text:
Creating an armour for Skyrim. Part 2
- 1 Overview
- 2 Creating an armour for Skyrim
- 2.1 Create the _0.nif armour mesh
- 2.1.1 Cut parts of the body hidden by the armour
- 2.1.2 Export the armour
- 2.1.3 Adjust the armour in Nifskope
- 2.1.4 Add the armour to the game
- 2.1.5 Adjust the armour after testing it in game
- 2.2 Create the _1.nif armour mesh
- 2.1 Create the _0.nif armour mesh
- 3 Related pages
- 4 References
This is the part 2 of the tutorial for creating an armour or outfit for Skyrim. You can find the first part of the tutorial here Creating an armour for Skyrim. Part 1
Creating an armour for Skyrim
Create the _0.nif armour mesh
Once you've copied all the weights from the body to your armour and set the dismemberment vertext groups select the body in Object mode and go to Edit mode. In Edit mode select all the faces of the body that are completely hidden by the armour or outfit you are creating. Make sure that all the faces you are selecting are completely inside the armour because if you delete a face that is only partially hidden by the armour you'll see a hole in your character's body when using the armour.
This step is optional but it is worth doing it because:
- you won't have to solve clipping problems because in almost no pose the body will go through the armour
- the size of the mesh will be smaller, increasing performance
- Bethesda does it ;)
At this point it may also be wise to combine as many of your objects as you are comfortable with combining, as this will save you from repeating steps in Nifskope later. To do this select the objects you'd like to join and press "Ctrl + J" and click "Join selected meshes."
- Separating an object is usually easy to do as well. Hover over a vertex on the object you wish to separate and press the "L" key to select all linked vertices. Press "P" and then "Selected" to separate the selected vertices from the object.
- Just remember that you can't join or separate objects while working on the _1 mesh, so decide how many objects you want to be joined before you export the _0 mesh.
Export the armour
Now you are ready to export your armour in nif format, that is the one Skyrim's meshes use.
First thing is to import a new skeleton for your armour:
- Make sure that on the Blender screen you see all the objects that form the armour, including the parts of the body that are not hidden by the armour, and that you don't see anything that is not going to form part of your armour (like the light or the camera. If you see those objects move them to another Blender layer and set that layer to invisible or Blender will export those objects together with your armour).
- Make sure that you have deleted all the skeletons you imported with the parts of the body, as explained at the beginning of this tutorial.
- In Object mode select one of the objects that form part of your armour and press the A key twice so as to select all objects of the armour.
- Select the menu option File -> Import -> NetImmerse/Gamebyro and select the _0.nif file of the body you imported before for creating the armour (for example the modified femabody_0.nif).
- In the screen that contains the importing parameters select the option Import Skeleton Only + Parent Selected as shown in picture Importing a new skeleton and press the OK button.
Now you have a skeleton in Blender and it is the parent of all the objects that form your armour.
To export the armour:
- In Object mode select the skeleton you've just imported and press A twice to select all parts of the armour and the skeleton.
- Press the Ctrl + A keys and select the option Scale and Rotation to ObData from the pop up menu.
- Keeping the skeleton and all the parts of your armour selected, select the menu option File -> Export -> NetImmerse/Gamebyro, enter the name of the nif file for your armour (for example MyArmour_0.nif) and the folder where you want to save it.
- Set the exporting parameters as shown in the picture Exporting the armour. It is important that the parameters are set like this:
- Fallout 3 -> selected
- Stripify geometries -> deselected
- Smoothen Inter-Object Seams -> selected
- Flatten Skin -> deselected
- Export Skin Partition -> selected
- Press the OK button and wait until Blender finishes saving the nif file.
Adjust the armour in Nifskope
Adjust the armour properties
As the modelling tools are not yet fully adapted to Skyrim, we need to do several adjustments in NifSkope before we can test the armour mesh in game. I am explaining the steps in the order I find it makes things faster and easier (after having done this more than 10 times for only one mesh, I think I've finally found the fastest way! :) )
- Load the mesh you've just created into NifSkope (for example MyArmour_0.nif)
- First of all, edit the NiHeader to make it compatible with Skyrim (this is the reverse step of what you did for being able to import Skyrim meshes into Blender):
- In the Block details section, expand the NiHeader property as shown in picture Editting the NiHeader in NifSkope
- You'll see that the User version property has a value of 11. Double click on the 11 and then change it to 12.
- Then go to the User version 2 property, that has a value of 34. Double click on the 34 and then change it to 83.
- Next thing is to get rid of the Scene Root node that Blender has exported with the armour:
- Expand the Scene Root node as shown in picture Getting rid of the Scene Root node.
- Browse down the Block details section until you see the Children property.
- Expand the Children property. You'll see it contains the node of the armour (in the picture, the 1-bbe2femalebody_0 node). Double click on the number of this node and delete it, so the Children property points to None.
- Now you'll see something like what is shown in picture Getting rid of the Scene Root node 2: the bbe2femalebody_0 is not under the Scene Root node anymore.
- Select the Scene Root node and press Ctrl + Del or right click and select Block -> Remove Branch.
- Save the nif file.
Now you are ready for the second batch of adjustments:
- Load the nif file again in NifSkope.
- You'll see that some new nodes appear just below the armour node (bbe2femalebody_0 in the example) as shown in picture Deleting unwanted nodes. These nodes correspond to properties that are not compatible with the nif version used by Skyrim, so you have to delete them.
- Select the first one (BSShaderPPLightingProperty in the picture) and press Ctrl + Del or right click and select Block -> Remove Branch.
- Do the same with all the other nodes (NiSpecularProperty, NiMaterialProperty, etc) until you only see the armour node (bbe2femalebody_0 in the example).
- Save the nif file (this is not strictly required but is a good practice to save often just in case).
- Expand the root Ninode (bbe2femalebody_0 in the example) as shown in picture Setting the properties of the body data.
- Expand the node that contains the body parts that are shown by the armour (the newBBE_1_noweight in the picture).
- Select the NiTriShapeData node of the body parts.
- Browse down in its Block details until you see the Num UV sets and the Has Normals properties:
- The Num UV sets will have a value of 4097. Double click on the 4097 and change its value to 1.
- The Has Normals property will have a value of yes. Double click on the yes and change it to no.
- Note: You only have to edit these properties for the body nodes. They are fine as they are for the armour/clothing nodes.
- Select the BSDismemberSkinInstance node of one of the NiTriShape nodes of your armour as shown in picture Adjusting the dismemberment data.
- In the Block details section expand the Partitions property.
- Expand the second Partitions property.
- Make sure that the Part Flag property has bloth flags selected: PF_EDITOR_VISIBLE and PF_START_NET_BONESET. If not, double click and select both flags from the drop down list.
- The Body Part property will contain one or more of the body parts you've created in Blender (BP_TORSO, BP_LEFTLEG or BP_RIGHTARM). Double click on these values and change them to:
- From BP_TORSO to 32
- From BP_RIGHTARM to 34
- From BP_LEFTLEG to 37
- Repeat this steps for all the BSDismemberSkinInstance nodes of all the NiTriShape nodes of your armour.
- Save the nif file.
Add materials and textures
The next step consists in adding materials and textures to all the NiTriShape nodes that form your amour. To do that:
- Load the nif in NifSkope
- Select one of the NiTriShapes, for example the newBBE_1_noweight in the example nif)
- Right click and select Block -> Insert from the menu
- A new menu will pop-up. Select Bethesda -> BSLightingShaderProperty. This will add a new node at the end of your nif file.
- Select the NiTriShape node but it is not under the NiTriShape node, as shown in picture Adding a BSLightingProperty node. To correct this:
- Note down the number of the new node you've just added (2 in the example picture)
- Select the NiTriShape node again and browse down in the Block Details until you see the Properties property as shown in picture Moving the BSLightingShaderProperty node to its right position.
- Expand the Properties and in the first value change the None to the number of the node you've added (2 in the example). Now the BSLightingShaderProperty node has moved and is shown under the NiTriShape node.
- Select the BSLightingShaderProperty node, right click and select Block -> Insert.
- A new menu will pop-up. Select Bethesda -> BSShaderTextureSet. This will add a new node at the end of your nif file. To correct this:
- Note down the number of the new node you've just added (3, for example)
- Select the BSLightingShaderProperty
- Browse down the Block details sections until you see the Texture Set property and change its None value to the number of the BSShaderTextureSet node (3, in the example). This will move the new node under the BSLightingShaderProperty node.
- Repeat these steps for all the NiTriShapes that form your armour, adding to them a BSLightingShaderProperty and a BSShaderTextureSet nodes.
The next step consists in setting the right properties for the BSLightingShaderProperty nodes you've just added.
- Select the BSLightingShaderProperty node you are going to edit.
- Set its properties in the block details:
- Picture BSLightingShaderProperty settings for the body shows the settings for all the properties that are used for the body nodes (the parts of the armour where the body is shown).
- Picture BSLightingShaderProperty settings for the armour shows the settings I've used for all the properties that are used for the armour nodes.
- Note: It is important that the SF_Skinnedflag (or the SLFS1_Skinnedin new versions of NifSkope) is added to all your armour parts: if they don't have it they will float around your character's body, as if they were not properly weighted.
- Repeat this for all the BSLightingShaderProperty nodes of all the NiTriShape nodes that form your armour.
The last step is to add the textures to your armour:
- Expand the BSLightingShaderProperty node.
- Select the BSShaderTextureSet.
- In the Block detils section you'll see that the Num Textures properties is set to 6 as shown in picture BSShaderTextureSet block details. Skyrim uses 9 textures so you will have to fix that:
- Double click on the 6 and change it to 9.
- Right click on the purple flower of the Textures property and select Array -> Update. Now you will have 9 lines to add textures.
- Expand the Textures properties and associate the texture files you created previously in GIMP:
- Picture Texture files for the body shows the texture files associated to the body (the parts of the armour that show the skin).
- Picture Texture files for the armour shows the texture files associated to the armour.
- Repeat this for all the BSShaderTextureSet nodes.
- Save the nif file.
It is important that each texture type goes to the right place. The top one has to be the diffuse map (the colour), the second one the normal map.
Check that the texture files begin like this: textures\... as shown in the Texture files for the armour image. If the links to the files begin like C:\Program files\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Skyrim\Data\textures\..., or \textures\... the game may not be able to upload them and you'll see the armour black, purple or invisible.
Apply the textures on both sides of the mesh
Some armour or outfit meshes are made by flat surfaces, and then, if the textures are only applied to the top of the surface, the cloth will be invisible in game when viewed from some angles (for example, the inner part of some skirts will be invisible).
You can tell the mesh to apply the texture on both sides to fix this problem. To do this:
- Select the BSLightingShaderProperty of the NiTriShape where you want to apply the texture to both sides.
- In the Block details section look for the Shader Flags 2 property.
- Select the SF_Double_Sided flag as shown in picture BSLightingShaderProperty settings for the armour.
Add transparency
You may need to have a part of the mesh transparent or semitransparent. To do that:
- Select the NiTriShape node that contains your mesh and right click on it
- Select Block -> Insert from the pop up menu
- Select NiA... from the drop down list and then select NiAlphaProperty.
- The new node will be added at the end of the nif file. To place it in its right possition:
- Note down the number of the new node you've just added (29, for example)
- Select the NiTriShape node again and browse down in the Block Details until you see the Properties property as shown in picture Moving the BSLightingShaderProperty node to its right position.
- Expand the Properties and in the second row value change the None to the number of the node you've added (29 in the example). Now the NiAlphaProperty node has moved and is shown under the NiTriShape node as shown in picture Adding transparency.
Select the NiAlphaProperty node you've just add and in Block Details look for the Flags parameter and set it to a the value that makes the armour look better in game. The values that work:
- Flags = 4845
- Threshold = 0
- Add also the ShaderFlag SLSF2_Assume_Shadowmask to the Shader Flags 2 as shown in picture Shader flags for working transparency. This way the meshes with transparency won't lose their colour (won't turn black) when close to a light source.
With these values for transparency the textures look often much better, with softer edges, but in some cases you can see some problems in game, like when two meshes with transparency overlap. If that is the case, you can try the values used by Bethesda in vanilla meshes:
- Flags = 4844 (or 4846)
- Threshold = 128
You can change the Threshold value to another number (higher or lower) until you are satisfied with the look of the transparency in game.
Once you've modified all these parameters, save the nif file of your armour.
Add the armour to the game
Add the armour as a replacer of an existing armour
You can add the armour as a replacer of an existing one. For doing that you have to name your mesh like the one in game that you want to replace, and place it under the same folder where the vanilla mesh is. You can use SripterRon's FO3 Archive Utility to look at the name of the nif files and folders used in game. For example, for making a replacer of the wedding dress:
- place the nif file in the folder Data\meshes\clothes\weddingdress\
- rename your nif file to outfit_0.nif
- make a copy of your nif file and rename it to outfit_1.nif.
We are going to test first the _0.nif armour mesh. When it works perfectly in game, we will create the mesh for the _1 body. As the _0.nif and _1.nif files of the armour are exactly the same, you will see no changes when you move the weight slider for your character.
Add the armour to the game using the CK
- First create a new armour addon. To do it the easiest thing is to look for an existing armour addon in game, double click on it to open the screen showing its properties and change the ID of the armour addon (the first box at the top left of the screen as shown in picture Armour Addon properties). Click on the OK button and CK will ask you if you want to create a new object. Answer yes.
- Note: the CK has a bad habit of showing lots of warning messages. When the first one appears click on the Cancel button and you won't see more of these warnings.
- Open again the screen showing the properties of the armour addon you've just created with your own ID and name and modify the values you want.
Some useful parameters are (see picture Armour Addon properties):
- Weapon adjust: this box that is just below the Armour Addon id, indicates how close to the armour will be displayed weapons when sheathed. Increase this value if weapons clip through the armour and decrease it if there is a gap between the armour and the weapon.
- In the Male area you have to indicate what meshes will be used by the male characters equipping the armour and in the Female area what meshes will be used by the female characters equipping the armour.
- Biped Model: the nif file containing the mesh of your armour when seen in 3rd person mode, or when looking at an NPC wearing the armour. Indicate here the _1.nif mesh of your armour. The game will use the _0.nif model when needed, even though you don't have a place to link it to the armour addon.
- First person: the nif file containing the mesh of your armour when seen in 1st person mode. Indicate here the _1.nif mesh of your armour. The game will use the _0.nif model when needed, even though you don't have a place to link it to the armour addon.
- Biped Object: the selected objects in this list are the dismemberment parts that form your armour. For armour covering the body you usually will select 32-Body, 34-Forearms and 38-Calves. For boots, you will select 37-Feet. Note that the number before the name is the same number you wrote in the Skin partition nodes of the nif file.
- Once you've created the armour addon, create a new armour. Again, the easiest thing is to look for an existing armour in game, double click on it to open the screen showing its properties and change the ID and name of the armour (the first two boxes at the top left of the screen as shown in picture Armour properties). Click on the OK button and CK will ask you if you want to create a new object. Answer yes.
- Open again the sceen showing the properties of the armour you've just created with your own ID and name and modify the values you want.
Some useful parameters are (see picture Armour properties):
- Flag Playable: select it to indicate that your character can use the armour.
- Biped Object: the slot used by your armour when equipped.
- In the Male area you have to indicate what meshes will be used in the inventory if your character is male and in the Female area what will be used if your character is female.
- World model: the nif file containing the mesh that you have created and that will be shown when you throw the armour to the ground (you can leave the world model the original armour had).
- Models: the list of Armor Addons that will be equipped at the same time by your character when equipping the armour.
- Keywords: the groups the armour belongs to. They can indicate if it is a piece of clothing (in the example, ArmorClothing), what kind of vendor will buy/seel it (in the example, VendorItemClothing), the quality of the armour (in the example, ClothingRich), etc.
To place the armour in the world:
- select the cell where you want to place the armour in the Cell View section and double click on it to open the Render window.
- drag the armour object you've created to the Render window and drop it.
- save the esp file with your armour, activate it and test your armour in game :)
Adjust the armour after testing it in game
Test your armour in game. Test it with your character in several poses: standing up, holding a weapon, walking, running, etc.
Most likely in some poses you will see parts of the body clipping through the armour, as shown in picture Clipping.
If this only happens in some unusual poses, like some added by mods, you can leave your armour as it is. But if this happens in usual poses in game you'll have to work a little more on your armour to eliminate this clipping effect.
Load your armour into Blender again and in the areas where the body clips through the armour try some of the following methods:
- move the vertices out, separating them from the body. After doing this take a look at your armour's shape in those areas and, if it has deformed too much, move the surrounding vertices to fix the shape.
- cut the parts of the body that are under the armour in those areas, if it is possible to cut them without leaving holes in parts that are not covered by the armour.
- if you cannot fix the clipping issues with any of the two previous methods you will probably have to slightly modify the weights of those areas. Try different weights until you find out what works better.
Repeat the testing and fixing process until the armour works fine in game and you'll be done with the _0.nif.
Create the _1.nif armour mesh
Once the _0.nif works fine in game, you are ready for creating the _1.nif file of your armour. You don't have to create the _1 version from scratch (actually, if you did, the game won't probably like it). What you have to do is to adapt the working _0.nif armour mesh to the _1.nif body.
- Open Blender and load the last _0 mesh of your armour.
- Delete all the parts of the body that came with the _0 mesh and leave only the armour objects in Blender.
Import into Blender all parts of the _1.nif body
Then import into Blender all the parts of the _1.nif body:
If you are going to create the armour for a male, you'll have to import the following body parts:
- malebody_0.nif: In Skyrim this nif file contains the torso, arms and legs.
- malehands_0.nif: If you want to create gloves for your armour, import this mesh that contains the hands.
- malefeet_0.nif: If you want to create gloves for your armour, import this mesh that contains the hands.
If you are going to create the armour for a female, you'll have to import the following body parts:
- femalebody_0.nif: In Skyrim this nif file contains the torso, arms and legs.
- femalehands_0.nif: If you want to create gloves for your armour, import this mesh that contains the hands.
- femalefeet_0.nif: If you want to create gloves for your armour, import this mesh that contains the hands.
Delete all the the skeletons you've imported with the _1.nif body parts.
Adjust the _0.nif armour shape
You'll see that the armour you created for the _0 body doesn't fit very well the _1 body you've just imported. So you need to adapt the existing armour to the bigger body. You don't have to create new UV maps, only adjust the shape of the armour.
Things you can do:
- You can move vertices of the armour from one position to another.
- You can use the Shrink/Wrap or Scale funcionalities.
- You can repaint the weights of some vertices but only if you do it by Painting weights by hand. You cannot use any script to copy weights to the _1.nif.
- You can hide vertices temporarily when working with the mesh.
- You can non-uniformly scale vertices (or groups of vertices) while in edit mode.
Things you cannot do:
- You cannot add new vertices (nor by hand nor by using funcionalities or modifiers that add new vertices like Subdivide or Subsurf)
- You cannot delete or merge existing vertices.
- You cannot use any script for copying weights to the _1 armour.
- You cannot split the armour into two objects and after you've done join them again.
- You cannot non-uniformly scale objects. (If you do, blender will want you to apply scale and rotation (Ctrl + A) before export. This will change vertex order.)
- You should not move objects in object mode. (If you need to move an object, just select and move all of the vertices in edit mode). This is because when Skyrim merges the armors it only looks at the vertices' local position (based on the object's center), instead of looking at the global position (based on the armor's center). If you move an object while working on the _1 model, the weight slider won't evenly blend between the two.
If you have deleted some of the vertices of the body for the _0.nif armour, you have to delete the same vertices of the body in the _1.nif armour.
The number of vertices of both meshes _0 and _1 have to be the same because Skyrim merges both meshes when showing them on characters with intermediate weights. If one vertex is in one of the meshes and not in the other one, Skyrim will not know what to do with it and you'll see strange things happening in game. Also, both meshes need to have the vertices in the same order. If you do things like split the armour and then join the parts again, or use a script for recreating the weights, the vertices will be probably reordered and you'll see again strange effects in game.
Once you've done adjusting the shape of the armour to the _1 body:
- Import the skeleton of the _1.nif file of the body you are using.
- Export the _1.nif for your armour repeating all the same steps that you did for exporting the _0.nif of your armour.
- Load the _1.nif armour in NifSkope and repeat all the steps you did for the _0.nif armour for adjusting the settings and adding materials and textures.
Add the armour to the game
Place the _1.nif file you've just created in the same folder where you have the _0.nif and name it accordingly.For example, for making a replacer of the wedding dress:
- place the nif file in the folder Data\meshes\clothes\weddingdress\
- rename it to outfit_1.nif.
Now you can test the _1.nif armour file in game and how it works together with the _0.nif file you created before.
Adjust the armour after testing it in game
Test your armour in game. Things you should test now:
- Test the clipping for the _1.nif mesh: move the weight slider of your character completely to the left and test the armour in several poses: standing up, holding a weapon, walking, running, etc. If there is clipping fix it the same way you did for the _0.nif armour mesh.
- Test how the _0 and _1 meshes work together: move the weight slider of your character and check that in all positions the armour looks fine. If strange things happen in intermediate weights, don't despair: the best thing you can do is repeat the process of creating the _1.nif file from the beginning, to assure that the number and order of the vertices in both nif files are exactly the same.
- If Skyrim immediately crashes upon loading your armour, you're experiencing a naming bug. To fix it, open your _0 and_1 nif files in Nifskope and click on the NiTriShape node of the mesh you added. In Block Details, right click the Name row (the first row) and click Edit String Index. Rename the Trishape's 'name' to anything you like. (This will change the txt value in the block list). Repeat this for every mesh you've added. (Make sure to rename the meshes in both the _0 and _1 files).
- If you didn't do anything that would cause vertices to be out of order on the _1 mesh, but the game is still not properly processing the average weight mesh, make sure the trishapes you added are in the same order for the _0 and _1 mesh. Skyrim averages the meshes together based on their node's order in Nifskope, not based on their text name. (For example: You have a Trishape named "ribs" and under it a Trishape named "chest" on your _0 armour. On your _1 armour you have the same trishapes in the opposite order: "chest" on top with "ribs" under it. Skyrim will merge the "ribs" Trishape from the _0 armour with the "chest" Trishape from the _1 armour, which will result badly.
- If the weight slider won't evenly blend between the two. Or you experience more clipping the heavier your character becomes, but at 100% weight there is no clipping, it's because you moved an object while in object mode when you made the _1 amour. (See what you can and cannot do above).
Repeat the testing and fixing process until the armour works fine in game with all weights and you'll be done :)
Related pages
- Blender NIF Import - Export Tutorial
- Creating an armour for Fallout
- Apachii for the required shader flags to fix transparency issues


text:
Once again, sorry for the long delay in posting again. I will try and do better. Every 24th of July in our neighborhood, we have a party. It is fun to get everyone together, have some food and shoot off some lame fireworks (usually a collection of pops, sparklers and smoke bombs). In the past, we have done pot luck, grilling up meats, just doing snacks...but this year, we went all out. We hired out a Taco truck and the fun began. Our guy showed up an hour and a half before we were to start so that he could get cooking. We had a tasty selection of spicy pork, chicken and steak.
We had a good turnout and had a lot of fun. We even had a friend, Friend M, bring awesome fireworks so everyone could enjoy instead of just 2 year olds. We ended up going through 350 tacos among us all. I won't admit to how many I ate.
Now, we are trying to figure out what to do next year to beat that. Anyone know how I can contact the circus?
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Taco truck catering rocks the party
Posted by samandbrodi at 1:39 PM
2 comments:
- kristilee said...
I love it Sam. Can Jono and I reserve letters J & K right now? You better not have any friends J or K who aren't us. It was SO good seeing you guys this summer!
- August 3, 2012 at 5:14 PM
- samandbrodi said...
Yes, you guys deserve the J and K letters after all of the countless days and nights we took up your time hanging out at your place. We loved seeing you this summer...hopefully we can get down there sometime soon.
- August 5, 2012 at 8:44 PM
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subset: commoncrawl


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Because of its mid-cost nature, compared to the high cost of conventional drilling, shale will rebound quickly, according to Daniel Yergin, founder of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, who said groups are already in place to grab the assets of bankrupt U.S. shale drillers.
"The management may change and the companies may change but the resources will still be there," Yergin told the Daily Telegraph. Continue reading


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Oregon Wants to Regulate Flexible Work Schedules Out of Existence
"Fair Work Week" would penalize employers and likely cost jobs, hours, and employee flexibility.
State Sen. Michael Dembrow wants Oregon to be the first state in the union to micromanage workers' schedules.
Dembrow's 'fair work week' bill, requiring employers to provide worker schedules one week in advance (and two weeks by 2020) and pay workers extra if shifts are added, removed, or changed, is quickly working its way through the legislature.
Nearly identical laws have been passed locally in San Francisco and Seattle.
Dembrow (D-Portland) says his bill will give workers "stability to know when to schedule childcare, second jobs, college classes and other aspects of everyday life."
Creating 'stability' through regulation, however, comes at a cost. Employers' workplace needs change suddenly, sometimes shift to shift, for all sorts of reasons. Dembrow would like to penalize them for responding to those changes.
The penalty might be triggered by the request of an employee, according to a University of Washington (UW) study commissioned to measure the impact of Seattle's "secure scheduling" ordinance. The study found 80 percent of managers had within the previous two weeks of being surveyed changed schedules at the request of employees.
The reasons were as simple as illness (28 percent), recreation time (18.6 percent), or caring for a sick child (18 percent).
"Flexibility is a benefit all our employees enjoy," one West Seattle manager told survey takers. "Employees' needs dictate our schedule." Penalties for changing schedules on short notice, the manager said, would "take control of schedules away from the workers."
In San Francisco, the only city to implement scheduling regulations so far, 35 percent of managers in a study said they had responded to their city's scheduling law by reducing flexibility in hours.
The study found one-fifth of businesses reported hiring fewer part-time workers after the scheduling law went into effect. A similar number said they were making do with fewer workers per shift, and 17 percent said they had cut back employment of full and part-time staff.
Seattle workers—30 percent of whom said in the UW study that they'd want more work at their current jobs—will likely see similar hours reductions when that city's "secure scheduling" ordinance is implemented July 1.
Jacob Vigdor, author of the UW study, said in an email to Reason, "Quite a few employees reported that their employer scaled back hours in order to avoid the ACA employer health care obligation."
That means the many Oregon workers who wrote and testified in favor of Fair Work Week legislation in the hopes of getting more hours, would likely see the opposite should the bill pass.
Oregon employers, too would be less likely to grant days off for private or family matters if it meant having to call in a more expensive employee. They would also be more likely to simply hire fewer workers, and give their current ones fewer hours.
The attempt to give workers more hours through regulation also ignores the fact that many workers are not getting enough hours because of regulation. State level ordinances add to the problem. In the past year Oregon has passed a sizable minimum wage increase and mandated paid sick leave.
"To add more regulations requiring our payroll costs to go up will force us to reduce our staff to compensate," said Cindy Ertell, of Oregon Coffee Roasters, in written testimony to the Oregon Senate. "We don't want to have to do that."
Despite these problems, Oregon's Fair Work Week has received healthy bi-partisan support both in the Senate, which passed it last week, and in the House where its moved out of committee with near unanimous approval.
Should it pass as expected, some Oregonians might get a fairer worker week. Others might have no work week at all.


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|The Jussie Smollett Case Embodies Everything Wrong About Liberal America
|Jussie Smollett Case
|keywords: Hate Crime Hoax Jussie Smollett Case Liberal America Obama Connection
In what can only be described as a naked display of judicial corruption, the prosecution dropped all charges against the gay and therefore immoral and irrational Jussie Smollett on Tuesday and allowed him to walk free.
It goes to show that liberals do not believe in the rule of law and can be blatantly biased when it suits them.
The Hate Crime Hoax
Jussie Smollett, in case you have forgotten, is the despicable creature who staged an attack against himself because he was unhappy with his pay. He had claimed that he was smeared with bleach and physically assaulted by two white men wearing MAGA hats.
When the news story first broke, the liberal establishment was enraged and went into a collective meltdown. The incident was dubbed a 'modern day lynching' by Kamala Harris.
After a detailed investigation, the Chicago Police rubbished Smollett's claims and stated that he had orchestrated the attack against himself. He had apparently hired two Nigerian men and paid them to stage an attack against himself.
The Aftermath of the Hate Crime Hoax
After preliminary investigation, Smollett was indicted on 16 different felony counts for filing a false report with the authorities. Just when it seemed like the case was proceeding in the right direction, the prosecution decided to drop all the charges against the disgraced actor and let him get away scot free.
The only 'punishment' that Smollett underwent to atone for his crime was doing community service for a grand total of 18 hours. Well he did get fired from that second rate show but he owes society much more than that.
Think about it – 18 hours of community service for a crime that could have started a race war in Chicago, which is already one of the most violent, crime-ridden cities in the country today because it's ran by liberals who worship political correctness rather than God.
The Obama Connection to Jussie Smollett
As they say, you cannot be corrupt in Chicago without knowing the Obamas. Right at the start of the investigation, Tina Tchen, who served as Michelle Obama's chief of staff, contacted Kim Foxx, who currently serves as the State Attorney for Cook County, and expressed 'concerns' about the case.
Tchen also gave the phone number of one of Smollett's family members to Foxx and asked her to talk to them.
Foxx did not formally recuse herself from the case, despite the fact that she was in touch with the perpetrator's family members and had a personal interest in the case.
Apart from this, it has also been revealed that Kim Foxx received a $408,000 donation from George Soros, the far-left selfish billionaire who promoted the policies that led to 9-11 and the real estate crisis to name a few who is known to donate liberally to leftist, anarchist organizations in the US as well as Europe.
Basically, a corrupt attorney and a corrupt former chief of staff conspired together to get Jussie Smollett off the hook, despite the fact that he tried to incite racial hatred between black people and white people in the most blatant manner. This is liberal America for you!
Why Liberalism Should Never Be Tolerated
The Jussie Smollett case should serve as a reminder for all of us regarding the perils of liberalism. Where liberals rule, the rule of law does not exist.
But Chicago is a ghetto city and this just reminds us on why that is the case.
In regards to George Soros – he will be in hell when he dies and our second life is permanent.
|Back to List


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Rajiv Gupta, Chukka Srinivas
This paper describes a system for sub-pixel registration of mask and opacified digital X-ray images so that the mask image can be accurately subtracted out from the opacified image. Our technique results in digital subtraction angiograms (DSAs) with fewer artifacts and better contrast.
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Hide Forgot
I am running a Sun Sparc 5 with RedHat Linux (SPARC) 6.0.
I am using a pc keyboard and a logitech mouse. To be able to
do this I have a converterbox from Sun (Sun part nr:
595-3692-01 or 370-2068-01).
The trouble lies in that the Sparc machine (called sparcy)
detects what keyboard you have installed by asking it. And
the converterbox can be set (dip switches)to answer with
which keyboard it is
(becuse pc keyboards do not have that feture). The
converterbox can only be configured to english, american and
german keyboard.
"So what!" you say...
I am located in sweden and am using a (surprisingly) swedish
Now i have swedish keyboard setting implemented at comman
prompt (aka loadkeymap sunt5-se-latin1). Works perfectly.
But when i start X the german keyboard setting is there
again (i have the converter set for german).
my /etc/X11/X file looks like:
exec ../../usr/X11R6/bin/Xsun -fp unix/:-1 $@
My guess is that the Xsun probes for keyboad and then loads
appropriate keymap which in my case is wrong.
So is there a way of turning of this feature (probe
keyboard) when you start Xsun so it uses the keymap loaded
by loadkeymap at bootup?
If not how do I solve my problem?
I have search the web for quite some time about how Xsun
works but have come up with practically nothing.
People at Sun that my problem can't be fixed becuse they
don't have a converterbox that supports swedish pc keyborad.
I have talked to other conver manufacturers (like black box)
and they say good luck we do not have such converters at
I even talked to Sun regarding hardcode the keyboard type in
it's bios (monitor - ok prompt). But the command keymap
there is totaly undocumented as well as nobody knows why
it's there.
So my thougt was that if they say it's inposible to solve my
problem then I should be able to fix it with Linux. :)
But I only got halfway (with getting it to work at command
prompt) and am now turning to you for help on the second
half (getting it to work within X).
//Lars Enstedt
//+46 8 713 1419
What does your /etc/X11/XF86Config file look like. There are lines in
it which identify your keyboard to X, and I think this is where the
problem is coming in. Take a look at that file and you will see a
section for the keyboard settings. In this section, you will see
commands that set the type of keyboard being used, the keycodes which
should be used, as well as a ton of other settings. Make sure these
match with the Swedish keycodes you are trying to use. Reopen this
bug if this does not resolve your problem.
I plugged in my swedish sun5 keyboard and then run Xconfigurator to
see what the correct setting should be. The Sunkeyboard worked fine.
And the output in /etc/X11/XF86Config where:
# XkbDisable
# XkbRules "xfree86"
# XkbModel "sun"
# XkbCompat "compat/complete"
# XkbTypes "types/complete"
# XkbKeycodes "sun(type5)"
# XkbGeometry "sun(type5euro)"
XkbSymbols "sun/us(sun5)+iso9995-3(basic)+se"
This was a change in the XkbSymbols setting. When the converterbox was
used the XkbSymbols line ended with "...(basic)+de". So I used that
version of XF86Config instead of the old one. But I still got the
german keyboard when starting X. I tried to find some documentation on
how you disable the autodetection of keyboard for Xsun servers that is
mentioned in the XF86Config file. I did not find any relevant
information. Ihave also tried to have the XkbDisable uncommented. I
don't know what it does but it had both conection to keyboard an d the
word disable, so... It did not work. I have also tried with all lines
uncommented like:
XkbRules "xfree86"
XkbModel "sun"
XkbCompat "compat/complete"
XkbTypes "types/complete"
XkbKeycodes "sun(type5)"
XkbGeometry "sun(type5euro)"
XkbSymbols "sun/us(sun5)+iso9995-3(basic)+se"
And both with and without the XkbDisable commented.
So the question remains:
How do I disable the Xsun server autodetect and take the configuration
enterd in the XF86Config file?
//Lars Enstedt
The XSun servers do not look at the XF86Config etc. keyboard
configuration parameters at all. The type of keryboard is
determined by asking the kernel for the keyboard type code.
Based upon this code, the XSun server chooses they keyboard
layout. This behavior cannot be changed without an update to
the XSun server. Trying to support anything outside of standard
Sun equipment (that is Type5) keyboards, was never intended to
be supported.
So what I am saying is, we don't support this configuration
in 6.0 I will look into the issue of enhancing our keyboard
support for an upcoming release.


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Search optimization can turn your site into an income builder. This is how your site to the top of the search engines. Keep reading so you need to know.
Pay-per-click strategies can be great ways to practice affiliate marketing tactic. This is the simplest service which can be offered to affiliates, so the pay is correspondingly modest, but the total pay can add up quickly.
This will mean you need to repeat keywords as often as possible while not making the text sound awkward. As search engine rankings are built off the presence of keywords, this should improve your search engine rankings.
Pick a domain name which has your chosen keywords.You want to make your website easy to find when customers are trying to look for it in the web. Keep in mind that people will find your website via multiple methods like search engines or backlinks, some people are there due to the products in your website.
Use header tags to your webpages. If you need to, use CSS to adjust the size. Headers are essential because search engines use them to rank sites.
Meta tags are an extremely useful tool for optimizing your website. Meta description tags should relate directly to your page's topic and promote more clicks. The meta tag should be brief and informative. This type of tag usage will draw in more guests into your site.
Ask an educational website or a non-profit to link to your affiliate. Search engines look at results from these sites that have been linked to by reputable sources of information. Provide high-quality information that will entice reliable websites to want to feature links to your site. Create valuable content that reputable organizations will find useful and worthy.
Search Engines
Use a properly descriptive title tag to make sure that all search engines can best understand the content of your website's content. Your title tag should be 60 characters or less, as this is the limit of the majority of search engines. Search engines will also give little weight to terms coming over the 60 character point.
As you now see, optimizing your site is easier than you think. Use the tips listed here to bring more people to your website. Stay ahead of your competitors by using this advice.
Could Magic Submitter save you time and assist with your Search Engine Optimization? If you need to know more review my Magic Submitter Review…


text:
There is a broad consensus that county councillors should not be allowed to permit adolescents under the age of 18 to get married.
Friday saw the consultation deadline for proposals for amendments to the Marriage Act, and a number of organizations gave their support, wrote Aftenposten newspaper.
Communication Director, Maria Brit Espinoza of the Ministry of Children and Equality said that the short-term legislative proposals will be submitted to parliament.
They were waiting for both Redd Barna, and the Senterpartiet said, Åslaug Sem-Jacobsen.
'But if it means that this will take many weeks, maybe months, that's not good enough,"said Sem-Jacobsen.
County councillors can presently give permission for young people between the ages of 16 and 18 to marry. In the past three years, only a very few 17 year olds have received such permission.
The ministry is also working to tighten the rules for people under the age of 18 who come to Norway already married.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today


text:
Greetings, all!
It seems like it's getting harder and harder to find ways to keep children entertained these days. To get away from the TV screens that seem to follow us everywhere, we put together this impressive list of fun activities, so both you and your child can fight the power of boredom.
1. Go to the park, make friends!
2. Make a treasure hunt – get some paper, crayons, and map out the hunt and hide the treasures.
3. Go on a nature hike – pack a zip lock baggie and gather all the cool things you find on the hike, and then write about them when you get back home.
4. Make clean up a game! Sing a song and chart how much you cleaned up.
5. Schedule a play date.
6. Hit the library – see if they have reading corners scheduled, research some great books and find them at the library.
7. Create your own book – encourage the child to get super creative.
8. Dance party – get music and make up a dance.
9. Try out a new restaurant and pretend to be a food critic.
10. Play tourist for a day.
11. Make an obstacle course outside or inside if the space is big enough.
12. Play board games.
13. Go for an I SPY walk. Make a list of all items you need to find, take a camera and snap the photos.
14. Babysitting for girls? Create at home spa day.
15. Go pottery painting.
16. My favorite – build a fort. Use pillows, blankets, blocks, anything you can, and have the kids visit each other in the fort they build.
17. Make a collage of photos.
18. Cook or bake with the kids. Have them follow the recipe, read it out loud, teach them about measurements.
19. Chalk drawing outside on the sidewalks.
20. Build a town – with a banker, hotel, restaurant, and have each child run the shop. They will love it!
Special thanks to The Centsible Life and our Founder, Lindsay Bell, for the great ideas!
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell!


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With the graduation of Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney and the transfers of Kaleb Jospeh and Chinoso Obokoh, the Orange had plenty of space to add some talent to its 2016-17 basketball roster. After a weekend full of visits, Syracuse has landed on of its targets. Colorado State Graduate transfer John Gillon announced via twitter Sunday that he has committed to the Orange for next season. He is immediately eligible to play.
Gillon spoke to the fizz on Thursday and said that he was very high on Syracuse. After his visit, he has taken one of Syracuse's three available scholarships.
"I just loved the sincerity of my teammates and also coach (Jim) Boeheim," Gillon said shortly after he announced his committment.
Gillon was certainly impressed with not only the program, but also the school where he will now spend the next year.
"It is just a great place," Gillon said. "I wouldn't want to finish my last year anywhere else."
Gillon averaged around 13 points and four assists per game in his final year at Colorado State last season. He said that Boeheim didn't specify what role he will play next season but he is anxious to get onto the court and contribute in any and every way he can.
"I was just told that they needed me," Gillon said. "Now, I am along for the ride."
And what a ride it might be. Syracuse is fresh off a Final Four run and is adding a few solid pieces for next season. The Orange still have an additional two scholarships open. If Malachi Richardson does return and the Orange are able to add another piece in the front-court, like Taurean Thompson, Syracuse should have some depth at every position, which is something that Syracuse certainly lacked this season.
Gillon was also considering Oklahoma and Texas A&M. He was set to visit both schools next week, but instead he has made his commitment to the Orange. He said there wasn't a particular reason that he committed before visitng his other finalists.
"I just thought that SU was perfect," he said.
Gillon's commitment marks a great start to a crucial period for Syracuse basketball.
Keep following @Orangefizz on twitter for updates on Syracuse recruiting.


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Hecho in Mexico Movie Synopsis & Plot
Duncan Bridgeman (1 Giant Leap, What About Me?) weaves a beautiful and rhythmic cinematic tapestry composed of original songs, conversations, reflections, wisdom and humor featuring many of the greatest performers and sharpest minds of Mexico today.
The film showcases the richness of Mexican music both young and old, from traditional music to pop rock and rap blended with interviews from Diego Luna, Lila Downs and many more leading personalities. The result is an inspiring and often funny musical road trip through modern day "Mexicanity", which resonates globally.


text:
Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy
Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
"Love and work… work and love, that's all there is" – Sigmund Freud
Psychotherapy is a way of being together and exploring the patient's mind and using the relationship between the patient and the therapist as a forum; or platform, to understand what is going on in the room. This setting is created for the purpose of bringing into life all unresolved conflicts and traumas that are still burdening the patient and preventing her/him to fully experience her/his potential. The patient's difficulty lies in the fact that the vast majority of every human being's mental life is unknown to the person. We only know the tip of the iceberg of what is really going on in our brain. Because of this vast unconscious content the patient needs the psychotherapist's help. The psychotherapist herself/himself has gone through a long personal therapy before being able to help the patient.
The aim of psychotherapy is freedom and truth. Freedom from the past and increased ability to be truthful and fully present in the here and now. In that sense psychotherapy relationship is a practice that increases the feeling of being real and it increases the sense of meaningfulness in patient's life. It is not a spiritual practice per se but the outcome in most cases makes the patient feel more connected to the universe and other living creatures.
The length of psychotherapy varies. The sessions themselves are usually 50 minutes long and the frequency of the sessions varies; mostly one to two sessions per week. Most therapies continue for months, even for several years, but before starting the therapy it is practically impossible to estimate the length of time needed. Sometimes one session is enough to bring a shift that makes it possible for the patient to go on with her/his life with a new energy and vigor.
There are many different ideas about how to create permanent improvement in a patient's life. Some therapies claim that only short intervention is needed. This might happen when the patient has in one way or other been working on his or her self-awareness for years before entering the therapy, but these 'miracle cures' are rare exceptions. Most patients need a longer input to change. There is also evidence coming from the recent brain research that shows how the brain structure itself changes during the therapy. Current studies of the functioning of the mirror neurons supports the long known clinical fact that fundamental changes happen during psychotherapy. The enormous complexity of our brain with its 100 billion neurons and each of them with their thousands of connections to other neurons makes it logical that it needs time to change and re-adjust itself.
Psychotherapy is a journey together with another human being. Most of it is fascinating and enjoyable, and part of the work is painful and upsetting and it creates very powerful feelings and emotions and a strong sense of mutuality and intimacy.


text:
. . . it often comes through the discovery of words.
When and where did your marveling at words begin? If a picture is worth a thousand of them, here's one that captures the emerging of that for four of us. With my sister and our baby cousin Marcia sitting in a chair at the bay window of our grandparents' home, and my brother Tom looking on from the left as I am from the right, Marilyn — the only one of us who could read — unfolds our then just-dawning fascination with language, and its attendant wonder of making sense of everything that is.
But no word is ever just a label stuck on something from the outside; for it arises there on the inside of the person calling anything a 'this' or a 'that' — and thus, beyond the letters any word consists of, it is also an act or little deed, creating in a person the notion that connects a this with a that and turns anything into a definite something in the first place. (To me, if one but looks at the bodies of the four in this photo, you can plainly see the wonder in them all.)
To name something is also to do something, and to do something of that kind is also to create something, which is to bring something into being. And every time a person uses (or thinks, feels, imagines — or anything on the long list of possibilities) a word, the same deed is done once again, the reality is brought into being once more or, if you will, re-created. That is what gives words their great power, the power to create the world in which we dwell and live our whole lives long.
This is what all human experiencing is made of, and that is what this blog is here to explore. It would be folly to attempt to explain experience when we understand it as little as we do. It's not something one can get outside of enough to see it clearly from an external vantage point. It never stops operating from wherever you are. (And how would you be able to investigate it if it ever actually did?) Or take your understanding of yourself, for instance? Can you cast the net of your own understanding out far enough to encircle your whole life and draw it in? (To cite an inorganic analogy that finally doesn't fit: You know how the upgrade on your browser cannot be put into effect until you turn off your computer and reboot. Well, how is it possible to apply this to oneself?) The path to a greater understanding of our experiencing leads through the unmatchable intricacies of its own actual operation. In this, there is no substitute for the thing itself.
And it is this matter of words that we meet right at the start:
A book is just ink, paper, and dried glue until someone comes along, picks it up, opens it, and starts to read. Then an amazing thing happens which even today we are not able to explain or fully understand. For as the eye moves along to take in what it sees, what are nothing more than marks on a page are transformed wondrously into words. Each word starts to stir like a little Pinocchio that can act on its own to speak, shout, soothe, sing, sting or startle. Now the book, a lifeless lump before, can "say something." when it does, the door to a whole new realm is opened, and in that moment we enter into the world of what things mean. (The opening paragraph of The Stuff of a Lifetime.)
But that is only the beginning because as the words mold the experience, the experience, in turn, leads on into everything that then follows from there. Allow me to give two far-reaching yet by no means rare examples of what I am referring to here.
First: The year I was born there was a song way up near the top of the list of hits: Jerome Kern's music with lyrics by a schoolteacher (who soon went into show business) Otto Harbach, from their 1933 operetta Roberta. In 1934 it soared to number one in the arrangement Paul Whiteman recorded, seeing its staying power boosted again in my birth year of 1935, thanks to the movie of it featuring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" went on to become an American standard, recorded by hundreds of artists in almost as many versions, a very famous one made by the Platters in 1958. [Once the piece starts playing, you want to click the 'Next' arrow right away, and that will take you to the Platters's number; if not, keep clicking it until it does.]
A whole generation later, in 1989, that Platters version made its way into the film depicted here — a remake of classic World War II Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne film called A Guy Named Joe. This time it was called Always. It is filled with things very significant to me: Audrey Hepburn's final appearance in film, the same planes in which (and wheat fields over which) I learned to fly, a piercingly poignant truth about a love not adequately expressed . . . and all of this, of course, set to music grand enough to do it justice. The song's words never changed a letter from how they appeared when I entered the world, nor did the melody change a single note — as both were bonded to twists of plot and circumstance into a chain of events carrying the whole bundle across all those years right on up to now.
Second: And here is another piece which, though wordless, played an indescribably revealing role at a pivotal point in my life. In the throes of a major turning-point and the rigorous compilations necessary to organize and launch an intensive doctoral program, this musical rendition, upon first hearing, with the haunting purity of its profound theme, etched the overall timeline of an individual's existence traced in relation to the human life-process. The words finally chosen to express this will be presented later, but only after people interested in listening to this for themselves, to make of it whatever they may — or, equally appropriate, to simply absorb it for the finely rendered work of art it is. I still possess the very vinyl record from the jacket pictured here of Charlie McCoy's "Shennandoah." I've used it in public speaking venues over the years many times since, with the last time being no more than a year or so ago. The record came out in 1973, but encountered this way you get to hear it without the scratches mine has — though they fade for me the instant the music pours through the speakers on its way into my soul.
These two pieces, then, illustrate what wonders words are, how arresting and varied their effects may be even stretched over years, and how they take root in the core of what we think and feel, forming there a lasting strand in whatever meaning life holds for us personally, showing clearly the hand they have in making us what we come to be.
* * *


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In the Netherlands, traffic lights have to comply with the rules in the Traffic Lights Regulation (Regeling verkeerslichten), which lays down guidelines regarding the use, design, placement, colour, measurements and material of traffic lights.
Please note: The technical requirements that apply in the Netherlands to traffic lights differ from those of other EU Member States. If a type of traffic light is already permitted in another EU Member State, the Dutch government may only prohibit its sale in the Netherlands in exceptional cases.


text:
Be Careful What You Wish For
by, 02-27-2022 at 10:00 PM (504 Views)
Well yesterday was an eventful day.
The day before I realized that we should probably tell my mum's side of the family that my dad died. Even though they've been separated a long time the family still ask about him from time to time so it seemed only right to let them know.
For speed and so as not to have to call them all and disturb them all individually, I decided to Facebook message the ones I have, which is only three but still, and let it filter through to the others. Two of them wrote back with condolences and stating that they remember my dad fondly (and I thought to myself well at least you have happy memories. That's a bit harsh though. I do have happy memories of him too bit unfortunately they're buried under and mixed in with a bunch of crappiness too) and the other told her husband who told him mum (my aunt) who later called my mum to express her condolences. She had an accident not last Christmas but the one before and her recovery's been slow (she's considerably older than my mum, she's the eldest of the siblings after all, my mum is the youngest) and even once she was physically recovered she'd lost her confidence and didn't go out alone. Well since they last spoke she has been out alone.
And after that call we wondered if we should call my uncle too (the three family members I contacted were all from my aunt's part of the family) because it seemed unfair to tell one branch and then wait for them to let him know. So mum called to inform him too and they thought we were inviting them to the funeral at such short notice. No. I did think to myself that that idea would be nice, to have some family I actually see well SAW. Before the god damned pandemic. And I've really been missing seeing my family. At this rate the kids will be teenagers before we see them again. Shame because I still have a bag of fun looking books that I kept randomly getting for the little ones, if it's the sort of book I think I would have liked I want to get it, have a flick through for myself and then give it to them for Christmas. But anyway. We don't know if the news has reached the third branch of the family (the family of my deceased aunt) but her widower's birthday is the day after the funeral and I have FINALLY made his birthday card so mum wrote a note in there to inform him too. It seems all the children in the family loved my dad when they were young at least because he'd play with them. I don't know if it remained the same after he had his own child but he sure had his ups and downs as a parent.
So yeah. We planned to shop on Saturday and maybe I'd wash my hair so that I had today to fix it if I messed up again (Don't know why. I think it's either impatience or because I've been leaving it too long between hair washes but I've struggled washing my hair properly for a while. Maybe it's because my hair's too long too? Either it's not wet enough to begin with, I don't shampoo it well enough or I don't rinse it well enough or a random mix of all three. And since the shower stopped working it's hard to sufficiently wet my hair unless I'm in the bath, which serves the dual purpose of hanging laundry up to dry). Anyway. I was also trying to make some new masks because I don't actually have any funeral appropriate masks and I'd like to have some just in case and I have a set of fabric that I haven't used yet and I've been wanting to. So I set to making masks and also trying to force myself to make a birthday card for a a little relative. I managed to push put the card (yes, it was a bit of an effort for me) but I still had the uncle card to do and I'll have a bunch of cards to do for the rest of march. So I have all my card stuff down here and my sewing stuff.
So. Now to Saturday.
I fell asleep downstairs so I got to bed late and because I had to wake up to go to bed it took a while to get back to sleep. Fair enough. I'd hoped to be up in time to see the repeat of a daytime family film I wanted to see but 11am or 12pm was clearly not going to happen. So I slept in and missed it. I'd heard mum come back with the dog. Went back to sleep. Then there was knocking at the door. Then again. Did mum lock herself out? But I thought I heard her come back. Sometimes when I've heard the door shut I've thought she was going out when she was actually coming back. So maybe she was going out? But I'm sure I heard her talking AFTER shutting the door meaning the walk was done and she was home. So I got up. put on my dressing gown and went to have a look and got to the stairs just in time to see. Mum answered the door to discover....dun dun DUUUUUUUN.....her brother and his wife at the door.
Now then. For a long LONG time she and later on we have been ashamed of the state of the house. It is not tidy. We're not at the level of those extreme hoarder shows, more like something in-between that and normal so to a normal person it's quite a sight. It was allowed to happen after my dad moved out because he was the one who liked things tidy and it was a source of tension between them. So yeah. It's steadily gotten worse over the past 20-25 years. So, if we can help it, we DO NOT let people in. NO ONE comes round unless they have to. So this was perhaps the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to us (although it is entirely our own doing so you can't really feel sorry for us).
They're the relatives who live nearest to us but it's still a while away.
They're both elderly and have health issues and they took the time to drove over to come and see us during this time of grief and I've, well I think we both have, missed them so much and they brought flowers (because that's what we do when we visit each other and of course because of bereavement) and it's so nice to see them but HOLY **** WE CAN'T LET THEM SEE THE PLACE BUT WE CAN'T TURN THEM AWAY. So yeah. The most wonderful thing ever and the most terrible thing ever at the same time (but despite the humiliation we felt and it was horrific, the joy is still the dominant feeling. And I've figured it out. We do need to tidy up anyway, even though it's a huge job, because no my dad's gone we'll have to hire tradespeople to fix things and to on. So we tidy it up well enough and then we can laugh about it later. Oh yes. It was so lovely to see you then but also I've never been so embarrassed in my life. But it's all sorted now so come over for tea when ever you like kind of thing)
So I ran down the stairs (in pajamas and dressing gown at gone 1pm) look at the living room and think how can I make it look a little less **** than it is. There really isn't much I can do but of course they'll need to sit down so I take my blanket off of my armchair (It was a Christmas present from mum, it has a zipper so you can wear it. It's my routine so snuggle up in it most nights and watch tv until bed) and threw it over a particularly unsightly pile of crap (it WAS a very uncomfortable little settee/sofa bed but since we didn't need the extra seating it ended up being where mum put her stuff and steadily grew, plates, post, tissues, socks, snacks just to name a few and where I put recycling because the recycling basket is on the other side of the room (it's my flimsy laundry hamper from Uni, since I didn't need it a home we gave it a new job and it's gotten torn up pretty bad doing it) and you can't even reach it even if it was clean because we have a table and a storage box/seat (which I'm using as an extra snack table yes we have quite a collection of snacks)). It didn't do much but at least it hid something that would make them even more disgusted with us. There is very little foot room especially with the dog bed to. Just a decent path from my chairs (my desk chair and arm chair, the armchair's only mine because it's on this side of the room and mum has the other one and as it's just the two of us there's no point not using it (just a few years ago that chair was only used for Christmas, I only used my desk chair so I used it to put stuff on and it only got cleared off so my dad had a chair at Christmas)). And the hallway is occupied by the dog's things, she prefers the hallway, a cool mat that's burst a little so we have it folded over, an orthopedic bed with a thin cooling bed on top (mostly because the soft beds gather hairs and she keeps licking the beds, so the cool beds get swapped round so one's always being cleaned) an old bed that's flattened (it was her first bed, too small for her really) with another cool bed on top.
So mum worried about them navigating the hallway since neither of them and light on their feet.
Coming in my uncle nearly tripped on a shoe box and then got his feet a little caught up in the yoga mad when sitting down (It's a thick yoga mat we put under her bed to give it a little more cushioning because it's a bed with loose stuffing that shifts and flattens and as an added bonus it's pretty long so i rest my feet on it because sitting in that chair I have my feet flat and it makes them ache a bit sometimes)
Mum warned them the house was a mess. They said they'd seen worse (that was before they saw it. Normally when people say their house is a mess it means that they're having work done and that's why it's messy so it's pretty safe to say that's what they thought we meant).
I could at least explain the crap by and on my desk. Making cards and masks. But it doesn't explain the rest of the room or that only half of my desk is usable...well a quarter really since the computer (which is usually what I do use my desk for) takes up half of the half of my desk.
Thankfully I have a tin of biscuits with a mix of biscuits in. I'm the only one who eats them but they're available if mum wants them too. So I offered the assorted biscuits which is at least one thing normal people do for guests. Mum made tea and I left them to go and get dressed and tidy up upstairs in case they wanted to use the toilet/bathroom. I was gone quite a while. And when I say tidy I mean clean the dust off the bathroom scales and shoves crap in the cupboard and then get the stuff I've had left on the landing since before Christmas (including my Christmas card stuff) into my room and shutting the door. Not long after I returned they left both of us were cringing for the next hour or so. This is a mess that's a mess. Well it could've been worse. What if this had happened? Or that? Oh don't it doesn't bear thinking about. Don't worry, I'm sure they won't tell any one. They will. Will they? I didn't think they'd do that. Oh they will. .....Well they're pretty old, they'll forget soon enough. They won't forget (they're still pretty sharp after all). Well it's done now.
We went shopping and once we were home mum suddenly remembered that we could have asked my uncle about a lemon tree.
When we went to the garden center I also got a little orange plant because why not? but it doesn't have care instructions and all I know is that it's an indoor plant and needs full sun. And mum said her brother had a lemon tree some time ago. Maybe we should ask him about it. Of course we forgot about it during the phone call. But then he miraculously turned up at our door.
So yeah. Be careful what you wish for.
Mortifying as it was it was still worth it to see them and they were so wonderful to come round and see us just because we were bereaved. My uncle wasn't sure he'd remembered the way it had been so long. Mum had been watching tv when they knocked. And you know we don't open the door at the first knock.
Of course I was so focused on the inside that I forgot what t state the outside is. Things are showing their age considerably and because we don't have a gate the wind blows all sorts of rubbish in and the foxes bring things in too.
Oh well.
I actually started writing this up yesterday but gave up early on in favour of making the last birthday card.
It's the funeral tomorrow. Well today really. We'll see how it all goes.


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I'm going to start this post by apologizing to all of today's parents who experience guilt to be perfect! Between Pinterest, mommy-blogs, the PTO, Gwyneth Paltrow, and whomever else, I can't imagine how you could do everything that is asked of you in the quest to be the most perfect and interesting and evolved parent.
I'm apologizing because I actually found myself chatting live on the air with Lauren from MassAppeal during our segments on Wednesday and I actually suggested that moms and dads could find an hour to "whip up" some cloth napkins and snack bags. As the words were spilling out of my mouth, I felt terrible. I mean, there's a heck of a lot going on in the world these days, and honestly, isn't August 9 still summer?!!?
Nevertheless! To all of the caretakers, friends, wacky-crafty-Aunts (like me), and folks who do have a spare hour, I put together some ultra-beginner projects for back-to-school lunchtimes.
(1) Cloth napkins! There are a million (ok, more like 6) ways to make cloth napkins, and these kinds are designed to be kid-sized (7″ or 8″) and lined with an extra layer of absorbent cotton.
(2) Snack bags! Plastic sandwich bags are so…. so…. plastic, which just bums me out. These fabric snack bags can be made with vinyl, nylon, PUL, or other waterproofing, or just made with sweet and fun cotton.
We've got templates and instructions going into the Beehive Brain soon, so don't hesitate to pop in and just, you know, whip some up!
Threadily yours,
Snack Bags!


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FusionCharts Free
Robert D. Currier at linux.com – FusionCharts Free: Cross-platform charts that rock:
"If you've struggled with GNUplot, JPgraph or other charting applications, FusionCharts Free is a breath of fresh air. Have you dreamed of finding a charting and graphing application that is simple to install, easy to configure, and drop-dead gorgeous? Stop dreaming and download a copy of FusionCharts Free. You'll be producing professional quality charts and graphs in no time."


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One term that has surprised me on data projects is 'governance' or 'data quality' or 'master data management'. It's surprised me because I'm not an expert in this discipline and it's quite different to my Machine Learning work. The aim of this blog post is to just jot down some ideas on 'data governance' and… Continue reading What does a Data Scientist need to know about Data Governance?
Month: March 2016
Where does 'Big Data' fit into Procurement?
I spent about a year working as an Energy Analyst in Procurement at a large Telecommunications company. I'm by no means an expert but these are my own thoughts on where I feel 'big data' fits into procurement. Firstly for the stake of this argument let us consider procurement as a the purchase of goods… Continue reading Where does 'Big Data' fit into Procurement?
PyData Amsterdam
I recently attended and keynoted at PyData Amsterdam 2016. (Clockwise from top right – 'The Sunset when the event was closing', 'Peadar Coyle giving a keynote at PyDataAmsterdam', 'Video interviews with Holden Karau a Spark expert from IBM', 'The organizing committee', 'Maciej Kula of Lyst talking about Recommendation Engines'.) Firstly this was a wonderful conference,… Continue reading PyData Amsterdam
A map of the PyData Stack
One question you have when you use Python is what do I do with my data. How do I process it and analyze it. The aim of this flow chart is to simply provide a simple to use 'map' of the PyData stack. At PyData Amsterdam I'll present this and explain it in more detail… Continue reading A map of the PyData Stack


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Dahon Visc D18 - Suitcase travel
Visc D18 Appletini - Suitcase Packable
For a few years now, the Visc D18 has been my primary folding bike. I use it in many ways.
- I take it with me in the car so that I can get access and fun at the other end of my travel.
- I have flown with it on several trips and been able to explore and be active in wonderful places.
- I use it as a utility vehicle at work, running to lunch, going to the hardware store and sometimes just getting a bit of fresh air and new perspective.
The fact that I can easily pack it and fly different places, while simply checking in a normal suitcase is a real game changer for me. I love to travel but I hate spending too much money on certain things. Oversize baggage is one. In fact my United Credit Card gives me one free checked bag so, by my view, my bike travels free.
Depending upon where I am going I will pack differently.
For a short business trip the bike and anything I don't want to carry in my carry on end up in the suitcase. At my destination I will usually pickup a rental car or perhaps a ride to my hotel.
If I am going on a travel fun trip, which I did recently, I have the ability to convert my suitcase to a bike trailer, and and carry both the bike and the trailer chassis in my suitcase. The result of this is that I don't really need a car at the other end of my flight and I can travel from place to place with my bike, suitcase/trailer and gear. This is incredibly freeing from so many points of view. For one, expenses go down. Places are seen in new ways. One actually feels a lighter burden by not being tied to a car, the gas, worrying about it getting damaged, so many things.
Suitcases and bikes that work with them is a bit like pairing food with wine. They need to work together and they do not always do so automatically. Basically the regulation for how "large" a suitcase can be challenges on a few fronts. Length, width and depth must add up to no more than 62 inches. Wheel size. Frame, Handlebar Transmissions. Ease and difficulty of removing wheels. Keeping things so they can be quickly be put back together. Ability to protect parts from each other, ability to protect the whole package. Ideally the ability to carry more of your gear and having space for it. If you want to "trailerize" your suitcase, then all of the chassis and wheels must fit into the suitcase or be fixed safely to the suitcase. Once the trailer chassis enters in, add to that requisite tools and hardware, then it is important to be aware of the 50 lb weight limit.
And so, what is life without a challenge? Function first, but fashion is also important.
Tags: Suitcase Packable


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The US strongly supports France strengthening ties with India, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said amid a diplomatic row between Washington and Paris over their roles in the Indo-Pacific region.
"Both France and the US have very strong interests in strengthening even more our respective relationships with India. This is something that we strongly support," Blinken said here on Thursday.
He made the statement in reply to a reporter who referred to a phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked if the US would welcome a "nuclear submarine alliance" between New Delhi and Paris.
But he did not directly address the issue, saying only: "I'm not going to get into any specific hypotheticals about the future."
There has been speculation that France may want to sell India nuclear-powered submarines, which the US has reportedly refused citing the likelihood of opposition to the sale from Congress.
India is a member of the Quad along with the US, Australia and Japan, which promotes security and development in the Indo-Pacific region and aims to stand up to Chinese aggressiveness, but it also has strong ties with France.
France's dispute with US and Australia arose over Washington's offer of nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra that resulting in it scuttling a deal worth about $50 billion to buy French diesel-powered submarines.
In a very strong reaction, France withdrew its ambassadors from the US and Australia in protest.
India is already a major defence customer of France, buying 36 Rafale fighter jets worth about $8 billion as well as anti-tank missiles.
India has an indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine and in the past had leased them from Russia.
It may want to augment the locally developed submarines with more advanced models.
The Washington-Canberra submarine deal coincided with the announcement of a defence pact between Australia, the UK and the US (AUKUS) that further alienated France which saw it as an attempt to curtail its role in the region.
At the news conference, Blinken tried to make amends to Paris by praising a French-driven European strategy for the Indo-Pacific unveiled last week.
"We very much welcome European engagement and French engagement and leadership in the Indo-Pacific, and that's a point that bears emphasis," he said.
"The European Union strategy that came out on the Indo-Pacific a few days ago, a strategy in which France played a leading role in developing, is one that we very, very strongly welcome… One area where we will look to deepen our cooperation and collaboration is in the Indo-Pacific."
On the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Blinken said that "there is very strong unity of approach and unity of purpose" among the members of the Security Council and "well over 100" nations in insisting that it follow certain norms.
The expectations set in a Council resolution include freedom of travel; making good on commitments to not allow Afghanistan to be used as a launching pad for terrorism; upholding basic rights, including for women and girls and minorities; allowing and indeed protecting humanitarian assistance, and having inclusive governance, according to Blinken.
The international community is looking to the Taliban to make good on these commitments, he said.
(Arul Louis can be reached at email@example.com and followed @arulouis)


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Whenever we think about cryptocurrencies, we generally talk about Bitcoin or Etherium, the ones which are most famous of them all. However, there are other cryptocurrencies that are also gaining rapid popularity, part due to their inherent USP's which put them in the top 10 club of the most mined and traded cryptocurrencies in the world. Yes, we are talking about the mining and Exchange of Monero, traded as XMR.
How Monero ensures high levels of privacy
Monero utilizes a unique type of 'ring signature' which hides the identities of both the buyer and the seller. The idea for this technology was taken from academics at the Weizmann Institute and MIT. Monero lets its users to keep the transaction history private or share information selectively.
In addition to this, Monero also uses stealth addresses which are one-time generated random addresses used for maintaining the users privacy. This is done for every transaction on behalf of the recipient.
Availability to trade on Cryptocurrency exchange like Evonax
Monero is a cryptocurrency just like the others. It can be traded easily here on Evonax. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, which may require you to have an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), Monero can be mined from any regular computer.
Monero uses a Proof-of-Work(PoW) algorithm that allows it to be accessible from a wide array of processors, letting a wide group of parties to mine Monero as against the need to join mining pools(which is also possible).
Price Volatility
Just as is the case with other crypto currencies, Monero too has had its fair share of price volatilities. From inception till date, it has appreciated multifold with the current price hovering around US$115 per XMR.
Though there has been volatility with the value of this cryptocurrency, Monero offers you the flexibility of buying it through fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies. This can also help traders buy and sell Monero for a profit.
As against other currencies like zCash, Monero is not used much as a speculative currency.
The way forward
Like other cryptocurrencies, Monero too has a limited supply which has to be mined. However, with its volatility and gradual increase of price, it remains to be seen how much demand the currency will get with the passage of time. Industry observers and analysts believe that this uncertainty and volatility will be the biggest motivating factor drawing people in to invest in this currency.


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Ohh Thurmond: The perfect picture is always when someone makes a play against 'SC
Hi all, I'm here at Pac-10 Media Day, and wanted to let know that former West Covina High School star Walter Thurmond, now an all-conference defensive back at Oregon, is also expected to be in attendance. He will join new Ducks coach Chip Kelly sometime afternoon.
I will follow with comments from Thurmond a little later.
By the way, they just handed out the Pac-10 preseason media poll and, surprise, USC is No. 1 with rival UCLA No. 7. California is second and Oregon No. 3.
Walter Thurmond: "I'm just happy to be the position I'm at. God gave me the ability. I really can't stress enough how hard it takes to be the position I'm in. It takes hard work, and you just have to have love for the game."


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Spring Cleaning | Tips for your Homeowners Insurance Customers
Published on May 3, 2016
Spring and summer are common times for your potential insurance customers to buy new homes. As we start the month of May, many people are already planning their moves as the kids will soon be out of school. With their new home, they'll need a new Homeowners Insurance policy.
That's where you come in as their helpful insurance agent.
With the changing insurance markets, sometimes things like pools, diving boards, trampolines, and dog breeds make a difference in whether a specific homeowners risk will be covered. When you work together with our expert personal lines account managers, you can find the gaps in coverage, and find what options are available to cover those gaps to get your customers the best homeowners insurance for their needs.
Learn more about Wholesale Homeowners Insurance with Abram Interstate at the end of this post below.
When it comes to the most common types of claims for Homeowners Insurance policies, the list is varied, but there are things your customers can do to prepare for and/or prevent these potentially common claims. Whether they're moving into a new house, or their just doing their annual spring cleaning, pass on these tips from Money Magazine to avoid the most common homeowners claims:
Wind Damage
Look around your property to see what could possibly land on the roof (or your car or your pool while you're at it). "Make sure that trees are properly trimmed and that dead trees are removed," he said—and that goes for any of your neighbors' trees that hang over your property, too.
Water Damage
There are several upkeep and maintenance items you can check on your own to prevent water damage. Make sure the caulking around bathroom fixtures is intact, check for cracks or wear in washing machine hoses, and watch for leaking valves or flappers in toilets. And make sure you know where the main shut-off valve for your home's water supply is located, Humphrey advised.
Outdoors, he said, "clear debris from exterior drains and gutters and repair damaged gutters and downspouts" to assure that water can drain safely away from the foundation. Examine the caulking and seals around windows to see if they are tight and not weathered or cracked.
Fire Damage
Many fires are caused by faulty or damaged wiring. "Checking the wiring is important whether the home is old, recently renovated, or is newly built," Kong said. You'll need to hire an electrician to do this, but a step you can take on your own is to check the wires outside your house for signs of damage caused by animals. "Mice and other rodents often chew on electrical insulation." In the kitchen, keep the area around your range and oven clean.
Theft is responsible for 6% of homeowners insurance claims. If you're going to be away from home for a while, get a neighbor to grab your mail and invest in timers to make it look like you're home, said Molly Barber, vice president of property claims at Liberty Mutual Insurance.
Wholesale Homeowners Insurance with Abram Interstate:
A+ Rated, Admitted & Non-Admitted
Preferred and Standard coverages are available for owner occupied homes with limits from $100,000 to $50,000,000. Credits are available for higher deductibles, burglary and fire protection. Condo and renters coverage available if written as a package with an auto policy.
A small sample of homes that may be eligible:
- Preferred Homes
- Standard Homes
- Homes with losses
- Fire Classes 8, 9, & 10
- Designated Brush Areas
- Older Homes
- Home Day Care coverage available
Quote Online Today!
Or Submit Your Homeowners ACORD Form to email@example.com
Chat with us online now for eligibility requirements or a brush check. Flexible Payment Options Now Available.
Abram Interstate Insurance Services, Inc. is a California wholesale insurance broker (CMGA) that has licensing and expertise to place business in both admitted and non-admitted markets for personal lines insurance and commercial lines insurance in California and surrounding areas.


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What's More Costly: Rental Vacancies or Filling Rentals With Subpar Tenants?
One of the most important factors that today's real estate investors need to watch out for is choosing partners and professionals who have really mastered the dynamics of tenant screening and occupancy. Each investment opportunity is only as good as the execution. Without a great handle on tenant management, the results can be disastrous. Unfortunately, many investors are still incredibly lost in this area. And that can get extremely expensive very quickly.
Both poor tenant performance and rental vacancies can kill cash flow for real estate investors. It takes both a detail-oriented property manager and intuitive expert who knows how to evaluate the whole picture to figure out which is more costly.
How Much Does Credit Score Matter?
It is smart to have systems in place for these things, but many are getting hung up on the wrong data points. Credit score is the most common one. Through screening tenants, I have seen that you can still walk out of bankruptcy and have a 700 credit score very quickly because you no longer have any debt. That doesn't mean this tenant will ever pay their bills on time. Someone else might have one misdemeanor on their background check from 4 years ago, but is otherwise the ideal tenant. Someone else may have a low credit score because they don't use credit but have awesome income, a great job, and good assets.
Finding Correct Rates for Rentals
Another reason that investors fumble the ball is unrealistic asking prices for rental homes. Never take what a real estate agent told you that you could get in rent as the truth. Always verify it for yourself from other sources. If there are similar units for $500 less a few blocks away, they are going for the cheaper units. The market will tell you how much your property will rent for. It's best to listen and make any necessary changes.
The True Cost of Vacancy
Do the math. If you've got four $900-a-month rentals sitting vacant for 6 months, you've just lost $21,600! You've made zero returns. In fact, given you need the utilities on and have property taxes, you are actually incurring negative returns. Then we all know that risks of damage are higher on vacant homes.
If those properties were mortgaged, you might be pulling $10,000 extra out of your pocket during that period to hold on to them as well. You've got to ask yourself, "How many properties with negative cash flow each month can I handle, including if my earned income is cut?"
The bottom line is that whether you are investing in rental properties solo, with partners, through a fund, or via a crowdfunding platform, make sure you and the property manager really know the local market, know how to decipher the data and make common sense decisions, and are putting as much consideration into the math of vacancy as you are flawed credit scores.
Ideas by Sterling White


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As if picking out the perfect color for your home isn't tough enough, but deciding the type of sheen to go along with the room is a significant factor. The rule of sheens is simple in the fact that it goes from the most glossy/durable to the least glossy/durable. Each one has a different capability to abstain from damage, dirt and mess.
This is a money saving option because this type of paint is easy to spread and covers a larger area. However it is not durable, in fact when it is cleaned do not be surprised to see some paint come off as well. Instead of reflecting light, bringing a greater brightness to the room flat paint absorbs the light. It is still beautiful and great for any space especially in an adult's bedroom that is free from little kid messes and high traffic.
Just like an eggshell this sheen is mostly a flat with little luster. Like the flat sheen, it does well to cover large areas and also covers imperfections.
This is a beautiful sheen that appeals to the eye, it has a nice texture and spread but unfortunately does not do well to cover bumps and imperfections. A great plus is that it is easy to clean which is perfect for high traffic areas such a kids rooms and living/foyer areas.
This type of sheen works well in areas where is there is a lot of moisture and a possibility of water damage. It's high durability is great for areas like baseboards, trim, etc. which are often in danger of scuffs and damage.
High Gloss
This option is the most durable and shiny of all the sheens. It does the best job to reflect the light and also cleans the best which is great for those who have children with sticky fingers and wild ideas. Many do feel that high gloss can be too overwhelming for interior paint that is why most people use it for their trim and baseboards because it draws the attention to the white outline. However you have to be careful when using this sheen because it shows every tiny imperfection.


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Covid-19 Pandemic in Middle East and Central Asia
24 Mar 2020
Washington, DC, United States
1. B-ROLL: Exterior IMF
Washington, DC --- 24 March, 2020
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF
"Let me start by expressing my deep sympathy with the people of the region and support for the governments coping with the coronavirus pandemic. The impact of Covid-19 and the drop of oil prices in the Middle East and Central Asia has been substantial and could intensify. This challenge will be especially daunting for the region's fragile and conflict-torn states such as Iraq, Sudan and Yemen with weak health systems.
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jihad Azour, Director of ME and CA at IMF
"The pandemic is causing significant economic turmoil in the region through simultaneous shocks, the drop in domestic and external demand, disruption of production, and tightening of financial conditions. The region's oil exporters face the additional shock of plummeted oil prices as they have fallen by over 50 percent since the start of the crisis."
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jihad Azour, Director of ME and CA at IMF
"What should countries do now? The immediate policy priority of the region is to protect the population from the coronavirus. Governments should not spare any expense to ensure that health systems and social safety nets are adequately prepared to meet the needs of their populations. Economic policy responses should be directed at avoiding economic recession with lasting welfare losses to the society. "
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jihad Azour, Director of ME and CA at IMF
"How is the IMF helping? Since the outbreak of Covid-19, we have engaged with governments to offer advice and assistance, especially to those in urgent need of financing. The fund has adequate tools to help our members surmount the crisis and limit its human economic costs. Several countries from the region have already approached the IMF for financial support. Now, more than ever, international cooperation is vital if we hope to prevent lasting economic scars."
Washington, DC – Recent
6. B-ROLL: Exterior IMF
Brian WalkerMedia Relations OfficerUnited firstname.lastname@example.com+(1) 202.623.7381+(1) 202.286.5839


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Welcome to the Office of Human Resources.
The Office of Human Resources is responsible for recruiting and retaining exemplary personnel for the East Meadow School District. We provide assistance in the areas of job performance, labor relations, training and employee services in order to support district personnel in creating a child centered educational environment for all students.
The role of the Office of Human Resources is to foster a work environment in which all staff members are treated with respect and dignity as they fulfill their respective roles in the district. It is with pride that we serve the East Meadow community and seek to maintain the tradition of educational excellence for each and every child within the East Meadow School District.


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Guest satisfaction scores are ticking upward, and IHG expects a big payback from the mobile printing solution in the form of numerous booked conferences that pull in revenue for food and beverage services.
Now we're talking with IHG about implementing mobile printing in hotel lobbies where guests might print boarding passes, event tickets, special offers on the fly and other documents. And, IHG may be able to use HotSpot-enabled devices for routine printing that doesn't require strict security protocols.