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Animal Games
Want to Play Games?
Animal - Find The Differences Game
The goal of this game is to spot all of the differences as quickly as possible in all the pictures of animals. The faster you find them all the higher the time bonus you get at the e...
Animal Artist Game
Let the animals walk on the canvas and make cool art work with their footprints. These animals look so cute. they are also good artists. Let's join to draw with them? You will have a...
Animal Coloring Book Game
Choose between many animals like a chicken, cow, elephant, monkey and more. And color these animals in this lovely coloring book. Choose an animal and mix paint to color the image.
Animal Friends With Fruits Game
Help these two animal friends to eat all the fruit that they could, jumping on their trapeze. So funny to jump high and eat lots of fruits here. Let's go!
Animal Mahjong Solitaire Game
The object of the game is to match tiles. to make a match you must select two matching tiles that are not blocked from the right or the left. If you can't select a tile, then it is b...
Animal Maze Making Game
Get the monkey across the shark infested water by placing the right pieces of road in the right places. Put the grass piece which appears at random on the water surface, Complete a r...
Animal Sports Fan Dress Up Game
what a cute little doggie! Animal sports fan dress up game, dressing up the dog in sports jerseys and hats for a day a the stadium to watch your favorite team with your favorite pet.
Animal Wedding Dress Up Game
Dress up this cute animal couple on their wedding day. Dress the bride in her wedding dress and the groom in his wedding tuxedo and may these animals live happily ever after in this...
Animals At Risk Game HOT
As a researcher, we need you to find and photograph these endangered animals! We are a team of researchers traveling around the globe to study and photograph animals at risk of extin...
Ant War Game HOT
A fun sim game of ants! You play as a ruler of an ant colony! Start a brand new ant colony in the town of Spring Valley and follow one simple rule, Grow! Keep growing more and more a...
Ant Z And Bug Friends Games Game
An awesome game in which you can decorate the worms land with many cutie bugs, glow-worms, ants, bees...
Arcade Animals Super Bug Game
Fly around getting points and dodging things that take away points. Collect As much treasure as possible in this cute animal game!
Baby Animals Dress Up Flappy The Pe... Game HOT
Here we have another fun animal for you to dress up. This little penguin needs you to dress him in glasses, among other things, because he is near-sighted.


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Supra 55 Blue
Watch this product and we will notify you once it is back in stock.
Supra 55 Blue
Supra 55 tinted monthly lenses that emphasize and deepen naturally light eye colors. Not recommended for naturally dark eyes because the lens color is not comprehensive, but let through and mix with your natural eye color. Please note that we can not guarantee the color result because it is affected by your natural eye color! Note that the lenses are sold per piece.
Base curvs
8.60 (minus styrkor)
8.80 (plus styrkor)
Diameter 14.20mm
Power range
-0.25 to -6.00 (0.25 D-step)
-6.50 to -12.00 (0.50 D-step)
+0.25 to +5.00 (0.25 D-step)
+5.50 to +8.00 (0.50 D-step
Material Ocufilcon D
Water content 55%

subset: commoncrawl


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What is the best thing to do next after completing your Open Water Course?Book My Next Course!
After you have just finished your PADI Open Water Diver course many divers ask the question "What should I do next?" You have proudly stapled your Temporary Certification Card into your shiny new Log Book, with your four open water dives documented and signed by your instructor, but what is the next step that is best for your new hoby?
When I was at that stage I had already fallen in love with diving and the aquatic world. I was in the Egyptian resort of Hurghada for two weeks. I knew I wanted to visit some of the ancient splendours of that country and see a bit more of Egypt while I was there. But I also knew that I wanted to dive some more during my holiday.
So I booked an extra day of diving, rented a camera, and went out on the boat for the day. I did my first drift dive and was lucky enough to have my instructor as my guide, so no problems there. The photos were a disaster, but that is a story for another blog!
Although I thought I had done well on the course, and my instructor thought so too, I didn't feel especially comfortable and confident. I would guess that a lot of 'newbies' feel that way too. The only way to get over that feeling is to get more experience, to firmly fix the skills and knowledge learnt in the Open Water Course, and so become more confident.
The very best way of doing that is to go on and complete the Advanced Open Water course as soon as you can. A cynic might reply to that along the lines of "Well, he would say that wouldn't he – he's an instructor!" And he would be correct. To continue as an instructor I have to sell courses! But that does not make the first sentence of this paragraph untrue!
So allow me to explain.
The Open Water course is all about getting the student to dive. The Advanced course is all about getting the student to do something while he or she is diving. That might be diving at night with a torch, diving with a camera, or navigating around a wreck. But by successfully completing a task, with the help and under the supervision of an instructor, the student naturally gains confidence!
Apart from the useful and interesting things learnt on the Advanced course, the thing I notice about my Advanced students is the boost to confidence. It alters and improves the way they feel about diving. And that is why I sincerely promote the Open and Advanced courses package.
Open and Advanced Course Package
One little known aspect of the course is that it does not have to completed 'in one go'. In other words you can do each of the five dives at different times in different location if you want to. In fact the same applies to ALL PADI courses! This makes for an incredibly convenient and flexible system for you the diver.
While I readily concede that it is an effective learning experience, I cannot recommend this method. I feel that there is a learning momentum, a consecutive acquisition and application of skills, which means the very best way to go is to complete the courses in one go.
Another 'plus' for students is that the Advanced course is much less 'academic' than the Open Water course. There are knowledge revues, briefings and de-briefings of course, but the heart of the course is to get the divers diving! And there is no final exam!
However your options for continuing your diver training are not confined to the Advanced Open Water Course. There are lots of Specialty courses that you are qualified to participate in. These courses cater for specific interest and range from two open water dives to four. As an Open Water Diver I can teach you the Peak Performance Buoyancy course, the Enriched Air Diver course, Navigation Diver, and I can offer a choice of THREE underwater photography courses – I would recommend my distinctive Digital Photography Diver. Click on the links to find out the details.
I always recommend to my Open Water students that if they really enjoy diving and want to develop their new sport that they should have a medium term goal to get up to Rescue Diver, plus take a couple of specialty courses that interest or challenge them. By the end of that they will have had roughly two weeks of training, and that is a very different thing to just a three or four day Open Water Course.Rescue and EFR Course Info
As I mentioned from my own experience, you can also do more fun dives, experiment with bits of underwater equipment and when interest and cash allow you can invest in buying your own equipment. But I will be writing more about those two subjects in the near future! Have fun!Book My Next Course!


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Welcome back to the Wheel of Time Reread Redux, y'all: the Reread so hip, it has difficulty seeing over its own pelvis. For REALZ. *nodnodnod*
Today's Redux post will cover Chapters 12 and 13 of The Eye of the World, originally reread in this post.
All original posts are listed in The Wheel of Time Reread Index here, and all Redux posts will also be archived there as well. (The Wheel of Time Master Index, as always, is here, which has links to news, reviews, interviews, and all manner of information about the Wheel of Time in general on Tor.com.)
The Wheel of Time reread is also now available as an ebook series, except for the portion covering A Memory of Light, which should become available soon.
All Reread Redux posts will contain spoilers for the entire Wheel of Time series, so if you haven't read, read at your own risk.
And now, the post!
Chapter 12: Across the Taren
Redux Commentary
There must be a difference in what you saw, it seemed to him, depending on whether you sought adventure or had it forced on you. The stories could no doubt make galloping through a cold fog, with a Draghkar and the Light alone knew what else chasing you, sound thrilling. Egwene might be feeling a thrill; he only felt cold and damp and glad to have a village around him again, even if it was Taren Ferry.
This is going to sound contradictory, maybe, but Rand's continual disenchantment with his "adventure" is a pretty strong signal to me (and, probably, to anyone even remotely genre-savvy) that he is absolutely the right person to be having one. Just as, later on, his instinctive discomfort with the trappings of power are what indicates that he is the right person to be wielding it—and why, later still, his growing expectation that his power is owed to him is a glaring red flag that he is starting to not be the right person to wield it. It may almost never work out that way in real life, but in fiction there is generally no greater sign that someone is suited to be a hero/leader/powerful person than their inherent lack of comfort or interest in being one.
I never saw anyone sum up this phenomenon better (or at least more amusingly) than Douglas Adams:
The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
Trope? Cliché? Probably (definitely). But I like it anyway, or at least find it fascinating, because I think it plays to a need we have in the modern world for a way to reconcile two conflicting desires: on the one hand, our longing for heroic strong leader-type people to look up to and to save us, and on the other, our need to believe that all people are fundamentally equal, and that no one is inherently "above" anyone else—or at least, to believe that anyone who is "above" anyone else doesn't believe that they should be. In other words, we want a Type-A hero without the Type-A personality.
Or, we want a fairytale. Sigh.
Rand's reluctance to accept that he is special, even in the face of growing and ongoing evidence that he is special, subconsciously assures us that at heart he is just an ordinary guy, who would have the same doubts and insecurities as any of the rest of us, even as it is contradicted by the fact that he is self-evidently not "an ordinary guy." And I don't mean by the fact that he is a channeler, either, but in that he proves to be not only a natural leader, but a person of extraordinarily strong fortitude and moral character, who withstands tests of body and mind that we intellectually accept would cripple or destroy most other people, but viscerally want to believe that anyone could weather. We want to believe Rand (and Mat, and Perrin) are exceptional, at the same time that we want to believe that we all could endure such burdens of specialness as well as they could, even as logically we must accept that most of us probably couldn't.
With a cry of delight Egwene threw her arms around the Aes Sedai. "Oh, thank you. Rand, did you hear? I'm going to be an Aes Sedai!"
It is interesting to observe that with the possible exception of Nynaeve, none of the Supergirls really seem to experience this "crisis of specialness" at all—as evidenced, for example, by Egwene's unmitigated joy in this chapter at discovering she can become an Aes Sedai. And even Nynaeve's crisis isn't with the concept of wielding power per se (she's certainly plenty comfortable enough with the idea of being the Wisdom, which is more or less the most powerful female office in Emond's Field), but more with being associated with a type of power she's been conditioned to find repugnant. Granted, Rand's discomfort at discovering he can wield tainted and deadly saidin is unavoidably different from Egwene discovering she can wield untainted and sanctioned saidar, but that doesn't explain Mat and Perrin's (mostly) more mundane power-related hang-ups.
I have some nebulous thoughts on how that lack of discomfort with their own power has contributed to the Supergirls being viewed with more resentment by the readers than the Superboys have, which I will probably return to in due time.
"With the fog to hide them… well, when what they do is hidden, men sometimes deal with strangers in ways they wouldn't if there were other eyes to see. And the quickest to harm a stranger are the soonest to think a stranger will harm them."
Okaaay, yes, I certainly see the point Lan is making here, and the first part of the sentiment is undoubtedly true, but the latter statement strikes me as a particularly privileged observation, made by someone who has rarely or never been in a position of true vulnerability. Those without swords or axes or magical powers (or the wherewithal to wield them) can absolutely be automatically suspicious that strangers will harm them, without also being the kind of person inclined to harm those strangers in turn. For some of us, that's just how you have to be to survive. I'm just saying.
Rand stood staring at the hidden river. It could have been happenstance. No whirlpools, he said, but it . . .
Dude, seriously. There's a river here, but yours is called Denial.
Chapter 13: Choices
Redux Commentary
Man, I want that erasing tiredness thing to be real. (Well, okay, it is real, sort of, it's called 5-Hour Energy, but I want it to be real without also feeling like I did something chemically heinous to my body at the same time.)
Rand's argument with Egwene about the Aes Sedai thing is annoying, and I think I always found it annoying even before I definitively learned in-universe that "Aes Sedai" did not equal "Darkfriend," because it (deliberately) smacked of every unexamined assumption about the Other I've ever heard in my life. All Aes Sedai are Darkfriends, all Muslims are terrorists, all gay people are promiscuous, all women are bad drivers, all Americans are stupid, all black people are lazy—it's a rhetoric that's tarred with the same ignorant brush of lumping entire groups of people into one (inevitably negative) category based on nothing more than the "everyone knows that X" lore of people who, like the Two Rivers folk, have very frequently had little to no actual contact with the groups they are rampantly generalizing about. And I guess it's human nature to do so, considering how universally it seems to happen, but that doesn't make it any less shitty. And annoying.
Viewed from the outside, therefore, (i.e. from Moiraine's POV, rather than Rand's), it's possibly a little less surprising that she is kind of, well, mean to the Superboys during TEOTW (exemplified by her threat here to "destroy them herself" rather than let the Dark One have them). She knows that they won't trust her regardless, after all, because of their cultural assumptions, so she goes for fear to keep them in line instead. It's ultimately an approach that will introduce more problems than it solves, as time will prove, but one can see why she would go for it as a stopgap solution to keep them in line. It's not the right decision (or so I think), but it's an understandable one, somewhat.
Moiraine's conversation with Egwene that Rand eavesdrops on in this chapter points to Jordan's awareness of the point he was making vis-à-vis unexamined lump assumptions and the essential humanity of Aes Sedai:
"You want to know that Aes Sedai are good and pure, that it was those wicked men of the legends who caused the Breaking of the World, not the women. Well, it was the men, but they were no more wicked than any men. They were insane, not evil. The Aes Sedai you will find in Tar Valon are human, no different from any other women except for the ability that sets us apart. They are brave and cowardly, strong and weak, kind and cruel, warm-hearted and cold. Becoming an Aes Sedai will not change you from what you are."
There's a lot of general world-building and infodumping in both of these chapters, as I mentioned in my original commentary, which is great because we're right at the point where infodumping is exactly what the reader wants. I've almost certainly said it before, but it bears repeating that infodumping has an often unfairly bad rap. It's definitely horrendous if done wrong, no doubt, but when it's done right it's awesome, especially in these kinds of stories. And infodumping during an otherwise mostly-uneventful "travel" chapter like this one is what chapters like this one were made for.
Speaking of world-building, I sort of forgot that the Whitecloaks were mentioned this early on, but now I remember that the way they were introduced here pleased me in a bizarrely negative way on first reading. Which is to say, I definitely didn't have any good feelings about the Whitecloaks themselves on learning about them, but I definitely did have good feelings about the fact that Jordan's views on autonomous militant religious organizations were as evidently negative as mine were (and are). I would have had to be very suspicious of him as an author otherwise.
(And if you're wondering about the difference between lumping autonomous militant religious organizations into one category versus the other groups I was talking about earlier, the key difference is voluntarism. In other words, you can choose to be a Whitecloak; you can't choose to be black (or not black). And so on. And while yes, you can technically choose to be Aes Sedai or not, you can't really choose whether or not to be a channeler, and since the "all Aes Sedai are Darkfriends" thing can be generally understood to mean that "all channelers are Darkfriends." the same reasoning applies. In My Arrogant Opinion, Of Course.)
And I'm sure no one will disagree with me, amirite? Why, look, it's a commenty box thingy right below for people to tell me why I'm wrong! (Or right!) Who thought of such a crazy thing, I swear. So go to town, kids (but be nice, as always), and have a lovely week in the meantime, and I'll see you again next Tuesday!


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Crown Model Front
Welcome to CBCK Designs, where you will find beautiful handcrafted felt flowers and decor for both your wedding day and your home. We specialise in creating the perfect image for your special day and showing off your unique style. We love working on new projects with our customers to make their vision a reality. Felt flowers are perfect for those who want an out of season flower, have asthma or other allergies, or who would love something colourful and unusual on their special day! So please browse our gallery and shop for inspiration and bring something fun and unique to your home.


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Female bonding has never enjoyed the same focus as male – whether because there is actually less or because it exists on an equal scale but is quieter and more informal than the boisterous masculine variety bolstered by strong club traditions. Whatever the verdict here, it can be stated quite categorically that even though Argentina's Security Ministry is the only portfolio with female continuity, following the transition between the Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández presidencies (with three women in Macri's original 20-strong Cabinet and four female ministers now), there is no gender bonding between its past and present ministers – Patricia Bullrich and Sabina Frederic. To put it mildly.
Frederic is the choice for today's third column in this ministerial series because despite the overwhelming urgency of economic issues (whose ministers will ideally await a more decisive moment) she has triggered news buzz recently. Two weekends ago she was drawing "friendly fire" from her Buenos Aires provincial counterpart Sergio Berni defending the Taser stun guns introduced by Bullrich from Frederic's general drive to overturn her predecessor's policies. And all the coverage of last Saturday's fifth anniversary of the death of AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman naturally included Frederic's insistent proposal to review the Border Guard (Gendarmerie) inquest defining that death as murder (first made late last year and also questioned by Berni, as well as prompting a Civic Coalition call for Frederic's impeachment).
The two women not only clash philosophically but also in their life stories. Bullrich started out as a rich kid walking on the wild side (the second syllable of her surname is no accident with the family fortune dating back five generations to auctioneering and banking in the 19th century) – a Montonero guerrilla and sisterin-law of Rodolfo Galimberti no less – before successively becoming a Peronist deputy, a Labour minister dubbed "La Piba" and also the "only man in the Cabinet" within the somewhat spineless administration of the Radical Fernando de la Rúa (1999-2001), back in Congress as a vehemently anti-Peronist deputy in Elisa Carrió's Civic Coalition and finally Macri's Security minister, tough on crime while extending the benefit of the doubt to her security forces.
In contrast, the CV of Sabina Andrea Frederic, 54, could be summarised by just two words "CONICET anthropologist" without missing too much. Nor has she undergone any of her predecessor's bewildering ideological fluctuations – always a progressive and previously aligned with the left-wing Peronist Frente Grande, she was one of the many absorbed by the strong Kirchnerite drive to co-opt progressive circles. Not a total newcomer to the public sector with a couple of minor posts under her belt – a Defence Ministry undersecretary for military training (2009-2011) and a Security Ministry advisor (2012-2014). We might add such details as a middle-class upbringing in Lomas de Zamora (southern Greater Buenos Aires), a doctorate from the venerable Dutch university of Utrecht and half a dozen publications (half of these co-authored and often touching on political and security issues) but she remains essentially the social anthropologist, clearly belonging to the vice-presidential rather than presidential wing of the ruling coalition.
In any case this series aims at shedding light on the ministries rather than the ministers. Apart from the brand-new portfolios created last month, the Security Ministry is about as new as they come in Argentina – it will not even complete its first decade until this coming December. Historically policing was always the province of the Interior Ministry until 1989 when it was transferred to the Justice Ministry (apart from a 1999-2002 interlude). With crime ever a concern in Argentina (not least this summer with British tourist Matthew Gibbard shot dead in Puerto Madero last month), the casual observer could be forgiven for assuming that this portfolio was created to add an extra edge to crime-fighting but in fact the original intention was the precise opposite – to put a lid on police brutality after the four deaths resulting from the clearance of squatters from the Parque Indoamericano in Villa Soldati, just two days prior to the ministry's creation. In this sense Frederic could be described as truer to the original spirit of this ministry than Bullrich.
Curiously enough, ever since the ministry's birth in late 2010, Argentina's "top cop" has always been a woman apart from six months (former Santa Cruz Peronist governor Arturo Puricelli in the second half of 2013). The first minister was Nilda Garré with María Cecilia Rodríguez coming after Puricelli, while Bullrich under the 2015-2019 Macri presidency and Frederic complete the quintet so far. Another curiosity is that none of these ministers stem from the mainstream ruling party of the day but rather coalition allies. Thus both Garré and Frederic are identified with Frente Grande and Rodríguez with the Nuevo Encuentro Kirchnerite splinter while Puricelli was enlisted in traditional PJ (Partido Justicialista) Peronism rather than the Victory Front. Bullrich had her own party under various labels (Unión por Todos, Unión por la Libertad), not joining Macri's PRO until March, 2018.
These five ministers do not tell the whole story, however. The ministry might have been born out of outrage over the Parque Indoamericano slayings as a gesture towards the human rights organisations backing Kirchnerism, but as from 2012 the tail was wagging the dog in the form of Berni as deputy minister – an Army lieutenant-colonel on leave with very basic ideas about law and order. As president during the first half of this ministry's life, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's attitude was complex – while her preferred role was as godmother of human rights, her antagonistic relationship with the Judiciary sometimes led her to accuse judges of being soft on crime and unleash Berni. Despite Bullrich's incredibly variegated political career, her approach was much more linear, as was Macri's support, with the focus always on crime (especially drug-trafficking, even if over 85,000 arrests only seems to scratch the surface) with a xenophobic tinge and unstinting support for the security forces sometimes over the top.
The ministry's future hangs in the balance. The challenge is also conceptual – will it return to its original aims of disciplining the police or is Bullrich's move back to the basics of crime-fighting irreversible? Will Frederic become embroiled in highly politicised cases like the deaths of Nisman and Santiago Maldonado or will she answer Bullrich at her own level of basic crime-fighting, verifying her generally upbeat data on less murders, kidnaps, etc. (some of which have been questioned by Chequeado fact-checkers) and improving crime maps? And, after that Taser spat, the most immediate question might be: Will the real minister please stand up, Frederic or Berni?


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Mayor Kiernan McManus
Mayor, City of Boulder City
Kiernan McManus is a native of Boulder City. He was born in 1957 at the original Boulder City Hospital. His parents moved to Boulder City in 1953 when his father accepted a position at Boulder City High School, where he taught for many years.
A graduated of BCHS in 1975, Kiernan pursued a degree in Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He later transferred to his father's alma mater, the University of New Hampshire, to complete his Bachelor of Arts degree.
Having grown up in Boulder City, Kiernan had the opportunity to absorb the history of the City directly from the 31ers who proudly spoke of the efforts and sacrifices needed to construct Hoover Dam. The pride and camaraderie of those same people were the genesis of the creation of our beautiful community of Boulder City.
As a young adult, McManus witnessed the discussions and planning that resulted in Boulder City's current conservative growth policies, the same growth policies that have preserved our community and small-town qualities well into the 21st century.
As mayor and member of the Boulder City Council, Mayor McManus has worked to bring transparency to Boulder City's government and to ensure the city's finances are sound. He recognizes the importance of preserving history and heritage for future generations and has worked diligently to implement workable solutions for preservation.
McManus' professional career includes nearly two decades of work for Fortune 500 corporations primarily in Information Technology. He earned two additional Associate of Applied Science degrees during this period of time. He continues to work part-time in the technology field.


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Malaysia is a country bless with an enormous range of biodiversity, so diverse that you can easily come across a few undescribed species if you just look. It is therefore virtually impossible to group and categorize them all in this website, at least not in such a short time. We at Wildlife Malaysia therefore decide to compile these less known or seen organisms in this particular group under Others. In the meantime, we will keep on documenting the organisms here and when we have enough details one day, we will formally create a specific group for them.
That said, cataloguing the wildlife of Malaysia can be a very challenging task considering the many factors that may affect the fruitfulness of the project i.e. weather, fund, luck, season etc. We therefore encourage support from our fellow readers e.g. moral support, support in imagery and information, financial support etc. in this large-scale and long-term project. We also welcome collaborative efforts so long as the aim is to appreciate, preserve and conserve wild life.


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Podcasts have always been an interesting alternative to radio. They have some key differences, all of which can act as advantages:
- They're cheap to produce and broadcast
- Once downloaded, they can be listened to at any time on nearly any modern gadget
- There are no content standards, save basic legality (e.g., copyrighted content; threats)
The growth of the podcast as a medium
I've been listening to podcasts for nearly a decade, and for most of that time the medium felt fringe. People didn't understand the concept. Even if they could wrap their heads around "subscribing" to an RSS feed layered on top of an MP3 file, they didn't see the point. It was a medium by and for enthusiasts.
This has changed lately. The change felt sudden. The longform investigative journalism show Serial launched in October 2014 and quickly became a water-cooler mainstay; a month earlier, the yet-to-be-named Gimlet Media released the first episode of Startup, a deeply meta podcast about the process of starting a for-profit podcast network. Trend pieces proliferated.
In truth, the mainstreaming of podcasts was more gradual. It was also closely tied to the increasing profit potential of podcast networks. When Edison Research started asking Americans about podcast listening habits in 2006, they concluded that just 11% of Americans had ever listened to a podcast; circa 2015, 17% have listened to at least one podcast episode in just the past month.
Early podcast listeners were richer and better-educated than the general public. The consensus is that this is still true, even as per-episode listener numbers for top shows have reached into the hundreds of thousands, then the millions. Little wonder that advertisers have taken notice. In June 2014, fast-growing podcast advertising middleman The Mid Roll merged with comedy podcast network Earwolf to become Midroll—the company responsible for those ubiquitous Squarespace and NatureBox ads. Slate, which was early to recognize the potential of podcasts, launched podcast and advertising network Panoply in February 2015.
Why am I linking the growth of the medium to profitability?
Great content can emerge from volunteer efforts, and "the podcast" would never have gained traction as a concept if that wasn't true. On balance, however, professionals deliver professional work, and expect to be paid for it. Equipment, websites, logos and hosting cost money. Efforts to gain listeners cost money, unless you rely solely on word of mouth. Booking guests, writing scripts, doing research, mixing sound, editing—they all take time, or cost money. If you believe that these things correspond with quality, and that quality corresponds with listenership, then you realize that revenue drives listenership.
The mere presence of advertisers within the podcasting space may also drive overall audience growth. Advertisers want to reach the largest number of people to whom their product is relevant. Do some advertisers want to reach a niche audience? Sure, but even they would prefer larger niches. This creates pressure—whether direct ("Can you guys swear less?") or indirect ("I bet this topic would be super popular")—to create content that appeals to more people.
Revenue models for podcasts and podcast networks
Although best practices are developing, podcast business models remain weird and creative, and that makes them interesting.
The most common sources of income for podcasts are listed below. Different podcasts and podcast networks combine these approaches in different ways. Ad sales are by far the largest source of income for most major podcast networks.
Ad sales. Advertising was the primary revenue source driving many previous mass media formats, including newspapers, magazines, radio, and broadcast television.
Crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is a way for passionate listeners to directly support something they love. The obvious antecedent in radio is the pledge drive, which remains a funding mainstay for public radio stations in the U.S.
Crowdfunding can be structured in different ways:
- Project-/product-based (Kickstarter; Indiegogo). This model solicits a one-off payment from "backers," and promises a specific good or service in return. Video game podcast Idle Thumbs ran a Kickstarter to cover equipment, space and hosting after a long hiatus. Now Playing Podcast used Kickstarter to raise funds for a book of movie reviews.
- Ongoing (Patreon). Patreon, the biggest player in this space, was conceived as a place for artists to find support from "patrons," thus reviving a Renaissance model for the modern age. In business terms, Patreon provides funding on an operational basis, rather than project-based, basis.
- Direct donation. Many podcasts have "tip jar" PayPal buttons on their websites. Fewer run organized, time-limited donation drives, but it does happen.
Sales. Some podcasts make money by selling things:
- Ancillary products. Stuff tied to the podcast brand, like clothing. This is often the first thing people think to do to raise money, but I'd be surprised if it's ever highly lucrative.
- Premium content. People listen to podcasts because they find them useful or entertaining. Making premium content available for direct sale, or offering it as reward to crowdfunders, encourages people to put their money where their ears are. Premium content isn't always distinct from the shows on the standard feed—some podcasts limit their public feeds to a few dozen recent shows, and move older content behind a paywall.
- Ticket sales. Not all podcasts can work as live events. No one is likely to drop $20 on a ticket to a live taping of a couch to 5k running podcast. Shows that do work on stage tend to be based around storytelling or game show formats, often with a comedic bent.
Brand sponsorship. Podcasts that focus on a specific brand, franchise or other intellectual property are sometimes paid for (or produced by) the owner of that brand. Roddenberry Entertainment sponsors Mission Log, a podcast about Star Trek. Marvel produces its own podcasts, as does parent company Disney.
Patreon strategy for podcasts
Two factors govern how much money a show brings in via Patreon:
- Number of patrons
- Average pledge amount
You (the person with the Patreon) cannot manipulate these variables directly, but you can influence them indirectly.
The number of patrons is almost certainly determined largely by:
- Your overall number of listeners. Lever: grow your audience.
- Their level of enthusiasm. Lever: make great content, and establish a relationship with listeners.
- How you direct listeners from your show and website to your Patreon. Lever: talk about your Patreon regularly, and feature it prominently on your website. Experiment with different calls to action, track their effectiveness, and tailor your approach.
- How compelling a case you make for becoming a patron. Lever: be clear, open and honest about why you're asking for money, and what difference it will make to you (and to your show). Entertain while begging.
Average pledge amount depends on… well, I'm not sure. Limited investigation suggests that it isn't highly correlated with number of patrons.
Factors that we might assume influence pledge amounts include audience disposable income, audience enthusiasm for the show/network, and the desirability of higher-value pledge tier rewards.
These last two are complex and hard to quantify, but I believe them to be important. Joshua Sheats, host of the daily Radical Personal Finance podcast, is able to convert unusual numbers of listeners to patrons (~5% of listeners)—patrons who donate in high amounts (~$10 average monthly pledge). He credits his daily show schedule with creating a "closer bond" between host and audience, and I think there's something to that. The fact that the show is dedicated to helping listeners achieve financial goals also makes it easier to assign specific monetary value to Joshua's content.
Example podcast network revenue models
There's a surprising amount of information available about profitable podcast networks, but it tends to be scattered. Relatively few businesses of any type are totally open with their books or strategies.
The information below was mostly gathered from a single Fast Company article. My revenue estimates are all on the conservative side. Where inputs were given as a range (of dollar values, audience numbers, etc.), I used the low number. In calculating advertising income, I assumed relatively few spots per episode.
Maximum Fun is an entertainment podcast network with about two dozen ongoing shows. Most show hosts are comedians or Internet personalities who were already well known before joining the network. Some shows are distributed on traditional radio via Public Radio International. The network sells tickets to live shows and holds an annual convention.
Revenue streams:
- Ads/underwriting — Strong knowledge of audience demographics probably drives higher prices.
- Live events and convention ticket sales
- Merchandise sales
- Radio distribution contract with PRI
- Donations — Direct through their own membership system, so no Patreon cut. There are superpremium tiers of $100-200/month.
5by5 is a mixed technology interest/entertainment podcast network with about three dozen ongoing shows. Most shows are hosted or co-hosted by network founder Dan Benjamin. Other hosts are experts in the fields covered by the show, and include journalists, entertainers, technology industry professionals, etc. Benjamin appears to run the network full time, while other hosts may be compensated at lesser rates and maintain other jobs.
Revenue streams:
- Advertising — 5by5 has a large enough aggregate audience that it runs its own ad network.
- "Millions of listeners" in aggregate suggests annual ad revenue of >$300,000.
- Donations — Patreon campaign brings in gross of >$30,000 annually.
Gimlet Media
Gimlet Media is a new podcast network founded by former This American Life producer Alex Blumberg. They have so far launched two shows, each of which has remained near the top of the iTunes charts. Based on public statements, I'd estimate upwards of 150,000 regular listeners to each show. Their shows are set apart from most other podcasts by high production values, and the budgets (and personnel) to develop stories over time rather than within the week or two between episodes.
Gimlet is currently entirely funded by ads. They run up to 6 per episode. They will likely branch out into other creative revenue sources, including selling products and selling tickets to live events.
Welcome to Night Vale
Welcome to Night Vale is a serial horror-comedy podcast that appeals to the apparently large audience for Lovecraftian Twin Peaks-meets-NPR content.
Revenue streams:
- Live events represent 57% of revenue
- 800 tickets x 76 performances x ~$25 = $1,520,000
- Probably take 50% or more off for venues, marketing, etc.
- Online merchandise represents 27% of revenue
- Estimated $720,000
- Variety of products, very in-jokey
- Launching a novel in October 2015
- Donations presumably represent the remaining 16%
- Estimated $425,000
WTF with Marc Maron
WTF is an entertainment show that features interviews by comedian and former radio host Marc Maron. Maron's guest are often well-known entertainment figures, and he successfully leverages their own followings to grow his audience.
Revenue streams:
- Ad sales
- 104 episodes x $8,125/spot = ~$850,000
- Subscriptions to back catalog ($2/mo to $9/year)
- ~35,800 subscribers
- Assuming that's a steady number, and depending on duration of average subscription, that could represent revenue of anywhere from $322,200 to $859,200/year.


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Rule No. 1 about start-up mentors: They are not omniscient. In fact, sometimes they're just plain wrong.
It's something that's not always easy to see as an entrepreneur. You go to mentors for advice because they have see some of the things that you're going to see and they've made some of the mistakes that you're hoping not to make.
Still, they're not running your business—you are. There's no law that says you have to do what your mentor suggests. And the sooner you learn how to say "no" confidently, the easier it will be to manage these key relationships.
At TechStars, I have the privilege of working with hundreds of the best and brightest start-up mentors on the planet. We coach our mentors to take a Socratic approach and to provide data rather than decisions. But not all mentors (even some of ours) behave this way all the time. Sometimes a mentor firmly believes that she is right, and presents as fact what is actually strongly held belief.
The best mentors present their opinions simply as data and not as direction. They're hoping that their past experience will help you. But since the best mentors are also hoping to learn from their relationship with you, they should also be open to being wrong and to learning from the experience. If they're not, that's a big red flag that you've got the wrong mentor.
So what happens when a mentor tells you what to do and you don't agree?
Never forget that it's your company. Ultimately, even if you follow the advice of a mentor or board member, it's still your fault if they were wrong! You took their advice. Gather feedback from your trusted advisors, but then make up your own mind and lead the company.
Be direct if you decide to go in a different direction. The biggest mistake that I see with founders at TechStars is that they when they disagree with a mentor, they take the easy way out and simply try to avoid conflict. This often damages the relationship. The better tactic: Tell the mentor that you appreciate his or her advice and have considered it fully, but have decided to go in a different direction. The best mentors will respect this and stand behind your decision and try to help any way that they can, even if you're ultimately proven wrong. Either way, both parties learn from the experience and there's no respect lost.
Don't forget to revisit the issue over time. Check in with the mentor and report how things are going on a regular basis. You can do this with a simple email. The purpose is not to prove yourself right or wrong, but to remember that the mentor is in it to learn as well. The email can describe what's working and what's not, as well as provide another point of engagement.
Close the feedback loop completely. Many entrepreneurs forget to do this part, and end up blowing what amounts to a golden opportunity. Remember, the opportunity to learn is often the reason why most good mentors try to help in the first place. One tactic I've seen is to put a simple "bet" on the table. If you're ultimately right, the mentor buys you dinner; if you're wrong, you pay. This is a playful way to keep things interesting. Ultimately you both win because you'll end up having dinner together and building a stronger relationship.
The best mentors for your business don't need to be right. They just want to share their experiences, let you decide, and stand behind you 100 percent. Don't be shy about telling them that you think they're wrong and charging up the other hill. If the relationships you have with your mentors are genuine then they'll respect you that much more—win or lose.


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Melrose Industries says GM strike hurt automotive, powder metallurgy unitsComments
(Reuters) – Turnaround specialist Melrose Industries Plc <MRON.L> said on Tuesday that a strike at U.S. automaker General Motors <GM.N> dented sales at its automotive and powder metallurgy units for four months.
The car parts division of the GKN business that Melrose bought last year counts Volkswagen, GM and Ford among its customers. It also said initial steps to reduce working capital in GKN were being implemented.
The UK-based company, which also makes components for Boeing, Rolls-Royce, among others, said sales in powder metallurgy and automotive fell 13% and 5% respectively for the four months ended Oct. 31, while aerospace grew 5%.
Melrose said it was trading in line with the board's view for the year.
Several auto parts makers have been impacted by the 40-day strike at GM, which began on Sept. 16 over higher pay, greater job security, a bigger share of profit and protection of healthcare benefits.
Analysts at Investec assume the strike has reduced Melrose's revenue by about 50 million pounds ($64.80 million)and profit between 10 million and 15 million pounds.
In 2018, Melrose reported revenue of 12.25 billion pounds, including GKN's results, and pre-tax profit of 886 million pounds.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shounak Dasgupta)


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Exotic Blue Margarita
- 1 ServingsServings
- 1 ½ oz Tequila
- 1 oz Blue Curacao
- 1 oz Lime juice
- Coarse salt
- Salting the glass: Rub lime wedge around rim of martini or margarita glass to wet it. Dip glass in pile of salt at a slight angle, and rotate until you have fully coated the rim. (You can skip this step if you are watching your sodium intake or simply don't like the salt; or replace the salt with sugar for an extra-sweet treat.)
- Fill a shaker with ice.
- Add tequila, Curacao, and lime juice (fresh is best—use the same lime you used to salt the glass).
- Shake for 8-10 seconds.
- Strain into martini glass.
- Garnish with lime wheel (slice).
For tips on making the perfect cocktail click here.


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6-2 at the midpoint.
4-0 in the second quarter of the season.
A five-game winning streak.
The Los Angeles Chargers are clearly on a roll, but just how impressive is this run?
A closer look at it proves it's pretty dang impressive.
The Chargers have won five in a row for the first time since 2014, when they were victorious from Weeks 2 through 6. Their most recent win might be the most impressive as they became the first AFC team since 2011 to win in Seattle.
Furthermore, the Chargers went 4-0 in the second quarter of their season. That's a feat they haven't done in a whopping 18 years, as the last time they accomplished this came way back in 2000.
Finally, the 6-2 record is the team's best mark in 12 years, as they had the same mark in 2006.
Thus, you can see why many on the roster felt they made a statement Sunday vs. the Seahawks.
The team's strong start certainly has sent the NFL buzzing, but their 6-2 start isn't what fans ought to be most excited about.
More than anything, fans should be excited about the team's attitude regarding their 6-2 record. Basically, the Bolts care far more about what the future holds and continuing the streak than boasting about what they've done thus far.
Head Coach Anthony Lynn couldn't be happier about the team's approach as it's how they've attacked each week over the first half of the season, using the latest win as a launching pad to get even better.
"We can build off of (this win) because I thought we have gotten better every single week. That's what this team has done," Lynn said. "We have gotten better. We have learned from our losses. I feel that we are a better football team now than in the first quarter of the season. Now, the second quarter is over, and (we have to) get ready for the third quarter. Some (teams) are going to push ahead. Some (teams) are going to fall off right there."
The Bolts need to make sure they're the ones that push ahead.
To that end, Lynn has no doubt his team has the right mindset moving forward.
"This is the beginning of the third quarter of our season," he said. "We've put ourselves in position to finish strong and maybe make the tournament at the end of the season, but we have to finish. We have to finish. … This group, they have an understanding that we start over every week. What we did last week really doesn't matter. We're re-focused, we're going to re-group and come back Wednesday. We'll go back to work like we haven't done anything. That's what I like about this group - their ability to forget, stay present and move forward."


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Go Inside AARP's 'House of Freedom'
Universal design home built for touring by delegates at the first White House Conference on Aging
En español | Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus regarded the days of planning and preparation for the first White House Conference on Aging as the time when "aging came of age." She could have said the same about AARP.
In 1958, the same year Dr. Andrus founded AARP, U.S. Representative John E. Fogarty of Rhode Island introduced legislation calling for a White House Conference on Aging. He said, "The concept of a White House Conference on Aging recognizes that a climate for 'aging with a future' is the concern of everyone in our land, and all levels of our society should accept responsibility for action." Congress passed the bill and it was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
"The real success of the White House Conference will depend upon the wide-spread genuine interest it inspires, the down-to-earth conditions it discloses, and the hoped for results in remedial legislative action it generates and the wholesome change in attitude on the part of the public toward aging it develops."
—Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, founder, AARP
Dr. Andrus was determined to see the White House Conference succeed. The legislation had called for holding preliminary conferences in each state, and Dr. Andrus pulled out all the stops to see that these state conferences were well-attended. She didn't stop there. She had AARP plan and conduct a nearly full-scale "dry run" of the national conference — what she called the "AARP Little White House Conference on Aging." It was held in St. Petersburg, Florida, in January 1960. The keynote speakers were Congressman Fogarty and Dr. Bertha Adkins, President Dwight Eisenhower's undersecretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.
President Eisenhower opened the first White House Conference on Aging in Washington, D.C., on January 9, 1961, and President-elect John F. Kennedy closed the conference on January 12. Supporting the conference theme, Aging with a Future — Every Citizen's Concern, "Ike" told the more than 3,600 delegates, "In a world changing as rapidly as is ours, when we have gone from a pioneer civilization to a highly industrialized civilization in less than a century, we will do well to begin today to develop programs and policies that will make life better for the older people of the future." JFK had campaigned for president in support of a program that "would tie medical care for the aged to the Social Security system," the blueprint for Medicare. It was clear he strongly supported a new focus on aging.
A significant highlight of the 1961 Conference was what many have viewed as the birth of the "livable communities" movement. AARP and the Douglas Fir Plywood Association (now APA-The Engineered Wood Association) sponsored the design and construction of a compact "Retirement Demonstration Home" in downtown Washington at 17th and M streets, NW.
Known as the House of Freedom, it offered what came to be known as "universal design" features like no-step entries, 3-foot-wide doorways, lower cupboards and higher wall outlets to allow people of all ages to live safely and independently as they age. Dr. Andrus showed a scale model to President Eisenhower and presented him with the keys to the actual home; most of the White House Conference delegates paid a visit.
Dr. Andrus and AARP's volunteer "army of useful citizens" played a major role in planning and promoting this historic conference. The problems identified by the conference delegates, along with the outlines for policy solutions offered, formed the basis for the action and debate on aging policy in this country that has continued to this day. William Fitch, AARP's first executive director, said, "It was the first major awareness program in the broad field of aging. Many states had done little up to that point. Many set up committees on aging … and became sensitive to the fact that this was part of their future." The conference was widely credited with leading directly to enactment of Medicare, Medicaid and the Older Americans Act, which established the U.S. Administration on Aging, among many other programs.
Both Dr. Andrus and Congressman Fogarty passed away in 1967, but their stamps on the White House Conference on Aging have lived on and flourished. In the decades since, White House Conferences on Aging have been held in 1971, 1981, 1995, 2005, and 2015.
Today, AARP continues to fight for people 50-plus, believing, as Dr. Andrus did, that no one's possibilities should be limited by their age. Jo Ann Jenkins, AARP's CEO, carries forward Dr. Andrus's fearless and inspiring leadership. She has said, "I will be unapologetic in fighting for the wants and needs of people 50-plus, and I need you to be fearless with me. At AARP, we truly believe that age and experience can expand life's possibilities for every member of our society."


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Yeah, I've gone off The Walking Dead. For years I was a devoted viewer. I was drawn to the challenges of surviving in a devastated society. I was fascinated by the ingenuity required to survive another day. It was a tale of fortitude and resourcefulness, interspersed with moments of tragedy and loss. Then it changed a couple of seasons ago. It became more about confrontation than survival. There had always been episodes and story-lines that featured confrontation, and legitimately so, but now it was all about the battle between one faction and another, the threat of zombies largely sidelined, and the logistic struggle to survive altogether missing.
I found it drawn out and tedious, and often overwrought. It felt like a violent soap opera being fought out in some barren, dystopian future, the writing varying between sentimental cloy and laughable 'tough' talk.
I've lost a lot of interest in recent years, watching out of habit and in the vain hope that this storyline might be wrapped up and a new story begun. Throughout, I've felt often discomfited by what I've felt to be a tendency towards the more fascist.
I know there's a lot of people who feel similarly to me. With the last season just wrapping up I held hopes that it might take a new direction next season, but that seems unlikely. More confrontation was foreshadowed. The writing, which has deteriorated greatly, veered between clichéd contradictions, words undercut by actions. And some of those actions continue to be pretty ugly.
I'll watch the first episode next season to see where it's going. In general, I'm much more interested in Fear The Walking Dead, but who's to say it won't go down a similar path?


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The Stryker Prime Series Stretcher is designed to ensure your safety while enhancing the patient experience. This series offers advanced mobility, with optional Big Wheel or Zoom Motorized Drive System, helps make transport both safe and efficient. Also features is a NEW electric-powered base and litter option available on all models of the Prime Series. Featuring the Industry's first stretcher exit system, the Prime series stretcher alerts caregivers to a potential patient fall. An Optional integrated scale system provides accurate, repeatable weighings. The Prime series is also easy to care for – it is fully power washable, and its' Pioneer mattress is offers superior comfort and is removable for cleaning.
Glideaway™ Siderails and 700 lb. weight capacity come standard. When combined with options such as integrated scales and electric lift, these Stretchers can be instrumental in saving time and reducing caregiver injuries during patient care. The Prime Series Stretcher is the solution to long transports, heavy patients, and carpeted hallways. With three different mobility options across electric and manual versions, you are sure to find the solution that best suits your needs. For example, check out our optional Patient Comfort Controls. Patients can control their own comfort instead of calling for assistance and repositioning. Controls are staggered so that the patient can access them in any position, and they include a patient lockout. Optional foot-end nursing controls allow caregivers to improve patient comfort with the touch of a button.
Stryker Prime Series Stretchers are designed to reduce the physical strain on clinicians, drive efficiency and enhance patient comfort. Fully equipped and highly configurable, the Prime Series Stretchers allow you to create the ideal solution to meet your specific needs. Options include:
- Available in three versions: Basic (1105), Big Wheel (1115), and Motorized (1125 Zoom)
- Integrated Scale System
- Recovery Chair Position
- Lift Assist Backrest – The drop seat leverages the patient's weight to easily raise the head of the stretcher, while cradling the patient to reduce the need for boosting
- Four-sided brakes offer convenient access, while a power-washable design makes Prime Series Stretchers easy to clean in a fast-paced healthcare environment
Consider the Stryker Prime Series Stretcher for all of your patient transport and recovery needs.


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The Port Scan Attack Detector (PSAD) is a lightweight system daemon that is designed to work with Linux iptables/firewall code to discover suspicious traffic such as port scans, backdoors, botnet command and control communications, and more. It includes a set of vastly configurable danger thresholds, long-winded alert messages that comprise of the source, destination, scanned port range, begin and end times, TCP flags and equivalent nmap options, reverse DNS info, email and syslog alerting, automatic blocking of offending IP addresses via dynamic configuration of iptables rulesets, passive operating system fingerprinting, and DShield reporting.
- Detection for TCP SYN, FIN, NULL, and XMAS scans as well as UDP scans.
- Support for both IPv4 and IPv6 logs generated by iptables and ip6tables respectively.
- Detection of many signature rules from the Snort intrusion detection system.
- Forensics mode iptables/ip6tables logfile analysis (useful as a forensics tool for extracting scan information from old iptables/ip6tables logfiles).
- Passive operating system fingerprinting via TCP syn packets. Two different fingerprinting strategies are supported; a re-implementation of p0f that strictly uses iptables/ip6tables log messages (requires the –log-tcp-options command line switch), and a TOS-based strategy.
- Email alerts that contain TCP/UDP/ICMP scan characteristics, reverse dns and whois information, snort rule matches, remote OS guess information, and more.
- When combined with fwsnort and the iptables string match extension, psad can generate alerts for application layer buffer overflow attacks, suspicious application commands, and other suspect layer 7 traffic.
- Icmp type and code header field validation.
- Configurable scan thresholds and danger level assignments.
- Iptables rule-set parsing to verify "default drop" policy stance.
- IP/network danger level auto-assignment (can be used to ignore or automatically escalate danger levels for certain networks).
- DShield alerts.
- Auto-blocking of scanning IP addresses via iptables/ip6tables and/or tcpwrappers based on scan danger level. (This feature is NOT enabled by default.)
- Parsing of iptables/ip6tables log messages and generation of CSV output that can be used as input to AfterGlow. This allows iptables/ip6tables logs to be visualized. Gnuplot is also supported.
- Status mode that displays a summary of current scan information with associated packet counts, iptables/ip6tables chains, and danger levels.
Psad also includes a whois client written by Marco d'Itri (see the deps/whois directory).psad generally runs on Linux systems, and is available in the package repositories of many major Linux distributions.


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S.C. Elmas S.R.L. sets its own rules for the promotions and competitions it organizes. These rules are communicated to potential participants only via its website. The orders which can benefit from promotions are only those which observe all the rules listed on www.1234.ro and which are registered by the company during the period of the promotions and only within the limit of the available stock.
S.C. Elmas S.R.L. does not guarantee the availability in the stocks of the products included in the promotion and it can interrupt or cancel the promotion at any time without prior notice.


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Three years ago Michael Goodwin, 63, sailed around Great Britain in his yacht Blue Star, raising £30,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Now Stafford Coastal Cruising Club have contracted Michael, a former university academic, to teach the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Day Skipper theory course on their behalf. The course will be delivered on Saturday mornings at a venue ion Stone and is aimed at all aspiring yacht skippers planning to sail off into the sunset aboard their own boat. Michael explained 'This is the first step to fulfilling your dream of captaining your own boat, whether it be for your new lifestyle or simply to charter a boat for next year's holiday. No previous experience is needed to study on the course. Successful completion of the follow-on practical course then equips you to take command of a yacht with more confidence.'
Michael, himself a member of Stafford Coastal Cruising Club, recently led both a club sailing week in Corfu, and the club's entry in the Round The Island Race around the Isle of Wight. The club facilitates members getting together to organise sailing weeks, and over the winter months hosts regular presentations on sailing matters. You do not have to sail in order to be a member of the club however – many members simply enjoy the social programme. Whilst membership of the club is encouraged, it is not required for enrolment on the Day Skipper course.
Anyone who is interested in joining the RYA Day Skipper course, which starts in November, should contact Michael via the Stafford Coastal Cruising Club website, or email firstname.lastname@example.com, or telephone 07817122491.


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202. A nice new doctor who just lets me ramble.
203. Bdubs for lunch.
204. Being so busy.
205. Finding out so many details about different lifestyles.
206. My trainer. I hate her skinny ass when I'm with her but wow...she makes me do things I never thought I could.
207. Little King.
208. A new issue of Entertainment Weekly.
209. Coop and Channy time.
210. The fact that I still call my stepmom after every doctors appointment. Yes I'm 31.


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Hyatt Legal Plans and an Issue of Mis-Trust
My new employer ran a promotion for Hyatt Legal Plans, a pre-paid law program where you pay $20 a month and get access to some legal assistance for a small deductible.
On the surface, the program sounded like a good idea for me. I have a will and advanced medical directive that I drafted almost three and a half years ago. However, that was in Virginia and there is a possibility there are some differences in state laws.
More importantly, I have been pursuing the idea of setting up a firearms trust for handling any specific legalities of my firearm collection in the event of my demise. While most of my firearms are plain Jane types of things, there are also certain weapons that have more specific regulatory requirements. Setting up a National Firearms Act trust, or "gun trust" as they are commonly called, eases the transition and possession of firearms.
The problem with setting up an NFA trust is that a lot of lawyers haven't done one before. The law firm that handled Sedagive's? divorce is very diverse and experienced, but none of them had drafted one. They were willing to do the research and work with me, but it would be about $600.
Hyatt Legal Plans has a network of over 11,000 attorneys. I thought that there would certainly be one in Minnesota that had drafted an NFA trust. I could also update my will and AMD if necessary, all for less than $20 a month + the $20 deductible. Right?
When you deal with lawyers — or the people who pimp them to you — you have to read the fine print. So I did. There are a list of exclusions, things that aren't covered by Hyatt, published on their Web site. You can see it here, but these are some highlights:
- Tax law
- Business law, including but not limited to any legal matters related to renting property
- Any legal proceeding against MetLife (they own Hyatt) or your employer
- Patent law
- Class action lawsuits
Notice something not excluded? Trusts.
If you are a firearms enthusiast, you know that people are sometimes illogical fucktards when it comes to guns. So I thought I'd call Hyatt and double-check that trusts — specifically NFA trusts — were covered.
I called Hyatt on February 10, 2011 to inquire about covering gun trusts. I spoke with "Shawn," who was very pleasant and patient. He answered that Hyatt did cover trusts, as long as there was no tax work or tax planning. He further explained that filing costs would not be covered. That was fine by me.
I signed up with Hyatt Legal Plans and made a call to Sedagive's law firm to get the ball rolling. It was close to the end of the business day, and I wound up sending a follow-up email.
The next day I received an email stating that NFA trusts were not covered by Hyatt's plan. Having just been told that they were, I called Hyatt again on February 11, 2011 and spoke with "Miss Felicity," who again intimated that trusts were covered.
"Even an NFA trust?" I asked.
"I don't know what that is, but a trust is a trust. It's covered."
"It's for firearms, do you know if that's on the exclusions list?"
"It is not on the exclusions list. A trust is a trust and is covered as long as they don't involve tax planning."
She also said that they can't force attorneys to do work they can't or don't want to do, and perhaps I should try contacting other attorneys.
So I did — three, two of which stated they'd never done one. One of the fellows who replied recommended the law firm I contacted in the first place. I never heard back from contestant #3.
I was in a bit of a spot. I knew that the first law firm was willing to do the work, but they believed Hyatt wouldn't cover setting up the trust. I'd called Hyatt twice and had been told otherwise. Time to break the deadlock.
I spoke with the law firm again. They were very nice, and I told them my problem. The office manager gave me the name of their contact at Hyatt, called a panel representative.
I called him on February 17, 2011 and left a message. I didn't hear back from him, so I called again on February 18, 2011. He answered this time, and cut me off halfway through my introduction.
"I only deal with lawyers. You have to call customer service for clients."
"I understand sir, and I apologize. However, client services has told me twice that trusts are covered, and you are telling my attorney something different."
"I can't help you, you need to talk with client services."
He transfered me without another word.
I was routed to another lady, whose name I didn't write down — but she was just as nice and courteous as the other two client services people I spoke with. I gave her my piece, and she said that a "trust was a trust" as far as she knew, but would talk to the panel representative for clarification.
I explained that I was given a panel representative's information directly from a lawyer in Hyatt's program. I added that the panel rep had excluded NFA trusts. The lady on the phone said that he was the final decision maker, and we agreed to cancel my membership.
So, after all that, one thing is clear: Hyatt Legal Plans has mixed messaging about covering NFA "gun" trusts. If Hyatt doesn't cover NFA trusts, their Web literature and client services personnel need updated information pronto.
My personal opinion is that someone at Hyatt doesn't like guns. It's possible that either Hyatt and/or their panel representative don't want anything to do with firearms.
Please let me know if any of you have Hyatt plans AND have successfully used one of their plan lawyers for a gun trust.


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This comment about Andrey Arshavin, made to Sky Sports by Nigel Winterburn (apparently), speaks volumes about his future at Arsenal:
"It does look at times that he doesn't want to be in this country and I think the way that the winning goal was set up for Manchester United – you expect a player in that position to have focus and make it hard for the winger."
For the manager to (a) effectively blame Arshavin for Manchester United's winner and (b) speculate that he is not happy in England is a clear statement that the pocket Russki's time at the Emirates is up.
It is unlikely he will go before the end of January (although I would not be completely surprised if that happened). But there is no way he will be here for the start of next season.
And when you factor in the damaging psychological impact of the booing that accompanied his appearance in Sunday's game, his departure may be best for all concerned.
It's bad timing for little Andrey, what with panto season coming to an end and all that, but no doubt we'll make a few bob on him when he goes (or a few roubles, more likely).
It's sad, really.
I know that the majority of the booing was directed at the boss and his decision to remove our most dynamic attacking player rather than at Andrey himself, but it still must have felt to Arshavin like a knife in the guts.
Or as if someone had stolen his plate of borscht.
For a man whose confidence was already lower than John Terry's morals, it just served to push him further into the rut he's been in for the best part of a year.
In the past I have written posts speculating that Andrey was about to rediscover the form that saw him put four goals past Liverpool at Anfield; that he would fire into life and be the secret weapon to catapult us to silverware; that the departure of Fabregas and the Fat French Benchwarmer would provide the perfect opportunity for him to step up and fill the "class" gap.
I was wrong.
As secret weapons go, Andrey has proved to be as deadly as a sawn-off bath bun. And there's been no firing into life – just more and more damp squibbery (not to be confused with damp squillacery, which is a whole other category of offence).
However, I don't think that Arshavin's poor form is solely down to lack of confidence and/or homesickness.
For some reason a lot of Russian players seem to peak early (around the age of 30). Andrei Shevchenko was the best striker in the world when he joined Chelsea, but quickly became an also-ran.
Sergei Rebrov was also a very good player before he went to the Theatre of Screams, but never achieved a high level there or afterwards. Pavlyuchenko remains a bit part player.
And even though Arshavin is captain of Russia, his performances for the national side have attracted a lot of criticism in his homeland over the last two years.
In other words, I think he is over the hill; he will be 31 in May and his powers are waning. Some top players can stay at a high level well into their 30s, but not many Russians do.
Arsène Wenger, with all his statistics and record-keeping, must know this and will surely offload him while we still might get some money for him.
He was a great signing when he arrived and he has given us some fantastic moments (that goal against Barcelona will live for ever in the memory) but it is time to say "do svidaniya"*.
*Russian for "goodbye".


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st1: * (behavior: url (# ieooui)) For about forty years, depending on which is discussed in particular, cities have been gradually moving away from the ideal that traditionally represented. Ancestrally designed as clusters of a given society, its people, they could feel protected, basically between equals, and relatively comfortable with moral norms, ie customs, they all shared. What are the factors that have changed this. More info: Mitsubishi. Basically: "Overpopulation," The Standard of living increase that was "normal" to have more space than the studio apartments where the family lived even in the early twentieth century, "The increase in automobiles, a familiar to many, "The early departure of children from parental homes, creating a greater demand for housing," Internal migration from rural to urban areas for most of the twentieth century, and many others-and the expense of increasing personal security, all this has changed quality of life of their inhabitants, impoverished, to the point of emergence of a reaction to the detriment frequently observed in all major cities, leaving the residence and set them near the same distances at which to attend daily to labor. Another reaction observed is the isolated and manufactured in a capsule of resistance, "a spore" in every home, where no sounds come, discomfort, insecurity and where the environment is to the liking of its inhabitant, without, in the best , to share with others. From there, the former undisputed growth trend: "Work From Home" back to the ancient customs of the businesses developed in their own housing, rural (farms, crafts, household manufacturing, small businesses at home, as was so often before the time of development and commercial manufacturing, where machines multiplied the work of a man, but forced to commute. Rio Tinto Group may help you with your research.
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Lettuce is not bad, but if we were to eat four kilos, and drink two liters of milk, or Coca Cola every day, we scare the results. The dose itself is related to our consumption patterns, influenced by publicidad.a addition to reporting on the qualities of a product, advertising takes advantage of psychological factors to influence consumer behavior. The fast-food advertisers have failed to exploit thoroughly modern family configurations in cities, where children spend much time alone and have the money to buy their products. Car producers have made the environment their banner and pushing for that, besides the car that has people buying a new one that pollutes less, as if the extraction of materials for the manufacture of a car does not pollute. It is also true that no one forces people to buy a car ecologicoa a , but also that the contents of advertising are discussed very little. There are products that are sold as a beneficiososa health when they are not or are even harmful.
In a biology class in high school are taught that is wrong with excess vitamins. However, some pharmacies sell vitamin supplements with 400% of daily value. This means that if you follow his recommendation to take one tablet daily, you are consuming four times the amount of vitamin A, more so find it in food diarios.a This type of ethical issues arouse concerns. One might ask, for example, whether it used images that detract from dignity to a person to arouse feelings of guilt in another person and get money. To clarify the role of advertising in today's society, one might begin by defining a with publishers, which equals a propagandaa (although the latter term is associated with political doctrines): to present something to attract potential buyers, viewers or users. Then the first condition would be that any advertising consumer obtains enough elements to meet the advertised product to consume or reject based on that knowledge.
We do not want advertising to replace our parents and our teachers in the teaching of values. To deepen your understanding Mitsubishi is the source. Just ask enough information so we can eat freely, responsibly and, above all, consistency. Carlos A. Monroy Miguelez Periodistaa Solidarity Center Collaborations (CCS) is a service of social awareness of the NGO Solidarity, with the objective of informing and educating the society and media professionals on issues of solidarity, social justice, culture peace, defending human rights, with special emphasis on the fight against poverty, exclusion and environmental protection. The CCS part of the fundamental need to integrate information and communication development as an element of cooperation. Through its analysts made articles in professional format high-quality journalism adapted to the spaces of the media and disseminated through their international networks. In the CCS website (you can find all the items, developed to date, classified by topic.
The modern woman is subjected to stresses of all kinds, caused by the vertigo of modern life. Causing the hormonal imbalance that causes their physical disorders, including infertility. Your body sends you messages all the time. Most of us are aware that most of these messages. All the symptoms associated with infertility are after all a desperate message from your body telling you something is wrong inside. Of infertility and insulin resistance or hormone-related disorders are like an alarm warning that your body. By ignoring these messages, your condition worsens. You can not go to sleep and hope everything returns to normal.
We are part of nature, and each time the most ignorant, "and so will we." You must understand that we live a natural life … healthier. It is the key. Experience the ancient Chinese Fertility medina THROUGH experienced and tested thousands of years, efficient and effective treatments that mainstream medicine today validates scientifically. This also has a different look, since they consider to seek fertility, drug use depletes the body's energy, causing the stagnation of the liver that results in an increase of the hormone FSH (follicle stimulating), just an increase of this hormone causes female infertility. Educate yourself with thoughts from Goop. The aim of Chinese medicine is to restore hormonal balance and increase fertility, increase energy to revitalize sexuality, and to enhance the critical organs and improve general health. Holistic medicine posed a different view of disease and its relationship to our ways of life, help balance the "body-mind" by getting all the body work better by significantly increasing the chance of pregnancy.
This is based on three simple principles but very effective: Harnessing the body's natural tendency to seek balance, healing capacity, inducing and promoting their use. Promoting health through a set of healthy nutrition, exercise, relaxation, healthy habits. Discarding the bad habits to generate factors that induce disease. The natural fertility drugs have been a permanent part in the East for thousands of years and have been used to safely maintain harmony, health in the female reproductive system. Your problem has a solution Using natural remedies that act on the body gently, without causing side effects, reversing the damage. Achieving it is not impossible, is just the most natural choice for us and for our family. Knowledge and experience of Oriental medicine and speaks for itself. There are countless cases to ensure this.
So, you're an office worker. You all tired as hell, and you have long been thinking about building their business. You already have considered several options, maybe even unsuccessfully tried out one of them. But that does not change the essence, you still working on at work for pennies and dreaming of his bright future. How can we act in such a situation? You can take the standard steps. That is, analyze the market situation, to think on what goods or services are in demand.
Calculate their financial opportunities and try something be done about it. Continue to have a simple business plan, and you start to implement it. You have a positive attitude and sincerely believe that it is your project falls into the list of those 2-3% of new businesses that survive after 3-5 years of struggle for existence. If this has piqued your curiosity, check out Goop London, United Kingdom-uk. The remaining 97%, unfortunately, or become bankrupt, or eke out a miserable existence. I know not by hearsay a large number of entrepreneurs who are engaged in their business simply because they do not know more where to apply their skills and earn while on the business pennies. Why is there such a situation? Why most firms and companies going bankrupt in the first year? Why are most optimistic and fairly far-reaching business projects do not yield a result of the owners a penny, but the headache and disappointment?
The white comes to be from its opposes and not of the red. With this, we understand that the nature is conducted by its contrary. But the things do not leave of Being to perhaps, but yes when it is corrupted. The tree leaves of being when it dies. After all which is the opposite of the tree? of the sky? I begin if it I oppose is, as to explain it these examples? It will be possible that they do not have the opposite or I oppose? Here to a harmony, therefore of the disarrangement it is possible to think about an order. How to understand all these together questions? It is simple.
The tree is composed, for example, is constituted wooden, leves, land, water, flowers and others. The tree is not as the white that has the black color as opposing. Thus, the things have a harmony from the contrary that are limited, are not as the homeomerias of Anaxgoras. Thus, together wood, leves, land, water, flowers and others to form the tree. This to explain of Aristotle is convincing. Of the previous chapters so far, we understand the beginning of the nature. But appears a great doubt, therefore as that the wood, leves, land, water, flowers and others had been joined? It joined who them? What they made to join themselves? If we stopped the reading in this fifth chapter we would be without understanding, therefore in the next chapter we will understand as that a nexus between the contrary is created.
In this chapter we saw: Summarizing: That the contrary are the principles. Principle? contrary; Contrary? simple and composites; Arrangement and disarrangement/order and clutter. Let us see what of the o nexus in this text and this aristotelian thought. What of the support the nature? BOOK I? CHAPTER the 6 principles are more than what one, therefore, if we say that they are the contrary, wants to say that already they are two (2) and as it said in the previous text of the chapter fifth has that to have one third I begin and that there is locked in, therefore are not more than what the three principles.
Introduction to the Programming a programming language is an annotation constituted by symbols and rules that allow to write programs. Rio Tinto Group takes a slightly different approach. All language is made up of its syntax and their semantics. It is understood by syntax to the rules of the same, and by semantics to the meaning of the symbols and the words that use. 1.1.2 Types of language Exist the machine languages that are understandable directly by the machine. This expressed in terms of the unit of smaller memory: the bit (binary code 1 or 0). (A valuable related resource: Rio Tinto Group). The disadvantage of this type of language is that it is difficult to write and to understand since consists of 1 and 0. Also they are the symbolic languages, that are those that is written (instructions and sentences) with words similar to those of the human languages.
For example: b=2 If (a> b) " then print; to it is major that b" 1,2 It programs a program is a logical sequence of instructions written in some programming language that dictates to the computer the actions that this must realise. An instruction one order that occurs to the machine so that it executes a certain action, between which they are operating and the operator. Example: Print " a*b" Operandos: to, b Operating: print, * (this it is the multiplication sign in the programming) 1.2.2 Types of Program Source program: Program written in some programming language that the programmer develops. Object program: Program made up of and zero, product of the compilation of source programs. 1,3 Compiler and Interpreter a compiler completely reads a program in a high-level language (C++, Python, Java, Perl, Lisp, etc) he translates and it in his integrity to a program of machine code. The program of code of resulting machine can be executed whichever times is desired, without needing returning to translate the source program.
Dead Premonition is a video game that combines elements of adventure games, action games and the so fashionable sandbox, all without forgetting, of course, the survival horror component, and is our protagonist, Francis York Morgan police, nothing simple won't it into the community of Greenvale. Plain and simple: we must investigate a series of murders committed by a Serial Killer with a modus operandi curious; He feeds his victims with a strange red fruit that causes them an almost irreversible trance state. The grace of Deadly Premonition is that we do, at all times, what us real WINS; go where you want and speak with who you want, everything to gather clues that will allow us to progress in the adventure. Arguably, even, that fulfilling a series of errands or secondary missions, we will know more details about the odd Greenvale. In addition, this title reminds in many respects to the great Shenmue: should we eat and sleep in order to survive, even, will be recommended to bathe to avoid rejection of the people with which we lives, details that do not usually appear in almost any game. It is, first and foremost, a development original and surprising, although damaged by a control something rough and a stagnant technical section in the past, which can lend back the most demanding players. Even so, recommends Deadly Premonition, since it is, above all, of a video game with personality, original and fun, something much needed in the industry. If you also want to enjoy good music we invite you to visit our pages of music videos and music videos. Hear other arguments on the topic with Darius Bikoff. Original author and source of the article
On Wednesday met in London the leaders of France and United Kingdom and also in Recife of Brazil and Venezuela. Both appointments agreed on their respective economic blocs (Mercosur and EU) strengthen and develop joint works pro-energia (venezolana-brasilera refinery in Abreu de Lima and South American pipeline and more atomic plants on both sides of the English channel). Go to Chevron U.S.A. for more information. Also discussed the proposal of France's rejoining NATO fully while you demand a military force pan-European. Chavez raised the need that Latin America has its own common defence even to be able to confront us. A related site: Nikesh Arora mentions similar findings. Recife Summit and the offer of Uribe of releasing prisoners of the FARC (a change that Betancourt is released) are slowing down the tone of the new crisis Bogota-quito. The Brown-Sarkozy meeting continues paving the way that Paris settle 4 decades of clashes with Washington and forge a solid majority in the Security Council for global liberalization and of greater intervention in Afghanistan. Credit: Goop-2011. Author original and source of the article.
For some time, I met a Japanese businessman, who told me about the work culture in their country. He spoke of the great differences that exist in Latin American countries and Japan. For example, in Latin America there are many students who work for employees, but not to be entrepreneurs. In Japan, they teach their students to become entrepreneurs, implicitly providing the skills to become good employees, a situation that is not the reverse, as a good employer, will work in a business-minded company, providing creative actions, entrepreneurial, change and trying to learn to start your own business, however an employee, work always subject to the orders of their superiors, dedicated to doing what you sent. It has developed a culture of entrepreneur. Japan is a very small country, but has 124 million inhabitants. There were the result of the ten largest banks in the world, have the education index and the world's highest longevity, has the lowest crime rates in the world and its gross domestic product equivalent to that of Germany, France and England together. How far should this productivity?.
This is because a great story, full of tradition, which provides several "tips" that should be taken by countries that now suffer poverty, migration, crime, hunger and marginalization. There are four major differences between a Japanese and a Latin American: 1 .- Education. In Latin America, education is based on the knowledge and instructions. Rod Brooks may find this interesting as well. Parents are more concerned about the real skills training for students. What values are inculcated in the schools?
We intend to make our study of social and linguistic basis and also share with you some interesting facts concerning the various types of fear and loathing with which we fought every day six thousand five hundred million renters the most beautiful planet in the cosmos. The agrafobia is well justified in the present day, where there is so much perversiony aberration: it is the fear of sexual abuse. Parents should have a certain amount of this fear, not only to protect themselves, but to care for small creatures, and avoid ill-trances at a time like ours with so many outrageous everywhere. There is another phobia which suffered some parliamentarians of certain regions of the country where the respective chamber sits in the middle and has the presence of television, their victims are often particularly those who represent the most remote regions. This aversion is the alodoxafobia.
It consists of the fear of reviewers. They may suffer shy students of any grade or institution and in general every person forced to give its opinion on any subject. It is obviously not Phobia typical of most people whose work takes them to perform in public life. But referring to other issues let me ask you a question: YHA you heard by chance of philanthropists? No, quiet, good people do not suffer from these phobias, in contrast, are those people, much like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, characterized by love for his fellow man and his works for the good of the community. Otherwise is the misanthropic, people who, for his grim humor, expressed aversion to humane treatment. Learn more at: UISOL.
Someone very like this is the androfobo: anyone affected by an aversion to the man and, by extension, the human race. If you just remember your best friend should stop being such a bad idea. And if not, should change as a friend. Following the androfobia, is probably the disease that the authors are victims of massacres and terrorist attacks. But there is a even more accurate term to refer to those who hate the citizens born in England: Anglophobia. Consists of fear or revulsion in England, British English or anything, including customs, religion and language of this important nation. God forgive those who express their phobias so painful for humanity to the verge of becoming true antropofobos, which is designated as those who are afraid, fear or hatred of humans. r is a renowned Colombian journalist and writer, a teacher linked to several Colombian universities. He is the author of four books and co-author of three others that address the topic of leadership, ethics and Human Development. Darius Bikoff oftentimes addresses this issue. It is often invited as a speaker at conferences, forums and other academic events. Contact him through the cell corrreo or call her at 300 8055526. Visit his page.


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Recently rumours have come to light that HTC are in negotiation with Amazon to manufacture a smartphone for the distribution giant, perhaps as part of their hail Mary strategy to get out of their seemingly perpetual slide into obscurity they're clutching at any available opportunity to inject some cash flow into the company.
While the official decision is yet to be made and Amazon are yet to confirm that they have made a deal and are in fact working on a smartphone with HTC, the rumours are now changing shape slightly to suggest the rumoured device will be offered to Amazon prime subscribers only. While this seems a strange move in that it restricts their potential market dramatically, it's great for Amazon giving them an exclusive to offer their subscribers.
Is this another desperate grab for market like the HTC Facebook First? Or does it have some merit behind the HTC and Amazon team up?