans to launch later this year."
Time's running out on that plan. Sandoval noted that Google could miss the holiday season and fall behind in a race against Apple, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. That seems like a given now.
But who knows? Maybe "20 Things" is a hint that Google's e-book plans are coming together. The interface was nice, and I enjoyed curling each page as I read. It didn't work nearly as well on an iPad though, with no animations and just buttons instead of gesture controls. Maybe this isn't a glimpse of Google Editions, but it's something.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2912 | MIT Technology Review - diffusion spectrum imaging en Mapping the Brain on a Massive Scale <p>Scanning 1,200 brains could help researchers chart the organ’s fine structure and better understand neurological disorders.</p><p>A massive new project to scan the brains of 1,200 volunteers could finally give scientists a picture of the neural architecture of the human brain and help them understand the causes of certain neurological and psychological diseases. </p> Tue, 28 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0000 digitalservices 420948 at Finding the Core of the Brain <p>A new mapping approach identifies the hub of the human cortex.</p><p>The iconic image of the brain is a misshapen, yellowish lump. Existing technology can show which parts of the lump light up when people think, but a real understanding of how the brain works demands a better picture of the nerve fibers that ferry electrical signals between brain cells. Those fibers, however, are so small and tangled that researchers haven’t been able to see them clearly.</p> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0000 digitalservices 410645 at The Brain Unmasked <p>New imaging technologies reveal the intricate architecture of the brain, creating a blueprint of its connectivity.</p><p>The typical brain scan shows a muted gray rendering of the brain, easily distinguished by a series of convoluted folds. But according to <a href="" target="_blank">Van Wedeen</a>, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, that image is just a shadow of the real brain. The actual structure–a precisely organized tangle of nerve cells and the long projections that connect them–has remained hidden until relatively recently. </p> Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0000 digitalservices 410560 at |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2917 | TED Conversations
Cameron Bosinski
This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »
I'm having difficulty answering this question with any certainty.
But then have a difficult time giving an example.
Is this a true reflection of reality?
Might nothing be impossible?
Can any of this be true?
As a caveat, this question does not concern labels.
Closing Statement from Cameron Bosinski
We certainly did cover a lot of territory.
This may be true. But why might it be true?
Is it impossible because our minds are limited?
Is it impossible because impossible doesn't exist?
Either way,
Until then, think about it.
progress indicator
• thumb
May 18 2013: It's impossible to imagine everything that is possible.
• thumb
May 19 2013: What limits of the imagination are you referring to?
Can you give an example of something that you cannot imagine?
I hope you realize that by doing so, you have proved yourself incorrect.
There is nothing beyond your imagination.
• thumb
May 19 2013: Let's look at the rhetoric of the original statement. "Everything that is possible." I didn't say "Anything that is possible."
If I had said "anything," then of course you're right because if I can give you an example of something that I can't imagine, the I'm imagining it, and if I can't give you an example of something I can't imagine then I can imagine everything. It's a nice paradox. :)
But I said "everything." Sort of like the question of "can we conceptualize infinity when infinity+1 is infinity?" Do we have the ability and time to imagine "everything?" I don't think that's possible.
Interpret it how you wish.
• thumb
May 19 2013: Can you imagine a mind that could?
I can.
and I think you can too.
This is especially easy if you believe in an omniscient being.
• thumb
May 19 2013: 1. I don't believe in one.
2. I meant humans imagining it. Sorry if I didn't imply that clearly enough.
3. And infinity isn't a conceptual whole. It can't "fit" into a being. You study neuroscience don't you? Let's make some situations. If I say that one neuron=x information and x is infinity, I need infinity neurons in which the either the size is infinity or the density is infinity. If I wanted a size that is imaginable, the each neuron would have to fit an infinite amount of information, in which case I can't imagine that either.
Trying to help you answer your question. I hope you made this thread to get an answer instead of promoting some mindset ;)
• thumb
May 19 2013: I am certainly without an agenda.
But I have yet to hear a convincing argument to the contrary.
As I state in the initiation question.
"I'm having difficulty answering this question with any certainty."
My replies are in pursuit of the truth, pointing out flaws and imperfections.
This looks one-sided because few have taken the position that everything is possible.
I would not hesitate to point out the flaws in their logic as well.
Neuron argument:
This would be true if one neuron equalled one idea, but they may not.
It is possible to create all numbers using 0-9.
This may be true of the brain and it's hierarchical organization.
The brain doesn't need to imagine all numbers, but has the pieces to do so.
Infinity as a concept can also be represented as one neuron.
This does not require an infinite number of neurons, but only one.
The dimensions of a neuron are independent of its content.
With all of this said.
It might be possible for a new type or brain to exist or one that is computerized.
Attaching one's brain to it might augment the current brain's ability to imagine everything.
I don't mean to sound dismissive.
I've already spend time considering the possibilities laid out here without success.
I agree that this question is a difficult one.
• thumb
May 19 2013: Neurons! Sure we can create any number with 0-9. But my original argument was that it would be impossible to create every number in the sense that we simply don't have the time.
Sure, infinity is indeed a concept. But it's not a definable concept. Can I represent infinity as a neuron while truly maintaining all the aspects of infinity? Can I imagine a box that is "infinity" while still making sure that it isn't finite? No.
Computers and brains would augment our power, but again both are bound to TIME.
Sorry for the inconvenience Mr. Bosinski. I must study for my finals. We can continue this discussion tomorrow if you're still interested.
• Jun 14 2013: I'm afraid you've missed the answer :
A particle, we are told, is also a wave.
Allan Macdougall
It means, that not only everything you can imagine is possible , but anything you can't is possible too :)
• thumb
Jun 14 2013: What is impossible about a particle being a wave?
Can you substantiate your claim?
How would you know if you were wrong?
• Jun 14 2013: If i knew that i was right, sure i would be wrong :)
I don't have claims !
Your question is : how potential 'all probabilities' become ' actual possibilities " ?
Did i restate you right ?
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Jun 14 2013: I'm not sure that I understand what you are saying.
• Jun 15 2013: Sorry !
iow. how reality undergo the formality of actual occurring ?
Is it any better ?
Anyway, i have at least one impossibility, right now :
it's impossible to explain anything without explaining everything.
The Whole is incomprehensible by definition.
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Jun 15 2013: I don't think you understand what "by definition" means.
• Jun 17 2013: 'by definition' - because of the nature of someone or something
That's what i meant.:)
Is there anything more to it ? I would appreciate your help .
Thanks !
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Jun 17 2013: "The whole is incomprehensible by definition."
There is nothing about something being a whole that makes it incomprensible.
I can eat a whole pizza or work the whole day, but this has nothing to do with understanding.
By definition would apply to something like a bachelor.
Who is, by definition, an unmarried man.
If that man was married, he is not a bachelor, by definition.
• Jun 17 2013: I didn't say ' whole' i said ' the Whole '
The Whole is incomprehensible by the very nature of the Whole. It is unfolding/enfolding, it is always changing to stay the same. To put it simply, it's a System of infinite complexity. To comprehend the Whole one must see all points of the Whole with equal clarity at once.
Apparently, we are talking about different things :)
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Jun 17 2013: Well this again works.
I can see a whole pizza at one time.
I don't see why this "Whole" would be any different.
I'm sure that if you believe in a god, then that being must be able to comprehend the whole.
If it didn't, then it couldn't be god, by definition.
If one had an infinite amount of time to explore an infinite amount of space, wouldn't they be able to experience all of it? Infinity is only infinity, no more, no less.
But in general, I'm not convinced that the whole is infinitely complex.
It has a finite number of rules that govern it, not an infinite number of them.
• Jun 17 2013: You think you know what 'a whole pizza' IS ?
Then try to cook it from scratch.
Sooner or later you'll discover that you need to create the Universe first :)
• Jun 17 2013: Re : if you believe in a god, then that being must be able to comprehend the whole.
I am not a believer, but in my understanding, God is the Whole, no comprehension required when Observer is the Observed. Mathematically it's One without the Second.
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Jun 17 2013: In all of those cases, we are talking about finite things.
The laws of physics are a finite thing.
Some laws apply and some don't.
I'm not sure how your logic supports your initial assertion that for some reason the whole universe is incomprehensible.
This would be especially true if the multiverse exists.
Where one stops another can begin.
• Jun 18 2013: "...we are talking about finite things."
There is no clear cut between finite and infinite.
Once more : "A particle, we are told, is also a wave."
A particle ( finite ) never leaves the domain of a wave ( infinite) where it is embedded.
They are entangled.
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Jun 18 2013: No one disagrees that a particle can also be a wave.
Actually, by definition, something infinite is not something finite.
Adding one more number will never lead you to infinity because these are finite.
Infinity is different in kind not in degree.
• Jun 18 2013: Infinity is different in kind not in degree
Yes, but on the other hand, everything is here, if it is not here it is nowhere else.
It's another dimension, one must be tuned to it to be there.
It's "...to see the infinity in the grain of sand "
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May 21 2013: A particle, we are told, is also a wave.
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May 20 2013: Violation of any of these three Classical Logic Laws is, always was, and always will be impossiible: 1) Law of Identity- An object is the same as itself. 2) Law of Non-contradiction- “A” cannot be both “A” and “Not A”. 3) Law of the Excluded Middle- Either a proposition is true or its negation is true. Also, the Cubs will never be world champs!
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May 20 2013: Agreed, but these are all labels of what something is and do no dictate what something can be.
An object can become anything.
A tree can become a boat.
A can be A at one moment and not A in the other.
A meal can become garbage.
Everything is possible.
Is this true or false? and more importantly, how would we know the difference?
Maybe this should be the Cubs new battle cry:
Everything is possible!
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May 20 2013: A boat is not a tree. A tree cannot be a boat while it is a tree. It must cease being a tree in order tom become a boat. It is, was, and always will be impossible to be both simultaneously.If A becomes something other than A, which is not A, it is no longer A. It cannot be A and Not A simultaneously. It is, was, and always will be impossible. Garbage can be a source of nutrition for a foraging animal, or a starving person but that does not make garbage a meal. That is a semantic argument and semantics are often illogical. The only way one could logically pronounce that everything is possible is if one were omniscient and that is, was, and always will be impossible (that's four examples I've offered). Either the Cubs will be world champs, or they will never be world champs, it is, was, and always will be impossible for both of those to be true simultaneously.
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May 21 2013: Tree-boat and Boat-tree, both seem possible.
I'm not sure that it has to stop being one to become something else.
A basketball may also be a baseball player, although not very well.
I don't see the necessity to destroy one to become the other, in all situations
I do like the second part of this however.
It seems that the cubs are destined to be champs or are destined to not be champs.
It is equally possible for either to occur, but only one is possible.
If one occurs it is at the exclusion of the other.
If something never occurs, does that mean it never could occur?
If the cubs never win does it mean that it was be impossible for them to win?
What is this mystical force preventing them from doing so?
Would going back in time, not be enough to change this outcome?
If so, how and why?
To be or not to be, but not both.
Does that about sum up your position?
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May 21 2013: Although, I did forget to add.
Doesn't quantum physics allow for something to be in 2 places at the same time?
If it is here, then it cannot be there.
In this view, something can be both, here and there.
Might this somehow apply to other attributes as well?
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May 21 2013: RE: "Although I did forget to add. . . " When everything is theoretical and uncertain, as in QM, then I don't see why 11 things can't be 11 other things because there is no such thing as simultaneity. Information can be true and its opposite can also be true! Yes is no and 2+2= whatever we care to theorize it to be. Parallel lines can intersect and what goes up may not have to come down. Nothing is true and nothing is false. Everythig is, was, and always will be impossible. . . and possible.
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May 21 2013: RE: "Tree-boat and Boat-tree. . . " Seriously? You can imagine the mesquite tree now growing in my front yard simultaneously being a boat in my front yard? I have trouble thinking you are serious about that. Sure the tree could be chopped-down, milled, dried, and made into a boat but it would not be a tree any more. A basketball player can stop playing basketball and begin to play baseball, but they CANNOT be playing both sports simultaneously.And, no, that does not sum-up my position. The three Laws of Classical Logic I shared with you sum-up my position about something being; was always; and always will be; impossible.
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May 22 2013: I will take this response more seriously.
According to laws,
What it is, is A and A is what it is.
Either it is A or it is not A.
These are the only two options.
This has no bearing on whether it is B or not B.
(Although, it must be one or the other, according to #3.)
For example, a man can simultaneously be a father, a child, a police officer, a citizen, and the list goes on. Having one quality does not exclude it from having another.
This is certainly true when the same thing is viewed differently in different contexts.
It may be A in the first, but B in the second.
(These may be mutually exclusive or not)
Not to be curt, but rather to be Kant.
You are misinterpreting the laws to say, If A then not B.
This is incorrect.
A or not A.
(To) B or not (to) B.
This statement sums up the classic laws of thought.
At this time, I would like you remind you that these are not natural laws.
These were put forth by Socrates to define communication and formal logic.
Put more precisely, the laws are better defined as:
What is accepted to be A is A and is not not A.
It is because we agree that it is, not because it actually is.
The definition is based on our mutual acceptance of that term's meaning.
This is a description of how we view the world, not as it exists.
As stated by you, quantum mechanics seems to defy our view of the world.
Therefore, do not be bound by how you think about the world.
Rather, consider that this is a limited and inaccurate representation of what is.
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May 22 2013: RE: "I will take this response . . . " On what do we agree? 1) It is not possible for something to be both 'A' and 'NOT A'. It is possible for you to be brother (A) and a husband (B), but it is NOT possible for you to be a brother (A) and a sister (C) because chromosome laws will not allow it. Therefore, "A" is "NOT C" and "C" is "NOT A". We cannot say that "B" is "NOT A", but we can, and must, say "C" is "NOT A". You cannot be both "A" (brother) and "NOT A" (sister). This truth is not dependent upon you or me believing it, it is true regardless of our assessment of its veracity. You can SAY you are both brother and sister but you cannot BE both brother and sister. Do we agree on this?
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May 22 2013: Any transgender person would disagree with you.
So would anyone that has an abnormal number of sex chromosomes.
These are manmade divisions.
An object can by many things and differ to the extent that it is each.
A chair can be more stool-like or have some sofa-like qualities. It is not only chair.
Labeling it as only one thing is an imprecise characterization.
Nature does not say what is male and what is female.
Many species are both, neither, or can switch between the two.
This is the labeling conversation that I had stated above that I wanted to avoid.
Possible and Impossible are mutually exclusive.
Male and female, among many other attributes, are not.
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May 22 2013: RE: "Any transgender. . . " So a transgender person actually takes-on the chromosomes of their new sex? I don't think so. You are arguing that it is possible for one person to be both a brother (XY) and a sister (XX) at the same time? Pure foolishness. Nature does not say what is male and what is female? Rediculous! Male and female are not mutually exclusive? Sure they are. Even a hermaphrodite cannot be both a brother and a sister. What you are calling labels are actually statements of infrangible facts. I suspect you think I am not serious here, and I have the same suspicion about you, so why don't you take the last word in our thread here and I will sign-off now. Bye.
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May 22 2013: Then allow me to inform you.
48, XXXX
49 XXXXY syndrome
49, XXXXX
Klinefelter's syndrome
Turner syndrome
XX gonadal dysgenesis
XX male syndrome
XXYY syndrome
XYY syndrome
Do you consider a hermaphrodite to be a male or female?
You apparently reject that it can be both.
We are simply disagreeing about the boundaries by which these terms abide by.
• Jun 15 2013: I think you question is somehow tricky, seems like you are accounting time in a rather unusual way, so I hope not to give you a naive answer.
We all know one plus one equals two, that is present time and as far as there is written records it always has been that way, and even if we push time far back into the very big bang moment, 1+1 still yields 2, the same if we go forward in time to the end of the universe, 1+1 will still be 2. This is something you cannot bend or twist, it is perhaps the most fundamental law of both mathematics and nature, you may change the name or the graphic representation of the numbers 1 and 2, but the concepts of 1 and 2 will remain unchanged, therefore 1+1 always was, is and will be 2, so anything that contradicts this, is, was and will always be impossible.
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Jun 15 2013: So this is a question about labels and categories.
A bachelor cannot be married.
Once he is married, he cannot be a bachelor.
He cannot be both at the same time.
This, however, does not address what he can become in the future or what he was in the past.
• Jun 15 2013: If nothing is impossible, then impossibility is impossible. Therefore, asking if anything is impossible is like saying "this sentence is a lie".
• Jun 14 2013: It's impossible for me to give you the answer to this question at this time.
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Jun 14 2013: Just because it didn't happen doesn't mean that it was impossible for it to happen.
• Jun 15 2013: Can you substantiate your claim?
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Jun 15 2013: Yes. That thing can be done at another time.
If it is possible now, it was always possible.
• Jun 16 2013: But i said it was not possible now. It might be at another time, but not now.
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Jun 16 2013: Correct, which is why it is possible.
If you reread the question, it states:
Whether something is possible or impossible is independent of time.
This semantic point is a critical component of the question.
• Jun 16 2013: I realized that after i posted my comment.
It would seem that nothing is impossible. But that would not make sence, because if that were the case, impossibility would be impossible.
You seem to be quite the gadfly.
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Jun 16 2013: That sentence has a double negative.
It can be said another way, everything is possible.
But another interpretation is that the process of impossibility does not exist.
Only possible things exist.
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May 24 2013: sorry for the slow response Cameron. This question boggles my mind..A straightforward answer is that reality means everything that appears to our five senses - everything that we can see, smell, touch and so forth.
However, Are we are part of a cosmic hologram? Do we exist in an infinity of parallel worlds? I do not believe we will ever agree on a universal definition.
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May 24 2013: Wouldn't we if we uncovered the correct one?
One day someone might find proof that we are in a hologram, then it would be difficult to not accept that definition.
I don't think that the nature of reality is so elusive that it will never be explained.
What if only a few people survived a mass extinction?
Might the small number of people alive make this task easier?
If it is able to be made easier, then it was able to be done in the first place.
This question is really trying to define what the limits of our reality are (if there are any).
Although history might tell us differently, I don't think that it is impossible for humans to all agree in the future.
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May 24 2013: YOU don`t believe so,then tell me sth impossible,
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May 24 2013: "sth" isn't a word, so I'm having difficultly understanding what you are saying.
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May 25 2013: the 'WILL" in your question makes it hard to say that something is impossible even in future.
for example,I say:"I can run 500000km per hour." do you believe it?is it possible?at the present time,it is impossible. but how about the future?it can be possible in future,can`t it?
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May 23 2013: So I've been down this path with Edward Long below.
I encourage you to take a look at that conversation and see with what you disagree.
This is about the laws of thought. Here is my interpretation.
Either it is A or it is not A.
These are the only two options.
Statements that are contradictory by definition, cannot be true.
A married bachelor. An unmarried spouse.
This becomes a question of whether things are black and white or are gray.
To me possible/impossible is black and white, but most other labels are not.
Is the convention that we have adopted, which allows us to communicate and reason, actually a feature of reality, or is it only manmade?
Are we accurately characterizing reality or is it just an approximation?
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May 23 2013: Either A exists or A does not exist.
Are there other options?
Laws of logic are based on manmade conventions.
Something is A because we have agreed that we can call it A.
My main question is:
Are the laws of logic truly a reflection of reality?
What if they aren't?
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May 22 2013: G'day Cameron
For anything to exist it has to vibrate, nothing can exist without vibrating. An atom vibrates, the differentiation of colours is brought on by different frequencies vibrating to give certain colours everything is a vibration of one sort or another depending on the frequency of vibrations.
You see something to be alive it has to feel & breath In some way or have organs & a brain but I don't because I see pass this & look deeper within the very structure in how each molecule is vibrating. It's these vibrative frequencies that give us different form like a kettle to a cup for instance or one person to another.
I'm not offended by you just disappointed Cameron as I thought we were going to have an intelligent conversation but it doesn't look that way because you are stuck within one mode of thought & can obviously only think within that mode of thought but I don't.
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May 23 2013: Can you post a link substantiating your claims about vibrations?
As far as I know, a kettle or a cup are different things because they contain different proportions of different atoms.
Inducing a change in the vibration of a cup doesn't turn it into a kettle, unless you have evidence to the contrary.
I find this unlikely, however, as going to a concert would change each person's vibration and according to you, that person would not longer be the same person.
Also, isn't something at absolute zero temperature without vibration?
Temperature is a measure of kinetic energy.
According to you, once this occurred, that thing wouldn't exist anymore.
If you are talking about string theory, then that is completely different.
The subatomic particles are proposed to be caused by strings vibrating at different frequencies.
But this has yet to be determined experimentally.
• May 22 2013: Well to start Science will never prove a negative. we will never have proof there are NO GODS OR GOD, we will never have proof there are NO GHOSTS or NO MULTI DIMENSIONAL BEINGS ETC... So yes there is something will never do.. prove something metaphysical doesnt exist.
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May 21 2013: G’day Cameron
In regards to the physical for example you can produce a number of kettles at the same time that are seemingly exactly the same but the physical structure of all the kettles are actually vibrating at a slightly different frequency because nothing is exactly the same even when it’s made in the same exact way.
If I transported myself back to tomorrow these kettles would be vibrating at exactly the same individual vibration however because we are consciously aware of transporting ourselves back in time we have in fact changed the vibration of that time & I theorise we changes the said kettles vibration as well this is because everything vibrates & vibrations can & do affect each other. Take the shrimp experiment, the shrimp being boiled affected a plant in the next room.
Light is a vibration so are brain waves & for us to be able to see & touch a physical item it has to be vibrating & the same goes with the mind, to be able to treat mental illness one has to have something to treat which is a vibrational frequency of some kind, everything in existence vibrates therefore in one way or another is alive.
The thing is Cameron nothing is of the past or the future as it’s all of the now. You could look at a clairvoyant predicting the future & the only way they can do this is as if it’s already happened so everything is of the past therefore was can be re-experienced precisely however we are forgetting about the now, the now can only be in the now. It would actually make sense if everything was in the now not the past or future.
People like the clairvoyant are connected to the inner self to some extent which allows them to make predictions, this is done by seeing everything as being of the now not of the past or the future.
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May 22 2013: I'm not sure that I'm familiar with this "vibration" that you keep referring to.
What is it? What creates it? What influences its behavior?
I'm not sure that consciousness has an affect on physical vibration.
What is the mechanism of action?
I don't see how "plant consciousness," if that even means anything, plays a role here.
If something isn't vibrating then we can't touch it?
Why can't we? What isn't vibrating?
If you think vibration means that something is alive, then I can't agree with your definition of alive.
Also, saying that mental disorders are caused by bad vibrations, is no better than saying that they are caused by demonic possession. These simply aren't true.
Are you unaware of these scams? If they were true, this guy would have found them.
I can't say that your last two paragraphs are the least bit intelligible.
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May 21 2013: nothing is impossible = Everything is possible
dear, It seems that you are trying to find a logical reason for god existence,am i right?if it is so I have to say that
god existence is not that much easy to understand because it is full of paradoxes[ you know, "paradox and logic" is like "water and oil"] ,for example: god is everywhere and is nowhere,we can see god and we can`t,we can feel god and we can`t.
in this matter when you think you have enough information about god,you understand that you don`t have any information.something which is possible can also be impossible and sth which is impossible can be possible.[I know that these sentences might be confusing,but I couldn`t say it in other words.sorry]
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May 22 2013: I have no divine agenda.
It doesn't matter to me whether or not god exists.
But if it is possible that he/she/it does, then we should explore it.
We spend our time sending out messages to outer space, just incase we hear something back.
I can't follow what you are saying in the second part.
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May 23 2013: ok,if it is so, my answer to your question is: there is nothing impossible,because sth which is impossible now can be possible in future or maybe it was possible in the past, who knows!
about the second part,to understand it better,I recommend that you read the translation of Hafiz poems.
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May 23 2013: Can you substantiate your claim that nothing is impossible?
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May 21 2013: A very interesting question.
Unless the laws of logic change, then what is impossible shall always remain impossible.
Of-course I have no problem with accepting the possibility of a "God"...
Just have not come across a logically valid argument for (the Christian) God's existence.
(I have many problems defining these two words (ironically) though : "God" and "existence")
Yet I do feel it is more reasonable to argue our concept of "God" is just a by-product of evolutionary psychology.
That the concept of "God" is produced by our "theory of mind" (or dualism).
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May 22 2013: The inclusion of was, is and will be, is redundant only for clarification.
Not all people consider impossible to be unbound by time.
I'm not pushing one conceptualization over another.
I am only considering the possibility that we may have been shortsighted.
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May 22 2013: So I am unsure as to what this debate is asking.
Are you arguing that what is impossible by definition may indeed be possible, due to our lack of cognitive abilities in these area's?
Forgive me for not understanding!
As stated above, unless the laws of logic (the premises) change. Than what has been impossible (in the past), shall always remain impossible. Look up the "Problem of Induction".
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May 23 2013: I'm looking at 2 main things.
First, since we can't prove that anything is impossible.
Might this be a true reflection of reality?
Are we prevented from knowing what is possible or is there really nothing impossible?
Second, what are the limitations of what is possible?
Can we determine these or even just what is not possible for our minds to understand?
In the dark, it is impossible to see any objects.
But using technology, it is still possible to detect and locate them.
Might our cognitive limitations be overcome somehow?
If so, we need to have a better idea of where those limitations are.
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May 21 2013: Impossible is impossible.
Impossible was impossible.
Impossible will always be impossible. :)
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May 21 2013: It is impossible for something to be impossible.
Nothing is impossible.
The negation of which is:
Everything is possible.
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May 20 2013: ...a deceptive answer - nothing much - a non-deceptive smile :)
Best wishes :)
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May 20 2013: a universal definition of reality
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May 21 2013: I'm not saying that we have it, but what about the one correct definition of reality?
Would this not suffice as a universal one?
Are you suggesting that such a definition doesn't exist or that it can't be found?
These are two different things.
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May 20 2013: As heart beats continuously so also the mind keeps thinking always. Proven scientifically. It is impossible to stop thinking.
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May 20 2013: A citation of that scientific evidence would be appreciated.
What thoughts exist during sleep, coma or under anesthesia?
These situations are certainly without thought.
Please post any scientific evidence to the contrary.
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May 20 2013: Net is replete with numerous articles on Brain activity in coma or sleep.... please be informed. Google search "Brain activity in coma or sleep"
How Active Is the Brain in a Coma?
FEB 4, 2013 07:00 AM ET // BY SHEILA M. ELDRED
A new type of brain scan is giving neurologists insight into what is happening in the brains of patients who appear to be in comas.
When doctors recently tested former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon brain with a functional MRI, they found "robust" brain activity when he was shown pictures of his family and heard his son’s voice. A stroke and brain hemorrhage left Sharon in a coma seven years ago.
While the findings don’t change the prognosis of many patients, doctors are excited because the technology could foster a primitive form of communication with patients who are minimally conscious. It could also help prevent and correct misdiagnosis of patients who appear to be in comas, but are actually in a "locked-in" state.
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May 20 2013: Functional brain imaging during anesthesia in humans: effects of halothane on global and regional cerebral glucose metabolism
MT Alkire, CJD Pomfrett, RJ Haier, MV Gianzero… - …, 1999 - journals.lww.com
... A review of the literature suggested that halothane might be associated with an interesting
pattern of regional cerebral metabolic activity in which several brain areas might even show
increased activity during anesthesia. Specifically, Shapiro et al. ...
Cited by 149 Related articles All 5 versions Cite
Please let know if you are satisfied.
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May 20 2013: Neural activity exists in my hand, but I doubt that you would attribute thought to it.
fMRI is not indicative that thought exists.
Even in brain dead people, whether cortically or brainstem, both have some neural activity.
Minimally conscious and locked-in are both "awake and aware" to some extent.
Unfortunately, I am not convinced that all neural activity corresponds to thought.
This is especially true of areas phylogenetically more ancient than the cortex.
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May 20 2013: Unfortunately, not all answers are correct.
Said another way: If it has occurred because it can occur, then it is possible for you to conceive of it.
This is the negation of your previous statement.
This means that you can conceive of all that is possible.
I am questioning what this limit is and what is not possible.
You have simple said that is possible to conceive of all that is possible.
I agree.
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May 20 2013: The first word spoken was entirely original.
It was neither learned nor taught.
Then where did it come from?
It had to originate somehow, even if it was accidentally.
Before Einstein thought of e = mc^2, it was inconceivable.
Then how did he conceive of it?
Original thought exists.
It is possible for you to know something that no one else knows.
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May 21 2013: Then do you believe that all organisms have thought?
Does a worm or a jellyfish think?
If not, then one organism at some time had to have the first thought.
But if they do, then the first living being that existed had the first thought.
I don't think you are proposing that bacteria or viruses have thought.
I, as well as Einstein, don't discredit the help others had in helping him construct his theories.
The people who taught him language should also be given credit.
For he could not have uttered anything without it.
But your reasoning seems to suggest that nothing is ever new.
Diamonds are simply different arrangements of coal.
Are these not two different things? Is one not new from the other?
Also, by your logic, you and I are simply permutations of each other.
Are you suggesting that we are both one and the same?
Where do you draw the line on what is new and what is old?
I hope that you can see that this logic isn't sustainable.
Einstein was able to come up with something that his predecessors hadn't.
Something different and new.
But even if you don't believe that he, himself, made this new advancement.
Then you must believe that someone, at sometime, did.
And if it did not originate with that person, then from where did it originate?
What is its origin? Who or what can claim ownership?
Any original song is at least, in part, original.
The first song to ever exist, would have had to have been entirely original.
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May 23 2013: This is a pretty good understanding. Not even a need to cite einstein because you have it pretty sewed up.
What is impossible? To conceive of what is possible.
This statement is supported by the content of your statement : )
We cannot conceive outside of our own amalgam of experiential reference therefore it is impossible to conceive of even a fraction of what IS possible (or simply what IS).
Nice post!
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May 21 2013: I would like to remind you that a lack of evidence is no evidence at all.
But let's explore what type of answer would satisfy your inquiry.
Any original idea that I express would be in the words I've learned from someone else.
I could then make up a new word, but of course I would use an alphabet that I have been taught.
I could then make up a new language, but somehow it would be affected by my original language.
As you have stated earlier, words are not thought.
The idea that I created, might be completely original, but it must be communicated.
At this point, I am required to use methods of communication that I have learned.
I think that it is obvious that although the communication may not be original, the idea is not bound by this limitation.
Its manifestation is more personal and unique than what anyone has experienced before.
If it wasn't, how would it be possible to know something that no one else knows?
Being the first person to experience it, that idea originated from that person.
At what point would something new exist?
The next time you order a sandwich, you should not be surprised if you receive a soup.
To you, they are both the same, completely interchangeable.
You need to draw a line somewhere.
What the big bang does not address, is where that initial matter came from.
Even more so, what caused the big bang?
You deny that things can spontaneously occur.
Then what is your unmoved mover?
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May 22 2013: Again, a lack of evidence is no evidence at all.
If you cannot prove your position, then your lack of belief in mine does not hold water as proof that you are correct. It only makes it obvious that you lack the aptitude to discern what can be considered proof and what cannot.
I am the only one who knows what I ate yesterday.
Is this not an original thought?
Is someone else privy to this information?
If that experience did not originate with me, then from whom?
Surely, you will not suggest that the earth, trees, and air communicated it to me.
It did not originate with them, it originated with me.
You are stating that I can't conceive of what does not exist. Correct?
Do you think that god exists? If not, then there is one.
The next big invention of the future does not exist by definition, but I can certainly think of it.
The end of the world does not exist, but I can think that it might.
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May 22 2013: I just thought of one! It's unlike anything I've experienced before.
Unfortunately, words do not exist to describe it.
Have your requirements been satisfied?
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May 22 2013: Please explain why hallucinations do not count.
I have ascribed a word for my experience: mju76yhn
It is so original that it requires, not only letters, but also numbers.
"all the experiences you had and extrapolate from that imagery something different"
This is the crux of the disagreement.
Even something different that I have experienced from before is not new, in your opinion, because I am basing it off of what I have seen before.
Your definition of original excludes both A and not A.
Both (things I have experienced) and (things I have not yet experienced) are not original.
By the conventions of logic, this does not make any sense.
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May 23 2013: I honestly, don't know what you would consider an original thought to be.
You wouldn't know one if you saw one.
What would one look like?
Let's not even consider the task of proving it yet.
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May 23 2013: So I think that this discourse on original thought needs to get wrapped up.
Let's make some closing statements and see if we can at least separate what is resolved and what isn't.
To take the easy way out:
If an omniscient being existed, then it could have original thought.
This is a valid statement.
I will agree with you that thinking of anything original is impossible for a human.
BUT, I do not think it is impossible for ALL beings.
If it is not always impossible, then it is possible.
Can we agree on this?
and move forward on about we humans might bypass this limitation?
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May 23 2013: Reading your initial statement over, it says that:
it is impossible to conceive of what is impossible.
But is there anything impossible, in the first place, to later conceive of?
Is it impossible to do so because our minds are limited?
Is it impossible because impossible doesn't exist?
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May 19 2013: To have a full and complete understanding of another human being.
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May 20 2013: What would make this impossible?
Currently it would be computational very difficult for us to do so, but I doubt it will be in the future.
If humans can be summed up by the neurons in one's head, then this should be possible.
Also cataloguing one's experiences would provide a similar understanding of an individual.
With these two combined, nature and nurture, then a complete understanding would be possible.
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May 21 2013: What would make this impossible?
We cannot read minds Cameron.....you can hook up all the gizmos and gadgets to the brain you want, but you cannot read a thought.......You would have to have access to a person's consciousness......and be able to know their past, in full detail....emotions and all....our thoughts change instantaneously.....without us even thinking....we take in everything around us. We feel an itch, feel cold, feel hungry, type on a keyboard, look out the window, hear the kids watching tv, plan dinner, and mourn the death of a loved one all at once, in a second, then the next second, our thoughts go somewhere else......
This kind of insider knowledge on an individual is known by #1, the individual, and #2 God....noone else....noone.
And for those that are atheists, or agnostics, then #1 only.
Are you saying that summing up the neurons in one's head will make it possible to read mind's thoughts? Doubt it.
And cataloguing experiences means nothing.........because humans are not accurate in their writing, oftentimes they write subjectively. And even if the writing is objective, the interpretations would be subjective and open for discussions. Have you ever read a debate on the Bible? Or belonged to a book club?
There are lots of things that are impossible.
And, if my arguments fail to convince you, then convincing you that there are impossible things is impossible. Couldn't help myself there Cameron ;)
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May 21 2013: If god does it, then how does he/she do it?
If the individual does it, then how does he/she do it?
Answering one of those would give another the ability to do the same.
Human experience is certainly objective, but it isn't entirely unique.
You could imagine someone having the same experience as you.
Finding more of the same, aggregate them where they overlap.
And finally coming up with the whole picture.
Our functional imagining technology, fMRI and PET, is currently very poor.
But even these crude technologies can tell when someone is thinking something.
It can be assumed that this will progress to answer, not when, but what?
The content will be able to be assessed.
This may be true, but I encourage you to keep trying!
If you don't, we'll never know!
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May 21 2013: I don't have the strength to keep up with you young fellow.......thanks for the challenging question, hope you find an answer that satisfies your mind............and your heart.
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Jun 16 2013: "Human experience is certainly objective". That is the impossible.
And the answer to your question, which Cameron is looking for.
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Jun 16 2013: Thanks for your insight Juliette.
• May 19 2013: Perhaps Triangles can't have 4 sides, but a triangle can have 3 90* angles.
But it also depends on how you define a 'side'. A triangle has three 'sides' and a face, which could argued to also be a side looking head-on.
Sometimes it isn't about trying to be sneaky to get around a definition, but approaching a problem in a way that perhaps has never been approached before. You may still be wrong, but at least you didn't just accept things without trying yourself.
Part of the beauty of science isn't in getting the right answer, but in using the right tools to get there. We may always be wrong. We may label something impossible simply because we lack the knowledge necessary to take the final steps. We may find that the impossible is merely waiting for the right person to look at it in the right way to redefine it as not only possible, but probably, and simple once it's seen right.
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May 20 2013: Well then I hope the right person gives an answer here.
I admit that I haven't found the answer.
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May 20 2013: Well then, perhaps the answer to the 'deceptively simple question' is indeed "nothing".
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May 20 2013: That is the tentative conclusion that I've been able to come up with.
I posted on TED just to make sure that there isn't something that I've overlooked.
None of the posts yet have convinced me that I have.
Of course, a lack of evidence is no evidence at all.
Just because no one can think of something impossible doesn't mean that there isn't.
I'm looking for positive evidence that this stance is correct.
A poverty of evidence to the contrary doesn't prove anything.
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May 19 2013: Psychology - the study of the human psyche
The question of the psyche was originally for philosophers to ponder, but now the question has been given to cognitive researchers (and the respected mind sciences).
The problem with studying human consciousness is we have no other type of superior consciousness to compare ours to, so we are in a HOLE as far as finding out where to begin what is 'conscious' or not. We have great ideas, like emotions, memory and reasoning that tell researchers we are conscious, but the general nature of such consciousness, it still a mystery. Because as soon as I rationalized 'this is my nature' I become aware and that 'natural tendency' no longer has as much of an effect on my future reasoning...
Take the Myer-Briggs personality criteria for example: The test dictates your personality TYPE, so if the test is justified (by you or others) to be true and practical - you accept this assessment of YOU. Well, after this 'acceptance' you are no longer that type of personality, you are now 'more of' or a 'variation of' that personality type. Therefore having accepted who you are on an objective standard, has given you reason to alter future rationalities involving yourself.
At the point where we actually begin to map the brain out (in an unified theory), we will still be left with questions of how to use those maps to better the human condition.
So, what will always be impossible, has been and will be is - the perfect education system to train a human being.
OR - just "perfection" in general.
It is impossible for humans to be absolute creatures, being born subjective, but we can be objective (by taking from consensus and communities)... Yet, we cannot conceptualize what our species will become even in 100 years, so how can we be able to ever practice absolute reasoning as a casual occurrence?
A lot is impossible, but it takes creativity and imagination to make practical developments from thinking 'impossible'
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May 19 2013: Are you saying that if something realizes what it is, then it is no longer that thing?
A human that realizes it is a human, is no longer a human?
I don't see how this makes sense.
Are you saying that in 1 million years from now, or even 10 billion years from now, this won't be accomplished?
I give humans more credit and think that this type of advancement could be done in 100,000 years.
Do you have a reason that it could never be done?
Why might perfection be impossible?
Anything that is completely pure is perfect in that way.
Space that has nothing inside it (a vacuum) is perfectly empty.
These are all possible.
If you have more impossible things to name, then please do so.
Don't hold back.
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May 19 2013: " A human that realizes it is a human, is no longer a human?"
Ha, this is why the social sciences should be stressed more.. Consider the variety of fields of study for the human body, let alone the brain and how the mind works. A better question: "If a human realizes/learns/rationalizes more about their biology, psychology, physiology, etc. they no longer are just a human?" Well, that still doesn't answer the very important question of "what is a human being?" How do we objectively describe ourselves if we are the consensus which establishes conceptuals categorizes? In another sense, how can an individual ever really realize their full potential if they do not know ALL the actuality that can be known about humans? And that answer, will suggest when an 'agent' realizes more about what it is, it is no longer the same agent.
Maslow's Peak Experience // Buddhism's Satori - the questioning of self, and it's existence leading to enlightenment
Nietzsche's Übermensch // Sagehood - the idea we must become more than human by understanding human nature
(What it is to be human, is a matter of acceptability from society...While some say we need to "this" to be human, others will say "that" is the worth of being a human)
Compare us to the people from 3000 years ago. I am assured, there will be far more differences than similarities. What will we emphasize as being "human" is a matter of social acceptance, not merely a time dimension. But, now considering the evolution of culture... A 100 years from now, where would our languages and philosophies have taken us? We will be "human" but less identifiable with us as humans now, for we would be more advanced. More developed humans, our ideas of ourselves and our conceptions would have also developed, thus different, thus impossible to solidify timelessly. Unless perhaps you say "we are celestial beings responding to other celestial beings" - which is just too holistic for my taste.
Perfection is like beauty - perspecti
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May 20 2013: You give examples in which learning to be human makes one more and less human.
This seems to suggest that one can achieve all levels of "humanness."
"when an 'agent' realizes more about what it is, it is no longer the same agent."
Why this is true? An enlightened individual is still that individual.
I'm not debating the definition of what it is to be human.
I'm not sure what you consider impossible about this situation.
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May 20 2013: Learning to be human cannot make one less human? If anything more of a human, when in pursuit of being better than a 'human' or normal person.
"An enlightened individual is still that individual." This position doesn't seem valid. Enlightenment clearly implies wisdom obtained by trails of effort. How can someone who worked to be more of them self but not different from the person they were? Who a person is, is not a static agent. WE are agents of evolutionary adaption and social relations - if by nature we evolve, than by individual distinction that extension of thought should apply - we evolve when we adapt to reality.
Please define human, in a way, that EVERYBODY will agree is an usable definition. Impossible.
It is impossible these questions will be resolved and applied to public agencies in the next decade.
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May 21 2013: A buddha is not born enlightened, but once he is, he stays the same person.
The soul inside of him is the same, but it is now enlightened.
Once enlightened, you Nicholas, would still be Nicholas.
To take the easy way out.
Human - what most people consider to be human.
How could you know with any certainty that this won't happen?
It is just as possible that you might die within the next decade or within the week.
Just because something is unlikely, like a comet hitting the earth, doesn't mean it won't happen soon. As we have seen recently.
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May 21 2013: Nice cereal box interpretation of Buddhism, but that's not the point of enlightenment and reflections on satori. The point is, that it is continuous once you begin on that journey. "Once you seen the peak of the mountain, you can't forget what you saw." A human is born with buddha or as buddha, which means we are already enlightened (or have the tools to be) but need to work to maintain the light. This changes a person, a name is not a representation of who someone is - nor their eyes. "A flower by any other name... still has the essence of a flower" We create our own essence constantly with our ideals of what is to be a good and proper human. To be happy. It is not impossible to know what makes everyone happy, it will forever be impossible to make everyone happy.
Possibilities are all not the same, that is an absurd notion.
There are impossibilities, but imagination allows us to overcome those thoughts, but we must IMAGINE how to, not merely because they do not exist.
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May 22 2013: Reaching enlightenment allows one to shed the physical form.
Liberation allows one to enter the true and pure form, nirvana.
Speaking in terms of personhood in this context is futile.
Also, I'm not really sure how this relates to the initial question.
Why will it be impossible to make everyone happy?
What if everyone becomes enlightened?
So your stance is that through the power of imagination, all is possible.
What physical limits does reality have that do not exist in the mind?
What exists in your mind that was not gained from experiencing the world?
All that exists in your mind has a basis in the physical world.
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May 23 2013: "Why will it be impossible to make everyone happy?
What if everyone becomes enlightened?"
Your very LARGE what if should answer your own question.
You never are able to shed your physical form, that's the 'IDEAL' the 'attempt' or 'desire' but never actually happens, but this desire seems to put other desires in perspective, which is the goal. To have a great perspective. Seriously, stop reading the side of the box and think its that simple.
"So your stance is that through the power of imagination, all is possible.
What physical limits does reality have that do not exist in the mind?"
While I sit here at my laptop, on my floor, in my room. While I try to pinpoint and piece together who you ARE entirely, is impossible - enough cannot be known to understand. Imagination wise, "hell yeah" I can figure you out, but realistically, there are TOO many stipulations and assumptions involved to be totally accurate. Impossibility isn't the difference between real and unreal, it's the difference between how you think about real and unreal. The mind can make a minotaur a real-idea, but myself ever meeting one is impossible - at least on earth.
"What exists in your mind that was not gained from experiencing the world?
All that exists in your mind has a basis in the physical world."
Fine and dandy, but what you take/learn with the actuality, is what is the overall potentiality of the object/subject (Aristotle). The "idea" of something is always greater than the "real" thing, therefore when one examines the "real" thing constantly more "ideas" are made. The limit of reality, and what is impossible, is if there is no way to not think without ourselves, without our minds. To assume we can "know" nothing is impossible, is to assume we "know" what is likely to be highly improbably or impossible - but, we don't collectively as humans even understand the mind we use in simple coherent explanation...
I have given many examples of impossibilities, explore one or don't.
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May 23 2013: I'm happy to explore them all.
It doesn't matter how small a probability is.
Any probability > 0 is possible.
Then what does liberation mean?
From what I understand, it means that one no longer needs to be born in a physical form.
Leaving the cycle of rebirth is only possible by forsaking the physical and by recognizing one's true nature and becoming one with it.
Cite something if you wish to argue differently.
Why can't this be known?
If every detail of your life was recorded as well as your genome, and epigenome, then why would it be impossible to?
I understand that this is computationally very difficult, but I'm not convinced that it is impossible.
These variables are finite and therefore able to be counted.
Are you suggesting that something is possible only if you think it is?
I'm not sure how your mind has an effect on what is objectively real.
A minotaur seems to have all of the components currently found in animals on this earth.
Surely, geneticists will one day find a way to create this combination.
"the "idea" of something is always greater than the "real" thing"
How is the idea greater? What are you measuring this by?
Are there not real things that we don't fully understand?
Wouldn't the reality be greater than the idea of that thing?
I would limit your use of the word always until you are serious about it.
I'm not sure if I understand this statement.
Are you saying that it is impossible to think without a mind?
I can't really say that I disagree with that, but any religious person would.
I'm not sure if I understand the rest of the last paragraph.
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May 24 2013: No, any possibility is not higher than 0 - outside of physics. This is absurd on at least three levels. And it is a degree of positivism that I find useless in genuine rationality - to suggest "anything is possible" is TOO idealistic to function in our current conditions of technology and our immediate understand of space, universe and time. I am one for idealism, Socrates/Plato, in pursuits of philosophy. But you are combining momentary conditions with possible reality, and of course THEN (in that mindset) nothing is impossible, but this isn't very practical thinking outside of say, theoretical physics? I cannot do that type of thinking when I research psychology; the mind sciences are still working on concepts let alone an unified theory of how the brain works - to suggest WE WILL have an unified theory, does not give me one now. So it is most certainly impossible that I CAN COME UP WITH ONE ON THE SPOT - but not impossible for there to be one. This division is necessary to be practical, because otherwise we will only get lost in our own conceptions. If you still feel as though NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE - this part of the discussion no longer interest me.
Seriously, not going to talk Buddhism with you - check out The Zen Experience, or the Way of Zen, Zen for Beginners, and books like those. You clearly do not have a grasp (needing to cite wiki) on the material you are discussing but rather reiterating what a website says. Clearly haven't embodied it, and therefore will not discuss either. "Buddha is a shit-stick" - favorite quote
Your response to minotaur example exist above ^
The idea is always greater than the real, therefore the more you understand the REAL you can do more with the REAL! However, just because it is REAL doesn't mean you know what to do with it without more investigation or idea construction. Since things are interconnected (Mr. Buddhist) when the actuality of the thing is full, it will only still show more potential not more reality.
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May 24 2013: I'm not looking for what is practical.
I'm looking for what is.
My definition of possible is not bound by time.
If it is ever possible, then it is possible.
I'm not exactly sure why you brought in religion in the first place.
What a group of people believe to be true isn't necessary true.
And thus, I couldn't find a scientific article to support my claims.
I didn't realize that one could just cite a book and not give any quotations.
But if you accept that convention, here is a book I think you will find most helpful.
Your investigation of psychology obviously hasn't included the scientific method.
Does potential not turn into reality?
Certainly acid and mushrooms have the potential to change reality.
Even if you wish it weren't so.
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May 24 2013: Oh boy... "what is" IS always going! But part of what is going is DONE going (we can see the effects), at least in the moment, and by understanding the 'DONE-going-parts' or pieces we understand better how things go.
FINE that is YOUR definition of TIME, not an objective one at all, time is relative to communication. To dismiss the relativity of time in conversation is to be absurd innately, have fun.
Resisting my urge to continually suggest how much you do not understand what it is you are talking about...
An additional book you should check out is Kuhn's scientific structure of revolutions, and you will see exactly what the 'scientific method' is, and what it is dependent on... And one of the reasons the book gets so much backlash is because he justifies "how/what a group of people believe can be necessarily true" not specifically data or merely 'method.' Thus the 'religious' type of thinking, is essential to understand how humans think - helps a lot in evolutionary psychology.
Jesus help me!
The anticipation of the potential is the always changing the actuality, even if actuality is prior to potentiality.
And as that last statement is a personal attack, one that is CLEARLY unrelated lol, and it gives me joy. A sign of my correctness, that clearly, you have no idea of what you are talking about with Buddhism (satori, enlightenment, etc) and are doing no more than a commonly confused individual - trying to blend thoughts together when only knowing their most superficial definitions and concepts. And by feeling insulted, you have now resorted to personal attacks. But let me tell you when I was 19 I also fell into the same traps (and I notice when I let myself do so now), perhaps you will get out of your pitfalls in another 2 or 3 years.
Good luck on your journey! Hope all I have said will linger in your mind enough for it to grow!
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May 19 2013: Impossible to stop thinking till you are alive and conscious.
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May 19 2013: I'm not sure if I understand your statement.
Are you suggesting that thought occurs before birth?
That thought exists without a mind?
Even if this is true, you answer your own question.
It is possible to stop thinking once you are alive and conscious.
Therefore, not impossible.
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May 19 2013: It is ,was and will be impossible not to get fired up by this question.
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May 19 2013: G'day Cameron
Was is pass tense therefore for the now & in the future was is impossible to occur as it was as nothing is the same as it's always changing, nothing stays the same including the way it was so was can't occur because it has changed from the way it was, if it's in the now it's something else not what it was when it was!!
This might not make sense but every vibration changes so what once was can never be the same as it was as it's also changed it's vibration so it's impossible to achieve the way it was to it's exact vibration as one frequency change changes the said vibration to something else.
So is everything possible, no not if it was but the now is a different story altogether!!!
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May 19 2013: You misunderstood the question.
It is meant to say, what is something that has these 3 qualities.
Was never possible.
Isn't currently possible.
Will never be possible.
This question has nothing to do with constancy.
I have no doubt that things are constantly changing.
But the real question is, whether or not there is a limit.
Is there something that cannot be created or changed into?
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May 19 2013: G'day Cameron
The problem is Cameron you actually asked 'what is (was) as the first question' & the second question is "and will always be impossible to occur?" I actually answered both questions as the question itself goes. There is usually more than one way to answer a question by what it means.
As you have said occur instead of occurred occur would have to state in the now so no it’s impossible but if you said “impossible to it have occurred” that would have changed the question altogether.
Constancy actually means consistency or firmness which isn’t what I’m talking about, I’m talking about inconsistency as nothing stays the same so once was was can never be again however this is the paradox, the was can’t exist without the now so was can only seem to exist in the now but it can’t at the same time & that is another reason I said no not if it was.
It's a paradox, was would have had to exist however it can only exist in the now but of course that’s impossible to our way of thinking, no question is simple if it’s a paradox. What I am saying is everything is in the now it never was or will be which of course is but another debate.
I’ve actually helped you by looking at the questions in two different ways but both came up with the same answer.
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May 20 2013: Well, this is somewhat interesting.
So you are saying that once something is something it can never be that thing again.
Things are constantly changing and would be impossible to be made into that thing again.
Why do you think that this is so?
If all of the atoms, subatomic particles and strings, if you prefer, were rearranged to a former state, then wouldn't that thing be the same thing it once was?
Is there something about a thing that isn't physical and can't be reincorporated?
I don't consider time to be a barrier to this pursuit.
If one turns time backwards, then aren't all things that were made again?
Can you give an example? This would further your argument.
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May 21 2013: G'day Cameron
I'm not saying I'm right in this it's just a different angle.
It can never be exactly that same thing again once it was or yesterday will never come again & the reason for this is everything changes as nothing stays the same.
If you could relive in the past in any way you couldn't know about it because it wouldn't be exactly the same because of your knowing, you would have to not know of it's past existence for it to be truly what it once was exactly, one frequency change like knowing of the existence represents a change.
If you didn't know of reliving the past then it still can't exist because you wouldn't consciously know that you are reliving a past existence, if you’re not conscious of this it can't exist as everything is of consciousness I believe. If we are talking about a physical thing every physical thing changes with time, the atoms for instance change ever so slightly as it ages/breaks down just as we do.
However if we went back in time the kettle would seemingly exist exactly the same because we are in the same exact time period in the past however it's not because everything is really in the now so there is no real past because of our own conscious awareness, if we went back in time consciously that would be the now for us as it is the now for us right at this minute, being consciously aware only gives us the now however if we weren’t consciously aware yes was exists & can re-exist however it can’t because your still living in the now as you can’t know of living in the past as this would be a vibrational change.
Nothing is what it seems as it’s really all just vibrations anyway, everything looks different because it’s made up of different vibrative frequencies, all vibrations are of consciousness so yes I would say things aren’t just physical.
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May 21 2013: So I think we need to separate this into two parts.
The first is of purely physical things.
I think they can be returned to exactly the same state.
I can only imagine that this technology could be further extended to all parts of matter.
Here is a great video of atoms if you haven't seen it already.
I'm not exactly sure what physical thing you associate a vibration with being.
Is this the vibration of a string? or of something like sound or light waves?
Now the second one concerns things that rely on or are influenced by consciousness.
I'm assume that you are referring, at least in part, to the observer effect.
That a thing changes its nature upon being viewed.
You are saying that we could never know for certain that we had been transported back in time, but that it would be possible for us to do so.
Everything would be the same under those circumstances, even our "mindset," which would make everything exactly the same.
I think that this situation would be possible, although difficult to prove. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2920 | Magazine, website & books written by teens since 1989
The Riddler's Curse Series
Story 1: The Coffee Shop (Jana will have this ~ , and Riddle shall have ^ that, when they speak. If you are confuse it will make more sense later one.)
~"So what made you come over here, and sit down across from me, With a hot mug in your hand?"
^When you sit in a cafe like we are now, what do you hear?
~"People making coffee?"
^It doesn't have to do with the mouth, and yet it does.
~"Ah, so you came here to talk?”
~“About what?”
^My ears heard a voice that came from your mouth,To the pouring boy.
It’s a question, a question that I have knowledge of.
But I won’t give it to you easily.
Chapter Notes: this is the setting at present.
Chapter 3: Who Are They?
~"Alright. In the simplest way possible, tell me your name?"
^Read the words from right to left,
and you’ll have my answer:
.mine know shall you, name your have I once.
~"It's Jana."
^My name starts with R and ends in iddle.
~“Riddle is an interesting name.”
^Thank you.
But your hands are shaking,
Your heart is racing,
And your legs will shake next.
What feeling is this?
And why do you express this emotion?
^Yes. However that is only one.
What is the other answer I seek?
~“Your other answer is something that I don’t want to talk about.”
^Alright, here is something to ease your troubled mind:
I am on shapes, and people see me.
People ask this frequently:
"What's your favourite___?"
It has a C and L with three
letters missing.
If you can find the question, answer it.
^Still trying to find the missing letters?
~”Yes, and I am usually good at these too.”
^I can tell.
I'll give you a hint:
The second last letter in the word “Letters,”
Is at the end of the word you are looking for.
~"Ah, what’s your Favourite Color?"
~"If I could choose any color, it would have to be blue. And yours?"
^It’s ever changing like the weather above.
Since the chairs and tables are
the same color as dark soil,
That is when I am happy.
Since the walls are the same colors
as the sky and clouds,
That is when I am sad.
Since the outfits of the waiter and
waitresses match the night sky,
That is when I am protective, for
reasons I cannot share.
~“So let me get this straight,
Brown is when you’re happy, blue and white are when you’re sad,
And navy or black is when you are protective?”
~“Why can’t you share the reasons you’re protective?
I would love to know.”
^Your mind thinks, how you would feel about what you want to know.
But your mind only knows what it’s told. With that said, I shall riddle you this:
What is clear, that you cannot see?
Which only makes you fear,
The unseen…
I know the answer, and that is your reply.
~“And how do you feel about this, your answer?”
^My dear,
Be careful what you ask or the horrors will come at last.
~“Thanks for the warning; I guess we can skip that question. But here’s another: Why do you speak in riddles?”
^Fine.I shall riddle you this:
Who am I?
What have I seen?
What did they do to keep it hidden from me
Me? No, not me...
Everyone that can see,
that can hear far and near
Now I am the only one who is cursed,
Cannot speak without riddling things.
~“Oh, so it’s a curse that makes you speak like this.
Thanks. Um… I have to go now; I hope we can meet agai-”
^I wouldn’t do this:
I stand up and walk,
To a door that is not locked.
If that is what your planning on
~“If you are implying that I shouldn’t run away, I am not going to listen.”
~“I work for the newspaper which I assume you already know, and they told me:
‘That once you figure out the reason he speaks in riddles, to leave.’
I wasn’t too happy with them when they told me that.
To be honest, I want to stay and chat.”
^Your boss is a smart man to send a beautiful young lady, To question a young man like me. However you should do what you want. You don’t have a choice.If you go,they will be sure to follow, So I suggest you listen.
~“Alright, I’ll sit back down…only if you promise me something?”
^My answer is this:
It’s another word for Differ,
For what you ask.
~“So depending on what my favor is, you’ll do it?”
~“Okay. You have to answer every question I ask, or I leave. Also, I promise your answer won’t be published in the newspaper.”
^If you leave, it would be worse than if you stay,So my answer would be the following:
It has a S at the end with a Y at
the beginning.
~“Yes! Okay, riddle me this: Why do you look so unhappy?”
^My dear, you’re beautiful,
and this is what I don’t want to happen to you:
Damaged done by the rain,
But if you place the word that
starts R With you, and “by the”
with “to”.
~“Why don’t you want damage done to me?”
^It is rare to feel what is below:
Your presence is another word for,
~“Thanks, I’m flattered, but who are they? You keep talking about them.”
^You say you’re a journalist, so you should know the three stories.
They are bonded like brothers, like worlds, like lovers.
But “They” has two meanings.
One starts with S and the other starts with T.
~“If you mean the stories, as in the three people that went missing, then
They are both connected.”
~“Oh crap.”
^My dear,
Ignore what I have said, but secretly listen, there is a lot of stuff that you have been missing.
~“So everything you just said was a lie?”
^Think again.
Secretly listen.
~“Riddle Me This then, what are they going to do to me now?”
^They will simply not touch you,
For this what we are going to do:
Run, run, run as fast you can,
To the little house of the bearded
~“Great, so I am getting kidnapped. Or are we running away?”
^The one after “or” is correct.
That is our answer, to another word
for issue. Now listen close, this is a warning for you:
If you see things that shouldn't be
there, be scared and be aware.
~“Thanks again for the warning, but do you know this person? Or are you just spitting out solutions, to this problem I unknowingly created?”
^The first question is a yes, the last one is the opposite.
~“Oh. Should I be frightened? Or should I trust you on this one?”
^What you chose is up to you,
But think about this:
The only reason why you are in this mess in the first place, is because of me.
So would you trust the Villain, or The Liar? If The Liars me.
~“I would choose the liar, since he is the one who knows where we are going.”
You shouldn’t,
And as to why,
I cannot say.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2929 | Sports Night
How Are Things In Glocca Morra?
Episode Report Card
Daniel: B | 1 USERS: A+
This guy won't die
To bring everybody up to speed, this episode of Sports Night opens up with "Previously on Sports Night" clips that remind us all that Gordon and Dana are having problems; Casey slept with Sally; Dan digs Rebecca; and Gordon was wearing Casey's shirts. Sports Night only occasionally uses these clips at the beginning of the show, and I'm always sort of faintly confused as to why they even bother, since Sorkin always manages to work in tons of backstory into everyone's dialogue. The need for the clips is further obviated in this episode because it's another of Jeremy's letter-writing episodes where he explains it all to Louise anyway.
So we fade up on the show ready to go. The gang is milling about in the control room, more or less all watching some tennis match, and people keep saying, "He won't die." Then the Jeremy narration begins as we hear what he's writing in his letter to his sister Louise. He explains that Pete Sampras is playing a nobody tennis player named Alberto Fedrigatti in a match being broadcast by CSC. Problem is, Fedrigatti has battled back from being down two sets, and Sports Night has about two minutes to air with the match not about to end. The Sports Night gang isn't happy about this; if Fedrigatti forces a fourth set, they're going to have to hold the show for half an hour.
Oh, it's this episode. The episode that's responsible for 95 per cent of the posts in the "Sports Night creeps into real life" topic in the bulletin boards, the ones that are posted whenever a top-ranked tennis player (usually Sampras, but not always) is given a good match, like this episode was a total prophecy.
Anyway, Dan and Casey are sitting at the desk waiting for their cue. Meanwhile, Jeremy says that Dan is doing what he always does before the show -- annoying Casey. This time, he's prodding Casey to talk about something, but Casey doesn't want to. Dan wants to know if it has something to do with the shirt. You know, the wine-stained shirt left behind when he, shall we say, gave Sally the "two minutes to air" signal? Casey keeps saying, "You're wired," confusing Dan, who says he's perfectly calm. Casey has to actually grab Dan's lapel to show him the microphone.
In the control room, everybody's still hanging on the tennis match. Dana's sudden persecution complex has her thinking that Fedrigatti is doing this to her personally, but Natalie assures them that "[her] Pete" will straighten things out. Then we unfortunately have to listen to Natalie talk about her annoying Pete Sampras fantasies. Luckily, though, Jeremy interrupts her as they see Fedrigatti force a fourth set. Everybody groans. Back at the desk, Dan has taken off his microphone so Casey can open up, but Casey still won't. Dana comes up to the desk to break the news about the fourth set, and Sorkin gets off a lame joke by having Dana mistakenly call the guy "Fettuccine Alfredo." Casey wants to know how Fedrigatti can do that to him, and Dana says that he's doing it to her.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2940 | Xoom 4G upgrades finally begin
Posted by Mark Raby
If you've been waiting months and months for the 4G upgrade you were promised when you bought your Xoom, the wait is finally over.
Starting today, you'll be able to mail your flagship Motorola tablet to Verizon, where employees will dig into the device and alter the hardware so it can connect to the carrier's high-speed LTE network.
This isn't just a piece of software you can download. Original Xoom models did not have a 4G LTE radio so tablets need to be physically mailed in. This was explained when the company began selling the device early this year. At the time, reports suggested the upgrade process might happen in as early as 90 days, but it ended up taking months.
Instructions for sending your Xoom can be found at Verizon's official <a href="http://phones.verizonwireless.com/xoom/upgrade/">Xoom upgrade page</a>. It is the exclusive data provider for the device.
The carrier said customers can expect to receive their tablets back within six business days but that is not a guarantee. Verizon also warns users to back up any data before sending the device for upgrade, although the upgrade itself should not affect anything already stored on the Xoom.
In addition, upgrading to LTE will not affect existing data plans. Whatever you're paying for your Xoom's 3G service today is what you'll be paying for your Xoom's 4G service tomorrow. Of course, you'll be paying for around six days of service without being able to access it while you wait for the device to return.
The Xoom has received favorable reviews but sales have been less than stellar. Nevertheless, Motorola and Verizon are still strongly supporting it.
In fact, a new version of the device with 4G LTE compatibility built in will be available as of October 13. That model will sell for $500 for customers who sign a two-year service agreement with Verizon.
Verizon's monthly data plans include $30 for 2 GB, $50 for 5 GB, and $80 for 10 GB. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2942 | The Event's geek hero
Posted by CB DROEGE
The NBC Sci-fi series, "The Event" is coming along nicely. I'm enjoying keeping up with it, and looking forward to its return at the end of the month.
When I look back at the episodes we have so far, however, there is a glaring issue which rankles me.
One of the lead characters, Sean is a software engineer, who becomes involved in the twisting plot when his fiancé is kidnapped while the couple is vacationing.
His story becomes the action-hero sub-plot which gives the story most of its explosions, gun fights, and chase-scenes, while the rest of the story is very talky.
The problem with this is that he doesn't have a background which explains his super natural abilities to run, fight, and tactically plan his own victory and survival.
The Event's geek hero
He's also a hacker, and that part is okay, since we've established that he's a software engineer, and in TV land this is enough to give him the ability to do pretty much whatever he wants to other people's computers, no matter how impossible. It's something we've all come to expect in the medium.
However, the only explanation we get for his physical abilities: One episode alludes to him having been on the swim team. This explains how he was confident enough to dive into the ocean and rescue a man from drowning in the very first episode, but that's the extent of it.
The most perplexing moment comes while the fiancé is being held captive. I think I didn't really notice it the first time because it's such a strong TV trope that it barely registered, but the fiancé tells the bad guys that they are going to be in big trouble because Sean is looking for her, she just knows that he is, and nothing is going to get in his way of finding her.
Seriously?
I mean if she was engaged to a Federal ass-kicking-agent, or a UFC champion, or even an ambulance driver from the tough part of town who takes a Karate class on Tuesdays, these words might be reasonable, but this guy is a Software Engineer from the suburbs.
Event
He had a tough family life, sure. He played a sport in high school, okay. None of that adds up to "He will find a way to defeat you all and rescue me."
Of course he did fight his way to her, and bring her out, but what made her think that he could?
It makes me wonder what is in their past that gives her such confidence in his abilities. Will something be revealed in a later episode which explains how Sean became such a badass?
Did he spend some tough time in prison? Was he trained in a special secret military organization?
The audience hasn't gotten much of the story about how the two characters met, so there might be something to that, but as it stands this character has been lost to me.
As much as I like to see Geeks being heroes, it's going to be difficult for me to take his adventure seriously until I see a bit more of his background. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2956 | The Full Wiki
More info on Emmanouil Tsouderos
Emmanouil Tsouderos: Wikis
Updated live from Wikipedia, last check: March 15, 2014 23:58 UTC (42 seconds ago)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emmanouil Tsouderos (1882–1956) was a political and financial figure of modern Greece, serving as Prime Minister-in-exile during World War II.
Early life
Tsouderos was born in Rethymno, Crete in 1882 and studied law at Athens University. He furthered his studies in economics in Paris and London.[1] He returned to Crete aged 24 and was elected Member of Parliament of the Cretan Legislature (1906–1912). After the union of Crete with Greece, he was elected to the Hellenic Parliament and served as Minister of Transportation under Eleftherios Venizelos and Minister of Finances under Themistoklis Sophoulis. With the establishment of the Central Bank of Greece in 1928 he was appointed as first Vice-Governor and then as governor in 1931.[2].
Prime minister
In 1941, Tsouderos succeeded Alexandros Korizis as Prime Minister of Greece. Korizis committed suicide as the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) advanced towards Athens. After assuming power, Tsouderos fled with King George to Crete where he organised Greek forces to face the coming German invasion.
Tsouderos fled again during the Battle of Crete. He went to the Middle East and later Egypt. Tsouderos headed the Greek government in exile until 1944. This government was initially located in London and subsequently moved to Cairo. He served in the subsequent government in exile under Sophoklis Venizelos and, after the end of World War II, Tsouderos served in different capacities until his death at the age of 74 in Genoa, Italy on Feb 10, 1956.[1]
1. ^ a b "M.Tsouderos War-Time Premier Of Greece Obituary". The Times (London): pp. 9; Issue 53452; col C. February 11, 1956. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
2. ^ Bank of Greece - The Bank
Political offices
Preceded by
Alexandros Koryzis
132nd Prime Minister of Greece
April 21–29, 1941
Succeeded by
Georgios Tsolakoglou (occupation government)
Preceded by
himself as head of Athens government
132nd Prime Minister of Greece (government in London)
April 29, 1941 - April 13, 1944
Succeeded by
Sophoklis Venizelos
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2972 | Museums vie for the Art Fund prize – but who deserves to win?
The four museums shortlisted for the Art Fund award will be working out how they could use the £100,000 prize money. So who should get it?
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The Herbert art gallery, Coventry.
The Herbert art gallery, Coventry, showing off its £20m facelift. Photograph: Herbert art gallery
When it comes to big arts awards, like the most lucrative of the lot, the £100,000 Art Fund museum prize, my heart is always on the side of the tiddlers. If you're running a big national collection, that kind of money could pay for a few new display cases. But, if you're a little 'un it could be life-changing.
By that criterion alone, the prize should have gone to Bernard Leach's old pottery in St Ives, a pilgrimage site for anyone interested in the English craft revival, which has been miraculously restored as a model small museum, complete with attached working pottery - but that hasn't made the shortlist, which was announced yesterday.
The longlist also featured several whales that haven't survived. The biggest was gigantic in every sense, the size of a Zeppelin and costing £75m: the Darwin centre at London's Natural History Museum. They'll be spitting dodo feathers in South Kensington that they haven't made the finals. The longlist also included the £22m refurb of the Royal Institution, whose endearingly shabby warren of old rooms behind the grand facade on Albemarle Street in London was transformed into what looks precisely like a smart boutique hotel. But it cost so much, and so signally failed to bring in the philanthropic billionaires and the corporate bashes supposed to help pay for it, that some say it threatens the institution's very future. Probably just as well that it didn't make the shortlist.
Of the four that did, all have recently been refurbished. The relaunch of the Blists Hill Victorian town at Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire cost £12m, the Ulster Museum £17.8m, the Herbert in Coventry - which has also just won the Guardian Family Friendly Museums award - £20m, and the Ashmolean in Oxford a stonking £61m.
None are exactly a tiddler. But by my own rules, the winner ought to be Blists Hill, a fine and family-friendly place which undoubtedly sends people away with a vivid and probably almost true impression of life in a Victorian iron and coal town. Yet I have a pathological loathing – doubtless buried in some subconscious psychiatric wound, of guides raiding the dressing-up box to show visitors around.
So my favourite has to be the Ulster museum, which may have needed a makeover more than any other museum in these islands. An elegant building in a parkland was joined at the hip in the 1960s to a startlingly brutal concrete extension. Architects love it, and it's listed, but the extension has since created monumental problems. A hideous plastic roof added later over what had been an open court leaked relentlessly, at least creating a charming effect in heavy rain. The revamped museum keeps the concrete, showcases the fabulous collections, and is loved by almost everyone, so my head and heart vote for it. And voting has just opened online, so you'll be able to judge too.
Today in pictures |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2986 | What gaming needs: a Korean flatulence sim
whatafart.gif I wasn't going to post about this, then I noticed my sensible friends over on WaterCoolerGames have so that means it's okay. What A Fart is a Korean indie game in which you must pass wind without the businessman standing next to you hearing. This can be achieved by hitting the space bar as cars pass by. It's also possible to press the left direction key to silently release gas if the guage gets too high, although this should be employed sparingly as you're on a limited supply.
This is one stealth challenge that has yet to appear in either the Splinter Cell or Metal Gear series' to the best of my knowledge. As WaterCoolerGames point out, it would be better if the challenge became tougher as your score increased - instead the difficulty level remains constant.
I can't even believe we're thinking about this though.
(Via Tigsource. I'm so sorry)
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/2987 | Crytek's Cevat Yerli: free-to-play games are the only future
Currently preparing for the release of its latest sci-fi shooter, Crysis 3, German developer Crytek has a very different future in mind. But can titles like Crysis survive in a freemium future? Cevat Yerli has a plan...
Crysis 2
Crysis 2 ... the next version may be Crytek's last ever release on physical media
When upstart German developer Crytek launched Far Cry in 2004, the game immediately drew plaudits for its advanced visuals and agenda-setting AI. Over the next eight years, the company developed its reputation for providing cutting edge technology in both the PC and console sectors with its Crysis series of high-tech shooters.
But two years later, CEO Cevat Yerli visited South Korea and saw something that blew him away: free-to-play gaming. He found a culture in which players gathered in internet cafes, engrossed by a multitude of freemium titles he'd never heard of. He saw in this alien gaming culture, a glimpse at the future for the global industry.
Since then, Crytek has announced the development of its own social games network entitled Gface, which will allow players to access free-to-play titles that stream over the web. To launch the service, the company has developed Warface, a near-future first-person shooter boasting cinematic visuals and a host of co-op and competitive multiplayer options. Both Gface and Warface are currently in beta.
In the meantime, however, the developer is pushing Crysis 3, the latest title in its traditional boxed copy shooter series. Due out next February, might this be Crytek's last ever release on physical media? We recently spoke to Yerli to find out.
During E3, we had Ubisoft showing off the latest Far Cry 3 – a series you originated – and EA hosting Crysis 3, your current series. What do you think of where Ubi is taking your old game?
I had a little play on Far Cry 3, that was … interesting. It had a very artsy style to it. The character design has taken a very interesting approach. The gameplay felt quite standard in a way, although it's not fair to judge it on such a little piece of gameplay. But, yes, I liked it.
It's interesting to see these titles competing: both are open-world shooters with different ways to approach each mission …
Yes, I call it the proactive sandbox – and they've stayed true to it, which is good. It's this whole concept of action bubbles: you can approach, decide how you want to play, then move in. When you've resolved it, you're funnelled back to the fiction with story sequences, etc, then you open up another bubble. That's a good approach.
This is what people loved about Crysis - there was no fear in letting the player stop and investigate, to try things out. Is this still the case with Crysis 3?
Yes, and more so than with Crysis 2. With the original title we didn't want to produce a passive shooter where you're a passenger, where you can shoot, but you're being constantly driven forward. In Crysis, you're inserted, you have to do the mission, and that's it. Players could be smart about it, be explorative – they could take their tools, the light conditions and enemy positions into consideration.
We call it veni vidi vici: I come, I see, I conquer. To conquer, you have to first observe. That approach has been in the DNA of all our games and I wanted to stay true to it because as a gamer myself, I like to think about what I do. I like to find creative solutions. And to create that possibility you have to have systemic technologies like AI and physics, and you have to have level designs that allow you these positions of observation and analysis.
I'm going to give away our design here, but we always try to put you somewhere where you can walk up a path and find yourself slightly elevated. This lets you analyse the valley, spot enemies, and plan the route you can take. This process is almost subliminal – we like to simulate you into making decisions, it's passive guidance, it's not enforcing anything. Crysis 2 was a much more choreographed approach, it was still a sand box, but it was more intense, more linear. It was also much more vertical because you were playing in New York and could explore up and down buildings. Crysis 3 is much more like Crysis 1 – it's a more expansive approach.
It seems, in someways, that you've merged the principles of Crysis 1 and 2 into this game, it looks to have a linear thrust, but with the domes, you've also provided open areas.
Making games is a constant learning curve – you only really understand your game once people are playing it and telling you what's great and what's crap. I think Crysis 3 gives the world a very cinematic feel, yet it puts you into these massive domes. It's a playground, but it's confined so you always understand where you are. I think that encourages a creative approach. The theme is "urban rainforest", you feel that you're in a new world, but you understand where you are conceptually, and as you move through, you get a sense of progression that was perhaps not clear in Crysis 2; you never knew if you were getting close to the end. That's something we completely missed in the design.
Crysis 3 adds a new rather low-tech weapon: the bow. How did that come about?
Did you see how many bow games there were at E3?! Isn't that weird? We were the first game to be loud about it, then I come to E3 and they're everywhere – I saw four games that have bows in their posters!
The idea in Crysis 3 was simple: the concept of the game is nature claiming the world back, so we wanted it to be more visceral, more natural – we wanted it to be more about humans and less about technology. Crysis 2 had all this high-tech weaponry, so when we started the design for the third title, we said, what's the lowest tech we can go to as well as the highest? So here, the highest tech is the alien weaponry while the low end option had to fit in with all this wildlife. The bow came from that.
It was originally proposed as an entirely improvised weapon, but when we looked at it we said, no that's interesting, but it's not effective enough. So we decided to make the most kick-ass bow ever. We have the different arrow tips to fit with your playing style, and it has this really punchy feel. You can literally pin enemies to the wall. It's also silent. It turns the player into a hunter. And we wanted this game to feel like you are hunting.
That's interesting, because over the past three or four years we've had lots of science fiction games about humans essentially being the helpless prey, the underdog …
Exactly, so we thought, why not the other way around?! Yes, there are a lot of enemies, but you have all this weaponry, you're amazing as a character. We want you too hunt them down. You're the predator, you're the aliens' worst nightmare. We say in the fiction of the game that your character, Prophet, had this vision of the end of the world, and it's brought about by the aliens – he's pissed off about it. He wants to bring them down – one by one if necessary. So he's not just on a mission to save the world, he's on a mission of vengeance against every alien.
There's a tonality there that explains how fearless he is, how little he cares about failing. This is the attitude a hero needs – he doesn't know any limits. And this, in a way, is symbolic of the gaming experience. A player intrinsically has no fear – you go forward and you fight it out; you know your character could die but you're not afraid of it. The player is always a hunter, so why not map that metaphorically into the fiction?
It works really well in terms of player psychology – I am a hunter and the character is a hunter, your motivations align: the player wants to kill every enemy because they get to collect better weapons, but in the fiction, Prophet wants to hunt them one by one as well. It's the perfect alignment. Game design is all about how you start as the prey and become the hunter, then back to prey – prey, hunter, prey, hunter - that is the cycle. The role of the player changes constantly. But you always meet the enemy at eye-level. That's not to say the game isn't challenging, but you will always feel good about it.
The enemies do seem genuinely smart – in what ways have you been able to explore the concept of intelligent enemies?
AI is something I've been pushing a lot, through all our games. But with AI there's something you've always got to bear in mind: the average lifespan of an AI character is three seconds. He spawns, he walks, he dies. You can't express a lot of intelligence in three seconds! Within this short lifespan, the most he can express is, "I see you", or "go over there" if the enemy are using group tactics. But we try to give them some kind of combat personality - I'm scared, or I'm going to hunt you down.
But the concept of putting AIs in with memories, who don't forget you once they've seen you … there's not enough time. However, there are some AIs that live more than three seconds – say, an enemy sitting a kilometre away from you, watching you through a sniper scope. Then we get to use the systemic AI we developed throughFar Cry and Crysis. The important thing about our games, which isn't true of all others, is that the enemy can actually find you from all the way over there, and if you move away from the snipping spot, he will head towards you and try to take you down. That path discovery, and the ability to tell others that the player has been spotted – that's what we're trying to bring in. A more tactical kind of AI.
Do you look at academic work in this area at all? Stuff like AI planners or neural networks?
We've played with stuff like that for years. Neural networks are a little too much – there's no time to develop your brain as an AI. We have invested a lot in real-time AI navigations so if an object falls in front of enemies, they can bypass it. Real-time steering of groups, formations, flocking, all that. But the main focus is on making the AI more believable, more human, and with that, they need to be able to make mistakes. Sometimes an AI will stumble over a ledge when jumping, or two enemies will bump into each other – they're mistakes a human would make. It's more believable than perfectly executing each tactic. It's funny because in Crysis 2 we had a bug come up where the AI would only make mistakes – then you had fantastic outtake shots where everyone was sliding and falling all over the place. But yes, we're using a scientific approach to AI in order to make enemies more real.
Your studio is associated with bleeding edge technology and the lhigh-end visuals … do you have a team in the studio put aside to just work on that stuff, to sit around thinking about the next generation of PCs and consoles?
I wish we did – that's a good idea! No, it's more driven by where we think the future should be. I'll tell you the story of Warface now. In 2006 I went to Korea and it was like looking into the future of the western world. I was sitting in an internet cafe and there were ten people in front of me just sitting and playing - and I was taking notes. What I saw was amazing – these guys were playing free-to-play only, they were zapping between games every 15-20 minutes and they were with their friends – it was a cool thing to do, play games in an internet cafe.
This was very different to western culture – but I thought, this is how it should be. I looked at the charts of the games they were platting and I'd hardly heard of any of them. But the great thing is they could just whizz between them because they were free – it was a whole different mindset. I met some developers, we exchanged information, shared ideas, and it made up my mind. I said to my studio – guys, we need to be there, we need to be making games for this market.
So we started Warface. It was around the time that Crysis was finishing – I said, we have one of the world's best technologies and we supposedly know all the shooters on the market, yet I have never heard of the top 10 shooters in Korea. How come we're not in there? So we set up the Warface team to make a free-to-play shooter. that was five years ago. And it was a huge learning curve going from making packaged goods game to an online game service.
At the same time I started to think about GFace as a social platform – because that's what internet cafes effectively are. People go there, socialise and play games with their friends. I wanted to capture that process – meeting friends, deciding on a game and playing together – virtually.
That's the Gface network, effectively. People can come together in real-time, choose what game they want and play it, and then have an aftermath of chatting and discussing the game. Xbox and PlayStation don't really do that very well, so we built Gface as a platform on which we could launch Warface. I didn't want to launch in Facebook because I couldn't replicate that experience there – not in a fluid and intuitive way, not in the way I imagined. And then also, I wanted to make the platform open for other developers to be able to do the same thing.
Do you have specific game genres in mind?
With Gface, I want to concentrate on Triple A games that are free to play. And that's what Warface is. People in this industry are still too much in the mindset of packaged goods, in terms of business, logistics, forecasting … we just said, screw it, let's do it – let's spend money on it at the risk that we'd never get the money back. We bet on it; we saw the future and we bet on it.
Is that the only future?
Look around, look at the younger generation! When I see my nephews, they have never bought a game in their lives; they don't play on the PC at all, they have iPads. In 10 years' time, none of these guys will be buying PC games, they won't be buying console games. Those are the guys who play games. Naturally, very visibly in the next generation, the consoles will have a problem, because unless they reflect the lifestyles of this generation, you can't get them on a console. That's why I'm very vocal about this. I don't think there will be another hardware generation beyond the next one. That's why I'm building Gface.
A lot of people think there will always be a market for consoles, that hardcore players demand a dedicated platform …
Ask my nephews! These are the guys who will be playing in five to seven years' time. And then we'll be seeing iPads that are five times as powerful as they are today, we'll have five times as powerful Android tablets – but we won't have consoles that are five times more powerful. The power of the technology you have in your hands will be greater than any console in the next five years. Tablets will be streaming to TVs, you'll have controllers – why would you by a console? Unless the consoles figure it out. The Cryengine will be there on the next generation of consoles, figuring it out too. There will be some support from us, but I believe that some kind of software platform will be the future.
So if you woke up tomorrow and you were the head of Xbox or the head of PlayStation, and it was your responsibility to map the future of the consoles, what would it be?
That's not fair!
But come on, what would you do?
I would make every game free-to-play. No compromise. I want to log in to my console, go to my catalogue, pick the game and play it. I don't want to buy games anymore. I'd also contact Crytek and ask to license Gface (laughs).
Microsoft and PlayStation are sort of trying to go in the direction of digital games…
They're trying, but the industry is dependent on the retail business. The stores say, I'm not going to sell your Xbox if you don't give me games to sell, because the margin on hardware is so low. So which companies have no retail dependence today? It's Apple, it's Google. They already have their own online stores. So Microsoft and Sony have to figure out a way to become retail independent; with that, or they say to the shops you get 100% margin on the Xbox, which doubles the price. It's not going to happen. It is a chicken and egg problem. Someone has to bite the bullet and make the hardware more expensive or launch a console that's free-to-play only - we have to bring about this lifestyle change.
But what worries me about this free-to-play future of yours is that it will mean radical changes to the way games are designed. I mean, take an epic narrative shooter like Crysis 3, could that work if you have to build a whole freemium economy into it?
Look, I think so. We'll figure out how to make a game like Crysis 3 work. If the proposition is, the gamer gets the games for free, well, that's better for the gamer. And what's best for the gamer is best for the industry.
The problem is, people aren't thinking like that. Customers have to put up with all this crap right now, legal notices, copyright protection… the best way to get rid of all that is go free. The gamers get what they want - free access - and if your game is good enough you can hook them in, whether that's a single-player game, or multiplayer, or co-op, or an RPG, an RTS, or Fifa, or whatever, it really doesn't matter.
For every game you can find a solution. For every single one of them. It's a creative challenge, nothing else.
Crysis 3 is released on PC, PS3 and Xbox in February 2013. Gface and Warface are TBA
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3052 | Fitness Face-Off: Splits (sessions 15 and 16)
So I unintentionally took a brief, five-day hiatus from Pilates—not because of Brian's implication that I'm not spending enough time chained to my desk (because I am), but because schedules, like stars, just sometimes don't align.
RECOMMENDED: Fitness guide to NYC
Yesterday I reacquainted myself with the reformer care of Kate, a Hungarian-born former dancer who is yet another Re:AB apprentice. We've worked together before—back in the beginning of this epic journey—at which point we did our stretches while giggling. (I don't know why, but we spend most of our time looking at each other and laughing. I think she's laughing at me. I'm laughing because she's laughing. Oh, the joy of Pilates.) Yesterday, though, wasn't so hilarious. It was hot so the Pilates was Bikram-like: excellent for loosening muscles but scary when your feet start to slip. Poor Kate had to anchor my feet down to keep them on the machines with one hand while holding my hips square with the other (so that we could work on opening up the flexor).
She also taught me another good stretch for home—if you have one of those stretchy bands, use that, but I think a towel or the like would work too. While on your back, extend one leg straight out and, keeping your elbows pinned to your sides, extend one leg straight up. Pull it over your body to the side—keeping your hips flat on the ground—before bringing it straight up and to the other side. Per Kate, it's "an extreme stretch."
Unlike Laura and Debbie, Kate is in New York to stay—and while she's not yet on the schedule (she has to pass her 400s first), she'll be at Re:AB for a while.
Today, I was reunited with Brooke—and I have to admit it was bittersweet. Just kidding! But seriously, I had to wobble my way to Falai for my morning coffee after. It was tough—we moved fast and so I was actually panting at parts (per Brooke, Joseph Pilates intended that you would move through 40 or 50 different exercises in the course of a 45-minute session. It's not meant to be slow and plodding).
We visited some old favorites (using the Cadillac as a mat) before trying some new exercises. She introduced me to to "The Guillotine," a contraption that Joseph Pilates designed so that it could be installed in a doorway of a client's house (much of Pilates is intended to be practiced alone, at home). Essentially, while keeping my hips square, I had to lift a spring-ed bar (by transferring my weight to the standing leg and then leaning into the hip of the lifted leg. If that makes sense). As I pivoted around, I needed the assistance of not one, but two apprentices, to keep me from tipping over (it was near the end of the session, and I was tired). There's nothing like being stretched by three people at once to make you feel like you're splayed out on some torture device. Next, we moved to the floor, where I put my hands on the floor, and put one leg up on the wall behind me, in a split position. Another excellent candidate for at-home practice. Fun!
Today was inarguably tough: The more it hurt, the more my mind railed against the stretches and the tighter I became. Brooke had to remind me to breathe and keep the muscles distracted by moving around (bending and straightening my legs while in the stretches).
We took some measurements at the end—despite the fact that I felt tighter than I've felt in weeks, I lopped three inches off my floor to hip crease measurement and added a few inches to my back arch to front foot measurement. Not as significant as the results a few weeks ago, but I'm not deterred. Besides, Brian is on vacay, so all progress is good progress....
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3073 | The US Imports 1.5 Billion Barrels of Oil a Year from "Dangerous or Unstable" Nations
You may have heard this song before, but it's one well worth replaying: the United States imports 4 million barrels of oil a day--adding up to 1.5 billion a year--at a cost of nearly $1 billion a day. That's $1 billion dollars a day that we're sending to nations with governments that are listed as "unstable or dangerous" by the US State Department. This is not a sustainable practice on any level--just look at the infographic above to get a more distinct grasp of how much money we're spending, and where it's going. The Center for American Progress has just issued a report that's well worth reading, aptly called Oil Dependence is a Dangerous Habit. It's opening salvo:
Which is hard to argue with--we're spending billions of dollars a year, investing in unstable nations that, as Obama would say, "don't like us very much." Nigeria, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (!)--these are the nations that we're investing US capital in, while jobs continue to vanish on our shores. It's money that could be invested in clean energy like wind and solar. I don't care how whether you think global warming is a hoax--there's simply no persuasive argument for continuing to do business as usual when it comes to our energy policy.
And, as the report points out, we simply can't continuing consuming oil at the rate we do:
Our oil dependence will also be increasingly harder and more dangerous to satisfy. In 2008 the United States consumed 23 percent of the world's petroleum, 57 percent of which was imported. Yet the United States holds less than 2 percent of the world's oil reserves. Roughly 40 percent of our imports came from Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, but we can't continue relying on these allies.
Nothing is going to change as long as companies have an incentive to maintain the status quo--Exxon made $45 billion last year by importing 43% of its crude from unstable nations. Chevron made $23 billion with half its crude coming from such places. Without energy reform, there's little incentive for corporations to invest in clean energy--which is why the big oil companies are relentlessly campaigning against it.
But clean energy reform would be a boon to the nation in almost every way. Besides cutting our dependence on foreign oil, it would spur investment in jobs and clean technology stateside--to the tune of $150 billion (when combined with the stimulus). Independent analysis finds that the climate bill which passed the House last year could create as many as 1.7 million new jobs.
And then of course, there are the environmental benefits: "Burning oil imported from "dangerous or unstable" countries alone released 640.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is the same as keeping more than 122.5 million passenger vehicles on the road." Cutting that out of the picture would obviously be a major improvement.
It's pretty simple--clean energy reform is an investment in sustaining the prosperity of America. The status quo marks a continued investment in oil companies and sometimes-hostile governments. It's time for a change.
Read CAP's full report here.
More on Clean Energy Reform
Is Clean Energy Reform Dead in the Senate?
The 7 Biggest Obstacles to US Energy Reform
Tags: Clean Energy | Congress | Oil | United States
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3076 | View Single Post
Old August 13 2010, 12:33 AM #40
neozeks's Avatar
Re: Worldbuilding: New member integration in the UFP
neozeks wrote: View Post
That would hardly be logical on the part of the Federation. Why single out just religious cases?
But it does. Why would the Federation want to have as it's member something as uneffective as the today's UN? Every time the governments within can't agree on something (which is most of the time), the representative on the Federation Council would find his hands tied.
T'Girl, I know you're partial to the 'confederation' view of the UFP but I think history has showed confederations do not work in the long term (I don't think there's really a single true confederation left today). They are simply ineffective and eventually either disolve or turn into proper federations.
Why are EU members ready to give up a portion of their sovereignty to the EU? The EU isn't even a federation, it's currently a strange mix of federation/confederation/IGO, yet it has the power to influence and change, by legal force if neccessary, the systems and policies of it's members.
Umm, do states in the US (or their governments) get access to such things at all? Or is it restricted just to the federal govt (and whoever they authorize)? And anyway, if you're not ready to trust them with your intelligence data, you won't let them in in the first place.
What if it's a smart fungus?
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3079 | View Single Post
Old July 22 2013, 08:19 PM #451
Christopher's Avatar
^Lore was viable with a "fault" -- he was a fully functional sentient, learning, even emotional being, but he was a psychopath. B-4 had the equivalent of a severe learning disability.
Julianna said the other three prototypes were "lost." She made it sound like they died. I've always assumed that meant they suffered cascade failure just like Lal (and Rayna Kapec, most likely), that they couldn't cope with emotional conflicts without collapse. The fix Soong attempted to solve the emotional-conflict issue with Lore resulted in his psychopathy, his lack of empathy for others; there's no emotional conflict if he never cares about anyone but himself. So Soong just deferred the whole emotion question and built Data with that capacity suppressed until he could achieve a viable fix.
B-4's limitations are on a very different level, a lack of cognitive ability. He wasn't "lost," he didn't collapse; he just plain didn't work. So he seems like an earlier model to me.
And as I said, I think the only way B-4's existence can be reconciled with Julianna's account is if he was made before the three prototypes she knew about.
Written Worlds -- My blog
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3114 | Login or register
Marisa Theodore
Mostly Credited As: Marisa Theodore
Birth Name: Marisa Theodore
TV Appearances
Episode Cast Credits
The Suite Life on Deck (2008)
In the Line of Duty 02x03: (Aug/21/2009) As Cara
Drake and Josh (2004)
Megan's Revenge 04x13: (Mar/04/2007) As Sarah
Malcolm in the Middle (2000)
Butterflies 06x17: (Apr/10/2005) As Wendy
8 Simple Rules (2002)
Coach (a.k.a. Tennis Coach) 03x07: (Nov/05/2004) As Marisa
School Nurse 03x03: (Oct/08/2004) As Marisa
Finale Part Deux (2) 02x24: (May/18/2004) As Student No. 2
Opposites Attract: Night of the Locust (3) 02x15: (Feb/24/2004) As Megan
Summerland (2004)
Big Waves 01x06: (Jun/29/2004) As Cricket
I'm With Her (2003)
Friends in Low Places 01x20: (Apr/06/2004) As Bride
Run of the House (2003)
When There's Smoke, There's Fire 01x05: (Oct/09/2003) As Jennifer, [Co-Guest Stars]
The O.C. (2003)
Pilot 01x01: (Aug/05/2003) As Nikki, [Co-Guest Stars]
Reba (2001)
The Man and the Moon 01x06: (Nov/09/2001) As Cheyenne's friend #2
7th Heaven (1996)
Sympathy 06x03: (Oct/08/2001) As Sally
City Guys (1997)
Just for the Record 05x07: (Oct/06/2001) As Ella
Popular (1999)
Booty Camp 01x15: (Feb/10/2000) As Teen Girl #3
Boy Meets World (1993)
The Grass is Always Greener 03x12: (Jan/12/1996) As Tara
Married ... with Children (1987)
The Gas Station Show 06x23: (Apr/26/1992) As Betty Jr.
Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990)
Boy Meets Girl 02x12: (Nov/10/1991) As Laura Beatty, [Featuring]
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3124 | SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco's animal control agency is relying on donations to solve an unforeseen problem in the digital age—a shortage of newspapers needed for potty training puppies.
Animal Care & Control has been relying on public contributions and San Francisco Chronicle ( ) donations to line the cages of shelter puppies that still aren't trained.
Animal control will pick up the newspapers twice a month. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3136 | Subscribe English
look up any word, like steak and blowjob day:
by JohnOB1 October 06, 2005
332 76
by SamanthaCooper January 14, 2005
154 85
Person 2: No, that was just a fake up.
by MadRabbit April 28, 2006
21 9
Another word for makeup.
You should use some fakeup to hide that real face of yours.
by Bonch Nifkin September 21, 2011
12 3
by Constromlie February 04, 2009
9 0
A fake-up is when a couple says, often in order to increase the dramatic effect of an argument, that they are going to break up, when in fact neither of them believes that they will. It can also be when a frequently "on-off" couple swears they're broken up for good this time, and then gets back together.
Person A: Did you hear about Ken and Barbie's fight?
Person B: Yeah, I heard she threatened to break up with him, but he knew she wouldn't actually go through with it.
Person A: Yeah, she's always trying to fake-up with that boy...
by Millygirl01 March 16, 2008
8 3
A breakup after which the couple's relationship remains exactly the same.
by greeneyedingenue October 07, 2011
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3142 | Unlike the previous two films, the story opens up to include children and friends. But the best moments are still just the intimate ones between the couple, as they express themselves uniquely.
Celine and Jesse still enchant us. The enduring romance about an unlikely, but infinitely sympathetic, cross-cultural couple may be more vital than ever.
The third in the series after 1995's Before Sunrise and 2004's Before Sunset follows the intimate path of the previous films, but digs even deeper. Before Midnight (*** ½ out of four; rated R; opens Friday in select cities) is bittersweet, intelligently written, deftly acted and painfully honest.
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) met by chance almost two decades ago on a train to Vienna. They spent a long night talking. He's American, she's French, but they understood each other completely. It was the quintessential twentysomething encounter, and felt like kismet.
Nine years later the couple met again, this time on purpose, in Paris. Despite their complicated lives, they were even more drawn to each other.
Now, we meet them as an established couple in their early 40s, on holiday in Greece, raising a pair of tow-headed daughters.
They talk with companionable ease on a long car drive (shot in a single take over about 15 minutes) as their little girls nap in the back seat. After several years of living in Paris, Jesse laments not being able to see enough of his 14-year-old son, who lives in Chicago with his mom. He floats the idea of moving there. Celine feels he's not taking her career into account. Sparks fly and words scorch.
The dialogue is so natural it feels improvised. But it's closely scripted by director Richard Linklater and co-written by Delpy and Hawke, who know these characters inside and out.
The conversation continues as they walk, sit at a café or move from amorous gestures to heated words in a hotel room. They are meant to be on a romantic idyll, but resentments intervene. Jesse is a writer and Celine a political activist. She confronts, he dodges and retreats. It's all riveting, even as our sympathies shift.
The film trips up slightly during a long dinner with a Greek writer and his family. What these others have to say about romance is not nearly as intriguing as the couple we've been enthralled with for 18 years.
The actors fully inhabit the roles, their chemistry easy and authentic. Jesse and Celine connect deeply, disagree ardently and occasionally hurt each other in ways that only the closest companions can.
The iconoclastic Celine likes to say things to get a reaction. Supremely Gallic, she complains about her expanding derriere and thinning hair in a way that's uniquely her: "The best thing about being over 35 is you don't get raped as much."
In a sweetly moving scene sitting by the water in a lovely Greek village, Jesse pretends to read a letter to Celine from her 82-year-old self: "She says you're going into the best years of your life."
Hawke and Delpy have joked that they want to keep making these movies until they reach the age of the octogenarian couple in last year's Amour.
Let's hope they get their wish. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3174 |
by (@megsokay)
3) Sing Your Song Like A Karaoke Cover
Doing a great karaoke cover might get you laid on the weekend, but it will also get you booted off American Idol. In one of the earliest ever elimination shows, Alexis Lopez pulled a bad song choice hat trick when she sang a karaoke cover of Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love For You.” In her defense, this was the very first season of American Idol and she had no way of knowing that you could change the runs on a song. Also, this was a pre-David Cook era where singers weren’t allowed to play the guitar or piano on stage. All that being said, if you watch this clip, the judges pointed out to her repeatedly that she sucked at song choice and she sucked at not making the song sound like amateur night on a Carnival cruise ship.
Don’t be a copycat. Be an original. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3221 | Game|Life » Wolfenstein 3D Your Source for Gaming News Since 20XX Fri, 14 Mar 2014 21:08:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Why Shooting Games Make Your Brain Happy Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:19:32 +0000 Ryan Rigney Why Shooting Games Make Your Brain HappyWhat is it about shooters that makes them so attractive? Do they fulfill some sort of adolescent male power fantasy? Well, yes. But that's not the whole story. Shooters, especially as designed today, have a way of worming their way ...]]> 6 Wolfenstein: A Trip Down Cartoon Nazi Memory Lane Thu, 05 May 2011 11:00:32 +0000 Chris Kohler Wolfenstein 3D might seem like an unlikely watershed moment in videogaming. But id Software's series, unleashed on an unsuspecting world on this date in 1992, fueled the rise of the ...]]> 42 Wolfenstein Goes 1-Dimensional Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:00:26 +0000 Wired UK Wolfenstein Goes 1-DimensionalBy Duncan Geere, Wired U.K. A coder by the name of Mike Lacher has remade classic first-person-shooter Wolfenstein 3D in a single dimension, calling it Wolfenstein 1D. Despite that, it still features health, ammunition, multiple enemies and doors, as well ...]]> 2 |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3232 | TY - BOOK DB - /z-wcorg/ DP - http://worldcat.org ID - 795757458 LA - English T1 - The lady most willing-- : a novel in three parts A1 - Quinn, Julia,, James, Eloisa., Brockway, Connie., PB - Avon CY - New York Y1 - 2013/// SN - 9780062107381 0062107380 AB - "Taran Ferguson, laird of his clan, is determined that his ancient (if not so honorable) birthright be secured before he dies. When both his nephews refuse to wed, the old reprobate takes matters into his own hands: he raids a ball and makes off with four likely brides"--P. [4] of cover. ER - |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3234 | Quest:A Most Puzzling Circumstance (Alliance)
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Alliance 32 A Most Puzzling Circumstance
Start[Head of Onyxia]
EndZardeth of the Black Claw
Level80 (Requires 80)
CategoryStormwind City
Experience19Gold 86Silver at level 80)
Objectives Edit
Take the Head of Onyxia to Zardeth of the Black Claw in the basement of The Slaughtered Lamb in Stormwind.
Description Edit
You have accomplished the truly impossible. The brood mother of the Black Dragonflight lies dead at your feet. Seize her head and deliver it to Zardeth of the Black Claw.
Progress Edit
By Nozdormu's Teeth!
Reward Edit
You will be able to choose one of these rewards
Inv jewelry ring 27
[Polished Dragonslayer's Signet]
Inv jewelry necklace 09
[Sparkling Onyxia Tooth Pendant]
Spell shadow lifedrain
[Purified Onyxia Blood Talisman]
Completion Edit
What? How did you get this? Isn't she... Never mind the details, I suppose. You'll be wanting one of these baubles as recompense, no doubt.
Notes Edit
The reason that this quest doesn't turn in at King Varian Wrynn (or Bolvar Fordragon in earlier versions of WoW) and does not give a city-wide buff as it did in the level 60 version is because in Patch 3.2.2 Onyxia is officially dead according to Warcraft lore. Though players still have the ability to kill Onyxia as a boss, in Warcraft lore she was killed by a party led by Varian Wrynn, Broll Bearmantle, Valeera Sanguinar, and Thargas Anvilmar. This would also explain why the quest name has changed to "A Most Puzzling Circumstance" and why Zardeth shows such surprise upon seeing the head of Onyxia.
Blizzard put in a number of rather subtle "jokes" into the quest such as stating in the quest text that "You have accomplished the truly impossible," referencing of course that although Onyxia is still a level 80 raid boss, she is officially dead according to lore.
Patch changes Edit
External linksEdit
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3257 | Calvin Klein Men's RTW 2009 - Slideshow
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3288 | Compare: Union vs Key
Home Values in Union and Key
Median List Price$247,700vsData Unavailable.
Median Sale Price$215,000vsData Unavailable.
Demographics in Union and Key
Population5,870vsData Unavailable.
Median Household Income$85,454vsData Unavailable.
Median Age29vsData Unavailable.
Homes with Kids58.1%vsData Unavailable.
Average Household Size3.4vsData Unavailable.
Average Commute Time (Minutes)26vsData Unavailable.
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Is Union or Key better for raising kids?
Union, KY
Map of Union, KY
Union is a city in Boone county, KY with a population of 5,870. The median household income is $85,454.
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Key is a city in Dawson county, TX with a population of 0. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3334 | About me
Developer Information
Name salmagundi
User since September 1, 2012
Number of add-ons developed 0 add-ons
Average rating of developer's add-ons Not yet rated
My Reviews
SM 2.11? Rated 5 out of 5 stars
very good extension. i always used it with firefox, but it is not compatible with seamonkey 2.11. will (or can) it be made to work with seamonkey? |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3341 | This discussion is archived
4 Replies Latest reply: Oct 22, 2012 9:34 AM by mybro62 RSS
MW 2.19 apps patching issue on RAC
967559 Newbie
Currently Being Moderated
I am attempting to run my first patch using MW.
Unfortunatley, MW is indicating that my adpatch defaults file should be in a directory that conflicts with where adpatch expects the file.
Because of this, adpatch fails. adpatch doesn't care what I specify in the defaultsfile parameter, it only accepts the path shown below.
How can I work around this? Is this a bug?
Path where adpatch wants the defaults.txt file (the next 2 lines are output from the adpatch utility):
The expected location of the defaults file is
Maintenance Wizard generated path for defaults.txt file is below:
ERROR: Unable to locate a defaults file for adpatch.
Please create either the file adalldefaults.txt or defaults.txt in /ptch/applmgr/ptchappl/admin/PTCH1/ so that adpatch may run in non-interactive mode.
The problem I see is that MW is using a value of PTCH1 instead of PTCH.
I bet if I didn't have RAC, my value would have just been PTCH.
Please advise. I don't want to have to apply all my patches manually.
Is my configuration wrong or does a MW script need modifying somehwere?
Thanks, Dean
• 1. Re: MW 2.19 apps patching issue on RAC
967559 Newbie
Currently Being Moderated
More info. So I thought maybe I entered some setup data wrong. Where could PTCH1 be specified in my configuration and maybe it needs to be changed to PTCH for the adpatch defaultsfile issue to be fixed.
On the database node attributes screen, I found that I had database sid/service_name was set to PTCH1. Since I have RAC, maybe that should be PTCH (the service name). However, I tested changing this value to PTCH and then a configuration step that creates a a remote database link doesn't work.
Test of the REMOTE alias was successful.
Dropping old database link named REMOTE_1703
Creating new database link named REMOTE_1703
Successfully created a database link named REMOTE_1703
Testing it now...
ERROR: Link exists, but connection failed!
Querying the lnik definition shows why it fails, because the SID value is wrong and probably should be SERVICE_NAME= instead.
SQL> select * from dba_db_links;
So in RAC a environment, what should the MW database node screen attribute value for data sid/service_name be? the service name or the rac instance name?
Can I recreate the link myself to say SERVICE_NAME=PTCH, test the link manually and then say this step has succeeded (so I can move forward)?
Will the adpatch defaults file issue be resolved then?
Thanks, Dean
• 3. Re: MW 2.19 apps patching issue on RAC
967559 Newbie
Currently Being Moderated
Thanks for the link. I'm past the adpatch defaults file not working issue.
But what about RAC is not supported in MW?
How will I know what steps I manually need to run on the other DB nodes?
Thanks, Dean
• 4. Re: MW 2.19 apps patching issue on RAC
mybro62 Journeyer
Currently Being Moderated
Oracle recommends disabling RAC for your upgrade. When you re-enable RAC and synchronize the nodes, you should be fine.
• Correct Answers - 10 points
• Helpful Answers - 5 points |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3347 |
Represents a return (or error) code returned by an XPCOM function.
This value is a strongly-typed enum used to represent a result code from an XPCOM function.
Note: On compilers that do not support strongly-typed enums (that is, compilers that don't support this feature of C++11), it falls back to being an unsigned 32-bit integer, as in past versions of Gecko.
Note: Prior to Gecko 19.0, nsresult was not strongly typed. As a result, it was possible for code to misuse it, such as returning an nsresult value from a function whose signature indicates it returns a boolean.
Because nsresult is strongly typed, code like the following will result in an error at compile time:
bool foo() {
if (something) {
return NS_ERROR_FAILURE;
See also
Document Tags and Contributors
Contributors to this page: Sheppy, ethertank, kscarfone
最后编辑者: kscarfone, |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3367 | today i tested the possibity to mirate some of our symfony2 bundles to a drupal8 module. i noticed that i can simply copy all of our bundles in the module folder and we are done. i only needed to patch a few lines in the drupal booting:
currently we have only:
the symfony2 way:
by the way, autoloading "bundleless" files will work also:
so now we have a registered bundle and from here we can do some more magic stuff...
i can optimize the code and provide a diff, if there is any interesting person.
#1 0001-every-module-can-provide-a-src-folder-for-recursive-.patch9.16 KBHaehnchen
PASSED: [[SimpleTest]]: [MySQL] 50,692 pass(es).
[ View ]
Status:Active» Patch (to be ported)
new9.16 KB
[ View ]
so here is the patch with some additional test cases.
Status:Patch (to be ported)» Needs review
hey i'm hungry now ;( Kudos for writing tests!
Let's first discuss how we actually want it to behave and then fix the code-style-issues etc.
It seems to make sense for me to have a new component in Drupal beside modules/themes/profiles, though a bundle wouldn't fit 100% into the previous 3 examples,
because it will not have an info file. In general it would be nice, to get the two worlds connected even more.
What about adding a new "bundles" folder to make it clear where to put your stuff.
Component:plugin system» base system
Issue tags:+WSCCI
Adapting the components.
Status:Needs review» Needs work
Issue tags:-WSCCI
The last submitted patch, 0001-every-module-can-provide-a-src-folder-for-recursive-.patch, failed testing.
Status:Needs work» Needs review
Issue tags:+WSCCI
We can use the SystemListing to search for .info files which should find the themes also, currently this is only done on .profile and .module. by the way we can than provide the lib/Drupal structure also for themes.
i would not rename the src folder to bundle, because in the src folder we have an autoloader fallback. so we can put there any namespaced class which is than known by the classloader. i dont found any discuss about the /lib/Drupal/ namespace structure, but currently i can not see any possibility to reuse or write psr-0 styled code, without the Drupal prefix.
whats about registering the lib folder as autoloader fallback too and provide a bundles folder? or put the bundles into lib? provide a .bundle file?
would it be nice if the .info can also provider some autoloader folders? so any psr-0 lib can simply implemented without changes!
by the way the registerModuleNamespaces() misses an is_dir check, so way search in lib folders which are not there?
pls some decisions; we need more psr-0.
i can then provide some more patches.
I thought about using bundles/src instead of modules/src
Maybe people like crell and other people should be first involved in the issue
Hm. Actually, I don't this is Drupal's job to manage at all. At least not directly.
A well designed bundle is just glue code between a component/library and Symfony. If what you want is that component, just stick that component in Packagist using Composer and then use Drush Composer to pull it in. That will take care of the autoloading.
If you really do want a bundle... the bundle should *also* be in Packagist so the same thing applies. Now there's still the problem of core not supporting 3rd party Composer usage directly, but that's another issue (that should still get solved).
So if all you want is the code, Composer should deal with it for you, end of story.
If you want the Bundle itself "as" a bundle, not just as a bunch of autoloadable code... there are compatibility issues there that I don't think we've resolved. We're not using the Symfony Config component, so I suspect most bundles won't actually run. Sure they could pull in the Config component I suppose, but I have no idea how well that will work given that Drupal makes no attempt to do anything with Symfony config files I question if that would do anything useful.
I'm not sure how (or if) we want to resolve that question.
The use case I have is a module that wants to pull in a generic Symfony bundle (performance monitoring for HTTPKernel). Here's what I've done to get it to work (and it now works fine in D8):
• Modify composer.json to add the bundle
• Run `drush composer update` to pull in the bundle, putting it with other dependencies
• Load the bundle into the DIC via setting $conf in settings.php
• Register bundle classes as services via the module's
I think this is a very bad approach even apart from the bundle loading nonsense because modifying core's composer.json should be treated like hacking core. Unfortunately, since module composer.json files aren't part of a package, that's not a solution - they won't be recursively included on a run of core's composer.json. Running them as composer.json files independently is out of the question - there's not even any reason to use Composer if you're going to break dependency management like that.
We need to think ahead and provide at least a basic framework for how a module can require bundles. It's OK if we wait for contrib to do the implementation since it's a rarer use case, but something like Composer Manager won't work in D8 without thought of how it will integrate with core's composer.json. IMO a module featuring a Symfonic bundle needs to be able to do the following without requiring a command line tool or hacking core:
1. Get its composer.json pulled in recursively when core's composer.json is updated
2. Get the bundle autoloaded
3. Get the bundle registered
4. Prevent `composer update` if it would change core in a way broken with the module's composer.json
5. Prevent module update if it would change the module's composer.json in a way broken with core
3 is its own issue, so I'll skip it for now. 1 and 2 come together. But, if we want to get 4 and 5 too, I think we want something like this:
• Each interested module includes a composer.json of type `drupal-module`.
• A custom installer recognizes `drupal-module` packages and no-ops apart from their requires (i.e., it doesn't shove the module into vendor).
• Core requires the `modules` metapackage from the filesystem.
• When the module list changes, the `modules` metapackage is rewritten to require all composer.json-including modules (sort of like Composer Manager, but not assuming that it's the root composer.json) from the filesystem.
• `composer update drupal/modules` pulls in the new version of the `modules` package from the filesystem instead of remotely.
Unfortunately, right now this can't be done because Composer's 'archive' repository type assumes that local filesystem packages are .zips in a folder, rather than nested locations within it. But with that (frustratingly minor) upstream change, we could allow modules to have fairly arbitrary composer.json includes with proper dependency handling...
FWIW: In searching "drupal 8 symfony 2 bundle" I found "TraceView’s Oboe Symfony No. 2", a blog post about the performance monitoring bundle mentioned in #9. Thanks, Eronarn. I am still trying to figure out how Symfony2 bundles should/could be integrated with Drupal modules.
They can't...
Seriously Drupal is build on some Symfony components not the entire symfony suite. We even removed the ModuleBundle file to make it visual that you can't install Symfony Bundles.
It's already possible to install Symfony bundles, so the only question is how difficult we want to make it. I think it's a bit short-sighted to take a walled garden approach to this question. What's the point of adopting Symfony code into core if we're going to prevent contrib from bringing in more of it without jumping through hoops?
Issue summary:View changes
code highlight
So what is a proposed way to use custom Bundles in contrib modules?
I don't will will support this given that Drupal does not use symfony fullstack at all.
The way to do this is to encourage the bundle author to make the code into a stand-alone library and the bundle just a bit of glue-code to attach to Symfony. Then make a Drupal module that depends on the same library using Composer. As a bonus, the code becomes more decoupled from Symfony which just about everyone in Symfonyland views as a good thing.
Since we're not using the Symfony Config component, there's likely very few bundles that would work without heavy modification anyway. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3374 | Alexander Herzen
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Alexander Herzen
Herzen ge.png
Portrait of Herzen by Nikolai Ge (1867)
Born Alexander Ivanovich Herzen
April 6, 1812
Moscow, Russia
Died January 21, 1870
Paris, France
Era 19th century philosophy
Region Western Philosophers
Religion None. Agnostic.[1]
School Agrarian collectivism
Main interests Russian Politics, Economics, class struggle
Notable ideas Agrarianism, Collectivism, Populism, Socialism
Herzen was born out of wedlock to a rich Russian landowner, Ivan Yakovlev, and a young German Protestant woman, Henriette Wilhelmina Luisa Haag from Stuttgart. Yakovlev supposedly gave his son the surname Herzen because he was a "child of his heart" (German Herz).[2]
He was first cousin to Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky (1819–1898, Moscow, Russian: Сергей Львович Львов-Левицкий), considered the patriarch of Russian photography and one of Europe's most important early photographic pioneers, inventors and innovators. In 1860, Levitsky would immortalize Herzen in a famous photo capturing the writer's essence and being.
A year later, the family returned to Moscow, remaining there after Herzen completed his studies at Moscow University, until 1834, when Herzen was arrested and tried on charges of having attended a festival during which verses by Sokolovsky that were uncomplimentary to the tsar, were sung. He was found guilty, and in 1835 banished to Vyatka, now Kirov, in north-eastern Russia. He remained there until the tsar's son, Alexander (later to become Alexander II) visited the city, accompanied by the poet Zhukovsky; Herzen was allowed to leave Vyatka for Vladimir, where he was appointed editor of the city's official gazette.
In 1840, he returned to Moscow, where he met literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, who was strongly influenced by him. He then obtained a post in the ministry of the interior at St Petersburg; but as a consequence of complaining about a death caused by a police officer, was sent to Novgorod, where he was a state councillor until 1842. In 1846, his father died, leaving him a large amount of property.
In 1837, he eloped with Natalya Zakharina (Letters from France and Italy, 1847–1851), his cousin, secretly marrying her. She accompanied his emigration abroad in 1847, never returning to Russia. She bore him four children, before succumbing to tuberculosis in 1852 (Letters from France and Italy, 1847–1851). Herzen was eventually joined in France by his lifelong friend Nikolay Ogarev. By then, Natalya was in the final stages of tuberculosis and soon died. Ogarev was in poor health, having suffered a number of strokes. Herzen began an affair with Ogarev's common-law wife Natalia Tuchkova, the daughter of the general Tuchkov (the hero of the War of 1812). Tuchkova bore Herzen three more children. His assets were frozen because of his emigration, however Baron Rothschild with whom his family had business relationship, negotiated the release of Herzen's assets, which were nominally transferred to Rothschild.
From Italy, on hearing of the revolution of 1848, he hastened to Paris and then to Switzerland. He supported the revolutions of 1848, but was bitterly disillusioned with European socialist movements after their failure. In 1852, he left Geneva for London, where he settled for many years. He promoted socialism and individualism, arguing that the full flowering of the individual could best be realized in a socialist order. In 1864, he returned to Geneva, and after some time went to Paris, where he died in 1870 of tuberculosis complications. Originally buried in Paris, his remains were taken to Nice.[citation needed]
Alexander Herzen, by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky, 1860
Free Russian Press[edit]
Writing in 1857 Herzen became excited by the possibility of social change under Alexander II, "A new life is unmistakably boiling up in Russia, even the government is being carried away by it".[4] Herzen used his skill for popular writing to expose the injustices of the ruling elite.
Herzen fought a propaganda war through the journals that had the goal of attaining individual liberty for Russians. Herzen understood the competing claims to power and was aware of the failings of the doctrines that guided the 1848 revolutionary failures. Herzen wrote of the inhumanity of the ruling monarchies of Europe but also the excesses perpetrated by revolutionary governments.
Herzen refused to trust any government and believed in the right for people to make their own choices, with minimal state intervention.
For three years, the Russian Free Press went on printing without selling a single copy and scarcely being able to get a single copy introduced into Russia; so when at last a bookseller bought ten shillings worth of Baptized Property, the half-sovereign was set aside by the surprised editors in a special place of honor, but the death of the emperor Nicholas in 1855 led to a complete change. Herzen's writings, and the magazines he edited, were smuggled wholesale into Russia, and their words resounded throughout the country, as well as all over Europe. Their influence grew.
The year 1855 gave Herzen reason to be optimistic; Alexander II had ascended the throne and reforms seemed possible. The Bell broke the story that the government was considering serf emancipation in July 1857, adding that the government lacked the ability to resolve the issue. Herzen urged the Tsarist regime 'Onward, onward' towards reform in The Polar Star in 1856, yet by 1858, full serf emancipation had not been achieved. Herzen grew impatient with reform and by May 1858 The Bell restarted its campaign to for the comprehensive emancipation the serfs. Once the Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia was achieved, The Bell's campaign changed to 'Liberty and Land', a program that tried to achieve further social change in support of serf rights. Alexander II granted serfs their freedom, the law courts were remodelled, trial by jury was established, and liberty was to, a great extent, conceded to the press. When the January Uprising broke out however, and Herzen pleaded the insurgents' cause, his reputation in Russia declined.
British Exile 1852 - 1864[edit]
In 1852, Herzen arrived in the United Kingdom, where he would reside until 1864. Herzen was disillusioned with the Revolutions of 1848 but not disillusioned with revolutionary thought. Herzen had always admired the French Revolution and broadly adopted its values. In his early writings, he viewed the French Revolution as the end of history, the final stage in social development of a society based on humanism and harmony. Throughout his early life, Herzen saw himself as a revolutionary radical called to fight the political oppression of Nicholas I of Russia. Essentially, Herzen fought against Christian hypocrisy and for individual self-expression.
Alexander Herzen plaque in London's Judd Street
Herzen spent time in London organising with the International Workingmen's Association, becoming well acquainted with revolutionary circles including the likes of Bakunin and Marx. It was during his time in London that Herzen began to make a name for himself for "scandal-mongering" when he told Bakunin, freshly arrived having escaped imprisonment in Siberia, that Marx had accused him of being a Russian agent; in reality, the two were on very good terms.[6]
It was revolutionary failures and the tragedies of his wife, children's and mother's deaths that drove Herzen to Britain, and he fell into emotional despair for several years. From London he found his despair had revived new energy for political and literary work to help the Russian peasantry he idolised. Herzen became critical of those 1848 revolutionaries who were "so revolted by the Reaction after 1848, so exasperated by everything European, that they hastened on to Kansas or California".[7] Herzen found a new desire to influence and win the appreciation of his countrymen as he established the Russian Printing Press.
In London, he hired Malwida von Meysenbug to give an education to his daughters. In 1862, Malwida von Meysenbug went to Italy with Olga, his daughter. Meysenbug would later become an acquaintance of Friedrich Nietzsche, while Olga married Gabriel Monod in 1873.
Contemporary reputation[edit]
Herzen drew criticism from both liberals who were against violence and from radicals who thought Herzen was too soft.[8] Liberals led by Boris Chicherin and Konstantin Kavelin believed individual freedom would be achieved through the rationalisation of social relations. Their etatist variety of liberalism was opposed by Herzen as it supposed that Russian society would evolve to an ideal state based on a Hegelian view of reason. They believed the revolutionaries would merely postpone the establishment of the ideal state, while Herzen thought that, on the contrary, they were blind to historical reality. Herzen would always reject grand narratives such as a predestined position for a society to arrive at, and his writings in exile promoted small-scale communal living with the protection of individual liberty by a noninterventionist government.
Herzen was disliked by Russian radicals as too moderate. Radicals such as Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Nikolay Dobrolyubov wanted more commitment towards violent revolution from Herzen and the withdrawal of any hope in the reformist Tsar. Radicals asked Herzen to use The Bell as a mouthpiece for violent radical revolution, but Herzen rejected these requests. He argued that the Russian Radicals were not united and strong enough to seek successful political change, stating, "You want happiness, I suppose? I dare say you do! Happiness has to be conquered. If you are strong, take it. If you are weak, hold your tongue".[9] Herzen feared the new revolutionary government would merely replace the dictatorship with another dictatorship.
The radicals describe Herzen as a liberal for not wanting immediate change, but Herzen rejects their pleas arguing for change at a pace that will ensure success. Herzen briefly joined with other Russian liberals such as Kavelin to promote the peasant 'awakening' in Russia.[10] Herzen continued to use The Bell as an outlet to promote unity with all sections of the Russian society behind a demand for a national parliament. However his hopes of acting as a uniting force were ended by the January Uprising, when the liberal support for Tsarist revenge against the Poles ended Herzen's link with them. This breach resulted a declining readership for The Bell, which ceased publication in 1867. By his death in 1870, Herzen was almost forgotten.
Influence in the 19th and 20th century[edit]
Herzen opposed the aristocracy that ruled 19th century Russia and supported an agrarian collectivist model of social structure.[11] A rise in populism by 1880 led to a favorable re-evaluation of his writings.
Tolstoy declared that he had never met another man "with so rare a combination of scintillating brilliance and depth". Berlin called his autobiography "one of the great monuments to Russian literary and psychological genius... a literary masterpiece to be placed by the side of the novels of his contemporaries and countrymen, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoevsky ...".
Russian Thinkers (The Hogarth Press, 1978) a collection of Berlin's essays in which Herzen features, was the inspiration for Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia, a trilogy of plays performed at London's National Theatre in 2002 and at New York's Lincoln Center in 2006-2007. Set against the background of the early development of Russian socialist thought, the Revolutions of 1848 and later exile, the plays examine the lives and intellectual development of, among other Russians, the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, the literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, the novelist Ivan Turgenev and Alexander Herzen, whose character dominates the plays.
Alexander Herzen
1. ^ Alexander Herzen; Kathleen Parthé; Robert Neil Harris (2012). A Herzen Reader. Northwestern University Press. p. 367. ISBN 9780810128477. "Zernov writes: “Herzen was the only leader of the intelligentsia who was more an agnostic than a dogmatic atheist and for this reason he remained on the fringe of the movement.""
4. ^ A. Herzen., “Another Variation on an Old Theme, A Letter to X (I.S. Turgenev”, 1857). in The Memoirs of Alexander Herzen. Vol IV. Chatto and Windus. London (1968). pp 1561.
5. ^ A. Herzen., "The Russian people and Socialism. A Letter to Michelet" (1851). in The Memoirs of Alexander Herzen. Vol IV. Chatto and Windus. London (1968). pp 1649.
6. ^ F. Mehring, Karl Marx: The story of his life (1918), Chapter 13.
7. ^ A. Herzen., "Ends and Beginnings: Letter to I.S. Turgenev". (1862). in The Memoirs of Alexander Herzen. Vol IV. Chatto and Windus. London (1968). pp 1683.
8. ^ Kelly, "A Glowing Footprint": Herzen Proudon, and the role of the Intellectual Revolutionary, Modern Intellectual History. (2005), 2: 179-205.
9. ^ A. Herzen., "Bazarov Once More. Letter I". (1868). in The Memoirs of Alexander Herzen. Vol IV. Chatto and Windus. London (1968). pp 1753.
10. ^ D. Offord., Portraits of Early Russian Liberals. (1985). Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 200.
11. ^ Venturi, F., Roots of Revolution. A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in Nineteenth Century Russia. (1960). Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. p. 4.
12. ^ I. Berlin., Russian Thinkers. (1979). The Hogarth Press. London. p. 189.
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Alexander Herzen at
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
• Acton, Edward. Alexander Herzen And the Role of the Intellectual Revolutionary, Cambridge University Press, 1979.
• Coates, Ruth. "The Early Intellectual Careers of Bakhtin and Herzen: Towards a Philosophy of the Act," Studies in East European Thought, Vol. 52, No. 4, Dec., 2000.
• Eckardt, Julius. Modern Russia, Smith, Elder & Co., 1870.
• Gavin, W. J. "Herzen and James: Freedom as Radical," Studies in Soviet Thought, Vol. 14, No. 3/4, Sep./Dec., 1974.
• Grenier, Svetlana. "Herzen's Who Is to Blame?: The Rhetoric of the New Morality," The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 39, No. 1, Spring, 1995.
• Kelly, Aileen. "The Destruction of Idols: Alexander Herzen and Francis Bacon," Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 41, No. 4, Oct./Dec., 1980.
• Malia, Martin Edward. Alexander Herzen and the Birth of Russian Socialism, Grosset & Dunlap, 1965.
• Orlova-Kopeleva, Raisa: Als die Glocke verstummte. Alexander Herzens letztes Lebensjahr, Karin Kramer Verlag, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-87956-190-7
• Palmieri, F. Aurelio. “The Earliest Theorists of the Russian Revolution,” The Catholic World, Vol. CVIII, October 1918/March 1919.
• Partridge, Monica. "Alexander Herzen and the English Press," The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 36, No. 87, Jun., 1958.
• Rzhevsky, Nicholas. "The Shape of Chaos: Herzen and War and Peace," Russian Review, Vol. 34, No. 4, Oct., 1975.
• Weidemeier, William Cannon. "Herzen and Nietzsche: A Link in the Rise of Modern Pessimism," Russian Review, Vol. 36, No. 4, Oct., 1977.
External links[edit] |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3376 | From FedoraProject
Revision as of 17:29, 5 November 2010 by Jgreguske (Talk | contribs)
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Koji supports building LiveCDs and Appliances (raw disk images), this proposal seeks to integrate that functionality into the Fedora release process.
Problem Space
Today Fedora remixes, spins, and cloud images are all generated on the side, outside of Rel-Eng control and visibility. There is little in the way of reproducibility or logging when the images are generated.
Proposed Solution
Koji supports building LiveCDs and Appliances as of the 1.4 release, which is what Fedora Koji is. With a little configuration effort a small set of contributors can be able to build their images in Koji. Building images in Koji carries with it a lot of the same benefits as building RPMs: they're built consistently, in a controlled environment, and with plenty of logging and traceability.
This proposal impacts the Cloud SIG, Spins SIG, Fedora Rel-Eng and the infrastructure team. It does not require functional enhancements to existing software, but it does require configuration changes in Fedora Koji, additional policy, and SOP.
Active Ingredients
Hardware Considerations
Images take up space and generate load on the builders. Depending on the volume of images to be generated it may warrant hardware considerations.
Configuration Changes
How to set up Fedora Koji for image building is outlined here. Fedora Rel-Eng and the infrastructure team would need to follow the instructions therein. They would also need to adequately test to make sure the Koji functionality works as expected in the Fedora build system.
Koji Stack
Koji, livecd-tools, appliance-tools, mock, yum and RPM are all involved here. No functional changes need to be made, but the Fedora community should be very involved with changes to those packages so that any changes that break Fedora's image building processes can be discovered early and the risks mitigated. (this involvement may already be adequate, just making sure it is highlighted)
New SOPs
SOPs would need to be defined that designate responsible parties for image builds, who can initiate them, how to initiate them, and what to do with them after they're built.
Discussion Points
• Who should own building the images?
• What should the policy around building test/production images be?
• Which images should be built in Koji? All spins and cloud images?
• Are there any hardware considerations, such as space and load on the builders?
|
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3379 | Opened 19 months ago
Last modified 5 months ago
#7152 new bug
Add flag to configure that skips overwriting of symlinks on install
Reported by: tibbe Owned by: thoughtpolice
Priority: high Milestone: 7.8.1
Component: Build System Version: 7.4.2
Keywords: Cc:…
Operating System: Unknown/Multiple Architecture: Unknown/Multiple
Type of failure: None/Unknown Difficulty: Unknown
Test Case: Blocked By:
Blocking: Related Tickets:
Sometimes when I'm installing a GHC release candidates I'd like to install the RC without overwriting the ghc etc symlinks in /usr/local/bin. It would be convenient to have a configure flag that told the install step to only install the versioned binaries (e.g. ghc-6.2.1) in /usr/local/bin, without the symlinks.
Change History (3)
comment:1 Changed 19 months ago by simonmar
• Difficulty set to Unknown
• Milestone set to 7.8.1
• Priority changed from normal to high
I like this idea too.
comment:2 Changed 12 months ago by liyang
• Cc… added
I install different versions to /usr/local/ghc/ghc-x.y.z and have a bunch of bash functions/aliases that prepend the selected version to $PATH &c.
If we're going to allow multiple versioned binaries to be installed directly to /usr (which would be nice), we'll want some way to choose between them too, cf. gcc_select on OS X, in which case we should also figure out how that'd interact with say Debian's update-alternatives(8).
comment:3 Changed 5 months ago by thoughtpolice
• Owner set to thoughtpolice
I'll look into this for 7.8.1. I agree we should maybe have some gcc_select style thing, but I don't quite know how these works or the details of Debian's approach, so I may just do the simple thing first and come back to that.
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1. Contributors
Contributions over time
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2. Commit Activity
Commit activity over the previous year
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3. Code Frequency
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App for a field scribe to take geotagged notes and audio messages
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Octocat-spinner-32 bin
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1 GeoCam Memo Web
1.1 About
The GeoCam Project helps people better understand and respond to disasters. GeoCam consists of a GPS-enabled camera (or cell phone) and a web app for sharing geotagged photos and other geospatial data.
GeoCam Memo is a scribing and note-taking application intended for use by search team members as they canvas the scene of a disaster. Notes can be recorded using text or audio and various forms of attachments (including but not limited to images) can be attached for transmission to a central server. All messages can be geotagged and categorized before saving to provide proper context when analyzing them via a web interface at a later time.
GeoCam Talk is a communication application intended to aid in communication during a search mission. Members can send text and audio messages to any subset of their team members while on the field from their mobile devices. All messages are sent through a central server which catalogs them for later analysis. Just as in Memo, all messages are geotagged to provide instant awareness of team member location.
This is the web application for both GeoCam Memo and GeoCam Talk
1.2 News
Visit and for updates.
1.3 Setup
The GeoCam Memo and Talk applications were built using the Django framework and run on top of Python.
1.3.1 Dependencies
1. Once all dependencies have been installed, clone the GeoCamMemoWeb repository to the path of your choice:
git clone
2. CD into your ./geocamMemoWeb/example path and run syncdb, creating an admin user if prompted:
python syncdb
1.4 Running
To run a development server, navigate to your ./geocamMemoWeb/example path and execute runserver:
python runserver
Pleast note that this must be done before the geocamTalkForAndroid and geocamTalkForMemo can be successfully run on your mobile device.
1.5 Testing
Testing can be initiated from your ./geocamMemoWeb/example path using the test command:
python test geocamMemo geocamTalk
See the Django documentation for more information on using
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∴ rvm disk-usage {all,archives,repos,sources,logs,packages,rubies,gemsets}
Returns the amount of disk space used by a specific set of data associated
with rvm. All returns all of them individually plus the total space used.
To find out how much space your rvm install is using, simply run:
∴ rvm disk-usage all
To find out how much space only your gemsets use, run:
∴ rvm disk-usage gemsets
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3401 |
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Deicide's first album for Earache is a short (about 27 minutes) blast of old-fashioned death metal. Cleanly produced by Neil Kernon (Cannibal Corpse, Queensrÿche), the band sounds appropriately brutal with synchronized dual-guitar shredding by Eric Hoffman and Brian Hoffman (who also manage about 17 solos between the two of them), metronomic drumming by Steve Asheim, and Glen Benton's bass guitar and deep growl (sometimes double-tracked with higher-pitched vocals). In case there was any doubt that the group's religious views have mellowed, there's a song on this album called "F**k Your God." The title reflects both the level of their rage and the depth of their lyrics; they mostly just spew vitriol at the same general target they've been attacking for over a decade (sample lyric from "Mad at God," which is a different song: "The light of God has turned to sh*t"). For what it's worth, they still seem to take their religion shtick seriously. Depending on your perspective, that makes them sincere, offensive, provocative, simpleminded, unintentionally humorous, or good showmen.
Se formó en: 1987
Género: Rock
Años de actividad: '80s, '90s, '00s
Biografía completa
Scars of the Crucifix, Deicide
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3406 |
Não conseguimos localizar o iTunes no computador. Para ouvir um excerto e comprar música de Indestructible de Disturbed, descarregue o iTunes agora.
Tenho o iTunes Descarga gratuita
iTunes para Mac + PC
Crítica do álbum
Disturbed's fourth full-length offering announces its arrival with an air-raid siren. It's an appropriate gesture for the popular Chicago-based metal collective, whose rapid ascension from buzzed-about Ozzfest highlight to commercial hard rock juggernaut has been as divisive as it has been impressive. While Indestructible doesn't meddle with the melodic hard-hitting Pantera-inspired formula that fueled its predecessors, the dreaded nu-metal tag that followed the band out of the turn of the century seems wholly eradicated. If anything, Disturbed owe more to early-'90s Metallica and Brian Johnson-era AC/DC than they do Tool or Korn, as each staccato, tech-heavy riff is balanced out by some truly artful soloing and frontman David Draiman's mean and melodious pipes. Standout cuts like "Inside the Fire," "Deceiver, " "The Curse," and the skull-cracking title track, even though they could have appeared on any of the group's first three records, still manage to fire on every cylinder. Like its closest contemporary, Godsmack, this is a band that favors reliability over experimentation, and each piece of Indestructible, whether it's the pseudo-horror/fantasy artwork, the drop-D riffing, or the obligatory "shout-outs" in the liner notes to the purveyors of each member's gear endorsement deals, fits together like the world's most obvious puzzle. That said, there's a reason each of the group's previous albums bested the million mark, and with metal growing increasingly self-aware and divided between hardcore and hard rock, a new Disturbed record seems like a solid foundation on which to duke it out.
Formado: 1996 em Chicago, IL
Género: Rock
Anos em actividade: '90s, '00s, '10s
Biografia completa
Indestructible, Disturbed
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• Géneros: Rock, Música, Metal, Hard Rock
• Lançamento: 29/04/2008
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3412 |
Re: Off Topic : c++ function for rounding
round(x) = floor( x + 0.5f);
William Jensen wrote:
> I know this isn't the right list, but how would I even find the 'right list'
> for a c++ question? I know about ceil and floor but those aren't what I'm
> after. I'm looking for a function that will take 1.4 and make it 1, but 1.5
> or higher is 2. Know what I mean? Any built-in c++ function to do that?
Reply to: |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3413 |
Re: gv segfaulting
On Fri, Oct 03, 2003 at 01:09:29AM -0400, Derrick 'dman' Hudson wrote:
> That version really needs to be >= 1.5+E-2. This issue has been
> recorded in the BTS multiple times.
And it didn't work; so, is it the way by the packagers to lure users out
of gv? If yes, well, gnome-gv is a bit slow, and when it renders things,
there's no spinner spinning. gv's user interface is out of sync with
Gnome's, but the neat thing is that gv is fast; and you can treat it
just like "more" (but in this case, for pdf files). Could gv be tweaked
so that its user interface resembles Gnome's? (and removing the not
quite useful feature like "file open" menu, for instance.)
Reply to: |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3418 | newbie raw text question
Ian Sparks Ian.Sparks at
Tue Feb 4 15:44:26 CET 2003
Thanks for the reply Dennis. Your breakdown of the meaning of the RTF codes is pretty-much spot on. However, I'm still not "getting it". You say :
What escaped characters? The \ is a tag introducer (for lack of a
better word) and is part of the actual data. "\rtf1" is NOT <cr>tf1.
So here's a simple command-line test :
>>> print "\rtf1"
>>> print r"\rtf1"
Looks to me like \rtf1 *is* <cr>tf1 unless you define the string as a raw string and then it can contain the "\" character.
This is all very well for strings you define at the command line but what if a variable "x" contains "\rtf1" (NOT a raw string). Now how can you deal with it?
>>> print x
>>> print rx #attempt to turn x into a raw string for printing.
Traceback (most recent call last):
NameError: name 'rx' is not defined
How can I print x as though it were a raw string? Like I said, its probably pretty obvious, I just don't "get it".
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Lee Bieber [mailto:wlfraed at]
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 11:33 PM
To: python-list at
Subject: Re: newbie raw text question
Ian Sparks fed this fish to the penguins on Monday 03 February 2003
12:11 pm:
> I'm confused about this one. I'm reading some RTF formatted data from
> a database. The resulting string is :
> {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deftab720{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss MS Sans
> {Serif;}{\f1\froman\fcharset2 Symbol;}{\f2\fswiss Arial;}{\f3\fswiss
> {Arial;}} \colortbl\red0\green0\blue0;}
> \deflang1033\pard\plain\f3\fs16 Some text
> }
> obviously this is chock-full of escaped characters. I need to strip
> the RTF codes and all my regular expressions are expecting raw strings
> but I don't see a way of converting an escaped string to a raw string
> to use in the regex.
What I see in your sample (and I've not studied RFT) is:
RTF version 1 (hypothetical this)
Codepage 1252
define font 0 (guessing) define tab 720 decipoints (1inch)(guessing,
might be centipoints/0.1inch)
font table
font 0 "swiss" font (san serif) is MS San Serif
font 1 "roman" font (serif) is character set 2 Symbol
font 2 "swiss" font is Arial
font 3 "swiss" font is Arial
color table
red 0
green 0
blue 0
define language 1033
plain (not bold or italic)
use font 3
font size 16
> There must be some way out of here...
> wlfraed at | Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber KD6MOG <
> wulfraed at | Bestiaria Support Staff <
> Bestiaria Home Page: <
> Home Page: <
More information about the Python-list mailing list |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3445 |
A Psalm of David.
2When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.#came…: Heb. approached against me
4One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.#the beauty: or, the delight
8When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.#When…: or, My heart said unto thee, Let my face seek thy face, etc
10When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.#take…: Heb. gather me
11Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.#a plain…: Heb. a way of plainness#mine…: Heb. those which observe me
Loading reference in secondary version... |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3481 | Title: Charmed Senshi
Rating: PG-13
Author: Alcandre
Well, here it is; my first attempt at a Charmed fic. But I have added Sailor Moon to it. Now, those of you who know nothing of Sailor Moon, no worries, I will give all the info out later. This is just the introduction to get ya hooked.
I no own Charmed or Sailor Moon.
Piper sighed as she sat up. 'Another day, another dollar, and another innocent to save,' she thought wearily. She stood up from bed and walked out into the hall. Stopping, she listened for the obvious sounds her sisters made when they got up before her. Thankfully, no sounds came and Piper gave a sigh of relief. The kitchen was in one piece.
Smiling to herself, she moseyed into the kitchen. The sun was already up and shining in through the window, lighting up the counters and tabletop. After she made her daily cup if coffee, she sat at the table, just sipping her morning picker-upper and thinking about life in general.
Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Phoebe came bounding into the kitchen, unusually chipper for it being 8 in the morning.
"Good morning, dear sister."
Piper raised an eyebrow and smirked into her coffee. "You seem happy, this morning. What do you want?"
Phoebe stopped, put her hands on her hips, and gasped in shock. "What makes you think I want something?"
Piper shrugged and sat her mug down on the table. "Maybe it's because when you DO want something you act just like this."
"Oh, honey." Phoebe sat across from her sister. "Can't I be nice to my older sister?"
"Oh, sure. You are usually nice to me." Phoebe grinned. "But," Piper continued. "Not this early in the morning."
Phoebe blinked then giggled. "I guess you're right." She gave a happy sigh and winked at Piper. "I just had a great dream last night."
"Are you sure it was a dream?"
Phoebe laughed and stood up. "Positive."
At that point, Paige walked in the kitchen, rubbing her eyes like a small child. "You guys are so loud!"
The other two sisters laughed and Piper stood up to hug Paige. "We just knew you needed to be up so, we woke you up."
Paige scowled. "Thanks bunches you guys."
"Not a problem!" Phoebe exclaimed as she sat down with a bowl of cereal. The three ate breakfast in silence for a few minutes, Phoebe munching away on her cereal, Paige eating a piece of toast, and Piper eating some eggs.
"Hey, when's Leo coming back?" Paige asked.
"Either today or tomorrow. He wasn't sure."
As if on cue, Leo orbed into the room, causing the three sisters to look up in shock.
"Speak of the-," Phoebe began.
"Don't you dare finish that," Piper said, cutting her off.
Phoebe just grinned and continued eating as Piper got up to meet her husband.
"Honey, I'm home!" Leo said, opening his arms to Piper. She smiled and hugged him.
"Welcome home."
The two continued their "coming home ritual" of kissing. Paige met Phoebe's eyes from across the table and gagged. Phoebe stifled a giggle and looked away, certain that she wouldn't be able to hold it in if she looked at Paige again.
After a few minutes, husband and wife broke apart and sat at the table.
Leo sighed. "I don't know if you guys really want to hear this," he began.
Phoebe groaned and let her head drop to the table. "After not having anything really bad happen for soooo long!! I should have known better than to hope!"
Piper raised an eyebrow and looked back at her husband. "What's up?"
"The Elders told me of some disturbance in Tokyo, Japan. We are needed there. Something about demons and such."
"Ooo, Tokyo!" Paige jumped up. "When do we leave?"
The others grinned then looked back at Leo. "As soon as we can."
Piper's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Is it that bad?"
Leo shook his head and sighed. "The Elders wouldn't say. They just told me to come get you three and then get to Tokyo."
"Whoa, wait a minute." Piper stood up and started pacing. "We just 'poof' go to Tokyo and do what? We have no idea!" She locked eyes with Leo. "You couldn't get anything out of them?"
Leo gave a small laugh. "We are talking about The Elders, hon."
Phoebe spoke up for the first time. "I say we go anyway. I mean, if it is bad won't we be able to find something out?"
Paige nodded. "She does have a point."
"For once," Piper said, grinning.
Leo smiled and stood up. "Alright! Let's pack and get on out of here!"
Japanese translations:
Hai- yes
Iie- no
-chan- a form of affection used for girls or lovers
-kun- a term of friendship used for men
minna- everyone
ja- bye
I'll add more later!
Meanwhile, in Tokyo..
"Eww, this one is uglier than the last!"
"Come on, Odango and kill this thing!"
"Shut up, Pyro! I'm trying!"
The monster in front of them roared and charged at one of the blondes attacking it. She gave a small scream and stumbled backwards, falling on her butt, her long hair seeming to stay in the pigtails she had in like magic.
"Sailor Moon, get up!" A raven-haired girl screamed.
One of the other girls, another blonde, quickly ran over and pushed the one called Sailor Moon out of the way, leaving the monster confused.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" With the screamed command from the brunette of the group came a shower of leaves falling at the monster. As they hit their intended target, the brunette yelled at Sailor Moon. "Now!"
Sailor Moon nodded and pulled out a wand. "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy!" The monster yelled in pain and faded out of existence.
Now, the regular bystander would see five young girls, probably around 20 years old, in short skirts with sailor tops and big bows on their chest. But any normal Tokyo resident would see the Sailor Senshi, protectors of love and justice. Sailor Moon was their leader and the one with the most power. The other girls were Sailor Mars; the one with raven hair and a bad temper, Sailor Venus; the other blonde, Sailor Jupiter; the brunette, and Sailor Mercury; a genius with blue hair.
But what the normal Tokyo resident wouldn't know was that these young women weren't always super heroes with wonderful powers. In fact, like Superman, they had two identities. As we will soon see...
The five senshi ran off, leaving the police top deal with the clean up. After they were safely out of sight, they started to shimmer. And soon, they were just five young women with regular jobs and families.
"That one was stronger than the last," Ami, or Sailor Mercury, concluded.
Rei, Sailor Mars, snorted. "I'll say."
"Any idea where they are coming from?" Makoto, the tallest of the group and Sailor Jupiter, asked.
Rei shook her head. "I've done numerous fire readings but have found nothing."
"Then I guess we just keep trying until we find something." This was said from the leader, Usagi. She sighed and rubbed her back. "And I swear, that fall was terrible. I thought I had gotten over my klutz attacks."
The other blonde, Minako, laughed. "Yeah, well, we can't outgrow everything."
The others laughed while Usagi just scowled. "Listen, I need to get home. Mamo-chan said he'd call tonight."
Minako grinned and winked at her friends. "Then go home, you! We can't have Mamoru-kun waiting."
Usagi smiled and ran off. "Ja!" She yelled over her shoulder.
After she was gone, the others looked back at one another. Ami sighed. "Minna, this is worse than we thought. That last one took thirty minutes to kill. We need help."
Makoto groaned. "But from who, Ami-chan? The Stars are back at their home and the outers have just disappeared! We are the only ones left in Tokyo."
"I don't know. But we can't do this on our own."
To be continued.....
Well, there it is! Hope its okay! Please tell me if you want more. Thanks bunches! |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3482 | By: Karen B.
Summary: An ordinary day story
Thank you: CC, very much, for sharing your friendship, time, and open eyes!
The vibrant colors of the sunset gave way to the darkness of night. Wind rattled the tall grass and cattails near the canal, filled to its highest peak a day ago by a late summer squall. Bullfrogs sang a duet, hidden behind billows of fog that rose up off the water. The gentle push of lapping water rippling along the bank's edge added to their music.
Enjoying the cool of the evening, Starsky and Hutch sat on the porch steps of the tiny cottage, withonly a small cooler between them. A neat row of empty brown bottles lined the porch rail, and bottle caps littered the ground, along with an empty cardboard pizza box. Both men were quiet, heavy with fatigue, but content to sit in silence watching the moon on its rise in the east. It felt good to just be still, to settle down the noise in their heads, and rekindle their strength after a long week of mental and physical madness.
Hutch fidgeted his gaze, trailing from the moon to his partner. "Anymore brew in the cooler, Stars?"
Hutch awaited confirmation as Starsky opened the cooler and dug around in the ice. Finding two bottles near the bottom, Starsky uncapped them and passed one over to his waiting partner.
"Here's to getting through another day." Starsky aimed his beer toward Hutch.
"I'll drink to that," Hutch said, clinking his bottle against his partner's.
The life of a cop was a 'hold on to your hat, fist in your face, adrenaline-pumping, beat the hell out of you, scuffles in dark alleys, tiptoeing through minefields, and following cold trails that often amounted to squat,job'. A job that could be full of fear, a job where you were lucky if a bullet didn't find you. But while fear was the logical conclusion of such a job,Starsky and Hutch also knew fear could be your friend. Without it, you knew you were in trouble. Without it,you could find yourself in the lowest of places. Fear kept you straight. Kept you from sitting down at the bargaining table. Kept you making the right decisions, and kept your beer tab from getting too big to handle. The streets were a real crapshoot;yet, ironically, they both loved the job.
Hutch shifted to relieve the numbness he felt in his ass from sitting for so long. "Call me crazy, Starsky, but--"
"You're not crazy, Hutch, just totally nuts," Starsky interrupted with loud liquored-up laughter.
Ignoring his partner Hutch continued, "Tell me again why we do this?" he asked,taking another long draw from his beer bottle.
The laughter stopped, and Starsky got serious. "I don't know, blondie, but we love it. Right?"
"Two double day shifts followed up by three graves... hell yeah,we love it," Hutch said and slugged back more beer.
"It's not a bad gig," Starsky took another glug.
"Not a bad gig if you like sewage-treatment plants," Hutch added. "Other than that, we're home free, huh, partner?"
"It's in our blood. Way I see it Hutch--" Starsky paused. Gulp. You can either fight the bad guys or join 'em," frankly said.
Hutch looked at Starsky with a whisper of a smile on his face. His best friend always had a universal way of seeing the world in simple black and white. Hutch stretched out his arm, holding his beer toward his friend. "Here's to fighting the bad guys," he said, clinking his container against Starsky's.
"That's the partner I know and love." Starsky joined his friend in slugging down their drink. "You know, Hutch, we see things. Things most people never see. Things they wouldn't want to know. Things they probably wouldn't be able to believe. Brrr…aaaaaaaaa!" He rewarded Hutch with a loud exaggerated belch, wiping his mouth with his shirt sleeve and not bothering to excuse his lapse of manners.
Hutch raised his bottle to his lips,ignoring his friend. "You say something, Starsk?" He asked, in monotone, deciding he didn't want to think about those things tonight.
"You ever think about it, Hutch? What we look at day in and day out. What we have to try and figure out? What we--"
"Let's talk about something else," Hutch sighed.
"Like what?"
"Anything but the job."Hutch rubbed his chin in thought.
Starsky casually sucked on his beer. Silence once again ambled through the air, but it wasn't a needle fine sharp silence. It was an unwritten language only they understood. Comfortable, warm, and just as important as any lengthy sappy talk they could have. For Starsky and Hutch, the experience of speaking without words was just as effective, maybe even more so. It was a passionate thing between them. Something special, something real, something only they could share.
"You ever think what you'd of done, Hutch, if you didn't become a cop?"
"Maybe," Hutch softly said. He lifted his beer, swallowing until he drained it, then stared wistfully at the empty bottle, lost in thought.
Starsky opened the cooler, dug out two more beers, and popped the caps. "I hate to break the news to you," Starsky continued, retrieving Hutch's empty bottle and replacing it with a full one. "I didn't always want to be a cop."
Hutch's head snapped around, eyes flashing serious. "Starsk, you thinking of quitting? 'Cause damned if I'm going to get another partner at this stage of the game."
"Fat chance, buddy. I'd give my left arm to stay on the force and retire by your side."
"I'd give your left arm too, Starsk," Hutch snickered, relaxing further back against the porch stoop. "I suppose the day comes to everyone when you question why you are on the road you're on," Hutch said somberly, then took a long pull of his drink.
"I suppose," Starsky agreed, then was quiet for a long time, suddenlymore interested in toeing a bottle cap than continuing on talking.
Hutch looked up at his partner, who had a glassy far off look in his eyes. He knew thatlook. Starsky often talked about his father being the reason he was what and where he was today. He recalled Starsky once saying the man's shadow never left him.
"Hey," Hutch cheered, "I thought we weren't going to talk about the job, Starsk?"
Things were quiet again. They never did catch the man who killed his father. Starsky often wondered who did it and why the hell--he shook his head of the memories, instead taking several more long drinks until his bottle was empty. Setting it aside,he reached inside the cooler, broke open another bottle cap, and nervously rolled his beer bottle between his palms. He had to talk about something to chase away the thoughts in his head.
"Hutch, did you hear who was released from prison--"
Hutch knew alright, but didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to get him and his partner off that fast downhill track. "Starsk, I don't care if it was Bonnie and Clyde. I told you--no shop talk."
"Hutch, that was just a movie. 'Sides they both died in the end. Don't you want to know?"
"Fine, Starsk who got cut loose?" Hutch grumbled, stretching his legs out and nursing his beer. Starsky always did get overly chatty when he was drinking.
"Tommy the Pork Chop, believe it or not. He's gone straight, Hutch. Owns a fruit and vegetable stand on Maple."
"That's poetic justice," Hutch chimed in.
Starsky kept on. "And did you hear the rumor? About the new rookie, Temps? He decided to go to martial art school after being beat up by old lady Mills and her cane, for dropping her cat out of the tree? And Johnson in records raises angora rabbits and knits gym socks, and ladies panties out of their hair?
"That's a little weird," Hutch quirked a brow.
"And you know what else?"
"You and I are having an affair?" Hutch said dryly, raising his bottle to his lips once again
"We are?" Starsky jerked straight.
Hutch hunched slightly forward, spitting out a mouthful of beer "Starsky, I'm kidding."
"I don't know how I missed that one?"
"Starsky, I said I was kid--"
"Anyway, Hutch," Starsky wandered off the point. "Did you catch the story about the drunk grocery store burglar?"
Starsky moved in a little closer to Hutch, as if it were some big secret. "Trace and Sanders arrested him Tuesday night. The guy--"
"Starsky," Hutch said sharply, waving a hand in front of his face, smelling the beer and anchovies on his partner's breath. "Will you just stop."
"Hutch, don't you want to know?"
"Would it make a difference if I told you,no?" Hutch talked around his beer bottle.
Starsky didn't answer,nor did he stop. "The guy broke into the store the middle of the night. He must have already been drunk."
"He isn't the only one," Hutch muttered.
"Helped himself to a few more beers, 'cause by the time Trace and Sanders found him he was snoring, passed out cold."
Hutch closed his eyes, feeling really tired, downing another swallow, but continued to listen.
"And, did you hear--" Starsky took a breath. "About the teenager who was caught vandalizing headstones at Hillcrest Cemetery? Uniforms found him trapped. His hand caught under one of the headstones he was trying to turn over. And then there was that 2-11 at--"
Hutch had had enough. His body stiffened and he frowned, looking Starsky square in the eyes and holding him off with an upheld hand.
Starskyshrunk back. "Eh, never mind, Hutch, it's nothing that can't wait," Starsky said. Seeing his partner's annoyance, he looked away, swallowing another swig of beer along with his tongue. Swallowing a cat would be easier. What could they talk about if they didn't talk about work?
Hutch sighed exasperated. "Just finish the story, Starsky."
"Nope. It can hold."
"You sure?"
"Can you think of anything else you want to tell me about work?" Hutch prodded his partner to get it out of his system.
"Not yet," Starsky said, casually, slugging back another gulp, then gave a curt smile a moment later,the glassy look in his eyes replaced with wonderment.
"Hey!" Starsky's voice held pure pleasure, causing Hutch to cringe, making him wonder what 'beer logic' Starsky would come up with now.
"Hutch, did I ever tell you when I was a kid I wanted to be a magician?"
Hutch snorted. Okay,this was better. At least he didn't have to hear another crazy work- related story.
"Serious, blondie. When I was twelve I went to the library. Got every book I could find about Houdini and magic." "Seemed like the best job ever back then. Rabbit's feet. Do-it- yourself magic kits. Rubbing Aladdin's lamp. Making wishes, making magic, making something out of nothing."
Hutch felt more relaxed and settled back against the steps onto his elbows, chuckling under his breath while processing the image he now had in his head.
"What's so funny?" Starsky asked.
"Nothing too funny, buddy," Hutch said, gazing off toward the canal. "I just keep picturing you magically pulling a hot ham and cheese sandwich out of Dobey's Sunday hat." Hutch laughed out loud.
Snapping his fingers, Starsky suddenly got an idea. He polished off his beer and slapped the empty next to him. "Just a minute," he said with excitement, getting up, he half dashed, half staggered into the cottage.
Used to his partner's exuberance, Hutch continued to study the water, watching the way the light of the moon reflected off its surface. The white noise of the waves lapping at the bank almost lulled him to sleep, and he closed his eyes. A moment later Starsky was back,causing his eyes to snap back open. Starsky sat down,scooting real close to Hutch. In his hand he expertly shuffled a deck of playing cards, squared them, fanned them out, and shoved them at Hutch.
"Pick a card, Hutch, any card," Starsky drawled confidently.
"Oh come on, Starsky, that old scam?"
"Pick one. Any one," Starsky insisted, wiggling closer, anxious to show his trick.
"Look out, Houdini," Hutch teased, setting his beer down, then sitting straighter. "Hmmm?" He peered at the cards, taking his good old time.
"Will you come on, Blondie." Starsky rolled his eyes. "'S not like I'm asking you to do something illegal. Just pick a card." Starsky's patience wasclearly waning.
Hutch suddenly reached out, quickly plucking a card from the deck and holding it close to his face. "Have you got it?" Starsky questioned with a mischievous grin.
"I got it, Starsky."
"Good. Then memorize it. Don't just look at the card, Hutch. Stare hard at it. Remember it. Become one with it. Whisper its name over and over in your head, and don't forget--"
"Starsky! I got it!"
"Okay," Starsky snickered, having a good time with the whole thing. "Place it anywhere back in the deck," he said, shoving the fanned cards Hutch's way again. Hutch skeptically slipped his card back between the others, turning only slightly to retrieve his beer. Starsky waved his hands flamboyantly about,mumbling some magical gibberish. He shuffled the cards several times, then squared the deck once more. Closing his eyes, he pulled a single card from the deck and showed it to Hutch. "Is this your card?" he proudly announced.
Starsky tossed the card over his shoulder, and randomly pulled another. "Is this your card?"
"No, that's not my card." Hutch watched the card flutter to the porch.
"This?" Starsky pulled another.
Another card was pulled. "This?"
"No, gordo," Hutch huffed.
Starsky scratched his head,looking for all the worldbaffled. "Hutch, check your back left pocket, for me."
"Oh for--"
"Just check."
Hutch lifted his butt just enough to slip his fingers into his back jean pocket,certain he would find nothing. His eyes went wide when he felt a card,and his eyes went even wider when he pulled it out and looked at it.
"Is that your card, partner?" Starsky grinned from ear to ear, knowingly.
Hutch peered up at his friend; drunken eyes flashing with both confusion and delight. "Eight of diamonds." Hutch's mouth gapingas he turned the card around so Starsky could see. "Starsky, how the hell did you?"
Starsky raised a stiff finger, waggling it back and forth. "Magician's code, partner. If I told you, I'd have to turn you into a toad," Starsky laughed.
"Hell." Hutch leaned back onto his elbows, his expression of amazement still on his face. "That was terrific."
The night air was fresh and crisp, and Hutch found himself quiet again, drawn to the water. He had picked the cottage by the canal because of the peace he felt there. You could watch the sunset. The water-colored sky, the reflection of the light on the channel, the sweet smell of wet earth, and the kaleidoscope of nature that lived in and around its bank; it inspired him. Hutch thought of his grandfather, who'd told him just before he'd died if it were up to him, he'd come back as a ship, blithely sailing the swells, encountering dolphin and whale, and watching the sunset in the eye of hurricanes.
Hutch sighed heavily, running his fingers through his short blond hair. "I grew up with dreams of becoming a sailor."
Starsky could feel the change in his partner. He reached a hand over and clapped Hutch's shoulder for a brief moment. Hutch remained quiet. "A sailor, huh?" Starsky asked, a dubious smile coming to his face. "Hutch, you mean as in, ahoy there, barefoot treasure seeking pirates with an eye patch, swinging across the deck with swords?" Starsky laughed, giving Hutch's shoulder one squeeze then releasing his hold.
Hutch smiled back , acknowledging his partner's care and comfort. "No, buddy. More like of crossing the ocean. The freedom of being in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around you but water, beautiful sunsets, fresh sea air. Seemed like a romantic sort of life"
Hutch looked back out to the canal and Starsky followed his gaze, quietly sipping on his beer and letting Hutch talk.
"I used to sit at the kitchen table with a magnifying glass and all these maps in front of me. Charting my course. I was in love with the idea of setting sail. The adventure of it. Used to have this old ratty blue couch in our basement. I'd turn it upside down, use a broomstick for oars, and Mom's good white sheets as sails. Then I'd perch on top of it, pretend it was my ship. I spent hours being a captain, sailing off to distant deserted islands, tossing my nets into the sea, and racing the wind. Dad frowned on it."
Starsky looked at Hutch to see the disappointment on his face.
"But my Mom," Hutch's expression brightened again. "She finally signed me up for the Sea Scouts. I was fourteen." Hutch adjusted his position, sitting up again and looking right at his partner. "You know, buddy," Hutch said, with a yearning in his eyes. " It pales in comparison to the ocean, but Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world. Three hundred and fifty miles east to west, and one hundred and sixty miles north to south, with an average depth of 483 feet. Hell, it was big enough, and I had a good imagination. We learned about bowlines, how to heave a lifeline out, anchoring, coming alongside the dock, celestial navigation, and how to read when bad weather was headed your way."
"All the skills to become a good sailor," Starsky announcedwith a lopsided grin. "What about getting seasick? Huh, buddy?"
Hutch tore his gaze from Starsky, taking another swallow of beer. "Two kinds of sailors, in this world, Starsk. Those who have been seasick. And those who have not. Those who have run aground. And those who have not."
"Which are you?"
"Both," Hutch said with a wink, looking over at Starsky again. "You know what,partner?"
"What?" Starsky asked, seeing Hutch's eyes become a clearer blue right before his own.
"When I finally got my seamanship badge," Hutch took a long drink, gulping it down hard. "Was the first time I knew what it felt like to have a dream come true," he said in an emotionally-strained voice.
"Yeah." Starsky nodded his understanding.
"So, sailorman, you gonna tell me where you buried the treasure?" Starsky prodded, watching Hutch
"If I would I could Starsk. Sailor's code. If I told you, I'd have to lock you in a tower," Hutch laughed, then tipped his head far back,letting the last of his beer drain into his mouth.
"What does a tower have to do with being a sailor?" Starsky polished off his beer. "Don't you mean walk the plank?
Hutch slowly stood, stretching his tired and cramped muscles. "Misunderstood legend," Hutch grinned, holding a hand down toward his partner. "Come on,old man, whatd'yasay we head in? You can take the couch."
Starsky reached up, letting Hutch pull him to his feet. "That lumpy thing? I won't be able to move in the morning," he complained.
"Sure you will. It's all in the way you stack the pillows, buddy."
"Yeah?" Starsky leaned closer to his friend, feeling a bit dizzy, and nowherenear as talkative.
"Stake my reputation on it, buddy," Hutch slung an arm around his partner's shoulder and they walked toward the screen door. "I'll make it up to you, Starsk. I got cold pizza for breakfast. I'll even sprinkle on some extra cheese."
"Trying a new strategy, huh, Hutch? Don't bother pretending. I know your plan. You're going to pile on some of that weird health powder on top my pie." Starsky one handedly pushed the door open.
Hutch walked them both through the entrance. "You know. Starsky, I only have your best interest in mind. Where's the problem in that, buddy boy?
"That, Hutch, is part of the problem.," Starsky said, letting the screen swing shut behind them.
A few minutes later, the lights went out inside the cottage, and all you could see were moving shadows on the walls. It was quiet, the moon shone bright, waves lapped at the banks of the canal, the grass stirred, frogs croaked, and two best friends called it a day.
The end. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3483 | A/N: Just a shorty-short I did for iyficcontest on livejournal. I'm embarrassed to say how fast I wrote this, so if you see any spelling errors, well, my apologies, folks!
She was washing dishes when she felt that someone was standing behind her. No matter how many times she'd asked him to announce himself, it seemed that old habits died hard. Mrs. Higurashi wiped her hands on a dishtowel and turned around. Hopefully this time he'd remembered to wipe his feet before coming in.
"Kagome is still at school, Inuyasha," she said with a smile. Her smile faded at his downcast expression and the way his shoulders were slumped. Since the first time she'd met him, he'd always seemed full of energy and bluster, impatient and annoyed when he'd come to the house and Kagome wasn't ready to leave. Now he just shrugged and nodded with his hands hidden up his sleeves.
"Okay," Inuyasha muttered, turning towards the door. "Just tell her I was here." She waited for a moment as he paused and added as an afterthought, "I mean, please tell her, Higurashi-san."
"Inuyasha?" He stopped to look back at her. "You're welcome to wait here," Mrs. Higurashi said gently. "She won't be long."
The boy shrugged again like nothing mattered and sat down at the kitchen table. "Thank you," he said, his voice so low that she could have missed it.
Mrs. Higurashi frowned, he sounded so desolate, as if nothing would ever make him happy again. Well, she could at least keep him company. She reached for the kettle and filled it with water. They could have a cup of tea while waiting for her daughter. Or perhaps…
"Would you like me to make some ramen for you?" she offered. He certainly seemed to love ramen; a good portion of her grocery bill was spent supplying it. Kagome complained that while her cooking had never impressed Inuyasha, he always still wanted ramen.
"I'm not hungry."
Eyebrows raised, Mrs. Higurashi busied herself with preparing the tea. Inuyasha not hungry? That had to be a first. He sat silently at the table, head bowed and staring at his clawed fingertips. Idly, she wondered what was bothering him; he didn't seem to be himself today. It was almost as if he were depressed…
Then it hit her and she winced inwardly. When Kagome had returned a few days earlier, she'd told her what had happened. The priestess Kikyou had died in his arms. And from what Kagome had told her, and what Mrs. Higurashi had already guessed, Inuyasha was taking it very hard.
He had loved her, Kagome said, loved her and done his best to protect her, but in the end…she'd died anyway and there was nothing that could be done.
Quietly, she prepared the tea and brought cups to the table. She filled her own cup first, then one for him and placed it next to his hands. Inuyasha stared at the cup without seeing it and she sighed softly.
"Kagome told me about Kikyou," she said, her voice very gentle. "I'm so sorry, Inuyasha."
Now that wouldn't do, she could see that he was hurting and like her daughter, Mrs. Higurashi had a kindly heart. Gently, she reached out and laid her hand over his. "Sometimes when people are in pain, it helps to talk about it."
Inuyasha glanced up at her face and then flushed. "Nothing to say. She's dead. Talking won't bring her back, so what's the point?"
"I never said it would bring her back," Mrs. Higurashi answered. "But talking might make you feel better and…"
He pushed her away and shoved his hands back up his sleeves. "I don't want to feel better," his voice sounded choked, "why should I feel better when she's gone? I…I got nothing to say."
But she'd seen the glimmer of pain in his eyes, a desperate sadness that tore at her heart. Poor boy, she thought sadly, he's probably never had anyone to talk to about such things, of course he doesn't know how.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Mrs. Higurashi sipping her tea and watching as Inuyasha tried to pull deeper inside of himself. "I know it hurts," she said, seeing the way he flinched from her words. "But if you ever feel like you need someone to talk to, if you can't talk to Kagome about it…I'm a mother and I will listen."
"You're not my mother," he snapped, his voice suddenly angry. "She's dead too, just like Kikyou. So spare me your pity, Higurashi-san. Everybody dies, they die and then they're gone forever. And I'm left alone."
She frowned, setting her cup down so she could give him her full attention. "You are not alone, Inuyasha. Kagome cares about you and you have friends now." He snorted and looked at her from under a veil of heavy white hair.
"What the hell do you know?" he said sullenly. She just looked at him until he flushed, embarrassed by his harsh words. "Sorry."
Mrs. Higurashi smiled and reached out to pat his arm. "It's fine, Inuyasha. When people are in pain, they sometimes lash out. I understand if you aren't comfortable talking to me. Kagome mentioned that your mother died when you were very young, it must be very hard for you to trust anyone when you're hurting now."
He flinched and she knew she'd gotten to the heart of the matter. Like his mother, Kikyou had died and left him. And he probably had never had anyone else to talk to, not the way a boy could confide in his mother. She waited long seconds as Inuyasha turned her words over in his head, staring at the tabletop with his shoulders hunched around the pain in his heart.
"I don't remember it," he said at last. "My…mother, I was just a little brat when she died, I don't remember it."
"I find that hard to believe," Mrs. Higurashi said as she kept her hand on his arm. He hadn't pulled away from her this time and she thought that might just be progress. "Tell me about her."
Inuyasha looked up, his expression bleak. "She was pretty, very quiet and calm. Kind of like you are."
She had to smile at that. Such a proud boy, he didn't want to show any weakness or grief, she could understand why. If he'd been alone for so long, the words would be difficult to speak. She shouldn't press him, Inuyasha would talk, or not, when he was ready.
"She drowned," he said suddenly.
Mrs. Higurashi glanced up, surprised. Inuyasha met her eyes with a fierce look, almost as if he were daring her to ask questions. "She liked to take walks with me in the forest when I was little." His voice was harsh, bitter. "There had been a storm, we liked to follow this little stream in forest, but it wasn't so little after all that rain. I guess…I guess the bank was slippery...because of that rain. I ran ahead of her and she called out to me to slow down, but when I turned around…she was gone."
She stayed very quiet, watching his eyes as he wrestled with the memories. Inuyasha's jaw was clenched, his eyes darkened by remembered grief. She knew suddenly, that he'd never told anyone about his mother's death. Maybe because no one would listen or because the words were just to painful to speak.
"What happened then?" she asked, her voice as neutral as she could manage. She didn't want him to think that she might pity him. But she was, in so many ways, her heart was breaking for a young hanyou boy meeting death for the first time.
"I found her," he said, his voice filled with unreachable guilt. "Her body…it was caught between some rocks. I couldn't move her so I went back to her uncle's house and…told them."
Again Mrs. Higurashi reached for him and again he pulled away. "They acted like it was nothing," he said, old anger replacing the pain in his voice. "They just dragged her out of the water, said she should have been more careful. They hated us for being there, they were ashamed that she'd been with my father and had a hanyou brat like me."
"Inuyasha," she murmured, grief-struck for the callous treatment those long dead humans had given a mere child.
He snorted angrily, but it sounded suspiciously to her like a muffled sob. "So what? After she was gone, I had no reason to stay…I left that night…before they buried her."
Mrs. Higurashi could see him clearly in her mind…a frightened child, sobbing and grieving for his dead mother. All alone in a cold forest, with no one to comfort him, no one to hear his cries, no one to hold him and whisper that everything would be all right.
Inuyasha rubbed his nose with the back of his fist; his eyes were red, but no tears. With no one to wipe them away, what use were tears to him? Mrs. Higurashi felt her own eyes burn with Inuyasha's unshed tears and slowly got to her feet. No one had tried to comfort him back then, but she couldn't let it happen again.
"Please stand up, Inuyasha."
He looked confused, staring up at her with that numb hurt in his eyes. When he finally stood, she went to him, cupping his face in her hands for a moment before pulling him into her arms.
"I'm so sorry about your mother," she whispered, holding him as his back stiffened and he tried to pull away. "I'm sorry about Kikyou as well."
"What are you…" His protests faded to nothing as she held him and Inuyasha started to tremble. His arms slowly closed over hers, his head bowed until it rested on her shoulder. She held him even tighter when his breathing stumbled and jerked, as all the pain he'd held inside finally found a way out.
"Shhh," she said, swaying gently as if he were a baby she could soothe. "It's okay to cry, Inuyasha." Tears that were denied, tears that were hidden, all could cleanse away pain and heal the oldest of wounds.
"I'm not crying," he said, his voice muffled against her shoulder. She stroked his hair, feeling something hot and wet against the skin of her neck. "I don't cry."
"I know," she whispered, the tremble of his silent sobs inside her arms. "I know you don't cry." |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3485 | A/N: Oneshot. Might be sad.. Reviews are very appreciated. Hope you like it. Deathly Hallows didnt happen and neither did Half Blood Prince..
Disclaimer: Dont own it.
Being a Hero is for Sissies
I smirked as I neared the golden snitch. I reached my hand out to grab it. Almost there…
"M-master Draco?" I jumped slightly, hearing my name and looked down to see one of the family house-elves calling up to me. I scowled at the pathetic creature and flew angrily back to the ground.
"Yes?" I snapped. The house-elf's abnormally large eyes widened, if possible.
"Your father w-would like to s-see you right a-away." The house-elf stuttered. I scoffed angrily.
"What now?" I muttered under my breath as I dismounted my broom. I walked swiftly back into Malfoy Manor, leaving my broom abandoned on the ground. As I entered the Manor, I shivered at the sudden warmth and shrugged off my winter cloak and scarf, tossing them to the house-elf to take.
I reached my father's study and knocked lightly on his door.
"Come in," Lucius Malfoy called coldly. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. What seventeen year old boy had to knock on his own father's door just to talk to him?
"You wanted to see me, father?" I asked, bowing my head slightly in greeting. Lucius looked up at me and nodded briskly.
"Yes Draco, it's rather important so pay attention." He said firmly. I nodded and he continued. "Our Lord has had word that we have a spy in our ranks. He has also had word of who this particular spy is. The Dark Lord is very, very angry with this traitor. You know very well that traitors are the Lord's least favourite people. He punishes them severely."
I nodded again, showing that I understood.
"This traitor has gone to Dumbledore and told most of the Lord's plans to the old coot. This traitor happens to be one of your friends and your mother's closest friend's son. Blaise Zabini. The coward went to Dumbledore. I'm very proud that you have not been cowardly enough to do such a stupid thing. Now, why am I telling you this?" Lucius asked, raising his eyebrows as I wondered the same thing. "I'm telling you this, son, because as your initiation, I – as well as the Dark Lord – would like you to get rid of the Zabini boy. You may get rid of him in whatever way you see fit. However, it must be done as soon as you get back from your break. You had better accomplish this if you want to make me proud boy." My father hissed. I swallowed hard at the task laid out for me and nodded tightly.
"Very well, you're free to go now." Father dismissed me and I quickly fled the room, breathing rather heavily. Kill Blaise? But he was my best mate! How could Father expect me to murder him? Especially when I've never murdered anyone in my life.
I angrily sighed. Why did I have to kill him? Why couldn't someone else do it? Why me? I groaned as I put my winter gear back on and headed out to put my broom away. Blaise was my friend. I can't believe I never noticed he'd joined the other side. What a coward. I thought this, but I knew it was I who was the true coward. It was I who was too afraid to stand up for myself like Blaise did. If I could, I would have gone with Blaise to join the other side. But I am too afraid of my father and his Lord to do so.
Now look what has become of me? I'm set to murder my best friend so I can be accepted into Lord Voldemort's rank of followers. I'll be a slave for the rest of my life. I'll murder people for fun and torture innocents. I'll follow what that evil bastard says and respect him, calling him 'sir' and 'Lord'. I'll be just like my father. This is, of course, what my father wants. I, too, used to want that for myself. But my views changed as I grew older. I've always wanted to make my father proud. But when I was younger, I would do anything to be noticed by him. My father was my idol. I wanted to be just like him. However, as I got older, I realized how little hope he really had left for him. He was doomed to stay with his Lord forever, to be faithful to his Lord and respect Voldemort's every wish. He could not and did not love his family. He did not care, love, cry or pray. He knew nothing of a true life. I however, did not want to be like that. But I knew it would happen to me. I was destined to be just like him.
A murderer, a heartless bastard, a stone cold prat, a prejudiced asshole – that's what I would be. I would become all of that, after I had finished my task. I already was prejudiced, stone cold and a bastard. I just wasn't a murderer – yet.
--Blaise Zabini
Peck, peck, peck.
I looked up from my Quidditch book to see a tawny owl tapping at my window. I grinned, knowing exactly whose owl that was and quickly opened the window for him.
I took the letter attached to the owl's leg and fed the bird a treat. As the owl happily ate his treat, I hastily opened my letter, grinning from ear to ear.
Dear Blaise,
Happy Christmas! Are you having a good break? I am. So far, it's been wonderful. Harry and Hermione came to stay at the Burrow with us and Ron's been surprisingly nice to me. Fred and George came and brought loads of new jokes with them for my brother and me to try out. It was brilliant.
I got another new jumper this year, it's green – that's the way my mum is. She makes us a new jumper every year. It's sort of a tradition, you know. I also got an amazing Quidditch book that you'll have to read when we get back to Hogwarts. I know you'll enjoy it. It's very informative.
I miss you loads. I've been thinking a lot about our relationship though. Don't you think it's a bit dangerous? What if your parents or their fellow Death Eaters find out about it? They'll kill you for sure. And I really care about you. I don't want to lose you, Blaise. Maybe we shouldn't see each other. It kills me to say that to you, but I'm really worried that you'll get hurt. I think I might be in love with you Blaise Zabini.
That's right, I, Ginevra Weasley of Gryffindor am in love with Blaise Zabini of Slytherin. Isn't that something? Anyway, we'll have to talk more at school. So on the first day back, meet me at our meeting spot right after the feast, all right?
Loads of love,
I read the letter twice. I couldn't believe it. Ginny Weasley is in love with me. Who would've thought it? I couldn't deny that my feelings were very strong for her as well. I suppose I was in love with her too. I've never loved anyone before. I've never even liked anyone as much as I like Ginny.
I can still remember the day we first talked. I smiled as I remembered it.
"Hey Weasley," I said, smirking. She turned her big brown eyes on me and rolled them.
"What do you want, Zabini?"
"Why nothing, Weasley. I just saw your beauty and decided to talk to you."
"You're a Slytherin. I'm a Gryffindor. We don't talk to each other." She stated firmly. I smirked again.
"What no one knows won't hurt them," I said quietly. I'd fancied the redheaded Weasley for quite some time and decided I wanted her. I didn't care that she was a Gryffindor and I was a Slytherin, nor did I care that she was a Weasley. I wanted her.
She raised her eyebrows at me, but couldn't hide a small smile. "What are you proposing, Zabini?"
"That you talk to me,"
"I do believe I am talking to you," She quipped, smirking.
"I mean a civil conversation, without the use of our last names," I paused. "Ginny,"
She raised her eyebrows again, surprised. "I suppose it won't hurt,"
"Right, so what class do you have this afternoon, Ginny?" I asked, purposefully saying her name.
"Potions with the overgrown bat," She replied, wrinkling her nose. I laughed. "What about you, Blaise?" She asked, putting emphasis on my name.
"I have Transfiguration," I replied.
After that, we made it a routine to meet each other in the room of requirements. Our friendship soon became more than friendship and led them to where they stood now. They were 'seeing each other'.
Ginny sat cross-legged on the sofa in the room of requirement with her potions textbook open on her lap. She was wearing a dark green tank top and blue jeans. I sat beside her and looked at her as she tried to study.
Half of her long red hair was pulled back behind her head, while the rest fell gracefully down her back. She was biting her lip softly as her eyes scanned her textbook.
Feeling my gaze on her, Ginny looked up at me and raised an eyebrow, half smiling. "What?" She asked. I shrugged and leaned towards her.
"You just captivate me with your beauty," I replied. She blushed and shoved me playfully.
"You're so corny," She murmured, smiling. I returned the smile.
"I'm serious though Gin," I began. "I fancy you,"
"Aren't you right to the point?" She replied, still smiling. "But, I like you too Blaise,"
I had waited for that for way too long. Leaning forward, I closed the space between our lips slowly. The kiss became passionate and by the time we pulled apart, we were both gasping for air.
Ginny had broken up with Harry shortly after, saying she needed to focus on her studies and didn't have time to be going after boys. She had said that a white lie never hurt anyone and Harry never liked her that much to begin with.
I wondered what Draco would say if he found out about my affair with Ginny. He'd be angry with me for sure. However, he'd be furious if he knew what I was doing in my spare time. Rather than spend my time worshipping the ground Voldemort walks on, I spend my time hanging out with Ginny and giving information to Dumbledore.
If anyone from the dark side found out, I'd be murdered. However I wasn't too worried. I didn't care if I was killed, as long as I didn't die with people thinking I was a Death Eater.
--Ginny Weasley
I sighed happily as I awoke from my slumber. Today was the day to go back to Hogwarts. Normally, I wouldn't be very excited. But today, I had reason to be excited. I got to see Blaise.
Sadly, I have fallen in love with a Slytherin. But Blaise isn't bad for a Slytherin. He's actually rather nice. And he's not a deatheater. However, I'm not sure if it's going to work between us. I mean, I care about him a lot, but if he were to be found out, he could be seriously hurt, or worse killed. And that would break my heart.
I really love him though, more than I loved Harry.
"Ginny!" Mum called up the stairs. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm up!" I hollered back. Sighing again, I rolled off my bed and walked to my wardrobe. I picked out a thin green sweater and dark blue jeans with black boots.
After showering, I got Hermione to magically put my hair in loose ringlets, as I was too young to do magic outside school. I still roll my eyes at that rule.
I haven't told anyone about Blaise; not even Hermione. She's always asking if I've found someone special since Harry, because apparently I have that 'smile' that gives her a hint that I like someone. But I keep telling her there's no body.
"Hey Gin" Harry and Hermione greeted as I walked into the kitchen. I smiled at them both. Ron was no where to be seen.
"We're just waiting for Ronald," Molly Weasley announced as she entered the kitchen. I smiled at my mum and took a seat beside Hermione.
"You seem, er, cheerful this morning, Gin," Harry stated and I flushed, looking away from the emerald eyed boy as I tried to explain my sudden eagerness to go back to school.
"Er – I – uh," I struggled to find something to say. Fortunately, Hermione came to my rescue.
"She's probably excited to see everyone Harry," Hermione said. I smiled and nodded. Harry rolled his eyes and I sent a look of gratitude towards Hermione.
Finally Ron came into the kitchen dressed in baggy jeans and his new mahogany jumper. Mum scolded him for taking so long and then we headed to King's Cross to board the train back to Hogwarts.
I could barely contain my excitement as Harry, Ron, Hermione and I looked for a compartment with Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.
--Draco Malfoy
"Draco, stop that immediately," My mother whispered harshly. I turned my glare away from some Gryffindors to look at my mother.
"What?" I snapped.
"You must act normal towards your foes. You must be the graceful one. A Malfoy is always graceful. Act like your father, insult them with hints. Do not show your dislike for them so outwardly." My mother lectured quietly and I rolled my eyes. 'Act like a Malfoy' lecture was the most popular lecture I received from my mother.
"Yes mother," I drawled.
"Very well, I'll see you for summer. Behave yourself, and don't do anything to disgrace our name, boy." Narcissa Malfoy said coolly. I nodded and walked swiftly away from my mother. That's all it ever was. No 'good bye Draco, I love you' or 'be careful, son.' I don't think my mother has ever told me she loved me. My father has never said it either. It was always the same 'make me proud' speech or the 'don't disgrace us'.
I'm quite used to it. I never tell them I love them either. I said it once when I was four or five and for some reason I'll never know, I got a beating for it. I've seen how other parents are with their children. How the mothers get teary eyed when sending their kids off to Hogwarts. Or how the fathers pat their sons on the back and tell them how proud they are of them and how much they love them.
"Hey Draco!" I turned to see Blaise running up to me and I barely hid a wince. I'd forgotten about my task until just then. I swallowed hard.
"Hey Blaise," I drawled, keeping my tone regular. He smiled.
"How was your holiday?"
"Boring, as usual." I replied, avoiding Blaise's eyes. We found a compartment and sat down. "How about yours?" I asked casually.
"It was all right," Blaise said. "My mother got a new beau but that's nothing new,"
"Yeah," I said, for I had nothing else to say to that. The compartment opened and Weaselette poked her head in.
"Nope, this ones taken!" She called and sent a glare at me. I glared back however I noticed the look she had sent towards Blaise. It wasn't one of hate. I believe there was an actual smile there.
I looked at Blaise but he was expressionless. Either because I was in the compartment or because he missed the look Weaselette gave him. Weaselette closed the compartment door.
I thought of my mission again and struggled to fight off a groan. How the bloody hell was I supposed to do this?! I'm not a murderer! There's no way I can kill my best friend!
"What's wrong Draco?" Blaise asked, raising his eyebrows. I looked at him and shrugged.
"Nothing, why?" I replied nonchalantly.
"You're awfully quiet,"
"Just tired is all," I said smoothly, even adding in a fake yawn. I kept my eyes on Blaise. How could you do this? I mentally asked him. Why would you be so foolish? Whatever possessed you to switch sides? I fell asleep with the same unanswered questions passing through my mind.
I woke up abruptly as a hand roughly shook my shoulder. "Wha…?" I murmured, squinting up a shape in front of me.
"We're almost there, mate. Time to put our robes on." Blaise said quietly. I nodded and sleepily stood up, stretching.
As we arrived at Hogwarts only a few minutes later, we suffered through Dumbledore's boring speech and then headed to our dormitories for bed.
Blaise went to the bathroom and I sat on my bed, brooding. What should I do? Maybe I could talk to him about it? I asked myself. No, I replied firmly. My father gave me a mission that was from the Dark Lord himself, and I will complete the task given to me. After-all, it was my life or Blaise's. That may be selfish, but I'm a naturally selfish guy.
My mind made, I waited for Blaise to come back. When he finally did, I spoke, a plan forming in my mind.
"Blaise!" I whispered urgently. He raised his eyebrows at me. "Come with me to the forest. I have to show you something, but it's secret and you mustn't tell anyone." I continued. "It has to be tonight,"
Blaise's dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion but nevertheless he stood up and followed me out of the Slytherin common room, grabbing our cloaks on the way.
We walked in silence to the forest; I was too nervous to speak and Blaise too confused.
I remembered the first day Blaise and I officially became friends. We were sitting on the floor of my parent's mansion at the age of seven. Blaise's mother had been good friends with my mother.
"Draco go play with Blaise," My mother ordered. I wrinkled my nose but obeyed and led the dark haired boy into our living room.
"So…Do you like Quidditch?" I asked, trying to strike up a conversation. I had talked to Blaise before in the seven years we'd know each other, but I had never had an actual conversation with him.
The boy nodded enthusiastically. "I love Quidditch; I want to be a chaser when I get to Hogwarts."
"I want to be a seeker," I said proudly. Blaise smiled.
"Seekers are really important. I reckon you'd make a brilliant seeker," He said. I smiled too.
"Thanks, I bet you'll make a great chaser too." I replied. "So what house d'you wanna be in?"
"Slytherin," Blaise said and I knew then that he and I would be very good friends.
We played a few games of exploding snap and laughed a lot. We also realized we had a lot in common. I shook myself free of my memory and focused on the task at hand; killing my best friend.
We arrived at a very secluded spot in the forbidden forest and I turned to face Blaise. He stopped and looked at me, confusion evident on his face.
"What did you have to show me, Draco?"
"Blaise, why did you do it?" I whispered.
"What?" He asked. "I didn't quite catch that,"
"I said why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Switch sides, act carelessly and betray our Lord." Blaise's eyes widened and I saw the fear flash in them. "You were my best mate. And now look what I'm forced to do."
"Y-you've got to kill me, then?" Blaise mumbled, blinking rapidly.
I nodded, casting my eyes downward. "But, I want to know why you did it Blaise."
"Because it was the right thing to do, Draco." Blaise replied softly. "I couldn't fight for that bastard any longer. I couldn't listen to everyone talking about the scum of muggleborns and how they're so below us. I couldn't take it anymore. Plus, I fell in love with someone who gave me the courage to do it."
"And who would that be?"
"Ginevra Weasley."
My eyes widened in shock. "You fell in love with a Weasley?!"
"Yes," Blaise replied. "So how did the Dark Lord find out?"
I shrugged. "Doesn't matter. But my father gave me strict orders from the Lord,"
"So you're going to kill me?" Blaise asked casually. I groaned.
"I don't want to Blaise! I really don't have a choice!"
"Yes you do, you're just too afraid to pick the alternative choice." Blaise replied matter-of-factly.
"Yeah well," I brushed what he said off, trying to focus on the matter at hand. "It doesn't matter. I've got to do what my father told me. I'm sorry Blaise. You're my best mate, but…" I trailed off, biting the inside of my mouth.
"But your life is more important than mine," Blaise said bitterly and I winced. When he put it like that it made me sound extremely bad. I guess that's true, but I'm a coward. I'm not afraid to admit that.
"Blaise you're making this very hard," I muttered.
"Okay, I'm sorry Draco. How about I just shut up and let you kill me? Will that make it any easier?" Blaise said angrily. "Go ahead, Draco. Kill me!"
I clenched my fist and raised my wand. Blaise didn't flinch. I have to do this. I thought, trying to convince myself. It's either him or me. And I don't want to die.
"Wait – as clearly you're sure about killing me then I want to ask you one favor; just one." Blaise said quickly.
"What's that?" I asked, swallowing hard.
"T-tell Ginny, tell her that I love her. She told me yesterday that she loved me and we were supposed to meet tomorrow at lunch to talk so I could tell her then that I loved her too. But now I won't get the chance. So please, Draco, please tell her that I love her. And tell her not to blame herself. It's not her fault." Blaise said desperately. His voice was cracking and I had the feeling he was trying hard not to cry.
"Okay Blaise, I'll tell her," I whispered. I didn't want to do this! I wish there was some way I could get out of doing it. However, it had to be done and so I pointed my wand directly at him and muttered the two words that would end my best friend's life.
"I'm so sorry," I murmured softly as a flash of green light shot from my wand and hit him in the chest. Blaise smiled slightly and collapsed in a heap on the ground.
I slowly made my way back to the castle, telling myself over and over again that Malfoys don't cry.
--Ginny Weasley
I headed to the Great Hall for lunch, nearly skipping. I was to meet Blaise today in the Room of Requirements. I was so excited.
As I neared the Hall however, there was a big commotion going on outside it. A crowd was gathered around and Dumbledore stood at the front.
"- I found him around by Hagrid's hut sir and dragged him up here," a voice I recognized as Terry Boot's said. I pushed my way through the crowd to see what was going on and gasped at what I saw.
Tears immediately flowed down my cheeks before I could stop them. "No!" I cried. "No, no, no! This can't be happening!"
"Gin, why are you so upset?" A voice asked me. It was my brother. "It's just a Slytherin."
I ignored him and fell to my knees beside Blaise's body. "Not Blaise," I murmured softly, stroking his cheek. "Not Blaise,"
As I was pulled away from my love's dead body, I let out a sob and began to cry harder onto my brother's shoulder – who still didn't understand why I was so upset.
I tore away from my brother and ran down the corridor, unsure of where I was headed. However, I reached the lake and threw myself into the grass beside it, crying hard into my arms.
A while later, there was a sound of a twig braking and I raised my head to see Draco Malfoy standing by the tree, wearing dark robes.
His pale face was expressionless but he gazed at me with the same sadness that I felt. I sat up and stared at him.
"He loved you," Draco said quietly. "He wanted me to tell you that. He doesn't want you to blame yourself. But he said that he loved you and wanted you to know."
Draco didn't say anything else, nor let me ask any questions. He turned and stalked off. And that was the last I had ever seen of him. He didn't come back to classes and no one heard what happened to him. Perhaps he ran off.
--Draco Malfoy
I walked away from Ginevra Weasley, the girl who stole my best friend's heart. I decided at that moment that I didn't want a part in the war anymore. I didn't want to see who won or lost. I made the choice I should have made ages ago. I left Hogwarts, my father, Lord Voldemort. Hell, I left England.
Whenever I thought of Blaise, I knew I had done only what was expected of me. I decided that being a hero is for sissies. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3487 | A/N: these theories were written by my cousin and I in random moments of almost insight they are not intended to be offensive and were are truly sorry if you find them to be so, please note that both my cousin Lizzie and I are Christians and we are not gang banging Jesus now sit back relax and enjoy the randomness that is our minds
B.S. Theories of the Bible
D: I hope that these theories make Jesus laugh so hard that the disciples (also suppressing giggles) have to hold him up so that he doesn't fall off his throne.
E: Either that or we go to the "other place"
D: At least someone will get a kick out of it.
2. Exodus 15:8
By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up… I just have two things to say to that. One I'll bet you didn't know that was in there, and secondly don't you think they could have found another way to phrase that?
3. Multiplication- God's curse to the Israelites and fourth graders around the world
4. In Moses day they worshiped cows, now we make them into yummy burgers.
7. He is the Lord your God - fear and obey
8. .
9. Thou's enemies shalt eat it.
10. Guilt makes an ugly stain on that new white carpet your mother just installed.
11. The sword is not mightier than the pen but it is mightier than the lion.
12. Priest's cannot be embarrassed or ashamed for they do not blush
Jeremiah 6:15
14. Mrs. God is the queen of heaven and she likes her them cakes of bread
15. Jesus went in the desert for forty days and all hell broke loose
17. Jesus name was on the cross in 3 different languages so that all would know his name.
18. Heaven has the best electric company in the universe because the lights never go out
20. Before Genesis 1:1 there was a title page.
21. Their es noh speel chek en hevin becauz ther ar noh mestaces
22. We are all the children of God but the child called Son is the only one with a real job.
23. Jesus represented all people. He came to earth in the form of a man, but he had the peaceful loving (unpredictable) mind of a woman. And as a plus his hair and makeup were always perfect. (sniff) Mrs. God was so proud.
25. If Jesus represented people of all ages, races, and places his skin tone should be pretty messed up right? I mean seriously he should be like purple or something.
26. Judas drugged the other disciples with sleeping pills.
27. When on your deathbed asking why, know that you were human you made mistakes, and that you have been forgiven with the most painful death the Roman's created.
29.When God tells you to jump off a cliff you jump! Don't ask questions stupid just jump! (exclamation, exclamation , EXCLAMATION!)
30. 40 is the holiest number in the Bible, 40 days on the ark, 40 years in the desert etc etc. So according to heavens aging scale God must be 40 years old. Being over the hill isn't so bad.
31. Hobos started out fairly early living in Hobab, but then feeling lonely began to wander the rails.
32. What would Christians do if Billy Gram was Jewish?
33.For those of you who were wondering yeah we realize that we're going to hell for this.
34. God is the ultimate stalker, but in a good way,
35. There are ten universes one under each of God's fingernails. (He never cleans them)
36. Pangaea broke up after the confusion of the languages at Babel because God
was just really mad that day and said " Fine you're gonna go here and you're gonna go here."
37. If all the people spoke a different language at Babel how did they all collectively decide on the name?
38. I wonder if God ever gets mad at his super-computer because it freezes up on him.
39. If everything we have belongs to God, God is seriously loaded-
41. Jesus made the first Hungry Man © (almost) TV dinner.
42. Jesus did not run off to be a rice farmer- but he did think that it was yummy!
(this came to be after reading something online that said Jesus ran off to be a rice farmer and I was insanely ticked off about it so after venting to no one in particular I decided to write that)
43. Wouldn't it have been funny to watch Jesus ascend into heaven using a bunch of helium balloons?
44. God looked down from heaven saw a school bus and said "Hey a Twinkie!"
45. It took all little boy to give all that he had to Jesus - maybe growing up isn't such a good thing.
46. Believing that Jesus is the messiah back in his day is easier said than done.
48. If God holds the life of every living thing in his hands he has some really big hands.
49. Jacob and God created the first WWE
Genesis 32:24
51.What happened to mommy?
Hebrews 1:4
52. It was and all blue family.
Hebrews 1:4
53. God keeps a bottomless jar of pickles in his fridge
(not biblicly relevant I know but we just really like pickles)
54. God sits up there in heaven says I want some chocolate and "PING" chocolate
55. If God is everywhere he must look something like Buddha
57. A wise son pays attention- so sit down shut up and listen!
Proverbs 13:1
60. Israel had a much better fire department than all those cities listed above.
Amos 2:5
61. The lord is your witness- too bad you can't call him to the stand at your trial, now that would be awsome
1 Samuel 12:5
2 Kings 22:17
64. Molid caused all the bread in the house to mold on his parents.
1 Chronicles 2:29
65. Jesus is a mirror he reflects his fathers image,
Hebrews 1:3
66. Contrary to popular belief Jesus did not look like Fabio
67. Poor Hazel and Ben Hadad,
Amos 1:4
68. Thou canst make one hair white or black, all you need is a stylist
Matthew 5:36
70. God has the DVR of the world. That's how he knows what everyone's doing at any given moment in time, and he can see the future
71.God granted the Philly cheese steak to the church of Philadelphia.
Revelations 2:1-3:22
73. Why are you where you are? Because God said "What the hell lets put another one right there and see what he will do for me." (of course having the DVR of the world he already knows and you don't have to worry about it)
75.Earthquakes are God's hiccups; volcanic eruptions, God had too much to drink with St. Peter and missed the wine box.
77. Even the gospels got writers block.
78. God decides when its your time to go. If your soul is too small you're going back. it's a fishing thing.
80. Mrs. God gave birth to the world - Ouch ( I wonder if she had to have a sea section)
81. DVR theory extension: any mass extinction is God hitting the erase button because it wasn't good anymore.
82. The 11th commandment: thou shalt memorize the first ten commandments
83. At the beginning of time there was extensive purpling-look at all the people!
Customer: Waiter, I thought this dish came with a veggie.
Waiter: What the olives are blue?
Customer: Yeah actually they are just look at them
Waiter: Yeah we should probably get the fridge fixed.
85. Thou shalt not bash thy brothers head in with a rock Cough CAIN cough.
The 12th commandment.
86."Thou shalt memorize the 10 (unbash) 15 commandments
The 13th commandment
87. Ham was shortier than Shem
Genesis 4:8
88. Aphra and Ham got married (against their will) by Mrs. Clark before creation and divorced after the flood ended. (lizzie had to play ham's wife in a production of children of eden and to put it nicely she isn't ham's biggest fan)
89. There were three pigs on the ark. Ham and the two animals
91. Salt tastes icky.
Matthew 5:13
93. We've decided that we are going to hell because of our theories, but people say that they are good. According to our pastor all good things were given to us by God. And our theories are good so aren't they from God? Why then I ask you are we going to hell?
L has a point and seeing as it is a good one I retract theory number 33 while it will still be in there for you to laugh at (and it is very possible that we are still going to hell for this)
94. Theory 93 did too count (and so does this one) Don't you argue with me! You'll upset the "Big Guns" upstairs
95. God has a sense of humor: he gave us siblings
96. Paul used his God given explosives to break out of prison.
Acts 16:25-26
97. We take that back the plastic explosives were God's backup if he was too tired to make the earthquake follow through
98. God's just slick/great like that
99. Christians are cannibals ( the body and blood of Christ at communion )
100. God denies pastors the right gamble or even the right to visit Vegas without a lot of problems (our pastor went to visit his sister in law in Vegas and he couldn't even make it out of the airport without having problems)
101. The Bible cannot be read in one year to a teenager
102. There are more than 10 commandments Jesus even gave you the eleventh (we know we gave you the eleventh but that was a different eleventh and since he's Jesus his overrules ours and it doesn't count any more)
103. No Christian music artist to our knowledge can remember all 10 (15) commandments in order hence our 11th
104. Don't mess with God he can and will cause as many mass extinctions as he has to
105. No matter who says it oranging and greening will never sound as good as purpling
106. God's favorite part of the week-Friday Night-of course. Why else would Unsearchable Riches have wrote that song?
107. Thank God for the weekends. They will be your best friends ( next to God and the Bible ) when you REALLY get sick of school.
108. Also thank God for snow days. They give you an extra day to get the homework you "forgot" about done.
109. Really you should be thanking God for everything, even when it seems completely useless you never know ( just look at what we learned to do in language class)
110. God is like a teenager, he knows everything and you can't always tell what he' s thinking.
111. (I wonder what happens when we get to theory 666!?) God gave women chocolate a) because Mrs. God told him to and b) because he knew that Eve would need it somewhere along the line.
112.God has a sense of humor he gave us children (gee thanks mom now we really know what you thought about all those icky diapers)
113. Our lives were saved by a blood donor.
114. Black sharpies are the latest and greatest writing utensil ever (cough Garret Cough)
Yeah we know that its no where in the Bible but the guy is in a Christian band
115. For God so loved the world that he gave it a bath ( the flood and Jesus )
116. If the bread they give you at communion is the body of Christ and Christ is over 2000 years old don't you think it would have gotten a bit moldy by now?
117. Abraham had way too many wives for his own good.
118. Any day can be used for worship including Friday night when kids are the most alert and ready to listen as long as you don't drone we will stay awake. Why do you think there are so many Christian concerts on Friday night and hardly any on Sunday morning?
119. Mrs. God is never mentioned because it would screw up the trinity.
120. Mrs. God is also never mentioned because then what would they call the trinity?
121. Mrs. God also didn't think that four interlocking circles looked as good as three and God wouldn't let her be by the holy spirit and Jesus
122. Biblical wizard of Oz: Job of Uz
Job 1:1
123. If heat rises heaven should be hotter than hell
124.Heaven is hotter than hell but heavens heating system is more controlled than hell
125. The devil says things that are so cold that they burn. (LOL)
126. Along with all of Jeremiah's other problems his lips were chapped
127. If we are the clay it's a good thing that God is the potter, some stuff by other artists is pretty messed up.
128. I wonder if God ever gets bored and starts creating all these strange animals just because he can
129. God likes a challenge he probably had a bet going with the angel Gabriel to see if he really could create the world in seven (more like six) days. The only problem now is that he has to feed it water it and try to keep WWIII from breaking out. No seriously that's an actual job … I think
130. There is an Unsearchable Riches song (My Element) that says "You alone can tell me why my heart is beating. You alone can tell me who I am." (we really are very sorry for this) Actually we can tell you both.
1) Your heart is beating because God has the greatest defibrillator in the universe, and even though he will enjoy having you in heaven he likes keeping you alive so that you can tell others about him
2) you are fill in your name here, and either deep down or on the surface you are a good person. And if you have to get major surgery and look like a total ditz in front of a lot of people we hope you show that side to the world.
Okay yeah I know that there are blank spots in here without a theory or anything else for that matter but the ones that I took out were probably the most offensive and looking back at them now (we wrote these like three years ago, its hard to offend a 12 year old) I've offended myself with a lot of these so if there are anymore that you think should be taken out just let me know.
Dedication (again)
For all the people that spent all those long boring Sunday morning sermons and weekday lectures rolling their eyes, we did more constructive things. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3488 | Disclaimer: I own nothing - and this will be true for every single chapter of this story.
A/N: Well here it is. The sequel to Twenty Five Roses. This all started with my Christmas story which was originally meant to be a stand alone story. But I ended up making all of the events that took place in it true for Twenty Five Roses and now with this story, I find myself with a trilogy. In this chapter, we'll be taking a long walk down memory lane. I've included snippets from each of the previous stories, all of them part of a couple of dreams Kelsi is having throughout the chapter. I'll be including snippets from the first two stories throughout this one. A sidenote about the dashed lines - whenever you see a long dashed line it means we are either entering or coming out of a dream. The shorter dashed lines indicate a break between the different scenes of a dream. The title for this was inspired by the song of the same name by Little Big Town - beautiful song and one of my favorites. Like I said before, this story will have some similarites with Twenty Five Roses but with a bit of a twist. You won't find out what that is until the next chapter, but hopefully you'll like it. Thank you all once again for your amazing support of Twenty Five Roses. The response to that blew me away and I can't even begin to say how much I appreciated it. You all rock! So without further delay, I present to you the sequel. Long chapter warning. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think!
Kelsi sighed peacefully in her sleep, a faint smile on her face as she instinctively snuggled closer to her husband. Ryan glanced over at the bedside table and noted that it was time for them to get up. They had a plane to catch after all, and all of their friends to see. But as he turned his attention back to his wife, he didn't want to wake her. He lightly traced the outline of her face with his finger.
"I wish I knew what you were dreaming about," he said softly. He had no way of knowing the answer, though if he did it would have made him smile. Because the dream she was currently having was about him. Or rather, it wasn't so much a dream rather than a beautiful collection of memories that visited her as she slept. Memories like so many pictures making up a larger scrapbook. Each one enhancing the quality of the next and meshing together to create the single best story of Kelsi's life, a story that was growing and developing all the time. If their entire relationship – past, present, and future – was laid out on a film strip and if someone had to point out what part of the story they were living currently, they would have to point somewhere in the middle. Because the truth of the matter was that this story, this beautiful and wonderful story, had in so many ways only just began. Kelsi would soon find that out for herself. But for now she still slept peacefully in her husband's arms while her montage of memories had started at the best place for a story to start: at the beginning...
If Kelsi had been awake and able to analyze her current dream, she would have realized that each memory carried with it a pivotal part of her relationship with Ryan.
Starting with their first kiss...technically speaking.
"Hold on, I'll walk you to your car." He said, glancing outside. The rain had actually stopped around lunchtime but was starting up all over again. He quickly took off his jacket. "Here. So you don't get soaked again."
"What about you?"
"I'll live. Besides I have an umbrella," he waved it at her. He then grabbed her backpack and set it at her feet, indicating for her to turn around. "Come on, I don't want you to get drenched again. I mean...it won't keep you completely dry, but it'll help." She couldn't help smiling as she turned around so he could help her into it.
"Thanks Ryan." He reached down for her backpack and slipped it over one of his shoulders. He stepped outside first, opening the umbrella before she joined him, and the two of them walked across the parking lot to her car. He waited patiently while she unlocked it. She offered to drive him back to the building as he still had to wait for Sharpay, so he got in the passenger seat and they drove back to the building. "Here you can take your jacket now," she said as she pulled to a stop. He shook his head.
"That's okay; you can just bring it to school tomorrow. You still have to get in your house," he reminded her. "I'll be fine."
"Well...thanks...I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a small smile and then surprised her by leaning across the console and giving her a quick, but soft, kiss on the cheek.
Blending into the first time Kelsi began to realize that her friendship with Ryan was turning into something else...
"Oh just you wait. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I guarantee that by the end of the day, you'll be singing Christmas carols with boundless enthusiasm."
"Boundless enthusiasm?" she giggled at him. "Somehow I doubt that."
"You never know," he reached over to brush a lock of her hair away from her face and in doing so their eyes met and held. Just like that, the moment changed from lighthearted banter between friends to something else. Something different that Kelsi couldn't quite identify. It was at that moment when she became suddenly aware of how close they were and now she thought she understood what was going on. The air between them now seemed to be one of a sort of anticipation mixed with nervousness. Funny how a moment could just change like that, Kelsi thought absently. It was like taking a nice, pleasant walk somewhere and suddenly finding yourself at the edge of a cliff, just a hair aware from falling off and into the unknown. The feeling managed to intrigue and terrify her all at the same time, leaving her torn between wanting to let the moment play out and wanting to run away. She felt her throat go dry as his gaze drifted from her eyes to her mouth and back again, this time with that odd sort of intensity she had seen from him a few days before. She gulped involuntarily, wondering why breathing all of a sudden seemed more difficult. She felt a wave of panic sweep over her as she realized she didn't exactly know what to do. Ultimately, the decision seemed to be already made for her as she found her gaze flickering to his lips while a strange sort of magnetic energy seemed to be pulling them closer together in what felt like slow motion. It was like being under a spell and as he moved closer, she went from being on the edge of a cliff to falling directly off of it. She felt her eyes fluttering shut and his breath on her face as they were moving closer and closer and...
"So what should we watch now?" Kelsi didn't consider herself to be a violent person by any means. In fact, the mere thought of violence made her feel a little queasy. And she liked Troy a lot, she even thought of him as a brother in a way. But at the moment, the idea of getting up off the loveseat to walk over and strangle him was suddenly very appealing. At his voice, she and Ryan jerked apart in opposite directions in an attempt to look as if they hadn't been a heartbeat away from kissing each other.
The first real kiss the two of them shared...
"You're still here," she said lamely.
"Yeah...I made it back to my car and remembered that I forgot something," he informed her. She remembered then that she had never given him back the jacket she had borrowed a few days ago when it had been raining.
"Your jacket," she nodded. "I can go get it," she started to turn but he grabbed her arm gently to stop her.
"I wasn't talking about my jacket," he said.
"You weren't?" He shook his head. "Then what did you forget?"
"This," he said calmly, pulling her towards him and then reaching up to frame her face with his hands. Kelsi's heart started pounding so fast in response that she was convinced that it would actually find a way to beat itself out of her body. He leaned in and softly brushed his lips against hers, barely making any contact and pulling back almost as soon as he made contact. He studied her face, as if to gauge her reaction and make sure she wasn't about to slap him. She gave him a small smile indicating that it was okay, and he returned it. He leaned back in and kissed her again, longer this time. At first she was unsure of what to do, but after a moment it seemed as if instincts she hadn't known she had kicked in and she kissed him back in response. He kept one hand on her face and moved the other one to the back of her head, gently holding her in place. In an attempt to both keep her arms warm and get a little bit closer to him, she slipped her arms under the jacket he was wearing and wrapped them around his waist. He was kissing her very lightly, but it was enough to send a wave of a strange tingling sensation all the way from her mouth down to her toes. She was very grateful to be holding onto him because she wasn't confident that her knees would be able to hold her up otherwise. The kiss lingered for a few more seconds until he pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. "Wow," he murmured and she couldn't help letting out a small giggle in response.
"Wow," she repeated, in a whisper. He held her close for a few more moments and then eased away again, sliding his hands down her arms until he was holding both of hers.
"Now I really should get home," he grinned at her. "But I'll see you in a few hours." He lifted up both her hands and softly kissed each of them before letting her go.
"Okay," she agreed, feeling as if she had fallen completely under his spell.
Leading into the moment they officially became a couple...
"I had a really hard time figuring out what to get you for Christmas," she shook her head. "At first I thought about getting you a new hat, but that didn't work. I looked but there were a bunch I know you have and then there were others I thought you may already have, but I wasn't sure so I didn't get any of them. Out of the remaining ones I saw, there weren't any I really liked for you. And then I had a really hard time trying to think of something else."
"It's not a big deal Kelsi, really. The best present you could ever give me is just being with me," he said sincerely. "Well actually there is something else..."
"And what is that?" Kelsi had been planning on launching into what she had done for his Christmas present, but now was curious.
"Be my girlfriend," he offered. Kelsi felt the now familiar rush of butterflies in her stomach yet again.
"I could do that," she said, pretending to give the matter serious thought. "Yeah, I think I'm perfectly fine with that idea. Though geez, I wish I would've known that you'd be happy with that as your present. I could've saved some energy thinking about it!" Ryan laughed.
"You didn't hurt yourself did you?" he teased her.
"I try," he said, winking at her. "So then I guess we're officially official now?"
"I guess we are," she smiled.
Blending into the first time he ever made her cry...
"Hmm," Kelsi pondered the question. "We used to sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem"...Of course that was when we could spend the holiday with my grandparents. That's my Grandma's favorite...I guess it kind of rubbed off on me," she smiled. It was a sad smile though and he moved his arm around her shoulders.
"You miss her."
"Yes," Kelsi nodded. "It feels like it's been forever since we saw them," she sighed. "I was really looking forward to seeing them this year. Especially since I finally learned how to play that song. Last time I saw them I had just gotten my own keyboard and I told my Grandma I'd learn how to play it so I could play it for her."
"Well I'm not your Grandma, obviously, but...would you mind playing it for me?" he asked gently.
"Sure, why not? May as well play it for someone right? Will you sing along?" she asked.
"Of course," he nodded. Kelsi started playing and smiled as he started singing along as promised. She let her eyes close as she played, getting caught up in the song. They flew back open, though, when she heard someone else start singing near the end of the song. She glanced at Ryan, who was grinning at her. "Turn around," he suggested. She slowly twisted towards the entry of the room and gasped as she spotted who had been singing along.
"Oh my gosh," she whispered, her eyes filling up with tears. "Grandma?" She got up from the bench and stepped around it. "Grandpa?" She looked back at forth between the two for a moment before rushing into her grandmother's waiting arms. "I didn't think you could get a flight!" she cried, moving to hug her grandfather. "How did you find one?" She was crying openly now.
"I think you should ask your young man that," her grandfather spoke up, smiling over her head at Ryan. Kelsi turned towards him.
"Remember when you asked if your dad coming was the end of the surprises and I said maybe?" Ryan started. "Well this was the final surprise."
"But how? All the flights were booked." She was stunned.
"That's true," he agreed. "But it just so happens that my dad has a pilot's license and owns his own plane." He waited while what he said sunk in.
"Wait a second," she said slowly. "Your dad was supposed to be at the office..." she trailed off as realization hit her. "He was never at the office," she whispered. "He was flying out to get my grandparents." She covered her mouth with her hand for a few moments, overcome.
"I knew how much you wanted to see them," he explained. "I asked my dad to do a favor for me and he was happy to help."
"Oh Ryan," she shook her head, still crying.
"Kelsi?" Ryan called her name softly, gently shaking her to try and wake her up. "Time to wake up, baby."
"Don't want to," she mumbled in protest, pressing her face into his shoulder.
"Come on, honey," he tried again. "We have a place to catch..." When she didn't respond, he went with a different approach. "Well, you know, you can keep sleeping if you want to but then we're going to miss our flight and we won't see all of our friends and all of their children. And they're all going to have a wonderful week on a gorgeous tropical island and we'll be stuck here." She let out a sigh.
"Five more minutes?" she asked, hopefully.
"Nope," he replied, kissing the top of her head. "Unless you want to go to the airport in your pajamas." She grumbled and pushed back away from him. Her hair was a mess around her face and she still looked to be half asleep, but she was still the most beautiful woman Ryan had ever seen. "You can sleep on the plane," he promised her. She yawned, lifting her hand up to cover her mouth.
"I was having a wonderful dream," she informed him. "And now I lost it." She narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "Thanks a lot."
"Sorry baby," he said in response. "I held off waking you up for as long as I could. But we really do have to get ready."
"I still can't believe we're going to be spending a week in paradise practically," she smiled as wave of excitement about their trip hit. "It'll be..." she trailed off, pressing her hand to her stomach. "Uh oh."
"What?" he asked, concerned. "Are you feeling sick?" She barely managed a nod before almost hopping off of their bed and heading into the bathroom. Ryan frowned as he followed her, dropping to his knees behind her in order to pull her hair back from her face. This had been happening almost every morning for the past two weeks. Kelsi would wake up feeling sick to her stomach which usually resulted in her hurrying to the bathroom to throw up. There had been some days where she had made several similar trips to the bathroom and neither one of them could figure out what was wrong. After all, aside from being a little more tired than usual she had no other symptoms. "Maybe we should get you to a doctor," he muttered as she finished. She shook her head and reached up to flush the toilet before letting him help her to her feet.
"It's probably just stress," she decided. "We worked so hard on that show and have barely been sleeping. My mom gets sick to her stomach when she gets stressed out too. It always happens."
"It's been happening every day for two weeks, almost," he pointed out. "We've been done with the show for a week. Shouldn't you be over it by now?" He waited while she grabbed for her toothbrush and squeezed some toothpaste onto it.
"The show may be over but it can take a while for the stress symptoms to go away," she said calmly. "A week in paradise with my husband and our best friends is just what I need." She lifted her eyes to meet his worried ones in the mirror. "Don't worry, honey. I'm fine."
"Promise?" he asked. She smiled at his reflection.
"Okay fine, but if you don't feel better by the time we get back you're seeing a doctor. Deal?"
"Deal," she agreed.
Kelsi was quiet on the way to the airport, still feeling a little sleepy from having to get up so early. She rested her head on Ryan's shoulder and felt herself slowly drift back asleep and soon found herself dreaming once again. This time her dreams consisted of roses.
Her twenty-fifth birthday had easily been the most memorable birthday of her entire life. She was a Valentine's baby and Ryan had been called away to take care of something for his father, leaving her all along for Valentine's Day. Or so she thought. She had woken up to a beautiful white rose. A rose which had been the first of twenty five, according to the letter that had accompanied it. It had actually ended up being twenty six roses all together. With every rose came a new message as to why Ryan loved her so much. And that was the direction her dreams took her this time. She found herself flittering between the speeches that had accompanied each rose and the memories that they had been inspired by. Each and every rose had been special, but there had been a few in particular that had really stood out.
There had been a rose, given to her by Troy, for the very first time her and Ryan had told her he loved her...
"Kelsi Nielsen, you have completely lost your mind," he had started, his voice heartbreakingly tender as he had pressed a kiss to her temple.
"Gee thanks." Her voice had broken on the words and she was horrified to feel tears filling her eyes.
"You must be completely crazy if you honestly believe that it is in any way possible for me to forget about you once we get to Julliard," he had finished. "That could never happen."
"You don't know that," she had been able to hear the tears in her voice as she said it. He had responded by squeezing her a little tighter.
"Yes I do, actually. And do you want to know why?"
"Why?" she had whispered the question. He had angled his head so his lips were right at her ear.
"Because I am completely and hopelessly in love with you," he had said softly.
"You're what?" She had been fairly shocked by the words and convinced that she had been hearing things.
"I'm in love with you." She had pulled away from him just enough that she could slowly turn around to face him.
"Are you serious?"
"Completely," he had traced the outline of the side of her face with his finger as he said it.
"Really?" Her voice had been so hopeful at the idea that he had smiled.
"Really," he had confirmed, leaning in to give her a soft kiss. "I wanted to tell you months ago but I just couldn't get the words to come out."
"Oh Ryan," she had sighed. "I love you too." He must have misinterpreted the nerves in her voice as her being uncertain about her feelings, because he had frowned slightly.
"Aw Kelsi, you don't have to say it back just because I said it. I don't want to push you." He had suddenly looked so uncharacteristically nervous that she couldn't help smiling. "I only want you to say that to me if you mean it. Not because you feel like you have to because I did."
"Okay," she had agreed with him. "Ryan?"
"Yes?" She had leaned in toward him so her mouth was closer to his ear.
"I love you," she had whispered.
There had been the rose symbolizing, among other things, the way Ryan thought of Kelsi as his own personal enchantress...
"After all," his voice grew tender, "you had my heart from that first moment even if I didn't know it. Which brings me to the last thing that this rose symbolizes...enchantment. Kelsi...I am totally enchanted by you. It's not just the things you do; it's the way you do them. You know, the way you move...the way you play the piano...the way you talk..."
"Oh Ryan," she whispered.
"The way you say my name," he smiled. "The way you smile..." He brought his hands to her face and started gently brushing away her tears with his thumbs. "The way you laugh...the way you cry when you're happy...The way you love me...the way you love you friends and your family...You have me completely under your spell and you don't even know it. I don't think there's anything or anyone that could break it, which is great for me because I'm perfectly happy being under it. You're like my own, personal, princess slash enchantress and I wouldn't have it any other way."
And, of course, there had been the last two roses that had been given to her at the same time. These roses were without question the most special of them all...
He tilted his head. "Do you know what two roses given at the same time means?"
Kelsi shook her head, positive that she wouldn't have been able to speak if she had tried to.
"Two roses together mean a couple of things. One, it symbolizes mutual love and says that not only are we a couple, but also that the bond between us is inseparable and that there isn't anything that can come between us. And to tie into that, they represent an upcoming marriage or engagement," he began, "which I find to be very appropriate because all of that ties into what I was just saying." He held up the two roses and took a deep breath. "Kelsi Nielsen...I love you with all of my heart and soul and I want to build a life and a family with you." He looked deep into her eyes as he continued. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?" Kelsi let out a sob as she nodded. She took the roses from him with a shaking hand and was practically bouncing when she felt him slide the ring onto her finger. She waited, not so patiently, while he got to his feet and then launched herself at him. They held onto each other tightly for several seconds, both of them still crying. She eased back to look at her face.
"I love you so much, Ryan Evans," she whispered, bringing her mouth to his in a kiss that soon turned passionate.
"Kelsi...baby, wake up." Ryan shook her lightly, amazed that she had actually fall back asleep. "Come on, honey." He watched as her eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Mmm...I was having a really good dream..." she mumbled. "And you had to go and wake me up. Again."
"I'm sorry honey," he apologized. "But we're pulling into the airport."
"You know Ryan," she started. "If you insist on constantly waking me up, you can at least help me finish my dream." He raised an eyebrow.
"And how would I go about doing that?"
"Like this," she replied, lifting her mouth to his and kissing him slowly. "You know the best part about my dream?" she asked, her voice soft. "The fact that it all actually happened." She leaned in to kiss him again and couldn't help but feel like somewhere along the way she had left the real world for some sort of fairy tale. Her life had turned into something beautiful and it was all because of the wonderful man she was married to. What Kelsi didn't know, and what she would soon find out, was that her fairy tale was only just beginning. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3489 | Lengthy Author's Note: This piece was written in response to the "I Never" challenge over at the Sober Universe forum at . The concept behind this challenge is to write a piece in a genre that you would never, ever write, and then post it where the aficionados of that genre would have the opportunity to offer critique, if they so chose. I generally write comedy pieces centering on the NextGen kids, with ScoRose as my main pairing. So, naturally I was given James/Sirius. If you'd like an un-cut version, it may be found at my livejournal. The link for that is on my profile page. I hope you enjoy.
When the Greek philosophers first wrote of the ideal of youth and beauty, it was undoubtedly Sirius Black they pictured. At least as far as he was concerned, to watch the way he strutted his way through my suite after borrowing my shower. Long, dark brown hair which positively flowed onto his shoulders, cheekbones that may have been chiseled into his face, a lean, sinewy frame with muscles lain one on another by hand and stretched taut, from his arms, to his torso, to his -
"Get a good look, Potter. You're going to miss this once we're out of here, you know."
"Oh for fuck's sake, Black," I answered, flipping him a rather rude hand gesture, "Put something on, will you? We all know you're hung like a hippogriff; you really needn't strut around here dripping on the floor like that."
Sirius toweled off as he continued the floor show. "How you wound up the straight one is beyond me, Jamie - "
"Right, Jamie," he retorted, transfiguring the book I'd chucked at his head into a Frisbee. "That's it, precisely. The ponciest fruit ever to spring from the hallowed branches of Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, and yet you fall for a pair of green doe-eyes and a ginger fanny. How does this happen?"
"Are you going to put some clothes on, Sirius? I'm trying to concentrate here." I was starting to get annoyed. The written portion of our Transfiguration N.E.W.T. was in less that 18 hours, and I was starting to feel like a firstie wondering which way to point his wand. Sirius feigned a pout.
"Oh, and here I thought you'd fancy a go, staring at me like you were."
"I was not!" I objected. "Besides, Moony would walk in here looking for you and have us both trussed-up like a Christmas goose in ten seconds flat. Then he'd get Lily to help."
"Get Lily to help what?" Sirius did finally start getting dressed.
"Padfoot, I was on her bad side for four years. Trust me here, you wouldn't want to piss her off." There was a pause in the banter as Sirius fastened his trousers.
"Hung like a hippogriff you say? Huh. Never picked you for a size queen, Prongs. Must be all that Norman still in our blood. Mummy would actually screech at me in French, you know. The Normans were a particularly well-hung people, you see. It's how we rogered the hell out of Harold at Hastings."
"Are you quite done, Sirius? Merlin's balls, but I'm afraid you're going to break into song any moment now. And for fuck's sake, put on a shirt already!"
"It's really not fair, James. You get this delicious Head Boy shower all to yourself," Sirius whined as he sat down on my bed, hair still dripping.
"I do let you use it."
"But I'm all alone in there. Just me and the water. Me, the water, and my big Norman cock."
I buried my reddening face in my palm. Always the showman, that's our Padfoot.
"Merlin, Prongs, you're blushing."
"I'm just hoping Lily knows a good disinfecting spell. Lord knows what you've gotten up to in there."
"You come in there with me, and I reckon I could get up a lot more."
"You're a pig," I answered.
"And you want me." Sirius was smiling now - big, shit-eating grin on his face.
"You're hallucinating," I retorted. And then it happened. In one swift maneuver, Sirius had knocked away my Transfiguration notes, spun me onto my back, straddled my torso and forced his lips onto mine. He was rough and insistent. He tasted of tobacco, smelt of bay rum and felt like sandpaper. And after about 30 seconds of his assault on my face, I was harder than Honors Arithmancy. So I did what anyone would do in that situation; pushed him straight off of me.
"Fuck, Prongs. If I'd known you were that good, I'd've jumped you much earlier."
"Padfoot - Sirius. We can't. Really, really can't."
"And why not? Give me three good reasons."
"Lily's one. Remus is another."
"Ha! They'd both jump at the chance to join in. What's your third?"
"I'm not gay." At this, Sirius couldn't be bothered to hold in a chuckle.
"Prongsie, you were pulling my hair, mate. And what about that?" he asked, pointing at my crotch.
"A simple biological reaction. It means nothing."
"It means that while the big head may have been wondering what was going on, the little head had already sprung into action. I think you liked it."
"Sirius, I think you should go."
"What? Are you just going to leave me like this?" he asked, while grabbing my hand and rubbing it against the outline of his erection. I laughed.
"You're kidding, right? I invented that line. Got me center hoop with Linda Frobscottle last year, actually. That little Ravenclaw minx could suck the wood off a wand, lick her lips and go for seconds." Sirius got a scarily mischevious look in his eye.
"Could she, now?" I nodded in response, grinning, remembering that evening. Sirius leaned into my neck, where he placed soft bites from the nape to the jawline. Then he whispered breathily into my ear. "So could I."
I couldn't help myself. I grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face into mine. We were a tangle of tongues, lips, and fingers in hair falling backwards onto my bed, wrestling for control. He won, of course, and began to rub my once-again hardening cock outside my trousers as I arched my back in compliance. I traced my hands up and down his naked torso, raking my fingers along his lean musculature. He tilted his head back, letting go a throaty moan, which was my cue to aim for the button on his trousers.
"Don't start something you're not going to be able to finish, James," he growled, just as I was developing an appreciation for Lily's dexterity for disrobing a man from the opposite side. Lily. Fuck.
I stopped what I was doing and collapsed my arms on the bed next to me.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, rather touchingly concerned.
"Lily. I can't, Sirius. Look, mate, it took so long and I'd just be bollocksing it up. Sirius, I - "
He looked at me; a mixture of amazement and condescension, rather like one would give a kitten taking its first steps. Then he placed a hand along the side of my face and planted a tender sandpaper kiss on my lips.
"You let me know when, Prongs," he said, grabbing his tunic and heading out, leaving me with my thoughts, a guilty conscience, and a libido like a caged Chinese Fireball.
So there I sat, on my bed, rather in the same predicament Sirius had been complaining of. The words on the pages of my Transfiguration text may as well have been Norse runes for all the sense they made. The roughness of Sirius's five-o'clock shadow still stung on my mouth, and my heartbeat was racing nearly as quickly as my mind.
By the time Lily walked in a half-hour later, I was no better off, but had at least managed to un-ruffle my robes enough to look presentable. Merlin, but she looked good. The thing about Lily is that she had a way of making that bookworm look just work. Spectacles she only used for reading, ginger hair half done-up in a bun, robes that hugged her just right, and that crème-colored brassiere she had on underneath - or at least I hoped she did - they were doing things to me that were probably illegal in several jurisdictions.
"James," she asked after a moment or two. "Why are you staring at me like that?" I hadn't realized I'd been staring, so I got up off the bed and walked over to her.
"James? James, you look like you're about to have me for dessert," she said in a nervous giggle. I pulled my wand out of my robes and banished hers across the room, leaving her clad only in that hoped-for crème brassiere, matching knickers, stockings and pumps.
"Damn it James, it's cold in here! What are you playing at?" I grabbed her hair at the back of her head and kissed her roughly; as roughly as Sirius had kissed me earlier, feeling her resolve give way almost immediately. One quick snap between fingers and thumb and I had unhooked her brassiere at the back, and she let it slink off her arms and onto the floor. I began tugging on her nipples with my fingers, hearing her let that high-pitched moan I'd come to know and love escape, which spurred me on to suckle and bite on the taut nubs. She arched her back and tossed her head back as I placed small bites on the nape of her neck, then picked her up in my arms, placing her on my bed. Satisfied I was to hear no more protestations, I tugged on the waistband of her knickers.
"James, no. James!"
"Something wrong?" I asked.
"I just can't right now, James."
"Seems like you were doing just fine," I muttered, and tried to salvage my efforts by concentrating on that sensitive spot right behind her earlobe.
"James!" she scolded, sitting up. "Honestly, love. I really can't."
"And why is that?"
"Do you really want to know?" I wasn't sure I did, but she didn't wait for an answer. "Because I'm bleeding like hell, and I don't want your bedclothes to look like a murder scene for the house-elves to find in the morning. Which is probably why I snapped at poor..." She went on for a good five minutes along that theme, while I nodded sympathetically at all the right places. I was just about done congratulating myself on once again successfully tuning her out when
"What time are you going, then?"
"Going? Going where?"
"To meet Remus. We were just talking about the full moon - did you not listen to a word I said?" Lily began to gather her robes from around the room, and my face fell visibly. "Honestly, James. Sometimes I think you're not a good listener at all. I'm going next door - there's an Arithmancy practical tomorrow I need to revise for."
"You're just going to leave me here, like this?" I asked, pouting and doing my best impression of doe eyes.
"Potter, please. Try that line on some fifth-year who doesn't know better. I've heard far too many lines from you for one lifetime, thank you very much."
I grinned. "Oh, you mean like that Muggle-born Ravenclaw in Black's brother's year?"
"Do it and I'll hex your bollocks off, love." She planted a kiss on my cheek. "What's gotten into you, anyway? You're usually so calculating when you want to bed me. Don't get me wrong; I adore the passion, but I've never seen you like this."
"Can't a fellow just be happy to see his best girl?"
"That wasn't happy, darling, that was ravenous."
"Reckon I'm just a bit nervous about the Transfiguration N.E.W.T. tomorrow." Lily looked unconvinced, and I thought I was going to have to dance further.
"Transfiguration N.E.W.T.? A boy who'd successfully mastered an Animagus transformation before he'd taken his first O.W.L.? Oh, darling, you'll be brilliant. Now I really must go. See you at supper, then?"
Supper was an unmitigated disaster. I was certain Lily and Sirius hadn't meant to gang up on me, but as distracted as I was, I suppose I must have presented an easy target. One on either side, first making snide comments about my lack of appetite, then I managed to dip my sleeve into the gravy, and that was the topic for what seemed like eons. And right before pudding - I swear on Godric's grave - Sirius began talking about baby pictures Mum had shown him shortly after he'd arrived on our doorstep.
"Honestly, Sirius. We take you in, and this is what you give in return? Baby pictures?" Lily was doing her level-best to cheer him on, of course.
"Oh, stuff it, James. I want to hear this. I bet you were just darling. Was he, Sirius?" And on it continued. At one point a nervous sixth-year asked if this was to be expected before N.E.W.T.s. I shook my head, sighed, and proceeded to wolf down my apple tart with vanilla sauce before dashing outside to clear my head with that fresh Highlands air and a quick fag.
Trying to hit the books again was a mistake. Images of that afternoon with Sirius were successful in pushing out combinations of wand movements and incantations. What was he playing at? He saw me chase after Lily forever; I knew he knew what end of the broomstick I prefer. Right. If he had seen me attack her the way I did that afternoon, there would have been no confusion. None whatsoever.
By 8 o'clock that evening I was brooded out, and if I was to get any revising accomplished at all, I was going to have to sort things out with Black, and quickly.
Sirius and Peter were chatting amiably when I swooped in to the 7th Year Gryffindor room. I dismissed Peter, telling him that Remus was already at the Shack, and might appreciate some company. I turned to face Sirius rather dramatically, but he seemed to be expecting that, leaning rakishly on the footboard of his bed with that damnable smirk etched on his face.
"James," he began gently, in that condescending drawl he affected anytime he wanted to diffuse a conversation. "You do care. How sweet of you to come visit."
"Stuff it, Black," I snapped back. "What in the nine Hells are you playing at? You know, the more I think about this afternoon, the more I think -"
"That you want me so bad you're aching?" I zapped him with a stinging hex.
"Prongsie, if I'd known you were in to the kinky stuff, I'd have brought my leathers with me to your mum's place." His quip did nothing to staunch my growing anger.
"No, you filthy pouf, you fucking attacked me in there. What gave you the right, Black? Honestly! How am I supposed to let you keep staying in my house if you're liable to do - that - again? Merlin, Sirius. We've been friends for seven years now, and you pull this shite?"
There were any number of reactions I expected. Maybe he'd try to make nice and swear he'd never meant to do anything like that again. Maybe he'd fly off the handle, exclaiming (quite rightly, of course) that I'd kissed him back, and that a simple bit of snogging was hardly assault. But I didn't expect him to laugh. Yet that's what he did. Loudly and boisterously.
"Aw. Is ickle Jamie a bit confused? Did a wittle kissy-poo turn our Prongsie all queer?"
"Fuck you, Black!"
"Reckoned that was why you came up here," he continued to snark, sending me straight over the edge. I walked right up to him, toe-to-toe, rather intent on wiping the floor with that smirk of his.
Why I kissed him instead, I'll probably never know.
But kiss him I did; frantically and fervently. All fingers in his hair, tongue dancing with his in his mouth. I don't think he was expecting that reaction from me - hell, I wasn't expecting that reaction from me - because it took him a good moment to get his head together before he began to reciprocate. But when he did, wow.
My robes came off straightaway; Sirius not being gentleman enough to ask me if I was okay with it, and me not being man enough to tell him either way. But, in for a Knut, in for a Galleon, and Merlin did he know what to do with his hands. Even something as pedestrian as running his fingertips down my spine became a luxurious exercise in back-arching toe-curling bliss.
Sirius laid me down on my back on his bed, stripped my y-fronts off of me, and with a flick of his wand, banished my boots and socks. He stared at me as if I were pudding, and he hadn't had a meal in a week. He growled something underneath his breath and laid down next to me.
"I've wanted to fuck you for ages now, Potter," he whispered, and began nibbling on the ear into which he'd spoken. He started to bite and suck on the nape of my neck, and ran a lazy finger around and around my left nipple, sending tendrils of pleasure straight into my stiffening cock. As he tongued and lightly bit the right one, I made a mental note as I ran my fingers through his dark locks: I'd have to make sure Lily knows to do that.
"Fuck, Sirius, who taught you that one?"
"Not a pretty story, ducks. Let's leave it at that." And we did.
We lay there a bit afterwards; Sirius with a broad smirk on his face, and me feigning exhaustion. Oh, to be sure, I was spent. And my thighs were aching, and my arse still felt as though it was on fire. But mostly my head was racing; thinking whether Sirius would expect this often, and what would happen when word of this got out. Thinking about how I was going to explain it to Lily if it did, and if this meant I was as bent as Padfoot and Moony. And that was really all a bit much to think about, so I decided to cuddle up to Sirius instead.
"Not bad for a straight boy, I'll give you that," he quipped and ruffled my damp hair a bit. "But come on then, James, I'm not some bird who's going to be expecting pillow talk afterwards. Besides, we should get cleaned up and head over to the Shack. It's getting late.
Any illusions I had that Remus couldn't tell what we'd been up to were quickly put to bed the next day. He was surly as a rule the morning after his transformation, so I paid little attention to his cool demeanor at breakfast, but after lunch he pulled me aside on our way to the Transfiguration N.E.W.T.
"Why'd you do it, James?" he asked in a hushed whisper.
"Why'd I do what?"
"Oh come on, Prongs. We've been friends too long for this shite. You fucked Sirius. You fucked my boyfriend, Prongs, why?"
"I'm sorry, Moony. It just happened. Honestly. It's not something either of us set out to do. It just - really, it just sort of happened like that."
"But you have Lily. Merlin's balls, man, you worked so hard to get her and now you're pulling this?"
"You're not going to tell her, are you?"
"No. Although I really ought to. Good luck on the test." Remus was a man of his word, but those were the last words Moony and Prongs shared as Hogwarts students.
Padfoot and Moony had split by the time we were inducted into the Order. According to Sirius, Remus was 'cramping my style,' and Sirius just wasn't ready to be 'hitched up as tight as you and Lily.' According to Remus, the split had been amicable, but we began to see less and less of him. Sure, he was at Lily and my wedding, but Sirius was the best man, so Remus felt a little out of place. He would make hasty exits whenever we tried to get the old gang back together at our cottage in Godric's Hollow. We started to wonder where we would get off to.
Which is probably why when Sirius said that he was too predictable a choice for Secret Keeper, we went with Peter. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3490 | Full Main Cast
Kirk walked out of the turbolift, late, as usual, to see Pavlov Chekov in the captain's chair. "Mr. Chekov, out of the chair."
"Aye, sir. Sorry Keptin." The Russian went amiably to his own post and Kirk took his seat.
"Mr. Sulu, status report…"
The next day, Kirk came to the bridge late again. "Chekov!"
"Yes, Mr. Kuirk?" The Russian's smile was too innocent.
"I'm afraid, Mr. Kuirk, that I can't-"
"Aye, Keptin! Sorry!" Chekov scurried to his seat and Kirk resumed his.
It quickly became a game. A contest to see who could get into the captain's chair and be in there when Kirk came in, late, as always. "Sulu!" Another day. "Chekov!" Another day. "Uhura!" Another day. "Scotty!"
"Aye, Mr. Kirk?"
"You don't even work on the bridge."
"Your point being?"
"I'm afraid I cannae-"
"Aye, Captain." Scotty got up, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace.
The next day, Kirk came in; late, as always, and froze in the doorway as he looked at the person in his chair. "Spock?!"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Why are you in my chair?" Kirk asked. "Surely you're not conforming to this ridiculous game."
"Of course not, Captain. I was merely trying to prevent it from happening. You'll find that the crew is hesitant to go up against a Vulcan… even a half-Vulcan." Spock stood up and stepped aside, offering Kirk his chair. The captain smirked and took his chair.
"Mr. Spock, you're welcome to sit in my chair when I am not in here, if only to make sure no one else takes it."
"Thank you, Captain."
"Thank you, Mr. Spock." |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3491 | So, this is out of my norm, but I'm trying to be more open with what I write, so here is my attempt at a new media form, a movie. Yea, yea, I know, I've wrote for a tv show before, but a made for tv movie is different, it's longer. Anyways, please review and ENJOY!
"Oh, my, god, Jess, Christopher Wilde is going to be in Grand Rapids, I didn't know he'd ever come this close to Kalamazoo, it was a last minute add to his tour," my friend and new student at McKinley High School, Danni Pope said. This was not news to me, after all I was dating the fantastic Christopher Wilde, just Chris to me, sometimes Chrisy, normally just Chris though. If I was mad at him or irritated or something, I'd call him Christopher, that rarely happened though.
Of course after all the fame of being Chris's girlfriend died down, after we both made public announcements about wanting privacy, which the media took in strides, not a lot of people automatically thought about us as a couple, we keep fairly low key. Chris showing up at the dance, that had been about a year ago. Six months ago, Chris went on a world wide tour. We talked all the time, he'd even flown me to England for one of his concerts, well me and Sara. Danni knew nothing of this, she'd moved to Kalamazoo about two months ago.
I don't speak to openly about our relationship, I don't know who I can trust really, except for my really close friends and Sara. I wasn't about to share big details to Danni, I was still trying to figure her out. I didn't want people being my friends only to be friends with Chris. Sara's friend AJ had tried that, let's just say, Sara and AJ are no longer friends.
"That's cool," I said. "I didn't realize you where such a fan."
"Oh, yea, his voice is magical, it's hypnotic."
"Sounds like you're in love."
"Well, it could happen, a girl can have dreams, you know." She smiled as she opened her locker, which I hadn't realized until today was covered in pictures of Chris. She even said 'hi' to one of them. I had to remember that normal girls did have crushes on Chris, and I was no normal girl, I was the one who told him what the real deal was, I was the one who had snagged his heart.
Of course my heart melted a bit when I saw pictures of him, I never let it out to somebody who didn't know that I had a crush on him. I didn't smile or blush, put me around Sara or Mary, my best friend since forever, and I was a lost cause, Sara was constantly getting me flustered.
I was thankful that it was the end of the school day, that meant I was that much closer to the time when Chris would call, he was still on his tour, be he tried to call around four-thirty every afternoon, with text messages in between. Speaking of text messages, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, and saw a picture of an animated Christopher Wilde flashing across the outer screen.
Hope school was fun, I'm kind of jealous that you get to go, my day hasn't been that great, miss you, CW.
I shot him back a message. Tell me about your day, what happened? Trust me, I'd rather be with you than at school, how about a trade for a day?
I let a smile slip, Danni caught it.
"Who is it?"
"Oh, just a friend, he lives out where my grandma lives and we became friends while I was out there, we still text and talk often."
"A boy?"
"Danni, I'm leaving, he's just a friend."
I walked away, than stopped. "Oh, when's the concert?"
"Two weeks, it's like May 13th or 14th, you want me to get you a ticket? ."
"Nah, I like his music, but I'm not that big of a fan. But thanks."
"Jess," I heard my name yelled, and spotted my sister with… Stubby? I looked again, indeed, Stubby was with her. I smiled and ran up to him. I gave him a hug.
"Stubby, what are you doing here?"
"I'll explain when I get in the car," he said, he was sporting sunglasses and trying to blend in, but was holding hands with Sara, so he couldn't blend in to much, my sister loved it when her boyfriend was with her. But today she was subdued.
I walked outside and found a black SUV and knew it was Stubby's.
"So, what did you name this one?" I asked as I opened the door to the SUV.
"Sara," he replied.
My sister wiped a pretend tear from her eye as she slid into the front seat. I slid into the backseat and buckled up.
"So," I said as I shut the door and Stubby was pulling the car into the end of school traffic, he turned onto the main street that would lead to our parent's house, I waited for him to get out of traffic before I finished my statement. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Well, do you know what next week is?"
That's when it dawned on me, next week was spring break, I had totally forgotten about it, I was to focused on school and surviving my final year. I was graduating a year early, with Sara. There was only a few months left of my high school career, than I'd be moving out to Hollywood to start film school in August, mom and dad where even letting me live with Chris, but only if I had my own room, Chris and I'd both agreed and I got to move in. The other part of the deal was that Sara, who'd be accepted at UCLA, was staying there as well, I wasn't happy about that, but if I got to stay with Chris, I'd take it.
"Stubby, I totally forgot, but that still doesn't explain why you're here," I said, what happened next, almost made me shit my pants.
"To deliver me." I jumped so bad, hitting my head on the roof of the SUV. I turned around and crouched down in the seat behind me was Christopher Wilde. He sat up, a big smile on his face. He crawled over the seat and put his seatbelt on. Then he leaned over to me for a soft kiss.
I still wasn't sure what was going on, nor did I care at this second, Chris was playing with my hand and I was content to just sit here, but we'd pulled up to my parents house. We unbuckled and got out, Chris and Stubby had on sunglasses, hoping that they wouldn't cause a riot in the quiet, cozy Kalamazoo neighborhood we lived in. We made it to the door without alarm.
Sara and I set down our book bags, we'd have a week to do our homework, mom and dad where due home around five.
"Don't you ladies think you should do homework?" Stubby asked. "Might want to have it done before you're parents get home," Stubby said, winking at Sara. I gagged and Chris chuckled. Sara took her bag to her room, where she normally did her homework, I did mine at the table in the kitchen.
"Hey, Jess," Chris said, "where's the TV remote? We'll watch television until you're done with homework."
I told him where it was and then set down to do my homework. It figured, my boyfriend was in town, for who knows how long and he was forcing me to do homework, well, when my parent's walked in they where not surprised to see Stubby and Chris eating our food, watching our TV, just acting like normal teens, they where surprised to find Sara and I doing our homework.
Mom started dinner while I finished up homework. I cleared my stuff up once I was done, while Chris and Stubby, yes you heard me right, Chris and Stubby helped my parents set the table and get things ready for dinner. Finally we set down, Chris was beside me, Stubby beside Sara, mom was at one end and dad was at the other, Chris and Stubby had been placed closer to my mother.
"I talked to your mother, Chris, she mentioned you'd be here, she said to be nice, but gave me permission to touch either of you if you got out of hand," my mom said in a joking way, but eyeing the boys anyways. Chris and Stubby smiled but looked nervous. So, that's why they where sitting closer to her than my father.
"So, are you girls, looking forward to break," my father asked.
"Mr. Olsen, we haven't gotten around to telling them," Chris said.
"Chris, I've told you to call me Dean, and you need to tell them, they need to get packed."
I looked questioningly at my parents and the two guys that where sitting near my mother.
"We flew over here, because you and Sara are accompanying us to Tokyo, for spring break," Chris said. No way my parent's would agree, wait, he'd said we where, it was a done deal.
"You two need to pack, Chris is flying us to Hollywood to visit your grandmother. We're packed, but you two need to."
We where going to Tokyo for spring break, my mouth was still open and Sara's was identical. Our parents where flying as far as Hollywood than Chris and I and Stubby and Sara where flying the rest of the way, I couldn't comprehend.
"Girls, you need to get packing, we are leaving at five, thankfully Chris has a private plane, you girls will probably sleep the whole way there, boy's you know where the guest room is, no doors are to be shut on the girls rooms if you are in there," dad said, the boy's nodded. Mom and dad where cool about Chris and Stubby flying in every once and awhile and let them crash here, but they weren't cool enough to allow us to have the boy's in the room and the doors shut.
Sara was the first to recover, she got up and took her and Stubby's dishes to the kitchen, a first for her. I followed suit, and went to my room, dad went and grabbed our luggage, he keep it in our garage on a high shelf. I called Mary first.
"Hey," Mary said.
"Come over?"
She agreed and was there before I shut the phone it seemed.
"Who's black SUV?" Mary asked as she walked in, she lived just across the street, so she was here fast. "What are you packing for?"
"Hey, Mary," Chris said as he walked in, drying his hands on his jeans. People didn't realize Chris was a normal teen in most respects, he was a bit messy, rarely used towels to dry his hands, little things like that made him seem normal.
"Hey, Chris, didn't know you where coming in, Jess didn't mention it."
"Didn't know," I said, Chris set down on the bed with me.
"Yea, I flew in to surprise her, her and Sara are going to Tokyo with Stubby and I for break."
"Tokyo, like Japan, that's awesome," Mary said. "Oh, heard about you're concert in Grand Rapids, score me a back stage pass?"
Mary was a fan, the first time she'd meet Chris, she'd fainted, after that, they'd become decent friends, they'd even exchanged numbers, though it was rarely used.
"Always," Chris smiled, he was good about getting me back stage passes for my close friends and me. Mary smiled and started helping me pack, she'd hold up a shirt, Chris and I would decide and then it either was folded or thrown back in my closet, I'd worry about the discarded clothes after we got back.
Mary left around ten that night. Chris picked out a movie and we put it on, the next thing I knew, mom was in the room telling us it was time to get up, I groaned, it was three that morning, it was a private plane, why did we have to leave at a certain time, than I realized I wanted as much time in Japan as possible. It wasn't everyday I'd get to go. Well, dating Chris was different, but still going to another country, not something that happened everyday.
We loaded everything in the van and Sara and I where loaded in the SUV, Chris was in the back with me, Stubby was in driver's seat. Sara in the passengers seat. I stayed awake as we drove to the airport, the six of us shuffled into the airport, reporters where not present, either they didn't know Chris was here, or they where still asleep like most people. I opted for the latter idea.
We waited for the time we could board the plane, the plane was running just a bit behind schedule, so we had to wait, but only thirty minutes. We where finally allowed on the plane, I was almost asleep. The interior was beige and plush. I set down and put my lap belt on. Chris set down next to me and I fell asleep on his shoulder.
Some point that night, or morning, my seat was reclined and a blanket was thrown over me. Chris and I had held hands through most of our time asleep, and I woke up as we where landing in Hollywood. We'd be able to get off for a few minutes to grab breakfast from Grandma who was meeting us at the airstrip. She'd agreed to cook breakfast for us and bring it to us when she picked mom and dad up.
After we landed I got off and stretched my legs, getting off and running to give Grandma a hug.
"How's my Jessie?" Grandma asked, I answered and held her close for a few, than I moved on to Howard. I gave him a hug and talked to him for a few minutes. Sara, Stubby and Chris gave Grandma hugs and Howard received a hug from Sara and handshakes from the boys. Then Grandma handed over the food, my stomach rumbled immediately.
"Thanks, Grandma," Sara said, then it was time to say our good byes. We bade each of them good bye and got back on the plane.
After we where in the air, the stewardesses took the food and started filling our plates. I thanked them as I got my plate. I devoured the food, it was so good, Grandma had done a great job.
I pulled out my current book that I was reading, and noticed Stubby and Sara where already back asleep in the reclining double seat, they where holding each other. I was glad Sara had finally found somebody who was amazing to her, she'd had some pretty crappy boyfriends in the past and I hated it each time she'd come home crying after they'd dumped her for a newer model, I didn't see Stubby doing that.
"Penny for you're thoughts?" Chris asked.
"Thinking about Sara, I'm glad she found Stubby, I hate to admit it, but I do love Sara, and each time she'd come home after learning about her current boyfriend cheating or them dumping her, my heart broke, that's why I was so invasive to you when we first meet, I didn't want to get hurt and you being a celebrity, I stupidly stereotyped you. I mean, you where dating Alexis Bender, remember how shallow she was."
He laughed, "at least she had the decency to break up with me before that night's date, I didn't hear it over the television or anything. But I'm glad she was the dumper, that made me feel less guilty over falling for you. Personally, I think I got the best deal, though." He leaned over and kissed me. The kiss was soft, than it got deeper, soon we where making out.
I finally broke away, though it was nice to make out with my boyfriend, we never seemed to get to do it often enough. "Well, last I heard, Alexis is still trying to find the one."
"Yes, she can't keep a new man for longer than two weeks before they cheat on her."
We laughed and a short time later, Chris was passed out, his head resting lightly on my shoulder, I flipped my book open and read.
Ten hours later, we touched down in Japan, I tried to figure out what time it was, I knew we where now fifteen hours ahead of Kalamazoo. We'd left Kalamazoo fourteen hours ago at six am. That should mean it's eight that night in Kalamazoo, and it's fifteen hours ahead here, so eleven am? I asked the flight attendant, she agreed to my time, so it was eleven am, I still wasn't sure what day it was. Sunday, the flight attendant told me. Problem solved.
"Well," Chris said, taking my hand, "are you ready for the best spring break of your life?"
"With you, I'm not sure it's going to be the best, but it's going to be the best so far," I laughed. Chris joined me. Stubby and Sara where coming up behind us, Sara was still yawning.
Finally we got off the plane, fans and press where waiting, I waited for Chris to release my hand, but he didn't. He wasn't ashamed to hold my hand, I wondered what the press would say with Sara and I not having a chaperone, than I spotted Chris's mother, that's why my parent's had agreed, Chris's parent's where here.
"Hi, Mrs. Wilde," I said as we got closer to her, she didn't say a word as she ushered us in the waiting limo.
"Jess," she said after we where all safely in the limo, "you can call me Sherry and my husband Daniel, who is at the hotel waiting. We are the cool parent's though, Chris and Stubby have the adjoining room to ours, we're actually moving into what would have been the girl's room. Sara and Jessica's parent's aren't to know."
We nodded and where off.
Chris had five concerts in Japan, one each night starting Monday, during the day though, we where free until five when Chris had sound check.
We got to the hotel that first day and stayed in, trying to get our body use to Japan time. We called it an early night that night, but the next day, we where off running. Chris had some publicity things he had to do, which Sara and I where welcome at, then we took off to the Tokyo National Museum. It was amazing, it held so many ancient artifacts, we spent the entire day there, at five we had to rush to make it to Chris's sound check.
We lounged around the green room while Stubby and Chris did sound check, trying to figure out what Chris should wear, oh would he be surprised when he saw what be had picked out. It was simple but very cute, it would make him look hot, in my opinion and the opinion of hundred's of teenaged girls, whom I wouldn't be jealous of.
"Hey," Chris said as he came in, he gave me a kiss and we went to his dressing room, while Stubby and Sara went to Stubby's room.
"So, how was sound check?"
"Boring, it's always boring when you aren't there," Chris said as he wrapped his arms around my waist, giving me a deep kiss. We stayed like that for a few moments, before reality snapped us back and Chris had to start getting ready for the show. I pouted momentarily, Chris dropped another kiss on my lips and turned me around, while he striped and changed jeans.
I turned back around after he had his jeans on, but his chest, well I could stare at it all day and still not have it memorized. I walked closer to my shirtless boyfriend, we'd never been as far as letting our hands roam other than our bellies. Even then it ended before it got to much that way.
I placed my hands on his chest, his abs rippled under my touch, I liked the feel, I ran my hands down his abs, before removing them and handing him a shirt.
"God, women, you don't know what you do to me, when you do that."
"I do believe I hear you're adoring fans chanting for you. Break a leg," I said, as he walked out of the room, blowing me a kiss.
I flipped the television on, his concert was being shown back here. Sara walked back in as Stubby started his song 'Party Up'. Chris would pop up in the middle of the stage from below, then he'd go into 'Shades' with Stubby, then they'd do another few song's, than Stubby would leave and come watch the show with Sara and me, while Chris did solo song's.
I saw Chris pop up, and I decided I was getting hungry, I wanted junky food, not the good stuff that was in the green room. So I went to the concession area of the arena. I got past the guards and grabbed what I wanted, Chris was up on stage, singing 'Something About The Sunshine'. I walked back to the guards, the fans where screaming for Christopher Wilde, I barely got through the guards. The fans where trying to show the guards fake backstage passes, they claimed that theirs where just like mine, even I could clearly see a difference.
"Nacho's?" I asked Sara and Stubby, Stubby had just gotten off stage and was changing clothes, he'd be back on stage shortly rapping another few songs with Chris.
The rest of the week passed, we spent the day's visiting tourist attractions, visiting with U.S. soldier's that where stationed there, seeing sumo wrestling, that was so much fun. Then it was time to head back to the real world, Chris would be going stateside for the rest of his concert, his first being the one in Grand Rapids, so my mom had agreed to let him stay until the concert. Both him and Stubby.
The upside, the weekend after the Grand Rapids concert was prom at McKinley High, and Chris was my date. Stubby was taking Sara. It would be a great night.
We where on the plane heading to pick up my parents, time was slow, I didn't want my time with Chris was drawing to a close, after prom he was leaving for St. Louis, then heading his way west towards his last concert in Hollywood. Then he'd be working on his new CD. I wondered when my poor boyfriend would every get some sleep.
Speaking of sleep, Sara and Stubby where passed out, Chris was rubbing my feet, I knew he wanted to tickle them, but he was being nice.
"Hey, I got something I want to ask you," Chris said.
He pulled a small box out of his pocket. My jaw dropped.
"Hey, it's not an engagement ring."
I nodded, this was so sweet.
"Well, do you promise that you will marry me someday?"
"Yes, I love you, Christopher Wilde." It was the first time I'd ever said the words. But I knew they where true, and I knew he felt the same way.
"Jessica Olsen, I love you, more than words can ever speak." He leaned in and kissed me. Then he slipped the ring on my finger, it was a soft pink stone, I didn't know the name for, with a gold band, very simple, but very important to me. We kissed for awhile longer than I sleep for the rest of the trip.
And I mean the whole trip, I didn't wake up when we landed in Hollywood, I sleep strait through that, missing seeing my grandma. I finally woke up when we where only thirty minutes from landing in Kalamazoo. That's when I decided to show my parents the ring.
"Mom, dad, Chris gave me a promise ring." I showed them the ring, Sara ohed and awed over it as well, Chris had his arm slung around my shoulders, Stubby was doing the same with Sara.
We touched down at three in the afternoon on Sunday, just hours before I'd have to go to bed to be rested for school.
We all relaxed that afternoon, then it was time for bed, the boys crashed in the spare bedroom. I slept hard that night, the alarm went off way to early, and I was up and on my way to school.
"Jess," Mary said as she slid into the car, we'd been granted permission to take 'Sara' the black SUV from Stubby the night before. "How was Japan?"
"The best, I'll show you the pictures later we don't have them on the hard drive yet. Oh and Chris gave me a promise ring." I told her everything that I could tell her in the twenty minutes that we had before we got to school.
I hopped out of the SUV after Sara had parked it, I saw old friends and greeted them, most where excited about the Christopher Wilde concert that was next weekend, and then prom. Danni was super excited, she'd gotten second row seats to the concert.
I hated not telling her about Chris and I, but we wanted a low-profile life. We knew things would get bad when the press heard about us moving in together in August.
"I can't believe you don't want to go," Danni was saying at lunch, she still didn't understand why I wasn't head over heels in love with Christopher Wilde. I didn't mention that I was in love with Chris Wilde.
He really was two different people at times, Chris Wilde, the man I loved, than Christopher Wilde, the man million's loved. That man keep a fairly clean low key life, but tended to fight with the paparazzi if they messed with him or somebody he loved. Chris was a messy, passionate, sometimes impulsive man.
I reassured Danni that I didn't want to go, I told her tickets where to much, I hoped I didn't run into her at the show, but I figured I wouldn't. I'd just say I won the passes at a special event.
"I hate talking about the concert when you can't go," Danni said.
"Oh, don't worry about Jess, she'll watch it or something," Mary said as she came and set down next to us. "In the mean time I'll enjoy the passes I won."
"You got backstage passes?"
That launched Danni into a new round of chatter. I listened while secretly texting Chris. He was being grilled by my parents about everything that happened in Japan. I wished him luck and told him I couldn't wait to see him after school.
Tonight was the night of the concert, Sara, Mary and I rode with the guys to Grand Rapids. The boys where in a joking mode, we all where laughing, Chris had gotten us a limo for the concert. It was going to be a good night.
Fan's where lined up out side the arena, already trying to get in to a concert that hadn't had a sound check yet. I saw a few people I knew from school, Danni was wearing a 'Kiss Me, Christopher Wilde' shirt, we laughed at that, but I knew I'd been right about not telling her about Chris.
The green room was stocked with lot's of food, including junky food, which I loved. The food was for Chris and his guest and the crew, bottles of water where there, along with soda. This green room was by far my favorite.
Then it was concert time, I walked with Chris to the tunnel that would allow him to pop out of the stage, he gave me a kiss and got positioned.
"I love you, Olsen," he said.
"I love you, Wilde," I said and he started his way up to the stage, I walked back to the green room.
The concert went well, he'd gotten called back for a second encore. I watched him from the wing of the stage on the second one, he'd sung 'What You Mean to Me', a song he said was about us. He said his final goodbye's and came back, he wrapped his arm around me and we walked back to his dressing room.
We walked in on Stubby and Sara kissing, and I don't mean an innocent kiss, this was one that was powerful and passionate, and Stubby's shirt was off.
I coughed, they looked up, Sara blushed. Then waved her hand in front of me.
"We're engaged," Sara said, on her ring finger was a diamond ring. It was cut in the shape of a heart and a gold band. I hugged Sara. I couldn't believe she was engaged.
Sara and I went to the restroom, she didn't want to leave me, she told me about how it had happened, it came as a total surprise to her, the words had just fallen out of Stubby's mouth, she said. I couldn't even enjoy the restroom in peace, Sara talked the whole time, but I was really happy for her, she'd finally found that special person.
She was still chattering when I walked back into Chris's dressing room, but she shut up and my heart dropped to the floor, somebody with blond hair was kissing Chris and he wasn't struggling to get out of it. I ran out of the room, past Stubby, past the security guards, past Mary, past the fan's, I heard my name a few times and finally found a friend from school who offered to give me a ride home.
That hour trip was the longest I'd ever had, I keep seeing Chris kissing that blond and liking it. I cried myself to sleep that night.
Sara tried to talk to me, Chris and Stubby both tried to talk to me, I wouldn't have it, Chris ended up having to get a hotel. The only thing I did that weekend was listen to my iPod. The only thing I had to say to Christopher was that he could have his ring back. Which I threw at him.
Monday at school was horrible, I found out who had kissed Christopher. Danni had managed to sneak into his dressing room and had attacked him, she claimed he wiggled so much, she took that as he was enjoying the kiss, I had to be excused from the conversation, I ended up getting sick after that and had to go home. Stubby came and picked me up. Stubby didn't try to talk to me about what had happened, nor did I bring it up, I knew he'd seen the kiss, he knew why I was upset.
Prom came, I didn't go, I couldn't. Christopher showed up at the house to take me, I locked my door and yelled at him to leave me alone. He did. He left me alone, for along time.
Sara and Stubby's wedding was set for August 2nd, than she'd be moving out to Hollywood with him, I was moving into the dorms at the film school out there. I just had to get through my high school graduation.
Mom and dad had a party for Sara and I, I plastered a smile on my face and faked having a good time. I received a card from Christopher, I opened it, it said how he was sorry and that I could call him, anytime, he'd pick up, we needed to talk about what had happened. Taped to the inside of the card was my ring. I pocketed it, promising to throw it down the drain later.
I didn't, I put it in my jewelry box, and forgot about it.
"Jessica Olsen," I snapped out of my thoughts as my principal called my name, I walked across the stage and received my diploma. I heard cheers as I accepted it, then I heard the same cheers as Sara got hers.
I attended the graduation party that the school was having that night with Sara and Stubby, who'd flown in for the ceremony, he didn't speak of Christopher. I saw Danni, who was still talking about that kiss she'd gotten from Christopher Wilde. I'd heard it enough time's. I was tired of hearing about it. I marched up to her, Stubby and Sara right behind me.
"How dare you, how dare you keep talking about that damn kiss, it's been a week. Has he called you? Has he in any way tried to contact you so that you could have a date?"
"Well no, but he's busy with his tour, I totally understand.."
"What about his girlfriend," I said, Mary had come over, in fact, most of the class was there. "What about the girl in his life, the one who was promised to him, did you think about how she felt?"
"He didn't have a girlfriend."
"Yes, he did, everybody at this school with the exception of you, knew who he was dating, who I was dating. That's right, Christopher Wilde was my boyfriend, up until you kissed him and broke my heart."
I walked away, demanding the keys to the car, Mary left with me. We went to get some food from the diner. We didn't talk much, I just let tears slip from my eyes. I was still in love with Chris, and I don't think I'd ever get over him.
"Sara, you look perfect, Stubby's going to die when he see's you," I said. It was the day of her wedding, my heart should have been more into it, but it was breaking because in just a few moment's time I'd see Christopher for the first time in over three months. We'd never talked about what had happened, yet today I'd be required to talk and be social with him, he was the best man, I was the maid of honor.
"Jess, just talk to him, he's been a train wreck since you left him. I saw what happened after you left, he pushed Danni off and ran after you, but he couldn't find you."
I shook my head, I couldn't talk to him, the hurt was still to new, the pain that I couldn't trust Christopher, it was all to hard for me.
"He was at graduation, did you know that, he was hiding under a disguise. Grandpa's old hat, and sunglasses. He was there for you, even though you'd torn his heart in pieces, he still came to see you. Jess, you really need to think about what he mean's to you. He love's you and you love him, I know it."
"Time to line up girls," dad said as he came in to get Sara, I gulped as Sara squeezed my hand.
Tara, one of Sara's friends was first to start walking, than came Macy, than me, I started with my left foot, slowly, I commanded myself, I tried to look down, but I ended up searching for him, there he was standing next to Stubby in a tux. He looked like he hadn't sleep in the last twenty four hours, Stubby on the other hand looked well refreshed, he smiled at me and I smiled back as I took my spot.
Sara reached the front and was handed off by our father, he wiped a tear away. To him this signaled the loss of both of his girls, we where both leaving home shortly, Sara today, she and Stubby where heading to the Bahamas' for a two week honeymoon before school started, I was leaving in a few weeks for Hollywood and film school.
"I do," Sara said, I'd been that lost in my thoughts, that I'd miss the first bit of the ceremony.
"I do," Stubby said, with that, the minister pronounced them husband and wife and Stubby kissed Sara. I clapped as he did, giving my best wolf whistle, something I'd told Sara years ago I was going to do at her wedding. Of course I hadn't thought I'd been nursing my own broken heart.
Sara turned to me to get her bouquet, I gave her a quick hug. Then they started down the aisle, Christopher extended his arm and I took it, not wanting to ruin this night.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Shut up, we are here for Stubby and Sara, not to hash over old memories."
He shut up, for a few anyways, until we where down the aisle and then he pulled me into the ladies room.
"Jessica, don't tell me to shut up, I fucked up, you saw another girl kissing me, I hated every second of it, I thought of you the whole time. I tried to break the kiss off, but she was strong."
His eyes bore into mine, or tired, I wasn't looking at his face, my eyes where on the floor, and he didn't like that. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look in his eyes.
"I love you, Jessica Olsen, it's always been you, never that blond bimbo who kissed me, you Jess, always," with that he crashed his lips down on mine. I stood frozen for a second then I wrapped my arms around his neck while he picked me up and set me on the sink. He broke it. "Damn, if this wasn't a church, I'd have my wild ways with you."
"I'm still upset at you. And no song can fix that."
"I'm not that cheesy anymore. I understand you're upset, would it be better if I found a man out there for you to kiss so we could each be upset at each other?"
"No, I should have talked to you before now, I should have believed in the love we felt. I'm so sorry, can you forgive me?"
"Can we work past this, I was never mad at you. I love you, Jess, can we work past this?"
"I think so, now kiss me." He did and we where interrupted by the bride.
"Guy's are you done, cause I can't keep the party goers much longer from the rest room." She ducked back out.
"I paid Stubby and Sara to guard the bathroom while we talked. Now, were where we?" He kissed me again, and again and again. Finally I fixed my hair and we walked out hand in hand, Sara and Stubby applauded. The girls all sighed, Christopher Wilde was off the market once again.
Chris didn't let go of me once during the reception. We had to rearrange the seats, Chris was originally suppose to sit by Stubby, but he refused to be two people away from me, so Stubby and Sara scooted down one and Chris was between me and Macy. I was up first for toast.
"Sara, I'm so proud to be your baby sister, you've taught me so much over the last few years. I know I haven't been the best sister, my attitude has been pretty sucky over the last few months, but I'm proud of you today. Stubby, treat her well, cause she's really one in a million, and there aren't many girls like her."
I sat down and it was Chris's turn.
"Stub, we've been friends since kindergarten, I've watched you go between girls, but as soon as you saw Sara, you knew she was the one. I'm really glad that you found each other, and I'm really glad that with you finding Sara, it lead me back to Jess, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you are allowing me to do today."
I wondered what he meant, than I knew as soon as he dropped to one knee. I blinked rapidly.
"Jessica Olsen, I love you and I've already asked you're parents. So, will you marry me?"
I nodded and he opened the ring box, but it was empty.
"Missing something?" Sara asked, she held out my ring. "Chris, you don't know what I went through to get this ring."
Chris took the ring and slid it on my finger. He stood up pulling me up and we kissed. Then the dancing began, Sara insisted we share in the first dance, which we did, than Chris and Stubby sang a few songs, than Chris and I bowed out for the rest of the evening, going back to his hotel room.
He'd snagged some champagne and things where amazing that night. Sara sent me a text.
Oh, my little sister, I'm so proud of you, but if you interrupt my honeymoon, I swear there will be fireworks when we get back to Hollywood with you. Oh, Chris and Stubby are now living together, so guess I'm living with you as well. That is if you are moving into Chris's. Love you, oh and enjoy your night, I managed to get mom and dad okay with you sneaking off with your fiancée. They will be a lot more lenient on you now that your engaged. Love you again.
I smiled, I text her back, telling her that things where amazing, but we couldn't wait until our wedding night, I knew she knew what I meant. My life was perfect.
"Hey, you," I said to Chris as he walked in. "CJ asleep?"
Christopher Jr. was our first child, he was starting kindergarten tomorrow. I couldn't believe how fast he was growing up. Sara and Stubby's first born was starting tomorrow as well.
Chris and I had been married just three months after he'd proposed, during my Thanksgiving break, we couldn't wait much longer, That had been five years ago. I'd finished film school and was working with Chris as his director for his music video's.
Chris was now 23 and I was turning 21 in a few days. We where having a big birthday party for me, but I wouldn't be drinking.
I sat my laptop on the floor as Chris set down on the bed, putting his hand on my protruding belly, which held our second child, a little girl we wanted to name Barbara Sherry after our mother's. He rubbed the mound and I moaned, I'd been so sore and I was having a few cramps. I was just waiting for the contractions to be seven to five minutes apart before I told Chris I was in labor, I'd already put everybody else on red alert. Mom and dad where now living out here with us, they had a place not to far from grandma and Howard.
"I love you, Jess Wilde."
"I love you, too, Chris Wilde, and I can't believe that I was the one to get you, everyday, I- ow," I said as a contraction ripped through me, seven minutes after the first one. "Chris, we need to go to the hospital."
I smiled as Chris started grabbing everything, then got in the car and started driving off, while I was still in the house, I smiled, he'd done this when CJ had been born. Give him a few moments and he'd notice I wasn't in the car, Chris's car pulled back into the drive, he'd finally realized I wasn't in the car, I waddled down to the car.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly. I smiled as another contraction ripped through me. I added another thing to my list of qualities that the real Chris Wilde had. Forgetfulness. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3492 | They belong to Marvel. I ain't makin a cent.
I'm branching out guys. Trying my hand at writing other X-Men characters...with the fine assistance of my galpal grrl4vic.
The dark figure moved silently through the lower level of the mansion, negotiating the corridors with a knowledge not borne from familiarity. The intruder stopped at a large steel door, the words Danger Room signed above it. Fingertips danced lightly across a keypad, easily breaking the unknown code.
The door hummed as it slid open, and the figure moved quickly. Crossing to the main control panel, the trespasser disabled the security system, unlocking the interior doors. As a side door opened, the figure moved with surety through it, stopping a few feet from a manacled giant.
Sabretooth. Victor Creed. The mutant assassin was chained to the basement wall, currently a "guest" of the X-Men. He had come to the mansion seeking solace after the death of his sidekick Birdy. Birdy. His prisoner. His lover. Supplier of the "glow", the incomparable telepathic rush that erased all horror of his monstrous acts. He had been lost after her death. A pitiful junkie begging at the mansion door for a psychic hand-out.
The X-Men had promptly and rightfully imprisoned him instantly.
He stood against the wall eyeing his visitor. His powerful body restrained at wrist and ankle with heavy eighteen inch chains. He raised a curious eyebrow. He was not afraid. The scent of the person before him was as familiar as his own.
"Well", he growled softly. "Look who's back from the dead."
The slender form pulled the knit hood from their head in a fluid motion. Blonde hair fell softly to slim shoulders.
His dead assistant stood before him in the flesh.
"Hey boss."
Birdy hesitated, keeping several feet between them. They stared intensely at each other. Creed shook his wrists, making the chains rattle.
"Come ta see the chained monster?, he whispered, his voice acid with hate. "Like the freak-show Birdy.?"
Birdy was nervous. She spoke quickly. "I've got all the systems disabled except for the wall restraints. They must be on a separate line." She took a deep breath and moved within his reach. She wrapped her slender arms suddenly up and around his neck, and pressed her face to his chest.
"I never meant for this to happen. I can't stand to see you like this."
Creed's instinct was to hurt her. Just extend his claws and bury them in her throat. But he was momentarily stunned by her touch. The warmth of her body and the sweet smell of her hair. He remained tense, the chains straining at the wall. But he lowered his head slightly, nuzzling against her face He felt her telepathic intrusion and he opened his mind to share his thoughts..and receive hers.
The brooding figure watched the monitor with rapt attention. It's green glow casting a ghostly pale on his hard features. He watched with a voyeuristic focus, amazed, bemused. He observed the exchange far longer than a sentry would have. Jeanne had woken him within moments of the blonde girl's invasion. But he was fascinated by the duo's apparent reunion.
Logan stood, rolling his corded neck until the joints popped. He stretched his arms and flexed his hands, which cracked loudly in the silent room.
"Time's up moll. Visitin's hours over."
Logan felt the adrenaline surge through him as he moved down the corridor toward Creed's improvised cell. He was sorry the bastard was chained up. No excuse to hurt the prick while he was helpless. But the girlfriend had better not start any trouble....
His head turned sharply at the sound of the girl's cry. His claws extended as he ran towards the room.
Creed was leaning hard against his chains. They groaned in protest from the force of his body, but remained attached. He was standing and laughing at the surprised girl sitting at his feet. Birdy scrambled back quickly and stood a safe distance from him. Her voice quivered with emotion.
'It's not like that boss. I only wanted to help you."
She turned as Logan entered the room.
'Damn!" she said in an annoyed tone, as if he were a servant interrupting a private moment.
"What are you doing here?"
Logan laughed at the outrageous question, and at the sight of the frustrated Creed and his inept rescuer. He retracted his claws.
The blast came suddenly, as if a hot wave had washed over him, starting at this ear, whipping across his face. It was instinct that moved him. He lowered his shoulder and surged his weight against the girl, propelling both of them across the room and into the wall. Birdy's head and shoulder cracked against the barrier. Her eyelids fluttered briefly, and she sank to the floor. Logan collapsed on top of her, his mind clouded, his ears ringing.
After a few moments, his head cleared. He heard the sound of laughter.
"Nice job runt! Whadja forget she was a telepath? Let your guard down?"
Logan rolled off the girl. He stood slowly, pressing one hand against the wall for support. He
hit the manual alarm switch, even as he heard faint footsteps hurrying down the hall.
"Hey Birdy" Creed taunted cheerfully, "Didn't I tell ya about the X-Mens brand of hospitality?"
'Shut the fuck up psycho!", Logan growled as he examined Birdy. The shoulder looked dislocated. He didn't know about the face.
Scott entered the room, his hand ready to trigger his visor. Upon seeing the prone girl, he used his beeper to signal Dr. McCoy. Logan spoke in low tones, explaining the girls presence. Creed's tirade continued.
"Whadya think skirt? You betray me and I'm gonna give you a big, wet one when ya show up?"
Logan lunged suddenly, shoving Creed hard against the wall, his claws pressed against the bigger man's throat.
"I said shut the fuck up psycho!"Creed was breathing hard, but his voice was cold.
"I ain't a little girl runt. You'll havta do better than that to hurt me."
Logan smiled slightly at Creed's challenge. He got a grip on his anger. He retracted his claws and stepped away from his nemesis.
Hank McCoy was examining the X-Men's new guest. He unrolled a stretcher and motioned for Logan's assistance.
"Please Logan..I'm quite sure Sabretooth will be available to torment you tomorrow. In the mean time..?"
Logan glanced at Scott, who was busy resetting the security system. He moved over to the girl and physician, and crouched down next to them. Together, he and Hank gently moved the girl to the stretcher.
Creed had been quiet while he watched them tend to his former assistant He called to Logan as they carried her from the room.
'Why doncha just leave her with me? I can take care of her for ya some trouble."
Logan and McCoy ferried the injured girl out of the room, ignoring Creed's laughter. Logan almost wished he could. He didn't miss the look of reproach in Hank's eyes. The girl may have tried to scramble Logan's brains, but all Hank saw was a pretty, young girl that might just die as a result of tangling with the Wolverine. This was already a mess. Logan groaned his disgust as they carried her to the elevator.
They could still hear Creed's baritone. Laughing, angry.
"You can't trust her runt. She's a wicked girl, I tell ya. Not to be trusted."
The men and unconscious girl entered the elevator. The sound of Creed's mocking voice disappearing only as the doors closed behind them. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3493 | The young Ravenclaw girl sleeping at the table was stirred by the rattling library windows. Luna rubbed her eyes, and stood up.
I must have fallen asleep, she thought as she collected her books. It must be nearly midnight.
Luna strolled down the dark hallway toward her common room when she heard a noise. She stopped and looked back into the shadows. Her fingers slipped into her pocket and grabbed a large red rock. She'd thought it looked interesting when she'd picked it up. Now she was glad she had.
Luna held the rock tightly and moved forward one step. A shuffle of feet was heard as though someone was standing up.
"Ow!" a voice yelped, and a thud came as the person fell back to the ground. Luna looked back to her hand to find that the rock was no longer in it. Oops.
"Lumos," the blond girl muttered, and the shape of Neville Longbottom was illuminated on the floor. "What are you doing?" Luna asked with a curious glint in her eye.
"I forgot the password. Everyone else is asleep, so no one is here to let me in." Neville scooted back against the wall, and picked up one of his books with a sigh.
Luna cocked her head to the side, as if pondering something, then promptly sat down on the floor next to Neville.
"Wha-" Neville began. "Well I suppose I can't leave you here by yourself." Luna stated matter-of-factily.
She pulled out the lastest edition of the Quibbler and began to read. Neville focus on his herbology books, glancing over Luna's shoulder when she pointed out something interesting.
Hours passed and morning came. Hermione Granger stepped out of the Gryffindor common room to find a small crowd gathered in the hall.
"What's all the commotion for?" She asked Harry and Ron, who were at the back of the crowd. "See for yourself," Ron chuckled with a grin.
Hermione cut throught the crowd to see Neville Longbottom and "Looney" Luna Lovegood sitting on the floor. Both were fast asleep, books in hand, leaning on each others shoulders. A small smile could be seen on the face of both Neville and Luna.
Giggles and Awww's spread through the crowd before they dismissed the scene to go to breakfast. "Don't you think we 'ought to wake them?" Harry asked as they walked away. "Nah," said Ron. "Let 'em sleep."
And they did. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3494 | You and Me
Puck/ Sam E
Rating: K
This is my first time to write slash. It popped into my head. Let me know what you think.
Puck's head hurt. A lot. And he had to pee. And it felt like something had died in his mouth and was decomposing. Aspirin would be good, and a bathroom, not necessarily in that order. He groaned and started to roll off the bed. Except he couldn't move.
Puck looked down to see why he couldn't move, only to find he couldn't see either. The panic of that realization woke him up enough to remember that he had to open his eyes before he could see anything. He groaned again, squinting against the light; even his eyelashes hurt. Eyes open this time, Puck looked down to see why he couldn't move. An arm was holding him tightly around the waist. A very male arm.
Huh. Puck squirmed a bit, turning as best he could to the left. He visually followed that arm up to a man's chest, though Puck didn't immediately grasp that the tickling sensation on his shoulder was being caused by chest hair. Puck lay there blinking for a moment, trying to make his brain work. He decided that his partner's soft snores were not helping his headache.
Puck was almost sure he knew who was in bed with him. The only problem was he was going to have to roll towards the snores for confirmation. He thought about keeping it a surprise until he could get to the bathroom, but another attempt at getting out of bed just got him pulled more firmly back in. Plan B it was.
It took some poking and wriggling, but Puck finally managed to wind up facing his partner. Which wasn't all terrible, morning breath aside. Puck just wished he could remember how he and Sam had wound up in bed together, naked. He sighed and tried to roll away onto his back. Still sound asleep, Sam let out a soft whimper and pulled Puck closer.
He just laid there and waited for Sam to get up and then they would talk and see where to go from there. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3495 | A/N: Hola! I found the whole iCarly/Big Time Rush concept to be quite interesting, so I decided to write this! I also was yearning to write something new(I know, I have other stories to work on, but I like me a challenge!). So, I do not own Big Time Rush(hmm, that would be fun haha) NOR do I own iCarly(oh lord, the things that would happen). Enjoy!
Sometimes, life can hand on to you pretty amazingly pleasant surprises. And sometimes, those surprises can start with something as usual as my older brother, Spencer, falling down the stairs in his haste to reach me.
"Carly," he had said before he went tumbling down the stairs like the wacky artist he was. "I got really big n—AHHH" he had been running like a wild animal, and must've skipped a step or something. He rolled down the stairs like a ball rolls down a hill.
"Spencer! Are you okay?" I ask as I run over to his body, which at the moment, I'm sure is filled with pain. He nodded and slowly got up.
"I'm alright. I fell last week, remember? I came back from the hospital with only a sprained wrist! I'm a super trooper!" he says as I wrap his arm around my shoulder and lead him over to the couch. I lay him down as the pounding of the door becomes apparent to my ears. Oh, Sam.
I run over to the door and unlock it. Normally, she would've just opened the door and let herself right in, but I finally forced her into thinking that breaking and entering was wrong. At least, I think I did.
"Hey wazzup, Carls?" Sam says to me as she walks through the door and makes her self right at home on the couch next to Spencer. She puts her feet up on his lap, and puts her arms behind her head. Spencer, who is of course, very used to this, just shrugs his shoulders and turns on the TV.
"Oh, nothing much. Spencer just fell down the stairs again," Spencer shot me a look of amusement for some odd reason. "Uh, I'm going crazy over this project we have, and before you got here, I was checking out the iCarly message boards. Come look!" I say before Sam gets off her lazy butt, and walks over to the computer and sits down in one of the red stools next to me.
We giggle as we read a message from some dude named Harold who thought that we were "Quite attractive, and had bouncy hair", and Sam felt like punching the screen when we read Kayley28's post about how she and Freddie should start dating.
"You know, it's not that bad of an idea…" I say, knowing that Sam would just flip out.
"Never, ever, ever say that to me, Shay. Since you're my best friend, I will not murder you, but if I have to, I will." Says Sam while giving me a very serious glare. I hold my hands up as if to say "Okay, okay, I understand. Please don't hurt me." Of course, Freddie decides to waltz inside the apartment out of nowhere.
"Hola, mi amigos!" Yells Freddie, happily with his laptop in his hand. I see Sam roll her eyes.
"Hey, Freddie."
"How's it going with Crazy, Freddiwiener?" Sam asks with a raised eyebrow.
"She's not crazy! At least, I don't think so…completely." He says, protectively of his wacko of a mother. Suddenly, I remember something.
"Spencer, before you almost got maimed by those stairs, what were you trying to tell me?"
"What? OH! Yeah, that…" he said as he leaned up more on the couch. He smiled and took a deep breath. "Okay, so you guys know how I'm an avid contest enterer?" he asked.
Of course, we all nodded our heads. Spencer is obsessed with winning useless junk.
"Well," he continues. "I entered in this contest to get an all expenses paid trip to Hollywood!" Yells Spencer, excitedly. Sam, Freddie, and I just exchange worried looks. Spencer notices this.
"What's wrong guys? I thought you'd be happy about this." He says with a bit of disappointment in his voice.
"Well, it's just…the last time we went to Hollywood, it didn't work out so well." I said and everyone turned to look at Sam. Because of her, the last time we went to Hollywood, we were stuck in a filthy room with rats and stinky hobos outside our window!
"No, no, no! This is different, guys! We'll be staying at the Palm Woods Hotel! Anyone whose famous stays there! We won 5 tickets! One for me, one for each of you, and we're gonna need one more person…" he says when the thought of someone bursts through my mouth.
"Gibby!" I yell, leaving everyone to stare at me like I'm some sort of weirdo. I blush a little and explain. "Gibby was supposed to go to this skiing thing with his family this weekend, but it turns out that the place closed down due to a random climate change or not enough fake snow or something." I say, looking around at my friends and brother. They all slowly nod their heads and I pick up the phone to call Gibby.
"This is gonna be really cool! I just have to go and beg my mom to let me go now. See you guys!" Freddie says, running out of the door.
I'm excited too. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that this trip is going to be one really pleasant surprise… |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3501 | Under certain circumstances you will find yourself typing similar things over and over again. This is especially true of form letters and programming language constructs. Project-specific header comments, flow-control constructs or magic numbers are essentially the same every time. Emacs has various features for doing tedious and repetitive typing chores for you in addition to the Abbrev features (see Abbrevs).
One solution is using skeletons, flexible rules that say what to insert, and how to do it. Various programming language modes offer some ready-to-use skeletons, and you can adapt them to suit your needs or taste, or define new ones.
Another feature is automatic insertion of what you want into empty files, depending on the file-name or the mode as appropriate. You can have a file or a skeleton inserted, or you can call a function. Then there is the possibility to have Un*x interpreter scripts automatically take on a magic number and be executable as soon as they are saved. Or you can have a copyright notice's year updated, if necessary, every time you save a file. Similarly for time stamps in the file.
URLs can be inserted based on a word at point. Flexible templates can be defined for inserting and navigating between text more generally. A sort of meta-expansion facility can be used to try a set of alternative completions and expansions of text at point.
Using Skeletons How to insert a skeleton into your text.
Wrapping Skeletons Putting existing text within a skeleton.
Skeletons as Abbrevs An alternative for issuing skeleton commands.
Skeleton Language Making skeleton commands insert what you want.
Inserting Pairs Typing one character and getting another after point.
Autoinserting Filling up empty files as soon as you visit them.
Copyrights Inserting and updating copyrights.
Executables Turning interpreter scripts into executables.
Timestamps Updating dates and times in modified files.
QuickURL Inserting URLs based on text at point.
Tempo Flexible template insertion.
Hippie Expand Expansion of text trying various methods.
GNU Free Documentation License The license for this documentation.
Concept Index
Command Index
Variable Index
Copyright © 1994–1995, 1999, 2001–2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
|
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3511 | 1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. E
6. F
7. G
8. H
9. I
10. J
11. K
12. L
13. M
14. N
15. O
16. P
17. Q
18. R
19. S
20. T
21. U
22. V
23. W
24. Y
25. Z
A family of Jewish patriots. In 175 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes became king of Syria and made a determined effort to stamp out the Jewish religion. At first he met with considerable success, owing partly to a Hellenizing movement among the Jews themselves, and altars were erected to Zeus in many parts of the Holy Land. Resistance began at Modin, a town near Beth-horon, where an aged priest named Mattathias, of the family of Hasmon or Chasmon, slew the sacrificers, and also the king’s officer under whose direction the altar had been erected. Mattathias was the father of five sons, and with a large body of followers took refuge among the mountains. They were attacked on the Sabbath, and thousands were slain. It was afterwards resolved to disregard the Sabbatical rule and, if necessary, to fight in self-defense. After Mattathias’s death, his son Judas, surnamed Maccabaeus, or “the hammerer,” became the leader. Several great victories were gained. The ruined temple was restored, the desecrated altar was pulled down and reconstructed, and the new altar was dedicated amid great rejoicing. In 165 B.C. a large Syrian army under Lysias invaded Palestine, the war continuing during several years with varying success. After the death of Judas in 161 B.C. his brothers Jonathan and Simon became the leaders. Jonathan was also high priest but was treacherously murdered about 144 B.C. Simon was then sole leader of the patriotic party. Under him the country enjoyed greater prosperity than at any other period after the Exile. The Jews, in gratitude for what he had done, put up in the temple a memorial tablet to Simon and his family, and he was appointed “governor and high priest for ever until there should arise a faithful prophet.” In 135 B.C. he was treacherously murdered by his son-in-law. His son, John Hyrcanus, then became high priest. He built the fortress in Jerusalem that was afterwards known as the Castle Antonia and destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. After his death the position of the family was less secure. The Herodian family were powerful rivals, and the marriage of Mariamne, a Maccabean princess, with Herod the Great in 38 B.C. marks the end of the Maccabean dynasty.
The first book of Maccabees (see Apocrypha) contains a history of events from 175 to 135 B.C. and was probably written about 100 B.C. It was written in Hebrew or Aramaic, but only a Greek translation has survived. It forms a historical document of the highest importance. The second book of Maccabees deals with the years 175–160 and therefore goes over part of the period described in the first book of Maccabees. It was written in Greek, probably by an Egyptian Jew. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3515 |
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Lessons in Freelancing: What to Do When Stiffed on Payment
One writer recounts her journey to get paid
By Janelle Harris - August 19, 2013
There's a strange dichotomy of time in the life of the average freelance writer. Your days operate around deadlines, so you rush to interview, rush to write, rush to finish and rush on to the next thing topping the perpetual to-do list. But when the work is done, there's often a slow-as-molasses timeframe for payment to materialize. Somewhere in the universe, a check with your name on it awaits, unsigned and undeposited. When it will manifest is anyone's guess.
After writing for the same magazine for years, what happens when payment becomes sporadic and you take them to small claims court? I'll tell you because it happened to me.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3541 | Propellerhead Forum
Propellerhead Forum (
- General Forum (read only) (
- - Am I at the mercy of my machine (
ryaz 2013-03-28 01:03
Am I at the mercy of my machine
So I think I've reached my Mac's limit with Reason. I'm at a point where my Mac slows down so much during playback in reason that I keep getting the dreaded "Your computer is too slow to play the song".
I have taken the advice from Propellerhead's page (can't find the link now) about the 10 ways to increase performance on Reason, which did work for a while, which until now it's giving me that message again.
I have every browser shut down and only have adium (aim) running. Also tried multiple system reboots and all the advice from that page mentioned above and freed up my disk storage to 20 gigs with no visible performance increase. I feel that I am at the mercy of the performance of my machine (not software settings) because everything starts to get SUPER choppy and even the audio starts giving out until giving me that message 1 second later.
Reason 6.5
Here are my mac's specs:
Mid 2010 Macbook Pro
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Upgraded to 8 GB RAM. (max for this model)
Also dual screening to a second monitor (not sure if that decreases performance)
The reason I'm asking is because I don't want to just assume it's because of the low RAM (compared to a maxed out iMac 32GB) and actually BUY an iMac with a RAM upgrade just to find that I'm having the same issues and just wasted a whole bunch of $$$.
So I'm wondering, is my mac n cheese just not powerful enough to handle? Not enough RAM, need stronger processor?
ANY help / advice is appreciated! I'm pretty much at a stand still in my mix, because I can't audibly listen to the mix and makes changes without having to export and listen (takes forever).
Thanks for looking!
platzangst 2013-03-28 10:07
Originally Posted by ryaz (Post 1274374)
Take my advice with a grain of salt, because I use PCs, not Mac. But in general, RAM will help only with how much data Reason can have floating around for quick access - for example, samples loaded in devices. RAM won't help your computer process the data any faster, at least not in a measurable sense. You'll need a better processor.
I am somewhat in the same boat as you, since I've been running on a dual-core AMD chip that has served me well for about 8 years, but is bogging down with some of the newer, fancier features of Reason. And now that Windows 7 is required for the upcoming Reason 7, I've been kind of forced to commit to a new machine altogether.
While there's many features that could help your Reason experience (I've heard that SSD hard drives really decrease loading and boot times, for example), and having more RAM certainly couldn't hurt, for the audio problems you describe I would concentrate on getting a better processor over any other option. The only thing besides that which could possibly help your performance is if you aren't using some form of ASIO driver for your audio. ASIO drivers generally give better performance, so if you aren't using such a driver now, you might get better results if you switch. But that's no guarantee, and if you are already using ASIO drivers then you're pretty much down to a new processor of some sort.
Rattmowe 2013-03-28 11:16
It sounds like you are at the limit of what your dual Core2 can handle.
RAM won't be a performance issue unless you have it maxed out, i.e. you have lots and lots of multisampled instruments open that require plenty of system memory. If you max out the RAM, the system starts storing the things which should be in RAM on the hard disk (this is called paging) and then things get very slow.
One other possible performance bottleneck is the hardrive itself, if you have lots of audio (and it has to be a hell of a lot) in the project, getting the data from the hard drive can be where the problem lies. You'll know this because you'll get the 'disk overload' warning LED next to the automation overide LED.
But, apart from these two possible things, the most likely thing is that your processor is not powerful enough to handle the audio rendering. The best thing to do would be to get a new computer with a quad Core i7. A dual Core i7 will give you some headroom because the i7s are quite a lot more powerful than the Core2s, but you'll run out fairly soon if your projects are already maxing out your Core2 duo.
I hit exactly the same problem, I had a MacBook (2009) with Core2 duo 2.26GHz, eventually I found it was failing on some bigger projects, I had to resort to the 'blind export' workaround you mentioned and/or bouncing down audio. I upgraded to 2.6 GHz quad i7 MacBook pro and it's great, my biggest projects don't really even pull more than 3 or 4 bars on the DSP meter.
Get 8Gb of RAM at least, Lion and Mountain Lion take up quite a lot of RAM just for the OS. I've actually upgraded mine to 16 Gb via OWC.
MrPaully 2013-03-28 13:35
Originally Posted by ryaz (Post 1274374)
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
There's your problem. I wouldn't bother with music apps on anything less than a Quad these days.
RXTX 2013-03-28 15:14
How many instruments/effects/audio tracks can you add before it craps out on you?
Nazlive 2013-03-29 03:36
I'm working on:
Macbook mid 2009
Processor 2,13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
3 Gb ddr2 800mhz ram
160gb 5400 rpm
Not many audio tracks, but every thing works smooth, especially reason.
Try a new clean install of osx, and erase your drive.
Check also your disk settings, and maybe a new harddrive with 7400rpm, or an SSD could help out. I think the processor should be fine with reason. Is your ram 2x4 or 1x8?
Nazlive 2013-03-29 03:38
From what i have read, most applications barely support duo core. Quadcore isn't giving much more performance for music. Most of it is in writing on diskspace.
dthree 2013-03-29 09:55
Yep, problem is the Core 2 Duo.
ryaz 2013-03-31 05:05
Thanks for the inputs guys. You all are correct about my processor. I tried running my song in my brother's i7 with ZERO problems. On my current mbp, I would be crap out at 95% CPU usage, however on my brother's i7, at that same point, it was only at BIG difference.
I've already placed an order for a refurnished i7 mbp and just have to wait it out til then. :D
Awesome, thanks guys!
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3554 | AAS 197, January 2001
Session 31. Solar System and The Sun
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[31.01] Uranus 2000 - New Images, New Spectra, and a New Look
H. B. Hammel (Space Science Institute), G. W. Lockwood (Lowell), K. A. Rages (SPRI/Ames), M. Marley (Ames)
A campaign to understand seasonal changes on Uranus returned a variety of results in 2000. On 5-8 June 2000, disk-resolved images and spectroscopy of Uranus at 0.8-2.5 microns were obtained at the NASA IRTF. The spectra reveal hemispheric asymmetry, and will allow discrimination of vertical aerosol models at different latitudes on the planet.
On 16-18 June, 7 August, and 9 October 2000, the Hubble Space Telescope produced visible and near-infrared images. At least six discrete features were detected, and wind speeds were measured for features as far north as +42 deg. Initial results suggest that winds are not symmetric with respect to the planet's equator.
On 9-11 August 2000, images were also obtained in the near infrared (roughly J, H, and K') with the Keck 10-m Adaptive Optics system. The Keck images show at least four discrete features roughly at latitudes. Two southern features were seen on two nights, and have wind speeds commensurate with earlier determinations for those latitudes. Two northern features were each detected on only one night, but comparison with HST data may allow accurate wind speeds to be extracted.
In both June and August 2000, the highest-contrast features were seen near +42 deg on the far northern limb (the October data are limited in longitude). Features seen in 1998, which now should be well away from the limb, are presently not detectable. One explanation is that the northernmost features are relatively short-lived, appearing briefly on the newly sunlit limb and then fading within a few years. On the other hand, features at southern midlatitudes have been consistently detected since 1994, perhaps suggesting that different mechanisms for discrete cloud formation are active on Uranus.
Support for the Keck observations was provided by NASA grant NAG5-7853; Uranus HST work is supported through NASA/STScI grants GO-08680.05-A and GO-08634.06-A.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3558 | Deanna Favre's Memoir About Beating Breast Cancer
I'm sure that Deb has heard every possible response from women as they wait for their results. She continued her explanations in a calm and professional manner, educating me about breast cancer and telling me what to expect if my biopsy revealed malignant cells. She was completely, blessedly neutral—I didn't get the feeling I had cancer, but neither did she give me false assurance.
Before the day ended, I had talked to a radiation oncologist, a plastic surgeon, and an entire cancer treatment team. Whenever I began to feel a little nervous and ask, "Do you think I might have—," someone always replied, "We certainly hope not."
Brett called my cell phone every hour, wanting to know if I knew anything. When he called around three or four in the afternoon, I told him they were doing the biopsy, but I was sure it'd be fine, no big deal. I could tell he was concerned that I was spending all day at the cancer clinic. He'd been thinking I'd be in and out in an hour or two.
Sue and I drove back to Green Bay and tried to behave as if the day had been completely ordinary. I made dinner, loaded the dishwasher, watched a little television, and went to bed. I kept telling myself that I had just lost my brother a few days ago, so there was no way I would have cancer, too. The odds were simply too great.
Just a cyst. That's surely all I had. Just a stubborn cyst.
The next morning, Brett went to work, Breleigh went to school, and I went to exercise. After I showered and dressed, I didn't want to be nervously pacing around the house and waiting for the doctor's call, so I drove to my friend Toni's house and kept my cell phone within reach.
Every time the phone rang, my heart lurched in my chest. But every time the phone rang that morning, it was Brett on the other end of the line. No matter how many times I told him I didn't expect to hear anything until after noon, he kept calling. Finally, I told him to hang up and go run some laps or something. "Study your playbook, sign some autographs, throw a few footballs. Just don't call me again until after twelve-thirty."
At five minutes past twelve, my phone rang again. I answered, half-expecting to hear Brett's voice again, but Dr. Henry was on the line.
I heard my answer in his first word: "Dear . . ."
No way.
"The biopsy shows that you do, in fact, have breast cancer."
A trembling rose from somewhere in the marrow of my bones, chilling my blood and shivering my skin. I felt as if I were standing naked in twenty-degree weather.
My mind filled with images of bald women—thin-armed, pale-faced mothers in hospital beds with their husbands and children gathered around.
A buzzing filled my ears, a sound so loud I could barely hear the man on the other end of the line. I had to force myself to concentrate on the phone against my ear.
"We'll get you an appointment for tomorrow," Dr. Henry was saying. "What time can you get here?"
I said I would be there first thing in the morning. I wanted to get this over with ASAP.
"Fine. Any questions?"
I blinked, unable to find the words to answer him. What could I say? Deb Theine had explained all the facts, but none of them had applied to me, because yesterday I didn't have cancer.
At least I didn't know I did. But hearing Dr. Henry's voice brought the truth home with stunning force. I had a loving husband, two daughters, a wonderful life. And breast cancer.
Unavoidable. True. Deadly.
Brett didn't wait until twelve-thirty. I had barely disconnected the doctor's call when my phone rang again. Without even saying hello, Brett asked, "Did you hear anything?"
When I didn't—couldn't—answer, he exhaled a jagged breath. "Oh, God."
His spontaneous prayer would have to suffice; I was too numb to pray.
"Don't Bet Against Me!: Beating the Odds Against Breast Cancer and in Life" Copyright 2007 by Deanna Favre. All rights reserved.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3605 | The SIP protocol is an Application Layer protocol designed to be independent of the underlying Transport Layer; it can run on Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), or Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP). It is a text-based protocol, incorporating many elements of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
SIP protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party (unicast) or multiparty (multicast) sessions. Sessions may consist of one or several media streams.
Other SIP applications include video conferencing, streaming multimedia distribution, instant messaging, presence information, file transfer and online games.
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pcmagdltv 032 episode (February 2, 2006)
something has gone horribly wrong 8-p
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This is episode 032 of dl.tv. Here is the episode page description:
DL.TV Episode 32 streamed live Thursday, February 2nd.
Here's the deets:
Patrick broke the Vista Beta box. it wasn't Microsoft's fault. Blame the RAID 5 array.
So we'll have our walkthu of the Windows Vista Beta on next Tuesday's show. For now, you can peruse PCMag's mad collection of Windows Vista coverage.
Worried about the Blackworm/Kama Sutra worm that's attacking systems February 3rd? You're probably safe. Update your antivirus and run a scan. For more info click on Security Watch: Blackworm Blows Up On Friday.
Game coverage? Jane Pinckard brought by Curious George. One for the kiddies. Robert picked it. Really.
We also reviewed Apple's iPod Radio Remote... great FM, but Robert says fifty bucks for an FM radio is a ripoff. We also gave our opinion on the very nifty TrafficGauge.
Patrick used it to dodge holiday traffic, his wife thinks it's great entertainment since she doesn't drive the nightmare that is Highway 101 every morning.
And, as always, plenty of hot news and more viewer questions later in the show.
Got a tech question? Send us an email at [email protected].
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3614 | x obama
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for the conservative caucus is the panama canal. their idea, roughly speaking, is we need to invade panama and talk the panama canal back because obviously, communists or something. the panama canal and up all night hair on fire fantasies about communists coming up the canal to come get us in the middle of the night, those have been around for a while, in the 1970s and the 1980s. the panama canal was the fast and furious, birth certificate, the president is a secret muslim conspiracy theory of its day. when that panama canal conspiracy theory was lighting up the tin foil hats of the generation ago, it was an ambition politician named ronal reagan who took that issue from the fringe and decide today mainstream it into national mainstream republican politics. he based his presidential campaign in part on this insane idea that the panama canal was basically an american state that we can't let the communists steal this american thing from us. he mainstreamed this paranoid far right fantasy that if we went along with our treaty obligations to let panama run its own canal, then america would seize to exi
, bain and co-people. there are also these kind of mysterious, you know, there's a geneva trustee, panama corporations. there are trusts. these are, for any tax authority around the world, these are big red flags. camp panama, i describe in the article, a u.s. customs official calling it one of the filthiest money laundering sinks in the world. this is not -- we're not talking here about u.s. investors breaking u.s. tax -- we are talking about foreigners cloaking their money in these offshore structures and the money coming in. and that just raises an awful lot of questions. you know, did those investors break their own country tax laws? are they committing tax evasion in those countries? el salvador was certainly one of the countries where a lot of those investors were coming from. you know, that was a country torn apart by class warfare and military conflict. you know, this kind of thing about tax evasion can, you know, is sort of a symptom of the kind of impunity of the elite of these countries. it raises a very sort of nasty set of questions about, you know, was that a vehicle for for
of the foreign investors' money came through corporations registered in panama. and then known for tax advantages and unusual banking secrecy. in an interview with abc news this morning, anne romney was asked to respond to thebain attacks and she came out swinging. >> i was beneath the dignity of the office of the president to do something as egregious as that. to attack somebody on that level is i believe beneath his dignity. >> nbc's senior political editor mark murray is here. he joins me now. and mark, fascinating numbers on the polls. we'll put it up there. 47-46. obama 47-41. razor thin race and obama seems to be just brought down by his handling of the economy. can't shake it. >> luke, there are two forces at play which show why the polls pretty much are the same. that this race is essentially tied or deadlocked, however you want to describe it. the economic forces keeping president obama down, but also, the fact that people aren't yet still sold on mitt romney. and these two forces are at play right now which explains why we see president obama up two or three points up in one poll. overa
says quote, most of the foreign investors' money came through corporations registered in panama. then known for tax advantages and unusual banking secrecy. but it didn't matter to romney where the money was coming from, he knew there was little risk to him in starting his investment fund. he was assured by his boss bill bain back in 1984 that starting up bain capital would be a non-risk prospect for romney. ezra klein at the washington post writes, romney would get his old job and salary back plus any raises he would have earned during his absence. and bain promised that if necessary he would craft a cover story saying that romney's return to bain and company was needed because of his value as a consultant. so there was no professional or financial risk. no professional or financial risk. that's the kind of security that's denied to most americans. there's also news today undercutting romney's claim that he left bain back in 1999 to run the salt lake city olympics. >> i had no association with the banishment of bain capital after february of 1999. that's when i left the firm. i'
importantly, i don't see pensacola, i don't see fort walton, i don't see panama city beach, not the redneck riviera. >> mcclain. >> mcclain, come on. it looks like a town where a bunch of hip peas hang out and smoke pot or something. >> you sound the way colbert drilled me one day. it's great to see you, joe, and you know i visited pensacola a number of times and worked with them on making their city and helping their institute and everything they're doing down there. and they're doing good. florida is better. i spend the winter in miami, but it's got toin ve invest a little in that technology, it's got to bring skills. huntsville does great. it may not be tuskarawas loocal it's doing great at growing its economy. >> we have a chance to grow in the next 20, 30, 40 years. if we crack the code on an energy source that's cheap enough and economical enough that we can produce it on scale and run the economy, you will see smaller college towns just like richard is talking about absolutely explode. instead of some oil taxes in sau saudi arabia or some natural gas fields in pennsylvania, you will
Excerpts 0 to 8 of about 9 results.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3643 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'm trying to dual boot my Windows 8 machine with Ubuntu 12.04 but I cannot even get to the Live CD under UEFI. I've already set my UEFI boot loader to load from the DVD drive before anything else but it keeps on loading Windows 8 first thing. I've checked that the Ubuntu installer I am using is working by setting the BIOS to legacy boot; under this setting, I can get to the Live CD but it cannot detect Windows 8---something I do not want to happen.
Just for the record, my boot order is as follows:
3. USB FDD
4. USB HDD
6. Network Boot-IPV4:
7. Network Boot-IPV6
8. Windows Boot Manager
Has anyone ran into the same problems as me for UEFI? What am I missing here?
Post-resolution update: In a rather embarassing turn of events, it appears that the Ubuntu installer I am using is not even 32-bit. There is no such thing as UEFI for 32-bit.
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up vote 0 down vote accepted
Most motherboards have an option to launch a boot manager at boot time, typically by pressing a function key (F8, F10, and F12 are all reasonably common). On many UEFI systems, this boot loader includes separate BIOS (aka legacy) and EFI/UEFI boot options for optical discs. Thus, my first recommendation is to try using this built-in boot manager.
Another option may be to disable your firmware's BIOS/legacy boot option. From your description, it sounds like you've found this option and tried setting it to BIOS/legacy mode, but if the option was set to "auto" before, setting it to "EFI" or "UEFI" might get things working.
You could also try installing rEFInd on a USB flash drive and boot from it. rEFInd should scan your system for EFI-bootable media, including optical discs, and enable you to boot them in EFI mode. The trouble is installing to the flash drive is an extra bother, and you might not have any better luck getting rEFInd to launch than you're having with the Ubuntu disc.
A fourth option is to create a USB-bootable version of the Ubuntu installer and try booting from it.
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I managed to boot from rEFInd but it does not display my optical drive (with the Ubuntu installer in it, of course) as a boot option. Are you aware of any issues like this? Anyway, I think this is another question entirely so I'm just asking a new one. – skytreader Nov 1 '12 at 8:42
I've posted a response to your subsequent query at askubuntu.com/questions/210434/…. – Rod Smith Nov 1 '12 at 16:33
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3644 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'm running a Ubuntu machine as a client, but I need to start a 3D game to get automated screenshots, but within xvfb so it does not interfere with normal computer function. However, the game is quite graphics-intensive, so within the XVFB graphical sandbox, it fails to use the GPU. When I run it on the default X server without XVFB, it manages to use the graphics card, but interferes with use of the machine since it is, of course, onscreen. I checked out VirtualGL, but it mentions simply headless X servers, not XVFB or even ATI cards.
I have an ATI graphics card, and plan to use import to grab screenshots from the XVFB program.
So, how can I force XVFB to use a physical graphics card supporting OpenGL to run a program, in a way where I can use import to grab screenshots?
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Try Xephyr (iconised for instance) instead of Xvfb – sch Sep 2 '13 at 9:39
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3645 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I've just read about the Mal/JavaJar-B malware that is apparently capable of attacking OS X computers via a security hole in Java. I've also heard a few people mention that it can also affect Linux computers, but only from perfunctory sources (the comments in the article, and a few passing references from Googling).
Is such malware a concern for Linux users, and should we be running anti-virus software?
(I know the second question has been addressed here before, but it seems to me that the route of infection of Mal/JavaJar-B is possible even for the paranoid user. If I understand correctly, a popular website was compromised, and anyone that merely visited this website was infected. Imagine if askubuntu.com was compromised!)
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A truely paranoid user wouldn't run java outside a secure, disposable VM, isolated from the main system. I'd also note these were suprisingly targetted attacks, possibly done by well equipped state sponsored sources. – Journeyman Geek Feb 20 '13 at 1:07
Haha… there's paranoid and there's paranoid. – Sparhawk Feb 20 '13 at 1:09
Then there's running everything off a livecd, and committing everything to memory ;p – Journeyman Geek Feb 20 '13 at 1:09
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up vote 1 down vote accepted
In theory, yes. In this case, the malware is 'just another program' running in java to steal data I believe. Malware goes cross platform!
In practice there's already a certain degree of hardening in browsers that's likely to mitigate the risk of this.
First and formost, unless you're clicking everything you see (and apparently its plausible that the developers in question explicitly trusted this site), firefox is adding click to play for plugins, so its slightly less likely that you'll have something just running willy nilly on your computer.
You can also mitigate the risks of this by not installing java (or installing it on a VM). Obviously this is slightly paranoid - you can instead disable the java plugin in your browser as twitter has suggested
These are often 0 day attacks so the ability of AV to catch them before they happen is limited. They're also more interested in user data, so, the system itself is safe. The best defense here is common sense. They're also targetted attacks so unless you're an obvious target, well, there's less to fear. If you are, well, a good, sensible security policy will help as much as, or even more than AV - for example isolating sensitive stuff off the internet where possible, and/or having network monitoring in place to catch unusual things.
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Just to clarify, do Java exploits have to be specifically tailored to Linux, or are they cross-platform "out of the box"? FWIW, I do use noscript, but I'm somewhat lazy; if a page doesn't work, I just allow scripts immediately. If it's a blank page, then I'd allow scripts to see what it is! Finally, could you please expand on "isolating sensitive stuff off the internet" and "network monitoring"? Thanks. – Sparhawk Feb 20 '13 at 23:09
I do believe that java exploits are cross platform by nature - though they are often used to get OS specific payloads into a system. As for "isolating stuff off the internet" - basically, the simplest way to keep something you are paranoid about getting stolen is to put it on a system thats not connected to the internet - the military, for example runs systems on an internal network. Network monitoring involves something like an IDS that keeps track of network traffic, and alerts you to anything odd. – Journeyman Geek Feb 21 '13 at 0:11
Great. Thanks for that! – Sparhawk Feb 21 '13 at 1:44
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3646 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I installed 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS on my 32-bit system and after 2 reboot it gave a message "unknown filesystem grub rescue".
I feel I have done something wrong using partitions. I already had Windows 7 installed.
Could anyone help and take me out of this problem?
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3647 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
On our home network we have Ubuntu 10.4 amd64 Desktop functioning as a file server and a couple of WinXP laptops. Ubuntu is not set up as a domain server, user names and passwords are synched, manually, across all machines.
What is the proper way to set up a shared space for the windows clients so that members of group Parents, and only Parents, both have read and write access to it's contents?
I thought I had this done, but when Dad creates or writes a file in \server\share-parents\ Mom's write access to same is revoked, vice versa. This creates all sorts of havoc when said file is the family expense spreadsheet and the home renos are this close to blowing the year's budget and credit card payment is due... Need I add that last years kludge of recursively chown'ing to :parents and chmod'ing g+w no longer keeps the bacon out of the fire?
The smb.conf shared section:
# other stuff edited out
security = user
comment = parents shared files
available = yes
browseable = yes
public = yes
valid users = mom, dad
writable = yes
follow symlinks = yes
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up vote 2 down vote accepted
This is a permission problem, which you can solve either by:
1) telling Samba to force some specific permissions (e.g., 664) on all files in the share: the relevant solution is discussed here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/samba-share-permissions-57589/
It boils down to: assuming you want everything to be read+write for "parents" and read-only for everyone else, add the following lines to you [parents] share configuration:
force create mode = 0664
force security mode = 0664
force directory mode = 0775
Every bit set to 1 in one of the "force * mode", will be set by SAMBA on the file, regardless of what the Windows clients requests.
2) Use the security mask setting to disallow clearing the group-write bit (bits set to 1 in the "security mask" can be manipulated by Windows clients):
security mask = 757
So, once you've set a file g+w from Linux, it can never be changed back from Windows.
A more detailed explanation of the relevant parameters is given at: http://cri.ch/linux/docs/sk0002.html
Regardless of the chosen workaround, you might also want to force all files in the share to belong to UNIX group parents:
force group = parents
Either one of the two options should work; they are compatible so you can also choose to implement both at the same time.
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I chose the 2nd option.force group works for maintaining the group, thanks for that. security mask isn't working though, g+w is still being stripped when a file is saved. Or was I supposed to do both 1 and 2? (first sentence says "either") – matt wilkie Sep 15 '10 at 5:08
@matt Either one should work, but they are not incompatible so you can also choose to apply both. – Riccardo Murri Sep 15 '10 at 8:07
thanks. It's working now, after applying both. – matt wilkie Sep 15 '10 at 15:37
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3648 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
Before the load bar is done it freezes my OS up.
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What version of Ubuntu + LibreOffice? – RolandiXor Aug 23 '11 at 19:07
Which Java version? Did you try to start from a terminal? If you do so (using libreofficecommand), are there any errors? Did libreoffice work once before? If yes, does it help starting from the command line using option -norestore? What if you rename (just rename, not delete!) the .libreoffice directory in your home dir? – tohuwawohu Aug 24 '11 at 6:03
It failed, even using it from the console made it freeze. Hmmm... Really wish it would work cause I need a good writer program for school. And Yes I'm using the latest. – Jonthue Michel Aug 28 '11 at 13:08
Have You tried re-installing it? If it wouldn't help - try uninstalling LibreOffice, and installing OpenOffice.org instead. – Adobe Aug 29 '11 at 3:39
I am also getting similar behaviour with LO on Natty Narwhal 64-bit. LO is default install, not updated. At first I thought it was Firefox causing the system to lock up. After the second freeze I only had Nautilus and LO opened with Calc. The next time, after a reboot, a few operations on Calc locked up the system for the 3rd straight time. Desktop can't be recovered, LO can't be killed. Only reboot is really possible. Never experienced this with OOo before, and I've been a long time OOo user. – Marky Sep 11 '11 at 6:49
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closed as off topic by Marco Ceppi Feb 8 '12 at 12:25
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Had same problem after upgrading to 11.10. Removing the .libreoffice directory in my home folder worked well. LibreOffice started just fine after that.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3649 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I just installed Ubuntu 11.10 beta2 along with windows 7 but after installation I am not getting the boot menu and I straight away boot into Ubuntu. kindly help..!!!
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A quick fix for many dual boot problems is updating your Grub (Grub is the bootloader - GRand Unified Bootloader)
Try this:
Open a terminal by pressing ctrl+alt+t or open your unity dash and start typing "terminal" Type/copy:
sudo update-grub
That should add the windows entry, let us know if not and we'll try some other options.
grub-customizer is a good gui package to use, but this should do the same automatically.
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I have a situation similar to you from what I can gather from you. I installed Ubuntu on to a HP desktop, and after the HP splash screen and where the GRUB screen should be is nothing but a blank screen with my monitors screen resolution information. After waiting a little bit it will boot to Ubuntu. However, I can boot into Windows by pressing the down arrow (I think I press it about 6 times to be sure) after the HP splash screen and during the blank screen with the monitor information. That is were GRUB should have been shown, and that is where I blindly select Windows (not really an issue for me because rarely ever need Windows and I mean rarely). Perhaps this could be the same issue you have run into as well, and maybe this might solve your problem about being able to boot into Windows.
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You should check the GRUB2 configuration. For an easy GUI, install package grub-customizer and open it (will ask admin access). Then:
• Verify that os-prober is checked, that is the GRUB2 component that find other OS
• click Preferences and verify that "Show menu" is checked and that wait time is enough to see it.
For info: Grub-Customizer launchpad page
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3650 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
How can someone automatically add wine programs (such as Microsoft Office) to the right click context menu? In my case specifically the software is installed via play on linux.
For example, when a user right clicks on a *.doc file, they have the choice of "Open with Libre Office" and "Open with Microsoft Word".
P.S I have done this before on a previous installation but I can't remember exactly how.
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help.ubuntu.com/community/Wine may be useful – rogerdpack Sep 23 '13 at 23:04
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up vote 1 down vote accepted
If you have a previous version of Ubuntu (not 11.10) you can right click the file, select Properties and in the Open With tab you can search the option to write you custom application. For example, if you know Microsoft Word can open a doc using this line (I don't use msword so I don't really know if the follow command will work, it's just an example):
wine msword mydoc
then, you put that line in the custom application box.
If you're using 11.10 that's not possible (why?), so you should look this. That way you can add any application to the Open With option, including wine.
Hope it helps.
Best regards,
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3659 | Information for "Paul Gosar"
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3676 | Figuring out how much emphasis to place on carcass traits in commercial bull selection, relative to their value in the real world, just got easier.
The American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) is the first breed organization to unveil an expected progeny difference (EPD) for grid merit.
“We believe seedstock producers in general and commercial producers in particular have a hard time understanding what carcass traits mean to the bottom line,” says Nick Hammett, AGA director of seedstock marketing. “So we wanted to design a system that makes it easier for them to use.”
In a nutshell, the grid merit EPD embraces basic animal index selection theory and hopefully ushers in a new age of genetic evaluation tools for economically relative traits, rather than just predictor traits. In this case, the grid merit EPD simply predicts the value difference, in dollars, between sire progeny marketed across what most folks would consider a mainstream pricing grid.
“According to our best ability, we looked at where we thought the industry would be five years from now and made some assumptions,” says Don Schiefelbein, AGA executive director. “All things being equal, on average, in the future we believe cattle with more marbling will be more valuable than cattle with less marbling. And, we believe cattle with more muscle and leanness will be more valuable than cattle with less muscle and leanness.”
In addition, the grid utilized in calculating the new EPD narrows the carcass weight window to 600-850 lbs. It also places more premiums on Prime and the upper two-thirds of Choice than most grids today.
With that in mind, look at the bulls in the latest AGA Sire Summary (see Table 1 example). These bulls are described for carcass weight, ribeye area, marbling, fat thickness and the new grid merit EPD that accounts for the economic value of the other carcass EPDs.
So, using the bulls in this example, Twinkle Toes is expected to sire calves that, on average, should bring $9.55 more grid premium than those sired by Guts ‘N Butts.
Folks familiar with the joys of cattle feeding won't be surprised to find that the sires ranking highest for grid merit tend to be fairly balanced and positive but non-extreme in the specific carcass traits.
However, Schiefelbein says, what will surprise some is how much this indexing approach confounds traditional eye-logic when it comes to ranking bulls.
For instance, he and his family have fed cattle for years. Yet, he says, “When you use an index like this, it's amazing to see how inept you've been at ranking animals based on their overall carcass merit, relative to a grid.”
He adds that AGA could create the EPD much of it through the efforts of Patrick Doyle, AGA director of research and education because of the database AGA has created through the Gelbvieh Alliance. This feeding and carcass data, tied to specific sires and pricing grids, gives them the population distributions necessary to calculate such an index.
Perhaps even more powerful than the tools itself, though, are the application spin-offs that such dollar-based selection technology makes possible. As an example, with AGA's Value-Bull software, producers can plug in specific carcass EPDs for bulls they're considering, along with a specific pricing grid they're interested in. Then, with a keystroke calculate the predicted grid merit of the progeny.
Schiefelbein does caution, however, “There is a lot of sexiness in making an index like this specific to a value-added program. But, because cattle breeding is such a long-term proposition, I think producers should be careful and compare bulls based upon mainstream grids rather than those that represent a niche.”
Doyle also calls for keeping the new tool in perspective. “As with other EPDs, the grid merit EPD may be used to estimate how the future progeny of one animal will compare to the future progeny of another animal within the same breed.
“However, carcass traits are just one component of a balanced selection program. It's never a smart management strategy to select sires based on a single trait,” he adds.
Indeed. But hopefully this is the type of real-world, consolidated, selection information producers can hope to access more in the future.
“As we move in the direction of genetic evaluation tools that allow producers to see the economic impact associated with a combination of traits, we're confident that they'll be more comfortable in taking advantage of them,” says Hammett.
Table 1: Example of Gelbvieh Grid Merit EPD
Bull Carcass Weight
Ribeye Area
Fat Thickness
Grid Merit
Twinkle Toes +10
Guts 'N Butts +23
(Source: American Gelbvieh Association) |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3677 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
OK, so in my quest to get my old Trek 7000 ZX MTB running again after a long retirement, I am having an issue with replacing the bottom bracket.
The bike came with a Shimano LP25 that is marked BC 1.37 x 24. The spindle has LL 113 stamped into it.
So I ordered a Shimano UN55 BC 1.37 x 24 113mm.
They should be exactly the same size right? Well the new one seemed to be offset to the right (drive side) by about 1/8 inch, even though the spindles are the same length.
Now my front derailleur (STX-RC) won't shift to the largest outside sprocket even when the adjustment screw is all the way out. What can I do to correct this issue? I thought the only thing that mattered when replacing a bottom bracket was the thread size (68mm) and the spindle length.
Another strange issue is that the orginal LP25 has the threads on the L side, while the new UN55 has the threads on the R side. I could have sworn the threads were on the drive side when I removed the bottom bracket, but now I'm not so sure given the markings on it. Unless the bottom bracket was originally installed backwards? Would that explain the 1/8 inch offset discrepancy?
Thanks for any help. I'm really confused at this point.
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Is the crankset the same? Some cranksets "sink deeper" in the bottom bracket, so if you have a different crankset, that might be an issue. Besides, even the same crankset sinks differently around different bottom brackets, due to spindle taper. If that is the case, do you think it's possible to tighten the bolt a bit more? That would bring the crankset closer to the front derailer. – heltonbiker May 14 '13 at 20:02
sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html – mattnz May 14 '13 at 22:43
Same crank, yes. I took the crank off the old BB, put the new BB in, and then installed the same crank onto the new BB. I don't think I could tighten it any more without stripping the bolt. I tightened it quite a bit. – unsavory May 14 '13 at 22:49
Yes, the two external measurements of a BB are spindle length and spindle offset. (There are also cartridge body/bearing race and cup dimensions, of course.) You can have BB with the same spindle length and different offsets. Some BB cartridges (such as Phil Woods) have two movable cups and can be adjusted left/right by a few mm, but Shimanos generally have a fixed cup on one end and cannot be adjusted. – Daniel R Hicks May 15 '13 at 0:45
I discovered that the lip on the new BB is keeping it from being screwed in far enough, as the old one had the cup on the drive side and sat flush with the frame. I'm going to try grinding the lip off so I can screw the BB into the frame further. – unsavory May 15 '13 at 18:21
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Despite the the spindle length is 113, but as you observed, the offset is different - so the cranks are sitting in different positions. Not all Shimano BB are made symmetrical - and UN55 BC 1.37 x 24 113mm. means its a 1.37*24tpi thread, with a 113mm shaft - not mention on the offset of the shaft. Based on all this, evidence is that you have an imcompatable BB.
Presuming you have correctly refitted the crank (so it is seated properly) - What to do about it - best would be to go to a 110, or even 107 mm BB - this will move the crank to the centre of the bike and fix the problem, also providing better alignment.
Alternatively, are you certain the derailleur won't move out further. Best thing to do it unhook the cable outer from the frame (or shifter) so the cable is certainly free and not stopping the shifter moving to it's outer most position, and release the outer limit adjustment screw on the derailleur. If the derailuer then moves out far enough, you should be good to set up, as it's "just" adjustment of cable and limit stops. If not, you will need a different BB.
It is not possible to install the BB backwards - the right hand side has a left hand thread.......
Edit: In response to OPs comment..... The problem is then to do with the BB getting to the correct chainline - MTB sets should be about 47.5-50mm. If you cannot find the correct sized BB, and a 110mm is too short for the left crank, you have two other options - try a different left crank, or (Perhaps for the really desperate only) I have seen this web article about grinding off the lip on the fixed right hand side, allowing you the thread it into the frame further, thereby to give the ability to adjust the chain line. (I would get a local engineering shop to use a lathe.....)
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Thanks for your comments. Part of the issue with a shorter spindle is that the left side crank is already almost touching the the rear frame as it comes around. Any closer and it would either touch the frame, or my feet would be too close to it as I was peddling. Yes, I'm sure the derailleur won't move out further, as I first checked this with the cable removed. – unsavory May 15 '13 at 18:18
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3678 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'm trying to understand if the timing of human bowel movements in the morning is associated with the circadian rhythm, and can thus be used to make predictions about the circadian rhythm.
What influences the timing of bowel movements? Is it the timing of meals, caffeine intake or is it a biologically programmed time?
Thank you!
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up vote 8 down vote accepted
The bowel movements are influenced by a lot of factors. For example, when you eat a meal it induces a movement in your large intestines, to defecate and clear up space for new food.
Also, there is MMC, migrating motor complex, which is responsible for the bowel movements when you are fasting. It causes a flushing effect, which prevents bacteria to overproduce in intestines.
So, the daily bowel movements are mainly influenced by the timing and content of the food that you eat. But as I said there are many other factors. The gastrointestinal system has a very complex nervous system. Even psychological factors can effect the bowel movements greatly, for example extreme physical pain may induce the symphatetic system and cause constipation.
Also caffeine may affect it, like many drugs do.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3706 | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
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Caim is a Gaelic rendering of biblical 'Cain', who appears in a variation of the fantastical pedigree of Dardanus of Troy that is spun out in Lebor Bretnach, the Middle Irish language recension of the compilation called Historia Brittonum, known in the 9th century version by Nennius. The Lebor Bretnach, greatly modifies the genealogy given in Nennius, making emendations to earlier sources and tracing the line through Ham rather than Japheth with further spurious names:
Dardain m. Ioib m. Sadoirn m. Peil m. Palloir m. Zorastres m. Mesraim m. Caim.
In the predominantly Welsh-speaking regions of Wales (Gwynedd, Dyfed and Ynys Mon), Cain, Caio, Caim and Cail are commonplace first names for males. These names are derivatives of an ancient Welsh name "Cai" which is recorded in the book of Welsh folklore called the Mabinogion.
In demonology
Caim in bird form as depicted in Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, 1863 edition.
Of Cain, originator of murder, consigned to Hell by early Christian writers.
In demonology, Caim appears in Ars Goetia, the first part of Lesser Key of Solomon as a Great President of Hell, ruling over thirty legions of demons. Much detail is offered: he is a good disputer, gives men the understanding of the voices of birds, bullocks, dogs, and other creatures, and of the noise of the waters too, and gives true answers concerning things to come.
He is depicted in 19th and 20th century occultist illustrations as appearing in the form of the black bird called a thrush, but soon he changes his shape into a man that has a sharp sword in his hand. When answering questions he seems to stand on burning ashes or coals.
The title 'président' of Hell would suggest a parallel with the presiding officer of a college or convocation, which are the only pre-modern uses of the term. Other authors consider Caim a 'Prince' of Hell instead and depict him as a man wearing rich and elegant clothes, and the head and wings of a blackbird.
Demonological directories give an etymology from a supposed Latin word 'Chamos', 'Chamus', said to be a name given to Baal Peor, and possibly corrupted from Hebrew 'Chium', an epithet given to several Assyrian and Babylonian gods. Epigraphy does not confirm this etymology.
In Celtic tradition
In pre-Christian Celtic culture of Wales, Scotland and Ireland embodied in the Mabinogion, “Caim” was a protective spirit. The introduction of Christianity in these regions gave rise to the abandonment or demonisation of traditional Celtic and Druid spirits or their incorporation into early Celtic Christian worship. In the case of Caim, in Scotland “Caim” the Celtic protective spirit became “Caim” a prayer of protection,[1] In Wales, Caim became and continues to be to this day a commonplace first name for males which means amddiffynydd (Welsh: "protector")
See also
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3707 | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
A pineapple, on its parent plant
Scientific classification
Species:A. comosus
Binomial name
Ananas comosus
(L.) Merr.
Ananas sativus
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A pineapple, on its parent plant
Scientific classification
Species:A. comosus
Binomial name
Ananas comosus
(L.) Merr.
Ananas sativus
The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant with edible multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries,[1] and the most economically significant plant in the Bromeliaceae family.[2] Pineapples may be cultivated from a crown cutting of the fruit,[3] possibly flowering in 20–24 months and fruiting in the following six months.[3][4] Pineapple does not ripen significantly post-harvest.[5]
Pineapples are consumed fresh, cooked, juiced, and preserved, and are found in a wide array of cuisines. In addition to consumption, in the Philippines the pineapple's leaves are used to produce the textile fiber piña- employed as a component of wall paper and furnishings, amongst other uses.[6]
Pineapple and its cross section
The word "pineapple" in English was first recorded in 1398, when it was originally used to describe the reproductive organs of conifer trees (now termed pine cones). The term "pine cone" for the reproductive organ of conifer trees was first recorded in 1694. When European explorers discovered this tropical fruit in the Americas, they called them "pineapples" (first so referenced in 1664 due to resemblance to what is now known as the pine cone).[7][8]
In the scientific binomial Ananas comosus, ananas, the original name of the fruit, comes from the Tupi word nanas, meaning "excellent fruit",[9] as recorded by André Thevet in 1555, and comosus, "tufted", refers to the stem of the fruit. Other members of the Ananas genus are often called "pine", as well, in other languages. In Spanish, pineapples are called piña ("pine cone"), or ananá (ananás) (example, the piña colada drink).
A pineapple flower in Iriomote, Japan
The pineapple is a herbaceous perennial which grows to 1.0 to 1.5 meters (3.3 to 4.9 ft) tall, although sometimes it can be taller. In appearance, the plant itself has a short, stocky stem with tough, waxy leaves. When creating its fruit, it usually produces up to 200 flowers, although some large-fruited cultivars can exceed this. Once it flowers, the individual fruits of the flowers join together to create what is commonly referred to as a pineapple. After the first fruit is produced, side shoots (called 'suckers' by commercial growers) are produced in the leaf axils of the main stem. These may be removed for propagation, or left to produce additional fruits on the original plant.[3] Commercially, suckers that appear around the base are cultivated. It has 30 or more long, narrow, fleshy, trough-shaped leaves with sharp spines along the margins that are 30 to 100 centimeters (1.0 to 3.3 ft) long, surrounding a thick stem. In the first year of growth, the axis lengthens and thickens, bearing numerous leaves in close spirals. After 12 to 20 months, the stem grows into a spike-like inflorescence up to 15 cm (6 in) long with over 100 spirally arranged, trimerous flowers, each subtended by a bract. Flower colors vary, depending on variety, from lavender, through light purple to red.
The ovaries develop into berries which coalesce into a large, compact, multiple accessory fruit. The fruit of a pineapple is arranged in two interlocking helices, eight in one direction, thirteen in the other, each being a Fibonacci number.[10]
Pineapple carries out CAM photosynthesis, fixing carbon dioxide at night and storing it as the acid malate and then releasing it during the day, aiding photosynthesis.
Pineapple in the starting stage
Pollination is required for seed formation, but the presence of seeds negatively affects the quality of the fruit. In Hawaii, where pineapple is cultivated on an agricultural scale, importation of hummingbirds is prohibited for this reason.[11] Certain bat-pollinated wild pineapples open their flowers only at night.
Culinary uses
Pineapple, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy209 kJ (50 kcal)
Carbohydrates13.12 g
- Sugars9.85 g
- Dietary fiber1.4 g
Fat0.12 g
Protein0.54 g
Thiamine (vit. B1)0.079 mg (7%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2)0.032 mg (3%)
Niacin (vit. B3)0.5 mg (3%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.213 mg (4%)
Vitamin B60.112 mg (9%)
Folate (vit. B9)18 μg (5%)
Choline5.5 mg (1%)
Vitamin C47.8 mg (58%)
Calcium13 mg (1%)
Iron0.29 mg (2%)
Magnesium12 mg (3%)
Manganese0.927 mg (44%)
Phosphorus8 mg (1%)
Potassium109 mg (2%)
Sodium1 mg (0%)
Zinc0.12 mg (1%)
Link to USDA Database entry
Percentages are roughly approximated
using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database
The flesh and juice of the pineapple are used in cuisines around the world. In many tropical countries, pineapple is prepared, and sold on roadsides as a snack. It is sold whole, or in halves with a stick inserted. Whole, cored slices with a cherry in the middle are a common garnish on hams in the West. Chunks of pineapple are used in desserts such as fruit salad, as well as in some savory dishes, including as a pizza topping. Crushed pineapple is used in yogurt, jam, sweets, and ice cream. The juice of the pineapple is served as a beverage, and is also as a main ingredient in such cocktails as the Piña colada.
Charles II presented with the first pineapple grown in England (1675 painting by Hendrik Danckerts)
The plant is indigenous to South America and is said to originate from the area between Southern Brazil and Paraguay; however, it is important to note that little is known about the origin of the domesticated pineapple (Pickersgill, 1976). M.S. Bertoni (1919)[13] considered the ParanáParaguay River drainages to be the place of origin of A. comosus.[14] The natives of southern Brazil and Paraguay spread the pineapple throughout South America, and it eventually reached the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Mayas and the Aztecs. Columbus encountered the pineapple in 1493 on the Leeward island of Guadeloupe. He called it piña de Indes, meaning "pine of the Indians,"[15] and brought it back with him to Europe[16] thus making the pineapple the first bromeliad to leave the New World.[17] The Spanish introduced it into the Philippines, Hawaii (introduced in the early 19th century, first commercial plantation 1886), Zimbabwe and Guam. Many say the fruit was first introduced in Hawaii when a Spanish ship brought it there in the 1500s.[18] The fruit was cultivated successfully in European hothouses, and pineapple pits, beginning in 1720.
John Kidwell is credited with the introduction of the pineapple industry in Hawaii. Large-scale pineapple cultivation by U.S. companies began in the early 1900s on Hawaii. Among the most famous and influential pineapple industrialists was James Dole who moved to Hawaii in 1899[19] and started a pineapple plantation in 1900.[20] The companies Dole and Del Monte began growing pineapple on the island of Oahu in 1901 and 1917, respectively. Dole's pineapple company began with the acquisition of 60 acres (24 ha) of land in 1901, and, as previously mentioned, has grown into a major company today. Maui Pineapple Company began pineapple cultivation on the island of Maui in 1909.[21] In 2006, Del Monte announced its withdrawal from pineapple cultivation in Hawaii, leaving only Dole and Maui Pineapple Company in Hawaii as the USA's largest growers of pineapples. Maui Pineapple Company markets its Maui Gold brand of pineapple and Dole markets its Hawaii Gold brand of pineapple.
In the USA in 1986, the Pineapple Research Institute was dissolved and its assets were divided between Del Monte and Maui Land and Pineapple. Del Monte took variety 73–114, which it dubbed MD-2, to its plantations in Costa Rica, found it to be well-suited to growing there, and launched it publicly in 1996. (Del Monte also began marketing 73–50, dubbed CO-2, as Del Monte Gold). In 1997, Del Monte began marketing its Gold Extra Sweet pineapple, known internally as MD-2. MD-2 is a hybrid that originated in the breeding program of the now-defunct Pineapple Research Institute in Hawaii, which conducted research on behalf of Del Monte, Maui Land & Pineapple Company, and Dole.
Pineapple production – 2009
Costa Rica1870
Source: UN FAOSTAT [22]
Southeast Asia dominates world production: in 2009, the Philippines produced 2.198 million tons and Thailand 1.894 million tons, while in the Americas, Brazil produced 1.471 million tons. Total world production in 2009 was 14.220 million tons. The primary exporters of fresh pineapples in 2001 were Costa Rica, 322,000 tons; Côte d'Ivoire, 188,000 tons; and the Philippines, 135,000 tons. Since 2000, the most common fresh pineapple fruit found in U.S. and European supermarkets is a low-acid hybrid that was developed in Hawaii in the early 1970s.
An unripe pineapple from Nepal
A pineapple field in Ghana
Pineapple field, Hawaii (1958)
Red pineapple
Ornamental pineapple
Ethical and environmental concerns
Three-quarters of pineapples sold in Europe are grown in Costa Rica, where pineapple production is highly industrialised. Growers typically use 20 kg of pesticides per hectare in each growing cycle,[23] a process that may affect soil quality and biodiversity. The pesticides – organophosphates, organochlorines and hormone disruptors – have the potential to affect workers' health and can contaminate local drinking water supplies.[23] Many of these chemicals have potential to be carcinogens, and may be related to birth defects.[23]
Because of commercial pressures, many pineapple workers – 60% of whom are Nicaraguan – in Costa Rica are paid low wages.[quantify] European supermarkets' price-reduction policies have lowered growers' incomes.[23] One major pineapple producer contests these claims.[24]
There are many cultivars. The leaves of the commonly grown 'Smooth Cayenne' are smooth[25] and it is the most commonly grown worldwide. Many cultivars have become distributed from its origins in Paraguay and the southern part of Brazil,[16] and later improved stocks were introduced into the Americas, the Azores, Africa, India, Malaysia and Australia. Varieties include:
Traditional medicine and preliminary research
Both the root and fruit may be eaten or applied topically as an anti-inflammatory or as a proteolytic agent. In some practices, it may be used to induce abortion or menstruation[26] or as an antihelminthic agent.[27]
Bromelain purified from pineapple stem or fresh juice, then provided in the diet over six months, decreased the severity of colonic inflammation in mice with experimental colitis.[28]
Bromelain from pineapple has some potential against cancer mechanisms, as laboratory research showed that it causes autophagy in mammary carcinoma cells, stimulating turnover of MCF-7 cells through apoptosis.[29]
Pests and diseases
Pineapples are subject to a variety of diseases, the most serious of which is wilt disease vectored by mealybugs[30] typically found on the surface of pineapples, but possibly in the closed blossom cups. Other diseases include pink disease, bacterial heart rot, anthracnose,[30] fungal heart rot, root rot, black rot, butt rot, fruitlet core rot, and yellow spot virus.[31] Pink disease is characterized by the fruit developing a brownish to black discoloration when heated during the canning process. The causal agents of pink disease are the bacteria Acetobacter aceti, Gluconobacter oxydans, and Pantoea citrea.[32]
Storage and transport
A pineapple will never become any riper than it was when harvested,[33] though a fully ripe pineapple can bruise and rot quickly.
The fruit itself is quite perishable and storage of it should be taken seriously. If it is stored at room temperature, it should be used within two days; however, if it is refrigerated, the time span is extended to five to seven days.[34]
Usage in culture
In the television show Psych, the writers have included a pineapple in every episode as a running joke, and there's a website dedicated to compiling a list of every pineapple.[38]
In the American cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants, SpongeBob's home is a pineapple.
In the Mad Men season 3 episode, "The Fog", Betty Draper tells the intake nurse at the hospital maternity ward she'd eaten cottage cheese, toast, and pineapple that day, to which the nurse replies, "What were you thinking?", as pineapple products were thought to cause miscarriages and abortions.[39]
See also
2. ^ Coppens d'Eeckenbrugge, Geo; Freddy Leal (2003). "Chapter 2: Morphology, Anatomy, and Taxonomy". In D.P Bartholomew, R.E. Paull, and K.G. Rohrbach. The Pineapple: Botany, Production, and Uses. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 0-85199-503-9.
4. ^ "Pineapple Growing". Tropical (Birgit Bradtke). Retrieved 15 August 2010. [dead link]
5. ^
6. ^ piña cloth – definition of piña cloth by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2011-10-02.
7. ^ Oxford English Dictionary entries for pineapple and pine cones, 1971.
8. ^ History of the Pineapple.
10. ^ Jones, Judy; William Wilson (2006). "Science". An Incomplete Education. Ballantine Books. p. 544. ISBN 978-0-7394-7582-9.
11. ^, list of prohibited animals. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-10-02.
12. ^ "Nutrient data for pineapple, raw, all varieties, per 100 g serving"., USDA SR-21. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
15. ^ "Pineapple Facts". Retrieved 2013-05-27.
16. ^ a b "Pineapples Arrive in Hawaii". Retrieved 6 December 2009.
17. ^ McKenzie, Gene (2010). "A Little Bit of History". Journal of the Bromeliad Society 60 (4): 187–189.
18. ^ "Fruit of the Islands". Pittsburg Magazine 39 (3): 92. 2008.
19. ^ Hawkins, Richard (2007). "James D. Dole and the 1932 Failure of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company". Hawaiian Journal of History 41: 149–170.
20. ^ "Pineapple". Retrieved 6 December 2009.
21. ^ "Sunrise, Sunset". Hawaii Business 46 (2): 60. 2000.
22. ^ "Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Division of Statistics". UN Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database.
26. ^ Morton, Julia F (1987). "Pineapple, Ananas comosus". Retrieved 22 April 2011.
27. ^ Monzon, R. B.; Adebiyi, Adebowale (1995). "Traditional medicine in the treatment of parasitic diseases in the Philippines". Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health 26 (3): 421–428. doi:10.1080/13880200490902608.
28. ^ Hale LP, Chichlowski M, Trinh CT, Greer PK (2010). "Dietary Supplementation with Fresh Pineapple Juice Decreases Inflammation and Colonic Neoplasia in IL-10-deficient Mice with Colitis". Inflamm Bowel Dis 16 (12): 2012–21. doi:10.1002/ibd.21320. PMC 2991605. PMID 20848493.
29. ^ Bhui K, Tyagi S, Prakash B, Shukla Y (2010). "Pineapple bromelain induces autophagy, facilitating apoptotic response in mammary carcinoma cells.". Biofactors 36 (6): 478–82. doi:10.1002/biof.121. PMID 20848558.
31. ^ a b Pests and Diseases of Pineapple: Food Market Exchange – B2B e-marketplace for the food industry. Food Market Exchange. Retrieved on 2011-10-02.
32. ^ Marin-Cevada, Vianey; Caballero-Mellado, Jesãºs; Bustillos-Cristales, Rocão; Muã±Oz-Rojas, Jesãºs; Mascarãºa-Esparza, Miguel A.; Castaã±Eda-Lucio, Miguel; Lã³Pez-Reyes, Lucãa; MartãNez-Aguilar, Lourdes et al. (2010). "Tatumella ptyseos, an Unrevealed Causative Agent of Pink Disease in Pineapple". Journal of Phytopathology 158 (2): 93–99. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0434.2009.01575.x.
33. ^ Sheraton, Mimi (21 April 1982). "A guide to choosing a ripe pineapple". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 1982.
35. ^ "Queen Formosa, sweetest pineapple, promoted in Daet". Philippine Information Agency. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
36. ^ Symbolism of the Pineapple. Retrieved on 2011-10-02.
37. ^ "Newport Slavery". Retrieved 13 December 2011.
38. ^ "Where in the World Is The Psych Pineapple". Retrieved 8 December 2013.
39. ^ "Discussion of pineapples causing miscarriages". April 2008.
Further reading
External links |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3738 |
I believe in the Holy Spirit… and other annoyances
kendell_geers_what_do_you_believe_in_01_full“I believe in the Holy Spirit…” The words are right there in the Nicene Creed:
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
If you are Catholic, you are saying these words at mass on a regular basis. You may read them off of a page, you may mumble along, you may say nothing at all.
So what do you believe?
I’m kind of stuck on that last bit – “who has spoken through the prophets.” Prophets – they are so annoying, aren’t they?
0506_news_Ollila_Seamann_KHIf you immediately want to say “No! They’re great!” that might be because you, if you are like me, feel that way about your prophets. You know the ones, the ones that you like. By extension, if they are challenging to those “other” people, but comforting to you, I might suggest this…
Listen to those prophets.
639ef11062a9013019e7001dd8b71c47Even when you want to bop them in the head.
Trust me when I tell you that I want to listen to “my” prophets. And I do listen to them, and I am comforted by them, as well. The hard part is, and I am not so good about this, is listening to the “prophets” who completely annoy me.
Those prophets are the one that challenge you at every turn. They say things that you vehemently disagree with, things that you believe turn the meaning of Church on its head. Those prophets are comforting someone else. And to those folks I say, listen to the prophets that annoy you.
You see, the Holy Spirit speaks through the prophets. God afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted. Here’s the rub, if you ask me, we are all comfortable and we are all afflicted.
The very moment that we start to rest on the idea that “we,” whoever we means to you, are God’s special ones, we are in trouble. The idea, especially if we have been paying attention to John’s Gospel in these recent weeks, is that “all might be one.”
Um yeah – that means… all. How annoying is that?!
Read these words from Corinthians, from the possible mass readings for this weekend, and see what you think and feel:
Brothers and sisters:
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
As a body is one though it has many parts,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Now, if there was ever a ragtag group of people struggling to believe, obey and be as one, it was those Corinthians. Yet, here we see St. Paul reminding them that… all may be One.
How different are we? And why should I expect you to be like me? And why would you expect me to be like you?
I don’t know about you, but I know that I am often surprised when someone that I “like” expresses an opinion that is not my own. What-the-what, I think; how could they actually say that? Think that? Believe that?
Can we be as St. Paul indicates, many people with One Spirit?
Quite often those people are my prophets, the ones that I need to listen to. Not necessarily to take what they are saying and make it my own, but rather to open my heart and my mind, to try to understand what God is saying.
943156_363544423745321_1675203907_nI like to think about how the image of the Holy Spirit as dove is so pervasive and so beloved. Did you see the image above, earlier in the week? I thought “oh, how wonderful!” and saved the photo. But what happens when that bird flies off and defacates on your head? What about THAT Holy Spirit? Don’t think that is not the same Holy Spirit… it is. Like with a prophet, annoyance is part of the package.
Prophets are generally reviled in their own time, so if you like someone who feels prophetic to you, I simply ask you to balance it out by finding someone who feels completely annoying, and who stands in contradistinction to “your prophet.”
The Holy Spirit lives in those spaces, challenging, annoying, and persistently getting in the way of the great “I,” as opposed to the very great, “I AM,” which is God. If nothing else, getting up close and personal to the most annoying “prophet” you can find, may help you to know and understand what you do believe. It is not just about changing our mind, it is about how we are transformed by God.
Oh yes, I truly do believe in the Holy Spirit and am annoyed by Her on a persistently regular schedule.
Go find someone who annoys you, near or far. And when you do, experience that flame that wants to flicker upon your head, like that of the Apostles on Pentecost. That flame will shape us all, so that we may be One.
How annoying!
Categories: General
Fran Rossi Szpylczyn
9 Responses
1. mike s says:
This is something i never understood. If there is a god, and he wanted to tell me something, why would he tell someone else to tell me? Why not speak to me? Prophets are like psychics. Half are con men and the rest are delusional.
2. Fran Rossi Szpylczyn says:
Welcome Mike S. Thank you for your opinion, but I clearly see and understand otherwise. The Holy Spirit is not someone else – God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit -three persons in unity as one.
3. mike s says:
I was talking about prophets. people who claim god speaks to them directly. How do you know they arent lying? Why wouldnt god just talk to you if he wanted to?
4. Fran Rossi Szpylczyn says:
I would not say that everyone who claims to hear God directly is a prophet, but some people are prophets. Maybe God is trying to speak directly, but goes unheard? The prophet is the voice of God for others. It is not like they have an earpiece and are channeling word for word.
5. mike s says:
It seems to me that the ones who claim to speak to god always want others to do bad things. From Moses “god said go kill every man, women and child in the next town and bring me their gold” to David Koresh and Joseph Smith “god said i can have sex with all the young girls”. I guess i’m just not that gullible.
6. Jango Davis says:
The concept of a Holy Spirit is a misinterpretation of the original Greek and likely was a literary analogy and not meant to reflect an actual “reality.”
Further, consider that to gospels where written at least two generations after the life of Christ there is likely very little in them that reflects the actual words or deeds of Jesus of Nazareth, so to lean on the gospels as evidence for the concept of an entity called the “Holy Spirit” is baseless conjecture and circular reasoning, for example:
Position: The Holy Spirit of the Bible exists because the Bible says so.
Question: How do you know the Bible is the word of God? Position: Because the Bible says so.
The few prophetic utterances attributed to John the Baptist and Jesus in the gospels were very likely added long after they lived. Without an independent source, we cannot put much stock that anything attributed to Jesus of John in the gospels was actually said, particularly about the “Holy Spirit.”
Paul speaks about prophecy, but I wouldn’t trust the words of a misogynist like Paul who supported slavery. If Paul wasn’t “plugged” into the holy spirit enough to know that slavery is an abomination, I very much doubt anything he had to say about God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit can be taken as anything but an insight into the mind of a man who lived long ago and not into the nature of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God.
7. Fran Rossi Szpylczyn says:
OK Mike, you’ve had your say. Expressing opinions is one thing, insulting is another. I approved your comment without reading it closely, so I will leave it up, but unless you contribute to the conversation, you can’t stay in it.
8. mike s says:
Did i say something that wasnt true?
9. Fran Rossi Szpylczyn says:
Mike, I suppose that it is true of you think I am gullible. I’m not really sure why you are here other than as a troll. If you want to ask questions and state respectful opinions, you are welcome. Hospitality to all is important to me, but there are limits. If not, no harm done, but in that case there is nothing to see here, please move along. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3758 | Welcome Mark Stone to Port 25/b/port25/archive/2009/03/09/welcome-mark-stone-to-port-25.aspxby Peter Galli on March 09, 2009 05:45pm I would like to introduce Mark Stone, who will be a regular contributor to Port 25 going forward. Mark has a long association with open source. He did his first Linux install in 1994 and, in the fifteen years7.x Production |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3772 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
When a card is suppose to be upgraded do you remove the card being upgraded from your deck? Then the card gained from the upgrade, are you allowed to play that card? If you upgraded a card already on the bridge, can you play the gained card?
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Yes, you remove an upgraded card from your deck. No, you are not allowed to play a card immediately when you gain it. Normally, when gain a card it goes to your discard unless the card specifically tells you otherwise. No, if you upgrade a card from your bridge, the gained cards normally go to your discard area, unless the card says specifically otherwise.
From the Rulebook2.0 on Bandai's website, (page 24-25 Glossary):
Gain - Move a card from Starbase to your discard area (Some effects may move it to another area).
Upgrade - This is short for “Trash the designated card and gain a card from Starbase costing up to the designated amount more than the trashed card”. So you can trash a card of cost X and gain a card with a cost less then X.
Trash - Move a card to one of the following areas depending on where the card originated from:
• If it is a starter card, remove it from the game.
• If it is a Basic Character card, move it to its pile on Starbase.
• If it is a card that started in the Starbase Deck, move it to the Starbase Discard Area.
• If it is a Borg Card, move it to the Borg Card Pile
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Thanks I hadn't seen that glossary. Just the star fleet academy I wasn't sure since it said 'Upgrade a card on the bridge or in your hand' i assumed the card simple changed placed with the new card. – TurqMage May 27 '12 at 22:37
"Upgrade a card on the bridge or in your hand," would fall under the general answer that is given in the glossary. When you upgraded the card from your bridge, you would trash it, and then gain a card (into your discard) from the Starbase – user1873 May 27 '12 at 22:48
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3780 | The Motley Fool Discussion Boards
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Investing/Strategies / Retirement Investing
Subject: Re: Feeling lost, need advice! Date: 2/18/2012 11:25 AM
Author: Rayvt Number: 70164 of 74536
Lots of people panicked way worse than you and sold at the bottom and have still to get back in to the market. You should feel good about that.
Luckily for me, my Dad (accidently) gave me the best investment advice I heard, before I began investing in earnest. He told me in passing that the worst mistake they ever made was to panic in the Oct 1987 crash and sold everything, that if they had just hung on everything would have been ok.
How do I get my brain back to Foolish? I guess I have felt like we are in unprecedented times with all the gov debt and such. Thoughts?
Read those links, and follow the chain of links to other related articles & blogs. Never watch financial TV shows. Never read Money or Smartmoney. And remember that "it's different this time" is *never* true.
Also, what are good options for keeping some money "safe" but earn more than money market funds?
Depends on how "safe" you mean. Utterly safe? Nowhere. Reasonably safe? BND. Mostly safe? Preferred stocks.
Safe as in "otherwise we eat Alpo"? FDIC insured savings account. Currently paying less interest than a postage stamp, though. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3822 |
January 16, 2013 - 5:44 AM
What has happened to the deliberative process in this country? Public debate in Washington has deteriorated into Sesame Street sing-alongs. We are already inundated with logical fallacies: argumentum ad populum (it's popular, therefore it's true); argumentum ad nauseam (if you repeat it often enough, it'll become truth); argumentum ad hominem (sabotage the person, sabotage the truth); and argumentum ad verecundiam (if my favorite authority says it's true, it's true).
To that list we can now add "argumentum ad filium": If politicians appeal to the children, it's unassailably good and true. The Obama White House has shamelessly employed this kiddie human shield strategy at every turn to blunt substantive criticism and dissent.
Obamacare stage managers paraded 11-year-old Marcelas Owens of Washington state in front of the cameras to make the case for the half-trillion-dollar tax hike plan. The boy's "qualifications"? Owens' mother, Tiffany, had died of pulmonary hypertension at the age of 27. A single mother of three, she lost her job as a fast-food manager and lost her insurance. She received emergency care and treatment throughout her illness, but died in 2007.
As I noted at the time, Washington state already offered a plethora of existing government assistance programs to laid-off and unemployed workers like Marcelas' mom. For some reason, unexplained by the family or its zealous exploiters, she didn't bother to enroll. Moreover, she died nine months after she reportedly lost her health insurance. By the time she lost her coverage through her employer, she was apparently already in dire health straits. It's not clear that additional doctor visits in the subsequent months would have prevented her death. Nor did Obamacare do anything to address very real flaws with our employer-sponsored health care system.
Young Marcelas admitted he didn't understand health insurance reform and didn't "think it's anyone's fault" that his mom died. No matter. Big government-by-anecdote doesn't need the anecdotes to be true or the solutions to do anything effective to solve our problems.
The intellectual infantilization of politics and public policy is nothing new, of course. The Clintons engaged in one of the most notorious examples of poster child abuse involving an ailing 7-year-old girl named Jennifer Bush. Her mother, Kathleen, wrote to the White House about the agonizing decision to "choose between purchasing groceries for the week to feed your family or buying needed medications for your chronically ill child." Her gall bladder, appendix and fragments of her intestines had been removed in a desperate attempt to diagnose her mystery sickness.
Coached by her overbearing mother, Jennifer gave the Clintons a lucky silver dollar "to bring you good luck so everyone can have good insurance." She dutifully told the press: "I pray every night that I can get better — and that everyone can have insurance." Hillary trotted the family all over Capitol Hill for photo ops and press conferences on behalf of her health insurance mandate proposals.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3825 | File:Charles-Brun - Le Roman social en France au XIXe siècle, 1910.djvu
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Are Philly Fans the worst? Who would want to play there?
Discussion in 'Sports Zone' started by BringBackThatOleTimeBoys, Nov 9, 2012.
1. BringBackThatOleTimeBoys
BringBackThatOleTimeBoys Active Member
646 Messages
40 Likes Received
Philly fans
If I were a jock, Philadelphia is the last place I'd want to play.
Not being the nicest town or in the nicest climate - but I have a different reason.
It's the fans - are they the worst?
It's not a lack of passion - they have that in abundance, esp when it comes to HATING on opponents, their own players, and even Santa Claus.
If I were a player, why would I want to play in a stadium or arena of not fans, but boo birds? That's got to put Philadelphia at a disadvantage in the free agent market, and why they their teams have one just one championship the past quarter century or so. They are the anti-Cleveland - who can make them happy?
Andy Reid has not done well the past couple of seasons, but you wonder if he might survive if he were in Pittsburgh. Or to put it another way, when Bill Cowher had a low spot maybe he would have been out if he'd been in Philadelphia.
Philly fans - don't they bring it on themselves?
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3841 | VATICAN – Ave Maria by Mgr. Luciano Alimandi -
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – “A Roman oration, connected with the text of the Book of Wisdom, says: ‘In forgiveness and mercy you show your almighty power, o Lord’. The apex of God’s power is mercy, forgiveness. In our present day worldly idea of power, we think of someone who owns properties, in economics has something to say, who has large capital at his disposal with which to influence the world market. We think of someone with military power, someone who can threaten. Stalin’s question: ‘How many divisions does the Pope have?’ still characterises the average idea of power. A powerful person is one who can be dangerous, who can threaten, destroy, who has many worldly things in his hands. However Revelation tells us: ‘This is not true; real power, is the power of grace and mercy. In mercy, God shows real power ” (Benedict XVI, homily Aosta, 25 July 2009).
VATICAN CITY - APRIL 6: Pope Benedict XVI hol...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
The Holy Father, Benedict XVI with these words spoken off the cuff, during his recent homily at Vespers in the Cathedral of Aosta, opens a “window” on the wondrous truth of divine mercy, which, he says, is the “real power” of God!
Our times would appear to be in great need of divine mercy in terms of “power”, since every epoch is marked by an uncontrollable race for power, involving both individuals and communities.
Since the moment of original sin, power has always exercised an irresistible influence on the heart of man, on the hearts of those who willingly let themselves be attracted, gripped by a desire not for ‘littleness’ but for greatness. Greatness to be reached with any means and at any cost.
God created man for great things, giving him extraordinary dignity, but at the same time he planned for him a path to glory which passes through humility in order to make room for God. Instead the world “preaches” human greatness to reach by means of “power”, power which “swells” playing on pride which “crushes” the weak.
The Gospel announces, as the Holy Father recalls, a “power” which draws its energy not from below, from the things of this earth, but from above, from God, who sent his Son Jesus to us to teach us and to give us mercy!
If man wishes to encounter God, if he wishes to find out where God lives and how he acts, then there is only one road and this road is Jesus, because Jesus is the mercy of the Father who made himself visible to man: from his birth in Bethlehem to his death and resurrection in Jerusalem!
Divine Mercy
Image by jangelo via Flickr
The whole life of Jesus is revelation of this infinite love of God, who allowed himself be crucified in order to defeat the greatest of all earthly powers, the power of the Evil One, whom Jesus calls the “prince of this world” (Jn 12, 31).
In this regard we do well to return to the words of the Holy Father in the above mentioned homily: “the event of the Cross: from that moment onwards, against the ocean of evil, there exists a river which is infinite and therefore far greater than the greatest injustices in the world, a river of goodness, truth, love. God forgives by transforming the world and by entering our world so that there can exist a power, a river of goodness greater than all the evil which could ever exist. God call us to be on his side, to abandon the ocean of evil, hatred, violence, selfishness to enter and to identify ourselves with the river of his love ” (Benedict XVI, 25 July 2009).
Mercy is love which accepts to be wounded by man’s sin in order to heal him, it is God’s infinite capacity for forgiving the rebellion of his creatures because he loves them with a Love which is stronger than all evil, all death.
God wishes to give to us this "power of grace and mercy” through authentic communion of life with his Son Jesus. In Him we too become “powerful”, we are “raised” above the power of evil and the accomplices of this evil whom the Lord calls, referring to the darnel present in the world, “ the subjects of the Evil One ” (cfr. Mt 13, 38). With the power of his grace Jesus frees us from the web tirelessly woven by evil and wraps us in his mercy which protects us from our selfishness. Jesus exercises this power, especially though the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and Reconciliation. We can draw continually from these two inexhaustible sources of grace which lie at the heart of the Church and are always open. The Prophet Isaiah foretold that which has been accomplished in Jesus Christ: “ All you who thirst, come you to the waters, and he who has no money come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live. ” (Is 55, 1-3)
Mother Mercy
Image by Grammu via Flickr
The Blessed Virgin Mary reminds us that there exists a power of grace and mercy which is freely given to every believer in Christ. We need only to go to Him with confidence of heart, the same confidence which Our Lady, more than anyone else, can and desires to teach us. She lived this confidence perfectly and God allows her to lavish it on his children. The confidence that Our Mother wishes to give us opens wide the doors of mercy, because it is confidence which is humble, simple, confidence learned at the best school! (Agenzia Fides 29/7/2009)
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3856 | I'm having trouble creating action for the green OK key - when a QLineEdit instance is in focus.
I realized that returnPressed() signal isn't emitted when the user presses that key. So I subclassed QLineEdit and reimplemented keyPressEvent(), only to realize that no key press event is fired when OK key is pressed.
However, I know Symbian makes it possible to handle that key. For example, Opera Mobile opens the entered URL when you tap OK key when you are in the address bar. |
global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3870 | noun Genetics.
any of several threadlike bodies, consisting of chromatin, that carry the genes in a linear order: the human species has 23 pairs, designated 1 to 22 in order of decreasing size and X and Y for the female and male sex chromosomes respectively.
1885–90; chromo- + -some3
chromosomal, adjective
chromosomally, adverb
interchromosomal, adjective
interchromosomally, adverb
nonchromosomal, adjective Unabridged
Cite This Source Link To Chromosomally
World English Dictionary
chromosome (ˈkrəʊməˌsəʊm)
See also homologous chromosomes any of the microscopic rod-shaped structures that appear in a cell nucleus during cell division, consisting of nucleoprotein arranged into units (genes) that are responsible for the transmission of hereditary characteristics
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History
1889, from Ger. Chromosom, coined 1888 by Ger. anatomist Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz (1836-1921), from Gk. khroma "color" + soma "body." So called because the structures contain a substance that stains readily with basic dyes.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
chromosome chro·mo·some (krō'mə-sōm')
2. A circular strand of DNA in bacteria and cyanobacteria that contains the hereditary information necessary for cell life.
chro'mo·so'mal (-sō'məl) or chro'mo·so'mic (-sō'mĭk) adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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Science Dictionary
chromosome (krō'mə-sōm') Pronunciation Key
(click for larger image in new window)
A structure in all living cells that consists of a single molecule of DNA bonded to various proteins and that carries the genes determining heredity. In all eukaryotic cells, the chromosomes occur as threadlike strands in the nucleus. During cell reproduction, these strands coil up and condense into much thicker structures that are easily viewed under a microscope. Chromosomes occur in pairs in all of the cells of eukaryotes except the reproductive cells, which have one of each chromosome, and some red blood cells (such as those of mammals) that expel their nuclei. In bacterial cells and other prokaryotes, which have no nucleus, the chromosome is a circular strand of DNA located in the cytoplasm.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3871 | 1 [bool-ee]
noun, plural bullies.
Archaic. a man hired to do violence.
Obsolete. a pimp; procurer.
Obsolete. good friend; good fellow.
Obsolete. sweetheart; darling.
verb (used with object), bullied, bullying.
to act the bully toward; intimidate; domineer.
verb (used without object), bullied, bullying.
to be loudly arrogant and overbearing.
Informal. fine; excellent; very good.
dashing; jovial; high-spirited.
Informal. good! well done!
1530–40; < Middle Dutch boele lover
bullyable, adjective
unbullied, adjective
unbullying, adjective
6. cow, browbeat, coerce; terrorize, tyrannize.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Cite This Source Link To bullied
World English Dictionary
bully1 (ˈbʊlɪ)
n , pl -lies
1. a person who hurts, persecutes, or intimidates weaker people
2. archaic a hired ruffian
3. obsolete a procurer; pimp
4. obsolete a fine fellow or friend
5. obsolete a sweetheart; darling
vb (when tr, often foll by into) , -lies, -lies, -lying, -lied
6. to hurt, intimidate, or persecute (a weaker or smaller person), esp to make him do something
7. dashing; jolly: my bully boy
8. informal very good; fine
9. informal Also: bully for you well done! bravo!
[C16 (in the sense: sweetheart, hence fine fellow, hence swaggering coward): probably from Middle Dutch boele lover, from Middle High German buole, perhaps childish variant of bruoderbrother]
bully2 (ˈbʊlɪ)
n , pl -lies
pakoko, titarakura, Also called (NZ): toitoi any of various small freshwater fishes of the genera Gobiomorphus and Philynodon of New Zealand
[C20: short for cockabully]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History
1530s, originally "sweetheart," applied to either sex, from Du. boel "lover, brother," probably dim. of M.H.G. buole "brother," of uncertain origin (cf. Ger. buhle "lover"). Meaning deteriorated 17c. through "fine fellow," "blusterer," to "harasser of the weak" (1680s, from bully-ruffian, 1650s). Perhaps
this was by influence of bull (n.1), but a connecting sense between "lover" and "ruffian" may be in "protector of a prostitute," which was one sense of bully (though not specifically attested until 1706). The verb is first attested 1710. The expression meaning "worthy, jolly, admirable" (esp. in 1864 U.S. slang bully for you!) is first attested 1680s, and preserves an earlier, positive sense of the word.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
must either suffer through it or quit.
Don't be fooled or bullied into taking a side until do the research for
yourself and can make an informed decision.
Today's consumer isn't going to be bullied by corporations telling them where
to watch something and how to watch something.
His aides bullied physicians to accept unheated concentrates.
Related Words
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3873 | delight in
a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture: She takes great delight in her job.
something that gives great pleasure: The dance was a delight to see.
verb (used with object)
to give great pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment to; please highly: The show delighted everyone.
verb (used without object)
to have great pleasure; take pleasure (followed by in or an infinitive): She delights in going for long walks in the country.
1175–1225; (v.) respelling, after light1, of earlier delite, Middle English deliten < Anglo-French deliter, Old French delitier < Latin delectāre (see delectable); (noun) respelling (as above) of Middle English delit < Anglo-French, Old French, derivative of v.
delighter, noun
delightingly, adverb
delightless, adjective
self-delight, noun
undelighting, adjective
1. transport, delectation. See pleasure. 3. charm, enrapture.
1. distress. 2. disappointment. Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
delight (dɪˈlaɪt)
vb (foll by in)
1. (tr) to please greatly
2. to take great pleasure (in)
3. extreme pleasure or satisfaction; joy
4. something that causes this: music was always his delight
[C13: from Old French delit, from deleitier to please, from Latin dēlectāre, from dēlicere to allure, from de- + lacere to entice; see delicious; English spelling influenced by light]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History
early 13c., delit, from O.Fr. delit, from delitier "please greatly, charm," from L. delectare "to allure, delight," freq. of delicere "entice" (see delicious). Spelled delite until 16c. when it changed under influence of light, flight, etc. Related: Delightful (1520s).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3877 | verb (used with object), heard [hurd] , hearing.
to perceive by the ear: Didn't you hear the doorbell?
to listen to; give or pay attention to: They refused to hear our side of the argument.
to be among the audience at or of (something): to hear a recital.
to give a formal, official, or judicial hearing to (something); consider officially, as a judge, sovereign, teacher, or assembly: to hear a case.
to take or listen to the evidence or testimony of (someone): to hear the defendant.
to listen to with favor, assent, or compliance.
(of a computer) to perceive by speech recognition.
verb (used without object), heard [hurd] , hearing.
to be capable of perceiving sound by the ear; have the faculty of perceiving sound vibrations.
to receive information by the ear or otherwise: to hear from a friend.
to listen with favor, assent, or compliance (often followed by of ): I will not hear of your going.
(of a computer) to be capable of perceiving by speech recognition.
(used interjectionally in the phrase Hear! Hear! to express approval, as of a speech).
before 950; Middle English heren, Old English hēran, hīeran; cognate with Dutch horen, German hören, Old Norse heyra, Gothic hausjan; perhaps akin to Greek akoúein (see acoustic)
hearable, adjective
hearer, noun
half-heard, adjective
outhear, verb (used with object), outheard, outhearing.
rehear, verb, reheard, rehearing.
unhearable, adjective
well-heard, adjective
1. hear, here (see synonym study at the current entry) ; 2. heard, herd.
1, 2. attend. Hear, listen apply to the perception of sound. To hear is to have such perception by means of the auditory sense: to hear distant bells. To listen is to give attention in order to hear and understand the meaning of a sound or sounds: to listen to what is being said; to listen for a well-known footstep. 4. attend. 7. regard, heed.
7. disregard.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
hear (hɪə)
vb (when intr, sometimes foll by of or about; when tr, may take a clause as object) (when intr, usually foll by of and used with a negative) (foll by from) , hears, hearing, heard
1. (tr) to perceive (a sound) with the sense of hearing
2. (tr; may take a clause as object) to listen to: did you hear what I said?
3. to be informed (of); receive information (about): to hear of his success; have you heard?
4. law to give a hearing to (a case)
5. to listen (to) with favour, assent, etc: she wouldn't hear of it
6. to receive a letter, news, etc (from)
7. hear! hear! an exclamation used to show approval of something said
8. dialect hear tell to be told (about); learn (of)
[Old English hieran; related to Old Norse heyra, Gothic hausjan, Old High German hōren, Greek akouein]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History
O.E. heran (Anglian), (ge)hieran, hyran (W.Saxon), from P.Gmc. *khauzjianan (cf. O.N. hegra, O.Fris. hora, Du. horen, Ger. hören, Goth. hausjan), perhaps from PIE base *(s)keu- "to notice, observe." Spelling difference between hear and here developed 1200-1550. Hearing "listening to evidence in
a court of law" is from 1576; hearsay is 1532 from phrase to hear say. O.E. also had the excellent adj. hiersum "ready to hear, obedient," lit. "hear-some" with suffix from handsome, etc. Hear, hear! (1689) was originally imperative, used as an exclamation to call attention to a speaker's words; now a general cheer of approval. Originally it was hear him!
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
hear (hēr)
v. heard (hûrd), hear·ing, hears
To perceive (sound) by the ear.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3878 | lick ones chops
3 [chop]
Usually, chops. the jaw.
the oral cavity; mouth.
Slang. musical ability on any instrument, especially in playing jazz or rock; technical virtuosity.
Slang. the music or musical part played by an instrumentalist, especially a solo passage.
an entranceway, as into a body of water.
Horology. either of two pieces clasping the end of the suspension spring of a pendulum.
bust one's chops, Slang. to exert oneself.
bust someone's chops, Slang. to annoy with nagging or criticism: Stop busting my chops—I'll get the job done.
lick one's chops, to await with pleasure; anticipate; relish: He was already licking his chops over the expected inheritance.
Also, chap.
1350–1400; Middle English; perhaps special use of chop1 Unabridged
Cite This Source Link To lick ones chops
World English Dictionary
chop1 (tʃɒp)
vb (often foll by down or off) (often foll by up) , chops, chopping, chopped
1. to cut (something) with a blow from an axe or other sharp tool
2. (tr) to produce or make in this manner: to chop firewood
3. to cut into pieces
4. informal (Brit) (tr) to dispense with or reduce
5. (intr) to move quickly or violently
6. sport to hit (a ball) sharply downwards
7. boxing, martial arts to punch or strike (an opponent) with a short sharp blow
8. (W African) an informal word for eat
9. a cutting blow
10. the act or an instance of chopping
11. a piece chopped off
12. a slice of mutton, lamb, or pork, generally including a rib
13. slang (Austral), (NZ) a share (esp in the phrase getorhop in for one's chop)
14. (W African) an informal word for food
15. (Austral), (NZ) a competition of skill and speed in chopping logs
16. sport a sharp downward blow or stroke
17. informal (Austral), (NZ) not much chop not much good; poor
18. slang the chop dismissal from employment
[C16: variant of chap1]
chop2 (tʃɒp)
vb , chops, chopping, chopped
1. (intr) to change direction suddenly; vacillate (esp in the phrase chop and change)
2. obsolete to barter
3. chop logic to use excessively subtle or involved logic or argument
[Old English ceapian to barter; see cheap, chapman]
chop3 (tʃɒp)
a design stamped on goods as a trademark, esp in the Far East
[C17: from Hindi chhāp]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History
"to cut," mid-14c., perhaps from O.Fr. (Picard) choper, from O.Fr. coper "to cut off," from V.L. *cuppare "to decapitate," infl. by couper "to strike." Meaning "slice of meat" is c.1640; hence, chop-house (1680s).
"shift," O.E. ceapian "to bargain" (see cheap), here with a sense of "changing back and forth."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
chop definition
1. n.
a rude remark; a cutting remark. : That was a rotten chop! Take it back!
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw-Hill Education.
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global_01_local_0_shard_00000017_processed.jsonl/3879 | a gyroscopic device indicating the exact speed and position of a vessel, as indicated by differences in positions over a given period on a given course, as well as the direction of true north.
s(hip's) i(nertial) n(avigation) s(ystem) Unabridged
1 [sin]
transgression of divine law: the sin of Adam.
any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse, etc.; great fault or offense: It's a sin to waste time.
verb (used without object), sinned, sinning.
to commit a sinful act.
to offend against a principle, standard, etc.
verb (used with object), sinned, sinning.
to commit or perform sinfully: He sinned his crimes without compunction.
to bring, drive, etc., by sinning: He sinned his soul to perdition.
before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English syn(n) offense, misdeed; akin to German Sünde, Old Norse synd sin, Latin sōns guilty; (v.) derivative of the noun, replacing Middle English sin(i)gen, syn(i)gen, Old English syngian, itself derivative of the noun
sinlike, adjective
sinningly, adverb
sinningness, noun
unsinning, adjective
1. trespass, violation. 2. wrong, wickedness. 4. transgress, trespass.
2 [seen]
the 22nd letter of the hebrew alphabet.
the consonant sound represented by this letter.
1895–1900; < Hebrew śīn
the 12th letter of the Arabic alphabet.
< Arabic
the Akkadian god of the moon: the counterpart of the Sumerian Nanna. Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
sin1 (sɪn)
1. theol
a. transgression of God's known will or any principle or law regarded as embodying this
b. actual sin mortal sin original sin See also venial sin the condition of estrangement from God arising from such transgression
2. any serious offence, as against a religious or moral principle
3. any offence against a principle or standard
4. informal live in sin (of an unmarried couple) to live together
vb , sins, sinning, sinned
5. theol to commit a sin
6. (usually foll by against) to commit an offence (against a person, principle, etc)
[Old English synn; related to Old Norse synth, Old High German suntea sin, Latin sons guilty]
sin2 (sɪn)
prep, —conj, —adv
a Scot dialect word for since
sin3 (siːn)
See shin a variant of shin, the 21st letter in the Hebrew alphabet (שׂ), transliterated as S
sin4 (saɪn)
abbreviation for
SIN or S.I.N.
abbreviation for
social insurance number
S.I.N. or S.I.N.
abbreviation for
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History
O.E. synn "moral wrongdoing, offense against God, misdeed," from P.Gmc. *sundjo (cf. O.S. sundia, O.Fris. sende, M.Du. sonde, Ger. Sünde "sin, transgression, trespass, offense"), probably ult. "true" (cf. Goth. sonjis, O.N. sannr "true"), from PIE *es-ont-, prp. of base *es- "to be" (see
is). The semantic development is via notion of "to be truly the one (who is guilty)," as in O.N. phrase verð sannr at "be found guilty of," and the use of the phrase "it is being" in Hittite confessional formula. The same process probably yielded the L. word sons (gen. sontis) "guilty, criminal" from prp. of sum, esse "to be, that which is." Some etymologists believe the Gmc. word was an early borrowing directly from the L. genitive. Sin-eater is attested from 1686. To live in sin "cohabit without marriage" is from 1838. Ice hockey slang sin bin "penalty box" is attested from 1950.
O.E. syngian "to commit sin," from synn (see sin (n.)). Cf. Du. zondigen, Ger. sündigen. Form alt. from M.E. sunigen by influence of the noun.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
Abbreviation of sine
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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Slang Dictionary
sin definition
1. n.
synthetic marijuana. (Drugs. From synthetic.) : Most of this stuff the kids put down good money for is not sin but angel dust.
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Changi International Airport (Singapore)
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary
Sin definition
is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Rom. 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is "not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment, and calls down the righteous wrath of God. Hence sin carries with it two inalienable characters, (1) ill-desert, guilt (reatus); and (2) pollution (macula).", Hodge's Outlines. The moral character of a man's actions is determined by the moral state of his heart. The disposition to sin, or the habit of the soul that leads to the sinful act, is itself also sin (Rom. 6:12-17; Gal. 5:17; James 1:14, 15). The origin of sin is a mystery, and must for ever remain such to us. It is plain that for some reason God has permitted sin to enter this world, and that is all we know. His permitting it, however, in no way makes God the author of sin. Adam's sin (Gen. 3:1-6) consisted in his yielding to the assaults of temptation and eating the forbidden fruit. It involved in it, (1) the sin of unbelief, virtually making God a liar; and (2) the guilt of disobedience to a positive command. By this sin he became an apostate from God, a rebel in arms against his Creator. He lost the favour of God and communion with him; his whole nature became depraved, and he incurred the penalty involved in the covenant of works. Original sin. "Our first parents being the root of all mankind, the guilt of their sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature were conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation." Adam was constituted by God the federal head and representative of all his posterity, as he was also their natural head, and therefore when he fell they fell with him (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22-45). His probation was their probation, and his fall their fall. Because of Adam's first sin all his posterity came into the world in a state of sin and condemnation, i.e., (1) a state of moral corruption, and (2) of guilt, as having judicially imputed to them the guilt of Adam's first sin. "Original sin" is frequently and properly used to denote only the moral corruption of their whole nature inherited by all men from Adam. This inherited moral corruption consists in, (1) the loss of original righteousness; and (2) the presence of a constant proneness to evil, which is the root and origin of all actual sin. It is called "sin" (Rom. 6:12, 14, 17; 7:5-17), the "flesh" (Gal. 5:17, 24), "lust" (James 1:14, 15), the "body of sin" (Rom. 6:6), "ignorance," "blindness of heart," "alienation from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18, 19). It influences and depraves the whole man, and its tendency is still downward to deeper and deeper corruption, there remaining no recuperative element in the soul. It is a total depravity, and it is also universally inherited by all the natural descendants of Adam (Rom. 3:10-23; 5:12-21; 8:7). Pelagians deny original sin, and regard man as by nature morally and spiritually well; semi-Pelagians regard him as morally sick; Augustinians, or, as they are also called, Calvinists, regard man as described above, spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1; 1 John 3:14). The doctrine of original sin is proved, (1.) From the fact of the universal sinfulness of men. "There is no man that sinneth not" (1 Kings 8:46; Isa. 53:6; Ps. 130:3; Rom. 3:19, 22, 23; Gal. 3:22). (2.) From the total depravity of man. All men are declared to be destitute of any principle of spiritual life; man's apostasy from God is total and complete (Job 15:14-16; Gen. 6:5,6). (3.) From its early manifestation (Ps. 58:3; Prov. 22:15). (4.) It is proved also from the necessity, absolutely and universally, of regeneration (John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17). (5.) From the universality of death (Rom. 5:12-20). Various kinds of sin are mentioned, (1.) "Presumptuous sins," or as literally rendered, "sins with an uplifted hand", i.e., defiant acts of sin, in contrast with "errors" or "inadvertencies" (Ps. 19:13). (2.) "Secret", i.e., hidden sins (19:12); sins which escape the notice of the soul. (3.) "Sin against the Holy Ghost" (q.v.), or a "sin unto death" (Matt. 12:31, 32; 1 John 5:16), which amounts to a wilful rejection of grace. Sin, a city in Egypt, called by the Greeks Pelusium, which means, as does also the Hebrew name, "clayey" or "muddy," so called from the abundance of clay found there. It is called by Ezekel (Ezek. 30:15) "the strength of Egypt, "thus denoting its importance as a fortified city. It has been identified with the modern Tineh, "a miry place," where its ruins are to be found. Of its boasted magnificence only four red granite columns remain, and some few fragments of others.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Example sentences for sins
These deadly sins are not necessarily worse than any others that are listed.
It does list them as seven, but it is far from being an exhaustive listing of
The sins present themselves in order pride, greed, envy, wrath, gluttony,
sloth, lust.
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Subsets and Splits