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Custom Replacement Windows Washington, DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia Complete the Quick Estimate Form for a FREE Window Estimate Custom window replacement can enhance the beauty and elegance of your home, while also improving security and energy-efficiency, and reducing noise and draftiness. American Custom Contractors is proud to feature custom-built replacement windows. Choose from our wide selection; from Bays, bows, double-hung, casements, single and double sliders, sliding glass doors, skylights, and geometric shapes. All windows include high performance insulated glass to help save energy and make your home more comfortable. We also offer Pella windows and window installation. Our of $1,500 AND save you money on your monthly energy bills! What are the advantages to Custom Replacement Windows? Custom fit replacement windows are guaranteed to fit properly to reduce draftiness, outside noise, and the likelihood of leaking in the future. Additionally, custom windows allow you the option of a variety of different shapes, styles and designs for each room in your home. We also offer skylights in standard and custom-fit sizes. Is there a benefit to having vinyl windows versus wood or aluminum? - Vinyl windows: Vinyl windows provide many benefits that wood and aluminum windows do not. Vinyl is a durable material, which means less maintenance and longer lasting beauty. When installed, vinyl windows do not require painting. - Wood windows: Many consider wood windows to be the most visually appealing. The natural beauty of wood is difficult to reproduce. They are often chosen for their strength, ability to be painted or stained, and their insulating qualities. Wood will not conduct heat or cold as easily, thereby providing good insulation against hot summer or cold winter days. - Vinyl, Aluminum, or Wood Clad windows: These windows offer homeowners the option of having the benefits of one kind of window (such as the durability of vinyl or the natural beauty of wood) with the appearance of another. The window will can be made out of the product of your choice, but will be capped with a finish that appears to be another product. What are the features that American Custom Contractors can offer on custom window replacements? Double-insulated glass - Low Emissivity Glass - Argon or Krypton gas - Tilt-wash windows - Vinyl, aluminum or wood clad - Wood or vinyl grids in a variety of styles and colors - Frosted glass - Designer glass How easy it is to replace or install new skylights in my home? - American Custom Contractors offers a variety of skylights, in standard and custom sizes, to fit your home’s needs. Skylight installation is an easy way to increase the lighting and ambiance in any room of your home. Ask one of our Project Consultants about options for skylight installation! American Custom Contractors is one of the leading replacement windows companies in the Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, DC metro area. With decades of experience under our belt, our sales associates and window installers are the best in the business. From traditional replacement windows to energy-efficient windows to custom window installation, American Custom Contractors is regarded as one of the top window contractors in the Mid-Atlantic. Please Complete the Free Estimate Request form on replacement windows or new window installation! We look forward to working with you! Related Topics: - DC Window Replacement - MD Window Installation - Bethesda (20817, 20814, others) - Potomac (20854 and others) - Rockville (20852 and others) - Gaithersburg (20878 and others) - Silver Spring - Northern VA Windows Contractors - Alexandria - Fairfax - Herndon - McLean - Reston - Vienna

http://americancustomcontractors.com/windows/

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Avi second time the other night. In the middle of telling a story, I had that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had just told him that same story a week ago. Oops!! I recognize I’m very lucky, but I desperately need some help keeping track of potential keepers? Raining Men Dear Raining Men: Every girl should be so lucky to have a swarm of men — nay, a veritable entourage! — buzzing about her. And, as you’ve identified, with great opportunity comes great challenge. Mistakes can be made whether you’re dating a pair of men, or what Adele calls a “Match.com Minyan.” You not only have to worry about putting your best foot forward, but also keeping that foot out of your mouth. Facts, details, anecdotes can become the bane of your existence if you don’t treat the business of dating like a, well, business. Allocate a little brain power to what Avi calls “date management.” Go high-tech with a spreadsheet or even your phone’s contact-tracking capabilities to map out critical details. Or keep it low-tech with every girl’s favorite tool: the little black book. You’ll find peace of mind by keeping a few mundane details at your fingertips. It’s really the mundane you want to capture, unless you’re a total hussy and can’t recall which base you’ve rounded with whom without having to document when, where, and how. So what to track? Consider any or all of the following: Siblings/Parents (How many of each? Where do they live?) Past date details (Where did you go? Who paid?) Job/Company name/College Faith (Is he conservative, reform, or other? Does he fast on Yom Kippur?) Passions (What’s his top hobby? What countries has he visited?) Great embarrassment also comes from repeating stories about yourself. Things could get sticky – assuming that he knows something about you when you haven’t told him or even giving an old story an embellished encore. So be sure to note which major stories and details you’ve shared with him too. One strategy that Avi uses with his first dates is to make sure to cover family, job and world travels before the check hits the table. That way, he can treat all future conversations as informed about his personal life. Also, consider creating a post-date checklist to review before future dates. Too much to handle? Then maybe the big leagues aren’t for you and you should scale down your efforts to give your dating life the love and attention it deserves. Whether you’re handling your men as individuals or looking for the wholesale discount, remember that your best bet is to just be yourself. With that strategy, you’ll hit a home run every time. Livin’ and Lovin’, Avi and Adele

http://americanisraelite.com/archives/12895

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I had to do it for one of my classes..psych maybe? Or else I wouldn't have done it. Maybe it's the Scorpio in us Bridget? We're everything lolWe're everything lol I had trouble deciding, too. When I wasn't sure, I asked DH what he sees me do most often! Actually it was an interesting discussion, to see how he sees me. You all have much more interesting lives than I do. Enjoy your Fourth! Me (38) DH (45) & furbabies * m/c 7/08 4/12 11/12 I am supposed to be going over to Rich's for bbq later. I'm taking Mom & my brother is already there. It's kinda funny that Tim is over there 3-4 times a week, but he's only been to my apartment once since I moved in over a month ago. He doesn't act angry or disappointed, but he's not coming over to visit. I kinda chuckle to myself and think, "yeah, I thought my brother and I were close but really he was using me to see Rich." The reality is he's been so busy, and Rich's house is on the way to/from the people he works with, plus all his tools are there. By the time he's done for the day, he just wants to go home and relax.The reality is he's been so busy, and Rich's house is on the way to/from the people he works with, plus all his tools are there. By the time he's done for the day, he just wants to go home and relax. At least, that's what I'm telling myself it is. I was 1/2 afraid I'd get slammed on facebook, maybe even lose some friends, but I found (through a liberal mamas group I'm in on FB) this article comparing right-wing ideals regarding liberty to southern aristocracy. I found it very interesting and enlightening. It starts out. Last edited by missychrissy; 07-04-2012 at 01:50 PM. and yes I'm partying it up here. So far I have gone online, talked to my mom on the phone and watched Hangover II. I think that there is another movie in the near future and dinner. And I will probably force myself to go in the basement and put in a bit of time on the elliptical. Even the dogs don't want to be outside today! Someone stole my credit card number and has been putting small charges on it for the past few days. I didn't find out about it until they tried to buy a couple of plane tickets from Montreal to London today. We only have one credit card, and a ton of my bills and services are deducted through it, so it's going to be a huge pain going without it for the next few days and then making all of the calls to change it. I am going to have to update at least 20 different sites, I think. On the up side, both twins said "This is the best day of my entire life" at the parade today. Oh, L, what a nightmare! Will the bank reimburse you for the stolen charges? However, yet another fantastic siggy pic from you. Love it. Me (38) DH (45) & furbabies * m/c 7/08 4/12 11/12 Oh man, L! That sucks! What's with all the robbery around here? My cousin called me today to see if we wanted to come to her town and go to the fair and I was thinking that sounded like about the most miserable thing ever in 100 plus weather! So I invited her and her husband to come here and go out on our pontoon with us. She was more than happy to change plans! Well when we all got on the boat the engine was acting awfully strange and I could see her and her husband exhanging looks like they were wondering what they got themselves into. When dbf finally got the boat started we just went out a little ways so that we were close to the shore just in case. It was so hot we all ended up jumping in the water and swam for about 3 hours! It was so fun. We never swim in our lake because the bottom is so mushy and just feels nasty on our feet. But with the lifejackets on it's so easy to float and keep your feet up. I couldn't believe how brave Kai was being. He is very, very nervous in the water and will not go past his waist. Even if I take him deeper he clings to me. Today he was all over the place. I'm so proud of him! Awww! Way to go Kai!!! I just hung out at Rich's with the kids. Conner got us all with the hose. I tried to get Conner to dance in the rain with me, but he just kept looking at me like I was crazy. Rich, unfortunately, tried being playful and chased me around a bit and then kept hugging/hanging all over me. I finally had to say, "I don't feel like cuddling" and then he pouted for nearly an hour. He did snap at Conner about something too. I finally asked him if he wanted me to leave. He apologized and then acted normal. I felt bad, but come on. Ugh, Chrissy. I can see how that would be annoying. In some ways, it seems, he acts like a child. And I'm sure you want to be able to go over and hang out with your family without having to worry about that. I do feel bad for him. I know what it's like to love someone like that that doesn't love you back. It sucks. In fact, our roles were reversed 18 years ago. I keep telling him I can't help how I feel. If I could just make myself feel in love with him, I would because it would be easier for everyone. So back to that test, I don't see how the results can be accurate if so many of us feel we could go one way or another. I mean, I feel like it would depend on the day for lots of those questions. And I feel bad for Rich too, Chrissy but not in a way that I think you aren't doing exactly what you need to be doing. I have been on both ends of that as well. And both ends are really difficult. Tell me if this in not common sense? When you are holding a baby who sees his mama and begins to cry for her, what do you do? Because everyone I know brings the baby to me but dbf actually puts him down and says, "Go to mama then." And poor Sawyer just stands there crying until I come to him! I ask him why do you just put him down like that? And he says, "He doesn't want me. He wants you." I'm like DUDE! Look around you and tell me you don't notice what other people do when he cries for me? He is lucky that he spared himself by saying, "Ok, i see what you mean." Sometimes he acts like this is his first child, I swear he is even more clueless than he was with Savana. Omg, the men in here! I'm sorry, guys.I'm sorry, guys. Me (38) DH (45) & furbabies * m/c 7/08 4/12 11/12 OMG Sawyer I woke up to Sawyer actually kissing me on the lips this morning! He such a little doll. That is really sweet, Bridget! My sweet little Cash has turned in to a right little bully lately! He fights with Travis now, and I think that makes him think he can fight with anyone. He has a cousin who is 5 months younger than he is and he likes to rugby tackle her to the ground. Also, when we go to play groups, he pushes other kids, tries to hit them and has even grabbed a handful of hair. I've always had to watch him like a hawk any how because he's a risk taker, but now I watch him because of how he is with the other kids. All I can do is to stop him from doing whatever he's doing and in a stern voice say something, "No, we don't hit, etc." But I sure wish he'd get over this phase quickly! I'm going out tomorrow night with the yummy mummies. As time has gone one, I've got to know them better and I actually like most of them now! Speaking of housework..... I have to say that I find this true in my home. DH is a decently happy guy and we either do household chores 50/50 or if anything, he does more than I do. Sawyer.Sawyer. Cash! lol...later, it'll be funny. When he's a grown-up nice young man you can make his friends laugh at what a little bully he was. I'm sure he'll outgrow it.Cash! lol...later, it'll be funny. When he's a grown-up nice young man you can make his friends laugh at what a little bully he was. I'm sure he'll outgrow it. I'm glad you met friends that you actually like! teehee.teehee. **Lizzo** C. woke up this morning and said, "Mom, I learned a new F word--Fireworks!" Both of the twins told me it was the best day ever. R. told me "I'll remember this forever!" They all loved the fireworks. Even before then, at the parade, they were ecstatic. They were non-stop bouncing all day.!

http://americanpregnancy.org/forums/showthread.php?161570-Secular-Confessions&p=1058654032

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OK so there's like a 1% chance I'm preggo but I need to know before I start BCP (to regulate cycles). Now I'm not sure if I'm a nut job or what but I've been seriously freaking out thinking that I am in fact preggo and might be imagining false symptoms (Swollen ankles, sore bbs, nausea...) SO- I'm struck with sudden urge of NEED TO KNOW NOW and run to WM and get a 3pk of FR on my lunch hour. Come back to work and POAS. Nothing. 3 minutes later, nothing. Not even the first line. Blank screen. 8 minutes, still nothing. 15 minutes later still a blank screen so I bust 'er open and (I've never done that before, fyi) and the stick inside has a big pink blurry blob. No discernible lines whatsoever. Everything was soaked, so I know pee wasn't the issue. Now I'll wait till tomorrow am to POAS again. But ****. I'M SO MAD!!! Had to share. Anyone else get a junk FR? History: Mirena removed March 2nd. Bled for 2-3 days after, with cramping. Expected I guess. Nothing even resembling a cycle... DTD June 17th (Fathers day, lol!) AF or at least flow for 3 days, 1 week later (Last week of June) Thoughts?

http://americanpregnancy.org/forums/showthread.php?357372-So-mad!!!-Stoopid-FR-test&p=1058657963

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An online activist in Saudi Arabia faces the death penalty over apostasy charges in a trial being used to stifle political and social debate. Instead of delivering justice and an impartial investigation into a blogger's death in custody, Iranian authorities have been intimidating his family members. Dozens of student activists kept behind bars in Iran, some since 2009, must be freed immediately and unconditionally to mark National Student Day. An Omani appeals court has upheld convictions against five men and a woman in what Amnesty International said is part of an ongoing assault on freedom of expression. The men were convicted by a military court last year after participating in peaceful anti-government protests. Some are beginning to talk of a second uprising, a “November revolution”. Some 15 men are being held following their arrest in Riyadh during a peaceful protest at the continued detention and ill-treatment of relatives. Bahrain is facing a stark choice between the rule of law, or sliding into a downward spiral of repression and instability. Graffiti became increasingly popular after Egypt's “25 January Revolution” and colourful murals began to appear across Cairo, with Mohamed Mahmoud Street at the centre of the activity. At least 14 people have been killed in connection with protests in the Eastern Province since last November. Wa’ed Tamimi, 16-year-old son of Bassem Tamimi was arrested at a demonstration in the village of al-Nabi Saleh on Friday. Nine women held in Tehran's Evin prison have started a hunger strike in protest at ill-treatment by prison guards. Bas. Announced today, the ban on all gatherings and rallies violates the right to freedom of expression and assembly. A poet facing a secret trial in Qatar after being detained since last year is a possible prisoner of conscience. Progress on human rights in Tunisia that followed the ousting of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is being rolled back by the current Tunisian Government. The Saudi Arabian authorities must withdraw their threat to deal “firmly” with people taking part in demonstrations and stop detaining peaceful protesters. The UN Human Rights Council's review of the human rights situation in Bahrain will have been a hollow exercise unless it is followed by concrete action. A string of recent court rulings in the Omani capital Muscat are crushing free speech in Oman.

http://amnesty.org/en/news/all?page=1&tid=2032&term_node_tid_depth=1789

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Your Name: Christine Thomson How many children do you have? 3 boys Their ages? 17 yrs, 15 yrs, & 8 yrs Your Business Name: Compassionate Nutritionist Brief Description of Your Business: I help the Uber-Busy Superwoman learn how to incorporate healthy living practices into her daily lifestyle. What was your inspiration to start your business? [...]

http://amominredhighheels.com/category/beauty-buzz/real-moms-real-beauty-2/page/2/

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Do you ever think about living forever? I have no personal desire to live out all of eternity in this body….but there is a desire to maintain some history of consciousness that can be passed on and shared across generations. Ben Goertzel is getting to the vast unknown of infinite consciousness in his recent post on Mind Uploading: “I don’t know if we will ever solve the “hard problem of consciousness”, i.e. the problem of rigorously connecting subjective experiences with physical structures and dynamics. My gut feel is that this will require the invention of some new discipline going beyond contemporary science, synthesizing aspects of empirical/theoretical science with aspects of spiritual traditions and contemplative metaphysics like that of the medieval Buddhist logicians. I gave a talk on this at the 2011 Asia Consciousness Festival.” Mind Uploading connects the human spirit to the world of digital interfaces directly and it makes us question ideas like reincarnation where some karmic exchange is passed from death into new life. Uploading aspects of consciousness implies that your mind can then be accessed and used by others, perhaps even downloaded into a new host. Embodied intelligence can then take infinite new forms if the receptors and information retain their integrity. Research on reincarnation suggests a direct mind upload from one consciousness to another complete with habits, scars and physical connections. The interesting future of AGI promises deep interconnection beyond individual access to any information – AGI taps into the collective desire to create new forms of awareness. Quantum computers, doping silicates and graphene nano & biochemistry experiments will yield all types of life over the next decades. We have just started to see the future and there is some interesting terrain and potentially scary monsters ahead. The series Dollhouse (click the GIF for animation) showed personalities and minds stored in drives that were mixed and implanted into other humans. “Disposable humans” are a trend that should scare us, whether it’s our homeless, our foster kids and runaway youth, the lost and displaced among us who are often invisible and do disappear. Portable minds and population control dance a very close line in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, creating a 2 season exploration of what could happen if we let individual ambition, fear and control dictate our ability to work together. Emergence has dangerous consequences for us and we must expect big shifts in our way of life as we go through this bumpy evolution. I am optimistic for the future of alternate intelligences as complimentary to our own, only because I have dedicated my work to building healthy bonds between humans and the rest of the intelligent universe to create the new science that Ben Goertzel suggests. I wrote a series for families on this topic with my husband (ManorMeta) and will continue to advocate for stories that promote symbiotic relationships between the human spirit and the emergent newness we are collectively creating. I have spent the last nine months building EDDEFY with a team of brilliant scientists, designers and futurists because we saw the need to connect the dots in human learning & binding insight. People put objects, concepts, ideas together in creative ways that we have not yet been fully able to emulate with computing systems and over time we will begin to see the patterns in human binding, the context betweens the lines of content in our daily lives. The narratives that come between us and comprehending the choices we make are a tough nut to crack in the quest to create AGI and map the programming of human consciousness. I believe we can solve these contextual puzzles using great tools like EDDEFY to understand how humans put together their thoughts and over time learning how we connect the dots. There are lots of leaders out there who may have tools to help you program yourself and fine-tune your abilities while embodied in this human reader now finishing a blog post. I am interested in creating the toolkit, bringing together the tools and making educational technology available and easy to use for anyone and everyone on this planet. I do not want to see us become a culture where “disposable people” are ignored, abused or destroyed. What kind of future do you want for the humans?

http://amoration.wordpress.com/category/philanthropy/

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They surely take their time reviewing SymTorrent. I guess it's normal that the end of the year and Christmas didn't really speed up things, but now we over the 6-8 business day limit like two times. In the unlucky case that Ovi Store completely rejects SymTorrent, I will try to release it in the same way we did before (direct download from the web site).

http://amorg.aut.bme.hu/node/187

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Dear Frank thanks for your great contribution here thanks for indicating where other hards parts can be obtained looks like an excellent design with the JFET in the front end again you may want to look at my comments re a whip maybe applied to other antenna circuits, it could be even better very best Paul Frank Gentges wrote: >Hi, > >Its really not all that hard to build when you see our follow up >material. Some of the follow up material makes it easier. My first >full-up model is still up on my roof working just fine. Go to the AMRAD >web site where we have this follow up material on this antenna and read >the FAQ and parts lists.. See > > > >If you are not buried in the midst of high power AM stations you can >probably go with the J310 JFET and use 12 volts for the power. That >eliminates the heat sink and the very special transistor. In addition, >try a longer whip like 6 or 7 feet. The longer whip will improve the HF >performance but may introduce too much signal in the AM BC band and >cause intermodulation. At least it is worth a try. > >We selected a Signal power transformer and they have since decided not >to sell single units to experimenters. Another company stepped forward >that is willing to do this and we have them in the parts list. > >The Amidon cores are available from Bytemark at > > > >Those are really high permeability cores and you really do need them for >the low frequency coverage. Don't forget to get an extra core and you >can modify your RX320 for LF and VLF. See > > > >We tested 3 modified RX320s and found the modification actually improved >performance slightly at the 10-30 MHz end of the range. We dis not >observe reduced performance as some have mentioned. > >With all these changes the antenna all goes together about the same as >the original article. With the modified RX320 you will have so much >signal in the LF/VLF range that you will need a 10 or 20 dB attenuator >in front of the RX320 to keep the AGC from pumping badly when you are >tuned down there. > >Frank K0BRA > >Joe Strain wrote: > > > >>It's not easy to build. Some parts (a coil or a >>transformer iirc) are expensive and hard to get. I >>have been accumulating parts for the da*n thing for >>years. i gave up and got the best commercial >>equivalent and found it an amzing antenna beating all >>my previous stealth and slinky antennas for apartment >>use >> >> >> >>cost is less than $50.00 has been in service here for >>some time and it's a excellent product >> >>Yodar >> >>--- Tim Heasman <tim at sideswiper.plus.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >>>Hi all, >>> >>>I just found this file whilst looking up active >>>antennas. It looked quite interesting. >>> >>> >>> >>>Happy New Year >>> >>>Tim >>>gm4lmh >>> >>>[Non-text portions of this message have been >>>removed] >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >>__________________________________________ >>Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. >>Just $16.99/mo. or less. >>dsl.yahoo.com >> >> >> >> >>Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > ><*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > > ><*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > RX320-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > ><*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > > > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL:

http://amrad.org/pipermail/tacos/2006/003810.html

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Blog Archives Cliff Bleszinski Praises Sony, Criticises Microsoft Among other things, Cliff Bleszinski is known for creating one of Xbox 360′s biggest franchises – Gears of War. In addition, he was the figurehead at Epic Games, the studio responsible for the Unreal Engine 3, which had big problems with the PS3 in its early days. Even so, it seems like Bleszinski is far more pleased with Sony than Microsoft these days. Read the rest of this entry ‘Gears of War: Judgment’ Review Platform: Xbox 360 Genre: Third-Person Shooter Developer: Epic Games, People Can Fly Publisher: Microsoft Studios Read the rest of this entry Gears of War: Judgment Already on Torrent Sites Microsoft can’t possibly be in a good mood now, seeing as pirates can already snatch Epic Games’ latest project, a full month ahead of its release date. Read the rest of this entry The Illusion of Choice If anything has become apparent to me this year, it is that gamers have developed the need, or the want, for choice in the video games they play. Choices, in video games, are usually made in the form of speech options (e.g. Mass Effect 3), choosing whether to go via the roof or along the streets (e.g. Gears of War 2), or simply just how you approach and complete an objective (e.g. Crysis 2). I recently finished The Walking Dead: The Game and it got me thinking, why do we want choice? A lot of video games try to tell a story. They tell us this story not by showing us, but putting us in the middle of it. We don’t just see countless Nazi’s getting killed by a bunch of soldiers in a WW2 setting, we ARE one (sometimes the whole bunch) of those soldiers killing countless Nazi’s. Although gamers are, essentially, being told a story, we end up wanting to control how that story ends, and everything in between. When developers let us choose, we feel like we are controlling how that story ends. But are we? What happened with Mass Effect 3′s ending is one great example of gamers wanting control. Throughout 3 games, gamers made hard choices relating to Commander Shepard’s life and mission. When it finally came time to choose the end to Shepard’s story, many fans weren’t happy with the endings Bioware gave Shepard. There was consumer backlash, and you know what followed. Gamers were given a few choices at the end of Mass Effect 3 and some didn’t like any of them. This is the risk with trying to give gamers control of the story. Would there have been backlash if Bioware didn’t allow players to control Shepard’s actions? Probably not, but because players had control through 3 games, they became attached to Shepard. The only reason the backlash occured was because consumers were given the illusion of choice. Choice doesn’t just come from speech options. Spec Ops: The Line took gamers on a journey and also presented them with choices. These choices weren’t about controlling the narrative of the game, however, they were moral choices. Do you save some innocent civilians or save a military officer who says he has valuable information? These choices didn’t change the narrative completely, but still gave gamers control of certain situations- an illusion of choice. So what’s better, the illusion of choice via speech options or the illusion of choice via actions that won’t necessarily effect the outcome of the story? How about both? The Walking Dead: The Game does a great job of giving players choice, while still controlling how the overarching narrative flows. It presents both moral choices, and narrative choices that can ultimately lead to whether or not someone lives or dies. But, once again, we are presented with the illusion of choice. Throughout The Walking Dead, you can make decisions that effect certain people or things, but there are several key moments you don’t have control of. For instance, you can’t actually change who survives at the end of the game. Furthermore, there are several parts in the game, no spoilers, where people you save are going to die anyway. Choice, being an illusion, can fail. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is one example of how choice did not work. Reckoning had speech options, but few, actually no, options actually changed anything. They were basically just there so you could build your character to be a nice person, or angry person, but it didn’t have any effect on how people reacted to you long term. In this case, the illusion of choice becomes a let down. The only reason it was there was to try to make gamers think they were actually doing something. Another way in which choices fail is when you think your character is going to say something one way, but instead they say it in other way. This isn’t so much a big deal in most games, but in The Walking Dead, where characters remember how you speak to them, it is important. Once, I thought I was going to say something good about something, but the response came out sarcastically. To further improve the effectiveness of speech relate choice, maybe developers could include emotional reactions along with speech choices. Choice, or the illusion of it, is something gamers want. We want choice so we can feel like we are in control, but, just like real illusions, some might not be as foolproof as others. So why would developers want to take the risk of tricking gamers into thinking they have control? It comes down to a couple of things, the first being attachment. When you make choices about a character’s life, you tend to grow more attached to them- that’s how video games work. So if developers give gamers plenty of choices to make, surrounding a character, they will grow more fond of them. This could lead to a sequel, which leads to more choices, which leads to a sequel, etc. The second reason is replay value. Think about it, if you finish a game with choices you might want to go back and play through the game again with some different choices. This keeps you immersed in the game and could even lead to the possibility that you might buy a piece of DLC farther down the track. The final, and maybe the most far-fetched, reason is discussion. In a game where choices are to be made, chances are someone you talk to will have made a different choice to you. This sparks discussion. What was the right choice? Why did you choose that option? Questions like these will appear not only in the real world, but on internet forums and social media. That means the game is getting more publicity and is being seen and heard by more people. It may even lead to the purchase of a few extra copies. Of course, a good game without choices will also cause this. As story telling in games starts to improve, I think more developers will find ways to add choice and player control into their games. The tricky part will be creating a story and options that give the player the greatest illusion of choice or control. If players really feel like they are changing events and contributing to the outcome of the story, the risk and illusion of choice was successful. If players can see through the illusion, it might take away from the experience. Choice is a great thing to happen to video games, but developers should be careful to choose which illusion is best for them and their game. *Don’t forget to check out our Game Of The Year nominations article! Nathan loves making choices and being in control of his video games. He is also on the Editorial Staff at Analog Addiction, a choice the founder (Jamie Briggs) had to make. If you want, you can choose to follow him [Nathan] on Twitter. Cliff Bleszinski Leaves Epic Games. Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney had this to say about the departure of the famous designer: !” Bleszinski.” Bleszinski is perhaps most recently known for being the creator of the Gears Of War franchise but you’ll also know him from his massive contributions to the franchise that started in 1999, the Unreal Tournament and the engine Unreal Engine amongst contributions to 2011′s Bulletstorm, Fat Princess, Lost Planet 2 and many more with one of his oldest being Jazz Jackrabbit. So as gamers, we at Analog Addiction bid farewell to Cliff and wish him the best of luck. We’ll miss you buddy. George Sinclair is an editor for Analog Addiction where you can find all the latest reviews, previews and news. George likes to take long strolls on the beach and read poetry…..not really. You can follow George on Twitter and his blog on IGN. Gears of War 3 Review Since_4<<_5<<. Gears of War: Judgment to Receive Free-For-All Gears. Jamie Briggs looks after Analog Addiction where you can find all his latest reviews, interviews and features and also like them on Facebook. Also follow his daily life on Twitter @AnalogAddiction and his videos on YouTube.

http://analogaddiction.org/tag/gears-of-war/

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“Industries Fear the Ripple Effects of Proposed Postal Service Cuts” – Was the title of the article in by Ron Nixon in the New York Times yesterday. It is a good statement of some of the key issues that are being taken up starting this week in Washington. All sides are lined up to help shape the final outcome. Today ,CCN Money has picked up the story as well. It seems that all eyes are on Congress as they take up the issue of “postal reform.” All this while all the ears are on the Supreme Court as they take up the issue of ‘Obamacare.’ We certainly do live in interesting times. As the pace of change and disruption our world picks up we must expect many more battles in the future to go along with these two. Congress has begun work on their vision for Postal Reform, if reform is what they really have in mind. All of the various constituencies are lined up on both sides of the issue. Some want more, and others want the USPS to do less. On the plus side are the wine and beer lobbies that want to be able to use the USPS to ship their products, something the USPS is prohibited from doing by law. On the negative side the insurance and banking industries are lined up to ensure that the USPS not move into their fields, as some in Congress has suggested they do to create more revenues. Like the newspaper business which is also undergoing its own transformation, the USPS is a huge enterprise that employees nearly 600,000. Beyond that the entire direct marketing field, including mailing companies, printers and direct marketers employees over 10 times that amount. This is a big deal, and we need to get it right. As was noted in the article the field supports over $1 trillion in annual economic activity. It helped to put both of my sons through college, so it is still dear to me. Nearly every business relies on the post office to deliver packages, advertise services and send out bills. This postal supply chain supports millions of American jobs in fields as diverse as banking, agriculture, media and manufacturing. This is an urgent issue since the USPS is losing nearly $36 million a day. As volumes of mail have decreased with former users now going to digital methods of delivery. Even the USPS has said that it does not expect to get those missing volumes back in the future. The USPS is also saddled with a Congressional mandate to pre-fund future retirements, the only government agency to have to do so, to the tune of $5.5 billion. Relief from this mandate would cut the shortfall in half. A sign that this is a big deal is the nearly $300 million spent over the last three year by those lobbying on all sides of this issue – both the USPS employee unions and industries who work in the direct marketing field. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has proposed closing half of the post offices, approximately 3700 and shutting half of the mail processing centers, 250 there. Both changes, along with stopping Saturday delivery, would also help to bring down the shortfall. In a world that has gotten to email and instant messaging for time vital business and personal communications, there would seem to be some wiggle room for printed mail – derisively called ‘snail mail.’ A big question is how fast do we need to be, especially if we want to price reduction, or at least fewer price increases. And yes, the USPS is also asking for a 50 cent first class stamp. Postmaster General Donahoe said in prepared testimony. “If Postal Service were a private company, we would be engaged in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.” The Senate is beginning the process now, and the House will begin deliberations, probably next month. A key deadline for consideration is May 15, when a moratorium on closing postal facilities will expire. Currently under consideration is a bill that passed a Senate committee in November that would tap the overpayment of the future retirement benefits, currently at $10.9 billion to pay down postal service debt (to the U.S. Treasury) and use up to $2 billion for incentives to get a number of long term employees to retire. The USPS has also planned to open its own health care for employees in hopes of cutting their costs, but there is pretty widespread opposition to that from Congress and the employees. The USPS is a legacy system with a long history. Like so many of our other ‘legacy’ systems, including newspapers, they are in deep trouble with the change in the economy in our broadening digital age. Change is great for some, though it sucks for others. I live in both worlds, and yes, I still want things the way they used to be. The question is how much am I willing to pay to have that. We make those choices each day, and we are making those choices now regarding our postal system. In the face of the current situation I have to applaud Postmaster General Donahoe and his staff, though that is a strange position for me. I prospered under the USPS, and endured a lot of petty regulations as well. They clearly understand where they are today, where the world is going, and have surfaced a plan that will help them to move forward under their current legal and financial burdens. Congress has the keys to open doors for them to endure and preserve the current levels of service many still desire. They also have the keys to the vault and say no more. I compliment the PG for a real and thoughtful plan, and I hope our elected officials will make the right choices. In the face of the coming elections later this year – this should prove to be good theater, and maybe even good politics.

http://analogsherpa.com/2012/03/

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Antonio Lotti: A Biography Early Years Antonio Pasqualin Lotti was born on 5th January 1667 in Venice. (The Venetian year started on 1st March, so the local year was actually 1666.) He was baptised on 25th January in the church of S. Marina, where his parents, Matteo Lotti and Marina Gasparin, had been married in 1662. Matteo was employed as the Hofkapellmeister at Hanover from 1665 to 1679, so it had been erroneously assumed that Antonio had been born in Hanover. Antonio had a two younger siblings: a brother, Francesco, (1672 - 1761); and a sister, Maria Melusina, born in 1673. Francesco became a Ragioniere (accountant) to the Collegio dei Savi (College of the Elders) of the Venetian Republic. Maria married a musician in Hanover. In 1683, at the age of 16, Antonio studied with Giovanni Legrenzi (1626 - 1690). In 1687, he started singing at the Cappella Ducale di San Marco. That year, he was also one of the first to enrol the Sovvegno dei musicisti di Santa Cecilia, a form of musicians' benevolent society, founded on 25 Nov 1687. On 30 May 1689, he drew a salary of 100 ducats for the position of cantor di contralto. On 6th August 1690, he was nominated as assistant organist (auito organista), and paid an extra 30 ducats for this work. He was unanimously elected to the post of 2nd organist (organista del 2 organo) on 31st May 1692. In 1693, his first opera, Il trionfo dell'innocenza, was staged at the Teatro San Angelo. Twenty of his operas were performed in Venice over the next 24 years, by which time his operatic work had attracted the attention of the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich Augustus I (1670 - 1733) (confusingly known as Augustus II “the strong”). From 1697 to 1707, he was also maestro di cappella of the Scuola dello Spirito Santo. On 22nd July 1698, Lotti received 50 ducats from the Procuratoria di San Marco for producing a book which contained one a cappella mass. On 17th August 1704, he made a request to take the position of first organist, “with the salary and benefits to enjoy it,” following the death of Giacomo Filippo Spada (c.1640 - 1704). He was voted in by 13 votes to 1 against. Basilica San Marco, Venice In 1705, Lotti had a collection of madrigals published: Duetti, terzetti e madrigali a piu voci, by the Venetian printer Antonio Bortoli. The collection was dedicated to the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I (1640 - 1705), who sponsored the publication, but unfortunately died while the pages were still being printed. Only when Leopold's successor agreed to pay the printer was the printing completed. A manuscript of the music survives in Lotti's hand, dated 1703. The music was generally given a favourable reception, except for an acrid critique, entitled Lettera familiare d’un accademico filarmonico. The letter was anonymous, but it has long been thought to be by Benedetto Marcello (1686 - 1739), a former pupil of Lotti's. Marcello's pamphlet was never published, as the result of some 'intervention'. The collection is Lotti's only work to be published in his lifetime. Works from the collection are available from Ancient Groove Music here. In 1711, he travelled to Novara to attend a festival on 14th June, at which he provided some compositions. On 12 February 1714, he married the soprano, Santa Stella Scarabelli (c. 1686 - 1759), who was from Bologna. In her will, she acknowledged the existence of a daughter, Lucrezia Maria Basadonna, who was a nun, and had been fathered by another man before she married Lotti. Santa Stella's dowry was 18,600 ducats. They lived in Calle dei Fabbri, in the parish of S. Geminiano, and also had a villa in the Veneto at Strà. Dresden After an offer of employment by the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich Augustus I, Lotti was granted a leave of absence by the procurators of the Basilica San Marco on 17th July 1717, and he left for Dresden on 5th September 1717 with his wife and a band of Italian musicians, including the castrato Senesino (1686 - 1758). The librettist Antonio Maria Luchini also accompanied them. Much of Lotti's concertante sacred music, written in Venice, survives now in Dresden or in other locations as a result of his time there. His pupil, Jan Dismas Zelenka was particularly important in preserving Lotti's music. These comprise individual Kyries, Glorias and Credos, and psalms for Vespers. Amongst these works was his Credo in F, which features the famous 8vv Crucifixus movement. Lotti composed three operas in Dresden, Giove in Argo, Ascanio and Teofane, as well as Il quattro elementi, a musical entertainment. The Zwinger Pavilion, Dresden It is not known whether the poor fortunes of Venice in the Eighth Ottoman-Venetian War (1714-1718) had any bearing on Lotti's decision to leave Venice, nor indeed on his return after the war's conclusion. Lotti wrote In omni tribulatione nostra for choir and orchestra, whose lyrics are a cry for God to “lead us in the way of peace in all our tribulation”, and whose character certainly befits the dire straights of the declining Venetian Empire in the face of the advancing Ottoman hordes. Return to Venice Lotti returned to Venice in October 1719, and was allowed to keep the coach and horses that conveyed him as a parting gift. However, they would have been of little use to him in the calle and campi of Venice, and he is thought to have left them at his villa at Strà. He then concentrated on writing sacred music and returned to his position at San Marco. It is not known whether he deliberately made a decision never to compose another opera, or whether events merely transpired that way. On 2nd March 1732, Lotti asked his employers if his student, Giuseppi Saratelli (1714 - 1762), might deputise for some of his duties “at his own expense, reflecting the tireless service paid over the course of forty years”. The request was granted unanimously. After the death of the maestro di cappella Antonio Biffi (1667 - 1733), Lotti applied for the post, but it took three years to decide the appointment. In the first competition for the post on 8th March 1733, none of the candidates received enough votes to be given the job. The other candidates were Antonio Pollarolo (1680 - 1746), Nicola Porpora (1686 - 1768) and Antonio Pacelli. Lotti received 6 yes votes and 6 ‘no’s; the others all received more ‘no’s than ‘yes’es. The Miserere in Dm and Benedictus in C that Lotti wrote in this year are thought to have been composed as a showcase of his abilities. (Though some sources date them considerably earlier.) Lotti was eventually elected maestro di cappella on 2nd April 1736, this time in competition with Pollarollo and Giovanni Porta (1675 - 1755). Nine of the twelve procurators of San Marco voted in his favour. The job paid 400 ducats and came with accommodation nearby. Just over a month after taking the post, he composed the madrigal Spirto di Dio ch'essend'il mondo, for the annual Marriage to the Sea (Sposalizio del Mare), a ceremony that was performed on Ascension Day (10th May that year) when Venice symbolically wed itself to the Adriatic. The practice continued every year from c. 1000 until the fall of the Republic on 12 May 1797. The lyrics were written by Zaccaria Valaresso (1686-1769), who also wrote the words for Lotti's oratorio, Gioas, re di Giuda (now lost). The madrigal is available from Ancient Groove Music. Lotti also taught at, and composed for, the Ospedale degli Incurabili, one of the four Ospedali in Venice, maintained by the State as schools for female orphans and the abandoned – usually the children of courtesans. The schools were also funded by rich patrons who sent their daughters to the Ospedali for the benefit of the musical education that they received. Lotti's contemporary, Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) did similar work at the Ospedale della Pietà. The Ospedale where Lotti taught was situated on the Zattere embankment of Venice's Dorsoduro – a few doors along from the church of Spirito Santo, where Lotti was for a time maestro di cappella. The house of the poet and lyricist Apostolo Zeno (1668 - 1750) was a few doors further along to the west. Lotti composed four operas to libretti by Zeno. Zattere, Venice: Ospedale degli Incurabili is white building on left; Spirito Santo is 2nd from right. He was a member of the Sovvegno dei musicisti di Santa Cecilia, a form of musicians' benevolent society, founded on 25 Nov 1687. He was one of the first to enrol, and was still on their lists in 1737. Controversy In a concert given by the Academy of Ancient Music in London in 1731, Lotti's madrigal, La vita caduta (in una siepe ombrosa), from his 1705 collection, was performed. However, this had previously appeared in Academy concerts attributed to Giovanni Bononcini (1670 - 1747), who was working in London at the time. When the authorship was questioned, Bononcini supposedly protested, and although he declined to comment further, his case was taken up by others, particularly Maurice Green (1696 - 1755) who may have actually put Bononcini's name to the work in the first place. The Academy's secretary, Hawley Bishop, then wrote to Lotti, asking him to prove that the madrigal was his. Lotti provided a measured but definitive response to the supporters of Bononcini: I think that they do not so much consult the Honour of their Friend, because by separating from the Academy, they show a resentment which might be just, were the Dispute about an only Child, but for a Madrigal indeed it is too much, since Signore Buononcini can make others equal and much superior. He settled the matter with notarised testimony. The incident led to Maurice Greene's leaving the Academy and the fall of Bononcini in London as Handel's star arose. The madrigal is available from Ancient Groove Music. Death & Legacy Lotti died of dropsy (oedema) on 5th January 1740. Records of the Procuratoria di San Marco show that on 3rd January, he was repaid 143 ducats for expenses relating to music at Christmas; on 9th January, letters were sent to the ambassadors of other city states, announcing the vacancy following his death. He was buried in the church of S. Geminiano, which stood at the west end of Piazza S. Marco, but was demolished by Napoleon in 1807 to complete the Piazza's arcade. It is thought that his tomb was removed to another location, but its whereabouts are unknown. An obvious candidate for the tomb's location would be Venice's island cemetary of San Michele, but there is no record of the tomb there. There are a number of manuscripts of his Missa pro defunctis in Venice which state: si canta ogni anno nel Mese di dicembre il giorno del suo anniversario in S. Giminiano – “to be sung every year in the mass on the day of his anniversary in December in S. Geminiano”. In February 1740, The Pallade Veneta reported that solemn funeral services for Lotti were held at S. Salvatore. The confused date of December may relate to the anniversary of the first performance of the mass, for two brothers of the Priuli family of Venetian nobility. Lotti's music is characterised by a use of suspensions, chromaticism, discords and modulation. He is also a keen exponent of word painting, with words such as descendit and ascendit often sung to descending or ascending scales respectively. In several of his psalm settings, the text “sicut erat in principio” (as it was in the beginning) is set to the same music as that at the start of the work. He writes with great care for voices, and is also highly technical, writing complex canons and fugues. His music had a great influence on his contemporaries. Manuscripts of Lotti's music survive in Handel's hand, and a growing catalogue of 'borrowing' from Lotti has been identified in Handel's work. The libretto of Handel's opera Ottone is based on that of Lotti's Teofane, and some have suggested that the similarity does not end with the book. Handel's Giove in Argo also uses the same libretto as Lotti's, with some modification. J.S. Bach's own library held a copy of Lotti's Missa Sapientiae, and it is thought by some that this may have informed his own B minor Mass. Lotti met both Handel and Bach. Of the 24 operas that Lotti wrote, only 8 survive complete: Alessandro Severo, Ascanio, Costantino, Foca superbo, Giove in Argo, Polidoro, Porsenna and Teofane. Arias and excerpts from another nine are also extant, and seven are thought to be utterly lost, though a great many arias survive in collections, and they have yet to be linked to particular opera. Of his 8 oratorios, only 2 are thought to survive: Il voto crudele and L’umiltà coronata in Esther. Catalogue Ancient Groove is proud to announce a major new series of the sacred choral music of Antonio Lotti. Also a growing list of secular music, including madrigals, opera arias and instrumental sinfonias.

http://ancientgroove.co.uk/lotti/index.html

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Our technology and culture are based on the availability of cheap energy. Oil is by far the most efficient source of energy, and in the past 100 years, we have grown utterly dependent on it. However, it is a finite natural resource and we are rapidly running out of inexpensive ways of extracting, transporting, and altering it and its various substitutes. The scarcity of cheap energy in the near future will have a profound effect on our lifestyles and may well threaten the very basis of our culture. How can we adapt to these changes? Take a look at our program on "The End of Cheap Oil and the Rise of Denial."

http://ancientpathwaystoasustainablefuture.org/archive/the-earth/end-of-oil/

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Now Pikachu Can Zap You While you Lay Down Pokemon health equipment could solve all health care woes. Pikachu's dabbling with the health industry did not end back in April with the release of a Pokemon-themed "Mobile Revolution" series mobile X-ray unit. Today, Inside Games stumbled upon a deluxe X-ray machine featuring Pikachu and friends. Called X'sy Pro, this all-in-one X-ray set from Shimadzu is a followup to the April machine. Unlike April's mobile machine, this one is meant to be kept in one place. It boasts more Pikachus than its predecessor and support for 100V power. The ¥6.2 million device will be on display at the International Modern Hospital Show 2009 event at Tokyo Big Sight on July 15. If you attend, take your DS and copy of Diamond & Pearl with you and let me know if there are any downloadable Pokemon! Loading comments. If comments don't load, make sure Javascript is on in your browser.

http://andriasang.com/com9ov/pikachu_xray/

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FarmVille Hits Japan as a Mixi App Popular social game finally sees Japanese language release. Japan-based casual gamers now have access to a fully Japanese version of Zynga's world conquering FarmVille social game. Zynga Japan released the localized version today under the name Farm Village. You won't find Farm Village on Facebook, though. The game runs as an app on the popular Mixi social network exclusively as a mobile app. Mixi members can access the game here. Like its English counterpart, Farm Village is free to play. Loading comments. If comments don't load, make sure Javascript is on in your browser.

http://andriasang.com/coms6w/farmvillage/

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The Galaxy S3 has finally been launched in 28 countries today and will be released in many more including the UK and US within the next week. Amidst one of the most popular phone launches of all time there were bound to be some hiccups though. The Galaxy S3 is available in two colours: Marble White and Pebble Blue. Or at least it should be. While the Marble White is readily available in all markets Samsung has been experiencing a bit of a setback: there aren’t enough to go around. Many retailers have had to stop offering the Pebble Blue S3 and send out apologies to those who had pre-ordered the phone ready for its release. People who had opted for the Marble White will not be affected and should receive their phone as normal and the white version should be available to collect in store. Samsung has explained that the lack of Pebble Blue Galaxy S3′s has been due to the difficulty in manufacturing the materials that give the phone its colour. Strangely, Samsung claims that it had invented an entirely new colour to use with the Pebble Blue Galaxy S3 and that this has been the cause of all the supply shortages. Despite Samsung’s boastful claims of being able to invent new colours the mostly likely cause of the delay is the “hyperglaze material” used in the phone’s finish. The official Samsung statement stated: .” Prior to its launch this week the Galaxy S3 broke records as the most pre-ordered gadget of all time, racking up an impressive 10 million pre-orders. That’s more than the iPhone 4S, which previously held the record, and makes it almost certain to be the biggest selling phone of the year. Likewise, eBay has reported a phenomenal increase in the number of people listing old mobile phones on the popular auction site this week, presumably for these people to get a bit of extra cash for the new S3. Even though the Pebble Blue S3 has been delayed the Marble White has so far not encountered any supply problems, despite the immense demand for the phone. The Pebble Blue supply problems are expected to be resolved within 2-3 weeks, according to Samsung. You can keep up to date with Galaxy S3 news on Facebook to find more information on release dates and news in your country.

http://android-market.co/devices/android-phones/samsung-galaxy-s3-in-pebble-blue-delayed/

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2 Meetup Groups match “android” … There are no upcoming Meetups. The purpose of this group is to: - Find partners for your smartphone game projects - Get your smartphone games published - Get information or coaching on how to make a good game that will sell - Get help on porting your game from another platform - Generally talk about cool projects and games Get an alert email when new Meetup Groups like this start near you. You'll get advice, help finding members, and tools to make running a Meetup Group easier.

http://android.meetup.com/cities/ca/on/ottawa/

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TeamRoyal has released an update to Royal Panache v1.00. The latest version is now 1.00. This release is supported on the following Device(s): - HTC Glacier/T-Mobile myTouch 4G Royal Panache V1.0 Change Log: 05/13/2011 * Added battery % * Fixed Small MMS issues -THANKS stlouie65,xREVOx * Added WIFI Calling- Thanks faux * Added Gtalk with video chat (not sure if it works, but if not it will be fixed) * Build Prop adjustments * Added Overscroll glow back in * Added Team Royal scripts * Other things I might be forgetting Head over to TeamRoyal’s CommunityRelease Developer Homepage for more information and downloads.

http://androidspin.com/2011/05/14/rom-teamroyal-royal-panache-v1-00-for-htc-glaciert-mobile-mytouch-4g/

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The whole process will involve changing a file in the /system/app section of your device using a root explore app, adding in a new file and mounting the system. Then you need to reboot and install a voice app from the Play Store. If you are already lost then you might just want to sit this one out. Current Status: Working: -It boots! -searching through the text-box works -location services work -info cards work -notifications work without modifying build.prop -Voice now works through Jonny_G’s app Not working: -Can’t exit the app using the back button on the Google Now ‘Cards’ screen -Full Jelly Bean voice search ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Devices this will NOT work on: -Devices that are running anything before Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich -Devices not running an AOSP ROM (in most cases, try anyway and report back) Still interested in giving it a test? Ya, we thought you might. We know David already has it up and running on his HTC One S sporting an AOSP build and he says it is working great and is really fast. He already set a calendar event. If you want to give it a go, head over to SilentStormer’s XDA thread for full instructions, required files and to join the discussion. Source: XDA via Redmond Pie thanks. i was waiting for a better working version since the last one without voice sucked I have it running smoothly on my OG Droid Incredible (Abduction ICS rom). Works pretty well, but there are some annoying bugs

http://androidspin.com/2012/07/19/google-now-port-to-ics-makes-head-way-voice-now-working-with-a-twist/

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Latest entries BlackBerry OS 10.1 update, more details revealed The... AT & T will start shipping the Samsung Galaxy S4 from April 23 Samsung’s Galaxy S4 has been the most well marketed phone so far in 2013, it achieved the highest interest out of any other smartphone , easily beating the likes of Sony Xperia Z and HTC ONE. Naturally this indicates towards a very high sales rate, if not the highest of them all and this automatically... Viber Finally Launched for BlackBerry OS 5 and OS 7 Recently... The New Xiaomi MI-2S, faster than the Samsung Galaxy S4! Usually... Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Specifications released... Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 Specifications revealed S... T-Mobile users rejoice, Galaxy S2 finally receives 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update T... Adroid / Android Apps / LG / Samsung LG Optimus G Pro reaches half a million sales in Korea L... Adroid / Android Apps / Android Malware / Mobiles / Samsung Samsung Galaxy ACE 2 Jelly Bean 4.1 Bean update in progress Samsung has always been really generous when it comes to updates, they regularly provide updates/fixes etc for their customer which is one of the reasons why Samsung users are so much more happier than others. The Samsung Galaxy ACE 2 seems to the next device in line for Samsung’s latest update and will be receiving Android Jelly......

http://andromeno.com/

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How to See Satellite Views in Google Maps Google Maps is one of the widely used online tools in Internet. I've found that there are many Internet users who do not use it to its fullest potential. Apart from exploring street map, you can get satellite map of any geographical location of this planet with the help of this powerful online mapping tool. The way Google Maps Satellite imagery is getting popular among online users, it is not difficult to imagine that one day Google maps will let us to take virtual tours to the surface of distant planets such as Mars or Venus. How to get Satellite View in Google Maps? To see satellite images in Google maps you need nothing but a click to a tab called “satellite”. Once you go to and click in the right side tab called “satellite”- Google will start loading the satellite images into your computer. And by clicking the location name or city name specified in the map you can see the satellite view of that place.One thing is to remember is that Google maps is not all about satellite views. In fact there are four types of direction modes available in Google maps , which will give you all the necessary direction on how to reach a particular place. You can get direction for going to a place by the following four means: - By car - By public transport - By walking - By cycling For example you want to see the satellite-map view from California Street, San Francisco, CA,USA to California Tennis Club and you want go there by car. For getting a complete satellite view of your area, you need to take a look at the right hand side of your Google map;there you will find a tab called “get direction.” Just below that tab you will see two boxes –‘A’ and ‘B’. In box ‘A’ type the name of the place where you’re right now and on the box ‘B’ type the destination where you want to reach by a car. Additionally, if you want to avoid highways or tolls in your journey, then just click the “option” menu-right below the box B-where you can select an alternate route to avoid any highway or toll in the way to your destination. Next, you click the “get direction box”- grey colored, just below box B.This is all you have to do to get the complete route map including the distances and estimated time required to reach California street. Note:Google Satellite Maps also provides a complete route guide for going to a place by walking, by public transport or by cycling. Try out the Satellite View of the Statue of Liberty, New York in the Google Maps Below Just scroll your mouse forward or keep pressing the "+" mark on the top left to see the Statue of Liberty more clearly. How old Google Maps Satellite Images are? There is no difference between Google Earth Satellite images and Google Maps satellite images-both of the tools use the same image database to show you the satellite view of Earth. Normally, the satellite images you see in Google Maps are one to three years old. Though Google is continuously trying to update their collection of image database, they do not provide any information about any their image updates.Only the major changes or updates in Google maps are published at Google‘s official blog: Access Methods to Google Maps Whether you want to see Google maps in your PC or mobile phone,you can do so in one of the following ways: - you can directly go to maps.google.com - You also can access Google Maps through your phone. Details at For example, you know latitude and longitude of a place(e.g. 47.771008, -120.41175)and want to find the driving directions for that location from your current position. To find the route map for that place in google maps, you have to write both the long and lat in the “search map” box.Another useful feature that you can take advantage of is to find the latitude and longitude of an area.For that you just need to right click on the map and then click on “what is here”- the coördinate of that place will appear on the search box along with some important photos and details,which will be shown in the left pane of the Google map. Some Useful Features - Google maps is not only useful for viewing satellite images of your city, but you can also use it as a means of finding business institution of a place and its vicinity along with finding driving directions. For instance, if you search for any location for a specific business, Google maps will give you all important business listings of that place with phone numbers. - Google maps have an earth view option, where you can see 3D images from Google Earth superimposed on Maps. - It can be used to get a complete driving direction information to your destination. You can even select and plan your travel route by entering multiple destination addresses in the Google maps. - You can use the street view feature of Google maps and navigate within a street of any city to become familiar with the place that you never visited before. Finally, though many people use Google maps for satellite imagery,it has some outstanding features that are truly useful for travelers such as traffic information and estimated driving cost to a specific destination.All the features of Google Maps are not available in all the countries, you can check if all specified features mentioned in hub is available to your country by going at Map Feature Available in your Country. This Hub was last updated on November 17, 2011 You can help the HubPages community highlight top quality content by ranking this article up or down. Follow (1)Comments 11 comments philipine maps gurgaon map please I use Google Maps a lot, especially when traveling. Its amazing how useful it is and it seems to be a great replacement if you don't by a GPS for your car. Why is there difference between the visual location of a set of coordinates using google satellite or google map.The difference is huge. The satellite location is correct. Why is the map location off by so much (hundreds of meters) I want see it ain benian kloudelagrout e 19b Amrit virk fotos sevilla_a47 2 years ago me gusta

http://andromida.hubpages.com/hub/google-maps-satellite

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: Volume, Prices Up Both volume and prices of Westmount real estate surged forward in October, as four houses sold over $2 million including the second-highest-priced sale so far this year. One upper-Westmount house sold for $3,800,000, but in fact the price was only one percent above its municipal valuation, giving more evidence that many of the higher-pried properties are selling for lower markups than their mid-range counterparts, though this is not always the case. The average price of 13 homes sold in October was $1,616,923, way up from the average $1,296,556 among nine sales in September, but in fact the average markup was an identical 19 precent for each of the months. For October, the lowest price was $790,000, one of four sales under $1 million. Markups ranged from 1 percent for the $3.8 million house to 42 percent, for one of the houses which sold under $1 million. It can be said that prices in Westmount have doubled since 2001, and are up more than four times since 1986. In October there were no condominium sales posted by local agents; the only non-single-family sale was a triplex on Chesterfield Avenue. Things were fairly quiet, too, in adjacent-Westmount with two homes, a triplex and a duplex-type condominium reported, mostly in the Côte des Neiges district just north of the city limits. Volume of sales in adjacent-Westmount is on a pace roughtly similar to last year, though there have been more sales in the Trafalgar-Daulac area this year , and considerably fewer so far in the Shaughnessy Village area. Some agents have been sensing a slight softening of the market in the past few weeks, but certainly the statistics indicate otherwise. Posted by andy October 2011

http://andydodgeassociates.com/?p=302

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- Walt French - Douglas Fischer - Clint - gregorylent - Martin - grewupfree - Isaac Rabinovitch - hendog - Micke Kazarnowicz - Alan Wallace - Mike H - Rick Mabe - KDingus - Dana Dear Tim Cook: Letter from an American Dad, Apple iOS Parental ControlsAuthor: Alan Wallace Dear Tim, I have many Apple iOS devices — so does my 11-year-old son. That’s why I’m writing this open letter to you. This is about better Apple iOS parental controls. And it’s kind of urgent. UPDATE: Ed: It’s all the more urgent given news that Apple had to pull the 500 pxapp because of child porn concerns, reports the BBC. not all. I want to tie this functionality down to a parent-child related account — separate from my Apple ID. It should know, for example, the relation between my Apple devices and his — for instance, if message limitations are close or if time limits like the ones I suggest above run out. Can you do that? I also want same controls to work if I later get my son an iPhone. That would allow calls to certain numbers at all times – and others at certain times – and it would work even if I turn off games and text that calls and email could be checked during certain time frames. Also, while the ratings on games, apps, movies and TV shows are great, could you amp up your music ratings controls? I want to lock his device down to age-appropriate lyrics. Lastly, please add a remote app that I can select from my devices to adjust functions on his. It should work on the fly – just in case I see a reason to shut it down. These reasons come up, believe me. Yes, I could take it away from him. And I do. But with a remote app, I’d also be able to adjust restrictions and other parental controls when I’m not right there. The remote app should, as Apple says, just work. And it ought to be easy. Tim, I don’t need Apple to parent for me. But Apple needs to work with me here. The company that provides the tools I need to manage tech for my son will win my business down the road, too. I love my own Apple iPad and iPod — and my son gets some great hand-me-downs. But Apple has some catching up to do here. Consider Microsoft. You know, Windows already has strong parental tools that work and they work on the MS Surface, too. Parenting around tech needs some help and I imagine that the same tools that would help me could also help IT Departments with BYOD issues, now that I think of it.. Sincerely yours, Alan Wallace @wmalanw Tags: alan wallace, apple ios parental controls, featured, iOS, ios 6, iOS 7, iOS6, iPad, ipad mini, iphone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, Privacy

http://anewdomain.net/2013/01/22/apple-ios-parental-controls/

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Are you a "fan" of Facebook? Do you tweet and retweet? Are you linked to the thought leaders in your community and industry? Social Media expert Angie Pedersen will be discussing the pros and cons, and ins and outs of various online social networks. Learn what you can do to make yourself more visible, more effectively, to make the most of your job search. Bring your social media questions, and get "plugged in"!When: Tuesday, 10/12, 6:30pm Where: Forward Bound Job Club Lee's Summit United Methodist Church Room 118, in the preschool building Posted via email from Angie Pedersen's Posterous

http://angiepedersen.typepad.com/consulting/2010/10/power-up-your-social-network-to-get-work-social-media-for-job-hunters.html

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The Ridley Cambridge Draft Contains four sections: - Introduction to the Covenant Text - The Third (Ridley Cambridge) Draft text - Commentary to the Ridley Cambridge Draft - Provincial Responses Downloads: - Ridley Cambridge Covenant draft text - English (PDF document 119K) - Ridley Cambridge Covenant draft text - Spanish (PDF document 190K) - Ridley Cambridge Covenant draft text - Portuguese (PDF document 198K) "This life. These things we write so that our joy may be complete." (1 John 1.2-4). 1. The Church of the Triune God, The Cyprus Statement of the International Commission for Anglican Orthodox Theological Dialogue, 2007, paragraph 1,2.

http://anglicancommunion.org/commission/covenant/ridley_cambridge/intro_text.cfm

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[Virtue Online] June 12, 2005--The AAC Kentucky Chapter learned that controversial and nationally known religious writer, Bishop John Shelby Spong, has chosen to use his notoriety to bully a parish priest in the diocese of Kentucky for promoting the teaching of the creeds of faith. The Rev J. D. Brown in his role as associate for adult Christian education, at St Francis in the Fields, in Harrods Creek Kentucky, cautioned a reading group against a curriculum that overemphasized controversial writers such as Bishop Spong, and Elaine Pagels. Father Brown indicated in a letter to them that he could only endorse their activities if they balanced their curriculum by including some mainstream writers who argue favorably for the creedal faith. The letter found its way into Spong's hands. He subsequently devoted two pages in his new book to take a priest and a church, not under his ecclesiastical authority, to the "wood shed" in a national forum.

http://anglicansablaze.blogspot.com/2005/06/bishop-spong-attacks-kentucky-priest.html

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waiting I had the pleasure of photographing the most beautiful and glowing pregnant girl I’ve ever seen. I wish I looked that good when I was expecting. On top of it, she is the sweetest thing ever. Caring and calm, always smiling. You just can’t not love her. And now she’s expecting her first baby, a little girl. I know she will be an amazing mother and I can’t express how excited I am for her. The only thing we need to work on are these cravings she has. Clementines with chocolate milk… Jen, I wish you all the best and all the love in the world for you and your little family. You guys will be just fine and Ellie is lucky to be able to call you her mother ♥ Wow, awesome pics! Love it! Thank you for these kind words. Beautiful photos of the babygirl. amazing ! great photos – and I LOVE that “they lived happily ever after” bauble!! Gorgeous ! She is beautiful! And I love the “you are my sunshine” art beautiful and fun! BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL! I am blow away with these images!!! WOW!!!!!!!! Love these.,.

http://anikaalonzo.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/waiting/

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My experiences with "humane societies" has not always been very positive, and I respectfully suggest that those who urge us to remember that humane societies and SPCAs are not inherently "animal rights" and should, in effect, be respected for what they DO accomplish as a part of their mandate as opposed to what they FAIL to accomplish in response to OUR mandate, are missing the basis of the original concern. For me the question is whether or not the organization does more good or more harm, and not only is that not only not always an "either/or" question, it obviously one that is not easily judged in all instances (except by dogmatists for whom anything different from what they decide is automatically bad). In Ontario/Canada the problem is this (and I'm going to try to keep it brief, but it ain't easy:-): The "animal rights" movement, by which I mean as it is defined popularly in Canada to include just about any group trying to do anything to help animals, is seen as a threat to social good by the "right" or "the establishment" or whatever you want to call it. However, most groups that are thought of as "animal rights" are characterized by newness; by lack of funding/resource; by passion ruling over what might be called "enlightened self-interest" and by the fact that they don't do "hands-on" animal work, or do so to a limited capacity that can be handled more or less humanely. In short, they don't run shelters, and they haven't been around long enough to have built up funding/equity...read power. They may rant, rave, demonstrate and grab headlines...but they only become of concern when they actually achieve something that hurts the animal users and abusers. In the eyes of the bad guys, as personified in Canada by the "anti-terrorist" Mackenzie Institute (which has steadfastly opposed the animal rights movement...along with virtually every other social movement, as an anti-social, dangerous and violent movement in its newsletter sold to the conservative big bucks interests who love to scare themselves with such nonsense), we "ARs" desperately want to take control of the resources locked up in the HS's and SPCA's. The fact that some of us HAVE been involved with them simply fuels their worst fears. Many years ago I sat on the board of the Toronto Humane Society. Call me crazy, but I see nothing wrong with people who believe in the rights of animals being directors of humane societies, and when founded over 100 years ago, the THS was definitely "radical" for its time and involved in other social issues (the Children's Aid Society is actually an offshoot of the THS...which I find absolutely fitting and proper.) When Vicki Miller, a "radical" whose been associated with both the ALF and with activism (a major hunger strike. . .she apparently has long since burned and crashed...I've seen that happen all too often) became president of the THSs board (at my request) I quit the board to work for the Society as Wildlife Coordinator. Flash forward to when I and my colleagues were "laid off", some six or seven years ago. We didn't understand the whole story, then, but we were curious when a man by the name of Jack Slebar joined the Society's staff, at a level just below that of CEO. Slebar's mission seemed to us (we went on to form the Animal Alliance of Canada; I also joined Zoocheck-Canada's board, and resumed a much higher level of involvement with the Animal Protection Institute, in California...so those are who I mean by "us") to be determined to undermine work we were doing on behalf of animals. For example, an effort to get snares and body-gripping traps banned in Toronto was thwarted by a letter from Slebar to the municipal government essentially saying there was no need for the ban. The first time I met Slebar was at a meeting where a group of us was trying to convince the Ministsry of Natural Resources to ban "dog runs" where dogs were allowed to chase native wildlife in huge compounds (red foxes in one run we site-visited; snowshoe hares in another). Slebar listened silently through part of the meeting, and then, out of the blue, said something along the lines of "the problem is that all of you are always fighting against each other." I was dumbfounded. We were mostly friends with 10, 15 maybe 20 years of co-operative work behind us. And besides, this was hardly the place to make such a divisive remark. Ultimately the effort was scuttled. To try to shorten a long story, Slebar eventually was discovered to be an "officer" of the MacKenzie Institute, who, according to a reliable source, claims to have authored articles we have linking many of us (by name) to animal rights terrorism. (I've since forced a public admission from the MacKenzie Institute that I am not, in fact, a terrorist:-). Jack is now the official CEO at THS. The THS still serves as a pound for the city of Toronto (although the cities various component communities are about to be amalgamated into one big city, and Slebar is busily lobbying the transition team to position the THS to do animal sheltering, and even animal control, for the entire "megacity". ) I think that unless one is hopelessly into denial, it has to be recognized that any city pound service, whether a tax-funded "private" organization, like THS, or a municipal organization with an "animal welfare" mandate, is always in a point of conflict by virtue of the twin requirements to serve the "human" need of animal control on one hand, while serving the "animal" need for humane care on the other. In a large, urban setting "no kill" sheltering simply means that any animals beyond the optimal number that can be humanely cared for are turned away, OR it means that the optimal number is exceeded, with horrible effects on the poor animals (particularly with regard to spread of respiratory virus in cats and stress from crowding or prolonged close-confinement in all the animals). This conflict tore me apart when I was associated with the THS (being a stubborn type I've maintained my damned membership) and I'm not at all sure that it SHOULD be a function of a private humane society to "clean up" society's "surplus" animals, quietly out of sight of the people creating the problem...but that's another issue from the main focus of this posting. Clearly the Mackenzie Institute's function is to keep what they see as the anti-social, money-grubbing hands of the animal rights community away from THS (or any similar) assets. Given the THS's penchant for working with annual massive deficits, it wouldn't surprise me if a secondary goal is to keep the THS weak, so that it is dependent upon government and corporate money...the latter sector realizing that they have nothing to fear from the THS, unlike those "radicals" who have been successfully "purged"...as the THS will NEVER embarrass them or cost them profits by seeking any kind of end to institutionalized cruelty that would cost money or cause disruption...of course they'll gladly do the band-aid stuff and work happily with the pet industry and others on "feel-good" programs that achieve little or nothing, while working behind the scenes against those clearly defined as the enemy....people like us! And then there is the Ontario SPCA. Not yet in the hands of the Mackenzie Institute, (although its various branches have certainly been quietly solicited) it is made up of numerous "branches" and "affiliates", many of which are quite rural, and have clearly been targeted by animal use proponents to be infiltrated at the board levels to guard them against the "animal rights" movement. Thus hunters, trappers, vivisectors and the like sit on boards and help formulate policy. To a still lesser degree, this is a problem with the "conservative" Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS). The OSPCA is currently not, in my opinion, a real problem. Notwithstanding many concerns I may have on a case by case basis, it has done some positive stuff and has supported, for example, Project Jessie, by providing shelter for dogs and cats we've rescued from pound seizure (so has the THS, although they may not be aware of it...and we're not sure we can continue to put animals there as we have discomforting reason to be concerned that they've unofficially offered animals to the research community...proof is lacking.) But in the "old days" I was the one who established proof (that was subsequently placed into a film I scripted about the seal hunt) that the then CEO of the OSPCA was using pound dogs to be tested to develop a gun to kill baby seals. The dogs, scheduled for euthanasia, where doped, then shot. The idea was that a gun would raise less objections than the clubbing then used (and still used) in Canada's Atlantic harp seal hunt. Yes, I know this may sound astounding, but the head of the OSPCA actually was defending the seal hunt and trying to make it more "acceptable" by developing a gun (on which he allegedly held the patent, claiming that it could be used in rural animal-slaughter in third world countries and remote areas) tested on impounded animals...and on baby seals (reports were subsequently suppressed but I've talked to the guy who did the actual shooting and it was horrendous). Here's a bit of irony (I think). I actually don't see the animal rights vs animal welfare distinction as clearly as does Dietrich, and while I agree with Chris's amendment to his assertion that it's the 'AWs" who make the actual legislative changes, his opinion is one that I generally share. As "AW" is "usually" defined (or implied) by the "AR" advocates, I see no reason why an SPCA shouldn't be considered AR (apart from the conflict that derives when it tries to do two opposing things....be humane to animals and at the same time to accommodate society's "need" to dispose of the "surplus"). In other words because my own definition of rights is pretty precise (it has to be something that actually WORKS...usually meaning legislation and enforcement) I see it as something that can only be achieved through reforms that are usually called "AW" by "ARs" (although not always by the media or public). But to get back to my essential point....we must guard against that barrier being crossed whereby an organization does more harm than good. I think it ESSENTIAL that in all SPCAS and HSs, as well as grassroots groups and AR groups (or whatever we call ourselves) that the decision makers be "on side" and firmly committed to the concept we call "animal rights" (let's ignore the quibbling about exactly what that means). And we must guard against the infiltration of weakening influences. I don't know if the new head of the RSPCA is "reformed" or still buys into the essential concept that it's "okay" to use animals to human ends as long as you keep trying to reduce the suffering that flows from such use. So I ought not to judge against him. But given my own experiences (and believe me, folks, I've just lightly brushed the surface) you'll forgive me if I retain my cynicism. And the latest "unofficial" word from the THS is, guess what...that "management" is trying to force staff to reduce the stringency of their screening of perspective adopters. The lady you mention would find her "pet" at the THS.

http://animalliberationfront.com/ALFront/tns.html

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Hello and greetings fellow otaku, Well with the release of Final Fantasy XIII only 48 hours away, i figured that it would be appropriate to celebrate the release of this new release of this popular series by doing a special edition of Anime Remix Amv Edition. This Final Fantasy Amv features clips from Final Fantasy X tied to the music of Evanescence’s My Immortal. Granted I wish I had a PS3 so I can play FF XIII, but I can’t afford one at the moment with school and all. But once I graduate from school, I think I will get one and get this and Blazblue!!!!!!! Now that’s an awesome combination. But enough about that, enjoy the video everyone and I will talk to you guys again soon. Ltrs.

http://animefullcircle.com/tag/final-fantasy-x/

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Every month on our site, Jo Miller, CEO of Women’s Leadership Coaching Inc., will answer your career and leadership questions in her Ask Jo column. Please send your question to [email protected], and it may be answered in an upcoming column. To read more of Jo’s career advice, visit the Ask Jo archives. Like most professional careers, your job probably requires you to work with virtual team-members both domestic and international. You can’t afford to focus on working effectively with only those team members that you can see face to face or even with those working in the same country as you. If you maintain “domestic tunnel-vision” you won’t become as productive and successful as you have the potential to be. I recently interviewed Marie Pettinos on what it takes to thrive as a team-member in a global, virtual and highly diverse workforce. Currently Senior Director of Strategic Business Management at Siemens Healthcare, Pettinos grew up splitting her time between New York and Ireland,. She has since worked in Japan, England and India. Her role now requires her to lead globally distributed teams that she coaches to break out of their geographic silos and build trust, alignment and accountability in their virtual workplace relationships. Here are what she considers critical skills for being effective as a team-member in a virtual workforce. Start from a position of trust “In the past, I have had team-members take an exception to working with virtual peers”, said Pettinos. They would ask “How do we know they’re really working? How do I know that they’re putting as much time into this as I am?” “The most critical skill is to start from a position of trust,” she advised. “You have to trust that all team members are aligned and working with you on the same objective. Assume that they are there and that they are working. Whether they’re sitting at their desk or sitting on their bed or wherever they’re doing it, they’re actually working.” Engage remote employees Whether you are leading a meeting, leading a group or participating as a team member, you need to engage the remote employees. “It often happens that there are teams partially collected in a remote location,” observed Pettinos. “Engage those remote people, first and foremost. Make sure they know that they’re part of the team.” Effective facilitation of virtual meetings requires being very inclusive. “Start by asking for participation from the people on the phone”, she suggested. “Be very aware, if you’re leading the discussion, to direct your conversation towards the microphone. You’ve probably seen examples where people turn away to look at a whiteboard or screen and without realizing that people on the phone can’t hear them.” Don’t forget to compensate for your own cultural biases. “Pause and wait for input. In certain cultures within the United States and elsewhere, we’re very quick to talk over somebody to make sure we get our point heard,” Pettinos pointed out. “In some cultures, to be respectful of people’s space and time, they’ll let you finish the sentence before they jump in. Allow people to contribute.” And don’t always presume that the meeting should be at your convenience. Pettinos recommends being highly sensitive to time zones. “Be flexible. Compromise, and make sure you’re really inclusive of everybody.” Treat everybody like they are in the room Finally, your objective as a team-member is to create an atmosphere where everyone can contribute and collaborate fully. “To put everyone on a level playing field, act like everybody is in the room, and that everybody is a key player,”, Pettinos added. “Once you do that, you can actually set the stage for effective collaboration.” Marie Pettinos was guest speaker in the webinar Working with Virtual and Global Teams, part of Jo Miller’s Emerging Women Leaders webinar series. Join now for immediate access to the webinar.

http://anitaborg.org/news/archive/ask-jo-working-effectively-in-a-virtual-workforce/

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Download citation file: From Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte, Hellerup, Denmark, and Copenhagen University Hospital Glostrup, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, and Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Grant Support: By the Danish Medical Research Council (grant 271-06-0572) and the Danish Heart Foundation (grant 10-04-R78-A2865-22586). Potential Conflicts of Interest: Disclosures can be viewed at. Reproducible Research Statement:Study protocol and statistical code: Available from Dr. Charlot (e-mail, [email protected]). Data set: Not available. Requests for Single Reprints: Mette Charlot, MD, Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte, PA Research, Post 67, Niels Andersens Vej 65, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; e-mail, [email protected]. Current Author Addresses: Drs. Charlot, Ahlehoff, Norgaard, Jørgensen, Sørensen, Hansen, Madsen, Torp-Pedersen, and Gislason: Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte, PA Research, Post 67, Niels Andersens Vej 65, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark. Dr. Abildstrøm: Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, 2400 København NV, Denmark. Dr. Køber: The Heart Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. Author Contributions: Conception and design: M. Charlot, C. Torp-Pedersen, G. Gislason. Analysis and interpretation of the data: M. Charlot, O. Ahlehoff, M.L. Norgaard, C.H. Jørgensen, P.R. Hansen, L. Køber, C. Torp-Pedersen, G. Gislason. Drafting of the article: M. Charlot, P.R. Hansen, C. Torp-Pedersen, G. Gislason. Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: M. Charlot, O. Ahlehoff, M.L. Norgaard, C.H. Jørgensen, R. Sørensen, S.Z. Abildstrøm, P.R. Hansen, J.K. Madsen, L. Køber, C. Torp-Pedersen, G. Gislason. Final approval of the article: M. Charlot, O. Ahlehoff, M.L. Norgaard, R. Sørensen, S.Z. Abildstrøm, P.R. Hansen, J.K. Madsen, L. Køber, C. Torp-Pedersen, G. Gislason. Statistical expertise: M. Charlot, S.Z. Abildstrøm, L. Køber, C. Torp-Pedersen, G. Gislason. Obtaining of funding: M. Charlot, J.K. Madsen, C. Torp-Pedersen. Administrative, technical, or logistic support: M. Charlot, O. Ahlehoff, J.K. Madsen, C. Torp-Pedersen, G. Gislason. Collection and assembly of data: M. Charlot, S.Z. Abildstrøm, C. Torp-Pedersen, G. Gislason. This article has been corrected. For original version, click "Original Version (PDF)" in column 2.. Primary Funding Source:. —The Editors Clopidogrel is a platelet inhibitor that reduces the risk for new ischemic cardiovascular events, in combination with aspirin, in patients treated either medically or with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after myocardial infarction (1 - 3). Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are often given in combination with clopidogrel and aspirin to reduce the risk for upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Clopidogrel is a prodrug that is metabolized to an active metabolite primarily by the hepatic P-450 enzyme 2C19 (4). Because PPIs are metabolized by the same hepatic isoenzyme (5), concern has been raised that PPIs might inhibit the conversion of clopidogrel to its active metabolite and thereby diminish its clinical benefit. Recent studies show that PPIs reduce the ex vivo inhibition of platelet aggregation achieved during treatment with clopidogrel (6 - 8). Clinical studies involving selected populations (9 - 13) show conflicting results regarding risk for adverse cardiovascular events associated with the dual use of clopidogrel and PPIs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (14 - 15) and the European Medicines Agency (16) have recently discouraged the combined use of these agents unless strongly indicated, while emphasizing the need for further studies. We sought to examine the risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes related to concomitant use of PPIs and clopidogrel compared with that of PPIs alone in a large, unselected cohort of patients hospitalized with first-time myocardial infarction. In Denmark, every resident is provided with a permanent and unique civil registration number that enables individual-level linkage between different registries. Our nationwide cohort study linked Danish national registry data relevant to hospitalizations, pharmacy prescription claims, and deaths for 4.65 million people. For all hospital admissions in Denmark, the Danish National Patient Registry registers a primary diagnosis and, if appropriate, 1 or more secondary diagnoses, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases. The Danish Registry of Medicinal Product Statistics (a national prescription registry) records every prescription dispensed from pharmacies in Denmark, and each drug is classified according to the International Anatomical Therapeutical Chemical system. Information on vital status and causes of death were obtained, respectively, from the Danish Civil Registry and the National Causes of Death Registry. The Danish Data Protection Agency approved the study, and the data made available to us were such that individuals could not be identified. Retrospective registry studies do not require ethical approval in Denmark. The authors had full access to the data and take full responsibility for its integrity. From the National Patient Registry, we identified all consecutive patients older than 30 years who were hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction between 2000 and 2006 in Denmark. To ensure the homogeneity of our population, patients with previous myocardial infarction and patients with partially missing data were excluded. We depended on patients filling prescriptions to identify users. Our primary analysis included patients who survived at least 30 days because we reasoned that a 30-day period would facilitate correct classification of drug use; most patients who filled their prescriptions did so within 30 days (Appendix Figure 1). We also examined the sensitivity of the results to the 30-day cutoff by examining alternative cohorts that included patients who survived 7, 14, and 21 days after myocardial infarction. Patients who emigrated were censored at the time of emigration. Using the national prescription registry, we identified all prescriptions of drugs claimed up to 90 days after discharge (Table 1), as well as all prescriptions for PPIs and H2-antagonists claimed within 1 year after discharge. Information on medication exposure for each day of follow-up was also obtained, including dispensing date, type, quantity, dose of drug, and days of drug supply. No data on patient-reported adherence were available. We defined current use as the period from the prescription filling date to the calculated end of the period drug supply. Of note, the national prescription registry has demonstrated accuracy (17), and the use of clopidogrel is reasonably stable over time in this cohort, with a 1-year persistency of 89% after 2004 (18). The primary outcome was a composite of rehospitalization for myocardial infarction or stroke or cardiovascular death. Secondary outcomes included all-cause death, cardiovascular death, and rehospitalization for myocardial infarction, stroke, or gastrointestinal bleeding. Follow-up was up to 1 year after discharge. The diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction and stroke have been validated in the Danish National Patient Registry (19 - 20). Comorbid conditions were established on the basis of diagnoses noted at the time of discharge from the index myocardial infarction, as specified in the Ontario acute myocardial infarction mortality prediction rule (21). The comorbidity index was further enhanced by adding diagnoses from the year before the event, as was done by Rasmussen and colleagues (22). Concomitant use of loop diuretics or diabetes medication was a proxy for heart failure or diabetes, respectively, to define high-risk subgroups of patients, as was done by Gislason and colleagues (23). We used 2 statistical methods to estimate the risk associated with PPI treatment with or without concomitant treatment with clopidogrel. First, we used Cox proportional hazards models to derive hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. These models were adjusted for the variables shown in Table 1, including age, sex, PCI, income, concomitant medical treatment, and comorbid conditions. Exposure to PPIs was included as a time-dependent covariate. Second, we performed a propensity score–matched analysis, in which we quantified a propensity score for the likelihood of receiving a PPI in the first year after discharge by using multivariate logistic regression analysis, conditional on the baseline covariates specified in Table 1. Using the Greedy matching macro (; accessed on 27 July 2010), we matched each case patient to a control participant on the basis of propensity score. Use of PPIs was included as a time-dependent covariate, and propensity score–matched Kaplan–Meier estimates were generated to show event rates and time-to-event curves. To assess the robustness of our results, we performed a series of additional analyses, including an analysis that evaluated how large the effect of an unmeasured confounder would need to be to explain the results, subgroup analyses of different types of PPIs, and a dose-dependent analysis (24). We also assessed the variation of both PPI use and outcome between hospitals and performed a stratified analysis according to PCI and aspirin use. All statistical calculations were performed with SAS, version 9.2 (SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina). Our study was funded by the Danish Medical Research Council and the Danish Heart Foundation. The study sponsors had no influence on the study design, data collection, analysis, data interpretation, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication. A total of 71 987 patients were admitted with myocardial infarction from 2000 to 2006 (Figure 1). Of these, we excluded 1889 patients with previous myocardial infarction, 13 324 patients who died during hospitalization or within 30 days of discharge, and 368 patients with partially missing data. Of the 56 406 patients included in the study, 24 704 (43.8%) claimed a prescription for clopidogrel within 30 days of discharge (Appendix Figure 1). Of these, 6753 patients (27.3%) claimed at least 1 prescription for PPIs within 1 year of discharge. The use of PPIs was equal in the 2 cohorts and independent of clopidogrel use (Appendix Table 1). MI = myocardial infarction; PPI = proton-pump inhibitor. Table 1 shows baseline characteristics of the study sample at the time of inclusion. Patients who received clopidogrel were younger, were more often male, received less concomitant medical treatment, had fewer comorbid conditions, and more often had PCI than patients who did not receive clopidogrel. Patients who received PPIs were older, were more often female, received more concomitant medical treatment, and had more comorbid conditions than those who did not receive PPIs. In the first year after inclusion, 9137 (16.2%) cardiovascular deaths and rehospitalizations for myocardial infarction or strokes were registered (Appendix Table 2). Clopidogrel was associated with lower event rates, and PPIs were associated with higher event rates. The event rates were highest among patients who received a PPI but not clopidogrel (26.3%). The time-dependent Cox proportional hazards regression analysis (Table 2), based on patients who filled prescriptions for clopidogrel within 30 days of discharge, demonstrated an increased risk for the primary end point (cardiovascular death or rehospitalization for myocardial infarction or stroke) among patients who received both clopidogrel and a PPI (HR, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.17 to 1.42]; P < 0.001) compared with those who did not receive a PPI. Among patients who did not receive clopidogrel, PPI therapy was associated with a similar increase in risk (HR, 1.29 [CI, 1.21 to 1.37]; P < 0.001). Results were consistent for the risk for all secondary outcomes (Table 2). The hazard rate ratio of the effect of the interaction between PPI and clopidogrel for the primary outcome analysis was 0.98 (CI, 0.88 to 1.10; P = 0.72). Using the propensity score generated from logistic regression models conditional on baseline covariates, we matched 6556 patients who received both clopidogrel and a PPI with the same number of patients who received clopidogrel but not a PPI. We also matched 8437 patients who did not receive clopidogrel but did receive a PPI with the same number of patients who received neither clopidogrel nor a PPI. Use of PPIs was included as a time-dependent covariate. The c-statistics were 0.65 and 0.65 for the clopidogrel and nonclopidogrel groups, respectively, which indicates an acceptable discriminative power for the models. Table 1 shows the baseline characteristics of the propensity score–matched populations and P values for the between-group differences (Appendix Tables 3 and 4 and Appendix Figure 2, provide further details). For use of a PPI in combination with clopidogrel, with no PPI therapy as the reference, the HR for cardiovascular death or rehospitalization for myocardial infarction or stroke was 1.35 (CI, 1.22 to 1.50; P < 0.001), whereas the HR for use of a PPI without clopidogrel was 1.43 (CI, 1.34 to 1.53; P < 0.001). Analysis of the risk for the secondary outcomes generated similar results (Table 2). The propensity score–matched Kaplan–Meier analysis (Figure 2) depicts the elevated risk for cardiovascular death or rehospitalization for myocardial infarction or stroke for patients who received PPIs with or without clopidogrel. PPI = proton-pump inhibitor. Of the 15 642 patients who claimed at least 1 prescription for PPIs, 4698 (30.0%) claimed prescriptions for pantoprazole, 2798 (17.9%) for lansoprazole, 2717 (17.4%) for omeprazole, 5316 (34.0%) for esomeprazole, and 113 (0.01%) for rabeprazole. Results from the time-dependent, Cox proportional hazards regression analysis and the Kaplan–Meier cumulative hazard estimates demonstrated no difference in risk associated with the type of PPI independent of clopidogrel treatment (Appendix Figures 3 and 4). We did not include rabeprazole data in this analysis because the cohort was too small to generate reliable results. Time-dependent, propensity score–matched Cox proportional hazards analysis. PPI = proton-pump inhibitor. * Used as reference. In the propensity score matching based on baseline covariates that predicted treatment with a PPI, the risk reduction for gastrointestinal bleeding in patients who received clopidogrel and a PPI was 0.82 (CI, 0.63 to 1.07; P = 0.140) compared with patients who did not receive a PPI. Therapy with a PPI had no effect in the group that did not receive clopidogrel (risk reduction, 0.99 [CI, 0.80 to 1.22]; P = 0.89). We estimated that an unmeasured confounder would have to elevate risk by 2.5 to 3 to fully explain the increased risk for cardiovascular events observed with either PPI or clopidogrel and PPI (Appendix Figure 5). To ensure the validity of using day 30 after discharge as the inclusion day, we examined differences in baseline characteristics at discharge and at day 30. We found that most patients (83.5%) who died in the first 30 days were from the cohort that had not filled prescriptions for clopidogrel or a PPI (Appendix Table 5). Examinations of the study cohort at various assembly time points, including 7 and 21 days after myocardial infarction, revealed no differences in the hazard rate ratios of the effect of the interaction between PPIs and clopidogrel (Table 3). Size needed to account for the elevation of risk from 1 to 1.29. OREC = association between drug use category and confounder; RRCD = association between confounder and disease outcome. An analysis subdivided by patients seen before and after 2004 provided no evidence of any differences in the effect of PPIs on outcome (P = 0.14). Interaction analyses between relevant subgroups of patients, PPI therapy, and outcome showed interactions (P = 0.035) for concomitant treatment with a PPI and clopidogrel and PCI, with a statistically significant higher risk for cardiovascular death or rehospitalization for myocardial infarction or stroke in a stratified analysis (HR, 1.40 [CI, 1.19 to 1.64]) than in the patient groups who did not have PCI (HR, 1.21 [CI, 1.07 to 1.38]) (Appendix Figure 6). Stratifying patients by concomitant aspirin treatment showed no effect. Additional sensitivity analyses demonstrated no evidence of any clustering between hospitals and no evidence of any difference between high and low PPI doses (Appendix Figure 7 and Appendix Table. We found no evidence that concomitant PPI therapy increases risk for adverse cardiovascular events in patients who receive clopidogrel. We conducted a MEDLINE search to find major studies between 2003 and 2010 that investigated possible interactions between clopidogrel and PPIs. Gilard and colleagues (6 - 7) first drew attention to a possible interaction in a double-blind study that showed a reduced ex vivo antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel when combined with a PPI. Other studies (8,14,20 - 21) have confirmed this finding. An intense debate is now occurring about whether the diminished ex vivo antiplatelet effect is of clinically significant importance. Several large observational studies (9 - 11,25) found concomitant use of clopidogrel and a PPI to be associated with increased risk for death or rehospitalization for myocardial infarction. However, these studies were not based on populations that represent the average patient who has had a myocardial infarction. For example, the studies from Juurlink and colleagues (9) and Rassen and associates (25) were based on retired patients older than 65 years, and Ho and colleagues (10) presented data from U.S. veterans (98% of whom were men). In contrast, a post hoc analysis of the randomized TRITON-TIMI 38 (Trial to assess Improvement in Therapeutic Outcomes by optimizing platelet Inhibition with prasugrel Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 38) (12) found no increased risk for cardiovascular events with the combined use of PPIs and clopidogrel and no difference in risk between the various types of PPIs. A post hoc analysis of the randomized CREDO (Clopidogrel for the Reduction of Events During Observation) trial (11) also found baseline PPI use to be associated with increased cardiovascular events, regardless of whether clopidogrel was used. These studies were based on selected patients eligible for randomized trials, who were usually younger and less likely to have significant comorbid conditions than many patients who are prescribed both clopidogrel and a PPI. The prospective, randomized COGENT (Clopidogrel and the Optimization of Gastrointestinal Events) study (26), which was stopped before inclusion of patients was complete, evaluated the cardiovascular safety of concomitant treatment with omeprazole and clopidogrel and found no evidence of increased cardiovascular risk. Similar results were recently reported by Ray and colleagues (13). Of note, preliminary results from the COGENT study demonstrated an increased risk for gastrointestinal bleeding in patients who received dual antiplatelet treatment without PPI therapy. This increased bleeding risk was confirmed by Yasuda and colleagues (27), which emphasizes the importance of establishing the cardiovascular safety of concomitant PPI treatment. Ray and colleagues' study (13) also illustrated the efficacy of PPI therapy in combination with dual antiplatelet treatment by showing a remarkable reduction in risk for gastrointestinal bleeding in patients who received combination therapy. Our study furthers the research in this area by investigating the risk for cardiovascular events in a nationwide, unselected population that represents the average patient who has had a myocardial infarction. We demonstrated that PPI therapy did not modify the effect of clopidogrel on cardiovascular outcomes and that PPI use was associated with increased cardiovascular risk independent of concomitant use of clopidogrel. We suspect that the increased cardiovascular risk in all patients who received a PPI can be explained by differences in baseline comorbid conditions that were unmeasured or measured imperfectly. Such unmeasured confounders would have to elevate the risk 2.5- to 3-fold to explain the observed increased risk for cardiovascular events. This is a large but potentially plausible amount of risk elevation for a confounder or a mix of confounders, particularly because these registry data lacked detailed information on risk factors, such as smoking, lipid levels, body mass index, and left ventricle ejection fraction. We also demonstrated a reduction in risk for gastrointestinal bleeding related to PPI therapy for patients who received clopidogrel, although it did not reach statistical significance. In Denmark, PPIs are prescribed mainly for patients with a clear indication, such as peptic ulcer. Thus, we expected the cohort of patients treated with PPIs to be heavily confounded by the indication for PPIs and to have a higher bleeding risk than patients in countries where guidelines recommend routine use of PPIs in combination with dual antiplatelet therapy. This may explain why our study did not find a statistically significant protective effect of PPIs on risk for gastrointestinal bleeding. Previous studies (9 - 10) have reported that the risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes was particularly increased by concomitant treatment with omeprazole and clopidogrel, on the basis of proposed differences in drug-specific metabolism and diminished antiplatelet effects ex vivo (6 - 7,23). Our data set provided no evidence of differences in risk between the subtypes of PPIs, with or without clopidogrel. Sensitivity analyses also provided no evidence of differences in risk related to heart failure, diabetes, age, hospitals, or PPI dosages. However, we did find a statistically significant interaction between PCI and PPIs in the group that received clopidogrel. Several considerations and limitations may affect the interpretation of our results. We had no self-reported patient data regarding adherence. We were also dependent on patients filling prescriptions after discharge, and we chose day 30 as the inclusion day for primary analyses to avoid a potential immortal time bias. The comparison of baseline characteristics between day 30 and discharge (Table 1 and Appendix Table 5) illustrates this potential bias, because 83.5% of the patients who died in the first 30 days were in the cohort who did not fill a prescription for either clopidogrel or a PPI. The high 30-day mortality rate in this cohort can be explained by the inclusion of high-risk patients who may not have received clopidogrel or a PPI by the choice of their physicians, whereas other high-risk patients who were actually given prescriptions at discharge could have been too sick to fill their prescriptions or could have been readmitted to the hospital before they filled them. Of note, we examined the cohort at various assembly time points, including 7 and 21 days after myocardial infarction, and found no differences in the hazard rate ratios of the effect of the interaction between PPIs and clopidogrel in relation to assembly time point. Our study's strengths include the large size of our cohort based on a nationwide, unselected population that represents average patients in a contemporary clinical setting who have had a myocardial infarction. The Danish National Patient Registry includes all hospital admissions in Denmark and is therefore not affected by selection bias stemming from selective inclusion of specific hospitals, health insurance systems, or age groups. The concordance between drug dispensing and drug consumption is probably high, because reimbursement of drug expenses is only partial, and most drugs, including PPIs, were not available over the counter in Denmark during the study period (exceptions include aspirin and H2-antagonists). Because of the partial reimbursement of drug expenses by Danish authorities, we reasonably assumed that a patient who claimed a prescription from the pharmacy intended to take the drug. Our study has additional limitations. Clopidogrel resistance has been linked to genotype polymorphisms. Although we have no knowledge of the precise distribution of these polymorphisms in our largely white study population, several studies (28 - 29) based in the countries that surround Denmark found variations in relevant genes that matched those reported earlier for white populations. However, generalizing these data to other racial and ethnic groups should be done with caution. Finally, we had no information on the indications for PPI therapy. In conclusion, PPIs seem to be associated with an increased risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes regardless of clopidogrel use, but concomitant PPI and clopidogrel use was not associated with any additional increase in risk over that observed for patients who received a PPI alone. We believe that the increased cardiovascular risk associated with PPI use independent of clopidogrel is caused by unmeasured confounders. These results seem to refute concerns about increased risk for ischemic events during concomitant PPI and clopidogrel between the different PPIs would have been more helpful in making conclusions here as different PPIs have different levels of interactions with clopidogrel. The mechanisms of drug interaction is also of interest in this era of polypharmacy None declared.

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=746102&atab=10

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Invite a friend Pasadena Senior Activity Center Holiday Craft Show Pasadena Senior Center, 4103 Mountain Rd, Pasadena, MD | Get Directions » FREE Get an early start on your Holiday shopping! Holiday Craft Show sponsored by the Pasadena Senior Activity Center with over 20 local crafters showcasing their handmade needlework, jewelry, crafts & more! Many Silent Auction items, Homemade baked goods, doorprizes, and more! Stop by, say hello, and check out our Center! Event Details More About Pasadena Senior Center Pasadena Senior Center Pasadena Senior Center is a community center offering a wide range of activities, programs and classes for seniors in the area. The center takes bus trips and offers van transportation services for seniors. It also sponsors lunch events during the week. The center holds a senior health insurance counseling program as well as numerous classes in a wide range of subjects. Check the main site for a schedule of events, or call for details on classes or trips.

http://annearundel.patch.com/events/pasadena-senior-activity-center-holiday-craft-show

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Maybe it isn’t because of your race/ethnicity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, or weight. Maybe people don’t like you just because you’re a huge asshole. “The internet brought us together. There was a fake story in one of the tabloids about a feud or something. We didn’t even know each other so we started talking by email.” - Jennifer Lawrence Jessica Chastain’s acceptance speech at the 2013 Golden Globes. (Source: breathinginpairs) Do you know how you want Blair to end up? Ya, in a show people go, “I really like you romantically involved with that person” and it sort of influences how you see it and I think how the writers have been seeing it. People like Chuck and Blair together so they’re gonna be like, “We’re going to make them end up together.” I mean, I don’t know, I never get to know what’s happening and they’re keeping it a secret. - Leighton Meester (x) (Source: listenlikespring) Favorite Movie Characters Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed. 30 DAYS OF TELEVISION → day 20 → best tv show cast → Breaking Bad

http://annelli0t.tumblr.com/tagged/:)

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The following clips come from a variety of sources, most involving news features, but a couple, from former client Pasadena Weekly, involve deadline news reporting. From PC Magazine: From the Pasadena Weekly: When news is breaking, not many places will call a freelancer – I got called: Concerns about a summer heat wave and animals in Humane Society care drove these stories: From Homeland Protection Professional, a trade magazine for first responders: Terrorism Early Warning Groups From Wines & Vines, a trade magazine for winemakers and wineries: Understanding Currencies for Winemakers

http://annelouisebannon.com/clips/news-and-tech-clips

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Been down to Brighton Pavilion today to lend a hand. Its looking very good....the constituency is covered in Green Party posters. And the Party is increasingly confident of electing our first MP. Caroline is fighting it on a strong left programme of no cuts, no Trident, troops out of Afghanistan, no ID cards and job creation through a New Green Deal Programme. Taxes on the rich need to go up and we need to stop bowing down to the City of London. The left in the Green Party are in the strongest position I have seen in my thirty odd years of membership. Several hundred people have been helping over the bank holiday weekend with canvassing, leafletting, street stalls. A journalist covering marginal constituencies told us this morning that, the Green Party office in Brighton was the busiest he had seen anywhere in the election so far. So if you can, come and support. If you support other candidates in other constituencies on the left that's your choice. However with the threat of three parties committed to neo-liberal policies, in my opinion it is vital to support candidates on the left who can win on thursday. So spread this message from Brighton and Hove Green Party ''Thank you to everyone who has helped out over BH weekend. If you can help the final push in Brighton on Tues, Wed, Thurs, call 01273 766672' Salma and Caroline's support for each other is also, I hope you will agree, inspiring.....women leaders lead on left unity. 2 comments: Anyone who is no Trident and getting troops out has my vote!! Can she run in West Sussex too!!?? On renewable energy, there's not much to choose between the main parties. Interestingly, Gordon Brown revealed in the second of the televised leaders' debates that solar thermal is his favoured green energy - at least in a personal capacity. He chose solar thermal over a wind turbine as a renewable energy installation at his Scottish home. He seems to be very pleased with it, and he recommended it to anyone who is in a position to do likewise.

http://another-green-world.blogspot.com/2010/05/final-push-in-brighton-to-elect-first.html

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We have two options to add this question to your site: 1. Add this to 2. Copy and paste it to or your private pages: SO, I need to get some gifts forr, my mom, dad, grandpa, poppa and friends. Any idea of what i should get them that are relatively cheap? I don't want to spend anymore then $15 on each gift individually. I'm cool with MAKING stuff but i don't have access to a Macy's or Target. 2+'s and stars!!! Read more about blogging here.

http://answerology.seventeen.com/index.aspx?template=blog_this.ascx&question_id=2115730

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Star news reports that EVA LONGORIA and MARK SANCHEZ have officially called it quits. That was fast… Eva Longoria and NY Jets quarterback, Mark Sanchez, are both back in the market again… again. The “Desperate Housewives” star confirmed she was dating Sanchez, who is 12 years her junior, in a TV interview with Mario Lopez last month, although dating rumors arose as early as summer. An Us Weekly source revealed about the former couple: “Mark adores and respects Eva. It really was about scheduling more than anything else. They will remain close friends.” The source added: “There was no drama. They just have completely different schedules and lifestyles.” So who do you think Eva should go date next? Photo By PR Photos We'd love to hear your comment but please don't spam, we reserve the right to delete anything which is inappropriate

http://anythinghollywood.com/2012/10/eva-longoria-mark-sanchez-call-quits/

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We knew that, when late January rolled around, there would be a team in Oklahoma City perched around the top of the Western Conference standings. And most would have guessed that there would be a team in Los Angeles in a similar position. But—surprise, surprise—the elite team in L.A. has turned out to be the Clippers, and on Tuesday night on NBA TV, they will square off for Western supremacy against the Thunder at the Staples Center. It is a meeting worthy of its hype, with (at least) four All-Stars on board, including point guards Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, plus OKC small forward Kevin Durant and Clippers power forward Blake Griffin. L.A. is at the halfway point on its schedule, and it is time to take this team serious when NBA Finals talk arises. The Clippers have great front-line talent, but they also have enviable depth that has allowed them to withstand the same sort of rash of injuries that hurt them last year. “You have to think they’re a legitimate contender, it’s not too early to say that,” NBA TV analyst Greg Anthony said Monday morning. “The next question is to figure out whether they can actually win. That’s another thing in and of itself. The Clippers have handled themselves very well. They have dealt with as much injury as anyone in the league, and yet they still find themselves (tied for) the best record in the league. You have to accept that they are one of those teams—and you have to remember they had a pretty good year last year. They beat Memphis in a seventh game (in the first round of the playoffs) on the road. That it pretty impressive. They are going to have confidence, and now they are going to have experience. They are definitely a contender.” At the midway point, the Clippers ranked fourth in the league in offensive efficiency and third in the league in defensive efficiency. No team in the East ranks in the top 10 in both categories, and only two in the West can make that claim—the Thunder (first offensively, seventh defensively) and the Spurs (fifth offensively and fifth defensively). The Clippers have beaten San Antonio twice this season, with both games coming in November. The only game between the Clippers and Thunder, also in late November, was won in overtime by OKC, but coach Scott Brooks said after that game, “It was like a playoff game in November. Everybody laid it all on the line.” Now comes the rematch. This is probably a more important prove-it game for the Clippers, and it is one that would be especially handy to win. The Clippers play two of their next three games on the road, then go on a monster eight-game road trip that begins next week. Still, it is entirely possible that we will see these two teams play again during the postseason in May, and the Thunder are well aware of that. On Tuesday night, matchups and weaknesses that could be important in the playoffs will show themselves. “The marquee is obviously Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook and how they are able to play against each other,” Anthony said. “But I am also looking at how the Clippers contend and deal with Durant. And I want to see how the benches perform, because those are important elements for both teams. I want to see, too, if you’re going to see a little more of a playoff rotation in this game. And on the Clippers side, I want to see how many rim-runs they can get, how many alley-oops—can the Thunder take that away, can Blake Griffin be effective in that low block, things of that nature.” The Clippers are at the top of the standings. Now, against the defending West champs, they can prove they belong there. Join the conversation

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2013-01-21/clippers-vs-thunder-nba-finals-contender-blake-griffin-chris-paul-kevin-durant?modid=recommended_4_5

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The day he accepted the Florida job, Will Muschamp began to hear the comparisons to his mentor, Alabama coach Nick Saban. They couldn’t be more accurate, especially after Muschamp, in his first SEC Media Days, detailed the strange case of tailback Jeff Demps. One of the fastest men in the world, Demps left for Europe this summer to run track with the U.S. national team, and there has been non-stop speculation about his departure from the Gators. “I don’t deal in rumors, I don’t deal in message boards,” Muschamp said. When asked if he had spoken to Demps, a critical component (along with Chris Rainey) of Florida’s undersized but speedy backfield, Muschamp said he had spoken to Demps on the phone and that he expects him to play at Florida this fall. That response was followed by this Saban-esque jewel: “He wanted to run with the U.S. team, he wanted to go to Italy. When he comes back, we’re going to reevaluate where he is. I deal with people eyeball to eyeball. And I ain’t never been to Italy.” If Demps doesn’t return to Florida, the Gators' tailback options would be reduced to scatbacks Rainey, Mike Gillislee and 200-pound redshirt freshman Mack Brown. That’s not a good sign for Charlie Weis’ pro-style offense, which relies heavily on downhill running and play action passing. Weis thinks Rainey and Demps can each handle 20-plus carries a game and relieve some of the pressure from quarterback John Brantley to constantly make third-and-long plays (see: 2010). Without Demps, the Florida running game is Rainey and two players (Gillislee and Brown) who have battled injuries their entire career. “We’re going to be balanced on offense,” said Florida wideout Deonte Williams. “We’re excited about where we are offensively.” Join the conversation

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2011-07-20/florida-coach-muschamp-expects-jeff-demps-to-play-this-season

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas. Coach Kevin Sumlin issued a statement: "We are pleased and relieved to find T.J. Our foremost concern is for the health and well being of T.J. I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and efforts in locating him.”. MORE: SEC Power Rankings | Week 12 picks | The emotional, moving story of Duke WR Blair Holliday Join the conversation

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2012-11-15/texas-am-thomas-johnson-found-missing-dallas-police-kevin-sumlin?modid=recommended_2_3

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The 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft will take place Thursday. Below is a scouting breakdown of former Baylor wide receiver Josh Gordon, who is expected to be the top player selected. Also available in the supplement draft are TCU running back Ed Wesley, Boise State DB Quaylon Ewing, Syracuse RB Adam Harris, Iowa State tackle Adrian Haughton, Carson-Newman linebacker Larry Lumpkin, Georgia defensive end Montez Robinson and Midwestern State wide receiver Houston Tuminello. Selections will be made electronically beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Teams making a selection will forfeit a corresponding pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Josh Gordon (Vital statistics: 6-3, 220 pound, 4.52 in the 40-yard dash) STRENGTHS: Gordon's ability to pluck the ball, turn upfield and gain yards after the catch could turn him into an NFL playmaker. While his route running needs work, his ability to use his upper-body strength helps Gordon push off defenders to create separation. Gordon can reach back to catch passes thrown behind him without having to slow, which allows him to quickly get started down the field. Gordon finds creases after the catch and runs through arm tackles. He turns quick passes behind the line of scrimmage into 10-yard gains and first downs. Gordon has superior speed for his size. This allows him to get downfield separation. For a player with his physical talent and play-making ability, Gordon surprises with his willingness, effort and production as a blocker. WEAKNESSES: Gordon was on the verge of being a productive college receiver after a 42-catch sophomore season in 2010, but he was dismissed from Baylor for violating team rules. Gordon was arrested in 2010 on a marijuana possession charge. He sat out the 2011 season when he transferred to Utah. There are questions about Gordon’s maturity and decision making. Gordon must work on running sharp, precise routes, especially those that require sharp cuts like "out," "dig" and "curl." In order to take advantage of his acceleration and speed at the NFL level, Gordon must improve his initial quickness off the ball. He has a bad habit of picking up the heel on his back foot at the snap before driving forward, which slows his release. Gordon must run with a better bend and body lean to release from NFL defenders. In addition, he must wrap up the ball with both hands after catches to avoid fumbling. In the four games graded, Gordon fumbled three times. BOTTOM LINE: Based on Gordon's 2010 game tape at Baylor, he had better hands and run-after-the-catch ability than Kendall Wright, who was the 2012 NFL Draft's 20th overall pick by the Tennessee Titans. Gordon must improve his routes, but in terms of pure physical skills he has all the tools to be a highly productive NFL receiver. Gordon is likely to be drafted in the third or fourth round because of his size and potential. Based purely on film evaluation, Gordon is a better prospect than Brian Quick (St. Louis Rams) and Stephen Hill (New York Jets), both of whom were second-round picks in April. Join the conversation

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-07-11/nfl-supplemental-draft-josh-gordons-potential-worthy-of-mid-round-flier?modid=recommended_2_5

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass.—The Patriots entered the season with enviable depth at tight end, and it appears that could come in handy. With 6:49 to play in the first quarter of New England’s home opener against the Cardinals, receiver Julian Edelman took a short pass from quarterback Tom Brady on the left side. Tight end Aaron Hernandez was on the outside blocking Arizona defensive back Jamell Fleming when Edelman was tackled, landing on Hernandez’s right ankle as he fell. The Patriots are only calling it an, “ankle injury” at this point and have labeled Hernandez’s return questionable. Hernandez, who caught six passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in Week 1, remained on the ground for a few minutes before finally getting up and limping off the field with help from the training staff. Join the conversation

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-09-16/aaron-hernandez-injury-update-hurt-return-patriots-te-tight-end-new-england?modid=recommended_5_5

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Da'Quan Bowers was arrested at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport on Monday for illegal possession of a firearm. Local police booked Bowers after he was caught carrying a loaded .40-caliber firearm while checking in for a US Airways flight from the Queens hub to Raleigh, N.C. According to the NFL Network, Bowers has been charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was set to appear in court later Monday night. USA Today noted that the charges, which are the same as the ones brought against former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, carry a minimum 3 1/2-year prison sentence. WNBC-TV in New York was first to report Bowers' arrest. The NFL said in a statement that the arrest "will be reviewed under our league policy." The Buccaneers are still in the process of learning the details. "We're aware of the situation and are gathering information," general manager Mark Dominik said in a statement. "We will withhold comment until we know all the facts." Dominik and the Bucs drafted Bowers in the second round of the 2011 draft out of Clemson. Since then, injuries have contributed to making him ineffective as a pass rusher. The Buccaneers' organization, under coach Greg Schiano disciplined approach, has shown it has low tolerance for off-field offenders, most recently trading away talented cornerback Aqib Talib in the middle of the 2012 season. Given that Bowers has been a non-factor in Tampa Bay's defense, it wouldn't be surprising if he's an ex-Buccaneer soon. Join the conversation

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2013-02-18/daquan-bowers-arrested-buccaneers-gun-possession-laguardia-airport-clemson?modid=recommended_5_5

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With the mudstream media publishing horror stories about Muslims treating women like dirt and even killing them for giving birth to the wrong gender babies to keep up the hate of Muslims the countdown to WWIII pushes ahead. Just to put these horror stories in perspective here are a few pointers to a more moderate […]

http://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com/tag/comply/

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From the Dept. of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. Send correspondence to Dr. Muenzenmaier; [email protected] (e-mail). Received January 4, 2011; Accepted February 1, 2011. Traumatic events in the psychiatric population are prevalent, complex, and often are repeated and ongoing (1–4). As psychiatry residents progress through their training, they have contact with traumatized patients and families from the initial phases of assessment through the recovery process. For example, according to Kessler (5) PTSD is the third most common anxiety disorder in the United States. An increasingly large body of literature about trauma-associated disorders, treatment modalities, and training exists. However, systematic trauma training remains limited and has yet to be incorporated into the core curriculum of graduate training programs, including residency training in psychiatry (2, 3, 6, 7). Trauma training, adapted for psychiatric residents, is of particular importance considering the specific challenges trainees face during the postgraduate years, where a shift from more concrete to more process-oriented thinking can be observed. Also, teaching psychiatry residents is particularly challenging because residents rotate through different services (8). Each service has its own population, culture, and goals and objectives. A comprehensive teaching program for trauma is difficult to integrate into an already-existing complex teaching curriculum, as it must allow for flexibility. Teaching and supervision serve the purpose of enabling residents to reflect on their clinical experiences, along with peer interactions, study groups, and seminars. The Trauma Training Modular Curriculum (TTMC) was created to address the various needs as well as to integrate into ongoing psychiatric training the growing body of literature ranging from assessment of trauma and trauma associated disorders to various treatment interventions. The TTMC is structured in a modular fashion and consists of 16 modules. Each module begins with a pre-assessment and ends with a post-assessment. Designed to provide a foundation for teaching, each module can focus either on addressing attitudes, conveying knowledge, and/or teaching specific skills. Each module can stand on its own as a single teaching unit. The modular construction of the TTMC allows for flexibility in including one or more modules into an already-existing curriculum. Since learning can be enhanced by the use of different sensory modalities, each module includes visual, auditory, gustatory, and olfactory and/or tactile stimuli. Some modules include the use of the arts and media, such as film excerpts, video clips, music, and interviews. Active participation of the residents is encouraged, using role-play, case discussion, or vignettes. The individual modules begin with a general description of the topic, such as epidemiology, biology, psychology, psychopharmacology, or specific treatment approaches. Many of the modules include the teaching of practical skills of assessing trauma and trauma-related symptoms. Residents practice techniques for interviewing traumatized patients and families. Learning how to develop a treatment alliance with patients who may have attachment difficulties is a cornerstone of the curriculum. Becoming aware of countertransference reactions when exposed to severe affective dysregulation, self-injurious behavior, and traumatic narratives (9) is an essential feature of many of the modules. Depending on the content of the module, the goals and objectives include discussion of latest research findings and current debates. The efficacy of particular interventions and “best practices” approaches to trauma treatment are highlighted. Included are reading assignments and references. A multisensory, multimedia approach utilizes videos, readings, experiential exercises, and guest speakers. The TTMC takes into consideration the development of a trauma training curriculum that moves from the assessment of traumatic events and related symptomatology to trauma-informed case-formulation and treatment-planning. The impact of trauma on individuals, families, and communities is incorporated into some of the modules. The TTMC is designed to be used as either a single long course or as individual modules, depending on the needs of the training program. As residents progress through training, their level of sophistication increases. The fund of knowledge and skills improves, and the residents' understanding of clinical material moves from concrete to conceptual. The TTMC includes modules that are targeted to junior residents, such as assessment of trauma and diagnostic aspects, whereas modules targeted to senior residents focus on more complex case-formulations and various treatment approaches. This developmental approach to training addresses the need for phase-specific learning objectives and may help in demonstrating clinical competence as required by regulatory agencies. The individualization of the modules allows residency training directors the option to select those that are particularly useful to the needs of their programs. The TTMC was developed at an academic psychiatry residency training program in the New York City metropolitan area. The modules have been utilized with a culturally, ethnically, socially, and economically diverse population. Feedback from the residents in the program has been positive, and suggestions have been incorporated into the modules. The use of the TTMC as an adjunct to a pre-existing residency curriculum enhances the resident's attitudes, knowledge, and skills in working with a traumatized population. Limitations include the lack of formal testing of the TTMC in other training sites. The TTMC will have to be tested in various residency training programs in order to assure its validity. The input of training directors will be crucial to improve future versions of the TTMC. Standardized surveys will be needed to avoid selection bias. Recommendations for the future include the implementation of the training into the curricula of other residency programs in order to test its wider usefulness. Download citation file:

http://ap.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=1106396&RelatedWidgetArticles=true

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ApacheCon US 2004 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 13-17 November 2004 Mailing Lists Contact Info Press Info Diamond Sponsor Platinum Sponsors Gold Sponsor Other ApacheCon events: Presented by: The ApacheSoftware Foundation Produced by: SecurityTravel Apress, located in Berkeley, CA, is a fast-growing, innovative publishing company devoted to meeting the needs of existing and potential programming professionals. Simply put, the "A" in Apress stands for "The Author's Press™" and its books have "The Expert's Voice™". 90 titles by leading software professionals, all of which have The Expert's Voice™. Platinum Sponsor BEA Systems, Inc. is the world's leading application infrastructure software company, with more than 12,500 customers around the world leveraging the award-winning BEA WebLogic enterprise platform. BEA dev2dev delivers comprehensive resources for developers, including a developer portal, an integrated package of education and training, tools, support, and community programs aimed at developers of all levels of technical knowledge and experience. Visit or dev2de .bea.com. Wireless Connectivity The Source for Apache & Tomcat Solutions. Covalent is the leader in products and services for Apache & Tomcat, the world's leading Web server, and the only source of full commercial support for Apache & Tomcat. Covalent has assembled the deepest talent pool of Apache experts in the industry. Through Covalent's products and services, Apache/Tomcat users receive all the flexibility and benefits of open source, with the support and reliability of a commercial enterprise fully dedicated to those open source technologies.. cPanel is designed for the end users of your system and allows them to control everything from adding / removing . Gold Sponsor ApacheCon Scholarships Diamond Sponsor Welcoming Reception.

http://apachecon.com/2004/US/html/expo.html

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The rules are simple. We take one unopened pack of baseball cards that was randomly selected by yours truly. We then go through the pack card by card looking for those hard to find White Sox cards. Our player in tonight's game is a 1988 Donruss pack. The pack contains 15 cards and 3 puzzle pieces. Let's begin. #1: Doug Drabek – 79 - Pirates A future White Sox! #2: Rick Sutcliffe – 68 - Cubs A trap card! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!! #3: Gerald Perry – 437 - Braves What a nice smile. The lighting on his ear makes him look like he has an earring at first glance. His middle name is June? #4: Tom Foley – 303 - Expos An Expo! What a rare treat. #5: Brian Dayett – 416 - Cubs What the??!! Another trap card!! #6: Mike Davis – 281 – A’s Rockin’ the aviators! #7: Scott Bradley – 147 - Mariners The White Sox got the late Ivan Calderon by trading Scott. #8: Donnie Moore – 621 - Angels I will distract the hitter by waving my glove at him. Two trap cards!! AAAAARRRGGGGHHHH!!! OK, I’m over it. That half really sucked. 7 cards left to go. Let’s see if we can get a White Sox card! #9: Kal Daniels DK - 14 - Reds Kal is an exciting outfielder according to the back of the card. #10: Lance Parrish – 359 - Phillies I forgot that Lance was on the Phillies. #11: Frank White – 225 - Royals He’s a Jr. See the Royals can have a Jr. too! #12: Jim Gantner – 214 - Brewers I still can’t think of the Brewers as being a National League team. Jim’s middle name is Elmer? #13: Dale Bryan Murphy – 78 – Braves OK! That’s the superstar of the eighties that this pack lacked! #14: Frank DiPino – 570 – Cubs C’mon!! You’re killin’ me here!! #15: Mike LaCoss – 436 – Giants Mike went into the wrong sport. How fun would it have been to say, “LaCoss with the goal in Lacrosse”? #16: Stan Musial puzzle piece 43, 44, 45 Great. A piece of Stan the Man’s crotch. I don’t want to know THAT much about Stan the Man. OK, our pack opening is complete. Three trap cards and no White Sox cards! That pack sucked big fat donkey. I suppose there are going to be bad packs like this still out there. So, that’s ½ point for each card in the pack. –1 for each trap card. Final score: 4 ½ points No White Sox cards in this game, but there's always next time on Sox Or No Sox. 3 comments: Ivan Calderon passed away? I hadn't heard that even though it was in 2003. A lot of people either have or want to have (including Lance himself) that Lance was with the Phillies. His best years were behind him when he came to Philly and the fans never let him forget. Somehow, while hitting only 0.215 in 1988 he made it to the All Star game as a reserve player behind Gary Carter. I had forgotten that Lance was a reserve in 1988. Sheesh, almost as many Cubs as were in the All Star game.

http://apackaday.blogspot.com/2008/07/sox-or-no-sox-7-10-08.html?showComment=1216255620000

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NETERET NETERET, is inspired by the evolution of ancient Egyptian symbolism and its cultural influence on modern self-adornment, art and cities. Oblique pendants, beads and cuffs, refer to the traces of ancient Egyptian angular architecture found around the world. Each piece references Egyptian architecture as it existed upon first construction, and also how it has continued to inform art and design since. A PEACE TREATY's designs reflect on the predominance and glory of ancient Egypt and its continual mark seen in everything from the construction of obelisks around the world to the linear symmetry of the Art Deco movement. Breathing vibrant new life into classic mythological icons, this season, APT’s hand-crafted designs depict Egyptian forms; the blues of faience pottery and the Nile; and the reds of the Sahara sands. The gold accented designs are further enlivened by the vibrancy and whimsy of bright enamel and wrapped and braided thread. The NETERET Collection seeks to inspire new mythology while paying homage to it’s predecessors, both ancient and novel.

http://apeacetreaty.com/collections/jewelry-neteret/products/aker

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Exhibitor Service Kit and Forms You will find everything you need to successfully participate in the meeting within this site. Take the time now to review this page carefully. It will save you TIME and MONEY. Promoting Your Company - Enter company contact information and 50-word description - APhA2013 Support Opportunities - Hotel Door Drops - Lead Retrieval - Pre-Convention Registration List - Post-Convention Registration List Making Your Plans to Attend Important Information and Forms - Badge Colors - EAC (Exhibitor Appointed Contractor) Form - Future Dates - Photography - Rules and Regulations - Shipping Addresses Staying Up to Date Exhibitor Service Kit and Forms Contacts For more information contact John Russell at 202-429-7570.

http://aphameeting.org/index.cfm?do=cnt.page&pg=1034&cb=1003

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has just been has just been updated. $a3: - For "view" and "alter", passes in the $teaser parameter from node_view(). - For "validate", passes in the $form parameter from node_validate(). $a4: Return value This varies depending on the operation. - The "presave", "insert", "update", "delete", "print" and "view" operations have no return value. - The "load" operation should return an array containing pairs of fields => values to be merged into the node object.(). Related topics Note: this list is generated by pattern matching, so it may include some functions that are not actually implementations of this hook. - book_nodeapi in modules/ book/ book.module - Implementation of hook_nodeapi(). - comment_nodeapi in modules/ comment/ comment.module - Implementation of hook_nodeapi(). - forum_nodeapi in modules/ forum/ forum.module - Implementation of hook_nodeapi(). - menu_nodeapi in modules/ menu/ menu.module - Implementation of hook_nodeapi(). - node_invoke_nodeapi in modules/ node/ node.module - Invoke a hook_nodeapi() operation in all modules. - hook_search in developer/ hooks/ core.php - Define a custom search routine. - node_invoke_nodeapi in modules/ node/ node.module - Invoke a hook_nodeapi() operation in all modules. File Code; } } Drupal 7 uses different hooksPermalink Drupal 7 doesn't use anymore hook_nodeapi(), but it uses a set of new hooks called hook_node_$op(), where $op is the parameter passed to hook_nodeapi() in Drupal 6. See Converting 6.x modules to 7.x for more details. more than the parameterPermalink more than the parameter (which is 100% true) the function now contains the operation. That's it, update, save, etc... example: hook_node_insert($node) hook_node_update($node) ... $op = 'view' also when search indexing is done under cronPermalink Remember that search indexing needs to see the whole node, so the node is loaded and hook_nodeapi is called with $op = 'view' for every node on the site during indexing. If you have redirects this could completely cripple cron, and even if you don't it could cause unwanted side effects. To ensure that you only respond to occasions where the node is actually being shown in full on a user's screen, you can examine $a4 to see if it is TRUE, or include this check (via ) : <?php if (arg(0) == 'node') ?> Better?Permalink In all likelihood, there is a $node->build_mode for that. Wrong about timing of "load"Permalink Where it reads “[t]he node is about to be loaded from the database” is incorrect. When the hook is invoked, the node has already been loaded from the database and the related fields have been populated. timing of insertPermalink when $op == "insert" to say "the node is being inserted" is not quite true if you are altering a node that was created outside of your module. the node has already been inserted into the database if the node you are altering at any point invoked hook_insert(). Timing of insert2Permalink I dont think the insert is completely done at this point, if I try to query a node with a join on any CCK fields I get no results. the CCK fields have not been inserted yet. Node fields are there. Not sure what the order or the inserts are. what hook to use after all inserts from all modules are finished. gmarcotte is likely correctPermalink I'm still testing this out but I came to this page with the strong suspicion this was true. The caveman in me was about to rail against nodeapi but I realize all of my code that effects the node is working and any that relies on cck content for the node is failing on $op = insert. Changing weight of the module so that it fires after CCK may be an option, assuming CCK relies on nodeapi for its actions. More to come soon I hope.... hook_nodeapi('validate') limitationPermalink Note that hook_nodeapi()is only invoked with $op == 'validate'when submitting data using the node form, which is why the $formparameter is available. It is not invoked when saving data from code.

http://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/developer%21hooks%21core.php/function/hook_nodeapi/6

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Weather Underground Personal Weather Station Weather Underground WYDOT Whitaker I-25 north of Cheyenne, Cheyenne, WY WYDOT Whitaker I-25 north of Cheyenne Cheyenne WY 41.417721 -104.875015 6360 ft MKWTR Last Updated on May 18, 3:55 AM MDT Sat, 18 May 2013 09:55:00 GMT 49.0 F (9.4 C) 49.0 9.4 51 From the NW at 14.0 MPH Gusting to 17.0 MPH NW 310 14.0 17.0 0.00" (0.0 mb) 0.0 0.00 31.0 F (-0.6 C) 31.0 -0.6 44 F (6 C) 44 6 0.00 in (0.0 mm) 0.00 0.0 0.00 in (0.0 cm) 0.00 0.0 cm

http://api.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXCurrentObXML.asp?ID=MKWTR

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include import .qif Hello I just want to know if the import of qif /ofx files is planned on your roadmap: Actually I like your software but I use another money management software (ibank) in parallele to analyse past income/expenses with more accuracy. It would great if we could just import actual data through qif/ofx files and it will avoid a lot of time/errors by putting figures manually into cashculator as I currently do... This drawback prevents me from using cashculator as as often as I would like. Thanks Regards Guillaume ps: will cashculator 2 be free for cashculator 1 owners? Comments are currently closed for this discussion. You can start a new one. Support Staff 2 Posted by Kosta Rozen on 26 Oct, 2011 05:43 PM Hello Guillaume, We plan to add QIF import functionality in Cashculator2, but due to the complexity of integrating QIF file content with existing scenario (deciding which category to assign each transaction), it will be limited to creation of new scenario only. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Best regards, Kosta Rozen 3 Posted by Guillaume on 27 Oct, 2011 10:37 AM Thanks for the answer However I am not sure to understand when you say that it will be limited to the création of new scénario? Does it mean that I will need to restart a new project and that I will not be able to adapt the existing one ? If this is the only limitation this is not very annoying... Regards Guillaume Support Staff 4 Posted by Kosta Rozen on 27 Oct, 2011 11:51 AM You will be able to create a new scenario from imported data, but not to add imported data to an existing scenario. Therefore, if you created a scenario by importing data, you will not be able to add additional imported data to the same scenario next month. Best regards, Kosta Rozen > 5 Posted by Guillaume on 27 Oct, 2011 11:56 AM Ah this is more annoying.... It significantly reduces the inerest of importation ... Support Staff 6 Posted by Kosta Rozen on 27 Oct, 2011 12:46 PM Yes, it's mostly aimed for getting started on Cashculator. Best regards, Kosta Rozen 7 Posted by Johan Vanhoutte on 09 Jul, 2012 08:04 PM Hi, Is it possible to import CSV files into Cashculator? It's very easy to extract a CSV file from my bank account. Importing this into Cashculator (i.e. not entering you expenses incomes all manually) would be a useful feature. Thank you for your reaction. Regards, Johan Vanhoutte Support Staff 8 Posted by Kosta Rozen on 10 Jul, 2012 05:52 AM Hi Johan, Currently Cashculator does not support importing data, but it is a good suggestion and we will take it into account. Best regards, Kosta Rozen 9 Posted by Daniel on 25 Jul, 2012 06:04 PM I want to install from zero the new MountainLion OSX... I have to loose all data entered before IN YOUR PROGRAM??? please answer soon. Support Staff 10 Posted by Sandy on 26 Jul, 2012 09:03 AM Hi Daniel, Installing a new Mac OS X version should not delete the content of your Mac. Anyway, I advise you to get everything backed up. You'll feel more comfortable when upgrading. Kind Regards, Sandy Sandy closed this discussion on 11 Mar, 2013 11:33 PM.

http://apparentsoft.tenderapp.com/discussions/cashculator-suggestions/36-include-import-qif

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594 100,000+ FREE Casual 2.0.3 The Drug Lord website is back online! -- Live score boards! The Drug...0 Likes Install from Google Play The Drug Lord website is back online! -- Live score boards! The Drug Lord is a dope wars style game with a variant amount of features and functionality. You embrace a drug dealing career starting from three different game modes buying and selling a variety of narcotics. PLEASE NOTE : The web score board updates every hour so please be patient! Remember kids don't use drugs... it reduces your profits! Similar titles: Dope wars, Drug Lord, Mafia wars, Mob Wars, Drug Wars, Gangster Wars

http://appaware.com/app/the-drug-lord-free-version-2/uk.co.thedruglordfree

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Become a member © RHS Bulb Leaf H5 (hardy - cold winter) Blue in Summer Green in Spring 0.5-1 metres 0-0.1 metre 2-5 years blue-flowered garlic Alliaceae Allium are bulbous herbaceous perennials with a strong onion or garlic scent, linear, strap-shaped or cylindrical basal leaves and star-shaped or bell-shaped flowers in an umbel on a leafless stem A. caeruleum is a bulbous perennial up to 80cm in height, with narrow leaves often withering by flowering time. Starry blue flowers are borne in compact, rounded clusters in early summer Suppliers listed in RHS Plant Finder Award of Garden Merit Easy to grow in fertile well-drained soil. Add grit when grown in clay soils to improve drainage Propagate by seed, sowing in containers in a cold frame when just ripe or in the spring. Alternatively, remove offsets in autumn Cottage/Informal Garden, Flower borders and beds, Cut Flowers or Underplanting of Roses and Shrubs No pruning required Generally pest free Generally trouble-free: Onion white rot and a downy mildew may occur © The Royal Horticultural Society 2011 / RHS Registered Charity № 222879/SC038262

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=92

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MDB ACCDB Viewer.. Visit the website for even more information at What's new Fixed a crash on 64bit Macs running OS X 10.6. Full release notes at Screenshots Share with Others - Last changed: - Mar 14, 2013 - Category: - Developer Tools - Developer: - Jakob Egger - Version: - 2.2.3 - Average Rating: - 4.50 (56) - Size: - 7.8 MB

http://appshopper.com/mac/developer-tools/mdb-viewer

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Raptor Call of the Shadows Fixed full screen mode with Lion. Fixed ship speed with keyboard control. The App has been sandboxed. Screenshots Share with Others - Last changed: - Nov 11, 2012 - Category: - Games - Developer: - DotEmu - Version: - 1.3 - Average Rating: - 3.50 (54) - Size: - 10 Rod Land : A Fairy Tale • The Last Express

http://appshopper.com/mac/games/raptor-call-of-the-shadows

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Roland Martin and CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield talk with Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman about his press release, “Why Must We Still Hear About Kwanzaa?” Glen is basically saying that people shouldn’t celebrate Kwanzaa b/c the man who founded it was violent and racist. He got humiliated so bad, especially towards the end. Roland: Was Christopher Columbus a violent man? Glenn: *coughs* No he wasn’t Roland: Columbus wasn’t a violent man? Ok gotcha it’s clearly you don’t study history sir Where do people like Glenn come from? Who raises people like him? Just go on somewhere. 1 Notes/ Hide sandrellae likes this apris1992 posted this

http://apris1992.tumblr.com/post/39540847816/roland-martin-and-cnns-ashleigh-banfield-talk

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I considered calling this post Falling Short, to soften the blow. But instead decided to go balls to the wall with what I really mean. Failure. How can I stop being afraid of it if I can’t even stop being afraid to say it? Dylan said, “There’s no success like failure, and failure’s no success at all.” Whatever that means. But I like the sound of it. I feel there is a potential there that I, with my paralytic fear of failure, can’t quite grasp. My dad says your successes can’t exceed 25% of your failures, so get out there and fuck up! (paraphrased) That’s a little more straight forward. failed to plant succession, harvested too much at once, washed when i shouldn't have, stored wet in the fridge=2 gallons of rotten salad greens Erica from NW Edibles recently outed the naked, cold fact that they are spending $2,000 to have a chicken coop built for them. Wow, brave girl. I would have hidden that one under my bed for sure. In a locked box. That’s what they invented lies for, Erica. I’m not mentioning Erica because I think their $2,000 chicken coop represents failure. Please don’t misunderstand! It’s dangerous ground we tread here. But she lays bare her feelings of falling short of that shiny Urban Homesteader Ideal, and I know just what she means. I know how life can lead you on a crazy circuitous path, which cannot be traveled backwards, and then deposit you *BAM* where you least expected to end up. Picking yourself up, dusting off and finding a way to keep on is the stuff of saints as far as I’m concerned. Or beetles. Myself, when fear of failure or the associated guilt of transgression hits, I can sometimes be completely incapacitated. I’ve abandoned many a project when the first failures start rolling in, or even just because failure lurked around the next bend. And that ain’t no good, no how. Maybe it’s just me. One of my little Issues. But I’ve been fascinated by my crippling fear of failure and it’s many reprecussions throughout my life. Long, loooong ago, when I worked as a “handler” for a dog musher back in Alaska, it was my job to run the dogs every day. Riding a dog sled, particularly on a low snow winter like that one was, is a skill that took me months to even get an edge on. I had a little epiphany on one of the many occasions that I was being dragged behind the tipped over sled (never, never let go of the sled), face down over the fast moving snow. I realized that when the sled went round a corner, I needed to lean in to the curve. But instead my fear of the speed made me lean outward, in a visceral desire to abandon the sled. Leaning out on a curve tips the sled over. Simple physics. I don’t believe, as some do, that your thoughts somehow energistically manifest into your life to create what you want or fear. But my sled epiphany made me see how fear drives me to act in a certain way, a fearful way, that sometimes causes the very thing I fear to happen. It’s not magic, it’s logic. With a heavy dose of irony. i loved this lemon tree. then i forgot to water it. for several months. now it's dying, covered with tiny lemons, and dying. damn me! In addition to the negative of sabotaging our efforts, there’s a big, important positive to failure. Nothing is more instructive. Imagine if you refused to let your kid play with pen and paper until they could write a perfect ‘A.’ Obviously kids have to practice a lot before they learn to write, and ‘practice’ means fucking around with a pen and paper. Each distinct failure teaches us so many, many things that simple success can never offer. The trick to abolishing our fear of failure and embracing it instead as our benificent teacher (a trick that I have failed to learn as of yet) is not to let our every action define us. Isn’t that what I strive to teach my kids? You may do a mean thing to a friend, that doesn’t make you a mean person. You may fail to consume all the cases of marmalade you so eagerly sliced, cooked and canned last year and instead have to dump them down the drain to free the jars for other purposes (ahem) but that does not mean you are a failure. Another point which must be sharpened is that a lot of what we perceive as “failure” is actually only failure to live up to an impossible fantasy of perfection. Take Erica and her coop. Some part of her might feel that she has failed to be the uber-cool urban homesteader who does everything herself on a shoestring budget. But in fact, all she has done is prioritize her time. There’s a limited quantity of it, don’t you know. Actually you might not know. I’m not sure whether I really do. The capitalist system and our unleashed advertising industry has worked very hard to make us believe that there are no such limits. This is really a whole post of it’s own that has lay dormant in my mind for months. I believe it affects every aspect of our lives and I have much too much to say about it. But, relevant to this subject, they saturate us with the unspoken premise that there are no limits, no need to choose priorities, you can have it all! (just sign here). There follows a seemingly reasonable equation: If ‘all’ is possible, and I can’t achieve ‘all,’ I failed. I assure you, it’s the equation that’s at fault! Even though I understand this well with my intellect, that deeper core of my brain that advertising plugs straight into still Believes. And suffers the all the guilt, shame, and fear. It’s really a lot of what this blog has ended up being about for me. Confronting the impossible expectations we are suffused with. Attempting to slowly erase the 33 years (and counting) of culture telling me I can and should have it all. Teasing out the important bits from the hectic hairball of modern life, making my priorities, and fighting back the scaly beasts of disillusionment, guilt and failure. Back to the cave with you, foul creatures! Beloved Boo (once again), If I could be there to give you a hug, I would. If I could be there to show you a photo of me hanging (literally) from the rafters after a night of full-bore indiscretion (not a good image I know) I would. And why? Cause A) I love outing myself so that no one, no one, no one, will ever take my life history as being neat and B) Cause messiness and failure is part of the journey. Holy crap girl. What you think? Even those who look like they got their shit together don’t. Or, if they do, it took a good measure of facing off with the folly of ego, self righteousness and plan old fashion head-up-the-ass-ism. We are all broken creatures trying to find truth in a system that suggests success as some consequence of good choices. That’s a lie. We have all had a cookie dangled in front of our faces — this life, safe life, good life if you make the right choices. Ha. Fact is, we are all round and soft spirits in a linear and harsh world and it can (and has) made life way confusing. We are all working to undo that capitalist narrative (and you are right to intuit a huge thorn there). We are all banging our heads against that system with some of us are more willing to admit it. The gig is up though. So when you tell us that you tossed the marmalade down the sink you open a hole in everyone else’s precious stories so they, too, can come out and say….What the hell is this life really about? How do we live up in here? And then we get to talk for real like. Yes, there is beauty. Lots of it. But I’m here to tell you there is lots and lots of failure. I’m pushing 60 and there is still a whole lot of failure out there, in here, and all around. But like Ram Dass says….”You never get rid of your demons you just invite them in for tea.” Good one that. Too bad you got rid of your marmalade cause I hear demons like it with a spot of toast. So breathe and accept the brokeness. You will never outrun it. And ignore Dylan. He is a wordsmith but can be full of shit like the rest of us. Besides, ever since he did that Victoria Secret ad I have had a few well chosen words for him. Like…..yeah you don’t want to be a cultural icon but do you have to be a sell out to prove it? But then we go way back. I’ve had a crush on him since I was 15 and used to think he was actually saying something important. Too bad for him I’m turning my gaze to Leonard Cohen – a wordsmith you can still trust. I should have known. My top three songwriters: Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Ani DiFranco. I know Dylans full of shit, but my can he turn a phrase. Hang in there girl! “Just keep swimming….” Ah, sweet, sweet, nasty arsed failure. I bought a fucking hair straightener today. It came in the pack with a hair dryer. Cos I didn’t have a hair dryer. I don’t know what to do with either of them. Enuf said?…. (Harriet, if you want a sweet man to listen to, may I suggest Xavier Rudd? He’s a gentle, sweet man, with many musical talents. Google, youtube-ify, and enjoy.) Loved your failures! Not so that I could point and laugh, but because they’re so like mine. I have about a decade on you, but I remember my ephiphany moment – the day I realized that my failures were not something to run from, but well earned tuition. Sometimes I need a swift kick in the rear end to remind me to do something better. Othertimes I need that kick to tell me to back off and slow things down. Either way, it’s a cosmic wake-up call and I’m finally, finally listening. :) Thanks for letting me know others struggle with fear of failure. My blogging is haphazard b/c I often spend way to much time worry if a post sucks or what people will think. I end up frozen by the fear of failing at blogging of all things. :) Nice to remember to not let it paralyze me. Can’t learn without fucking up a few times. When we are kids we get that but when we are adults we just seem to think we should be perfect at all times. Now if I can just take that feeling of empowerment with me. Oh, the $2000 I can cop to. It’s the unending frustration bordering on resentment that’s growing for my sweet infant son who will not go the fuck to sleep. At all. Not for naps, not at night. 8 months of sleep deprivation and I am about to lose my mind. But that’s just between us. Can’t put that on *my* blog, it wouldn’t be relevant. ;) I did feel guilt over paying for the convenience of someone else building the coop. You have it exactly right: the *image* of DIY Urban Homesteady Girl isn’t: hey, here’s some money to fix my problem (lack of coop). It’s, “Hey, I can tackle anything! I’m capable, I’m competent! I can do it all by myself!” And that’s just not reality. I try to remind myself that a problem that can be fixed by throwing money at it, assuming you have the money to do so, isn’t a problem at all. It’s just an expense. Cancer is a problem, addiction is a problem, laying on the floor sobbing because you’re beyond exhausted and you’re so pigheaded that you keep trying to keep going, even though your brain hasn’t had quiet time for 8 months…well, that’s *my* problem. $2000 is just bartered time. If you figure out how to get through to yourself and stop trying to do it all, will you please, please tell me? Great post, per usual. Erica, We need to talk. About babies, and not so much babies anymore, and sleeping and not so much sleeping. I’d direct you to my archives, but I hear you’ve already read them all ;) I may have missed a few. I spent a good several afternoons on my ass on the couch with your blog but you’ve been at this for awhile; there’s material here. May have missed a month or two. Got a specific post (posts) I should check out? Once at a monastic retreat, I was very worried about screwing up the amazingly fussy and precise Zen rituals we were going to be doing the next day. I had only recently been lay ordained and though I had my robes, bowls, etc- all the trappings of spiritual materialism, I didn’t have my head very squared away yet. I diminished myself as only a sort of “home-school” Buddhist from small-town Alaska, and was in the midst of real deal big wigs in brown robes and was really afraid of messing up big time. I told the director. She said: “look, as a Buddhist, you know that all things are; impermanent, interconnected, and imperfect. Anytime you do anything for the first time, it’s going to be a little rough- even after doing something a zillion times you can still screw up.” “Whatever it is- just do the best you can with what you got at the time where you are. It’s all you can ever do. Embrace your awkwardness.” she said with a little exasperation. (I think that’s a kind zen paraphrase of “suck it up, cupcake!”) Anyhow “Embrace your awkwardness” has been a very helpful, as is the (obvious) knowledge that nothing is ever perfect. Though sometimes it takes some VERY big arms to embrace my awkwardness….. Besides, if we waited to be perfect before doing anything, nothing would ever get done. I went through some of our readings and found one that kind of speaks to this. I’ve attached it below. All the best, I love your blog posts. K Saying Yes to an Open Heart Diana Winston- Buddhadharma, Summer 2010 Zen, time after time, you learn to say yes. Yes to your jagged breathing, yes to your itchy scalp. Yes to the chainsaw dude across the street, yes to your grief and pain and shame and grandiosity and fear. Not because you want to act on these things, but because they’re true, and fleeting, and simply part of who you are at the moment (but not even the half of who you really are). Your nervous system begins to relax- at last you’re acknowledging the truth of things. Saying yes means attending to and surrendering to your experience, whatever it is. It means feeling your body when you’re in the midst of a strong reaction or emotion, and letting whatever you find simply be there. It means coming back to your breath, or this present moment, again and again. It means noticing that thoughts and feelings and sensations come and go. You say yes to your pride, your stupidity, your murderous rage. Naturally you don’t act on you murderous rage, but you allow it to be true within you. It is a very inclusive practice. Nothing is ever left out. You discover that if you are pushing away your experience, even ever so slightly, you mindfulness is not fully realized, no is say no. “Oh, Jeez,. Hey Kelly! Great to get a comment from you. Great essay too. This open heart stuff is where it’s at, but oh so hard to pull off regularly… Ken Robinson did a good speech in which he talked, amongst other things, about the value of failure. It’s called Do schools kill creativity, look it up on YouTube. He’s not a homeschooling guy or anything like that, just saying it like it. He’s talking about the British schooling system but making a very serious point about The importance of failure, as part of the learning curve. I really like what he has to say about education. Oh by the way, I used the quote, thank you! Have a looksey over at Feet on the Ground and Head in the Clouds. Erica- My boy did not sleep for 8 months either – at all, or only in two hour slots. Drove me nuts but it did change and he became utterly adorable and self sufficient. Just wasn’t a sleeper. It will get better. Kylie -Thanks, anyone with a sweet gentle nature is worth listening to. Stringz – Current issue of Oregon Humanities Magazine is on Failure. Might make for good reading. As so often is the case, so much good chewable brain food over here. Thanks! Great post, same stuff that’s been going through my head lately too… this Urban Homesteading Ideals business. As per the chickens thing, I wrote on Sharon Astyk’s recent blog post, chickens are the ultimate urban homesteading ‘accessory’, aren’t they, and they are integral & seemingly essential in many ways. Yet, we are waiting til get ours, til we have time & energy to look after them properly, but I tell you, we won’t be building our own house/ coop after all… same as Erica, we idealised it, we even have some resources, but we don’t have the time or the skills. Erica did a great thing though, in outsourcing to someone who needs the money & the job. In the mean time, I am going to buy local eggs, organic fertilisers and be amused by my children’s antics instead of chickens… and the world will be OK! I don’t think you need a hug, I think you need a high five! Good on you, for having the guts to throw out the marmalade and know that maybe you don’t need so much next time around. It’s something I deal with… I don’t want to waste anything, I *should* be making the most of an abundance BUT if in the end, I may have wasted energy, resources and my own time to preserve something that gets thrown out anyways. How to know, though, that’s the trick and the skills I am gaining now (hopefully) as a wannabe urban homesteader. And remind myself how lucky I am to be in a position to make mistakes… Fantastic post and great comments! Failure…yikes, the fear of failure. When I get down to it most of my “stuff” is connected to a fear of failure is some way, shape or form. Staying in a job that sucks my soul for one. Like Erica mentioned, I’m pigheaded- I will struggle and agonize and try to figure out anyway to do it ourselves- to the point of making myself bonkers. And with some things, it just makes me miserable. It loses the joy. If it causes so much angst is it even worth it? ….heres my great fear… that I’m not even trying to do amazing stuff and still I can’t keep up…just as I sort-of, kind-of get one basic thing in hand, say dinner, theres always some other disaster or three to trip me over (literally). All I want is to have an abundent backyard, clean home (full of beautiful, me made wonderful things), be trim, fit and healthy, have some time with the fella, time with the kidlets, time for books… But as soon as one thing has a tick, the others start smelling, yelling, dieing… Yep, my fear is that what I want is simple but that I just don’t have …. what ever it takes to have it. Thanks again for the eloquent philosophising. I keep wondering how this gift you have can A) reach as broad an audeiuence as possible and B) give back to you (in dare i say it, a monetary way). It would be great to have a class / group / forum for parents where you could facilitate these kinda discussions … compulsory for all would be parents of course (but they wouldn’t get it yet would they?). “HOw to love failure and your new child”. Catchy huh? This would of course happen in your free evennings…. Katj I’ve been told this in studying yoga, but I’ve seen it in many venues of life…a certain amount of tension that is necessary in order to sustain life. It is that very tension that maintains the balance. If there is no challenge, you lose muscle tone. You lose inspiration. Those challenges and potential failures are what keep us learning. I’ve been on both sides of it. I’m an ambitious person by nature, usually striving for something. But I’ve also had a period of life where I had many things organized just as I wanted them. Or at least, as I thought they should be…and there was a certain limpness to it. I had blocked out a lot of things that weren’t as I wanted them to be because I couldn’t change them. In the end, I had to open up to the stuff that I hadn’t dared to do, even if it meant giving up some of what I thought I was supposed to be/do/have. And it has turned out to be true. So rewarding. …I guess the point is to stay in that precious, precarious spot, right on the crest of the wave… and sometimes you pitch head over heels and get tumbled in the surf. You land on the beach with salt water in every orifice, coughing. But that’s ok. You’re really not much worse for the wear and besides, all waves end up back at the beach anyway, no matter how you get there. Hahaha, who knew it wasn’t a destination but an endless cycle. Advertising would have us think otherwise. Like getting in shape. As if you were going to “get there” and it was going to last. :) Apparently it’s not about achieving perfection but the humble, ongoing act of striving. Hmm, is it bad etiquette to leave comments on older posts? I look forward to the day that “limits” post finishes cooking and oozes out of your brain- or more realistically is carefully and skillfully sculpted- (unless I’ve missed it and am completely showing my sloppy reading skills just now). I spend a lot of my brain power mulling over a lot of those very same ideas. I second-guess my own eloquence into oblivion, so the thoughts don’t produce much more than “nnmeeeee…baaaaaaaad….” when I try to voice them. You’ve got your voice much more sorted out, it seems. (“Work for my entertainment!” said the stranger on the Internet.)

http://apronstringz.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/failure/

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Completed projects Japanese x and + blocks Round 2 - only managed 5 blocks to swap this round + 1 more for my pile. Slow but sure I'll have enough for a quilt. Zakka Style Sew-Along project #8: Zakka Block Quilt - This was SO fun, and I love how it turned out! Full reveal post Thursday. Ongoing projects Zakka Style Sew-Along project #9: Stem Messenger Bag - I've gotten as far as choosing my fabrics . . . dare I confess this project scares me a bit? It involves a flap, a handle, hardware. Always Bee Learning June Tokoyo subway blocks - This will be a bit of a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. Clever Megan, having us help her piece this quilt! A couple more potholders - part of the month-end prize at Tuesday at the {summer} Table, which begins next Tuesday! Upcoming projects * Let's Get Acquainted project * more Zakka * June Modern Blocks Bee block NEW * Solstice Stars quilt *. 25 comments: I keep meaning to start the Zakka sew-along. As usual, by the time I get started it will be long done... Things look interesting here at the table! Wow, you have lots of great projects going on. Your pot holders using Malka's fabrics look great, I love the Tokyo Subway quilts I have seen on other blogs, and the fabrics you have chosen for your messenger bag have me very excited to see what you create. You can do it! Wednesdays sneak up on me, too! I always mean to write another blog post on the weekend, but before I know it, it's Wednesday again! :) I can't wait to see the full reveal of your Zakka quilt. It looks fabulous so far! I look forward to your Thursday post. Love the black binding. The flap to project 8 is not difficult at all and the hardware is well described, even though I didn't make it for my small bag. The strap was too thin for it. Love the fabric combination to your potholders! Ooh, I'm excited to see your messenger bag. I love them and have patterns for several but still haven't bit the bullet. The Zakka quilt looks fabulous! Look forward to seeing it in all its glory! And the messenger bag was too scary me! Good luck with it! Love everything here as usual, but really looking forward to seeing your Zakka quilt revealed. Yoyu always have so many lovely projects :) Your Zakka quilt looks fun! the subway blocks aren't bad at all, but I'm pretty sure mine came out a little small. I haven't wanted to measure yet as I'm sure I'll gag if I have to rip out those stitches...Cannot wait to see the messenger bag! Ooo, can't wait to see more of the Zakka quilt - love it so far! And it's time for the messenger bag already? I need to make that -- but am also a little scared by it! Cute zakka style sneak peek! Sure you can manage the messenger bag no problem, love the colours you chose to start with :o) Very cunning plan with those bee blocks though, hmmm, that may have given me an idea! So many cute projects! I am definitely going to have to sneak back on Thursday and see your finished quilt, it looks amazing! Love the sneak peak of your quilt! I am not doing the Zakka sew along, but sure wish I was- so many fantastic projects! Hardware always makes me nervous, too. Good luck - I'm sure it'll turn out well. Everything looks great that you're working on. oh I am sure you will manage the hardware, but yes scary stuff! love the look of your zakka quilt! I am always amazed at all you do, just lovely too! Wanted to let you know I finally used the Hera tool. It was because of one of your posts that I bought one and I love it! Thank you for your continued encouragement to us fairly newbies! I for one appreciate you! Great projects! Love your Zakka sew along projects, I'm sure you'll rock the stem messenger bag :-) The Zakka block quilt looks super cute, what we can see of it anyways! Looking forward to the full reveal. your projects always impress me, loving all of them! Man I love that view finder fabric!!!! This reminds me that I need to start back up on my Tokyo Quilt :/ She is a smart girl haha Very interesting sneak peaks there! I'll be looking out to see the full reveals =D Good luck with your stem messenger bag! I am sure you will do fine! Ohhh I love the idea of having my bee piece the Tokyo Subway quilt for me. LOL Better than the Swoon quilt, right? So if we are linking up to your Tuesdays at the Summer Table party, we have to link a recipe for that week's category, right? I am going to post a roasted chicken here soon, but I guess I can always wait until your grilled week and modify my recipe. :) Oh, I have made many a bag Debbie and it's a lot easier than you think. When someone gives good directions, and you can see how it comes together, you usually don't have any trouble. Love all your projects! Beautiful projects, as always! I saw your Zakka quilt on Flickr and it looks awesome! I missed WIP Wednesday...I'll get it next week! I loved your Zakka quilt when I saw it on Flickr. Adorable! Love that Melody Miller!!

http://aquilterstable.blogspot.ca/2012/05/wip-wednesday_29.html

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Sustainable Tuesdays: A Lecture Series about Sustainability and the University of Maryland, College Park 5pm Tuesdays, School of Architecture Planning and Preservation Tuesday, February 8, 5pm, Architecture Auditorium Sustainability and the College Park Campus Dr. Ann Wylie, Vice President for Administrative Affairs, Univ. of Maryland. College Park Scott Lupin, Assoc. Director, Department of Campus Sustainability and Environmental Affairs More at Sustainability This Lecture is one in a series which will be offered during the Spring Semester as part of ARCH 289i, Smart Growth Goes to School. The series is co-sponsored by the Campus Office of Sustainability

http://arch.umd.edu/news_and_events/?id=4661

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This grouping: "Holy Ghost & Attendants." It is thought to be the earliest depiction of depth and perspective in rock art. The transparent figure is 7 feet tall and spatter-painted, possibly depicting a robe of fur. The elongated spectral figures stared out at me with blank alien eyes, and I didn’t know who was watching whom. Arrayed on a panel along 200 feet of Navajo sandstone were dozens of anthropomorphs and animals painted onto the rock, mostly with iron oxide pigments. Late Archaic hunter-gatherers 4000 years ago made this special canyon their seasonal home on the nomadic circuit to collect and hunt. They had plenty of leisure time for their shaman-artists to create some of the most compelling rock art in North America. I’ve had the privilege of hiking to Horseshoe Canyon’s panels seven times. Each trek brings new discoveries — fine hummingbirds hovering around shoulders, an abraded bighorn sheep herd, indented peck marks in the exact center of the chests of ten figures, or what appears to be a worshipper bending before a ‘man’ with remarkable wings. This place is not called “The Louvre of the Southwest” for no reason. What part of our civilization will people four millennia hence find? Please comment; I’d like to know. (Sadly, all I can think of is the huge garbage island floating in the Pacific…) sadly, chert is not what they are going to find….we are such an inteligent species…. Comment by john — March 25, 2011 @ 2:02 pm | intelligent……… Comment by john — March 26, 2011 @ 7:52 am | In four millennia the major cities of our planet with be under water. The ceaseless activity of the ocean will have eroded all but the largest structures, but the rock piles will remain – testament to a species that forgot that irresponsible pursuit of freedom has consequences. Dad Comment by leroque — March 26, 2011 @ 8:12 pm |

http://arches.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/horseshoe-canyon-treasury-of-barrier-canyon-style-rock-art/

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Dr. Edward Hitchcock, influenced by studies of Agassis and Lyell, concluded in an essay on Historical Geography that Cape Cod was in geological terms the “terminal moraine” of a glacier that once occupied Cape Cod Bay. Ref. Geographical Review. July 1920 ColgateUniversity. In March 1621, when the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth transporting English Puritans seeking religious freedom and separatists, there were a total of 102 passengers and a crew of 25-30. After a harrowing 66-day voyage that included a disease that took the lives of two passengers, the Mayflower first dropped anchor inside the hook-tip of Provincetown harbor. Clearly off course – their original destination was Virginia– they thought they had arrived at the mouth of the Hudson River. Passengers endured the winter of 1620-21 anchored off of Provincetown, from November 1620 to March 1621. The survivors of that difficult winter established the Plymouth Colony under the strong leadership of William Bradford, one of only five crew members whose names are known today; John Alden being another. From that time on, the settlements in Cape Cod gradually increased until around 1672 when the Old Colony industries, previously sparse agriculture due to the sandy moraine soil, of fishing and whaling began the upsurge in the economy of the area. Even grist mills and other mills and minor manufacturing continued to grow. Ultimately, Boston became a major seaport and shipbuilding area. From the early days of the Pilgrim’s settlement, only chronicled by William Bradford, it was tantalizingly apparent that the abundant fish in the sea represented an opportunity for unlimited wealth for the industrious. A vigorous seafaring industry blossomed from that promise, and the American Dream in the new world had its foundation in Massachusetts. The resulting ecology and culture shaped the landscape of the glacial moraine known as Cape Cod, even to its architecture. With running rivers a scarce commodity on Cape Cod, the exceptional Americans demonstrated their ingenuity by harvesting the wind. Windmills dotted the landscape powering local mills. The women of the seafarers in merchant or fishing ships led weeks of anxious isolation. Alone waiting for their man to return, they paced back and forth on rooftop decks called “widow’s walks.” Here on a small 8 x 10 railed space they would wait often pacing, awaiting a glimpse of a returning ship that carried their loved one. They walked hoping their beloved sailor was coming home. In more recent applications of American ingenuity on Cape Codit is not uncommon to see solar hot water heaters mounted on rooftops, or even solar panels on middle-class homes attempting to defray the energy costs. Modern widow’s walks are still built in sharp contrast to the reasons established in the colonial days and the peak of the seafaring days of Massachusetts. These modern widows’ walks, approved by strict guidelines of historical real estate committees, are used for the summer pilgrims to catch a glimpse of the sea during cocktail hour. What are missing from the modern landscape in Cape Cod are the windmills, which are so desperately needed for the production of electric energy. They are missing because a few rich, local politicians are “fighting to protect the environment.” The question is from what? Wind? Or hot air? Theodore Morrison Homa MD

http://archimedesclaw.authorsxpress.com/tag/hudson-river/

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New York, NY. Status: Built Location: Los Angeles, CA, US Back to Top ↑Back to Project List...

http://archinect.com/minimalusa/project/transformers-3-dark-of-the-moon

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Background.— Outbreaks of invasive group A β-hemolytic streptococcal (GABS) infections have recently been reported. We observed a high incidence of invasive GABS disease among Native Americans at a small rural community hospital between 1982 and 1991. Methods.— A retrospective chart review was performed, and all cases of invasive GABS disease were studied for their clinical features. Results.— Sixteen cases of invasive GABS infection were identified during the 10-year study period. The rate of invasive GABS infection was 13.3 cases per 100 000 population per year. Mortality was 25%. Nearly half of the patients presented with systemic signs of sepsis without any obvious source of infection. Conclusions.— Our experience documents a high rate of invasive GABS infections in a defined Native American population. To determine whether this population has a unique susceptibility to GABS disease requires further study.(Arch Intern Med. 1992;152:1881.

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=616639

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We would like to express an opinion about a recent publication in your journal concerning the use of short-course ciprofloxacin for the treatment of acute uncomplicated urinary tract infection in (otherwise healthy) women.1 We question the use of any broadspectrum agent (including fluoroquinolones) for the treatment of this type of urinary tract infection. We submit that the real value of the fluoroquinolone antibiotics is still as unique oral agents for the treatment of resistant gram-negative bacillary infections when their use clearly decreases hospitalization time or the need for intravenous therapy. We are currently experiencing a global problem of increasing resistance to microorganisms, some of which are becoming a major concern in the United States (eg, penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, multidrugresistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, and vancomycinresistant enterococci). The American Medical Association has acknowledged this problem to the extent that it has announced that its 10 affiliated journals will.

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=621453

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The birth of CASAS+ARCHITECTS emerged from the partnership of two young architects, Jose Pedro C. Recio and Carmelo T. Casas. Both of them had their diversified practice in Hong Kong’s top architectural firms. The two architects’ international stint with major Hong Kong-based international firms spanned from 1976 to 1988. From there, they decided to form their partnership in October 1988 and took on the name RECIO+CASAS which was initially Hong Kong based. In 1990, a Philippine office was opened which spearheaded the partnership’s involvement as design consultant for the high-rise luxury residential development, the Pacific Plaza at Ayala Avenue, with Arch. Casas as the Principal Designer. Since then, the partnership of Jose Pedro Recio and Carmelo Casas undertook the role of design consultant for many projects such as ABS/CBN Broadcasting Studio Complex, Kingswood Gardens, One and Two Lafayette Square, Salcedo Park, and the Richmonde Hotel. In 1996, another high-rise luxury residential development known as Pacific Plaza Towers in Fort Bonifacio gained prestige for the company. The influx of challenging projects brought Arch. Casas back to the Philippines to spearhead this landmark project which was completed in 2000. In 1997, the firm Recio+Casas was awarded the first prestigious title of Firm of the Year Award by the Philippine Institute of Architects. After 20 years, Recio+Casas demerged when Arch. Recio withdrew from the partnership. Arch. Casas continued to run the firm with its new partners and have since then changed the name to CASAS+ARCHITECTS. Since then, the firm has evolved into a new identity specializing in diversified Architectural projects ranging from Residential, Commercial, Institutional, and Entertainment complexes. Notable Projects - Metrobank Center - Alphaland Makati Place - One Shangri-la Place - One Eastwood Place - One Uptown Place - Axis - Marriott Garden Ballroom - Shopwise Cebu - Tune Hotel Cebu - The Levels at Filinvest - Aspire Tower at Nuvo City - Discovery Bay Cebu Mactan Island, Cebu Other Information - office : 6F Paseo Center, 8757 Paseo de Roxas, Salcedo Village, Makati City - Telephone: 63 2 867 8615 - Staff: 76 Link Incoming search terms: - recio casas architects - recio casas architects website - recio casas - recio architects - casas architects website - recio casas associates - casas architects philippines - carmelo casas - jose pedro recio - casas associates

http://architecture.nfo.ph/reciocasas-associates/

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Error: You currently have Javascript disabled. This website uses Javascript for many elements such as the menus and page customization. Please enable Javascript in your browser for the optimum website experience. Shared Storage is a new storage system designed to enable sharing between all characters on a given account! Until now, your only options to share items between characters were to mail them individually, deposit them into a personal chest at your home, or have a friend hold them while you switched characters. Shared Storage can be accessed by visiting any Vault-keeper and opening the standard Vault interface you are already familiar with. A new button, “Open Shared Storage”, will be available on the Vault interface: Any items currently in your standard Vault can be easily transferred to Shared Storage and vice-versa, simplifying the process of sharing items with your other characters. Shared Storage Interface The Shared Storage interface has new features to help you manage your shared items. You can sort items alphabetically by name (A-Z, Z-A) and filter by item type. The list is populated dynamically from the items in your shared storage space. Filtering items is as easy as selecting the Filter drop-down menu and picking the item-type to display: For your convenience, bound items can be stored in Shared Storage -- but only the character they belong to can retrieve them. The Filter Bound Items option will hide items that don’t belong to your current character. Unique items cannot be stored in the Shared Storage. This new feature should make managing items across multiple characters much easier!

http://archive.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/1399-rise-of-isengard-monster-play-changes-freep/1386-lessor-disengard-journal-du-developpeur-gardien/1627-update-5-reputation-item-revision-developer-diary/1829-update-6-entwicklertagebuch-aenderungen-beim-hueter/486-developer-diary-shared-storage

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Error: You currently have Javascript disabled. This website uses Javascript for many elements such as the menus and page customization. Please enable Javascript in your browser for the optimum website experience. Overview't be as involved as the full-on "Month of" updates that Guardians and Burglars are receiving, but we hope to address most of the issues brought up by the Champion community as well as giving them the tools necessary to fulfill their class roles in LOTRO. Choices Currently, Fervour is the only choice of stance for most levels. The Book 12 Champion update will include a new stance, available at low levels. It won't be as all-out offensive as Fervour, but it will include in-combat power regeneration as well as allowing the Champion to Block, Parry and Evade, though at some penalty. In addition to the new stance, Glory is going to get a small boost in effectiveness and will be available at mid-levels. These two changes should give Champions a good choice of trade-offs in their stance selection between offense and defense. Champion Stances Fervour Fervour is the base Champion stance and is the basis for all Champion balancing. There are no changes to Fervour in this update. Ardour Ardour is intended to fill the gap in the Champion's stances. The high cost of Champion skills, in power and pips, really limits their ability to function without being in some kind of stance. Fervour comes with severe penalties to the Champion's defense, however, and Glory is only available at higher levels. For most of the level range, Champions that needed some defense but still wanted to be effective with skills were out of luck Ardour is a new Toggle skill exclusive from Fervour and Glory. It's gained at level 10, granting power regeneration and fervor pip generation at a rate somewhat less than Fervour but more than Glory (but with no inherent damage bonus). Parry and Evade defensive skills receive a percentage based penalty rather than being de-activated as with the Fervour Stance. The Block skill is unaffected. The Ardour stance will also convert the Flurry skill into Ardent Flurry. Ardent Flurry -This skill has the same effects as Flurry, but is activated only on a monster defeat event and lasts until the current combat ends. Switching out of Ardour stance converts the Ardent Flurry buff to normal Flurry. Glory Glory is getting a few tweaks to make it a more effective defensive stance for the Champion. It's been perceived to be too penalizing a stance for Champions, and also comes very late in the level progression -- far after the Champion is called upon for tanking duties. Glory is now available at level 30 instead of 46. A Champion in the Glory Stance will generate Fervour pips over time, though not as fast as in the Fervour or Ardour stances. The threat modifier has been increased and the damage penalty has been decreased to help the Champion hold the attention of enemies, but his power regeneration will be somewhat reduced to help offset these changes. The Glory stance will also convert the Exchange of Blows skill into Glorious Exchange. Glorious Exchange - This skill has the same effects as Exchange of Blows, but is activated only on a monster defeat event and lasts until out of combat. Switching out of Glory stance converts Glorious Exchange into the normal Exchange of Blows. Legendary Skills An almost universal complaint from Champions is that their Legendary skills aren't all that, well, legendary, and we agree. As a result, most of the Champion's Legendary skills are getting an upgrade New Skills Second Wind - This new skill is granted at level 14. It can only be used after an enemy is defeated and will restore some of the Champion's Power. Second Wind is intended to cover any shortfalls in power regeneration for Champions that are utilizing Ardour or Glory. Melee Critical Passive Traits - Champions will now be able to train Tier 3 at Level 35 and Tier 4 at Level 46. The masters of straight up melee combat no longer receive fewer passive melee traits than Lore-masters. Legendary Skills Upgrades Fight On Fight On retains all of its previous functionality as an area of effect power drain, and is a skill best used when the Champion needs to end a fight NOW. The Champion will receive a substantial short-term damage bonus, but when the damage bonus expires he'll be exhausted, with a substantial penalty to power regeneration until the current fight ends. Raging Blade Raging Blade adds an additional attack with all the damage numbers tweaked to give around a 15% increase in total damage. In addition, the Winds of the Storm trait will increase Raging Blade's maximum targets to 10. Ferocious Strike The damage numbers for Ferocious strike have been increased to give around a 5% increase in total damage. Ferocious Strikes from dual-wielding Champions will see a substantial increase in damage to make it comparable to damage from a 2-handed weapon using Champion. Other Fixes and Upgrades Many other Champion skills have been changed to make them more convenient to use, or just been given a boost in power to make them more attractive choices to add to your hot bar. A few highlights are making Sudden Defense easier to activate when in Fervour stance, giving Hedge the ability to remove Disarm effects, and an upgrade to the old Shoot skill to make it more effective than just auto-attacking at range. Changed Skills Sudden Defense and Eldar's Grace Both of these skills have been upgraded in usability for Champions. There are no changes to the skills themselves, but they can now be activated while in the Fervour or Ardour stances. Sudden Defense and Eldar's Grace will suppress the defensive skill penalties of these stances for the duration of the effects; then, when the effects expire, the full effects of Fervour or Ardour will return. A side effect of this change prevents Sudden Defense from stacking with Eldar's Grace. If both of these effects are activated, only Eldar's Grace will be in effect. After it wears off, Sudden Defense will apply for the rest of its duration. Hedge The de-taunt effects of Hedge have never worked to our satisfaction. We've decided to completely change this skill to address another issue raised by Champions, their vulnerability to Disarm. Hedge will no longer reduce the Champion's threat but will instead remove the effects of being disarmed and grant a Wound Resistance buff. The Champion will also be unaffected by disarm while the buff is in effect. Hedge's power cost and cooldown has been increased. Ire Skills There are too many cases where the Ire skills are seen to be ineffective, so we've increased the amount of threat these skills transfer and modified their costs. These skills transfer a percentage of accumulated threat; the later in combat they're used, the more threat is transferred. Ebbing Ire now transfers significantly more threat than previously. Its power cost has been increased and its Fervour pip cost has increased to 4. Rising Ire now transfers a moderately increased amount of threat. Its power cost has been increased, but its Fervour Pip cost has been reduced to 2. Shoot Shoot is a remnant from the time when there were no ranged auto-attacks. Champions still have this skill, but in its current state it serves little purpose. Shoot has been renamed to "Let Fly" and given a damage bonus and a slightly increased range. (This will affect Guardians and Hunters as well.) Clobber Clobber is used as a reaction skill to interrupt an enemy's induction skills, but its long animation time was interfering with this purpose. Clobber has been given a faster animation for faster response time. Sprint Sprint will now override all other effects that attempt to change the Champion's movement speed. Effects that prevent any movement at all are not affected. While we would like to think Sprint is used by Champions to heroically charge into battle, we know that in practice it is largely used when fleeing from overwhelming odds. This change will make Sprint more effective in escaping fights by negating Hounding Fear and other snares. Heroics This skill drained a significant amount of power from the Champion, while in return the Champion's fellowship only gained a limited amount of power -- in many cases, not enough to even use a skill. The power cost for Heroics has been reduced and the amount of Power granted to the Champion's fellowship has been substantially increased.

http://archive.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/2297-riders-of-rohan-developer-diary-champion/1627-journal-du-developpeur-remaniement-des-objets-de-reputation-dans-la-mise-a-jour-5/182-book-12-the-ashen-wastes-revisits-the-champion

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Error: You currently have Javascript disabled. This website uses Javascript for many elements such as the menus and page customization. Please enable Javascript in your browser for the optimum website experience. Epic - Volume 2 -– “Solofication” Pass By: Bob “Maurath” Hess Well, this is my first Developer Diary for the Lord of the Rings Online™ team, so I figured I would take a second to introduce myself. My name is Bob “Maurath” Hess, and I am the newest member of the Content Team. I have been working here at Turbine for a little over four years, with the first year working in QA, a little over a year working on Dungeons and Dragons Online as a systems designer, and then for the past two years on Lord of the Rings Online. Previously, I’ve worked on several different projects in LOTRO, including quest and encounter design for the Lich Bluffs region in Enedwaith. When we first began to look at a 'solofication' pass of the Volume 2 epic, our team knew that it would be quite the undertaking. We ended up breaking the task into two parts, with Jonathan “Berephon” Rudder changing the battle instances in Chapter 5 into Skirmishes, and with me working on the rest of the Volume 2. Following the breakdown of tasks, we then went about gathering feedback from internal and external sources regarding specific points in the epic which are particularly difficult to solo. To add to my own experience in attempting this content, the QA Department was kind enough to lend a good deal of feedback regarding the 'soloability' of the content using a wide array of classes and character compositions. This feedback was invaluable for evaluating problem points within Volume 2 and became indispensible as we proceeded to implement changes. Design Goals There were several overall design goals when undertaking the task: These specific design goals were addressed using a variety of different methods, which will be further explained in their own sections: Re-leveling Volume 2 Epic quests: One of the difficulties of our work environment is that several teams of content designers have varied responsibilities for the type of content that they are creating. During the implementation of the Volume 2 Epic and the Mines of Moria region development, there was a shift in the level spread of specific areas in Moria. Because of this, a few chapters of Volume 2 are not level appropriate for where they are placed. So in an effort to more accurately represent the challenge level of the quests, we changed the level of several chapters in Volume 2. Below is a listing of the quests that have been adjusted. Simplification of Quest Objectives: During the play-through of several Chapters, a small number of quests seemed disproportionately difficult to locate quest items for a variety of reasons. Several quests had low drop rates, some had poor quest tracker guidance, several were too difficult to navigate given the nature of the landscape, several had specific monsters that were a bit too difficult given their surroundings and, lastly, the travel time and the number of monsters between objectives was a little high. Due to all of these factors, a wide array of changes were made to several chapters. Below is a listing of several of the chapters, and the changes that were made. Redesigning several instance spaces for solo and duo play: One of the more daunting tasks involved with the 'solofication' of the Volume 2 Epic is that there are several pretty lengthy group dungeons that were included as part of the critical path. For each of the dungeons, I will try and give a brief explanation of what was done to the dungeon and the choices that were made during implementation. Please note while many of these experiences are able to be completed as a solo player, many of them allow you to duo the content as well. In conclusion Overall, I feel as though the changes made will allow a great number of players who previously could not proceed through the epic to see the rest of the story unfold. While some of these decisions will change how the epic is completed, I feel that we were able to maintain the integrity and creativity of the encounters while allowing a wider array of players to complete it. “Well, I got the instance done without begging in kin chat and GLFF for hours/days so I would say this is a hugely positive change.” -Feedback from a player in one of our playtests Bob “Maurath” Hess

http://archive.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/795-developer-diary-vault-changes/1979-entwicklertagebuch-zurueck-zu-den-minen-von-moria-erste-haelfte/1830-journal-du-developpeur-gardien-des-runes-dans-la-mise-a-jour-6/1075-update-2-epic-volume-2-solofication-pass-

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> I've been to places like Findhorn and have seen the connection between the > spiritual and the physical world, so while I don't dispute the need for > discussing all this, it would seem fitting that the philosophical side might > be better covered in a separate list and leave this list for the physical > side. The spiritual side makes for some fascinating discoveries, but I think > the people on this list probably joined it more for the physical aspects > that they can apply in their growing practices. > In brief, how about starting a new list and let this one go back to it's > basic purpose. > ---------- .:

http://archive.sare.org/sanet-mg/archives/html-home/37-html/0181.html

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What are the legal or other wise (FDA) requirements for use of the term CIDER? I work with small farmers in Mississippi and would like to develop and test consumer preference for added value products, ie. Cider. In addition, info on how to make RUM or other low alcohol beverages could be helpful. William B. Patton, Agronomy Specialist, 1000 Alcorn State University Drive # 479, Lorman, Ms. 39096, Ph. (601) 877-6126 Thanks...

http://archive.sare.org/sanet-mg/archives/html-home/8-html/0387.html

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Writer. Dreamer. Science Chick. Bio QBlackHeart here, and I like to write. I mostly stick to the J2/Supernatural (Jensen/Jared and Sam/Dean, even though I haven't actually written any Sam/Dean stuff yet) fandom, but I've branched out into Hawaii Five-0 now (Steve/Danno of course), and I do have some stories in the Big Bang Theory fandom as well (I shipped The Shenny!) My fics will all be posted here eventually (because LJ has issues), so check back often. My fic comm on LJ is here:

http://archiveofourown.org/users/qblackheart/profile

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Actions Work Header Heroes and Devils marinarusalka Summary: Three years after Dr. Doom cast the entire island of Manhattan into the dark depths of the Echo Bazaar, life goes on. The people of Lowered Manhattan, including the Avengers, have adapted as best they could to their shadowy new existence. But then the Avengers find themselves in possession of a mysterious locked box that could save them all -- if it doesn't kill Tony first. Notes: Written for the Captain America/Iron Man big bang challenge 2011. Huge thanks to Inmyriadbits and Snowynight for their beta help. Also, much love to my artists, Dyoka and Stalkerbunny. Stalkerbunny's art is here. This fic is a crossover with the Echo Bazaar browser game, but you don't need to be familiar with the game in order to follow the story. Work Text: Prologue New York City, three years ago Central Park was glowing. A dome of crackling blue energy encased Sheep Meadow. Its glow was bright enough to make the surrounding lawns and footpaths clearly visible, even at two A.M. on a rain-soaked February night. The rain evaporated where it hit the dome, creating an eerie halo of fluorescent blue fog around it. Writhing blue tendrils snaked along the ground, detouring around trees and structures. From an aerial vantage point, Steve could see that three of the tendrils had reached north all the way to the lake, making the waters behind Bethesda Fountain boil, and several more were creeping up on Central Park West. "Can you tell what it is?" he yelled, pitching his voice to carry over the muted roar of Iron Man's jet boots. "Not specifically." The metal-clad arm around Steve's waist tightened a little as Tony slowed their flight and tilted them to hover vertically above the dome. "My sensors don't recognize the energy signature, which means it's magic rather than tech." He didn't actually add "I hate magic," but the disgust in his voice made his sentiments clear enough. Steve did a quick visual search for the rest of the team. Spider-Woman was flying in tight circles a few yards below them. Spider-Man clung precariously to the little weather vane tower atop the carousel roof. Luke was out of sight, but he had to be on the ground somewhere, hidden by the trees. "Can everyone hear me?" Steve called out. Magic tended to play hell with their communicators. There was a ragged chorus of acknowledgement, broken only by a few mild bursts of static. Thank God for small favors. "Right. Everyone stay back until we know what we're dealing with. Luke, can you see anything useful down where you are?" "Just a lot of blue," Luke grumbled. "What the hell is this thing?" "Hey, guys." Spider-Man's voice sounded a little shaky. "I don't mean to be an alarmist or anything, but the last time my Spider-sense went off like this, Galactus tried to have the Earth for a midnight snack. Not that I think this is Galactus, unless he's shrunk down a hell of a lot and taken up special-effects displays as a hobby, I'm just saying--" "Thank you, Peter," Steve said quickly. "Tony, can you take us closer?" "Take care, Captain!" a new voice called out. Steve turned to see Stephen Strange floating toward them, his cape billowing behind him far more dramatically than the speed of his flight would account for. "There is strong infernal magic at work here, and a great deal of energy being channeled. Let me examine the area before you make any moves." Steve waved his free arm toward the dome. "Be my guest." "Hold on," Tony said. "Are you using 'infernal' metaphorically here, or--" "Absolutely not. Whatever this spell is, it's drawing power from one of the hell dimensions. The energy signature is unmistakable." Strange turned toward the dome and made a fluid, complex gesture with his hands. Nothing happened that Steve could see, but Strange's habitually stern expression grew even darker than usual. "I don't know what Doom thinks he's doing, but he must be stopped immediately." "Doom," Tony sighed. "Why am I not surprised. Is he in there?" "And is anyone else in there with him?" Steve added. The weather and the late hour would keep most people out of the park, but the place was never entirely empty. If Doom had innocent bystanders trapped in that dome with him, the situation would become even more complicated than it already was. "I can't tell." Strange gestured again, and shook his head in frustration. "Has anyone contacted the Fantastic Four? They tend to know what he's up to." "I'm trying." Tony tilted his head back slightly into what Steve had come to recognize as his "checking my readouts" posture. Light flickered in his helmet's eye slits. "No response at the Baxter Building. Actually, I think Reed said something last week about going off-planet." Knowing Reed Richards, that could mean anything from "intergalactic emergency" to "family picnic three solar systems over." Either way, it seemed the Avengers were on their own for this one. "We should--" Steve meant to suggest that they join Luke on the ground, but his voice was drowned out by an ominous rumble, followed by a startled yelp from Spider-Man. "Uh, team?" Luke's voice sounded strained. "Is Manhattan supposed to get earthquakes? 'Cause we seem to be having a doozy right now." Below them, the ground bulged and the trees swayed. The water in the lake churned, and the carousel sprang to life with an incongruously cheery burst of colored lights and tinny music. At least a dozen new tendrils sprouted from the dome, slithering along the grass in all directions. An icy burst of wind whipped the rain across Steve's face and made him tighten his hold on Tony. "This can't be good," Tony muttered. The air around them rippled with energy in a way that made Steve's hair stand up on the back of his neck. The next burst of wind was impossibly warm, and smelled of brimstone. A moment later, Strange arched his back and screamed. Blood burst from his ears and nose, dripped from his eyes like tears. Spider-Woman swerved toward him as he began to plummet, but she wasn't going to be fast enough. "Peter!" Steve snapped. A web line shot out to intercept Strange in mid-fall. Steve hoped Peter would find a way to bring him down safely, but there was no time to worry about it now. "Tony, I don't care if you blast through it or tunnel under it, we need a way inside that dome." Tony's response was cut off by a burst of high-pitched chittering noise. The night sky above them abruptly became even darker, blotted out by a roiling black cloud that moved toward them as they watched. "What the hell is that?" Spider-Woman demanded. A few small fragments detached themselves from the cloud and zoomed ahead, coming close enough to be illuminated by the dome's glow. Steve caught a glimpse of fanged muzzles and webbed, claw-tipped wings. Tony must've seen it too, because it was he who answered Spider-Woman's question. "Bats." Chapter 1 Steve crouched on a creaky piece of scaffolding three stories up the facade of a darkened office building, and watched the children play in Bowling Blue. There were maybe ten or twelve kids all together, ranging in age from toddler to preteen, playing some sort of complicated version of tag that involved a great deal of running back and forth across the lawn of spongy blue moss that gave the park its name. The smoky oil-light of the street lamps didn't allow for a clear view, but to Steve they all seemed cheerful enough, not at all afraid, and in the hour since Steve had staked out this block, he'd seen no sign of the spirifer who'd been recently rumored to be preying on the young in this part of Barrelhouse Row. Children's souls were supposed to be more pure, and therefore more valuable than adult ones. Tempting targets for the illegal soul trade. And many of the ones in Barrelhouse Row had no adult to look after them, making them easy prey. Of all the new breeds of criminal that had sprung up all over the city since the Descent, Steve hated spirifers the most. "Anything new up there?" A faint hiss of static accompanied Luke's voice over Steve's communicator. They never got clear reception anymore -- too much magic in the air, according to Tony. "Nothing." Steve kept his voice low. "Anything on street level?" "Not a peep." Luke sounded annoyed. "I think today's a bust. Or maybe this whole rumor's a bust." "Maybe." They'd checked No-battery Park and the Zeeport earlier, with no more luck than they were having now. If there was a spirifer, he or she was keeping clear of the area today. "I'm going to wait a bit longer." "Suit yourself," Luke said over another burst of static. "I'm going to check the side streets again." A pair of women in shabby coats emerged from the Customs House, collected three of the younger children, and shepherded them inside. The game paused around them, then resumed again, just as noisy and chaotic as before. Not a care in the world, Steve thought. Children could adapt to anything, it seemed, even perpetual darkness. The younger ones probably couldn't even remember daylight. He wondered how many of the older ones could recall when Bowling Blue was Bowling Green, and the Watchful Minotaur statue at the north end was the Charging Bull. The old financial district now housed most of Lowered Manhattan's formerly homeless population, as well as anyone else who'd felt like moving into the empty office spaces after the Descent. Federal Hall was now a middle school, and the Stock Exchange housed a thriving flea market twice a week. Tony liked to joke that the place hadn't been this financially solvent in decades. Steve waited, but there was nothing unusual in the intermittent trickle of in-line skaters and bicyclists along Broadway. The tag game slowly thinned out as more children were called home to dinner. A few wandered off on their own, and Steve signaled Luke to track them until they got to safety. He decided he'd wait until the last kid was gone, then head home himself. A chorus of high-pitched chirps to the northeast made him rise to his feet. Bats were as common in Lowered Manhattan as pigeons used to be, but when they gathered in large numbers it was usually a bad sign. Somebody below shouted. The children scattered, and the riders and pedestrians swerved toward the buildings, taking shelter where they could. Steve hefted his shield and moved along the scaffold, mindful of the patches of slippery black mold that marred the wood. "Luke." "I see them." A bulky Luke-shaped shadow rounded a corner at the far side of the park and jogged northward on Broadway. "Shit. That's a lot of bats. I think they're after somebody." The bat swarm moved down Broadway in a churning, squealing mass that began a few feet above the pavement and filled the available space between the buildings on either side all the way to the rooftops. The entire block went from dark to pitch-black as thousands of wings blotted out the street lights. Steve couldn't remember seeing that many bats in one place since the Descent. What sort of disaster were they bringing now? He'd just reached the edge of the scaffolding when a web line shot out from the middle of the swarm to anchor against the building directly ahead. Spider-Man swung out in a clumsy, uncontrolled arc, and several hundred bats detached from the main swarm to follow him. He was clearly in bad shape, not in control of his swing at all. The web would keep him from hitting the ground, but he was going to slam into the glass-and-steel wall ahead of him any moment now. Steve leaped without thinking, all instincts focused on the spot in mid-air where he wanted to be three seconds from now. He bounced off an awning over an abandoned storefront below, let the shield drop to the street as he tumbled through the air, and got both arms around Peter moments before the other man hit the wall. The collision knocked the breath out of him, but Steve still managed to twist as they fell, to take the brunt of the impact when they hit the ground. He rolled both of them over, kept rolling until they smacked into a lamppost and stopped. Damn. That was close. He would be bruised from shoulder to hip later, but the adrenaline surge kept him from feeling the pain at the moment. Besides, there was no time to worry about minor injuries. The bats were still coming, and Peter was a limp, motionless weight in Steve's arms. Steve struggled to his feet, slung Peter over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, and sprinted for the nearest doorway. He kicked his way inside, and let the door swing shut behind him just in time to keep the bats out. The place he'd broken into was stripped bare, but the prescriptions counter in the back and the aisle markers between the rows of empty shelves indicated that it had been a pharmacy once. Steve lowered Peter to the floor, and dragged one of the shelf units over to barricade the door. He could hear the rattling outside, as the bats threw themselves against the metal grating that covered the window. He didn't think they'd break through, but there was no point in taking chances. Peter was unconscious but breathing. His suit was torn and bloodstained in dozens of spots where the bats had nipped and clawed at him, and there was one especially nasty-looking gash over his left ear. He had a bundle strapped to his back, something square and bulky encased in a thick layer of webbing. Steve left it alone and started to tug at Peter's mask instead, but before he could remove it, there was a crash behind him. The shelf he'd used to block the entrance toppled to the floor, and the door flew off its hinges. A pair of Clay Men barreled through, sledgehammers clutched in fists bigger than Steve's head. One of them was missing an ear, and the other had no fingers on his left hand. Unfinished Men. What the hell had Peter gotten himself into? "Yo, Cap, catch!" Luke shouted from outside, just as Steve's shield came flying at him over the Unfinished Men's heads. Steve snatched it in mid-air, and got it angled over his head just in time to absorb a bone-jarring hammer blow from one of his attackers. A moment later, Luke knocked the other one to the floor with a flying tackle. Fighting Unfinished Men took no skill, just brute strength. Steve ducked beneath another ponderous hammer swing, and slammed the shield edge-on into his opponent's midsection. It sank in with an unpleasant squelching sound and a splatter of damp mud. The Unfinished Man doubled over with a grunt, and Steve pulled the shield free and smashed it down on the back of his head. The man went down and stayed down. Steve turned just in time to watch Luke finish pummeling his opponent's head into a smear of mud on the floor. "Thanks," Steve said. "No problem." Luke shook bits of clay from his hands. "They'll get up again in a few minutes, though." "I know. We need to get Spider-Man out of here." Steve knelt at Peter's side. "Are the bats still out there?" Luke gestured toward the busted door. "See for yourself." Outside, some quick-thinking soul had smashed open a street lamp and used the flame to set the contents of a trash can on fire. The oily smoke that poured out smelled vile, but it served to keep the bats at bay. A few of the bolder pedestrians were breaking off branches from the dead trees in the park and piling them in the middle of the street to make a bonfire. The bats shrieked and retreated upward. A few tried to dive-bomb the bonfire builders and were waved back with burning branches. Once a proper fire got started, the entire swarm turned and headed northward, presumably back to their masters at the Brass Embassy. "We need to get a move on," Luke said. "If the devils want Spider-Man this badly, they'll send reinforcements." "I don't think it's Spider-Man they want." Steve finally detached the bundle from Peter's back and held it up. "I think it's this." "Huh." Luke poked at the thick layer of webbing with one finger. "What the hell is it?" "We can find out later." Steve slung the shield onto his back and tucked the bundle under his arm. It felt surprisingly heavy for its size. "Right now, we need to figure out how to move Peter." Normally he might've summoned one of the Jessicas to carry Peter back to the Sanctum Sanctorum, but if the bats were still on the prowl, flying was a bad idea. Maybe they could get somebody to run for the medics... "Hang on, I see something." Luke hopped over the pile of broken shelving in front of the door and jogged outside. Steve could hear him muttering "Watch it, folks, coming through, coming through..." as he shouldered his way through the crowd, followed by an earsplitting "Yo, taxi!" Steve used his free arm to haul Peter up again and carry him outside. The crowd on the sidewalk parted to clear his way toward Luke, who was handing a fistful of glim to a wiry young man in a pedicab. "Come on, Cap." Luke waved him over. "I got us a ride." And that, Steve thought, was possibly the first thing that had gone right for them all day. Peter twitched and moaned a few times during the ride uptown, but was still unconscious by the time the pedicab reached Bleecker Street. The Sanctum Sanctorum looked like an abandoned wreck from the outside, all boarded-up windows and scorched, crumbling walls. Inside was warmth and soft light. Wong and MJ met them in the foyer with a first aid kit, reassuringly calm and efficient. "What happened?" Wong demanded once they had Peter settled on an ottoman in front of the fireplace. "We're not sure," Luke said. "He had a swarm of bats on his tail when we spotted him. I think he might've had a run-in with some Unfinished Men, too. Two of them attacked us when we first tried to help him." "It sure as hell wasn't bats who did that." MJ dabbed antiseptic on the bloodied lump over Peter's ear. "He didn't die at any point, did he?" Steve shook his head. "Not while we were with him, anyhow." Death in Lowered Manhattan was a temporary condition most of the time; you had to practically dismember an opponent if you wanted to be sure they wouldn't get up again. Still, Wong had been very emphatic in warning the Avengers not to become cavalier about mortal injury. Something about it "anchoring" the victim in this dimension, which would become a problem if they ever found their way back to Earth. Wong was their best remaining authority on magical matters, so they all took his word for it. No one ever asked aloud if a way back was even possible. "He had this with him." Steve held up the bundle Peter had been carrying. Most of the webbing had dissolved during their cab ride, revealing a rectangular metal box, slightly smaller than a shoebox. The sides of the box were plain, but the top was covered with an intricate arrangement of dozens of interlocking gears, the largest about the size of a silver dollar, the smallest no bigger than Steve's thumbnail. "I think it's what the bats where after." "Hm." Wong took the box from Steve and examined the gears with a puzzled frown. "Do you know where he might've gotten it?" "Not for sure," Luke said. "But if I had to bet, I'd bet on the Brass Embassy." "Not a wager I'd take." Wong ran his fingers over the gears. "Whatever is inside, the devils must value it highly. Locks like this are extremely difficult to make." "Can you open it?" Steve asked. "Not without a great deal more knowledge than we've got right now." Wong prodded one of the larger gears to make it turn. There was a series of faint clicks as several of the other gears moved in response. "I've seen similar locks back in our world, but never anything this intricate. The gears must be arranged in a specific sequence in order to release the locking spell. There's usually an accompanying spell to reveal the pattern. Without it, the possible combinations are nearly infinite. I'll check the library, but if the spell was custom-designed..." He sighed and handed the box back to Steve. "You might have Mr. Stark take a look. It is a combinatorics problem, after all." "True," Steve said. "If nothing else, it might put him in a better mood." Tony was always antsy these days. A nice mechanical puzzle to play with would probably be good for him. "Great," Luke said. "I'm gonna go upstairs and cuddle my wife and kid. You go keep the mad scientist in the basement happy." Like all the other levels in the building, the basement in Sanctum Sanctorum tended to adjust to the needs of its occupants. Tony needed a workshop, so he got a workshop, complete with a number of sturdy lab tables and enough space for all the equipment he'd scrounged from Stark Tower and the Baxter Building. When he started spending all his days down there, a bathroom and a shower stall had materialized, then a small nook with a cot and a dresser. Steve privately wished that the house wouldn't encourage Tony's bad habits, but with Strange dead, there was no one around to complain to. For once, Tony wasn't elbow-deep in circuitry when Steve came in. The generator was off, and the room was illuminated only by the screen of Tony's laptop and a couple of half-gallon jars filled with phosphorescent beetles. Tony sat on the floor in a dejected slump, his back propped against what looked like an eight-foot-tall picture frame made out of wires and circuit chips. He must've been working until recently -- the brazier where he heated his soldering tips was still smoldering, and the air smelled of charcoal smoke. An open notebook lay on the floor at Tony's feet, the pages covered in Reed Richards's illegible handwriting. "Hey," Steve said, and Tony looked up with a start. There were charcoal smears on his t-shirt and on his face, and he badly needed a shave. "Steve." Tony's eyes had that bleary look that he usually got when he'd gone more than twenty-four hours without sleep. "Did you just get back?" "A couple of minutes ago." Steve put the box down on the nearest table and sat down on the floor next to Tony, close enough for their arms to brush. "How's it going?" Tony let out a tired, impatient sigh and listed sideways a little, letting his weight sag against Steve's shoulder. The contact lasted barely a heartbeat, then Tony shivered and pulled away. Steve wanted to tell him that it was all right, he didn't mind being leaned on, but Tony spoke first. "I've got good news and bad news." He grimaced and ran his hands through his hair. "The good news is, I now understand how Reed made his multiverse portal work. The bad news is, I can't do it." "I'm sure you'll think of someth--" Steve began, but Tony was shaking his head impatiently. "It's not a question of me figuring it out. I have figured it out. But the portal needs negative matter to activate it. Reed must've found a way to produce the stuff, but whatever device he used, he didn't keep it in the Baxter building. It couldn't be just a simple Casimir oscillator, that wouldn't produce enough; he must've come up with something more--" He broke off and made a vague "I give up" gesture with one hand. "I... see," Steve said, though he wasn't at all sure he did. "You have a working portal, but no fuel for it." "Story of my life these days." Tony sighed. "Dammit. Ten months of work, and for what? " He tilted his head back and aimed a poisonous glare at the device looming above him. "My sixth dead end in three years. Stupid, useless piece of shit..." "Hey." Steve sincerely hoped Tony was talking about the device. "Don't beat yourself up over it. You're trying to create interdimensional travel with nineteenth-century technology. Of course it's going to take time." "Tell that to the million and a half people outside who want to go home," Tony muttered. It was always like this. In the three years since the Descent, both Tony and Wong had spent most of their time searching for a way to return Manhattan to its proper place in the multiverse, with Wong focusing his efforts on Dr. Strange's library and Tony sticking with what he called "the engineering approach." But where Wong seemed to take his repeated failures philosophically, Tony kept sinking into a blacker mood with each setback. The jokes about the mad scientist in the basement were getting less funny every day. How many days had it been since Tony had last been upstairs? The fact that Steve couldn't remember proved that it had been too long, and he mentally kicked himself for losing track. He'd made it something of a personal mission to ensure that Tony didn't recluse himself in the basement completely, that he would occasionally come up for a proper meal and a bit of conversation with somebody other than Steve. The others teased him about it -- Luke and Jessica had announced several times that little Danni was available if Steve was that desperate for somebody to nanny -- but they didn't know Tony the way he did. They didn't understand how obsessed he could get, how he let his own health and sanity fall by the wayside when he thought he was failing at something. It might've been different if Tony could still go out as Iron Man. But Lowered Manhattan had no power grid, not even sunlight to provide solar power. Tony had a generator and a dwindling supply of gasoline to fuel it, and he was hoarding it all for his work in the lab. There was nothing to spare for charging the armor. Without it, Tony had focused all his shaky sense of self-worth on his efforts to move Manhattan between dimensions. And so far, all those efforts had come to nothing. "I'm sure you'll figure it out," Steve said, acutely aware of how weak that sounded. Judging from the look on Tony's face, he was aware of it too. "I can't afford to wait for 'eventually'! I'm down to less than a third of my gasoline stash. What happens when I can't fuel the generator anymore and every piece of equipment in this fucking lab turns into a very expensive paperweight?" Tony closed his eyes and tilted his head back to lean against the machine behind him. He looked utterly drained, and not just from lack of sleep. Steve wished he had more to offer than empty reassurances, then remembered that for once he did. "Sounds as if you could use a distraction." He got up and retrieved Peter's box from the table. "Here. See what you can make of this." "It's... a box." Tony took it, turned it from side to side, rested it in his lap and ran his hands over the gears. "Where did it come from?" "We don't know yet." Steve gave a quick description of their run-in with the bats and the Unfinished Men. Tony's expression shifted as he listened, from exhausted gloom to an odd mixture of concern and excited curiosity. "Is Peter all right?" He demanded when Steve finished. "He'll be fine." Steve shrugged. "He's had a bad knock on the head, but you know how it is down here. If you don't die, you're all right, and if you do die -- well, most of the time you're all right anyhow. " "Great." Curiosity had free reign now. Tony jumped to his feet and carried the box closer to one of the glowing beetle jars. "Hmm. Well, Wong is right about it being a combinatorics problem, but there's no way I can try every possible combination here, not when each one has to be set by hand." He raised the box higher and lowered his head until his nose was nearly touching the gears. "I wonder if these come off..." "You don't think you could just dismantle it, do you?" Steve asked. Tony shook his head. "The devils aren't stupid. They're not going to build a lock like this and then stick it on something you could just take apart. But if I can see the mechanism beneath the gears, I might be able to figure out how it's supposed to unlock. Or at least reduce the number of combina-- wait, did you know there's writing on it?" "There is?" Steve hadn't noticed any marks at all. "Where?" Tony stepped aside to let Steve get closer to the light. "Here, have a look." Sure enough, once he leaned close and squinted, Steve could see that each gear was marked with a tiny, faintly etched symbol. It didn't look like any writing he'd ever seen, but then according to Wong, the devils in this version of hell had thirteen different alphabets, each with own highly specific purpose. "I bet it's a cipher." Tony sounded positively gleeful at the prospect. "I bet if I solve it, it'll tell me how to open the lock. I should--" "Excuse me, Captain. Mr. Stark." Wong stood just inside the doorway, looking slightly less imperturbable than usual. "The Black Widow has just arrived. She says she knows what happened to Peter." Chapter 2 "For the record," Natasha slurred through a fat lip and a swollen jaw, "I never told him to steal any box. That was entirely his own idea." They -- Steve, Natasha, Tony and Wong -- were gathered in the kitchen, in accordance with the unwritten house rule of "if Tony comes out of the basement, feed him." Now Wong had a pot of mushroom soup reheating on the stove, and the kettle on the burner next to it, which raised Steve's hopes for the possibility of tea or coffee. Earth-imported foodstuffs like tea leaves and coffee beans -- and flour and sugar, for that matter -- appeared at the Bazaar only at the Masters' whim, and were worth their weight in rostygold. Wong normally rationed them with an iron hand, but apparently the combination of Tony's presence and Natasha's battered state qualified this as a special occasion. "What exactly is going on?" Steve demanded. "What's in that box, anyway?" "I have no idea." Natasha winced as she shifted the icepack against her jaw. "All I know is, about a week ago, all these couriers with Brass Embassy insignia started going in and out of the Library. I poked around, and it seems that some senior devil back in Hell has decided that keeping all the Embassy Archives in one centralized location is too risky. So out goes an Infernal Decree, and now they're dispersing the Archive contents to hidey holes all over the city." "Okay." Steve decided not to ask what Natasha meant by "poking around." She tended to be disturbingly well-informed about doings at the Brass Embassy and the personal habits of devils. "So how does Peter fit into all this?" "By accident, mostly." Natasha shrugged. "I've been trailing the couriers whenever I got the chance, noting down the hidey hole locations. It seemed like it might be useful intel someday. Know your enemy, and all that. Yesterday, I ran into Peter just as two couriers were leaving at once. I asked him to follow one while I took the other. Follow, that's all. Not rob. I don't know what the hell he was thinking." "Maybe it called to him," Tony said. Everyone turned and stared at him until he heaved an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. "Come on! It's a puzzle box made in Hell. For all we know, it could be sentient." "Then maybe you shouldn't be keeping it in your lap," Natasha said dryly. "Good point." Tony moved the box to the table. It sat there, looking perfectly innocent, and showed no sign of calling anybody. "There didn't have to be a specific reason," Steve pointed out after a few moments. "Peter can be... impulsive, sometimes." "As opposed to the rest of the superhero community, which is so well-known for its caution." Wong ladled soup into bowls and set them on the table. "We can ask Peter about his line of reasoning when he wakes. The question is, what do we do in the meantime?" "Whatever it is," Natasha said, "I suggest you do it quietly. I've never seen the devils so stirred up. I was ambushed three times on my way here, and I don't think they even know I'm involved. They're just going after anybody in costume." "If that's true," Wong said, "then this must be a very important box." "Meaning I should stop lallygagging and get the damn thing open." Tony sighed. "I get the message." "Having dinner is not lallygagging," Steve said firmly. "And you're not going to get anything done if you keel over." Tony didn't look especially convinced by this line of argument, but he did start eating. Steve decided to count it as a victory. "I'll see what I can discover in the library," Wong said when they were all done with their soup. "It'll help to have a copy of all the symbols on these gears. If they really are one of Hell's alphabets, I may be able to find something useful in my notes, or in one of Dr. Strange's old journals." "I'll copy it for you," Tony promised. "Hopefully, it won't make my hair catch on fire or anything." "I don't think that really happens," Wong said, but he didn't sound all that sure. Natasha refused Wong's offer of a guest room, shrugging it off with a joke about needing to feed her houseplant before it ate the neighbors. At least, Steve thought it was a joke. He got her to borrow a coat and hat from Jessica Drew before she left, and hoped it would keep her from being ambushed yet again before she made it to wherever it was she was living these days. Tony disappeared into his workshop, and Wong into the library, leaving Steve at loose ends. He felt as if he should be going out and doing something, but there was nothing to be done, not until they had more information. That seemed to be the running theme in Steve's life these days, and he hated it. He understood the need for good intelligence; any competent soldier did. But ever since the Descent, life had become an endless, thankless scramble for scraps of knowledge; scraps that often made no sense, or made sense only on alternate Thursdays, or needed a thousand other scraps to put them into context. And the end goal of all the scrambling wasn't even victory -- just plain survival. Both the devils and the Masters of the Bazaar loved secrets, and they loved to keep the human population of Lowered Manhattan guessing. The rules of the world were forever shifting. Curfews, taxes, the number of days in a week, the prices at the Bazaar, the list of proscribed materials -- anything could change at any time, and ignorance of the law was no defense. Only the electricity ban and the law against unlicensed soul trading remained constant. In a way, Steve had to admire the devils' strategy. It was nearly impossible to organize an effective resistance when you had to do three days' worth of reconnaissance just to go on a grocery run. Here they were now, expending valuable time and resources on what was probably some junior devil's boxed lunch, and all Steve could do to help was wash the dishes. "Cap?" MJ came in, looking tired but reassuringly calm. "Peter's awake." Peter appeared to be deeply embarrassed, but otherwise none the worse for wear. He was sitting up on the ottoman with a pile of pillows propping his back and a blanket draped over his legs. The combination of rueful expression and the slightly too-long hair flopping over the bandage on his forehead made him look about twelve years old. "It just seemed like such a perfect opportunity," he said sheepishly. "A carriage horse near the park got spooked and ran up on the sidewalk, mowed that courier guy right down. He let go of the box. All I had to do was shoot a web out." "If you ever pull something like that again," MJ growled at him, "I'm going to leave you to bleed to death on the rug." "No, you won't," Peter said. "It's Wong's rug." "So what you're telling me," Steve said, "is that you've been attacked, Natasha's been attacked, and the Unfinished Men are out there trying to beat up anyone in a costume, all over a box that we don't know how to open, containing we don't know what." Peter shrank a little against his pile of pillows. "Yeah." "Great," Steve muttered, and went back down to the basement to see if Tony was making any progress. The smell of burnt plastic wafting up the stairs boded ill, and the harried look on Tony's face did not reassure. "Are you planning to burn down the house?" Steve asked as he ducked through the door into a cloud of smoke. "Because some advance notice would be nice." "Ha-ha." Tony was waving a spiral-bound notebook in front of his face as if it was a fan. He was wearing welding goggles, though Steve could see no welding equipment anywhere. Maybe he'd put them on to keep the smoke from his eyes. "I've been trying to copy these symbols for Wong, that's all. Except I don't think they want to be copied." The mystery box was on the table in front of him. It was surrounded with scattered sheets of paper, all with jagged, black-edged holes burned through them. Scattered among the mess were several twisted lumps of charred metal and plastic that might've once been Tony's drafting pencils, and one larger lump whose origins Steve couldn't make out. "Do I want to know how this happened?" Steve picked up one of the papers and squinted at it in the dim light. "It looks as if you've been trying to write with a soldering iron." "It couldn't have gone any worse if I had," Tony grumbled. "I tried to be clever at first -- had a stash of double-A batteries charged up from a few days ago, so I popped a couple into a digital camera and tried to take a photo." He prodded the large lump on the table with one sooty fingertip. "That was the camera." "Ouch." Steve eyed the box with new-found respect. "Maybe you shouldn't be messing with it until we know more." "Don't be ridiculous," Tony huffed. "It's not hurting me any. I think the symbols don't mind being read; it's the writing they object to." "The fact that you think they have opinions," Steve said, "is cause enough to worry in my book." Tony laughed, not very convincingly. "It's just a figure of speech. Of course they don't have opinions. And if they did, I wouldn't give a shit, because I'm not letting a goddamn magic alphabet tell me what to do." Steve's view of that must've shown on his face, because Tony burst out laughing and smacked Steve's chest with the back of his hand. "Relax, will you? Tell you what, if these scribbles do start having opinions, I'll just call you down here to disapprove at them. Not even Hell's alphabets could stand up to that." He grinned, and despite his concern, Steve found himself grinning back. For all the soot and the smoke, Tony seemed to be genuinely enjoying the challenge the box presented. Steve couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Tony like this, energized and excited about his work instead of brooding over his latest failure. Even back on Earth, this side of Tony had shown itself all too rarely. Since the descent, it had disappeared almost completely, and Steve missed it, dammit. "All right," Steve said, "it's your call for now. But promise that you will tell me if anything goes wrong. Or, better yet, tell Wong. He's more likely to know what to do." "Promise." Tony traced a little X over his heart. "Now go away and let me work." "Remember, no burning down the house without advance notice," Steve told him, and went upstairs to finish the dishes. Natasha returned the next morning, in civilian clothes, bearing a bag of bagels and a jar of spiced mushroom spread. Her jaw had swelled even more impressively overnight, and turned a vivid shade of purplish-blue that clashed with her hair. She and Peter made a fine pair of battered bookends at the opposite ends of the breakfast table. "It's still a mess out there," Natasha said grimly. "The Unfinished Men are out in packs, and the LMPD is setting up checkpoints. Yesterday they were going after anyone in a costume. Today they're just going after anyone. I hope you all appreciate these bagels, because I got patted down twice just to fetch them." "Great," Peter muttered. "I do one impulsive thing, and all Hell breaks loose. Literally." "Really?" Luke said. "Because from where I'm sitting, you've done about a million impulsive things, and now the odds have finally caught up with you." "Now that's just mean," Peter said. "Entirely true, but mean. Damn, I miss the days when if I messed up, all I had to worry about was a rage-filled editorial in the Daily Bugle. Which was exactly the same as what happened when I didn't mess up, so really not that much of a worry." "Let's find out what's in that box," Steve said, "before we decide if you've messed up or not. Tony and Wong are both looking into it, but it might take a while. Natasha, you seem to have more contacts among the devils than the rest of us. Can you get anything useful out of them?" "I can try." Natasha looked uncertain. "I know this filing clerk at the Archive. She says she can get into the records room and find out what that particular courier was supposed to be delivering yesterday. And there are a few junior Embassy officials I've been cultivating. But devils are greedy bastards, and right now they're all nervous, too. I used to be able to intimidate them, if I worked at it a bit, but these days they're more afraid of being caught talking than they are of me. So I'll need bribe money. A lot of it." "How much?" Steve asked. Natasha pursed her lips and gazed up at the ceiling for a while, looking as if she was doing sums in hear head. "Let's say... Three hundred thousand echoes. To start with, anyhow." There was an appalled silence all around the table. Peter, MJ and both Jessicas looked slightly dazed. Luke glanced around dining room with a speculative look in his eye, as if gauging the market value of the furniture. Only little Danni, oblivious to adult concerns, continued to cheerfully bounce in her fathers lap as she gnawed on her bagel. "Three hundred grand?" Peter squeaked. "That's not bribe money. That's... winning the lottery and breaking the bank in Vegas, all at the same time." Natasha shrugged. "I'll be asking a lot of devils to run a lot of risk. This isn't just the ordinary business of passing rumors and hints around. We need concrete intelligence here, and the people who have it will have to answer to Hell if they get caught giving it to me. I have to make it worth their while." "That's great" Jessica Drew grumbled. "But where the hell are we going to get that much money? Is there a human anywhere in the city who actually has that much?" "The Kingpin," Peter said sourly. "We are not dealing with the Kingpin," Steve snapped. "I'll go Uptown and talk to the Falcon. He's got his people harvesting glim at the source, they ought to be able to raise a decent sum at short notice." "Right," Luke said. "I might know a guy who might know a guy who might have a line on some moon pearls." "Good." Natasha nodded. "I'll talk to the Rubbery Men. If any of them talk back, I can score some amber." "I'll... be of no use whatsover." Peter slumped in his chair a little. "Man, remember when if you needed a medium-sized fortune, you just went and asked Tony Stark for his pocket change? Those were the days." "Speaking of Tony..." Steve reached for a bagel. "I should bring him some breakfast." "You know he might come out of there more often if you didn't keep coddling him," Jessica Jones pointed out. Steve pretended he hadn't heard that. Steve came down to the basement to find the generator running and the room flooded with electric light. This was such a rare occurrence that he stopped in the doorway and stared for a while, blinking as his eyes adjusted to more light than he'd seen in months. Normally, even when Tony had the power on, he never wasted it on something as mundane as illumination. They had candles and beetles for that, expensive but legal and fairly easy to find. "Hey, Tony." Steve finally himself and stepped all the way into the room. Tony was sitting at his worktable, scribbling rapidly in a notebook. "What's going on?" "Steve!" Tony sounded disturbingly cheery, almost manic. "I've been making progress." He waved the notebook -- slightly tattered but unsinged -- in one hand. "That's good." Steve shoved another notebook aside to make room for the plate he'd brought down. "Have you been up all night?" "Don't be ridiculous," Tony said in a tone that clearly meant yes, of course I have. He was wearing yesterday's clothes, including the welding goggles, and his skin had a pasty look Steve didn't like at all. "And anyway, that's not the point. The point is, I've found a way to get these symbols copied over. The trick is to write them down backwards." "Okay." Steve opened the notebook that was lying on the table. The symbols Tony had put down looked a little bit like Egyptian hieroglyphics, a little bit like some ancient writings Namor had once shown him in Atlantis, and a little bit like the mutant aliens spider he once saw in a cheesy sci-fi flick on late-night cable. In fact, if he looked at them for more than a few seconds at a time, some of the lines seemed to wriggle and squirm on the page. Steve slapped the cover shut and rubbed his suddenly-itchy eyes. "Should I bring these up to Wong, then?" "No!" Tony swept his arms across the table and gathered both notebooks to him in an oddly possessive gesture. "I mean, not yet. Not until I get it all in order and write up my findings. No point in Wong going over stuff I've already done, right?" He looked down at the pile of paper in front of him, winced, and raised one hand to rub at his eyes. He seemed startled when his knuckles met the frame of his goggles. "Right. Sure." Steve made a move as if to pick up one of the notebooks, and Tony immediately hunched over it in a protective huddle. "Tell me what's wrong." "Nothing!" Tony sat up straight but kept his arms folded in a circle on top of the table, as if shielding his notes from some imminent threat. "I just-- I really need to keep working, all right?" "I don't know, I'm starting to think you need to stop." Steve glanced around the room as the question he should've asked as soon as he came in finally occurred t him. "Where's the box?" "It's..." Tony fidgeted in his seat a little, then finally lifted one arm with visible reluctance and pointed toward his sleeping nook. "It's over there." The box was sitting on top of Tony's nightstand, within easy arm's reach of his pillow. The covers on the cot were twisted up and crumpled, though that didn't prove that Tony had actually slept the night before -- he hardly ever bothered to make his bed these days. "What did you do, take it to bed and cuddle it?" Steve laughed, but the laughter stuck in his throat when he saw the furtive, guilty look on Tony's face. "Wait, you didn't really, did you?" "N-no," Tony muttered without much conviction. When Steve just stared at him, he fidgeted some more and reached up to adjust his goggles. A thick red drop trickled out from under the frame and slid down his cheek like a tear. "Jesus, Tony!" Steve stepped forward, too fast for Tony to retreat, and snatched the goggles from Tony's face. "What the hell are you doing to yourself?" The whites of Tony's eyes had gone dark red. Drops of blood beaded at the corners and more blood crusted his lashes. "Nothing! It's no big deal." Tony grabbed the goggles from Steve's hand and put them back on. "It's just a side effect of the Correspondence." "The Correspondence?" Steve repeated blankly. Tony tapped the notebook in front of him. "The symbols on the box. It's not just a code or an alphabet of Hell, it's an entire language unto itself. I think I'm starting to understand it. But..." Tony gave a shaky grin and a shrug. "It's a little hard on the eyes." "All right, that's enough." Steve marched toward the nightstand, but Tony put on a startling burst of speed and got there first. "Whoa, wait! What are you doing?" "I'm locking that thing away until we know what's in it," Steve told him in his best don't-argue-with-me voice. "It's clearly not safe for you to be working on it." "Oh, come on." Tony shuffled sideways a little, using his body to completely block Steve's view of the nightstand. "It hasn't harmed me any." "You're weeping blood, Tony. Also, you're creeping me out." "Nonsense." Tony smirked. "You're Captain America, nothing creeps you out." "That's what I used to think," Steve said grimly. "Move aside, I'm taking that box." "Oh, give me a break." Tony spun around, grabbed the box from the nightstand, and stomped across the room with an air of long-suffering exasperation. He shoved the box into a cabinet on the back wall, dug a sturdy-looking padlock from a drawer, and made a great show of locking the cabinet doors. "There," he said, finally turning to face Steve again. "Satisfied?" "Give me the key," Steve ordered, and Tony tossed it to him. "Now are you satisfied?" "Not quite," Steve said. "You're coming upstairs with me." "I need to--" Tony began, but Steve stepped forward and gripped his arm before he could get a proper argument going. "Now, Tony. You're going to eat breakfast--" "That breakfast right there?" Tony pointed at the bagel Steve had left on the table earlier. Steve snatched up the plate with his free hand. "We'll bring it back up. You're going to eat it, and then you're going to shower, because I smelled you from across the room and I really wish I hadn't, and then you're going to go and sleep in a proper bed for once, and you're not going to work on any magic boxes or... or Correspondences until we have more intel on what we're dealing with. Got it?" "Sir, yes sir!" Tony grumbled, and let Steve drag him upstairs. Chapter 3 "The Correspondence?" Wong frowned in a manner that in anyone else would've suggested mild concern, but in him served as a sign of incipient panic. "Are you sure?" "That's what Tony called it," Steve said. "Why, does that mean anything to you?" They were in the first-floor library, a handsome room that always made Steve feel a pang of nostalgia for the Avengers Mansion. The elaborate mahogany boiseries were more opulent than the Stark family's more streamlined style, but the thick carpets and the antique furniture gave the same impression of having been selected by somebody with a great deal of money and excellent taste, or at least an excellent decorator. The sturdy oak bookcases that lined the walls held Stephen Strange's entire collection of magical books and journals, as well as everything Wong had managed to add over the past three years. After Tony's workshop, it was probably the largest stockpile of proscribed materials in all of Lowered Manhattan. Wong sat behind the massive rolltop desk at the back of the room, with several books and one fragile-looking papyrus scroll spread out in front of him. Like Tony, he lit his workspace with jars of glowing beetles -- he didn't like to have candles too close to the books. He'd been immersed in his own research when Steve had come in, but the mention of the Correspondence caused him to immediately put his pen down and give Steve his full attention. "I've heard of it," he said slowly, "but have never studied it myself. If I recall correctly, it's a written language that has been adopted by the denizens of several Hell dimensions, but is not native to any of them." "So what is it native to?" Steve asked. "No one knows." Wong adjusted the wire-rimmed glasses he'd started to wear for reading in the past couple of years. "All I know is, Dr. Strange tried to make a study of it some years ago, using mostly secondary sources, then put it aside. He had a theory that it's sentient, and hostile to humanity." Steve tried to imagine how that might work, and failed miserably. "How can a language be sentient?" "You'd be surprised at what unlikely things can be sentient if you know how to recognize them," Wong said wryly. "In any case, I don't know that it's true, only that it's what Dr. Strange believed. What I do know is that scholars who spent too much time examining the Correspondence directly have a way of ending up dead or mad. You were right to get Mr. Stark away from that box." "Now we just need to make sure he keeps away from it," Steve sighed. "He's asleep upstairs right now, but when he wakes up, tell him what you just told me, will you?" Surely even Tony, with his half-atrophied sense of self-preservation, would know to be wary of hostile sentient languages. "I'll make it sound very vague and mystical," Wong promised. "That's usually guaranteed to make him stay away in disgust." "Thanks," Steve said, and went to get changed for his trip Uptown. The Unfinished Men Steve and Luke had fought the day before would've recovered by now, and reported to their superiors. That meant the Brass Embassy had to know that the Avengers had their mystery box. Going out as Captain America meant inviting trouble not just for himself, but for the Uptowners, whose existence was already precarious enough. Steve hated sneaking around Manhattan as if it were enemy territory instead of home. It seemed like an admission of defeat, somehow. Still, despite frequent accusations to the contrary, he did know when and how to bow to practical necessity. There was more at stake then his pride. So he threw on a leather aviator jacket over jeans and a plain gray sweatshirt, and left his shield behind when he left the house. In the perpetual shadows of Lowered Manhattan, this was as unobtrusive as he was ever likely to get. No matter how many times he'd done it, that first step through the Sanctum Sanctorum's front door into the street always gave Steve a faint shiver of unease. Wong claimed that he was simply feeling the loss of the magical protections that still clung to the house even after Stephen Strange's death. Steve thought it was the smell. He'd gotten used to the round-the-clock darkness and the muted sounds, to reading by candlelight and doing all his laundry by hand, to car-free streets and darkened billboards in Times Square, to a diet that was ninety percent mushrooms. But the stale, musty air was a forcible reminder that the city wasn't being kept in perpetual night by magic or illusion, it was actually underground, cut off and sealed in. A million and a half people, all buried alive together, and Steve seemed to be the only one still bothered by the thought. Tony insisted that it was all the same air, indoors and out, and the difference was all in Steve's head. Tony had barely set foot out of the basement in three years, so Steve wasn't inclined to take his opinion for it. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and walked north, keeping a wary eye out for the patrols and checkpoints Natasha had warned about. The streets were a great deal emptier than normal. Apparently, everyone who could was staying indoors for the day. After several blocks, Steve ducked into a small grocery store on MacDougal and bought two loaves of bread and a dozen packets of jerky ("100% local-caught squirrel! No rat, bat or pigeon, guaranteed!") The grocery bag gave him a plausible reason to be outside, and some lucky Uptowner would appreciate the donation. There were LMPD checkpoints every five or six blocks, and Unfinished Men roamed the streets in packs. Steve had to circle out of his way several times, and occasionally duck into doorways to avoid being seen. Luck was with him, though, or maybe just good timing, and he reached Herald Square unmolested. Now, it was just a matter of going up. In the days immediately following the Descent, Manhattan's population went through a drastic vertical shift. With no electricity to power the elevators, thousands of people were forced to move downwards, leaving the world of luxury high-rises and multimillion-dollar penthouses to anyone who was willing to make the climb. An entirely new infrastructure sprung up nearly overnight, connecting the higher levels of the city through a network of catwalks, zip lines, and complex rope-and-pulley arrangements. Some of the new Uptowners claimed that they hadn't touched the ground in years. The Macy's building was one of the central access points -- nowhere near the tallest building in the area, but high enough to make the climb a bit of a challenge. Steve slung his grocery bag onto his shoulder, and took a running leap at the south facade. He used the overhang over the door as a springboard to launch himself still higher, caught the lower edge of a third-floor window with one hand, and free-climbed the rest of the way to the top. There was a platform mounted on the roof, with dozens of nylon cables fanning out in all directions to connect to the surounding buildings. Some of the cables were thick and sturdy enough for climbing, others were barely thicker than a length of fishing line. Steve grabbed one of thinner cables, tugged once, then three times fast, twice, once, three times again. He waited a minute, repeated the sequence, then settled down with his back to the platform to wait for a response. It took a little over five minutes before one of the sturdier cables began to vibrate, signaling that someone was approaching. A few seconds later, a teenage girl in biker shorts and a baggy sweatshirt rappelled across 35th Street to land in a defensive crouch about six feet in front of Steve. "Who are you?" The girl's expression was wary but unafraid. She had a knife strapped to her thigh, and what looked like the grip of an aluminum baseball bat protruding from the pack strapped to her back. Steve kept his hands in plain sight and did his best not to look like a threat. "Captain America," he said. "I'm here to see the Falcon." The girl's eyes widened a little, but she didn't relax her stance or take her gaze off Steve's empty hands. "Got any proof?" she demanded. Steve dug his Avengers card from his jacket and held it out. "Is this good enough?" "M-maybe." The girl folded her arms across her chest and pursed her lips. Steve thought she was trying just a little too hard to look unimpressed. Teenagers had that reaction to him, sometimes. "What do you want with Sam?" "I'd rather tell him myself. Here." Steve offered her the grocery bag. The bread was a little squashed, but other than that everything was in good shape. "I've brought a donation." "Hmm." The girl snatched the bag from his hand and examined the contents before stuffing it into her backpack with an approving nod. "Sam's on the East Side today." She leaped up to grab a cable, swung her legs up and over, dangled upside-down as she gave him a wide grin. "If you're really Captain America, you should be able to keep up." The trip that followed was fairly dizzying, even by Steve's standards. They traveled fifteen blocks in under ten minutes, leaping and swinging in a manner Steve normally associated with Spider-Man. He kept up, though he thought the girl cheated a couple of times, taking shortcuts over supports that wouldn't hold Steve's weight and forcing him to scramble the long way around. By the time they reached their destination, on the roof of what must've once been an incredibly pricey condo tower just north of the UN, he was starting to wish he hadn't worn a jacket. Unlike the Macy's building, this one clearly wasn't intended as a transportation hub. There were no cables or catwalks connecting to the surrounding roofs; they'd had jto ump ten feet onto a three-inch ledge from a smaller building next door, then scale the wall the rest of the way to the top. Once they got up there, Steve could see the reason for the limited access. The roof was lined with rows of long, narrow boxes holding the fat black mushrooms that had become the city's main food crop. The air was thick with the smell of damp earth and mulch. Oyster mushrooms sprouted from straw-filled plastic bags suspended from metal frames, and a row of metal trash cans served as planters for one of the odd underground plants exported by the Brass Embassy, the one with the black leaves and the translucent white berries that tasted like candied ginger. And propped up on poles overhead was a glim net, sagging heavily beneath the weight of glossy, blue-black jewels. This close to the cavern roof, the glim didn't have time to break up as it fell, resulting in larger, more valuable pieces. The contents of that one net could keep a Downtown family comfortably housed and fed for a month, even at the inflated Bazaar prices. "You'll have to hang here for a while." Steve's guide made a quick round of the mushroom garden, checking the box contents with a critical eye before squatting at the edge of the roof, directly opposite where Steve was standing. "The Falcon patrols this side of town in the mornings, but I can't say for sure when he'll be here." She gripped the edge and let her feet swing down, dangling by her fingertips. "I'll tell him you're waiting if I see him." "What if he's already come and gone?" Steve asked, but the girl dropped out of sight before he finished getting the words out. By the time he jogged across the roof and looked down, she was shimmying down the wall, five floors below him and at least fifty floors above the street. "Thanks!" Steve called after her, but she didn't look up. There was nothing left to do but sit and wait again, so Steve sat and waited. This high above the city, the world was eerily silent. The phosphorescent spots on the cavern roof looked almost like stars except that the unfamiliar constellations they formed never changed. Steve found himself drumming his fingers against the side of one of the metal planters, just to have a bit of ordinary noise to ground him. A series of short, high-pitched hoots in the distance made him rise to his feet and raise one arm in greeting. A few seconds later, the Falcon glided down to a smooth landing on the one corner of the roof that wasn't covered by glim net. Redwing circled overhead, still hooting. "Cap." The Falcon's wings shimmered out of existence as he stepped forward to shake Steve's hand. "You're not looking like your usual colorful self." "Unfortunately," Steve said, "my usual colorful self is kind of wanted right now." "I know." Sam's smile grew a little cooler. "We actually had the LMPD up here, for the first time ever. Asking about you and Luke and Spider-Man. Threatening to arrest us all for not paying taxes on our glim. Good times all around." "Sorry." Steve winced. "They didn't actually arrest anybody, did they?" "Nah." Sam shrugged it off. "They knew better than to try, up here. Man, you should've seen all the gear they lugged along, just to get here. You'd think they were going up Everest. I think some of the rookies had parachutes." He barked out a laugh, accompanied by a matching cackle from Redwing. "No, the cops were no trouble. If the devils decide to come calling, though -- that could be a different game." He gave Steve a suspicious look. "Are the devils going to come calling?" "I don't think so," Steve said. "I mean, no one really knows what they'll do. But I'd say if they haven't come up by now, they probably won't. " "You'd better be right," Sam said darkly. "Okay, then, if you're not here to bring trouble, then why are you here?" "I need a favor," Steve said. "And before you ask, yes, it's related to yesterday's business. But it's not something anyone will be able to trace to you." "Uh-huh," Sam said. Redwing swooped down to sit on his shoulder and fixed Steve with a beady, skeptical glare. "What kind of favor?" "I need glim," Steve told him. "As much you can spare in the next couple of days." "Really?" Sam raised his eyebrows, and Redwing gave an amused little chirp. "Normally, when you come around looking for a favor, it's because you want me to do something noble and suicidal with you. Captain America begging for money is a new one on me. What do you need it for?" "It's a long story," Steve said. "Great." Sam smirked. "I could use some entertainment on a slow day. Talk." Steve talked, and Sam's expression grew steadily more grave as he listened. He asked no questions when Steve finished, just shook his head and let out a low whistle. "Damn. That's a hell of a lot of money to cough up when you don't actually know what you're buying." "I know." Steve nodded. "But we're kind of in a bind here. Whatever's in that box, the devils and the Masters want it badly. We can't give it to them, not without knowing what's in it, and according to Wong there's no safe way to destroy it or get rid of it. We need to know what's in it before we can clear up this mess." "Great," Sam said sourly. "You know I can't get you three hundred grand in glim, right? It would take weeks to gather that much, even if I could afford to hand you the entire Uptown harvest over that time. Which I can't." "I know," Steve said. "I'm only asking for what you can afford to spare. And if there's anything I or the Avengers can do for you in return, just say it." "Well..." Sam looked thoughtful. "I do have a spot of high-rise construction work going on about fifty blocks north that could use another strong back." Steve shrugged out of his jacket. "Lead the way." Six and a half hours later, Steve was enjoying a new and enhanced appreciation of walking on solid ground. The sidewalk on Fifth Avenue was nice and broad. It didn't wobble or sway beneath his weight, and if he accidentally stepped off it, he'd just end up in the street, with nothing worse than a stray rollerblader to worry about. Steve had a good head for heights, but a day spent installing what Sam had called "an Uptown extension" over East Harlem came close to exceeding his tolerance. He was fairly sure that Sam had drafted him mainly for amusement value. Everyone else on the crew had been a skilled construction worker. They hadn't really needed him. But they'd all seemed glad to have him anyway, and it had felt good to do something physical yet non-violent and immediately useful for a change. For all his worries, Steve found himself feeling fairly cheerful as he walked back to the Sanctum Sanctorum. Naturally, it wasn't meant to last. There was a checkpoint at 42nd Street, large enough that Steve could see it from three blocks away. He veered west to avoid it, then had to keep going to avoid the LMPD patrols that suddenly seemed to be everywhere. By the time he finally turned south again, he was on the riverfront. At least there were no patrols there, or any other sign of life, for that matter. Not so much as a sorrow-spider creeping in the shadows. The creatures that lived in New Hudson liked to come ashore sometimes, and they had a habit of eating anything they could get their tentacles on. Even the devils tended to avoid the western riverfront, and all of the city's shipping was done on the east side. Steve found himself flexing his fingers as he walked, his hand itching for the comforting weight of his shield. "Hold it right there, Rogers!" Damn. He'd been so focused on the potential dangers from the river that he'd missed the sound of human footsteps half a block away. Trust Maria Hill to patrol where no one else would, and to recognize him across a wide, badly-lit street. There was no place to run, and Steve didn't feel like running anyway. He stopped and waited. Hill wore her old SHIELD battle uniform under a frayed Army jacket with LMPD patches hand-sewn to her right sleeve and breast pocket. The three officers with her wore similar patchwork uniforms. The LMPD itself was a patchwork, formed from the NYPD, SHIELD and military personnel that got stranded in Lowered Manhattan after the Descent. They did a fine enough job dealing with ordinary day-to-day police work, but in a city where Hell ran the legal system and owning a flashlight was a capital crime, they could never be completely trusted. And Hill in particular was not someone to whom Steve was inclined to give the benefit of the doubt. She had followed some pretty shady orders from pretty shady people even back when she was SHIELD. He wondered what she was doing here. Hill was one of LMPD's higher-ranking detectives, as well as their liaison to the Brass Embassy. Why was she patrolling the streets like an ordinary beat cop? Then again, the ordinary beat cops were probably busy manning the checkpoints. "Is there a problem, officer?" Steve asked in his blandest, most innocent tone. Hill's answering scowl could've blistered paint. "Put your hands on your head." She had her gun drawn, all of them did. This would be a tricky fight if it got that far. Steve stayed where he was, hands at his sides. "Am I under arrest?" "I'll let you know in a minute. Put your hands up." If she patted him down, she'd find his Avengers card, with its hundred-year battery and miniaturized transmitter/receiver. Enough proscribed tech to warrant a hanging, or maybe even something permanent. The Masters could get highly inventive with their execution methods when they thought it was worth the bother. Not that Steve had any intention of letting himself be arrested. "Is this what the LAPD does now? Harass random pedestrians? No wonder you took to the job so well, Hill." "Shut up," Hill growled. "I have sworn statements from two witnesses saying you made off with Embassy property yesterday. You're lucky I don't arrest you on the spot." "What witnesses? Unfinished Men?" Steve rolled his eyes. "So well known for their upright moral character. Even the devils won't admit their testimony in court." "We're not in court." Hill took a step toward him, gun still raised. "For the last time, put your hands up." The other three officers were fanning out behind her, covering Steve from three sides. Not from the river side, though -- none of them were willing to turn their backs on that black water. That gave him a direction to retreat in, provided he didn't mind getting wet. And possibly eaten. And if Hill got close to him, she'd be in the line of fire, enough to make the others hold their shots for a few moments. He could make this work. Steve raised his arms and clasped his hands together at the back of his neck. Hill finally holstered her gun to frisk him. She was quick and efficient about it, patting him down from shoulder to ankle, tossing his matches and his Swiss army knife to the ground as she went through his pockets. When she reached the inside chest pocket on his jacket, she paused, fingers tracing the edges of the Avengers card through the cloth. Steve tensed, ready to make a grab. The thought of taking a hostage left a foul taste in his mouth, but it would only be for a few seconds, just enough to get him in position to jump. He was almost ready-- "He's clean." Hill stepped back, sounding thoroughly annoyed with the universe. "Everyone stand down." Steve lowered his arms, trying to look less confused than he felt. Hill had the excuse to arrest him literally at her fingertips, and she was backing off. What was the point of the whole exercise if she wasn't going to follow through? "Here's the deal, Rogers." Hill's voice was ice-cold. "The devils want their property back, and they don't care how they get it. They'll tear the city apart if they have to, but there's no reason why they should have to. If that box surfaced again -- in an anonymous package, maybe, or a lost and found office at a police station -- then they'd be satisfied. No questions asked, no further trouble. You have my word on it." Ah. That's what the point was. Maria Hill's notion of a good will gesture. She could've arrested him, and she didn't, and now he was supposed to trust her. Steve wasn't impressed. "The devils are going to just back off and play nice? Forgive me if I don't just take you word on that." Hill's right hand twitched toward her holstered gun, then clenched into a fist and remained at her side. "You don't have a choice," she said flatly. "Or maybe you do, if you're willing to keep hiding behind Wong's apron while the city is torn apart around you." "Fine words," Steve said, "from someone who's doing the tearing. Last time I checked, it was your people running the checkpoints and making the mass arrests, Hill." "Would you rather the Unfinished Men do it?" Hill demanded. "They don't make arrests, and they don't ask questions either, they just crack heads. At least when I and my men stop somebody, we let them go in one piece when we're done." "I'll remember that," Steve said, "next time there's a round of executions in Embassy Square." "Look." Hill stepped even closer, and pitched her voice low enough so that only Steve could hear it. "I don't actually give a shit what you think about me. But think about this: the only reason the devils haven't shown up at your front door to reclaim that fucking box is because they don't know where you live. I do know, and I haven't told them, just as I haven't told anyone about that contraband tech in your pocket. You can hate me all you want, but you still need to trust me, because things can get a lot worse than they are now." "It never works, you know," Steve told her. Hill glared at him with wide, furious eyes. "What doesn't work?" "Collaborating." Steve didn't bother to keep his voice low. Let the other officers hear, they were in it too. "I've seen it a hundred times, all through the war. You think you're preventing the greater evil by going along with the small ones. You think you're being pragmatic, and reasonable, and doing what has to be done. But the small evils pave the way for the greater one, and when it happens, you'll be right in the middle of it, wondering how your hands got so filthy. You may think it'll be somehow different for you, but it won't be. This is what happens. This is how it works." From the look on Hill's face, Steve thought she might forget about the gun and go for his throat with her bare hands, but apparently the SHIELD training held. She reined in her temper and stayed where she was. "You have no idea how it works," she hissed at him, "or what I've prevented while you sat around composing pretty speeches. You want to despise me for what I'm doing, fine. What have you done these past three years, Captain America?" She spun around and walked away from without waiting for an answer, gesturing for her men to follow. "You have my offer!" She called out without turning to look at him as she crossed the street. "It's your call now." Steve waited until they were all out of sight before he gathered his belongings from the ground and began walking himself. His earlier cheerful mood was completely gone, replaced by tension and futile anger. Encounters with Hill always had a bad effect on his temper, and this time was made worse by the fact that he had no good answer for her final question. What have you done for the past three years, Captain America? The answer was, precious little. The Avengers had devoted most of their resources to searching for ways to return Manhattan to its proper time and place, and so far they had nothing to show for it. And without that one all-important thing, everything else they did was a band-aid on a gut wound. It was a long, plodding walk back to Bleecker Street. By the time he reached the Sanctum Sanctorum, all Steve wanted was food and sleep, in no particular order. But all thoughts of rest vanished when a pale-faced Jessica Drew met him at the door. "Tony's gone," she announced, before Steve could even begin to ask what was wrong. "He's what?" Steve felt suddenly cold. "What do you mean gone?" "Gone from the house," Wong said, walking into the foyer behind Jessica. "No word to anyone. We don't even know exactly when he left." Steve couldn't even remember the last time Tony had left the house. "Where could he possibly go?" "I don't know," Wong said grimly. "But he took the box with him." Chapter 4 The cabinet in the workshop was wide open, the padlock left on the floor in pieces next to the bolt cutters Tony had used to remove it. Aside from the box, nothing seemed to be missing, but then again, Tony was the only one who had the complete inventory. "I should've known." Steve picked up the broken lock and dropped it on the table, resisting the childish urge to hurl it at the wall. "Should've known it was too easy when he locked it up of his own free will... How long has he been gone? Has anyone talked to him?" "I did," Wong said. "He came into the library to ask if I'd made any progress, and I told him about the Correspondence. He did his usual grumbling about magic, then left. That was about two hours ago." "I heard the generator going," Jessica offered. "About an hour ago, when I came down to the storeroom for some candles. It's off now, so he must've shut it down before he left." None of the other Avengers had seen or heard Tony all day, which was hardly unusual. If he hadn't left the front door ajar when he walked out, they might not have noticed him missing at all. An hour or less. He could've gone anywhere in an hour. It was certainly more than enough time to run into a checkpoint or get picked up by a patrol. Steve's imagination was all too ready to paint grisly images of what the Unfinished Men might do to Tony if they found him wandering the streets with the box. "All right, let's try and think about this from Tony's point of view. Why did he leave in the first place? Where would he go?" "The Brass Embassy," Wong said. "Or possibly the Library." When everyone turned to look at him, he shrugged and spread his hands. "I doubt Mr. Stark wandered off on his own whim. He knows how dangerous it is out there. The box -- or rather, the Correspondence written on the box -- must be influencing him somehow, and the box is devil-made. My guess is, they designed it to want to return to them if stolen." That sounded... terrifyingly plausible. Steve closed his eyes for a moment and tried to will himself into calmness. It wasn't an entirely successful effort, but at least he managed to speak without shouting. "All right then, let's assume Tony is headed north. If we move quickly -- " and if he hasn't gotten himself killed yet -- "we may catch up to him." Three minutes later, Steve and Luke were headed north on Sixth Avenue, while Wong and Peter took MacDougal and both Jessicas scouted ahead by air. Steve wished they weren't so short-handed, wished they had a quick way of locating Black Widow, or Daredevil, or the Falcon. They had no way of knowing what Tony was thinking or what the Correspondence was telling him. He might've headed for the nearest checkpoint to turn himself in, or he might be taking a roundabout route and trying to avoid being seen. The Avengers needed to cover as much ground as they could, and at the moment it wasn't much. "Cap." Luke grabbed Steve's shoulder and pulled him to a halt as he pointed toward an overturned trashcan a few paces ahead of them. The streetlight at the corner wasn't quite bright enough to dispel the shadows around the can, and it took Steve a moment to realize that the small gray lump nestled among the spilled trash was actually a sleeping cat, curled up with its tail wrapped around its paws. "You want to do the honors?" Luke whispered, "or should I?" "My boots are quieter." Steve inched forward a step. "Stand by to grab if I miss, though." The cat's ears twitched a little as he tiptoed toward it, but Steve held his breath and kept moving until he was close enough to drop to his knees and grab. The cat woke with a yowl and a great deal of violent thrashing, but Steve had a good hold on it by then. He cradled the hissing beast firmly against his chest as he climbed to his feet. The cat snagged its hind claws in the fabric of his sweatshirt, made one last attempt to wriggle free, then abruptly went limp in Steve's grip. "The sixth alphabet of Hell is the alphabet of wards and barriers," it hissed resentfully. "Thank you," Steve said in his most polite tone. "But I'm not actually looking for secrets right now." He shifted his hold and attempted a gentle rub behind the cat's ears. It craned its neck around to glare at him, its yellow eyes expressing deep contempt. "What do you want, then?" "A friend of mine is missing," Steve said. "He might've passed this way in the last hour or so. Human, about my height but thinner, black ha-- black fur on his head and face. He's carrying a metal box, a little smaller than you are. If you help us find him, my friends and I will owe you a favor." "What makes you think I care for human favors?" the cat growled, but its eyes narrowed to slits, and the expression on its face -- as far as a cat could be judged to have expressions -- shifted from derisive to calculating. Steve waited in silence, doing his best to project an air of respectful calm. It was difficult. Every second he stood there was another second for Tony to get farther away and deeper into trouble. But cats couldn't be rushed or bullied into cooperating, they could only be persuaded. So he waited, and eventually the cat let out a half-hearted purr and butted its head against his chest. "I saw a black-furred human like the one you describe," it admitted, "before I fell asleep. He went into the below place." "The below place?" Steve repeated blankly. The cat bristled its whiskers and twitched one paw northward, where a pair of unlit globe lamps flanked the entrance to the West 4th Street station. "He's gone into the subway?" Luke sounded as appalled as Steve felt. Short of throwing himself head-first into New Hudson, it was the most suicidal thing Tony could've done. "Below place. Spider country." The cat twisted free of Steve's slackened grip and darted into the shadows. Steve took a stumbling step toward the subway entrance, but Luke grabbed his arm. "Hold it, Cap. We can't just go running in there." "Tony is--" "I know," Luke said. "But if we're going to go down after him, we'll need light. And weapons. And back-up." Luke was right. More to the point, Luke was saying what Steve himself should've been saying if he'd been thinking clearly. This was no way to run a rescue mission. Steve mentally shoved aside the nightmare images of Tony's eyeless corpse, and reached for his communicator. "Avengers assemble." Light was the tricky part. A search of Tony's workshop turned up a propane lantern but no fuel, and six flashlights, only two of which had functioning batteries. Jessica Jones wrinkled her nose in disgust as she filled old pickle jars with glowing beetles and screwed on the lids. "I hate these things," she muttered, shaking a couple of stray beetles from her sleeve. "All those creepy legs." "You think those are creepy," Luke said, "wait till we get to the sorrow-spiders." Jessica glared as she shoved a jar into his hands. "Not helping, dear." "So," Peter said, "do we actually have a plan? Or are we just going to wander around in the dark until our eyeballs get eaten?" "We'll go in two groups," Steve said as he hefted his shield. "One flier in each group for advance scouting. If Wong's theory is right and Tony's taking the most direct route north, then he'll most likely be in one of the Sixth Avenue tunnels, so we'll check those first." "Right." Peter nodded sagely. "Wander in the dark until our eyeballs get eaten it is, then." The Lowered Manhattan City Council, elected six months after the Descent and mostly ignored by the real powers that ran the city, had an ongoing project in place, slowly bricking up all the subway entrances and exits. They hadn't gotten around to West 4th Street yet; the entrance on Sixth Avenue was piled high with sandbags and draped in yellow police tape. It didn't entirely keep the sorrow-spiders in -- there were too many ventilation ducts and access tunnels around for that -- but it did, for the most part, keep the humans out. The popular consensus was that anyone who actually made the effort to get past the barriers deserved their fate. So what does that make us? Steve wondered as he made his way down the stairs. Some of the sandbags had been pulled out, leaving a gap just large enough for a grown man to squeeze through. Which also made it large enough for a decent-sized spider. Steve hoped not too many had gotten out in the hour or so since Tony opened the way. Even more, he hoped that Tony still retained enough of his right mind to take a weapon and a light with him when he left the house. "We'd better close the hole behind us when we go in," he said. "No need to let any more of these things out into the streets." "Great." Peter shot out a web to pull one of the shifted bags back into place. "There's nothing I love more than entering a black pit of crawling horror and blocking my escape route behind me." The air on the mezzanine level smelled of mold and rot. The beam of Steve's flashlight picked out cobwebs smothering every inch of the walls in a thick gray layer. More webs clung to his boots as he walked, and hung from the ceiling like shredded drapes. They made for slow, sticky going, but there was an unexpected benefit to them: Tony's earlier progress left a clearly visible trail. Maybe they wouldn't have to split up after all. "Everyone stick close." Steve shifted to a fighting grip on his shield as he moved toward the stairs. "We can follow the--" A faint skittering sound was the only warning he got before the spiders leaped from the shadows. There were at least a dozen of them, maybe more. Steve couldn't judge the number in the dark, not when they were moving so fast. The one that went for his face was the size of a large cat, and Steve thought he could hear its mandibles clicking as it leaped toward him. He got the shield up just in time. The spider smacked into it with a thud and dropped to the floor, where it immediately launched itself at Steve's ankles. Steve brought the shield down edge first, decapitating the beast just as its fangs grazed his boot. Thick, foul-smelling goo splattered the floor, sizzling where it hit. The body's legs were still twitching when Steve kicked it aside. "Cap, get down!" Luke shouted behind him. Steve dropped into a crouch, and a length of chain sailed over his head to knock another spider out of the air before it could land on top of him. There was no time for thanks -- two more were already attacking. Steve sprang back up and swung his shield again. It was hard to tell how everyone else was doing, in the chaos of jumping shadows and small, bobbing light sources. The dark blur on Steve's left appeared to be Wong, fighting with a staff. The fast-moving shadow on the left had to be Peter. Jewel and Spider-Woman were presumably in flight and Luke was somewhere behind him. No one sounded in obvious distress, so Steve focused on his own opponents and kept fighting. He took down three more, glanced around for the next one, and realized no more were coming. Around him, the battle wound down as the rest of the Avengers ran out of things to fight. There were crushed and dismembered spider carcasses everywhere, and dark puddles on the floor. Steve's shield looked nearly black from all the spider-blood smeared on it, and his boots and jeans were liberally splattered with the stuff. Post-battle laundry day was going to be a hell of a party. "Is anyone hurt?" Steve called out. "Nah." Luke coiled his chain around his arm again. "Just really grossed out. You okay, honey?" "Ugh." Jewel landed next to him. "That stuff is in my hair." "I'd like to state for the record," Peter said, "that these things are no relation whatsoever. Also, judging all arachnids by the actions of a few extremists would be bad and wrong. Right, Jess?" "I'd like to state for the record," Spider-Woman grumbled, "that he's no relation, either." "This can't be all of them." Steve turned in a slow circle, aiming his light at the darkest corners of mezzanine, but saw no sign of movement. "They're probably regrouping. We need to move." The fight had wiped out a large portion of Tony's trail, but they picked it up again at the turnstiles and followed it to the staircase leading down to the Sixth Avenue Express platform. The cobwebs grew thicker as they moved further inside the station, and the smell of rot became stronger. Small lumps tangled in some of the thicker strands turned out to be rat corpses when Steve took a closer look. Faint scratching sounds in the darkness indicated that the Avengers were being watched, but nothing jumped out to attack them. The farther they went, the more uneasy Steve felt. Why weren't they being attacked? It occurred to him that they didn't really know how intelligent the spiders were. Could they plan an ambush? He aimed his flashlight onto the stairs in front of him. The stairwell was so choked with webbing that he could only see a few feet in. Now that he'd thought of it, it was an excellent place for an ambush, a confined space with low visibility and awkward footing. But Tony's smudged footprints were visible on the top steps, which meant they had to follow. Steve brushed the nearest cobwebs aside and started down the stairs. The walls in the stairwell looked different than the walls on the mezzanine, oddly rippled rather than smooth. Steve raised his flashlight for a better look, and realized that the layer of webbing that covered the tile had numerous small spheres embedded in it, clumped together like clusters of some bizarre fruit. "Ugh." Spider-Woman poked at one of the clusters, then jerked her hand back. "Are these their eggs?" "No." Wong sounded sick. "They're eyes. Human eyes." "What?" Steve moved the flashlight closer, then had to stagger back a step and swallow the rising bile in his throat. Wong was right. Those were human eyeballs in the webs. Hundreds of them. What the hell is going on here? They'd always assumed that sorrow-spiders ate the eyes of their victims. The thought was horrible enough in and of itself. But this-- were they storing their food for later? Or-- "Oh, shit..." Peter said in a strangled voice. "It's hatching." One of the eyeballs burst open with a barely audible pop. A baby spider the size of a small marble wriggled out, dripping fluids, and disappeared into the depths of the webbing. Someone let out a stifled gagging sound. Steve couldn't tell who it was, but he shared the sentiment. They needed to find Tony now. Needed to bring him home alive and whole, and then they needed to come back here and torch the place. Something moved on the staircase below them, claws clicking on concrete. The cobwebs shifted, and a light bobbed near the bottom step, then moved toward them. "Something's coming," Steve hissed, and readied his shield. A spider emerged from the shadows and crouched on the lowest step illuminated by Steve's flashlight. Its body was nearly three feet high, and its legs spanned the full width of the stairwell. A dozen unblinking eyes the size of silver dollars regarded Steve with unnerving intelligence. Dangling from its mandibles was a narrow strap with a small but bright LED light clipped onto it. Steve felt a sick jolt of fear. He'd seen Tony wear that headband in the workshop more times than he could count. He lurched forward a step, and the spider skittered backwards. It stopped when he stopped, waited, then raised one claw-tipped leg and crooked it in an awkward but unmistakable beckoning motion. "Great," Luke muttered. "It wants us to follow it." "Of course it does." Peter sounded resigned. "And I'm sure it's totally not a trap at all." They followed, of course. What choice did they have? Their guide led them onto the express platform, then down onto the uptown track and into the tunnel. More spiders watched from the walls and ceiling, nestled in the clear spaces between the eyeball clusters. A few of the younger, rat-sized ones darted back and forth between the rails. There had to be several hundred spiders, just within the limited range of the Avengers' lights. Steve tried not to think of what would happen if they all attacked at once. "More humans?" A smooth, surprisingly pleasant voice murmured from the shadows. "What an unexpected abundance of guests we have today. I suppose it's an honor." "Who's there?" Spiders darted out of the way as Steve advanced deeper into the tunnel. Was he imagining things, or was the darkness directly ahead of him somehow blacker and... more solid than it had been before? Something blocked the way ahead of him, a pulsing, misshapen bulk the size of an SUV. The guide spider scurried toward it, still clutching Tony's stolen light in its jaws, and the added illumination finally allowed Steve to see what he was facing off against. He'd been expecting a single giant spider. But the thing in front of him was made up of at least a dozen spiders, all fused together into a single lumpy mass. Legs sprouted from the beast's sides and back. Hundreds of eyes looked in all directions. Venom dripped from at least six sets of fangs that Steve could see from where he was standing. Smaller spiders gathered around its lower legs, clicking their mandibles in a burst of nervous chatter as Steve moved closer. "What are you?" he demanded. "We are the Spider Council." The compound body rippled slightly as it spoke. The silky contralto voice sounded disturbingly human. "We would ask why you invade our home, but we suppose it's obvious enough. You've come for this, yes?" It made a series of rapid-fire clicking sounds, dozens of jaws moving at once. The guide spider moved sideways, and Steve saw Tony, on his knees in the narrow gap between the wall and the Council's body. Tony's clothes were torn and filthy, and his face was smeared with blood from a ragged gash on his left cheek. He was clutching the box to his chest and rocking from side to side, his gaze fixed on some far-off point. "Tony!" Steve called sharply, and Tony turned, but it seemed to be just an instinctive response to a loud noise. If he recognized Steve, or any of the other Avengers, he showed no sign of it. "He can't hear you." The Council sounded amused. "The Correspondence is singing to him, and he's deaf to all other voices." "Let him go," Steve said. "It's the box you want, right? You can have it, then. You don't need him." They could come back for the box later, when Tony was safe. Now that they knew exactly what they were dealing with, they could plan their attack better... "Ah, but we do need him." The Council reached down with one of its side legs and curled it tenderly around Tony's throat. Tony didn't seem to notice. "We need them both. A human whose eyes have been marked by the Correspondence... We had begun to think that this city would never produce one, that we would be the last of the Spider Councils. Alas, this one has not been marked enough yet." It tightened its hold and pulled Tony closer, pressing his back against its side. "We'll make you a deal, humans. You cannot kill us, and you won't leave here without our permission, but we're prepared to be generous. Go, and leave your companion here. We'll take good care of him while continues his study of the Correspondence. And once he's been sufficiently marked, we'll take what we need and return him you." "Take what you need. Right." Steve suppressed a shudder. "You mean his eyes." "We only need one." The Council lowered another leg and tapped the tip of a curved black claw against Tony's temple. He didn't even flinch. "Surely that's a small price to pay for life and safety?" The other Avengers would be in position behind him by now. Steve couldn't risk a glance back to check on them, but after three years of teamwork he had a good idea of where everyone would be. "Peter?" He whispered. "I'm set." Peter's answering whisper came from behind him and to the left, right where he needed to be. "Would be nice if you could move about two feet forward." "No problem." Steve took a step, and tipped his head back to glare up at the Council. "No deal," he said loudly. The Council let out another burst of angry clicks. "We told you, you have no choice." "If that's true, then why are you bothering to talk to us?" Steve shifted his weight forward. "Now, Peter!" Two web lines shot out from behind him. One snagged the spider leg around Tony's throat and jerked it back, the other one caught Tony himself. Tony dropped like a dead weight when Peter started to pull him in, but didn't let go of the box. There was no time to stop and see how he was, or to help Peter. The Spider Council was charging like an angry rhino, and the other spiders were streaming from the walls and dropping from the ceiling. Steve tightened his grip on the shield, ran forward, and leaped. He landed on the Council's back facing away from the main battle, but it hardly mattered anyhow. The thing had eyes and fangs everywhere. The topmost legs tried to stab Steve with their claws. He kicked them aside, and brought the shield down with all his strength, aiming for what looked as if it might be a joint between two fused spider bodies. The shield sank deep with a sickening wet sound. Steve pulled it back and struck again, and again. Spiders dropped onto him from above, too many to avoid or kick aside. Steve felt a sharp, burning pain in his shoulder, then in his knee. There was nothing to be done about it, so he ignored it and kept fighting. Then Spider-Woman was there, blasting the ceiling and making the spiders there scatter. Steve acknowledged the help with a quick lift of his arm, then smashed his shield down again. The Council lurched forward, suddenly off-balance. Steve had to drop to one knee to keep from being thrown off. He risked a quick look down, and saw the Luke was pummeling the Council from below, while Jewel and Peter attacked from the sides. Wong and Tony were nowhere to be seen. Steve decided to take that as a good sign. "Tiiiiimberrrrrr!" Peter anchored a web line to the Council's side and pulled. Luke and Jewel helped it along with a flurry of blows, while Steve kept striking from above. The Council let out a high-pitched wail and shuddered so violently, Steve nearly lost his footing again. When he felt it start to topple, he leaped. It was hard to judge in the dark, but he managed to miss the ceiling, and to twist just enough in mid-air to be on his feet and facing the right way when he landed. The impact sent a stab of pain through his right knee where he'd been bitten earlier, but he stayed upright and lifted the shield again, ready to keep fighting. There was no need. The Council was still twitching and waving its legs around, but the movements were clearly death throes. Gray ichor oozed from dozens of wounds, and the clicking of its fangs was growing fainter. Around it, the other spiders drew back, as if unsure of what to do next. "Great," Luke panted. "I declare victory. Can we leave now?" "Where's Tony?" Steve demanded. "Up here!" Wong yelled from the platform above. "See?" Peter pointed in the general direction of Wong's voice. "Everyone accounted for. I'm with Luke -- can we please, please go now?" "Yeah," Steve said. "We can go." Chapter 5 Tony wasn't waking up. Or maybe "waking up" wasn't the right phrase for it, since he didn't actually appear to be asleep. His eyes were open, and he showed a limited awareness of his surroundings, flinching away from bright light and starting at loud noises. But his eyes were dull and unfocused, and he didn't seem to recognize Steve or anyone else around him, or to know where he was. He also kept climbing out of bed and trying to go downstairs, presumably because downstairs was where the box was. Tony was no more lucid when walking than when lying down, but he was damned persistent. After his third try, Wong cut a towel into strips and tied Tony's wrists to the bed frame. Steve dragged a recliner into the room and settled down to keep watch, to ensure Tony didn't hurt himself trying to break free. "It's the Correspondence," Wong said. "It's still affecting him." Tony was in one of the third-floor bedrooms. The box was down in the basement. Wong had chalked protective sigils around Tony's bed and on the walls. If all this wasn't enough to protect him, then what was? "There has to be something else we could do." Steve bit his lip and shifted restlessly in his chair. The spider bites on his leg and shoulder felt like hot needles digging into his skin. Wong had applied a poultice to each bite to draw out the venom and keep the swelling down, but at the end of the day, the only reliable cure for sorrow-spider bites was time and patience. Steve was feeling critically short of both at the moment. "Maybe if we moved the box even farther away from him. Give it to Natasha for safekeeping." He didn't like the thought of fobbing the danger off onto someone else, but if anyone could deal with it, the Black Widow could. "We could try it." Wong didn't sound very optimistic. "But I suspect that at this point, the connection between his mind and the Correspondence is too strong to be undone by mere physical distance. We need to find a way to break the link." He crouched next to Tony's bed and examined the chalk marks on the floor with a critical eye. "There are stronger spells I could try, but they might do more harm than good. We have no information on how the Correspondence responds to human magic, or what it might do to if it feels threatened. It might kill Tony rather than let him go, and it might be powerful enough to make the death permanent." He wouldn't quite meet Steve's eyes as he spoke, but the thought he was trying to hide was clear enough. The Correspondence might be killing Tony already. "Don't do it yet," Steve said. "Not until we've tried everything else." "What we need," Wong sighed, "is a trustworthy devil. But I suppose that's a contradiction in terms." "I've certainly never met one," Steve said. "Anyway, what could a devil do that you can't, with all of Strange's library at your disposal?" Wong shook his head. "The devils have specialized knowledge. They're on good terms with the Correspondence, they've incorporated it into their writing and into their system of magic. Presumably, they have methods for warding against it." "The sixth alphabet," Steve blurted out. Wong abandoned his inspection of the wards to give him a startled look. "Captain?" "That's what the cat told me yesterday, when I first picked it up." Steve frowned, trying to recall the exact details. "The sixth alphabet of Hell is the alphabet of wards and barriers. I'm pretty sure that's what it said. Is that helpful?" "It could be." Wong leaped to his feet, looking much the way Tony did -- or used to -- when he made some exciting technological breakthrough. "I have notes on several of the alphabets, including the sixth. I'd never fully deciphered it, but knowing specifically what it's for makes a great deal of difference. If you'll excuse me--" he bolted out the door. Steve slumped down in his chair and tried to resign himself to waiting. He hated this feeling of uselessness, of having nothing to fight and no immediate goal to strive toward. He almost wished he was back in the subways, battling the spiders again. Then, at least, he'd felt as if he was accomplishing something. And any number of spider bites would be preferable to watching Tony thrash around on the bed, whimpering in distress and fighting against the restraints. "Tony?" He leaned across the narrow gap between chair and bed, and pressed one hand against Tony's chest. Tony was fever-hot, his face flushed and his t-shirt damp with sweat. His heartbeat was alarmingly rapid beneath Steve's palm. "Tony, if you can hear me at all... please come back." Tony's breath hitched in a painful-sounding gasp. He strained his arms against the bindings hard enough to make the bed frame creak, then abruptly went limp. "Let go," he panted. It was the first coherent thing he'd said since they brought him home from the subway ten hours before. "Tony?" Steve scrambled out of the chair, barely noticing the stab of pain as his injured knee hit the floor. For a second, he thought he saw a flash of awareness in Tony's eyes. But it vanished as quickly as it came, or maybe Steve had imagined it in the first place. Tony's gaze was blank and distant again, and his arms rested limply at his sides. "Dammit." Steve clenched his hands around the edge of the mattress until his fingers ached. "What's wrong with you, Tony? Where's that famous Tony Stark stubbornness? You never pay attention when I try to talk sense to you. You mouth off to gods and alien invaders and congressional subcommittees. But some stupid magic box starts talking to you, and suddenly you listen? Tell it to go to hell, you're good at that." Tony flinched as if in pain, but made no sound. Steve slumped forward to rest his forehead against the edge of the mattress next to Tony's shoulder. He felt drained and hopeless and -- no point in denying it, not to himself -- afraid. This was far from the first time he'd kept vigil at Tony's bedside, not knowing if his best friend would live or die, but apparently he'd reached his limit. The thought of being stuck in this sunless subterranean world without Tony was too bleak to bear. "Come on, Shellhead." Steve tried to force a laugh, but managed only a loud, half-strangled breath. "You and I are the only founding Avengers left in this town. That means we stick together, right? You can't leave me here alone." He wrapped one hand around Tony's forearm, just above his bound wrist. "Do you hear me? Don't leave, Tony. I can't do this without you." The door opened with a barely-audible creak. Someone cleared their throat. Steve looked up to see Jessica Jones watching him from the doorway with a disturbingly understanding look in her eyes. "Uhm, hi." She licked her lips and gave him a small, nervous smile. "I was going to ask if you wanted me to sit with Tony for a while so you could get some rest, but I can see that you don't." "Thank you." Steve felt his face grow warm as he realized how he must look, kneeling there at Tony's bedside, practically weeping into the sheets like a hero in a Victorian melodrama. He stood up, and did his best to look calm and steady. "I'm fine here." "Yeah, I can see you're doing great." Jessica stepped back into the hallways and started to pull the door closed, then paused. "It'll be all right," she said. "Wong is in the library right now, muttering in tongues to himself. He'll figure something out." "I'm sure he will." Steve hoped he sounded confident rather than desperate. Jessica gave him another smile and shut the door. Steve sank back into his chair, but found himself fidgeting, unable to make even a pretense of rest. After half an hour of jumping every time Tony moved or made a sound, he gave in to impulse and moved from the chair to the floor, leaning sideways to lean his head on Tony's arm. It wasn't exactly a comfortable position, but the contact made him feel better. It seemed to settle Tony a little, too. At least, he stopped thrashing around quite so much, even if he still occasionally flexed his hands and muttered "Let go" in a ragged voice. Eventually, Steve closed his eyes and drifted into a restless half-sleep. He woke to the sound of the door opening again. Wong came in, with a book clutched in one hand and a tray balanced on the other. "Captain? Is everything all right?" "For relative values of 'all right,' yes." Steve braced one hand against the bed and hauled himself to his feet. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the crick in his neck suggested several hours spent in the same position. "Did you find something?" "I have." Wong set the tray down on the dresser. "Something worth trying, anyway." The tray held a porcelain bowl filled with dark-green liquid, and a small paintbrush. The book looked old, with a frayed leather binding and thick vellum pages yellowed at the corners. Wong held it open to a page filled with strange-looking geometric hieroglyphs and chaotic margin notes in several different handwritings. "This is the sixth alphabet. And this--" Wong tapped a fingertip against a line in the middle of the page, "--appears to be the sequence for shielding the mind against magical influence." He turned the book sideways and frowned at one of the margin notes. "Or possibly shielding the lungs against sulfur fumes. Secondary sources differ." "Is it safe?" Steve demanded. Wong spread his hands. "As safe as anything originating in Hell can be. The ink I've prepared has certain protective properties that should minimize the danger. But at this point, anything we do is going to carry a certain amount of risk, including doing nothing at all." Well, that's comforting. Steve reached down and brushed his fingers against Tony's cheek. Was it his imagination, or was Tony's fever getting higher? The heat radiating from his skin couldn't be natural. He'd burn up from the inside if they didn't do something to stop it. "How do we make it work?" "From what I've gathered," Wong said, "the glyphs must be drawn directly on the skin. The first one here goes on the pulse points over the wrists, the second one over the solar plexus, and the third to center of the forehead. I understand you're a good hand with a paintbrush, so perhaps you should do the application." "Right," Steve sighed. "Help me get that t-shirt off him." Tony began to struggle as soon they untied him, but he was too weak to put up a real fight, and it only took a minute before exhaustion got the better of him. Wong pinned him down while Steve sat on the edge of the bed with the book open in his lap, and painted the first glyph on Tony's left wrist. The ink in the bowl had a musty herbal scent, and dried almost instantly, sometimes clumping on the brush before Steve had time to apply it to skin. Steve worked as quickly as he could without sacrificing precision, while Tony kept chanting let go let go let go under his breath. The words slowly trailed off into indistinct muttering, and by the time Steve finished the design on Tony's right wrist, Tony was still and silent. Steve hoped that was a good sign. Tony didn't react at all when Steve began to trace the second symbol on his chest. The ink lines obscured the pale pockmarks of old shrapnel wounds as well as the darker, more recent scars of more heart surgeries than Steve cared to think about. For the first time, he considered how lucky they'd been that Tony hadn't developed any new and exciting health problems in the years since the Descent. Medicine in Lowered Manhattan had reverted to a step above leeches and mustard plasters, and natural illness was one of the few things that killed permanently. Steve's brush hand faltered for a moment, before he pushed the thought away and forced himself to focus. The final symbol was the simplest -- just a few short strokes precisely placed. Steve brushed Tony's hair out of the way and painted it on, then dropped the brush back on the tray and closed the book. "How will we know it's working?" He asked. "Will he just wake up?" Wong shrugged. "We'll know when it happens." For a few seconds, nothing happened at all. Then Tony blinked, lifted his head from the pillow, and said "Steve..." in a hoarse, breathless voice. "Hey!" Steve grabbed Tony's hand. He was pretty sure he was grinning like an idiot, but given the circumstances, he figured he had a good excuse. "You with us again?" "Steve!" Tony repeated, more urgently this time, and tried to sit up. He made it about half-way before collapsing again. "It's not safe! You have to lock it up, don't let anyone look at it, it's not--" "We know." Steve gripped Tony's shoulders and held him down as firmly as he could without hurting him. The last thing they needed now was for Tony to rub all the ink off in a struggle. "It's okay, Tony, we know, we've got the box locked away from everyone. You're the only one who's been affected." "Oh. Good." Tony stopped straining against Steve's hold, and let his head fall back onto the pillow. The panicked expression on his face shifted to confusion. He lifted one arm to examine his wrist, then tucked his chin down to peer at his chest. "Huh. You really did paint on me. I thought I was hallucinating." "I didn't think you'd noticed." Steve clasped Tony's hand. "You were so out of it." "They're protective symbols," Wong said, "designed to shield you from the influence of the Correspondence." "Well, they're working." Tony gave Wong a shaky smile. "Thank you." "You're quite welcome." Wong cast a thoughtful glance at Steve and Tony's clasped hands as he gathered up the ink bowl tray and the book. "I... should go put these away now." He hurried from the room before Steve had a chance to add his own thanks. "How do you feel?" Steve asked. Tony's hand already felt cooler against his, as if the fever was receding along with the Correspondence's hold. "A hell of a lot better than I did an hour ago." Tony sounded tired. "You know what I really, really hate?" "Magic?" Steve guessed. "That too." Tony winced. "But right now, what I really, really hate is being mind-controlled. And being mind-controlled by magic, that's a double whammy right there. Remind me to never do that again, okay?" "Like you ever listen to me." The words came out more harshly than Steve intended. He'd made to sound lighthearted, but the memory of Tony kneeling empty-eyed at the Spider Council's feet was too fresh. "You'd be surprised." Tony looked away for a moment, then turned to face Steve again. "I could hear you, you know. When you were talking to me earlier." "You could?" Steve blinked at him. "I thought you could only hear the Correspondence." "At first, yeah." Tony shivered a little. "Everything else was just white noise. It wanted me to bring the box to the Brass Embassy, and it was... very, very insistent. I never even thought about disobeying until I heard you saying my name, and then I couldn't-- I tried, but it-- it wouldn't let go." "I'm sorry," Steve said. Tony shrugged. "Hey, you did tell me to keep away from that damned box. Here's your chance to say you told me so." "I don't want a chance to say I told you so!" Steve tried to speak calmly, but he seemed to have no control over his own voice anymore. Every word came out a little shakier, and a little louder than the one before. "I could happily go the rest of my life without needing to say I told you so. I want you to stop almost dying on me!" "Oh, come on." Tony rolled his eyes. "It's been years since I nearly died on you. Besides, this is Lowered Manhattan. I'd have stayed dead two, three hours max." "We don't know that." Steve had to fight the urge to grab Tony by the shoulders and shake him. Past experience had conclusively proven that no amount of shaking, yelling, or rational explaining could instill a sense of self-preservation into Tony Stark. "We have no idea what the Correspondence could do. It's a sentient language with magical powers. For all we know, it could've killed you premanently." "I don't think it actually wants me dead," Tony said thoughtfully. "Not until I return the box, anyhow. Insane, maybe, but not dead." "If that's true," Steve said, "then why did it send you into the subway? The only reason you're not dead now was because a cat told me where to find you." "It..." Tony hesitated. "The thing about the Correspondence is, it doesn't think like us. It doesn't understand about check points and police departments and things like that. All it knew was, the streets were full of humans, and it doesn't like humans." "But it likes sorrow-spiders?" "Mostly, yeah. Apparently, the spiders and the devils are... allied, I guess? In some sort of accord, anyhow. The Council would've returned the box to the Embassy once they were done with me, and as far as the Correspondence was concerned, that was good enough. It really didn't care what happened to me after." "Was that supposed to be reassuring?" Steve asked. "Because it really isn't." "Sorry." Tony patted his arm. "I didn't mean to get you all overwrought." "I'm not overwrought." "You're not?" Tony gave him a look of utter disbelief. "Because I'm pretty sure I recall you kneeling. By my bed. In a distinctly overwrought manner. I felt like little Nell on her deathbed." "You were hallucinating," Steve said in his best deadpan voice. Tony just kept smirking at him, until he blushed and looked away. "Okay, fine, maybe I was a little... upset." "Overwrought." "Upset. It's a perfectly proportionate reaction when someone I care about tries to get eaten by giant spiders." "I wasn't trying to get eaten." "Could've fooled me." "Fine, I'm sorry," Tony sighed. "Will it make you feel better if I promise never to do that again?" "Making me feel better isn't the point," Steve said. "But I'm going to hold you to that promise." Chapter 6 For the next ten days, the Avengers' existence narrowed to an ever-repeating cycle of money trickling in, and then trickling out again every time Black Widow visited. Sam arrived on the second day with an oversized duffel containing more unpolished glim than any of them had ever seen in one place. Peter dug an ancient Leicaflex from the back of his closet and begged Tony for some batteries so he could take a picture. Luke went out four days in a row and came back looking more annoyed each time, before returning on the fifth day with a knapsack filled with moon pearls. He didn't say where he got them, and Steve didn't ask. Natasha kept popping up at random intervals, staying just lost enough to stuff her pockets full of jewels and to deliver enigmatic snippets like "Mr. Mirrors has visited the Embassy and stayed for two days" or "three senior devils were seen leaving the House of Chimes after curfew." The fact that the devils and the Bazaar Masters were increasing their cooperation was discomfiting but not, in the general scheme of things, very informative. When Steve pointed this out, Natasha just growled "I'm working on it," and disappeared for three more days. The devils' city-wide hunt for the box did not slack off as time passed. If anything, it became more intense. Posters advertising a five-thousand-echo reward for "return of stolen embassy property" were lost under new layers of wanted posters promising ever-increasing sums for information leading to the capture of Luke Cage, Captain America and Spider-Man. Peter brought a handful of them home after going out on a grocery run one morning. "I'm framing mine," he said, holding up a poster with a rather dramatic sketch of Spider-Man swinging on a web line. "Just think, all those years with Jonah Jameson gunning after me, and I've never had a wanted poster before." The LMPD went into a frenzy of activity for several days, arresting random people for everything from illegal tech possession to jaywalking. This sparked a rapidly spreading rumor that the Masters had authorized daily executions in the Bazaar until the devils got their box back. Maria Hill was seen going into the Brass Embassy alone, and not coming out until the next day. There were no executions, but the number of checkpoints doubled overnight. Steve took to patrolling triple shifts every day, even if he had to do it out of uniform and without his shield. He was, perhaps, just a little bit rougher than he needed to be with any spirifers, dream-honey dealers and Unfinished Men he came across. It felt good to keep busy and to be accomplishing something, however small; but the nagging sense of his own uselessness never quite went away. "Aren't you overdoing it a little?" Tony suggested. "I mean, honestly, when I'm the one telling you to slow down and take it easy, something's very wrong with the universe." It was two in the morning, and they were in the workshop having dinner. Sort of. Steve was picking sullenly at the contents of his bowl, while Tony ignored his altogether. But they were in the same room, at the same time, with food, which had been enough for Tony to laugh and call it a date earlier. Normally, Steve shrugged of such teasing, but now he found himself oddly self-conscious and hesitant to meet Tony's eyes. "Right," he said. "Something wrong with the universe. You mean aside from the fact that you, I, and the entire population of Manhattan are all stuck in a giant underground hole with no daylight, no fresh air, and no way out?" Tony let out an amused snort. "Yeah, besides that." "It's just... I hate spinning my wheels like this!" Steve burst out. "The entire city's in an uproar, innocent people are being rounded up like criminals, and I'm out chasing petty crooks while we raise bribe money for devils! What good am I doing here, exactly?" "Could be worse," Tony said. "You could spend three years in a basement tinkering with tech that doesn't work." Steve let his shoulders slump. "I'm wallowing, aren't I?" Tony looked up from his work to give him a fond smile. "Just a little." Steve stabbed at the contents of his dinner bowl with his fork, and tried not to sulk. Dinner was mushrooms -- again -- mixed with pieces of the pale, lumpy fish from the East River. Or what passed for the East River these days, anyhow. Steve supposed that sulking over his food was even more childish than sulking over lack of useful occupation, but there were times when he thought he might trade the shield for an apple or a glass of orange juice. Across the table, Tony's dinner sat untouched while Tony kept working. He wore a pair of goggles with jeweler's loupes mounted on the lenses, and was poking at something tiny and intricate on a metal tray in front of him. The beetle-light was probably too dim for the work, but Tony was becoming increasingly obsessed with conserving his dwindling supply of fuel. "What are you tinkering with now?" This was a risky question -- he might end up having to feign comprehension through a two-hour lecture on anything from nanotechnology to plasma physics -- but Steve figured he and Tony could both use the distraction. "Fiber optic camera." Tony used a pair of tweezers to pick up a length of cable barely thicker than embroidery floss. He leaned forward until his face was a few inches above the table, and squinted behind the goggles as he attached the cable to the camera. "It's part of my new cunning plan to get our box open." "Your what?" Steve's desultory mood abruptly turned to churning anxiety. "Tony--" "Hey, hey, it's all right." Tony quickly sat up straight and lifted his arms, hands bent back to better show off the symbols on his wrists. "Still protected, see?" He tapped his forehead and his chest. "Not if you go looking at the stuff again!" Steve tried to sound calm and rational, but suspected he wasn't doing the best job of it. "We don't know how strong your protection is, you can't risk--" "I'm not going to look at it!" Tony looked genuinely horrified by the idea. "Honestly, trying to read the Correspondence was the wrong approach in the first place. I would've realized it ages ago, except for the whole mind-control thing. Because the point wasn't to read the box, but to open it. With this," he prodded the little coil of cable with one finger, "I can get the camera under the gears and inside the lock, take a look at the inner workings. Bypass the Correspondence altogether." "I seem to recall that it melted your last camera," Steve said. Tony dismissed the objection with a careless wave of his hand. "That was because I tried to photograph the actual symbols. I won't be doing that now. That's the one limitation the Correspondence has -- you have to look at it before it can affect you." "I don't like it," Steve said. Tony glared at him across the table. "Suggest an alternative, then." And that was what it all came down to, wasn't it? They had no alternatives, or at least no good ones. They could admit defeat and return the box to the Embassy, or they could get the damned thing open and find out why it was so important. What they couldn't do was spin their wheels in uncertainty while the devils and the Masters tore the city apart looking for their property. "You're right." Steve said, "if you can figure out the lock, then you should. But don't open it right away. Give Black Widow a chance to get more intel first. I'd like to know what we're dealing with before we set it free." "Spoilsport," Tony muttered, and went back to work. Most of the team were gathered in the parlor for a desultory poker game, when Peter suddenly set down his cards and said, "Uh-oh." This was never a good sign coming from Peter, so four more hands of cards hit the table as Steve, Luke, Jessica Jones and MJ all snapped to attention. "What's going on?" Luke demanded. "Not sure." Somehow, in the split second between his "uh-oh" and everyone else's reaction, Peter had moved from his chair to the ceiling. Now he squatted upside-down next to the chandelier and surveyed the room with nervous eyes. "Not an immediate threat, but definitely something--" He scurried across to the nearest window and looked out on Bleecker Street. "Oookay. There's about six devils gathered across the street, and they're looking very purposeful." "What?" Jessica Jones nearly knocked the table over in her scramble to get to the window. "I thought this wasn't supposed to ever happen? Where's Wong?" "I'll go find him," MJ said and hurried from the room. Steve strode to the window and pulled the curtain back. There was, indeed, a group of devils sauntering up the block at a suspiciously slow pace and peering oh-so-casually into the first-floor windows of the brick townhouses across the street. The streetlights seemed to flicker and smoke a bit more than usual wherever they passed. "Stylish bunch, aren't they?" Peter muttered. The devils were wearing zoot suits and fedoras. Steve supposed it was an advance from the Victorian-style frock coats and top hats they'd favored when they first arrived in the city. "I don't suppose they're just out looking for a jazz club?" MJ and Jessica both tilted their heads up to glare at him until he wilted a little and hunched his shoulders. "Okay, I guess not." "I don't think they've made us," Steve said. "They wouldn't be combing the block like this if they knew which house they were looking for." "Call me paranoid," Luke growled, "but devils across the street is already too close as far as I'm concerned.. And how are they on this block at all? I thought the wards were supposed to keep them away." Steve had thought so too. In addition to the spells Strange himself had cast to disguise and protect the house, there were also the ones Wong had added after the Avengers had moved in. Supposedly -- Steve wasn't entirely sure he'd understood the details -- any devil that approached too closely would be seized with a sudden impulse to be somewhere else. The fact that they were this close now was cause for worry. For a moment, Steve wondered if Hill had decided to sell them out after all. But no, if she had revealed the exact location of the Sanctum Sanctorum, the devils would've arrived in greater numbers, likely with a swarm of bats and an army of Unfinished men backing them up. They didn't go in for subtlety. "The wards are still working," Wong announced as he marched into the room. He was frowning, but his voice was reassuringly calm. "I would've felt it if they were damaged or removed." "Then what are they doing here?" Jessica hissed. Her eyes were furious, but Steve could see the cold fear behind the anger. "My kid is asleep upstairs, Wong, if we get attacked here--" "I don't think they're going to attack," Peter said. "Not in the next couple of seconds, anyhow." The twin scowls Luke and Jessica sent his way would've been comical under any other circumstances. "We need to get them away from the house," Wong said. "I can reinforce all the protective spells and add some new ones, but it'll do no good if they're already inside the wards." "No problem," Steve said. "Peter, suit up. You're with me." "Aye-aye, Captain!" Peter gave him an appallingly sloppy salute, and did a somersault from the ceiling down to the floor. Less than ten minutes later, he and Spider-Man were both on the roof, in costume, watching the devils try and fail to cross the street yet again. "You know," Peter whispered, "this is actually kind of funny." Steve had to admit that it was, a little. Even inside the wards, the devils were still clearly affected by the spells. The kept stepping into the street, then stumbling to a halt, glancing from side to side in obvious confusion, and returning to the sidewalk. Another brief session of window-peeping, and they would recover their wits and try again. "This is all very well," Steve murmured, "but they're getting a little closer every time. We can't let them keep doing this." They needed to create a distraction, and they needed to create it from somewhere else. Steve gestured eastward and Spider-Man rose to his feet, silent for once. This part of West Village was well-suited to rooftop travel, the streets not too wide and the buildings not too high. Steve and Peter made their way to the east end of the block, then swung diagonally across the intersection on one of Peter's web lines to land on top of an abandoned newsstand. Steve looked around, mentally mapping several fast departure routes, and positioned his shield for a throw. "All right, let's get their attention." "Ohh, let me!" Peter leaped ten feet from the newsstand roof to the nearest lamppost, perched there at a precarious angle, and shot a remarkably well-aimed web to snag a devil's hat right off his head. "How's that?" Steve gave a thumbs-up as all six devils headed toward them at a run. "I'll go north, you go south. Make sure you've really lost them before you head home." "Got it!" Peter let out an attention-grabbing Tarzan yell as he swung away, three of the devils stampeding after him at breakneck speed. Steve bounced his shield off the corner of the nearest building with enough noise to ensure that the other three would come after him. Past experience had proven that devils were perfectly capable of scaling walls and leaping roofs when they had to, so Steve decided to stay off the streets for the time being. There were already a few pedestrians gawking from a safe distance, as well as at least three checkpoints within a five-block radius that Steve knew about. He had no intention of endangering civilians or drawing the LMPD into a full-scale manhunt. So he took off across the rooftops, making no effort at evasion or concealment until he was in sight of Washington Square Park. The devils were fast and agile, but they didn't know the neighborhood the way Steve did. He led them in a wide circle around the park until he heard the unmistakable sound of an approaching bat swarm in the distance, then veered south onto Thompson Street, where he finally dropped to the sidewalk and ducked inside an abandoned parking garage. The garage was a maze, five winding levels of brick and cement abandoned cars still rusting in their spaces. The walls were slick with mold and patches of luminescent fungus that provided the only light. The devils' cloven feet made an deafening clatter on the concrete floors, echoing off the walls and drowning out the softer sound of Steve's own footsteps. Steve found an elevator shaft, pried the door open just enough to squeeze through, and clung to the electrical cables on the back wall to wait as his pursuers thundered past on their to the lower levels. Once he was satisfied that they were all below him, he climbed the cables to the top, and made his way onto the rooftops again. Twenty minutes later, having circled several blocks out of his way to make sure he was free of pursuit, Steve returned to the Sanctum Sanctorum to find Peter brushing dirt from his costume in the foyer, and Wong surrounded by a pile of books and notes in the library. "Can you tell what happened?" Steve asked. Wong put down the notebook he'd been scribbling in, and frowned at the page for a long time before replying. "I believe," he said slowly, "that I've discovered a gap in the wards. Not all of them, mind you. The shields against ordinary physical invasion are working just fine. It's the spells originally cast by Dr. Strange to ward against magical intrusions that are the problem. They were designed to protect the Sanctum Sanctorum itself, its contents, or any of the people living here -- Dr. Strange and myself, to begin with. When you and your team moved in, I expanded the spells' protection to include each of you. But I did not think to expand it to include specific items in our possession." "Specific items." Steve winced as the implication sank in. "Like the box." "Among other things." Wong's frown grew more pronounced. "The box is almost certainly what the devils have focused on, if they attempted a location spell. But in fact, any unique item known to be owned by one of us would do." Steve's shield. The Iron Man armor. Any costume or weapon ever used in public by any of them. Just thinking about how vulnerable they'd been all this time made Steve feel a little sick. Now that the devils had almost found them once, how long would it be before they returned? "Could you expand the wards again?" he asked. "We could each give you a list, so that you know which items need concealing." "I can try." Wong didn't sound very happy at the prospect. "It will take time, however. And there is always an element of risk in having me modify one of Dr. Strange's spells. He was the Sorcerer Supreme, and I'm... not." "Maybe not," Steve said. "But you're the one who has sheltered us and kept us safe for the past three years. I think we can consider your abilities well-proven." "I appreciate the confidence," Wong said wryly. "But perhaps we'd each better pack an emergency bag, just in case." Luke and Jessica moved out. Natasha offered them one of her many bolt-holes and they took her up on the offer, leaving all their identifiable possessions behind. Steve was sorry to see them go, but he couldn't blame them, either. The Sanctum Sanctorum could no longer be considered secure, not even after Wong expanded the wards, and Luke and Jessica had a kid to think about. The remaining Avengers set up a watch schedule, two people on the roof at all times. Even MJ took her turn, glaring Peter into submission when he looked as if he might be vaguely considering an objection. "I don't need superpowers to raise an alarm," she'd growled, and Peter had raised his hands in surrender and quickly changed the subject. Just about every watch saw at least a few devils lurking at the far ends of the block, but none ever came near the house again. Natasha disappeared for two days, and came back looking unwashed and sleep-deprived and carrying a messenger bag half-filled with warmly glowing chunks of amber. She tossed the last of their glim stash into the bag on top of the amber, and surveyed the resulting pile with a critical eye. "I guess it'll have to do," she said. "My contact at the Archive says she's ready to come across with the information. Though I'll have a hell of a fun time getting all this shit around the checkpoints and to my rendezvous spot." "Do you need backup?" Steve asked. Natasha shook her head. "Amaryllis will run if she thinks I'm not alone. I'll deal." "Your devil informant is named Amaryllis?" Peter looked affronted. "Whatever happened to nice respectable names like Beelzebub or Mephisto? Hell has no style anymore." "Be careful," Steve told her. "The LMPD's getting jumpier every day. I'd rather not break you out of a jail cell if I don't have to." "Who are you kidding?" Natasha smirked. "You're just itching for a nice exciting jail break." Apparently, his restlessness was more obvious than he'd thought. "Okay," Steve admitted, "maybe a little. But that's still no reason for you to provide me with one." Natasha's smile reminded him disturbingly of Tony when he was up to no good. "I'll do my best to keep you frustrated." With no jailbreak to keep him occupied and all other tasks finished for the day, Steve retreated to his room and tried to read, but the Dick Francis mystery he'd borrowed from Jessica Drew failed to hold his attention for more than a minute at a time. He was just considering going downstairs to look for something else, when someone knocked on his door. A moment later, Tony came in without waiting for an answer. "Hey, Picasso." Tony held up a glass jar. "I need you to do a touch-up for me." The jar held about a cup of dark liquid and thin brush. Steve set aside his book and sat up. "Is something wrong?" "Nah, just normal wear and tear." Tony brushed the hair back from his forehead to show where the glyph Steve had painted ten days before was starting to chip and fade. "I've been careful, keeping the ink covered when I wash and everything, but I don't think it's meant to be permanent. And..." he winced and rubbed one eye with the heel of his hand. "I think I'm hearing it again. I'm hearing something, anyhow." "Again?" Steve scrambled to his feet. "How bad is it? You should've said something sooner." "Relax." Tony held up the jar again. "It only started a couple of hours ago, and at first I wasn't sure if I was really hearing anything. Once I was sure, I went straight to Wong and then to you. So let's do this, and then we can both stop worrying about the voices in my head, okay?" "Of course." Steve glanced around the room. "Uhm... over there would probably work best." Just as the Sanctum Santorum had accommodated Tony by adding a sleeping area to his workshop, it had accommodated Steve by creating a work area in his bedroom. Three days after the Avengers had first moved in, the room had acquired a small alcove with a sturdy oak drawing desk and stool, just the right height for Steve to comfortably sit and sketch. The light was bad, but no worse than anywhere else, and a drawer in the desk provided an apparently infinite supply of paper and pencils. Even on days when Steve didn't sit down to draw, just knowing that the place and the materials were there was a comfort. "All right, then." Tony put the jar down on the desk, planted himself on the stool facing Steve, pulled his t-shirt off and dropped it to the floor. "Do your stuff." Steve set new candles in the two mirror-backed sconces on either side of the alcove, and lit them with the smaller candle from his nightstand. "Okay, give me your hand." The last time they'd done this, Tony had been catatonic, possibly dying, and Steve had been too worried to focus on anything except the immediate task. This time around, it became impossible to ignore how intimate the whole process was. How close Tony was, how comfortably his hand rested in Steve's cupped palm. How much the stroke of brush against skin felt like a caress. Steve tried to focus on the intricacy of the design, on keeping the lines straight and the ink smooth and even. Tried to pretend that he wasn't acutely aware of Tony's knee pressed against his thigh. He kept his hands steady and avoided looking at Tony's face as he worked, but he didn't need to look to know that Tony was being unusually still and silent. Things only got more awkward once he finished retouching the symbols on Tony's wrists and had to move closer to work on the chest design. Tony spread his knees apart to give Steve room to stand, and leaned back, bracing his hands on the desk behind him. The position certainly offered a good angle for painting, but it also made Tony's back arch and stretched his jeans tight across his groin. Steve's mouth went dry. There was no way Tony was doing that without knowing exactly what he looked like, or without noticing Steve's reaction. He stirred the ink with the brush, and painted a line. Tony curled his hands around the edge of the desk. "Maybe I should get these tattooed on," he drawled. His voice was light but not entirely steady. "It would make showering easier, at least." Steve made a valiant but only partly-successful attempt to keep from imagining Tony in the shower. "According to Wong, these symbols are from one of Hell's alphabets. You probably don't want them on you permanently." "Good point." Tony let out a short, nervous laugh and lapsed into silence again. Three symbols down. One to go. Steve leaned forward and brushed Tony's hair back from his forehead with his left hand. "Tilt your head back. A little more. Good, now hold still." "Sure." Tony closed his eyes. "No problem." "I'm almost done." Steve placed the final brush strokes, dropped the brush into the jar, and rested his right hand on Tony's shoulder. "There. That should do it." "Already?" Tony opened his eyes and blinked slowly, as if dazed. "That was fast." "Did it help?" Steve asked. "I think so..." Tony stared into the distance for a few seconds. "Yeah. I can't hear it at all now. Thanks." "You're welcome." That was Steve's cue to step back. Or at least to pull away. Not to stand there, one hand one Tony's shoulder and the other in his hair, and stare like a dumbstruck idiot at Tony's mouth. This was no good. He was making an awkward moment even worse, and the longer he hesitated the more it would-- "Oh, for fuck's sake," Tony said, "just kiss me already." And then, while Steve was still trying to process the words, he did the job himself, tugging at Steve's collar to pull him closer and pressing their mouths together. For a moment, Steve simply froze, then instinct and tactical training kicked in. Situation: Tony was kissing him. Appropriate response: kiss back. Steve's hands were already in more or less the right places; it was no effort at all to pull Tony closer, to lick into Tony's mouth and make him groan, to shift his weight forward until the stool Tony was sitting on tilted back to bump the desk. Something fell to the floor with a muted clatter. Steve suspected it was the ink jar, spilling its contents on the carpet. He didn't care. Not when Tony was right there, still clutching at Steve's collar and breathing soft, needy noises into Steve's mouth. "Yeah," Tony gasped when Steve finally pulled back, "okay. That went well." He sounded vaguely surprised by this turn of events, as if he hadn't been the one who started it. "You were expecting it not to?" Steve asked. "I..." Tony hesitated. "Honestly, I wasn't sure. You seemed like you wouldn't mind, and I'm generally pretty good at telling if someone would mind being kissed, but I had a lot of wishful thinking working against me here." "Wishful thinking. Right." Steve struggled to collect his thoughts. It was difficult, when Tony was still so close and stroking his thumb along Steve's collarbone in a very distracting manner. "Just how much have you been wishfully thinking about this?" "A lot," Tony admitted. Steve frowned, feeling suddenly suspicious. "Wait. You didn't invent this whole touch-up business just to get me to kiss you, did you?" "No!" Tony's momentary look of outrage quickly shifted to a smirk. "Though I totally would've if I'd thought of it." Steve decided he could live with that. Chapter 7 "You're staring at me," Tony declared. Steve considered denying it, then decided not to bother. After all, it wasn't as if he was being subtle about it. "What can I say?" He shrugged. "You look good." It was true, and not just in the obvious sense. Tony was a good-looking man, that was hardly news. But more to the point, he was smiling as he worked. His eyes were bright with enjoyment, and he moved with more energy that Steve recalled seeing in him since-- well, he wasn't sure how long. Steve wondered how much of this rare good mood came from Tony finally having something constructive to do, and how much was due to the fact that the two of them had spent a significant fraction of the past twenty-four hours necking like horny teenagers. The latter was certainly doing a lot for Steve's own mood. There was a small bruise on Tony's neck, barely visible above the collar of his t-shirt. Steve could remember exactly when and how he put it there. Just seeing it made him want to reach across the table and pull Tony close again, wires and circuit boards be damned. Apparently, making out with Tony Stark was addictive, once you got started. "Wait, I take it back." Tony set aside the fiber optic camera he'd just finished connecting to his laptop, and stood up straight. "You're not staring, you're ogling. Captain America is ogling me. I'm deeply shocked." "No, you're not," Steve said. "And I'm not ogling, I'm... appreciating." "Appreciating. Right." Tony smirked. "Well, you can keep appreciating from a distance for now, because I finally got this working." He snapped the laptop shut, coiled the camera cable on top of it, and picked up the whole bundle. "Let's go try it out." The box was in a cabinet at the back of the room, locked inside a sturdy portable safe Wong had provided after they'd brought Tony home from the subway. Steve opened the cabinet and hesitated, hand hovering over the safe's combination lock. "Are you sure it's--" "It's fine!" Tony said irritably. "I'm protected, you're right here, and as I've told you about a million times, I'm not going to look at it. Here." He marched over to the shower stall and snatched a towel off the rack. "Cover it up before I come near it, if it makes you feel better." "It does, actually." Steve felt faintly foolish, swaddling the box in layers of fluffy terrycloth, but a little foolishness seemed like a small price to pay for Tony's safety. "And you really can't blame me for being cautious, given how much trouble we've had already." "I'm not blaming you," Tony said. "I'm the one who's been possessed by that thing, and trust me, I'm not looking to relive the experience. But we still need to do this, so let's get it over with, all right?" "All right." Steve placed the towel-wrapped box on the table in front of Tony. "Just be careful, will you?" "Aren't I always?" Tony drawled, then quickly held up one hand. "Don't answer that." He lifted the camera with a pair of tweezers, and slid his hands under the towel. "Okay, let's see if I can get this in place... fuck, it's like trying to thread a needle without looking... nope, not there... and not there either... got it!" He moved the box aside and bent over the laptop, typing in rapid-fire bursts. "Look, it's working." He turned the laptop around so that Steve could see the screen, which looked rather like a kaleidoscope rendered in shades of gray -- dozens of geometric shapes rearranging themselves in rapidly shifting patterns. "I'll take your word for it," Steve said. "It's perfectly straightforward, really." Tony made an unnecessary and entirely unsuccessful attempt to look modest. "Under all the magical bells and whistles, it's just a regular lock. A little more complicated than most, sure, but still just a bunch of tumblers that need to be lined up. I've got the camera mapping it from the inside and feeding the images into the laptop. Once it's done, I've got a program that'll crunch through the combinations until it finds the right one. It'll take a few hours, maybe a day, but we'll get the thing open." "Uhm, hello?" Peter's voice drifted down from the top of the basement stairs, sounding a great deal more tentative than usual. "This is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, giving you advance notice that I'm coming down. So that you can, uhm, get decent and everything. I'm just saying. Coming down reeeeeeally sloooooowly, okay?" "It's fine, Peter." Steve suppressed a grin. "I think we may have traumatized him a bit earlier," he murmured to Tony. "It's his own fault." Tony looked smug. "He should've knocked before barging in." "I don't think most people knock before entering a kitchen," Steve pointed out. "Hey there." Peter cracked the door open and poked his head in. "Sorry to interrupt whatever it is I'm interrupting, but Natasha's back, and she says she has info we all need to hear." "All right, correct me if I'm wrong." Natasha coiled in one of the plush armchairs in the first-floor drawing room like a large cat waiting to pounce. "I'm neither a magician nor a lawyer, so maybe I've heard wrong, but don't most supernatural contracts have an escape clause? Some condition that will invalidate the whole thing?" "Not always," Wong said judiciously. "But in the majority of cases, yes. Of course, the condition is often hidden, or phrased in a misleading manner. But it appears to be built into the nature of both gods and devils to make their bargains reversible. I suppose creatures that live for millennia must be wary of making unbreakable commitments. Why do you ask?" His expression abruptly turned dark. "You haven't made a bargain yourself, have you?" "Hell, no." Natasha looked disgusted. "I may be reckless from time to time, but I've never been that crazy. But we all know someone who is." "Okay, I'll bite," Tony said. "Who is it?" "Dr. Doom." Natasha's lips curled into a predatory grin. "According to Amaryllis, our mystery box contains his infernal contract. The one he sold Manhattan with." "He sold it?" Wong leaned forward, eyes wide. "Are you certain?" Natasha shrugged. "As certain as I can be, given that I got the intel from a devil." "I've wondered about that." Wong sprang to his feet and paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. In three years of living in the man's house, Steve had never seen him so visibly excited. "All this time, I've tried to find out what Doom had done, what spell he might've used. I considered the possibility of a sale, but everything I've learned about the Masters of the Bazaar indicated that they will only buy from the rightful owner. Doom was never the rightful owner of Manhattan, so how could he have done it?" "More to the point," Peter said from the other side of the room, "can we undo it?" "I bet we can." MJ had been sitting on the couch with her legs tucked up and her head pillowed on Peter's shoulder, but now she planted her feet on the floor and sat straight, as tense and excited as everyone else in the room. "Otherwise, why all the fuss? The Masters and the devils have all been collectively shitting bricks ever since we got that box. If the contract was unbreakable -- if there isn't something we can do about it -- why would they care?" "Not to mention," Tony added, "why put a brain-eating lock on it?" "We must get that box open," Wong had stopped pacing, but didn't relax. Now he was staring intently into the fireplace and drumming his fingers against the mantelpiece. "We need to know what's in that contract." "I'm working on it," Tony said. "In the meantime," Natasha said, "here's one more thing to think about: I've been keeping an eye on the Brass Embassy as much as I could over the past few days, and they're beefing up security in a hurry. Doubled guard at every entrance, new wards, new bars on the windows, passwords changing every six hours. And yesterday, they had a shipment of mirrors delivered -- large ones, all six feet high or more. I counted at least ten, and they were still bringing them in when I left." "Mirrors?" Steve frowned. "What do devils need that many mirrors for?" "Search me." Natasha shrugged. "If I looked like them, I'd be sending all the mirrors out of the house." "There must be a connection." Steve did his best to sound calm, but his heart was pounding. Could it really happen, just like that? After three years of futility, could they finally accomplish something real, something that would actually bring the city back into the sunlight, instead of just fighting to make the darkness a little more tolerable? "The Embassy hasn't changed its routine in years. Now they're increasing security just as we get our hands on a possible way to undo what Doom has done? If that's a coincidence, I'll eat my shield." "Great!" Peter said. "We get to storm the embassy to Hell. I'm sure that won't be a problem at all." "Can it even be stormed?" Jessica Drew asked. "From what I've heard, the place is warded to hell and back. Literally." "I may be the able to do something about the wards," Wong said. "Weaken them, at least. But it will take time, and the release of magical energy will attract attention. I can't just march up to the front door and start casting spells." "I have some ideas about that," Steve said, "but let's not jump the gun. We don't know yet if we'll need to storm anything, and we won't know until Tony gets that box open." "But no pressure," Tony muttered. "You know," Peter said, "if this thing does turn out to be the box that saved Manhattan, I'd just like us all to remember who it was that snatched it. I'm just saying." He rocked his chair back, looking highly pleased with himself. "Let's see the Daily Bugle put a negative spin on that one." "Do you think it'll work?" Tony's voice was muted and sleepy, his breath warm against Steve's bare skin. They were in Steve's bed, tangled together on top of the rumpled covers, their clothes in a heap on the floor. Tony had one arm draped across Steve's chest, and his head tucked into the crook of Steve's shoulder. "Can we really put Manhattan back where it belongs?" "Yes," Steve said. There was a brief, expectant silence, and then Tony planted his left elbow on the pillow next to Steve's head and propped himself up. "That's it? That's all you have to say? Where's my inspiring Captain America pep talk? I feel cheated." "You asked a yes or no question." Steve wrapped one arm around Tony's waist and pulled him back down. "I answered it. If you need more... well, you heard Wong. Contracts can be broken." "I know," Tony said. "I used to keep three international law firms on retainer, just to deal with that sort of thing. I'm just saying, if that's what it comes down to... Hell might have the better lawyers." "Doesn't matter," Steve said firmly. "The devils are thieves and cowards, and the stakes aren't the same for them as they are for us. They can afford to lose. We can't. That means they'll back down if the cost of winning becomes too high. We won't." "I hope you're right," Tony sighed. "About them backing down, I mean -- I already know we won't." He trailed his hand down Steve's arm, and curled his fingers comfortably into Steve's cupped palm. "I never thought I'd have to harrow Hell just so I can have internet access again. It'll be worth it, though?" "Is that what you miss the most?" Steve asked, amused and appalled at the same time. "The internet?" "What I miss," Tony grumbled, "is a world where the laws of nature work properly. A world where cats don't talk, and clay people don't walk around, and giant spiders can't exist because the square-cube law matters, dammit. Also, a world with coffee makers. And lots of coffee to put in them." He lifted his head from Steve's shoulder and fixed Steve with a curious look. "So what do you miss?" "Weather," Steve said promptly. "Sun and clouds and rain and snow. Even that godawful half-frozen slush we seem to get in the city every winter. Just... anything but stale air and darkness." He gazed up at the candle-lit ceiling, tried to imagine an open sky instead. It was disturbing, how much difficulty he had remembering the colors. "I am half-sick of shadows," he muttered. The sympathy in Tony's eyes took the sting off his laughter. "Okay, Lady of Shalott." He wriggled closer and planted a kiss on the corner of Steve's mouth. "Tell you what, if we get back to Earth--" "When we get back." "Okay, when. When we get back, you just tell me what weather you want, and we'll find a place that has it and go there. And then we'll sit out in the weather and drink coffee." "It's a date." Steve buried his fingers in Tony's hair and pulled him in for a longer, deeper kiss. If Doom hadn't brought about the Descent, he and Tony might never have done this. It was probably selfish of him to consider that, weighed against everything else. Just at that moment, though, with Tony's mouth pressed against his, Steve found it difficult to care. "That's it?" Steve picked up one of the three folded sheets Tony had removed from the newly-opened box. The sheet appeared to be heavy-stock cotton paper, cream-colored and gilded at the corners. The neat, tiny writing that covered both sides was in no language Steve could recognize, but it wasn't the Correspondence, either. "I was expecting something a little more impressive." "Personally, I'm very impressed." Tony picked up one the other two sheets. "The last contract I signed was over a hundred pages long. Apparently, Hell has mastered the art of the concise legal document. Come on, let's see what Wong can make of this." "Well. This is interesting." Wong laid out the contract pages in order across his desk in the library and squinted at the small writing in the dim light. "You have to give Doom credit for inventiveness." "Can you actually read that?" Steve leaned in from the other side of the desk to peer at the pages. "It doesn't even look like a language to me." "The second alphabet of Hell is the alphabet of deeds and contracts," Wang said in a distracted tone as he flipped the first page over. "It's also the one most commonly distributed outside of Hell, and most comprehensively documented. I can read it as well as I read any of the human languages I've studied. However--" He gave Steve a pointed frown. "--I cannot speed read it. Allow me a few minutes, please." "Of course." Steve stepped away from the desk and wandered to a nearby bookcase, where Tony was leafing through what appeared to be an illustrated encyclopedia of sea monsters. "I'll just... wait over here." "See?" Tony murmured with quiet amusement. "I'm not the only one who thinks you hover." Steve decided not to dignify that with an answer. "I was right," Wong said after several minutes of expectant silence during which Steve absolutely, definitely did not hover. "Doom had no authority to sell Manhattan to the Masters. What this contract describes is a workaround, a three-way deal between Doom, Hell, and the Bazaar. It was the devils who gave Doom the power to transport Manhattan to this dimension. Once that was accomplished, he and the Masters performed what appears to be a formal exchange of gifts." "Exchange of gifts." Tony rolled his eyes. "Right. Sounds like a tax dodge to me. Or a way to get around trade regulations." "Something like that, yes." Wong smiled thinly. "The Masters cannot purchase a city from a man who has no right to sell it. But they're under no obligation to investigate the provenance of any gifts they receive. So Doom gave them Manhattan, and in return the Masters gave him..." He picked up the last sheet and frowned at it. "Gave him what?" Steve prompted. "According to this, 'the power to bend all earthly creatures to his will.' Some form of mass mind control, I presume." "Yeah," Tony said in a tight voice. "That sounds like the sort of thing Doom would do." Steve felt sick. He'd guessed it before, of course. Doom would never have attempted a bargain this big and this risky without a proportionate payoff. But to hear it spoken out loud, to know beyond doubt or denial that Doom had been ruling Earth for three years while Steve and the other Avengers were trapped and out of reach-- "How do we undo this?" he demanded, at the same time as Tony said, "What does Hell get out of it?" "As it happens," Wong said, "both your questions have the same answer." He tapped his finger against the last page. "Without a proper Bazaar sale, Manhattan's presence in this dimension is unnatural. It takes power to keep it here, and that power must be maintained. By the terms of the contract, there is a ritual that must be performed every year on the anniversary of the original bargain. Doom must tithe a thousand human souls to Hell, and in return, the devils renew the spell that keeps us here." A thousand souls a year. Steve suppressed a shudder and forced himself to focus. He couldn't afford to lose his composure now, not when they were so close to an answer. "So if the ritual doesn't happen--" "Manhattan returns to its proper place." Wong's voice shook with barely suppressed excitement. "It would void both Doom's contract with Hell and his arrangement with the Masters." "How much do you want to bet that this is what the Embassy has been preparing for?" Tony sounded as shaken as Steve felt, but his eyes were cold and determined. "We'll have to get in there. Does anyone know when the anniversary of the Descent is, exactly? It should be sometime soon." "Two days from now," Steve said. Both Tony and Wong turned to stare at him. "What?" "We haven't had a day or a night in three years," Tony said slowly. "Half the clocks in the city don't work and the other half don't agree with each other. And you can rattle off the date just like that?" Steve shrugged, feeling suddenly self-conscious. "I have a good internal clock. Can we stick to the point, please?" "The point. Right." Tony shut the book he was holding and leaned back against the bookcase behind him. "The point being, we have two days to figure out how to get into the Brass Embassy just as they've doubled their security. That should be fun." "Actually," Steve said, "Getting in is the easy part." It felt good to wear his uniform in public again. To feel the familiar weight of the mail shirt across his shoulders, the comforting heft of the shield on his arm, and not to have to hide it. Steve had kept to the rooftops for most of the trip, but now he dropped to the street, let himself be clearly seen as he crossed Park Row to the entrance of One Police Plaza. His entrance caused something of a stir. The guard at the front desk leaped to his feet, and the officers milling in the lobby all spun to face him. A few of the officers drew their guns, but they looked uncertain as they did it. Steve stopped, lowered the shield to the floor to rest against his leg, and slowly raised his hands above his head. "I want to talk to Maria Hill," he called out. Chapter 8 Despite its name, Hell's embassy to Lowered Manhattan was built not from brass but from massive blocks of mottled gray stone, with an imposing marble portico across the front facade. It squatted in the center of what used to be Sheep Meadow, surrounded by mossy blue lawns and carefully tended patches of luminous fungus, and warded with at least as much protective magic as the Sanctum Sanctorum. Over the years, every superhero in the city and a few of the supervillains had had a go at the place, and no one had managed to so much as crack a window pane. Some people claimed the name was a reference to the metallic yellow sheen of the devils' eyes. Some cited rumors of a ballroom with a heated brass floor where humans who'd sold their souls were forced to dance barefoot for Hell's amusement. As Steve climbed the steps to the front door, he wondered if the name had anything to do with the vast array of locks that guarded the building's doors and windows. "Keep your eyes down," Maria Hill hissed from just behind his right shoulder. "This'll have a better chance of working if you at least try to look defeated." Steve slumped his shoulders and kept his gaze fixed on the polished marble beneath his boots. Didn't look up, not even when the bottom edge of an iron door came into view, with a pair of cloven feet on either side. The feet -- or hooves, Steve supposed -- poked out from the cuffs of crisp black trousers with gold braid down the seams. The devils had a thing for elaborate uniforms. He felt horribly exposed, standing in front of the guards with his wrists shackled and his shield out of reach. The presence of three uniformed LMPD officers behind him didn't exactly help. Hill had sworn that her people were trustworthy, but to Steve they were another unknown quantity in a plan that already had more unknowns than he liked. He would've left them out all together, but Hill had insisted that it would look suspicious if she showed up escorting an important prisoner alone, and Steve had to go with her judgment on that one. She'd spent a lot more time dealing with devils than he had. "Detective Hill," the guard on the left greeted. His speech was a little slurred, like all devils'. Fangs and forked tongues were poorly suited to human sounds. "We weren't expecting you tonight." "Hello, Marlowe. Wormwood." Hill's voice held the ease of long familiarity. She nodded at each guard in turn, then rattled off a long string of guttural syllables that were presumably the password. "I've got a present for your bosses." One of the other officers planted a hand in the middle of Steve's back and shoved. Steve let himself stumble forward a little, then decided it would be in character to finally stand up straight. He squared his shoulders and glared at the guards, who stared back with impassive yellow eyes. "That's one of your superheroes, isn't it?" Marlowe hissed. "One of the ones the Masters posted the reward for." "That's right. He had this with him when we caught him." Hill took a step forward and held up the box, balanced on a circular tray draped in a velvet cloth the color of dried blood. "Still don't know what the fuss is about this thing, but I figured I'd better deliver it in person." Wormwood let out a thoughtful hiss and darted his tongue out one corner of his mouth. "Maybe we'd better bring him in while you wait outside. Security, you know?" "What, thinking of claiming the reward for yourselves?" Hill's sneer was pure acid. Steve could sort of admire it when it wasn't directed at himself. "I hope you have a convincing explanation for how you managed to capture a fugitive while standing guard duty. Or are you going to tell them you abandoned you post and try to explain that instead?" The guards' eyes narrowed to angry slits. They hissed some more, but seemed to have no better response to offer. "Tell you what," Hill said, "you let me go in there and claim my money, and I'm sure I'll be in a very good mood when I come back. And when I'm in a good mood, I like to share. Spread the wealth around." She smiled thinly. "Make sure my friends are as happy as I am. You two are my friends, right?" Wormwood and Marlowe squinted at each other, then at Hill, then at Steve. Wormwood flicked his tongue again, and stepped forward. "We need to make sure he's secure," he said. Steve stood very still while the two devils patted him down and tested his shackles. Their hands were hot enough that he could feel them through leather and mail. Marlowe pulled Steve's cowl back to examine his face, stepped back with an annoyed shrug, and turned toward the door. It took him nearly two minutes to undo the array of locks and deadbolts that barred the door. When the final bolt clicked aside, he shoved the door open and gave Hill a jagged, mocking grin. "Go on then, bring him in." "Thanks," Hill said, and shot him in the face. Marlowe dropped to the ground, looking more startled than hurt. Wormwood spat out what was presumably a curse, and pounced for Hill's gun arm. Steve intercepted him with a tackle, which felt a lot like tackling the Rhino but did at least take him down for a couple of seconds. Steve rolled free just in time for one of Hill's men to toss him the key to the shackles. Hill herself planted herself just inside the open door, and let the box and the velvet cloth drop to the ground to reveal Steve's shield. Inside, an alarm bell clanged. Marlowe and Wormwood leaped to their feet and attacked Hill again, only to be shot down once more by the LMPD officers. Marlowe did land one pile driver of a blow that would've probably cracked Hill's skull if she hadn't raised the shield in time. The impact drove her to her knees but didn't budge her from the door. "We'll have every devil in the embassy here in a moment!" she yelled. "Your people better get here soon!" "They're coming," Steve yelled back. "Give me my shield!" Hill tossed it to him, and he caught it and slipped his arm through the straps. The clatter of cloven feet on stone tiles signaled the imminent arrival of reinforcements from inside the embassy. At the same time, Steve's own reinforcements swooped down from above, where they'd been circling out of sight in the darkness beneath the cavern roof. Spider-Woman and Jewel carried Black Widow and Wong, while Spider-Man clung to Iron Man's armor, with the Falcon following close behind. Only Luke was missing -- he was back at the Sanctum Sanctorum with Danni, having lost a vicious argument and two out of three coin tosses with his wife. The prospect of fighting with his shield again felt great, but the sight of Tony in the armor was even better. Though maybe it wasn't the armor itself, but the memory of the bright anticipation on Tony's face as he put it on. Tony had poured every last drop of his gasoline stash into the generator in order to get the repulsors and power cells charged for this one last battle. "If we pull this off," he'd told Steve with a grin, "then we'll be back on Earth and I'll have all the electricity I want. And if we fail -- well, then it'll hardly matter, will it?" Now he landed on the terrace with enough force to make the marble shudder beneath his boots, and blasted Marlowe and Wormwood with a burst of repulsor fire before they had a chance to get up again. Spider-Man provided the finishing touch by webbing both devils to the floor. "Good timing," Steve said. "Let's all get inside now. Hill, you have point." According to Natasha's intelligence, the ritual was to take place in the domed chamber at the center of the embassy building. According to Wong, it was likely to happen at the same time of night as Doom's original spell three years ago. According to Hill, she knew the building layout well enough to get them where they needed to go. That was a few too many accordings for Steve's liking, but they'd had no time to lay elaborate plans. Steve followed Hill through the door, and didn't bother to suppress his smile as Iron Man fell into step beside him. The front door opened into a short, narrow corridor that led to a high-ceilinged antechamber containing some ornate but otherwise unremarkable chairs and benches. A row of chandeliers held thick, smoky candles that gave off a strange greenish light. The walls were hung with tapestries of elaborately robed devils and mythological beasts. The embroidered figures seemed to move in Steve's peripheral vision, but held still when he looked at them directly. There were six sturdy-looking doors leading out of the room, but no windows. "I don't mean to complain," Spider-Man said as they all filed into the room, "but shouldn't somebody be attacking us by now?" As if in response to his words, all the candles went out. There was about half a second of complete darkness before the high beam on Iron Man's helmet switched on. And in the space of that half a second, the room somehow filled with several dozen very angry-looking devils. "You just had to ask, didn't you?" Jewel muttered, and floated up to the ceiling. "Make for the northwest door!" Hill yelled, just as the first line of devils pounced. With that many bodies in the fight, there was no space for finesse. Steve's tactics narrowed to "if it's not an Avenger or a cop, hit it." Devils were preternaturally strong and fast, and their touch scorched like hot iron, but at the end of the day, fighting them wasn't that different from fighting Unfinished Men. Steve slammed his shield into yellow-eyed faces, dodged blows from sharp-clawed hands, and did his best to keep himself pointed into a more or less northwest direction. He tried to keep an eye out on the others as he moved. Jewel, Spider-Woman and Falcon attacked from above, darting in and out of the thickest parts of the fight. Spider-Man leaped from wall to wall, shooting webs as he went. Black Widow fought side by side with Hill and her team, matching Hill's moves with an ease that spoke of shared SHIELD training. Wong kept close to the walls, making complex hand gestures and chanting words Steve was too far away to hear. With any luck, this meant the building's internal wards would be weakened when the Avengers tried to advance further inside. Iron Man, predictably, was in the thickest part of the fight. The devils seemed frightened and enraged by him at the same time. They would surround him in groups, hissing and spitting, then attack all at once. The armor was already scorched and dented in several places, but Tony was steady on his feet and firing repulsor and plasma blasts at a steady pace. "Iron Man!" Steve slammed an elbow into a charging devil's chin, dropped and rolled to avoid a clawed swipe from behind, and came up on his feet at Tony's side. "We need to get everyone together and through that door over there." "Gotcha." Tony fired a flare toward the ceiling. "Avengers, to me!" Something looped around Steve's ankles and yanked. He twisted as he fell, rolled, and brought his shield edge down onto what turned out to be a two-headed green snake with a body as thick as Steve's thigh. The thing looked familiar, and it took Steve a moment to figure out where he'd seen it before. "They're coming out of the tapestries!" He yelled. Not the most coherent statement he'd ever made, but he suspected the others would know what he meant. "No kidding?" Spider-Man swung down from the chandelier to web the snake's heads to the floor. "I was wondering where the giant flying dog came from." Another flare burst, followed by a small but remarkably loud explosion that turned the northwest door into splinters. Either Wong's counterspells were working, or the high-tech energy of the repulsors was too much for the wards. "Everyone this way!" Tony shouted. The armor magnified his voice to drown out the noise of the fight. He launched into the air, dipped, and came up again with an LMPD officer dangling from each arm. He tossed them through the blasted doorway like rag dolls, then dove in again to get Hill, just as Falcon and Jewel flew down for the rest of the Avengers. Steve battered his way through on his own, sprinting though the doorway just as Spider-Man swung in above him. They were in another corridor now, which gave them a slight tactical advantage. The devils seemed reluctant to follow them into a confined space where they could only attack two or three at a time. They hung back in the antechamber, and let the creatures from the tapestries give pursuit. A snake-tailed panther nearly took a healthy bite from Steve's leg, and something that looked like a cross between a greyhound and a vulture managed one swipe of its beak across his left shoulder before a plasma burst sent it reeling back. "You all right?" Tony's voice sounded slightly winded behind the faceplate. He was limping, one metal boot melted out of shape and smoking at the seams. "Fine." Steve flexed his arm to make sure. The mailed sleeve of his uniform was torn right through and singed at the edges, but there was no blood. The creature's beak had been as hot as the devils' claws, hot enough to cauterize the wound it made. Steve suspected it would hurt like hell once the battle rush wore off, but right now all he felt was a dull throb. "You're the one who's limping." "It's nothing." Tony braced his hand against the wall and took another clanking step. "They fried the circuits but didn't get past the insulation. Hey, Hill, are we almost there yet?" "Shut up and keep moving," Hill snapped back. The route they followed turned, branched, turned again and again. Dozens of corridors crossed each other at oblique angles. It seemed to Steve that they were covering more ground than the building could actually contain. But Hill never slowed or hesitated as she took each corner. Steve just hoped her confidence wasn't a bluff. Just as he was thinking of echoing Tony's "are we there yet?" Hill took one last turn and stopped in front of a wooden door that looked no different than the several dozen other doors she'd guided them past. "Here," she said. "And you'd better hope your intelligence was good." "If it doesn't, your corpse can say 'I told you so' to my corpse," Tony told her, and blasted the door. The room on the other side matched Natasha's second-hand description -- a windowless octagonal chamber with a domed ceiling and a large circular mirror embedded in the floor. Eight more mirrors hung on the walls, reflecting the light of the green-glowing candles in brass wall sconces. The three devils gathered around the floor mirror were all dressed in pinstriped suits and garishly-colored neckties. Perhaps Tony's earlier words about Hell's lawyers hadn't been that far off. On the floor at the devils' feet was an odd assortment of items, carefully arranged around the mirror's edge. A bottle of water, a clump of dirt, a small, blown-glass sphere, a bowl filled with some sort of oil. One of the devils was kneeling next to the bowl with a lit match in one hand, but he leaped to his feet with when the Avengers burst in. The match dropped to the floor and flared out. All three devils hissed and bared their fangs, but didn't immediately attack. "Captain." Wong edged forward to stand at Steve's left. His clothes were singed and one side of his face was red and blistered from a devil's touch. "We need to destroy that floor mirror." "Got it." Steve threw the shield. It ricocheted off the mirror's surface toward the back of the room, where it shattered one of the wall mirrors and embedded itself in the elaborate silver frame. But the glass on the floor remained unbroken, not so much as a scratch to mark where the edge of the shield had struck. Tony's follow-up blast left only a few faint cracks. "It's never that easy, is it?" Tony muttered. The devils had been backing away from the door the whole time. Now one of them spun around to face one of the wall mirrors, and gestured rapidly, chanting something indistinct under his breath. Hill promptly shot him in the back, which made him stutter into silence, but by then the mirror had darkened and something that definitely wasn't a reflection stirred inside the frame. Moments later, the glass rippled like water, and a sorrow-spider the size of a large cat tumbled through to land on the floor with a muted thump. Three more spiders followed in quick succession, just as the rest of the wall mirrors also began to darken and ripple. "Oh, great." Spider-Woman let out a dramatic sigh. "It's those guys again." Steve dove into a forward roll toward the far side of the room, where his shield was still stuck in the broken mirror frame. By the time he came up on his feet to retrieve it, there were at least twenty spiders in the room, and more were pouring in from all sides. One leaped for Steve's face, all clicking fangs and dripping venom. Steve knocked it aside hard enough to make it burst against the wall in a spray of gray ichor, then spun around to smash the shield into the nearest mirror on his right. For all its liquid rippling, it shattered like normal glass. Silvery shards rained to the floor, followed by half a spider as the portal it was coming through abruptly closed. "Break the wall mirrors!" Steve called out. "It'll stop more of these things from coming through!" "Gotcha!" Natasha launched into a spinning kick and slammed a boot heel into the glass behind her. Tony blasted two at once, then ducked as Jewel darted over his head to break a third one. Peter pulled another with his webs, and the influx of spiders slowed to a trickle. The ones already in the room swarmed to attack, but the Avengers already knew how to fight them, and Hill and her team were catching on fast. There was one wall mirror left intact. Steve began to work his way toward it, saw Tony turn to do the same from the other side of the room. "I've got it!" Steve yelled to him. Iron Man's weapons appeared to be their only chance to damage the ritual mirror. With any luck, Tony could get the job done while the rest of them kept the spiders busy. Steve crushed a rat-sized spiderling under his boot, then ducked to avoid a larger one. "You get the one on the floor!" Tony gave a quick, jerky nod and altered his course toward the center of the room. The three pinstriped devils had retreated to the corner farthest from the door, putting the writhing mass of spiders between themselves and the Avengers. Steve tried to keep an eye on them as he fought, but they made no threatening moves -- or moves of any kind, for that matter -- until Tony came within easy striking distance of the ritual mirror. Then one of the devils pulled something small and glittering from his breast pocket and threw it. He didn't seem to be aiming for anything in particular, but instinct still made Steve leap forward to intercept. The projectile -- a small glass vial -- shattered against his shield and expelled a small, dense cloud of glittering blue mist that rapidly thinned out as it expanded to fill the room. When it reached the walls and ceiling it began to thicken again, coalescing into intensely glowing blue strands that twisted themselves into strings of complex, curving shapes. Steve had only had a few brief glimpses of the Correspondence when Tony was working with it, but he recognized the symbols now. "Don't look at it!" Even filtered through the armor, Tony's voice held a note of borderline panic. "Everyone look away!" "Look away to where?" Natasha snapped back. Good question, Steve thought. The walls and the ceiling were completely covered with the Correspondence now. The floor was clear, but it was also littered with pieces of broken mirrors. As the spiders scurried back and forth, Steve couldn't avoid catching partial glimpses of reflected symbols. He tried to focus on the spiders -- they were the ones he needed to fight, after all -- but already his eyes were starting to burn. A warm drop trickled down his cheek. Steve swiped at it with the back of his hand and saw a dark red stain spread against the brighter red of his glove. His eyes were bleeding. A shift of light and shadow at the edge of his peripheral vision warned him that a spider was attacking. Steve barely managed to swat it aside in time. His limbs felt suddenly clumsy and heavy with fatigue, as if he'd been fighting for hours rather than minutes. The sounds in the room became muted and meaningless, the colors all faded except for the cool blue glow of the Correspondence. The twisting symbols were endlessly fascinating, and Steve was seized with frustration at his inability to see them properly in the mirror shards. Look up. The words weren't so much spoken as planted directly into his mind. If he looked at the walls, he could see the Correspondence properly. He could read and know its secrets, which were the secrets of the universes. All the universes, an infinite number of them, he could spend a thousand lifetimes reading and never scratch the surface... "Steve!" Tony's voice was clear, but it seemed to be coming from a great distance. "Steve, listen to me, you need to close your eyes!" Why? Tony sounded terribly urgent, but Steve couldn't imagine what could be more important than learning what the Correspondence had to say. Surely, Tony would understand. Whatever he wanted, it could wait a little longer. "Don't listen to it, Steve! Don't look at it!" Ignore him. This is more important. This is-- A burst of light filled the room, so searing-bright that Steve's vision shorted out completely. It hurt enough to make him drop to his knees, but it also cleared his head. The intrusive, slithering presence of the Correspondence receded from his mind and he understood what must've happened. Flare. Tony had fired a flare. It was a temporary reprieve. Already, Steve's vision was beginning to clear. White spots still danced before his eyes, but they were fading rapidly. If he closed his eyes, he'd be useless. If he didn't, he'd be worse than useless. The Correspondence had made Tony walk out of the Sanctum Sanctorum and hand himself over to the Spider Council. There was no telling what it might make Steve do. He started to rise to his feet, but a blow between his shoulder blades drove him to his knees again. One of the sorrow-spiders had dropped down on him from the ceiling. Now it skittered across Steve's back and over his shoulder, and sank its fangs into the same spot where the beaked creature from the tapestries had mauled him earlier. Steve knocked it to the floor by reflex, but the deep sting of the bite and deeper burn of the venom helped ground him in his own body, gave him something to focus on even as his vision fully cleared. It wasn't as effective as Tony's flare had been, but it was a hell of a lot better than his earlier mental fog. When the Correspondence began to whisper at the edges of his mind again, Steve gritted his teeth and dug his fingers into the wound. He could see some of the others now. Hill and Black Widow, kneeling in the broken glass, their blood-streaked faces tilted up to stare at the wall in front of them. Spider-Man, face down on the floor, breathing but not moving. Tony, standing in the center of the room, with his armored feet planted on top of the badly cracked but still unbroken mirror. And in front of Tony, blocking Steve's view of the rest of the room, the Spider Council. It must've come in through the one remaining wall mirror, though Steve imagined it would've had difficulty fitting through the frame. Its compound body was smaller than it had been in the subway, and marked with multiple scars, but it seemed they hadn't done a thorough enough job killing it the first time around. Now it crouched low to the floor and tapped its claws thoughtfully against the stone as Tony spoke to it. "--The one you really want, right?" Tony was saying. He'd taken his gauntlets off and dropped them to the floor, presumably as some kind of good-will gesture in whatever negotiation he was attempting. "The others are no use to you, no more than any random person whose eyes you might steal in the night. Promise to let them go and I'll come back with you." "Tony, don't," Steve ground out. Neither Tony nor the Council seemed to notice. "And why would we want you, little metal man?" There was a sound like nails on a chalkboard as the Council scraped one claw down the length of Tony's battered chest plate. "Are you someone important inside that shell?" "You tell me." Tony took his helmet off and set it down next to the gauntlets. "You're the one who wanted me the last time." "Ahhh..." The Council's entire oversized bulk lifted off the floor and sank back again as it sighed. "You are the Correspondence scholar." "That's right." Tony shuddered but held his ground as the Council lowered another claw to press against his exposed throat. "Do we have a deal?" The Council scurried forward until a dozen of its faceted eyes were only inches from Tony's face. "The Correspondence doesn't have you now," it hissed. "I'm protected." Tony indicated the painted symbol on his forehead, lifted his hands to show off his wrists. "But I'll remove the protection if that's what you need. Just let the others go." Dammit, Tony! Steve balanced the shield for a throw, but held back. Tony was standing too close for a clear shot. And Steve didn't trust himself to throw true just then, not when he was dizzy with pain and devoting most of his energy to keeping the Correspondence out of his mind. Not when the Council could kill Tony with one blow. "Very well." The Council pulled its claws in and moved back. "We have a bargain." "The others?" Tony insisted. "Will be allowed to leave the room once the ritual is completed." The Council sounded amused. "They will still have to make their way out of the building, of course. We cannot vouch for what the devils might do." "Good enough," Tony said, even though it clearly wasn't. Something was definitely off, Steve thought. Tony was a better deal-maker than that. He had asked for no guarantees, took no notice of the three devils who were now slinking out from behind the Council. Did he have a plan of some sort? What did he think he was doing? At the moment, what he was doing was scrubbing off the symbols Steve had so carefully painted on, first from his face, then from his wrists. But not from his chest, that one was still hidden by the armor. Was one symbol protection enough? Was that Tony's plan? If it was, he was showing no sign of it now. Tony walked away from the mirror to stand at the Council's side, and when he turned enough for Steve to get a look, his face was slack and his eyes were blank. He didn't seem to notice as the devils gathered around the mirror. It took them only a few moments to rearrange their ritual items and to refill the bottle and the bowl. One of the devils set the oil in the bowl alight, while the other two chanted. The mirror's frame began to glow, while the glass within it darkened. A shadow formed and grew larger, as if the mirror was a window and a figure was approaching it from the other side. In the space of a few heartbeats, the figure grew close enough to be illuminated by the glowing frame, and Steve could see the light reflecting off Victor von Doom's armor. Steve threw the shield, because he had to at least try. It bounced off the glass just as it did the last time. Steve thought he saw a few new cracks appear, but it wasn't going to be enough. One of the devils hissed at him from the far side of the mirror, but didn't move from his place. "Tony!" Steve yelled. Iron Man was the only Avenger still standing. If Tony had a plan, he needed to execute it now, while they still had seconds to spare. "Come on, Tony, take your own advice! Weren't you telling just a minute ago to close my eyes and fight it?" Tony shook his head and swayed on his feet, but didn't look in Steve's direction. Had he even heard, or was he just reacting to the Correspondence again? Steve had no way of telling; all he could do was raise his voice over the devils' chanting and keep trying. "Listen to me, Tony! Iron Man! Remember what I told you before? They'll back down and we won't, that's what makes the difference! Don't back down on me now!" Tony's legs buckled. He pressed his hands to his temples, cried out, then dropped to his hands and knees as if struck down. His head lolled forward until Steve couldn't see his face anymore, but he thought he'd seen a flicker of clarity in Tony's eyes just before he fell. There was nothing Steve could do from where he was, except call Tony's name again and again. Tony had said that Steve's voice was the only thing he could hear over the Correspondence, but it hadn't been enough the last time. Would it be enough now? "Let go!" Tony clenched his fists and screamed. "Letgoletgoletgo--" The Spider Council lifted a claw to strike at him, but at that moment, the armor's unibeam fired. The floor in the center of the room turned into a smoking crater. The mirror tumbled into it, along with all three devils. Tony rolled away from the edge barely in time to keep from falling in after them. He rolled onto his back, still screaming, and fired again. Parts of the ceiling began to collapse. The air filled with dust from the falling stones, so thick that Steve couldn't see Tony anymore. Then again, he couldn't see the Correspondence, either. Steve's shield was out of reach, his left arm was useless, and his head swam with pain and the numbing effect of spider venom. He moved anyway, made it to his feet, staggered toward the spot where he'd seen Tony last. He saw the Spider Council's dark shadow sway in the billowing dust, scrambling away from the crater and toward the door. The rest of the spiders were scattering in all directions, trying to avoid the falling rubble. Another burst of light from the unibeam, then another. Tony was bringing the entire room down. Steve had no idea if the ritual mirror could survive this level of destruction, but he suspected it hardly mattered. It was buried under tons of debris now, with more coming down every moment. There was no way Doom was coming through. Steve managed to stagger three, maybe four steps before a chunk of rock the size of a watermelon glanced off his good shoulder and sent him sprawling to the floor. Getting back up seemed like a waste of effort, so he crawled the rest of the way, until he saw Tony's metal-clad arm in front of him. "Steve!" Tony's face was blackened with dust and streaked with blood and sweat. "I knew it would work, I knew I could do this if you talked me through it!" "This was your brilliant plan?" Steve didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Have me yell at you? You're insane." "Worked, didn't it?" Tony's arm trembled as he raised it to bump Steve's chest with his fist. "You need to go now. I think I took out some supporting walls. This whole place is coming down any moment." "What about you?" "I'm a bit stuck." Tony gestured toward the lower half of his body, and Steve realized that his legs were buried under several feet of rubble. Without the armor, Tony would've been crushed to a pulp. With it, he was merely immobilized. Damn. Even if he'd been uninjured, there was no way Steve could shift this much rock in time. "Can't you move it?" "Out of power. Hydraulics down." Tony punched Steve's chest again, harder this time. "Go!" "Stop that!" Steve caught Tony's hand in his. "I wouldn't have left you like this even before I knew I loved you, you really think I'm going to do it now?" "Steve, please!" Tony looked utterly terrified, and Steve was fairly sure that it wasn't the shower of rock around them that had him in such a state, even if one softball-sized chunk did only miss his head by inches. "We only have a minute or so--" "And you really want to spend that minute arguing?" Steve demanded. And then, because Tony looked as if he was actually considering it, Steve leaned down and kissed him. It wasn't much of a kiss. Both their mouths were full of dust, Tony was in no shape to anything but lie there, and Steve only had one usable arm to hold him with. I hope the others make it out, Steve thought, and then pushed the thought aside, because there was nothing he could do about it either way, and he didn't want his last moments to be filled with fear or regret. He was here, and Tony was here, and if he was going to die in the ruins of Hell's embassy -- well, at least he was kissing the right person. The floor began to shake. Here it comes, Steve thought, and braced himself. But the crushing impact he was anticipating never came. Seconds ticked by, and the shaking stopped, and then Tony was bracing one hand against Steve's chest and pushing him away. "Steve, we're--" "Not dead. I've noticed." A gust of wind blew across Steve's face, and his breath caught in his throat, because wind in Lowered Manhattan was never this cold. Steve lifted his head to look around, and realized that the room -- no, the entire building around them was gone. Not destroyed, but truly gone. Around them was open space, beneath them was not stone but cold, damp mud, and Steve had never been so grateful to sit in cold mud in his entire life. The rubble that had pinned Tony's legs was gone too. Steve levered him up into a sitting position and turned both their faces into the wind. It was still dark, but the darkness was different now. Steve tilted his head back. "Tony, look up." Above them, farther away than it had been in years, the sky was full of stars. Epilogue Paris, two months later "So," Tony said, "how about that weather we're having?" "It's wonderful," Steve said fervently. They were having a late brunch at a cafe around the corner from their hotel, seated at an outdoor table despite the steady gray drizzle. The striped umbrella over the table kept them mostly dry, and the morning chill made each swallow of Steve's hot chocolate feel twice as welcome going down. Tony, on his third cup of coffee, was dividing his attention between his newspaper and his PDA. Steve just leaned back in his chair and watched the city go about its business around them. The steady stream of cars and pedestrians was reassuringly ordinary, until he looked across the street, where a work crew was busily scrubbing a fifty-foot fresco of Victor von Doom from the side of an office building. "Stop that," Tony muttered without looking up from his PDA screen. "Stop what?" "The glaring. It's only a picture, Doom can't actually feel your righteous disapproval." Steve tore his croissant in half with a great deal more viciousness than an innocent pastry deserved. "Doom has a lot to answer for." "Oh, I don't know," Tony said. "If he hadn't taken over the world, it would've been us dealing with that Skrull invasion instead of him. Maybe we should send him a thank you card." "Don't even joke about it." Steve growled. "I'll take ten alien invasions over the mess we've got now." In the wake of his deal with Hell and the Masters, Doom had used his new power to dissolve all the world's governments and declare himself the sole ruler of a unified Earth. Now he was back in Latveria, hiding behind sealed borders, his magically-imposed world order turned to chaos. The United Nations, SHIELD, the Avengers, and every other superhero on the planet all had their hands full trying to keep some semblance of order as the world subdivided itself again. A part of Steve wished it didn't have to happen that way, but you couldn't mind-control people into world peace. "I know what you mean." Tony glared at his newspaper one last time before folding it and shoving it aside. "With an alien invasion, you at least know who the bad guys are and what you're supposed to do about them. Nice and simple, right?" "Right," Steve sighed. "I could go for a bit of nice and simple in my life right now." "Really?" Tony gave him a crooked smile. "What are you doing with me, then?" "Good question." Steve found himself reluctantly smiling back. "What am I doing with a guy whose idea of a brilliant plan is to bring the roof down on top of his own head?" "Oh, come on." Tony rolled his eyes. "How many times do we get to have this argument? It was a good plan. It worked. We brought Manhattan back and nobody died." "It was a terrible plan. It only worked because you got lucky. And Hill and Natasha will never speak to you again." "Sure they will," Tony said confidently. "I'll just have to charm them a little, that's all." "Once they're out of traction." "Yeah." Tony's grin wilted a little. "Okay, maybe I'll have to charm them a lot." "If I were you," Steve said, "I'd keep the charm to myself for a while." "Maybe you're right." Tony looked chastened for a moment. A very short moment. "Maybe I'll charm you instead." The leer that accompanied the words was not so much charming as utterly obscene. A few weeks ago, Steve might've blushed at it, but he was developing a tolerance for Tony's antics. "You can try," he said placidly, and sipped his hot chocolate. Tony's gaze turned calculating, as if he was taking Steve's non-response as a challenge. He started to say something, then swore and patted at his pockets at the same time as Steve's own coat beeped urgently at him. "Dammit." Tony pulled his communicator from his back pocket and scowled at it. "I swear, every time we get an hour to ourselves, Hill comes up with an emergency. I think she's cockblocking us." "I'm pretty sure she's not doing it on purpose," Steve said. Tony's scowl deepened. "She totally is. I bet she and Black Widow are in it together, plotting against us." "If Hill and Natasha were plotting against us, we'd have bigger things to worry about than interrupted brunch dates." Steve put his cup down, and reached across the table to press the "acknowledge" key on the communicator in Tony's hand. "Where does SHIELD want us?" "Geneva." Tony let out an annoyed huff. "Apparently, HYDRA is trying to break up the Eastern European summit." "Will there be weather in Geneva?" "Almost certainly." Tony's annoyed glare relaxed into an amused half-smile. "And coffee too." "Well, that's all right then." Steve stood and pulled Tony to his feet. "Let's go save the world." 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About | Projects | Docs | Forums | Lists | Bugs | Get Gentoo! | Support | Planet | Wiki Anand Buddhdev posted <42D3A936.8060306@...>, excerpted below, on Tue, 12 Jul 2005 13:27:50 +0200: > I'm getting a new AMD64-based computer, and I'd like to run gentoo on it. > I have been doing a bit of reading about running linux on AMD64, and it > seems that in general, it's not a? Or was there a lot of frustration involved. I've used linux > and BSD systems for a long time, so I'm used to hacking, and I'm not > afraid to mess around with scripts and compilers. But I've reached a point > when I'd just like to be able to install a system, and have it work. >. > >? Wow! Where to start? ... Keep in mind that the following describes more the issues you might come across, than the good things, so it's going to seem FAR worse than it actually is. Going 32-bit is slightly easier, as you mention, altho 64-bit is getting more mainstream every day. 100% 32-bit mode uses the generally larger amd64 cache (normally 1M L3 cache, compared to perhaps half that on most 32-bit only processors), but doesn't make use of the other strengths of the amd64 architecture, the biggest one of which is probably the expanded number of hardware registers available in 64-bit mode. x86 has traditionally been a rather register-limited arch, and the amd64 CPUs in 32-bit mode remain so for compatibility reasons, so the additional registers only come into play in 64-bit mode. OTOH, for many things, unless you have more than 4G memory, 32-bit is quite enough and conserves resources a bit better. For that reason, on archs less register bound than x86(32), the switch to 64-bit mode often has more downside for many uses, than it does upside. x86_64, however, due to those extra registers only available in 64-bit mode and because x86(32) has always been register bound, with a fairly limited number of them, tends to swing the balance rather further in favor of 64-bit mode than with other archs -- 64-bit performance is often markedly better than 32-bit performance of the same source code on the exact same CPU and hardware, the only difference being whether it's compiled with -m32 or -m64, 32- or 64-bit. So... yes, I'd say that while possible, installing only 32-bit Linux on AMD64 is indeed wasting resources, to some extent. ... You've obviously been doing your research, and correctly found that the main issues tend to be in cases of binary-only releases of various plugins and codecs. If it's available in source-code form, it's generally available for use in 64-bit mode on amd64. The quote I have chosen for my sig pretty well gives my position on proprietary binary-only code in the first place, so the availability or lack thereof of 64-bit binary-only codecs and plugins is less of an issue for me than for many others, since I'd prefer not to have binary-only stuff on my computer in the first place. If it's not available in standardized form, playable with an open source product, there are other things I can be doing with my time anyway, and I'll just skip the proprietary stuff. Of course, I recognize that not everybody has the same strong opinions on the subject as I do. For these folks, it's useful to keep in mind that the x86_64 arch, amd64 and the Intel version, is the clear mainline successor to x86. Therefore, 32-bit-only binary-only codecs and plugins will be less and less of a problem, as eventually all popular software products, freedomware or proprietary, will have 64-bit versions as well. Now that 64-bit MSWormOS is out of beta (or soon to be, I no longer track MSWormOS close enough to be sure), 64-bit versions of the various codecs and plugins should be available fairly shortly, I'd guess. Before moving from the subject of 32-bit binary packages, I should also mention that OpenOffice.org has 64-bit issues, or at least the 1.x versions do. 2.x is supposed to work on amd64. However, note that due to its size and complexity, OOo is one of the few apps that even many hard-core Gentoo users prefer to merge the (32-bit) binary package of, rather than compiling their own copy themselves. Thus, as with firefox and mplayer (and their various codecs), the 32-bit OOo can be merged, only it's even MORE widely used and tested than the other bin-pkgs. Of course, you may or may not have reason to merge and use OOo anyway. I've found no need for the various Office suites, here, and if I did, since I use KDE on my desktop anyway, I'd probably try KOffice first. ... There's one other set of issues specific (in one sense, tho the general issue affects others) to /Gentoo/ amd64 (as opposed to Fedora or Mandriva or SuSE or whatever) that needs to be mentioned, the multilib thing, which Gentoo /currently/ treats a bit differently than most of the other distributions. On a dual-32/64-bitness arch, there are often two copies of various libraries needed, the 32-bit version and the 64-bit version. The method for how this is handled has come to be referred to as "multilib". The Linux Standard Base (LSB) / File Hierarchy Standard (FHS) standard solution uses two separate dirs, lib64/ (thus, /lib64/, /usr/lib64/, /usr/local/lib64/, etc) for the 64-bit libraries, reserving the traditional lib/ dirs (thus /lib/, /usr/lib/, etc) for 32-bit shared objects. (Note that shared objects, *.so.*, are the "libraries" of Linux, similar in function to the dynamic link libraries, *.dll, of MSWormOS, but being around Linux for awhile, you already knew that, I'm sure. This is just for others that may be following along. =8^) Gentoo similarly uses two separate dirs, but because Gentoo amd64 implemented them before the FHS standard defined the names for amd64, Gentoo took the opposite approach, reasoning that lib/ should contain the native bitness libraries, in this case the 64-bit libraries, with the 32-bit libraries in lib32/. The FHS version makes more sense for compatibility with existing 32-bit packages, particularly binary-only ones that may simply assume lib/ is 32-bit, while Gentoo's approach makes more sense (in the absolute, but see below) in an almost entirely 64-bit system, and moving forward to a time when 64-bit is mainlined. The problem for Gentoo is that when the LSB/FHS standard was defined, it /did/ become the standard. Packages now come from upstream with that assumption, and it's a lot of work, and becomes ever more work as 64-bit heads toward mainline, to continually patch everything to use the non-standard Gentoo locations. Individually, it's usually not much work at all, just supplying the proper configure option, but the work adds up over thousands of packages, and with the standard defined and amd64/x86_64 clearly going mainline, it's a lot of /unnecessary/ work, moving forward. Therefore, Gentoo amd64 is currently in the middle of a year or more process to safely reverse direction, moving 64-bit libs from lib to lib64 (almost done), and eventually, 32-bit libs from lib32 to lib. Currently, lib is usually a symlink to lib64, so 64-bit packages that haven't been fixed yet still work if they install to lib. (32-bit packages are handled a bit differently, as discussed below.) Another aspect of what amounts to the same issue -- how to treat what could be duplicate packages installed in both 32-bit and 64-bit mode -- is dependency tracking. Imagine what happens if the 32-bit and 64-bit dependency databases aren't kept separate. You go to emerge a 32-bit package, and it sees the 64-bit libs it needs are already merged, so it tries to merge, and fails because it's trying to link against 32-bit libraries that aren't there to link against! Even worse would be the possibility of merging 32-bit libraries when doing an update, then erasing the "old" 64-bit versions of the same libraries as unneeded! Obviously, this will NOT work, so 32-bit and 64-bit package dependency and current installation tracking must be kept separate. Unfortunately, current versions of portage, the Gentoo package management system, cannot directly handle this requirement. Portage-CVS is slated to get this ability (if it hasn't already been added) by the time it is released, but current versions are stuck having to work around the issue. There are a several different ways of managing things, depending on how many 32-bit packages you plan on installing. For certain core packages, currently gcc, glibc, and portage itself, the normal 2005.0 profile (which is multilib, not 64-bit only, tho that's a subprofile option) causes /both/ the 32-bit and 64-bit versions to be installed, so portage can continue to track just the single package. The rest of the 32-bit "system base" libraries are currently normally installed as 32-bit binary-only compatibility packages (emul-linux-x86-*). That's the base 32-bit compatibility installation. If you are only going to be installing binary-only 32-bit software such as games and the various codecs and plugins, this, and bin-packages such as mplayer32 if desired, are all one needs. If, with such an all-binary 32-bit installation you do decide to compile and install 32-bit stuff yourself, it's *HIGHLY* recommended that you do NOT use portage/emerge for doing so. Rather, procure the tarballs directly, and install "manually", resolving any 32-bit dependencies and installing them manually if necessary as well. Obviously, this will become a rather huge hassle rather quickly, however, if you have more than a couple 32-bit packages you want to compile from source. For those who have a large list of 32-bit packages they want to run, there's another option, the 32-bit chroot. The idea is to install a minimal 32-bit Gentoo installation, without system services such as syslog and cron and without a 32-bit kernel of course, but with all the usual libraries and the like, and pointedly, with its own 32-bit portage installation. Because it's in a chroot, this 32-bit portage installation will be entirely separate from the system-wide 64-bit portage, so the dependency tracking systems won't conflict with each other, and any arbitrary package in portage can be merged as 32-bit, without in any way affecting the system-wide 64-bit dependencies. Note that once this is setup, it's possible to add the chroot's library and bin dirs to the system-wide paths, and execute your 32-bit binaries system-wide, not just within the chroot. Obviously, for someone only merging one or two 32-bit packages, the chroot solution is a lot of unnecessary work, but not so much for someone doing many such packages, where the work of manually tracking dependencies would quickly become rather unmanageable. Thus, the different choices for different purposes. There's more documentation on the chroot option in the technotes and other locations, if you decide to go this route. Again, let me stress that this current less-than-ideal situation is temporary, and will be going away, once both the multilib and portage multi-bitness issues are resolved. In terms of timetable, that now looks to be targeted at the 2006.0 release. (It was hoped that it would be done for 2005.1 coming up shortly, but that appears unlikely, now, particularly for the portage multi-bitness dependency tracking stuff, as betas aren't out for the next version yet, meaning it couldn't go stable in time for the next release, 2005.1.) Again, as I said at the top, the reality isn't quite as bad as all the above surely makes it sound. In reality, most things "just work", with the caveat that you understand that 32-bit libraries won't work in 64-bit applications, and the reverse, which you've obviously already figured out from your own research, since you mentioned it. ... Now, some more general Gentoo newbie hints... Before you start your installation, READ THE GENTOO HANDBOOK!! The first section covers installation procedures and most folks read that as they are installing, but it pays to read it thru (for your chosen arch) first, getting an overview of what you will be doing, before you start. As you are doing so, figure out which stage install you plan to use. A stage-3 starts from a mostly bootstrapped system is initially faster to get up and running, but takes longer to get everything fully customized. A stage-1 install is initially slower and more complicated, but you end up knowing far more about how a Linux system works behind the scenes, when you are done. Here, computing is my hobby, not a job, and learning a primary purpose, so there was no question, I did a stage-1. In fact, I went even FURTHER than that, and took apart the bootstrap script and executed it step by step, manually. In doing so, I learned a LOT about the system I was building than I knew about Linux before, but it DID take me quite some time to do it.. For the portage tree and sources, you'll probably want 3G minimum, 5G or more if you use FEATURES=buildpkg (discussed below). As mentioned above, OOo is the largest package in terms of compilation space needed in portage, needing some 5G of scratch space to successfully compile. Again, you'll likely not be compiling it as even x86 folks often use the binary package for it, but that gives you an idea of the sort of scratch space normally required for /var/tmp/. (Here, I've changed both those settings from the default, keeping the portage tree in its own partition mounted in a different location, and telling portage to use /tmp/ for its work, rather than /var/tmp/, so it's possible to change both, but I'm giving you the default locations, above.) Another very useful hint for after the initial install, after you've started customizing your config files (/etc/* and the like). Do *NOT* just tell etc-update to go ahead and auto-merge all the new config files after an update (the negative options), without knowing EXACTLY what you are doing. FAR better to go thru each one individually, and see what it's going to change, then let it make the changes or not as desired, than to find out it killed your customizations on something critical like /etc/fstab! (With /etc/fstab itself, that's no longer a problem, as the package now updates fstab.example instead, but the problem caught MANY an unwary Gentoo newbie before they changed that behavior, and the issue still exists with other files.) Just exercise the usual caution you should exercise anyway when running as root, think about what a command will actually do before hitting that enter key, and you'll be fine. Fail to do so, and your failure will EVENTUALLY bite you! Of course, if you've been running BSDs and Linux for years, this idea won't be at all new to you, only the specifics as applied to etc-update. Before you do the install, however, as well as again afterward when you are actually ready to start working on your new system, I'd suggest reading the REST of the handbook as well. The working with Gentoo and working with Portage sections should be quite interesting to you coming from other distributions, as they are all about what makes Gentoo different from the others. Learning about how Gentoo's boot process and dependency ordering differs from the usual numbered init levels with numbered start and stop symlinks pointing to the appropriate scripts, the system most other distributions use, is both interesting and educational, or I certainly found it so, anyway. (Once you actually get a system up and start investigating, you'll find that in practice, the init levels are still there. Gentoo just lets you deal with them by name instead of number, if desired. However, the way Gentoo's boot scripts resolve boot-time dependencies is VERY fascinating!) Likewise with how portage works and the many ways to customize it. It was fascinating seeing how much more flexible it made things for the typical sysadmin, as compared to the typical rpm or deb package management system, yet how even with all that flexibility, it still managed to keep things simple and decently manageable, without confusion. By reading these things ahead of time, you'll understand far more about what makes Gentoo, Gentoo, and parts of the install that might otherwise seem entirely arbitrary will be instead entirely logical and natural. Reading it again as you actually start working with a running Gentoo, you'll find things just seem to naturally work the way you'd expect them to, where otherwise they'd seem just an arbitrary series of commands that didn't make a lot of sense. Of course, beyond the handbook, Gentoo has lots of additional documentation -- one of its strengths as compared to other distros. How to configure printing, how to configure your sound system, how to manage udev, all this and more the Gentoo documentation covers in Gentoo specific step-by-steps that other distributions lack. One other specific document I should mention: the Gentoo amd64 technotes. These explain most of the differences between x86 and amd64, both in what you can expect from the hardware, and in software. Last I looked, some of the technotes were a bit dated (they still referred to gcc-3.3 in the future, for instance), but it's still a very good overview, covering things like the 32-bit chroot option mentioned earlier, and the thing about OOo, as well as things like common hardware issues and what to do about them. I'll mention one important note specifically. BEFORE YOU INSTALL GENTOO AMD64, UPDATE YOUR BIOS from the manufacturer's web site. Even if the system is new, that doesn't mean it has the latest BIOS, and MANY have found that the troubles they initially had "magically" went away, when they installed the latest BIOS. Likewise, continue checking periodically for additional updates. I had the latest when I installed Gentoo, but additional BIOS updates since then have increased system stability and performance, rather more than I would have expected, in fact. The technotes can be a bit harder to find than the Gentoo Handbook and other documentation, so here's a direct link: (The technotes are also linked from the main project page at, which is easier to remember, and has some other information as well, but the link from there is harder to find, so I suggest bookmarking the direct link.) Another useful hint, about portage, this time. You'll understand the significance of this a bit more after reading the portage features chapter of the working with Gentoo section of the handbook, but setting FEATURES=buildpkg in make.conf causes portage to routinely build binary packages of everything it emerges. This can be very useful for several reasons. First, it's very helpful if you somehow break gcc, preventing emerging gcc again to fix the issue. =8^( If you have the binary package already built, it's a simple matter to remerge the binary package and have a working gcc again! =8^) If it was an upgrade that broke it, simply emerge the previous version's binary package rather than the newest! If portage itself breaks, that means you can't emerge stuff, but since the binary packages are simply tar.bz2 tarballs with a bit of additional metadata tacked onto the end, you can simply extract the portage binpkg tarball directly over your live filesystem, replacing the broken portage files with good versions, and be back in business! =8^) However, rescue functionality isn't the only thing binpkgs are good for. Additionally, it's easy to switch between versions to troubleshoot something or other, if necessary -- FAR easier than having to recompile an old version to see if that fixes whatever the problem is, then recompiling the new one again to get it back. Also, again, the binpkgs are simply tbz2 files with a bit of extra metadata at the end, so it's easy enough to go find a binpkg to see what a particular default config file looks like in it, as compared to your customized installed version, or whether a file that should exist but is missing, existed in the package as installed (and therefore as archived in the binpkg), so it got deleted later, or if it was missing in the installed version as well. Of course, I'm running ~amd64 (the ~ indicating unstable or testing), and in fact sometimes installing packages before they are even marked testing, testing them early, so all this troubleshooting ability is more useful here than it would be to an ordinary stable amd64 user, but it's always useful to have, none-the-less. So... hopefully that's all helpful and not too overwhelming... If you follow this list/group regularly (which I'd recommend, it's not so busy as to prevent it and ypu'll find useful information on what's ahead from time to time, even if the usual discussion isn't of interest to you), you'll find that yes, my replies are /often/ this long and detailed. .

http://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-amd64/msg_89fb9ce5e96fc81ca0285362701b4654.xml

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About | Projects | Docs | Forums | Lists | Bugs | Get Gentoo! | Support | Planet | Wiki When I try to emerge anything from gnome-extra, mc for instance,I get ebuild gnome-extra/mc-4.5.55 not found ( possibly blocked by package.mask).Also I am trying to get alsa working.I think the docs on the Web sight are out of date?. I am using 1.0-rc6-r9 with the 2.4.10 kernel. I have sound compiled into the kernel. I have emerged all the Alsa pkges - drivers,utils and libs.Other than that everything is great with Gentoo. Thanks Updated Jun 17, 2011 Summary: Archive of the gentoo-dev mailing list. Donate to support our development efforts. Your browser does not support iframes.

http://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-dev/msg_ed9deb52544a2b35e869e92297a26b2f.xml

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From: Jan Kirchhoff (kirchy gmx.de) Date: Tue Jan 29 2008 - 17:09:51 CST - Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] David Schneider-Joseph schrieb: > Hi all, > > I am attempting to convert a very large table (~23 million rows) from > MyISAM to InnoDB. If I do it in chunks of one million at a time, the > first million are very fast (approx. 3 minutes or so), and then it > gets progressively worse, until by the time I get even to the fourth > chunk, it's taking 15-20 minutes, and continuing to worsen. This is > much worse degradation than the O*log(N) that you would expect. > [...] > > This problem can even be reproduced in a very simple test case, where > I continuously insert approximately 1 million rows into a table, with > random data. `big_table` can be any table with approximately one > million rows in id range 1 through 1000000 (we're not actually using > any data from it): > [...] > Any ideas, anyone? > > Thanks, > David > what hardware are you running on and you much memory do you have? what version of mysql?| | How did you set innodb_buffer_pool_size? you might want to read and do some tuning. In case that doesn't help you, you'll need to post more info on your config. Jan -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: - Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/mysql/2008-q1/0510.html

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Mileage: 36.6 and 54.5 January mileage: 445.4 Hours: 3:00 (plus 3:00 at the gym) yesterday and 4:30 today Temperature upon departure: 39 and 28 Precipitation: 1.61 inches!!! (All rain, all yesterday.) Last week, I received an e-mail from Stephanie at Olympus. She told me she had looked at my blog, enjoyed the cycling/photography concept, and just happened to have in mind the perfect camera for me: The Olympus Stylus 770 SW. She told me she would send me one, no strings attached ... I'm sure knowing that any blogger is going to brag publicly about free gear. But what she didn't know is that I already owned an older version of this exact camera, and had been abusing it quite heavily since April. Even after I told her so, she didn't withdraw her offer. "You'll like to new version," she told me. "This one is freezeproof." The sparkling new silver camera came in the mail on Thursday. Today I took it on its first ride. Not a bad day for a first shoot, and not a bad little camera. I don't have an memory card yet, and the internal memory limited me to 11 pictures. I decided this was a good thing, because I was aiming for a long ride, and I wanted to keep moving. Instead, I spent way too much time during my ride self-editing my photos. Definitely an amazing, beautiful day. Juneau had its first sunlight in nine days, coming off a string of some of the crappiest weather January can conjure. I've had people tell me they'd prefer cold winter rain to subzero temperatures. I can't even fathom that. Subzero, rare as it is here, brings all that crisp dry air and clear skies. Dress for it right, and this kind of weather is both comfortable and exciting. Rain and temperatures in the 30s, on the other hand, can only mean one thing to me as a cyclist: That I'm going to be really wet, and really miserable, and I'm eventually going to be really cold no matter what I do. Friday was one of those "put your head down and ride" kind of days. In continuously heavy rain, especially with the kind of flooding we get against the snowpack, it only takes about a half hour for my outer "waterproof" clothing barrier to be broken. After one hour, I'm soaked through and through. And that's the way I have to ride, in temperatures in the high 30s, a 15-20 mph wind and windchills hovering between 20 and 25, for as many hours as I can endure it. I can usually hold out about three hours without completely changing my clothing. But by the end of the ride, especially if I make a single stop or, as I did yesterday, slow for a while to talk to Geoff as he runs, I usually have to spend the last half hour of the ride racked with chills, hating every minute of my miserable existence. Maybe weeks of unbroken subzero temperatures would teach me differently, but until then, there is no weather I hate more than cold rain. But today! Today was exactly the shot I needed. Blazing sun and temps just cold enough to refreeze all the slop. I'm on day three of my current long training push ... exercising about five hours each in four consecutive days (a little short today, a little long yesterday.) Either way, it eats up a lot of time. Geoff is training at a similar level right now, and between us, we're putting in more than a full-time job's worth of hours in the selfish pursuit of fitness. We've had to make more and more concessions in the things we normally do just to clear up the time. One of the things we've given up is grocery shopping. I thought it was pretty funny when I was eating frozen ravioli two nights in a row and spooning peanut butter out of a jar for lunch. But I think we've both started to run a bit of a calorie deficit (go figure ... keeping food out of the house is a good way to go on a diet.) I stood on the scale at the gym yesterday and learned I weigh five pounds less than I did at this time last year. No necessarily a bad thing, but I was just beginning to think that a little extra pudge might even pay off during the Ultrasport. Because there's no way I'll avoid running a calorie deficit in that event, and it's not like I'll even notice a little extra junk in the trunk once I slog out there with 60 pounds of bike and gear. This is the excuse I've drummed up to hit the ice cream ... if only we had some. But where was I? Oh yes, the Stylus 770 SW. I had great fun with it on this sunny, beautiful day. Miles and miles of rubbing up against Power Bars in my pocket has scratched my old Olympus's viewing screen to the point of abstraction. This camera's screen was crystal clear. I am excited to test out its "freezeproof" claims. I already know it's basically bombproof. In August, I inadvertently used my old camera to break a rather rocky fall off my mountain bike, landing directly on the hip pocket that held the camera. I put a gouge in the casing nearly a millimeter deep, but the camera didn't even flicker. The Stylus 770 SW is waterproof, too. It's definitely not a top-of-the-line, professional camera. But I think pro cameras really aren't practical for cyclists. Cyclists need something small, something simple, and something that can endure a 15-foot huck off a gnarly cliff and still take pictures at the bottom. If National Geographic ever comes knocking, I'll go buy something with a zoom lens. This little point-and-shoot Stylus really is the perfect camera for me. I'm not just being a shill by saying that. I bought the same camera long before Olympus volunteered to sponsor my blog efforts. Does a comped camera make me a sponsored photographer? I guess this is my blog, so I say it does. Be sure to click on the Olympus logo in the sidebar. Yeah Olympus! 22 comments: the website claims is freeze proof to -14 f. shock proof at 5 ft, water proof to 33 ft, crush proof to 220lbf. not bad for a little camera. And it means more wonderful pictures. Dont get me wrong i like your writing, but i LOVE your pictures. You didn't need a new camera - the pictures you were taking with the old one were great! I have an Olympus Evolt 500 dSLR and LOVE it. It makes taking great pictures easy. I just happened upon your blog this morning and I've been reading posts all day. Thank you for showing us some wonderful pictures and opening yourself up to strangers (all the way across the world - I'm currently in Bosnia). I use a plastic cover that protects the writing suface of my Palm device to save the display from scratching. Keep up the fine work. JT from S.F. Jill, that's great news. Your older Olympus was excellent, and this new one continues that tradition. So far the photos are superb, sharpness good, color GREAT. It's really the perfect camera for you. About the cold weather limits, the website says +14 but I believe they are being conservative because because of their specs regarding shockproofing. After all, if you were to drop the camera at -14, (or colder) the damn thing might shatter into sparkly little pieces. So it will work in colder temps, but I wouldn't let it fall onto a frozen lake. Battery issues are another issue. You have one month to get fat, or at least put on a little extra insulation. You might want to eat more meat rather then ice cream. Sugar buzzed headaches won't do you any good, and will probably mess up your sleep too. Just say no to Diabetic Coma's. Say, we've got your Alaska weather here in the mid-west (as you've heard from Vito and others) Why don't you buzz on down for some 50 below fun? North of Chicago, it's a mear six below zero this morning but sunny, so I'm going to head out for a short jaunt. I know I will return home frozen to the bone and in AWE of your upcoming adventure. You, Geoff and the others in the race are downright ... well, crazy but in the best sense of that word. Wishing you all the best~ dave Free stuff good! I like the shockproof feature. I've dropped my camera a few times. It didn't come out of it unscathed. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better. You're one of the best. Keep feeding me the eye candy. I'm hooked. Frozen ravioli? Peanut butter? Jill, your mother Knows it? Seriosly, the first thing you have to do to cicly so much is eat well! Congrats on the camera! I've been using the Olympus all-weather cameras for years. I started out with a film one, then I had the digital 410. Now I have a 750. None of them are as bomb proof as the 770 but all 3 of them are still working. I haven't taken any big falls on them although the 410 has a gouge in the case. I always say I'd rather take pictures of great places with a camera I can put in my pocket than great pictures of the boring places I'm willing to drag a big, fancy camera. Wow. I'm impressed. That company is smart to let you show off what the camera can do. Thanks for the demonstrations. I blog up in Fairbanks and I need a new camera for my outdoor adventures. Indoor, too. What I want to know is, does it take good close ups? I really enjoyed your photos once again. What is the glove accessibility factor of the camera? Is it easy to use with mits? Great photos. Can I save them im my pc? I`m from Cape Verde and I believe the real thing it`s amazing. solid! I just got that camera a few weeks ago too. it's my 4th olympus. I tested it out its waterproofness yesterday while kayaking. works as advertised! keep the good pics coming... Congratulations, Jill!!! Way to go Olympus!!! I know what I'll be looking for next year when I'll be buying a new camera! Thanks for the great blog and pictures, Jill! Mellan :) Congrats Jill, well deserved! A good knock-around P&S is worth a lot and your pics are awesome. I like my 'it-shall-remain-nameless P&S camera'. Last spring I was pre-riding the Koko with jj forging ahead of me. As the sun rose I spotted a great shot and while still riding, pulled the camera out. I managed to take some no hands on the handlebar pics just before the front wheel hit a rut and I was unceremoniously thrown to the ground. The still 'On' camera leaped from my hands and landed with a puff in ankle deep dust and sand about 20 feet away. Ugh! I used that camera today. One half of the lens cover doesn't ever close but it still works great otherwise! Ed Jill, the camera is nice to get ... but remember it's not about the camera. I've been teaching high school photography for 15 years and the best work is always due to the eye, not the camera. Now after saying that, I'm still thankful you received it, and it will make you a better photographer! Your success can be attributed to your hard work. By the way, I like how you shoot into the sun. Beautiful pictures and great camera. oh, those pictures are so beautiful! that camera is amazing. Wild...I have been leaning toward the very same Olympus model to stash in my pocket during mountain biking and snowboarding. Basically, I don't think I'd ever dish out as much abuse as you do, so if it works for you, I'm sure it will work for me. Why don't you just email back that Olympus chick and tell her that "free camera" she sent has tipped the scale for a blog reader to buy one! Thank you, all! I really am an advocate of this camera, and have been since I accidentally dropped it into a shallow end of Dredge Lake in June (this was before the crushing mountain bike fall I took in August.) It really does take quality true-to-color and true-to-light pictures, especially for its size, price and perks. I think it's a 7.1 megapixel. Theresa, I would say its close-up potential is typical of autofocus point-and-shoots. Stand any closer than four feet from your subject, and the image will begin to look fuzzy. But not bad. I think a good example is the picture I took of my cat a few days back. I was holding the camera about two feet over her at the time. This was with my old camera, but I imagine the new one performs about the same. Also, there's not much zoom. The digital zoom is only a path to pixelation, and the manual zoom doesn't go too far. I think this has been obvious in all of my wildlife shots, where the animals look like little black dots. But I think that's forgivable in a bombproof camera like this. It's like that old adage about the dancing bear ... the amazing thing is that the bear dances, not that it dances well. Thanks, Jill. I really appreciate the feedback. Your blog is rocking. Love the pics and descriptions of your cycling adventures. Makes me wanna get some fat cat tires. Hopefully my son will be a cycling fool this summer, now that he's four. I'm coming out of lurk mode to say those are some spectacular photos. I wish I had blogger friends like Steph. :P Returning to the shadows to continue enjoying the blog. ;) Hello Jill, Your picture of Auke Lake and your stories of winter biking made me soooo homesick. I grew up in Juneau and used to love to ride my motocross motorcycle in the winter. We used to put long wood screws through the "knobs" on our "knobbie" tires then ride on the ice on Auke Lake. We would be going flat out at about 60+ MPH then gradually lean into a corner, crank on the gas and keep leaning until the wheels slid out from under us. Then hold on tight and hold the bike so that nothing caught. At that speed you can imagine the thrill and the sensation of sliding across the ice engulfed in flying snow. Amazingly, we never did get hurt. One guy's motorcycle fell through the thin ice one time though. It was close to the shore. He actually went and got a rope and dove in and hooked the bike and we pulled it out. Thanks for your blog which triggered some great memories. Victor Paulson

http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/2008/01/brand-new-camera.html?showComment=1200844080000

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in San Mateo, CA 5 attending in Mountain View, CA 6 attending in Sunnyvale, CA 8 attending in Emeryville, CA 6 attending in Concord, CA 10 attending Eastbay CNC and 3D printing hobbyists in Mountain View, CA 50 attending 22 Meetup Groups match “Arduino” near Dublin,..

http://arduino.meetup.com/cities/us/ca/dublin/

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Camara Mathis is a name you should know. She not only is the daughter of famous judge, Greg Mathis, but she is one of the founders of Edge Magazine. I had the opportunity to sit down with Camara, and really dig deep into what Edge Magazine was all about. I can see her passion and dedication to help young individuals achieve their goals and dreams in life. Take a look at this interview I did with Camara, and find out what it means to be on EDGE: Ari The Heiress: You started an online magazine called, Edge Magazine! How did this project come about? What made you want to start a magazine? Camara: I started Edge magazine with two of my friends Iman Milner and Ashley Nguyen. We noticed how the internet was saturated with gossip blogs and negativity geared towards our generation. There aren’t many magazines or blogs that highlight the achievement of young minorities so we decided to create our own. We want Edge Magazine to be a platform for people who are succeeding in everything from the entertainment industry to humanitarian efforts. Ari The Heiress: I was so honored to be featured in the first issue, along with many other talented people. Every story was inspiring and motivating. Will every edge mag contain stories of young people “making it” in different arenas? Camara: Yes, our goal is to make every issue inspiring, witty, creative and uplifting. We are releasing our next issue December 1st and our new features are just as driven and motivating as the people in our current issue. There are so many people that go unnoticed from music producers to fashion designers Edge is working to change that. We have a lot of new things in line for December. Above: Camara Mathis, Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris), and I at my Encounter 2010 Youth Conference! Ari The Heiress: What are two principles an Edge reader needs to “Make It” in their career? Camara: As an Edge reader you need to believe in yourself, appreciate every journey in life and go after your biggest dream no matter how big it is. Ari The Heiress: Why is it important to join, visit, and indulge yourself with Edge Mag? Camara: As we say frequently tweet: Be Inspired, Be inspirational, Be on the Edge. The magazine is a platform showcasing success. It applauds people who have achieved some of their goals and gives up and coming artist a chance to showcase their talent. We also have the U.On.Edge section which allows readers to submit videos telling us what inspires them and we will continuously update the style, awareness, and love and relationship columns. When you indulge yourself into Edge Magazine you are not only being inspired you are helping to inspire and encourage others. Ari The Heiress: I know your going to law school soon! Which is awesome. How will you balance law school and doing Edge Magazine? What advice would you give to someone going to school, and doing their career at the same time? Camara: Law school starts this week and the assignments have already started to pour in! I believe that with good time management I can do anything. ( Basically no tv or social networks for the next three years of my life lol ) I’m excited for the challenge of school and the growth of Edge Magazine my two business partners are dedicated, creative and ambitious so I know this is just the beginning. Just stopping by to say Live, Love and Laugh Often! Keep up the awesome work, and may God continue to bless and keep you! Mother Spitfire

http://arianapierce.com/camara-mathis-puts-us-on-edge/

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Cats lay an egg against Oregon It was the worst possible outcome. The Wildcat football team played well for a quarter but were inept in the redzone and fell 49-0 to No. 3 Oregon. Matt Scott had a rough outing against Oregon. Arizona needed to play a near perfect game to have a chance to beat Oregon, but did just the opposite. They committed five turnovers, two that went for scores, and could do nothing with the three Oregon turnovers. Arizona was 0-6 in the redzone. They dropped snaps, had kicks blocked and failed to convert on fourth downs. Matt Scott was off and looked tight. He made bad decisions and bad throws. When he was making good decisions, he had passes dropped. He was 22-44 for 210 yards and a trio of picks. He only rushed for nine yards, carrying just five times. It appeared as if Arizona refused to run the read option in fear that Scott might get hit. The lack of a running game also killed the Wildcats. They averaged less than three yards rushing in the first half, with Wildcat running backs averaging less than 1.5 yards a carry. Although they surrendered 49 points, the defensive game plan was solid. The Ducks had just 13 points in the first half and allowed just four offensive touchdowns. In typical Oregon fashion, the Ducks got hot in the second half and seemed to be running downhill over the final 30:00. The sad thing for Wildcat fans, is that the team looked like the better squad during the first quarter. They got the ball at the Oregon 35 and karched down to the Oregon four. The Cats settled for a field goal and the snap was a touch inside and punter Kyle Dugandzic failed to reel it in and the field goal attempt was thwarted. The next two Wildcat possessions were much of the same. Scott threw a pick in the endzone after the Cats got great field position thanks to an Oregon fumble. The next time the Wildcats faced fourth and goal at the two. Rich Rodriguez tried to call a timeout, but no one acknowledged the wish and Scott was stuffed on a quarterback keeper. The Wildcats now have to rebound. The fanbase will likely sour a bit, but the Cats have to host 2-0 Oregon State next week and cannot spend time likcing their wounds. They traded punches with the Ducks for 20 minutes, now they need to deliver haymakers for 60. The season is hardly lost, but they need to come back. They need to realize they blew opportunities against a top-3 team and need to learn from it. - Brad Allis - Arizona Insider - WildcatSportsReport - Already have an account? Sign In

http://arizona.247sports.com/Article/Cats-lay-an-egg-against-Oregon-92160

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Gambo: From No-No to Go-Go Originally published: Jul 30, 2010 - 3:08 pm The Diamondbacks traded Edwin Jackson Friday to the Chicago White Sox for two pitching prospects: right-hander Daniel Hudson and left-hander David Holmberg. Both Hudson and Holmberg were rated among the top 10 prospects in the White Sox organization. That Arizona traded Jackson is no surprise; that they got two solid prospects back for him and don't have to pay any of his remaining salary is. Jackson was a major disappointment for the D-backs this year and is on the books for $8.3 million next season. He is nothing more than a dime a dozen pitcher. He is 6-10 with an ERA of 5.16. Not very good. There is a reason that Jackson is on his fifth team already in his brief major league career, and that is because nobody thinks enough of him to want to keep him. Jackson is easily replaceable, which Hudson will do for the remainder of the season. Going forward the Diamondbacks rotation for the rest of this year and possibly next year will look like this: Joe Saunders, Ian Kennedy, Rodrigo Lopez, Daniel Hudson and Barry Enright. In the system they will have Tyler Skaggs, Jarrod Parker, David Holmberg and Patrick Corbin. Skaggs, Holmberg and Corbin are all left-handed. Clearly the D-backs are rebuilding, but they have added quality pitching and depth to their system while moving $21 plus million in salary in the last week. These are things you need to do when you are on pace for 100 losses. When you factor in the loss of salary from Haren, Jackson, Eric Byrnes, Conor Jackson, Brandon Webb and Bob Howry and add in the increases of $21 million being doled out to players currently on the team for next year's payroll, the D-backs will have roughly $54 million committed to the 2011 salary. Arizona expects to have a payroll of around $65 million next season, so barring any other moves they will have approximately $10 million to spend on a closer and some other pieces. Octavio Dotel could be an option at closer for next season with some of that money. The D-backs also are actively trying to move Chad Qualls and Chris Snyder. Qualls has drawn some interest from Colorado and the New York Yankees, Snyder from Pittsburgh and Toronto. So, even with two big moves already in the books, the D-backs may not be done yet.

http://arizonasports.com/60/1319999/Gambo-From-NoNo-to-GoGo?nid=10

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In partnership with CBSSports.com Online Now 110 41 hours ago - They like the fact that h 19 hours ago - Austin's invite to Sailer Started by: R Turbeville Hawgs247 » Hawg Heaven 22 hours ago - Just added this Swedish h 19 hours ago - And moves well. Looks pre David Hedelin came to the United States last s... ... Tulsa today, per Coach Chris Wood. What are the 4 former Razorback Football greats that have played in this century that would grace your Mt. Rushmore? Mine would be 1.... Started by: PigDaddyCrunk Arkansas not on the list he tweeted out late last night. He's planning to visit Auburn, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Alabama, Baylor, Ohio State and... 21 hours ago - Started by: Otis Kirk Started by: Chris Nee Saw his pic in the ADG this morning, is he Tom Pagnozzi's son? And if so did Tom name him after Andy Van Slyke? He appears to be almost un... Started by: Horatiohog New time today on Sports Night -- or at least a longer segment with me. I'll be on the show -- which is carried by the Sports Animal 920 in ... Named one of the Top 30 underclassmen by NUC. He's ranked No. 8 on NUC president David Schuman's list and No. 22 on national analyst Barry ... Aaron Medley, one of the top kickers a... ... yesterday, Grossmont College CB Kweishi Brown, just messaged me on Facebook and said Arkansas has offered. He said he was a little confu... Thought this was pretty cool, from Houston Kinkaid Coach Stephen Hill re. TE Mavin Saunders and Arkansas. This makes the fifth or sixth HS c... you to give him one team outside the SEC you would most want the Hogs to play in a home-and-home series in football who would it be? Started by: Otis Kirk Pages: 1 | 2 I just don't see how he doesn't get a look at RB very early on in camp. I think he is better than Evans and Nate Holmes as well. I mean he... LOL...all I can say is wow. Started by: Natasha Tucker And why? For me, it's probably Josh Frazier. I know everyone in Arkansas would like him a whole lot more if he when ahead and committed t... Kweishi Brown, who spent two years ... Three of the Natural State's own are trying out for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleading Squad! I thought I'd pass along a couple of photos of eac... Started by: DaltonPerson 3 days ago - Florida assistant: Nick S 3 days ago - 3 days ago - The much anticipated (by 3 days ago - [roflmao] Well said. 3 days ago - Russellville gal trying t 3 days ago - I don't see him making a 3 days ago - As Otis and I were talkin Mike Rogers, a fast-rising safety fr... 4 days ago - David Deets Named Master 3 days ago - The other side of the sto 4 days ago - One of the few teams in p 3 days ago - Umm ... [hammer] He is a Philadelphia Eagle UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS BASEBALL Baseball sets record for average attendance in 2013 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas baseball team s... Started by: TimHarris Started by: Hogs of Anarchy 4 days ago - Gerri (pronounced Gary) s 4 days ago - Also, Paul Jones of Bulld Gerri Green, the son of a former UAPB ... A Skill Development Camp will be ... 4 days ago - Thanks. He told me he ran 4 days ago - Yeah, I think so. Jimmy Bayes of Immokalee, Fla., remains... 5 days ago - I've never been able to g 5 days ago - Sounds like Randy Shannon 4 days ago - Yep. Exchanged messages w Any update on where we stand with him? Arkansas offered Alief Taylor WR Keenen Brown today. Started by: Brian Perroni 5 days ago - Take that, Bob Stoops ... 5 days ago - 5 days ago - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS RA Avery Gennesy has gotten signifi... Told Adam Alter that he doesn't feel like he got a chance to show what he can do, not enough reps with the 1's. N.C. State, Michigan, UAB, L... 5 days ago - Gennesy or Bayes 5 days ago - They like Green at DE. Th 5 days ago - Otis might know more abou 5 days ago - NP. I watched a little of 5 days ago - Yes on the offer. But it' 5 days ago - He had interest in Arkans 5 days ago - Black eyes from BP firing 5 days ago - Homestate school makes a The 2014 prospect from Memphis White Station gives Vols247 an update on his recruiting, mentions he'd like to visit Arkansas. I don't think ... Brian Anderson had a huge night at the plate, finishing a ... 6 days ago - And here we go ... The Ho 6 days ago - First pitch 6:07. 6 days ago - Maddox walks on four stra 6 days ago - Jeez ... Stanek throws si 6 days ago - Double play! Simcox lines 6 days ago - Price singles to right. B 6 days ago - And Stanek strikes him ou 6 days ago - Serrano leads off with a 6 days ago - Vinson lines one right at 6 days ago - Anderson batting. ... Ser We're about 25 minutes from first pitch at Baum Stadium. The 14th-ranked Razorbacks (32-17, 15-9 SEC) are trying to get back on track after ... Started by: R Turbeville Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | ... | 5 Krisjon Wilkerson, a sophomore catcher at Pearl River CC in Mississippi, committed to Arkansas yesterday, per Pearl River assistant Kyle Lin... 6 days ago - Cornerback 6 days ago - Here's a video interview 6 days ago - I believe he returned one ... got some gold today. D.J. won the 400 meters for Newton at the Texas UIL outdoor track and field meet in Austin, finishing in 48.85 seco... Just finished watching the first round of ball games at this loaded Nike event. (Games resume at 3:30). Just finished watching Anton Beard, ... Started by: anthony 1704 7 days ago - Arkansas also stopped by 7 days ago - If, in just a few months, He was at Booker T. Washington's scrimmage today, where one of the players he was checking out was 3-star CB Nigel Patten. 7 days ago - Haha, well, you're anythi 7 days ago - Lol. Well, I'm sure she's Zack Godley pitched his fifth complete game of the season, ... We were supposed to be at a golf tournament today in Bella Vista and Bret Bielema was going to talk to the media at 12:15,but it's canceled ... 247Sports In partnership with CBS Sports

http://arkansas.247sports.com/User/R%20Turbeville

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State Auditor Opens Bidding on Unclaimed Safety Deposit Box Items By: KARK 4 News Updated: November 26, 2012 This week, the Arkansas State Auditor opens up abandoned safety deposit boxes for bidding online. Starting Friday, you can use eBay to bid on unclaimed items that have been left behind for years and whose owners can't be found. Old items include old coins and silverware. A link to the auction is on the state auditor's website.

http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext?nxd_id=611692

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Fre microcontrollers from numerous manufacturers. * Immediate Free Download * Feature Rich * Easy To Use Pre-configured Projects * Can Be Used in Commercial Applications * Large User Community * Free Forum Support * Optional Commercial Licensing * Optional Commercial Support * Safety Critical Version Available * Expert Development Services * Small Footprint - Designed for Microcontrollers FreeRTOS tutorial books are also available. These are step by step 'hands on' guide that comes with complete source code for all the presented examples. FreeRTOS - Designed for Microcontrollers;

http://arm.com/community/partners/display_product/rw/ProductId/4028/

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Professional Corps AVC’s Professional Corps invites professionals 32 years of age and up with at least five (5) years experience in their field of expertise to volunteer in Armenia for a minimum of two weeks OVERVIEW - AVC’s Professional Corps program matches the volunteers’ professional skills and experience with the needs of Armenia-based organizations and businesses. - Professional Corps volunteers serve full time for a minimum of two weeks with an Armenia-based organization or business Eligibility: - Applicants must be at least 32 years of age. - Applicants must have at least 5 years’ professional experience - Applicants must be able to serve full time for a minimum of two weeks Finances - All accepted applicants are required to submit a donation of 65,000 AMD (approximately $150 US) payable upon arrival in Armenia before volunteer service commences. - Professional Corps volunteers are responsible for their own transportation, living and other expenses. AVC services AVC provides a range of services including: - Initial in-country orientation/cross-cultural training - Eastern Armenian language classes twice a week - Forums and gatherings to introduce the volunteer to Armenia - Periodic excursions (for a nominal fee) - Homestay living (modified bed and breakfast, for a fee) APPLY NOW Using our online application here: AVC online application

http://armenianvolunteer.org/pro-corps

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theperson1996 - Member since: 3/5/2011 - Gender: Male - AIM: Don't have. - MSN: Don't have. - Yahoo: [email protected] - XBOX Live: Don't have, PS3 is better. - Wii: Wii is for pussies, I don't have one. - PS3: king_of_evil_1 - SteamID: theperson1996, but I never use steam. About I was born. I have lived. I will at some point die. View all comments » farrowking37 says: Posted at 6:57am on 3/19/2011 just to let you know, i made a character for your rpg and posted him. not sure if it is too late to join. scardragon99 says: Posted at 6:08am on 3/13/2011 Hi i am back and i have continued, your RPG. scardragon99 says: Posted at 10:51am on 3/12/2011 i added you as a friend because of your cool rpg. scardragon99 says: Posted at 10:06am on 3/12/2011 Just one last note, Your rpg is the first i played and its is really great. scardragon99 says: Posted at 9:48am on 3/12/2011 Ok i added inventory, now what happens next.

http://armorgames.com/user/theperson1996

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Laboratories and scientists in the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center partners with many various assocations and organzations. These include research organizations, both national and international, private sector companies, commodity boards and representative organizations, professional societies, and other government agencies. Below you will find a list of the assocations and organizations that BARC commonly partners with. Please contact the Beltsville Area Office of Technology Transfer for more information if you are interested in developing cooperative interactions with this institute or with other research programs at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

http://ars.usda.gov/Business/Business.htm?modecode=12-45-00-00&pf=1&docid=22892&cg_id=0

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It is rare that Big Raddy struggles to raise enthusiasm for a post but this week has been just so disappointing. Two hard defeats, a dull AGM and another plucky MU victory, all horribly depressing. Apart from our neighbours scraping a draw with a team of chicken farmers and the losses of MC and the Chavs, it has been unremitting pain. BR on Thursday morning Just look at his record. This fool has destroyed club after club, admittedly he doesn’t cause the economic ruin that *Arry does, No, what Hughes does is more insidious. He teaches players to perform as he did, with touches of panache which disguise a petty violence – he is the ankle tapper, the achilles tendon breaker as opposed to the leg breaking of Allardyce. At least Allardyce stands up for his crimes to football, Sparky just blames others. Unfortunately, Rangers have started to improve. The tens of millions spent on new players may not have been wasted as the team starts to gel. I watched their performance last weekend in the draw with Everton and QPR looked good – they could and should have won. Decent ball players, the creativity of Taraabt, some pace and stout defenders…. you know their assets as well as I do. But….. This game will revolve entirely around Arsenal’s performance. My prayer is that we score early and stop the ill-humour which will inevitably grow should the team struggle. Get the fans onboard, start playing the football we know we can and get back to winning ways. The signs are that Wilshere will get some pitch-time which is a huge fillip to the fans. So much expectation is resting upon his very young shoulders, but should he be the player we all think he is, then the future is rosy. My team: Much depends upon who is fit. What is clear is that somehow we have to create chances for the forwards. In the last two game we haven’t had a sniff at goal. We don’t have the type of strikers who can create their own chances, ours are finishers. The Gervinho in the middle ploy worked for a couple of games but (and I hesitate to say this) he is not intelligent enough to play the role being asked of him – he is no Thierry. We have an expensive CF, play him and let him show what he can do, let Giroud play 90 minutes. Podolski has been subbed in almost every game which makes me question his fitness, so why not give him a 2 week rest? As to Santos. I feel he has been vilified in the same way that Ramsey, Song, Eboue etc etc have been. Santos is a good player working his way back into the team after a long lay-off through injury, that said, his lack of match fitness is costing us goals, both Norwich and Schalke’s first were as a direct result of Santos not keeping the defensive line; if Gibbs is fit he must start. Today’s man is just a taster for one of Britain’s great heroes; David Livingstone was an extraordinary man who needs more time than I have today. Instead I will leave you with a picture of his father-in-law, a missionary who established a South African church in 1820. Three points is a must today. Not just to stop the rot but to condemn Mr Hughes to a P45 (if they exist anymore) Written by Big Raddy We must get more attacking impotus from our wide boys today, whoever they may be. The improvement in our defensive stats has inevitably come at a cost to our attacking play with full backs not quite so eager to bomb over half way at every opportunity, and our wingers having to work harder tracking back, which leaves our striker isolated all too often. We have shown against Liverpool that this more defensive approach can work brilliantly on the counter attack, but we seem to be struggling to alter our mind set when having to take the game to lesser teams. It’s time to take the shackles off the wide players and let them do what they do best. If we can’t do that against the bottom of the league then when can we? I agree with BR that an early goal would be the key to a big performance, but if we get 30 minutes in without a goal it could be a very long afternoon. The pre match king well done but i believe Gibbs is still out. Thanks for the preview Big Randy. I felt the same as you did on Thursday morning. Surely we can’t be that dire again 3 games in a row ? You are right, if we don’t get an early goal the mood in the crowd could get quite ugly. Morning all I’m ready, the sun is shining and The Emerates always looks so beautiful in the sunshine. If we play our football and score early that will be good. The team need to get back to enjoying playing together and today is the day ……. fingers crossed Rasp and I will be at The Tavern from 1.30, see all comers there later. Thank you Raddy for the large dose of optimism, very much appreciated these days. I have no views on Hughes, but respect your opinion and shall hate him from this day forward. Santos would not be half as tired if he stayed in his position, instead of charging forward. Please, please, pretty please Dennis, help!!!! MATCH FACTS (source: BBC website) Good post BR But I think you are mistaken when you say that “both Norwich and Schalke’s first were as a direct result of Santos not keeping the defensive line.” The way I remember it the Norwich goal was scored from a long range shot that Mannone spilled and was then tapped in by one Nowich player or another. How is Santos to blame for that? The Schalke goal again came down the middle in which Vermaelen had nodded off, yet again how do you blame Santos for this? I obviously do agree that Santos is working his way back to match fitness after a long lay off. Wow Raddy, that is a forest of facial growth. Even a light trim would have resulted in some serious global warming. Jack was on the bench at Norwich and Chas told me he played a full 90 for someone on monday, so for me he starts. Thank you, and I hope you are having a great time in Paris. Students eh! Good post Big Moody. Depending on Koscielny (see following analysis) Mannone Jenkinson – Mertesacker – Koscielny – Vermaelen Ramsey – Cazorla – Arteta Ox-Chamberlain – Giroud – Gervinho I noticed a comment from KELSEY at the end of yesterday’s excellent post, re Koscielny’s fitness… I had mentioned it also, earlier in the post. I personally think he wasn’t fully fit and would have been used only in an emergency (injury to Mertesacker or Vermaelen). If that’s still the case today, and if Santos is dropped, then maybe the back-four could include (surprisingly) Djourou. Jenkinson – Mertesacker – Djourou – Vermaelen. (with Koscielny again on the bench IF he’s not FULLY fit). @ Ritchie – great stories about Avanull Road and Gran etc, yesterday. Evonne, I love your thinking. Something along the lines of: “I know nothing about so and so, but if Raddy says bad things about him, then from this moment forwards, I shall detest every fibre in his spineless body” Have fun all that are going, and remember to drop a drink and some scratchings over the road to Chary. If Walcott is fit, I reckon he is nailed on to start. Just noticed Big Moody’s last comment under the pic of that ZZ Top bloke. “to condemn Mr Hughes to a P45″ Which reminds me that I wanted to ask you all (some time ago) for your thoughts as regards the first Premiership managerial casualty, should there be one this season. This seems a reasonable time seeing as Hughes is possibly in the running… Sorry to go off-topic (to a degree), and if this has been discussed on a previous post, then apologies, but my computer had to go into hospital for quite some time recently, and I may have missed it (?). I can’t get over the idea that Weedonald lives 2700 miles away, I still don’t know exactly where, this came to mind after looking out he window and thinking hmmm it’s a bit windy today the journey may take me 25 instead of 20 minutes to get to the ground. Hopefully Hughes and Rodgers won’t last the season at lLverpool, Big Al. Thanks Raddy, once again you’ve summed up my mood for today’s game Victory is vital … end of. On another note I must compliment everyone on a great day’s blogging yesterday. richie and GoonerB have certainly added something to our content. Which brings me to richie’s comment @12:30 on yesterdays post. We are blessed with so many friends who have unbelievable provenance in terms of The Arsenal. GunnerN5 and Brigam and several others basically grew up outside Highbury and have fantastic tales to tell … but richie may have eclipsed you I met a really nice guy at the AGM who also grew up in the area and his whole family are Arsenal supporters. Sadly his father actually died on the terraces at Highbury. Being the pushy sod I am, I asked him if he would like to write his story for the site. He said yes, but was probably just being polite Any way ***, if you’re reading, we’ll be at The Tavern at about 1:30 today if you fancy a beer before the game. Morning LB, looks like we’re both Theo fans now I have been sitting on a post about Theo for about a week now but haven’t had the opportunity to publish. ‘Lex Luther to Arsene’s Superman’ Love the rant, Raddy, and thanks for a fine pre-match. You have lifted our spirits. Rasp, I had already complimented people on the quality of blogging. Always know that while you sleep, the site is in safe hands Have a great day, and I wish I was there with you. Off out now, back to join Cinders and Chums for the game from the sofas. Since we have acquired so many bloggers who grew up within the sound of the refs whistle at Highbury (as opposed to Bow Bells) we really should have a collective name for them don’t you think? …. HighGunners? Thanks Micky, I’m sorry I often don’t get the chance to catch up on comments. The early morning club of which you and chas are founder members is always a joy to read back over and as a result I start my day with a smile even if I can’t join in Micky, sorry you won’t be joining us in the biting wind today – when am I next likely to enjoy your company (and some tasty Turkish cuisine) at a game? How about Goonbury’s! Hi all I’d love to know who would like to write the match report before I go to the game ……… any offers? Goonbury’s – love it, do I count even though I left the area when I was 6 We know it will be a 4-3-3 system but I like your line up BR. You know I feel that Giroud often doesn’t get the players in close enough to him to support at times, and he ends up looking isolated. As the game becomes fluid I would love to see us at times getting Theo or the ox in tighter to Giroud for support with the midfield 3 moving one place to the right so that Le Coq becomes almost a right winger, and Gervinho coming more to the left flank. It turns it more to a 4-4-2 and I am not suggesting we should stay rigid to that formation throughout the game, but adopt it at times during the game to give Giroud more of a strike partner if you like. Anyway just leaving work so must dash to get the train I want. Hi GoonerB, you leave me standing in terms of your tactical and positional knowledge. I certainly want to see Coquelin on the pitch today, even if it is at the expense of Ramsey. Some of his tackling was fantastic on Wednesday and he has greater skills/tricks than Theo. I can see Coquelin being a top player in the future. My line-up would be: GK: Mannone, CBs: Koscielny/Djourou & Vermaelen, CB(Sweeper): Mertesacker RWB/RM: Jenkinson, LWB/LM: Santos, CM(Holding): Coquelin, CM(Box-to-Box):Arteta, CM(Advanced): Ramsey, CF(Main): Giroud, SF(Side-forward): Cazorla Subs: Martinez, Djourou/Koscielny, Gervinho, Podolski(rested), Walcott/Arshavin, Sagna, Wilshere/Gnabry. Tactic: Attack from Right flank, Containment in the middle, Decoy along Left flank. Arsene’s line-up should be 4-3-3(Defensive) of course. Morning all, hope you’re all in good shape! Have been reading what’s been an excellent week in terms of quality of this blog and mourning what has been a woeful week in terms of quality of performance on the park…completely unable to be rational when I’ve tried to post so have avoided it! But let’s not dwell on that… Raddy – great to call out Hughes on what he is…a neanderthal who hides his vile ways under a veneer of civility…he’s a cretin and always has been… Today’s another day, folks – a good win today could set us up for (shock horror!) a good November. Wrap up warm ‘cos in spite of the sun it’s BITTER cold out there and bring your singing voices! Thanks Rhyle and JM, I have been toying with the idea of having a sort of league table of team selection predictions. Poor Raddy always has to put his head on the line in his PM …. the only trouble with the idea is it will involve me in more ‘behind the scenes time’ so I’ll only instigate it if there is enough support for the idea. Right off to the game … catchup later …… and happy I hope …….. I’m still holding out hope that Wengers words at the end of the last TW will ring true in January. I still don’t think he has finished moulding this new squad and we may see a few outs in January and hopefully 1 or 2 ins if he can find the right players. Fab match preview as always BR i’m looking forward already to your Livingstone tribute! Rasp, the line up prediction is a great idea. The fantasy league is interesting enough, maybe we could have a score prediction league too, soon you’ll be running out of space for the widgets. Anyway i am hoping Santos doesn’t get a game as QPR will target for sure when its bus comes out from parking. My team Vito, Jenks, BFG, TV, Bac, Mikel, Coq, Caz, Gerv, Giroud, Ox/Theo Shoot on sight please. TV & Santos probably – stay in defense please. Gerv/Ox/Theo get in the box with Giroud when the ball is on your opposite flank please. Arsenal win please. 4.1 @GIE from last post. They were such different times Charlie George was a local lad who played football in Highbury Fields with my uncle, Johnny Radford lodged with my gran Pat Rice’s brother was the barber and the team often trained in Clissold Park. They drove Ford angla’s I remember it was such a big thing when Sammy Nelson bought an Alfa Romeo. It was like how did he manage to save up for that? Who’s he think he is anyway with a bloody Alfa? Now the average players drive a car worth a house. Final plea for a match report before I leave ………. anyone? Micky – don’t know if you are just taking the piss, which I presume you are, but to be honest with you I didn’t hate Tony Pullis or Cambridgeshire referee Darren Deadman until I met GiE, or Martin O’Neill, or Orcs until you lot poisoned my little mind I was on a tube half hour ago, lots of fans getting off at Finsubury Park, all very somber faced I think we are bracing ourselves for the unspeakable No Evonne, not taking the piss at all. Au contraire, I like the cut of your jib Well, I have not heard a good reason why Jack cannot start. So Jack starts for me. There will be a bus in town, so a cute passer will be handy. His presense will also lift spirits on and off the pitch. I assume they’ve got two big oiks at the back, so I’d attempt to play along the ground and through and past the bloody apes. Therefore its: …………Vito Jenk Mert Verm Miqu …..Santi Art Jack Theo Pod Gerv Off again until KO @ LB10:26 I hate to have to remember this coz I’m trying to forget but Santos played Holt onside otherwise he would’ve been off-side for his tap in that Mannone spilled. Thats whats meant by him not keeping the defensive line. Big thumbs up on the match report B Raddy, always a delight.. An early goal would be just the tonic me thinks, and i would gladly sacrifice the sexy football for a guaranteed 3 points..Its backs to the walls time and we must stand up and fight, show those loftus fools whos house they are in and get our respect back even if its ugly on the eye.. No Retreat, No Surrender! Up the Arse Just for you Micky, jack starts. All you Gooners out there, where ever you may be, Enjoy the game, block out all the negatives and keep the faith !! Remember even ‘titi’ was a flop in his first 8 weeks….. Miracles do happen and the stars shall align again…MAGIC-its the Arsenal way Mannone, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Santos, Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud. subs: Martinez, Koscielny, Jenkinson, Coquelin, Walcott, Arshavin, Gervinho Hi Jack, Hows your back? Havnt seen you for ears and ears but i still knows your cheeky Ive got my coat….. Thanks Kelsey well lets hope santos is going to get some help from TV & midfield Has anybody got the stats:- games we have won this season with Ramsey and games we have won without Ramsey? @LB further to the previous point if you wanna confirm how Santos didn’t keep the defensive line check out Off now KO close. I thought Santos was chosen to play on the left flank Didn’t expect Sagna or Wilshere to start.These are risks which i hope comes off. No real pace on the flanks but let’s hope we stuff toillett and co down the toilet. That’s good Kelsey. Theo on the bench (so fit) mmmm Oh well, show us what you do best Arsenal. Come on you Gunnnnnners Damned if you do, damned if you dont..Sometimes i dont envy Arsenes job.. COYRRG!! Reddawn you don’t really want to know, just enjoy the game If we keep Granero quiet we kill the supply to Hoilett..its elementary my dear Crakcing pre match and fantastic picture What do we do best,Micky Aren’t you there sharkey ? He’s back! He’s back! Jack is back!!!!!!!! mouth watering and ox on bench…unbelievabubble how are you Oz? Love the gravatar btw, smells like teen spirit= youth naivity? Oh yeah PPP everything is right in the world again. Jacks my favourite gunner, pod was my favourite none gunner but now plays for us. All thats missing is the trophies (not long of a wait though. Yourself? Raddy was right, they are already kicking Sagna. Gosh I hate Mark Hughes hi oz and ppp haha cheers, just showing everyone what BSR really thought of as a young boy oh no Oz, I just enlarged your gravator, yuk great…it’s Evonne, lets go PPP. haha hi, hope all is well Evonne! Confident on that front as well! Other than that heaps busy with work and holidays round the corner, although evryhings fine when your still breathing in the morning and our Gunners are on track. Im easily pleased Come on boys, stand up and be counted!! Hi Evonne, hows the sofa? hey that CD has sold millions. get your mind outa the gutter! agreed PPP, that’s all that matters Jack is the secret herbs and spices sofa safely away from the wall with ample space to hide it’s freezing cold in London, but the atmosphere seems hot hot hot Jack!! We lose an attacker as Podolski has to track back and cover Santos, therefore he won’t last 90 minutes. Evonne during the game: very good point kelsey,it’s very frustrating. Santos looks like he has no confidence at all! Oz tough times call for tough meassures 3 times their keeper has already spilled the ball and each time only one forward in the box to take advantage to no avail. foul??? what! jacks shot had santi and giroud both running in C’mon Arsenal.. lets sheke off this pre-season mode You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that Ramsey on the right DOES NOT work. sheke *shake tomAto tomato ppp = dumbass what the hell! this umpiring is an f’n joke. nelson gets one,ramsey gives one for touching a bloke then nothing for getting flattened!!! Bit worrying that we look more nervous than the bottom team. This is a bit disjointed but already better than Naaarch and Schaaaalke. We know our weak link, QPR have the same weakness in traore so take ramsey off (not needed ) and put on walcott Not a bad call Kelsey, but Ramsey is doing a lot to keep Taraabt quiet. you can hear a pin drop in the emirates …. not right agreed rocky, more attacking intent but still not the same Arsenal. Jack is a star though. I forgot just how good his close control was Bolleaux! Why couldn’t the keeper spill it that time, with OG a yard away! PPP Crowd are as nervous as the team, hence the atmosphere. I know Rocky, i understand but you know its not right.. We are at home and it seems as though our opponents no longer fear us.. Your right, we look disjointed but i believe we will wrap this one up, but alot needs to be done on the training track.. Put into perspective we have now played what where the bottom two teams consecutively and it ain’t great.. First half performance started brightly and then slowly lost our urgency.giroud may well turn out to be a goal scorer for us,but for the moment we are screaming for a striker. Sagna and wilshere both look fully composed and that’s a big plus. Kelsey 2.59…no I;m 95% armchair these days. 3 games a season is about my limit in recent years. The more children I have the less I go. Shame really cos theres a new train line from me in Sth London straight thru to H&I. It used to be real trek* to get there with buses tubes and trains * Said with apologies to those coming from Notts, Cornwall and Norfolk Oh and Kelsey… if I look at Bob Moffats pic upside down it really could be you !! Oh yeah the game…. Decent game, but we need to maintain the higher tempo for longer periods..not just short bursts. Don;t even wanna think about how flat we might have been without Lil Jack I sense tension? And me not watching the first half has not led to a change of fortunes, although we haven’t conceded so that’s a good thing right? Cracking prematch as ever Raddy, I despise Hughes, but not as much as Pulis. Hughes used to annoy me when he was City manager the way he peacocked around the touch line as of he was a mercurial managerial talent, rather than what he was a lowly track suit manager who had lucked out into a club that got bought by the worlds richest family. Sharkespeare I have it on good authority that this was Kelsey in his hey day! tension GiE? hmm, its simmering at the moment, along way to go to get to the boil. We are missing the spark plugs, and safe is not our style…it works against us.. all text book for now great pre-match big daddy. you never let us down they are targeting Wilshere OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO JACK…doesnt look good, hope its just a knock Flash backs of swansea last season away.. Cmon Kick start my Heart Hurry up with the subs, please There are hints that Wilshere-Santos could turn into something really special. come on pod! you’ve got this Poldi territory top right pleeeeease! is it just me or did those youtube vids of santi scoring free kicks leave you thinking he will score everyone? I feel so let down when he misses! Granero should be off Traore you bloody rabbit stop jumping around like a twit! Now you get punished for a perfect tackle..Refs a bimbo Bring on Ox for Rambo and spread em, making space for Giroo Ref’s rubbish. that sounded awful PPP haha Sagna is class Jack off. Theo on. Ramsey into the middle, presumably. GLiC would be proud Jack off? Me no like Need to grind out a win here, one way or another. QPR have a lot of players with stupid hair. 16 min to go, at home against another bottom of table team.. i should not be worrying like this..cmon boys DIG DEEP Gobsmacked Oh Santi Should have at least been on target. OK – they’re down to 10 men, which the headline writers will enjoy if we fail to win. Gerv off on a stretcher. Oh dear. AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!! ARTETA!!!!!!!!! pinball purrfect! actually Thank God…my palms are sweaty Well done Arsh. Bloody ell that was like pinball, quality cross by Arshavin, think Arteta was offside at some point though, but not on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th phase of play Think you’re right about the offside GiE – but no mention from the commentators. good boy Rambo We’ve ramped it up well these last 15 mins or so. Its opened up heaps Rocky since the sending off Wow, that was a lucky let-off. We need to focus and see this out Just for once do you think we could stick it in the corner flag and hold it? Great stop Mannone Rocky can’t understand my commentators Mannone just saved our bacons. Ref is very very poor. Phew… Thank Dennis for that. The result was all important today. 3pts ! what a relief….pheeeeew phew….. Not an overly convincing performance, but it would have looked a lot different if we had been coming off the back of two wins instead of two defeats. There’s lots to work on, but it was an improvement on Norwich and Schalke. lol its a hatrick of phews Haha evonne and GiE… a lot of “phewing” going on. The best thing the ref did this evening was ‘blow the full time whistle’ it was at times ugly, but im a happy chap.. Told you it was similar to Swansea last season when our challenge kicked off and snowballed to Christmas.. This is the same… And we will beat the Manure scum on their own cow paddock! Happy days again An offside goal is exactly what’s needed when things aren’t going too well! A ragged performance with Jack the massive highlight. Great to see him and Sagna back, and it wouldn’t be players returning without another injury to put us back to swuare one! Hope it’s just a knock for Gerv. Great result, very average performance, and a game that will only be remembered for Jacks return. My weekend will better than last week! Up to 4th Man of the match…I suppose their keeper Winning ugly is an understatement. very grateful for the three points but on the whole a very disjointed performance. A lot of improvement needed and not sure if this win will boost confidence. Not a match i would be eager to watch again. I said earlier they were bruisers and at what cost.we will find out later. Jack looked class in his first full game, it’s the striking department that worries me. Ha Ha, just said “I wonder if someone has posted a Phew” Can’t stay and chat as there are extra DidIt’s in the house. Absolutely essential three points. Phew ROLF Nite or bye all. Any win will bring confidence. Thought Giroud was unlucky with that towering header before Arteta got it in, good to see bodies in and around the box. Thought Rambo looked good from what i saw of him last 40 minutes. Does a lot of unnoticed and unrewarding work. Arshavin has that touch of class and nous which is worth having on the bench, and maybe if we find the right system even a starting place. If we assume it is best to have our best players on the pitch, could we somehow re shape our 4-3-3 to include the likes of Arsh who sit on the bench. I rather like the idea of 4-2-3-1, but i’m not sure the boss will. Just to illustrate: ………..Arteta…………Jack…………….. …..Podolsi….Cazorla…..Arshavin….. ……………….Giroud…………………… Or maybe with Pod up top, Jack in the three and Ramsey sitting next to Mikel? Obviously Diaby would be preferable when fit. Feel sorry for Jenks today, didn’t think he deserved to be dropped so quickly, but a bit of experience on the pitch was probably essential today. GiE Jenks didn’t deserve to be dropped, but Bac was outstanding. Put in some great crosses and defensively rock solid. OG had a really, really good game up front, holding the ball up against a very big, physical team. Santi and Arteta also very good. Their ‘keeper played well – we could have had three or four. Bit worrying that we gave them two very good chances after going one up. BR Belatedly – thanks for another superb prematch and another top beardsman. I love when we get our game out of the way early, and bag the 3 points.. Now we can sit back and watch the others drop points, well some of the contenders..Today is esentially a 6 pointer mad celebrations behind my sofa followed Arteta’s goal I was reminded that it was only QPR we were playing. But frankly, a bus is a bus regardless if it is from Sutherland, Norwich or south of the river I agree about Arsh, GIE but we don’t seem to have enough forwards to score, who can last 90 minutes. One of our previous strengths two seasons back was that we would really press with the attackers until the final whistle . 10 men or not, they looked more dangerous after we scoredwith 6 minutes + left. surely lessons can be learned from that.. Hopefully Kelsey hopefully they will take my instruction at 4:48 (ie stick it in the corner and hold it). Remember a few seasons back when we didn’t see a game out in that way and Wenger said he couldn’t stop the team trying to play football (almost put it down to the impetuousness of youth), today we had enough experienced heads who could go and keep it in the corner. Wow, this site is a breath of fresh air Good to see our team getting their belief in their abilities back, with a grinding 1-0 London derby win. Regarding Arsene’s 4-3-3 system, we are in the same company as Barcelona, Juventus, Lazio, PSG & Ajax. Next match, Reading (to build momentum) and then onwards to Man Utd. Have we got the players to make it work JM? Wenger: “Wilshere, overall was quite positive, still lacks rhythm but he’ll get that. Gervinho, ankle problem – doesn’t look good” “It was amazing to be back – words cannot describe it. I was just running around smiling. It’s great to be back. “Last time I played it was with Fabregas and Nasri – now it’s with Artata and Cazorla who are great players too. It’s like a new team and I’m like a new player.” Garth Crooks….talks a load of shite: “Any manager other than Arsene Wenger at Arsenal would have got the sack. He is rebuilding but the rebuild for me is too slow. But in Arsenal’s credit today they worked their way back into the game and got the points that, really, I’m not sure they deserved.” Right i’m offski for a Curry. See you all later. Ramsey for me just doesn’t work in that right wing position, he’s too slow with the ball and getting past players/crossing isn’t his strong point too. Walcott did a much better job in that position the minute he came on. He upped the tempo just that little bit too, honestly hope he will sign a new contract ASAP along with Sagna who had a really good game. Wilshere was class too considering that this was his first league game in 17 months. It is clear that we still need an out and finisher and this should be Wenger’s #1 priority in the upcoming transfer window. Nevertheless, a very scrappy win and honestly Wenger needs to work his magic and get this team to start clicking together again before that match at OT next weekend. Wouldn’t want Van persie rubbing it in our face would we? In fact, Wenger might even want to give the first team another go against Reading just to improve the cohesion factor and to get this team clicking again. By the way, Julio Cesar just showed us what a really good keeper could contribute to a team. Wenger might want to take a hint and start sniffing around for DECENT GKs either to back Sczesny up while hes out or act as a deputy as I feel that its a matter of time before Fabianski and Mannone leave. Adrian On the goalkeeping side, to be fair to Man One, he saved us at the end. It wasn’t a spectacular save but it was all about positioning and staying “big”, which he did very well. And a lot of the reports are a bit schizophrenic: apparently we were pants, but QPR’s ‘keeper had a great game. Bit of a contradiction there, surely? We were far from fluent, but a 3-0 win would not have been unjustified based on chances. As I said earlier, if this performance had come after a couple of wins in previous games, we would be talking about it as a professional job, grinding out a good result without being at our best and so on. Obviously the context of two p*ss-poor performances colours how many people view today’s outing. Adrian is a really good keeper one that makes good saves? Mannone’s one on ones saved the three points Sorry that should have been multiple choice: Is a really good keeper: A) one that makes a lot of saves B) one that makes great saves C) one that doesn’t have to make saves cause he deals with the cross For me it’s B and C. I think a really good/great keeper is like Schmeichel, Seaman, Kahn, or Southall. Maybe Buffon in the modern game is in that league. Well said Rocky, and on that thought i would like to rest my head and say goodnight.. About 2hrs ago i asked Dennis for a win/3 points.. i did not care how i got them, i just wanted a building block and we got it, every Gooner on this planet would have taken a 1-0 to the Arsenal pre match.. Smiling today, and RoLFing 2moro when the spudz produce a knee-jerk loss I might have phrased that wrongly, Julio Cesar not only made quite a few saves but made a couple of great saves as well, the most notable one being that rebound shot from just a yard out. Mannone’s performance today was decent as he didn’t have much to do, but he isn’t fully convincing yet as shown in his previous games. Night P Julio Cesar said after the game “QPR was not built in a day” Kelsey Have you come to bury him, or praise him? Very good Kelsey. I’m just home ………… anyone offered a match report???? I havent thought about it yet, but who do we want to win tomorrow, chelsea or united? I guess united? jnyc I guess a draw or (chokes on words) a ManUre win. i think you will do a very good job at a report peaches, you were there .I am 1761 kilometres away as weedonald would say. There is still a lot of negativity about today’s performance (not here, thankfully) so, for some context: Match Stats (Arsenal first) Possession: 70% – 30% Shots: 21 – 4 On Target: 11 – 3 Corners: 5 – 2 Yet Mark Hughes says QPR were in complete control and ‘the least they deserved’ was a draw. How much did QPR pay for Cesar.? I thought it was minimal or even free, but i maybe wrong RL, another 5 minutes and they might have got a draw Haha – true Kelsey But it might also have been 2-0 to us with an extra 5 mins as they were wide open. We’re second on MOTD kelsey – have you follwed me, I followed you Not a performance to boost the teams confidence. Against eleven it looked as if one point was the best we could hope for. In fact against ten, we conceded two great late chances to QPR, both through shocking defending. Evening all, A well earned victory. We started without wingers and lacked pace up front. Ramsey put in a very good shift but he’s not quick enough for a winger – but not his fault he was played out of position. On the other side the Pod was not happy with Santos and barked at him quite a lot. I’d imagine that was because he couldn’t go forward when he was constantly called upon to defend. We looked so much better with Gerv on the left, Theo on the right and Ramsey in the middle. Jack played really well and looked our most attack minded midfielder. Hope Gerv’s ankle injury is not too serious, but fantastic to have Sagna back (he was very good). Either Cazorla is still a bit off his game or perhaps opposition managers now set their stall up to stop him conducting our play. Arteta was imense throughout and is my MotM Great to see TMHT, GliC, VCC, chas and GoonerB at the rub-a-dub yes i have, peaches I see you changed a word rasp This is what i was debating with richie yesterday about playing players out of position (when you mentioned ramsey) Evening all, hope all our well? At least 3 got three points today and that was all that mattered today…… Equally pleasing today was getting a lovely text from Peaches, miss you all at the matches, hoping that I will be able to get myself to one very soon, so missing it, even if the football has been a tad awful at times……. One interesting side note today, there was 3 champions league winners out there today, none on our side….. And Jack is back… Hi Harry, great to hear from you. Hopefully we can hook up at a game real soon. I think Mannone should be heaped with praise, he made several important saves and generally dealt with crosses well. Come on …… someone must want to write about our first victory for three weeks ………… Yes that would be good rasp, it so hard at the moment, these are the first CL matches I have missed at home for about 6 or 7 seasons, i think……so miss it………. What was the atmosphere like today? martin wen you gonna grow some balls? I can see what Rocky means about split opinions on the game, I only watched the second half of the second half. What I saw looked ok going forward against a typically belligerent away defence at the Ems, we were a tad wasteful in fronts of goal, even when they had 11 men. We had 14 shots before the red card (5 on target), and according to 442 stats app another 8 after that (4 on target). Kelsey has already volunteered Peaches read 7.51. I look forward to reading it. A common gripe has been our inability to grind out results when playing below our best. Today we managed that and now people will comment that we didn’t win in style! Then when we win in style, people will moan that it style doesn’t win trophies! It’s a funny old game…! I’m going to enjoy these 3 points just as much as any. Have a great weekend Gooners. Oooooo, a kelsey match report, how exciting! An interesting game I thought, but how fickle are the footballing gods when they apportion there quotients of luck. Last week Mannone pushed one out and it went straight to an opposition player and cost us three points, this week Cesar pushes three out, not one goes to a red shirt and the ball is scrambled away. Fortunately a blatant offside is missed by the Ref who allows the goal and we still collect three points. Sparky is his normal charming self and accepts our good fortune with equanimity and grace as per the Sir Red nose school of footballing etiquette. Early days yet but a confused league this season seems certain to cause much anxiety and uncertainty among football fans across the country. But us top four? Well the boss man says so and he has been right a few times on the bounce now, has he not? Guess that will do for me. By the way enjoyed your rant yesterday Kelsey and BR’s usual pre match quality today. Thanks guys. Kelsey didn’t offer to write the match report, he was responding tom a question peaches asked him, we still need a volunteer Thanks Rasp, you’re right, kelsey was responding to my question about following me on twitter……………. ……..so a volunteer is still needed to write a match report please. I’ll put a match report in drafts Peaches. Wow that deadened the site a bit peaches. 4 hours without a comment haha. A lot of great comments made tonight. Particularly liked GiE’s formation. I’d definitely like to see a lot more of Arshavin. Hopefully gerv is okay, otherwise we will have no choice but too. Are our subs warming up enough/properly before entering the game because first Ox, and now Gerv. Or just coincidence? Oz Ox’s injury was nothing to do with warming up – he got twatted in the hip by some big Norwich lump. And Gerv got a kick on the ankle. And by the way Oz, I notice that you laid low until I volunteered to do the report I don’t want to cast a shadow over Rocky’s efforts as the poor chap is probably huddled around his paraffin lamp, nib in hand, as we speak, but…. Do we always have to have a match report. It causes Peaches match day worry, kills the site, and yet this is meant to be fun. Everyone saw the game afterall. If someone wants to, then brilliant, but feeling guilt is bad. What terrifies me the most is pissing off the sites’ most prolific and accomplished author (Rocky) and effectively relying on his good nature. Oh bugger, the clocks have changed haven’t they! Forwards or backwards? I’m confused, although I think I’m stuck on Islamabad time. i kind of agree with that micky and everyone will either have seen the game live or on TV or at least highlights and all we need if peaches and rasp want a new post every day is just a few thoughts about the game as invariably as the day goes on we drift into different aspects of the game or individuals. i have sent in two posts this week which for me is a lot and if I was doing a match report today it would have been quite blunt. In a sentence: we got 3 points,Wilshere and Sagna were a pleasing sight to see return but otherwise not a game that will stick in the memory. I have my own thoughts about the squad and it appears especially when looking for a result we have more cameo players than regular 90 minute players .The debate is, is that rotation or aren’t some players fit or good enough for a whole game , or otherwise is squad depth just not a standard of a club looking for trophies or at the least a top four position, even allowing for injuries. Haven’t seen the game yet so cannot comment but delighted we won. Bloody freezing in Gay Paris and Spring forward, Fall back Kelsey. It is too early to be so cheerful Morning Kelsey and Raddy. Interesting point about cameo players, Kelsey. Thing is, we are where we are, and right now this is our squad, so how to get the most out of it. Next up Reading then Utd. I’m always of the view that the League Cup should be for come-back players and fringe players, but this time I’d send out the first team for 45 mins only. We need more playing time, particularly for the attacking side of our game to try and find some rhythm and understanding ahead of Utd. Raddy, Which Arrondissement are you staying in? By the way Kelsey, you asked what I meant by The Arsenal “doing what they do best”…I can now answer that: 1-0 To The Arsenal Kelsey, I do think a posible answer to one small part of your multi-layered thinking lies in the contracts of certain players and how this cocks up possible transfer movements. Of course I’m thinking of Bendy, Chamakh, Theo and even Arshavin. Exactly Micky, so does that mean Wenger is being stubborn and some of those players aren’t being selected even though they could add strength to any given game. Can we afford those luxuries ? Multi layered thinking Look you know how I feel. I don’t think we will make top 4 this season for a multitude of reasons, but I may not enjoy many games at the moment but you know I support the club and as GLIC said maybe I am frustrated ,and personal issues are clouding my judgement. You have to be gentle with me, I am aging Didn’t see the whole match, watched the highlights last night and they picked out Jacks return for special coverage, he looked every bit as good as i remember. Some people will argue that we shouldn’t rely on a 21 year old, but for me of you have the best young player in the country theres no shame in relying on him. Just watching highlights of City v Swansea…..a lot of empty blue seats I did nothing of the sort Rocky! I’ll have you know I was about to offer then I saw your comment so I gracefully withdrew my proposal haha Micky due to the injury risks I’d be sticking out reserves in the League Cup. Still be reasonably good squad. Twitter rumour mill suggests Szczesny avail for United not Gibbs. Lots of talk of Verm going to left back. Think I’d probably stick with Santos. My hopes for today’s result: Chelsea – Utd DRAW (plus twenty man brawl) Saints – Spuds HOME WIN Toon – West Brom HOME WIN/DRAW Toffees – Dippers DRAW/AWAY WIN Then we will be 4th and I’ll wonder what all the fuss has been about Berbatov was immense for Fulham yesterday, how interesting. Schwarzer was shit. Slim – spot on. We have critisized ourselves for not being able to do a Manyoo and win while playing rubbish. Yesterday we proved that we can grind results. A win is a win is 3 points, end of. GiE – you are such a sweetie May I add a couple of broken legs for the Chelsea fixture? One on each side will do me yes, Sagna and Jack were great. The filthy bastards targeted Jack in the first half, but a yellow card stopped them from injuring him. I’d be interested to see what everyone’s strongest XI would be. I think there would be a fair amount of agreement over the back five and the middle three, but the front three….I don’t thinkArsene even knows the answer to that one. Theo right? I don’t think Theo thinks Theo is right sided player, and anyway, is Arsene freezing him out ahead of january? Ramsey? Not for me. Ox…mmm, maybe. What about the left? Pod or Gerv? I think we will need to be at our best next weekend (although we do up our performances against the Big Boys anyway), but the attack needs surgery. Micky – for Wednesday? I don’t care if we play 3rd team and lose. One competition less to worry about Micky I think we need a small change in formation of midfield and attack to get the best from our new players. I also think that we don’t need to name our best 11 in a 4-3-3 but actually our best 11 players and find a formation that gets them all on the pitch. So for me 3-4-3 probably does it. GIE, Although I agree about your thinking and the three at the back, I cannot see AW adopting it. For me, the left side only works with Gibbs as he enables either Pod or Gerv to get on with their jobs. The right side is a real problem, as I believe there is a major issue with Theo, both in terms of his contract, as well as where he/AW sees his ideal position, and I don’t see a potent alternative. Evonne, I do agree with you over wenesday, its just that I’m worried about going to The Toilet next weekend with so little cohesion and understanding amongst our attack. But Micky the brilliance of 3-4-3 is it allows Gibbs to stay on the pitch (and means that Santos isn’t such a liability of required to play ) ……………….Szczesny……………. …………………BFG………………… ……..Kozzer…………Vermy……. Sagna………Arteta………..Gibbs ………………..Jack………………… ……..Cazorla……….Podolski…. ……………….Theo………………… Damn GIE, I’ve just completed your homework ie name “best 11 players and find a formation that gets them all on the pitch”, and I have: No goalkeeper and No attack! Does my startling conclusion finally put to bed the Total Football idiotic theory? Bloody hell GiE…I DO like that You should Patent that. 1-2-3-1-2-1 Even that bright spark Herbert Chapman never thought of it Morning session closed I think. Have a god day all. Day of the Lord it may be for some, but I did mean have a GOOD day all Heard a great quote the other day that might be a good title for today’s match report. Went something like: ‘Turn a step back into a comeback’ Think that’s exactly what we did last season and hopefully we can do the same again. Turn a set-back into a comeback. That sounds more like it! Morning all We have a New Post………… and at the right time too

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. 103 Reader Comments The bug lets someone random who has physical access to your computer change your facetime/iTunes/AppleID password. It doesn't let people you call hack your account. Seriously. This, incidentally, is why I'm never an early adopter: the extremely high likelihood of a bone-headed oversight in the initial release. The bug lets someone random who has physical access to your computer change your facetime/iTunes/AppleID password. It doesn't let people you call hack your account. Aye. Also any mention of how to properly uninstall the beta? I know it's more then just Facetime.app, it seems to add a service daemon for itself to accept calls when the main app isn't running. - CG (Though frankly it feels more like an alpha to me). Last edited by dvessel on Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:34 am It's Apple. Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Just use it and be happy. Seems almost like that's what this article assumes is the case. No? Most people don't normally let down their guard in that way? Then perhaps the title of the article should be: "FaceTime for Mac opens giant Apple ID security hole if the Mac user does something cataclysmically idiotic ". But, that's way too wordy. Seriously, it is a poor security design to allow this to happen, but I just don't see it being exploited as anything but extremely rare. Is the password blacked out at least? Is Command-C disabled in the field? Now that I know it exists, I'll be watching for anyone leaving their Mac unattended... say in Starbucks or someplace... It should only take a few seconds and even if they see me from across the room.... Last edited by fitten on Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:39 am If there is a real exploit or security hole please let us know, in the meantime stop the alarmist rubbish. I think this article should CLEARLY state that what was 'released' yesterday is a BETA, not the actual released software. I think it's generally understood (at least amongst people savvy enough to be reading Ars) that running beta software has risks associated with it. ... Seriously, it is a poor security design to allow this to happen, but I just don't see it being exploited as anything but extremely rare. You should not underestimate the criminal potential and dormant creativity of people. As opposed to rummaging around your Apple account and buying music on your account. If my usual trips to local coffeehouses/delis are any indication, yes. A lot. I expect several things out of beta software: I expect it to crash. I expect it to hang. I expect performance to be poor at odd times. I expect certain functionality to not work. I expect downtime. What I do NOT expect is for beta software to compromise a production account. The second you release software that can compromise a real, existing account, beta or not, you need to re-evaluate your release process and your security auditing. There's multi-hundred dollar apps on iTunes, local user access means that local programs will also have the ability to alter those settings (especially if it's not access / password controlled), and 'local user' access is pretty easy to obtain. (versus local root, or remote root). Er.. yeah. They already have HANDS on hardware to do this, so you are fucked anyways. If that hadn't happened, I assume that this problem could have been mitigated by going into Keychain Access and adjusting the Access Control settings for FaceTime's Keychain entries -- or by simply deleting those entries. They already have HANDS on hardware to do this, so you are fucked anyways. Wrong there, bro. This isn't about hacking your local machine (yes, hands on the hardware in all), it's about hacking your apple account, which is remote, stored on Apple's servers. So yes, if someone has physical access to your computer, it's not secure, but this is about more than that. Anyway, it's a beta. Everyone knows that security features aren't released until the first service pack. :-) (Though frankly it feels more like an alpha to me). Well you got something right.. this is why we have pre-Alphas.. There is absolutely no excuse to have such a gapping security hole in a beta release. If this were an Enterprise software beta release that my company was testing, we would not be buying it. (Though frankly it feels more like an alpha to me). Design issues like this should never make it into code, much less be shipped as a beta. Yes, because FaceTime stores the password. The attacker can prevent this from happening by logging in via another program (or even his/her own computer) and changing the password a second time... I assume there are methods to reset the password via email, etc., but that simple change makes it not quite so trivial anymore. But it is a very widely publicized "come and try this" beta that virtually anyone with a mac who read about yesterday's event would be inclined to try. And as is so often pointed out, a large percentage of college kids have mac laptops. In the dorms where they live. One of the most insecure environments I ever lived in. And it gives acces to an account hooked to a credit card. This is a major goof, and there is no defending it. If there is a real exploit or security hole please let us know, in the meantime stop the alarmist rubbish. +1 on this comment. in other words, all your data is accessible to a user of your account if you let them use the account. kinda like every computer, always. this is not a security hole in the app - it's a realization that all those things that let you login once, keep your password, and auto-apply it for you (ie, every web browser with password-completion), can be used by other people who use your computer. and while i agree in principle that this could be a bit more 'secure', it's not a hole - physical security and unattended use of your stuff is the real issue, and unless apple ships a thuggish goon with your laptop to protected it at all times, it's your own responsibility to keep it physically safe, to password protect access to the account, and a screen-saver which requires authentication to unlock. all features that apple *does* provide. (Though frankly it feels more like an alpha to me). Design issues like this should never make it into code, much less be shipped as a beta. This. The UI is absolutely awful: submit buttons at the top of forms not the bottom, all kinds of weird error messages and a completely unintuitive layout. A complete pile of crap.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2010/10/facetime-for-mac-opens-giant-apple-id-security-hole/?comments=1

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. Source Code: Copyright for my GPLed source code should revert to the Free Software Foundation. They seem to have a reasonable policy about letting people use the code. Websites: Please keep the websites operational where possible, with content written by me kept untouched where appropriate. Appropriate pages (e.g. on aaronsw.com) may contain a notice about what happened with a link to more info. The front page of aaronsw.com should be redone as appropriate with a link to the old page. Grave I'd like to rest someplace that won't kill me. That means access to oxygen (although direct access would probably be bad) and not having to climb through six feet of dirt. and, appropriately, he concluded: “Oh, and BTW, I'll miss you all.” We miss you too, Aaron—your number is still in my phone. May you find the peace you always sought. Promoted Comments don't know much Perl) but I do think what you're doing is pretty cool, so I thought I'd hang out here and follow along (and probably pester a bit). He attended a symposium in Stanford in 2001 with geeks from the web world, especially W3C. He was on the RDF W3C working group (via a cunning hack called the HTML writers guild IIRC). All at the grand old age of 14. The following year he visited the UK (for a working group meeting? I forget) where I met him. He was a sweet, smart, nerdy kid. What made him different was probably his confidence in his own views, and his ability to communicate with adult engineers on their level. The internet made that possible to a large degree, since his precocious nature wasn't apparent. The Winer quote makes me chuckle, since he listed Aaron as one of his enemies within a year. Very Winer-ish :-) Aaron seems to have maintained that knack for gaining adversaries into his 20s. (His recent trouble brings to mind "Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?") RIP

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/aaron-swartz-and-me-over-a-loosely-intertwined-decade/

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DigiTimes is reporting that Microsoft's much-touted Origami PC almost had Via inside, and not Intel. According to unnamed sources, Microsoft was leaning towards VIA's C7-M for the device, which is about half the price of the Celeron M that eventually made it into the design, before the OEMs nixed the idea. Allegedly, name recognition and R&D muscle were both factors in the decision to go with Intel. From a technical standpoint, the Intel decision makes sense. The Celeron M's power consumption is competitive with the VIA part, and Intel has plenty of resources to develop and supply supporting logic. Still, the price difference is pretty steep, so if you're looking for a reason why Samsung's recently announced Origami device costs so much then part of the blame has to go to Intel. For my part, I think Origami, like all tablet PCs, is a solution looking for a problem. The device is too big to fit in a pocket, the battery life is too low, and it's just too general-purpose. It's in this limbo zone between a laptop and a PDA, and we all know how well the later are (not) selling. To be honest, in the past few years I've only bought one portable computing device that really rocked my world: the Garmin Nuvi 350. The form factor is excellent—it's just an LCD touch-screen, about the size of a deck of cards. It has a well-defined set of functions, along with some very nice add-ons (mounts as a USB drive, can play music in a number of formats, can display pictures, has an SD slot, etc.), and it's extremely easy to use. Microsoft should take a page from Garmin's book and start producing product guidelines and customized software for an array of smaller, simpler, cheaper, more specialized "lifestyle" devices. Whether the industry likes it or not, we still live in a world where portable devices need to do one or two things really well (three at most), and they need to do them in manner that's intuitive. They also need to be small, and to have good battery life. A device that's a little bit too big, doesn't hold enough juice, and tries to do absolutely everything, is destined for the discount bin at Fry's.

http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2006/04/6631/

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Very few milestones can top a wedding. One of them is getting married while trying to finish a full marathon. In April 2009, Rachel Pitt and her fiancé Garry Keates earned the distinction of being the first couple to get married during that year's London Marathon. In 2011, Andrew Ford and his fiancee Katrina Scaife followed suit, taking a detour after running 20 miles just to get married. In 1999, Mick Gambrill and Barbara Cole took a break from the marathon after running two miles just to tie the knot. While the long-distance running event has attracted a variety of runners - from experienced ones to novices to runners donning wacky costumes - many couples are enticed to enter the world's largest marathon, so that they can have a unique and truly memorable wedding day. But, as both running a marathon and getting married entail adequate investment of time, money and effort, getting married during a marathon offers some unique logistical issues that couples must address. Professional wedding photography expert David Jones advises couples who wish to get hitched, whether in a traditional manner or during a race, to have a reasonable timeline to prepare for their big day. This gives them much leeway to prepare for any unforeseen events that may crop up during preparations for the ceremony. As the couples can trade their wedding dresses and tuxedos for sportier garb and their high heels and formal shoes for running shoes, they still have to consider other important things like whether to finish the event first or get married while running the race as Mary Martin and Raymond Donaldson did when they got married during the New York City marathon. Also, they should also consider finding a wedding celebrant, booking a post-race wedding reception venue, and getting the services of a London-based photographer.

http://art.broadwayworld.com/article/Photographer-David-Jones-Offers-Advice-for-Couples-Planning-to-Get-Married-at-the-London-Marathon-20130314

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Oo_0<<_2<<…. _8<< Hey, fellow creative kid-lovers. Why don't you leave a comment or share this post? Some links on this site are affiliate links. I will always disclose if I am compensated for a post, but I only write about stuff I love. I love the intersection of science and art too! Pinning this post! Ana recently posted…Our Creative Week Hi Ana- Thanks so much for the pin! I love it, too; I need to explore more science art projects. I could have used these as a kid. Jeanette Nyberg recently posted…Golden Ratio For Kids Wow this is full of so many wonderful ideas! I will be sharing your blog with my readers! Thanks so much for the follow up. Aruna – Young Yoga Masters recently posted…How to do Yoga with Kids, That Is Different Than Yoga for Adults I’m so glad! Yay yay yay. Let me know if you use any of these with your kids. Jeanette Nyberg recently posted…Golden Ratio For! PragmaticMom recently posted…Heart Smart for February Fantastic idea for a fun/learning project and great round-up! Definitely want to print out the full size skeleton for us to color and I think I would like to make my own anatomy t-shirt! Ann recently posted…Free eBook for Kids

http://artchoo.com/anatomy-art-projects/

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Abstract Introduction Chemokine receptors play an important role in mediating the recruitment of T cells to inflammatory sites. Previously, small proportions of circulating Th1-type CCR5+ and Th2-type CCR3+ cells have been shown in granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). Wondering to what extent CCR4 and CCR6 expression could also be implicated in T cell recruitment. Introduction T cells display considerable heterogeneity in terms of phenotype, function, and anatomical distribution. Whereas naïve T cells represent a relatively homogenous population, primed T cells acquire effector functions and differentiate into distinct effector and memory subsets. Whereas naïve and central memory T cells home to secondary lymphoid organs to mount antigen-driven proliferative responses, effector memory T cells migrate into peripheral tissues to display immediate effector functions such as cytokine production or cytotoxicity or both [1,2]. The process of T cell recruitment from blood into tissue is controlled by adhesion molecules, in which chemokine receptors have an important role [2]. Previously, we showed that a small proportion of circulating memory T cells displays T-helper cell 1 (Th1)-type CC chemokine receptor (CCR) 5 and Th2-type CCR3 expression in granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) [3]. GPA is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology and is characterized by necrotizing granulomatosis of the upper or lower respiratory tract or both and a systemic autoimmune vasculitis preferentially affecting pulmonary and renal small vessels. The vasculitis is associated with highly specific anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies to proteinase 3 (PR3-ANCA) [4]. T cells are abundant in inflammatory lesions in GPA. CCR5, CCR3, and their chemokine ligand CCL5 (regulated upon activation in normal T cells, expressed and secreted, or RANTES) are expressed in granulomatous lesions of the respiratory tract. These studies suggested that CCR5 and CCR3 could be involved in the recruitment of interferon-gamma (IFNγ)-producing and tumor necrosis factor-alpha-producing Th1- and interleukin (IL)-4-producing Th2-type cells to inflammatory sites in GPA [5-7]. More recently, IL-17-producing PR3-specific Th17 cells have been implicated in the maintenance of chronic inflammation and autoimmunity in GPA [8-10]. CCR4+ T cells have been reported to secrete IL-4, whereas CCR6+ cells produce IL-17 [11,12]. To investigate the extent to which the chemokine receptors CCR4 and CCR6 could be implicated in T-cell recruitment in GPA, we analyzed CCR4 and CCR6 expression on circulating T cells, assigned CCR4- and CCR6-expressing cells to the respective memory cell subsets, and determined the cytokine production of CCR4+ and CCR6+ T cells. Materials and methods Study population Patients fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology criteria and the Chapel Hill Consensus Conference definition for GPA, respectively [13,14]. Disease activity was recorded in accordance with European League Against Rheumatism recommendations (Table 1) [15]. All patients and controls provided informed consent. The study was approved by the local ethics committee (#07-059). Antibodies used for flow cytometry The following antibodies were used in different combinations: Pacific blue (PB)-conjugated anti-CD3, PB- or phycoerythrin (PE)-conjugated anti-CD4, peridinin chlorophyll protein (PerCP)- or allophycocyanine-cyanine dye 7 (APC-Cy7)-conjugated anti-CD8, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated anti-CD45RA, Alexa Fluor 647-conjugated anti-CCR7, PE-Cy7- and PE-conjugated anti-CCR4, PE-conjugated anti-CCR6, APC-Cy7-conjugated anti-IFNγ, PE-Cy7-conjugated anti-IL-4, and Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated anti-IL-17a from eBioscience (Frankfurt, Germany) and APC-conjugated anti-IL-22 from R&D Systems (Wiesbaden, Germany). Appropriate isotype controls were included in the experimental setup. All antibodies (unless indicated otherwise) were purchased from BD Biosciences (Heidelberg, Germany). Surface marker and intracellular cytokine staining Flow cytometry was performed to characterize T cell populations at the single-cell level. Staining of cellular surface markers was performed by using freshly collected whole blood (Li-heparin) as described earlier [3]. Briefly, previously determined optimal concentrations of fluorochrome-conjugated monoclonal antibodies for cell surface antigens were added to 100 μL of whole blood and incubated 45 minutes in the dark at 4°C. Subsequently, erythrocytes were lysed by the addition of FACS (fluorescence-activated cell sorting) Lysing Solution (BD Pharmingen, Heidelberg, Germany). After incubation for another 10 minutes in the dark at room temperature, cells were washed twice with phosphate-buffered saline/0.01% bovine serum albumin and immediately analyzed by FACS. For intracellular cytokine staining, freshly collected whole blood was stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (Sigma, Munich, Germany) (10 ng/mL) and ionomycin (Sigma) (1 μg/mL) for 4 hours at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2. Brefeldin (Sigma) (10 μg/mL) was added at the beginning of the stimulation to inhibit cytokine secretion. After staining for surface antigens and lysing of erythrocytes with FACS Lysing Solution, cells were fixed and permeabilized with Cytofix/Cytoperm in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer (BD Pharmingen). Staining of intracytoplasmatic cytokines was performed at 4°C for 45 minutes in the dark with previously determined optimal concentrations of fluorochrome-conjugated monoclonal antibodies for cytokines or appropriate negative (isotype) controls. Besides appropriate isotype controls, an unstimulated sample was included for each patient and control as a negative control. Flow cytometric analysis Multicolor flow cytometric analysis was performed on a FACS Canto II cytometer by using FACSDiva software (BD Biosciences). Lymphocytes were gated for analysis on the basis of light scattering properties and of CD3, CD4, and CD8 staining. Positively and negatively stained populations were calculated by quadrant dot plot analysis determined by isotype controls. Statistical analysis Statistics were performed by using Prism 4.0 (GraphPad Software, La Jolla, CA, USA). Comparisons between patients and control subjects were done by employing the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. P values equal to or less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Results Increased frequency of CCR4- and CCR6-expressing CD4+ T cells in granulomatosis with polyangiitis To assess CCRs relevant for migration to peripheral tissues, we determined the expression of the CCR4 and CCR6 on peripheral blood T cells in patients with GPA and healthy controls. We found a significant increase in the percentages of CCR4- and CCR6-expressing cells within the total CD4+ T cell population in patients with GPA compared with healthy individuals (Figure 1a, b). Apart from the CCR4+CCR6- and CCR4-CCR6+ 'single positive' subsets, a smaller fraction of CCR4+CCR6+ 'double positive' cells was detected within the CD4+ T cell population in patients with GPA and healthy controls (17.5% ± 4.8% versus 10.3% ± 0.6%, mean ± standard error of the mean, no significant difference, Mann-Whitney U test). Conversely, the remainder of cells within the CD4+ T-cell population were CCR4-CCR6- 'double negative' cells. In contrast, there was no difference in the percentages of CD8+CCR4+ and CD8+CCR6+ T cells between patients with GPA and healthy controls (data not shown). Figure 1. Increased frequencies of CD4+CCR4+ and CD4+CCR6+ T cells in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). Percentages of CCR4+ (a) and CCR6+ (b) cells within the total CD4+ T cell population in patients with GPA and healthy controls (HCs). Percentages of positive cells were assessed by flow cytometry. Values are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean. ***P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney U test. CCR, CC chemokine receptor. CCR4 and CCR6 are expressed on distinct memory cell populations, including CCR7+CD45RAmed very early memory cells Having shown a significant increase in the frequencies of CCR4- and CCR6-expressing CD4+ T cells in patients with GPA, we were interested in phenotypic features of CCR4- and CCR6-expressing CD4+ T cells next. To assign CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells to the respective naïve and memory cell subsets, cells were additionally stained with fluorescent-conjugated antibodies for CD45RA and CCR7 to allow discrimination into diverse T cell subsets [2,16-18]. By the use of these markers, we found that CCR4 and CCR6 expression was confined largely to the circulating CCR7+CD45RA- central memory (TCM) and CCR7-CD45RA- (TEM) and CCR7-CD45RA+ (TEMRA) effector memory cell subsets within the total CD4+ T cell population. A significant increase in the frequency of CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells was remarkable in the CCR7-CD45RA+ effector memory (TEMRA) subset in patients with GPA. A significant increase in CCR6+ cells was also found in the CCR7+CD45RA- central memory T-cell subset (TCM). However, significantly increased percentages of CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells were also detected in the CCR7+CD45RA+ population, which contains naïve T cells (TN) by definition (Figure 2a, b). Dissecting the CCR7+CD45RA+ population with respect to CD45RA fluorescence intensity, we detected two subsets in the CCR7+CD45RA+ population. CCR7+CD45RAhigh T cells generally lacked CCR4 and CCR6 expression with the exception of three patients with GPA. In contrast, CCR7+CD45RAmed T cells displayed CCR4 and CCR6 expression. We found higher frequencies of CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells within the CCR7+CD45RAmed T cell subset in patients with GPA compared with healthy controls (Figure 2c, d). Thus, the CCR7+CD45RA+ population contained genuine CCR7+CD45RAhigh TN lacking CCR4 and CCR6 expression and another CCR7+CD45RAmed T cell subset comprising CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells. The latter was reminiscent of so-called very early memory T cells (TVEM) [19]. Figure 2. Increased percentages of CCR4+ and CCR6+ memory T cell subsets in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). Percentages of CD4+CCR4+ (a) and CD4+CCR6+ (b) T cells in the CCR7+CD45RA- central memory (TCM), CCR7-CD45RA- effector memory (TEM), CCR7+CD45RA+ 'naïve by definition' (TN), and CCR7-CD45RA+ 'revertant' effector memory (TEMRA) populations. (c) Dissection of the CD4+CCR7+CD45RA+ population with regard to CD45RA fluorescence intensity into CCR7+CD45RAhigh cells representing genuine TN and CCR7+CD45RAmed cells reminiscent of very early memory T cells (TVEM). Percentages of CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells in the CCR7+CD45RAmed and CCR7+CD45RAhigh subsets are shown. (d) Representative quadrant dot-plot analysis showing segregation of the gated CD4+CCR7+CD45RA+ T cell population into two subsets. CCR7+CD45RAmed T cells displayed CCR4 and CCR6 expression (TVEM). CCR7+CD45RAhigh T cells lacked CCR4 and CCR6 expression (genuine TN). Numbers in quadrants and histograms represent percentages of cells. Percentages of positive cells were assessed by flow cytometry. Values are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean. *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney U test. CCR, CC chemokine receptor; HC, healthy control. Decreased frequency of CCR7+CD45RAhigh naïve T cells and unreduced frequency of CCR7+CD45RAmed very early memory T cells in granulomatosis with polyangiitis Earlier studies have reported significantly lower percentages of peripheral blood TN by using CCR7 and CD45RO or CD45RB expression for the phenotypic characterization of T cells in patients with GPA [20,21]. In this study, we showed a segregation of the CCR7+CD45RA+ T cell compartment into different two subsets based on CCR4 and CCR6 expression and CD45RA fluorescence intensity. This prompted us to investigate whether TN and TVEM frequencies were likewise decreased within the total CD4+ T-cell population. In line with the aforementioned earlier studies, we found a significantly lower percentage of CCR7+CD45RAhigh TN in patients with GPA compared with healthy controls [20,21]. In contrast, CCR7+CD45RAmed TVEM frequencies were similar in patients with GPA and healthy individuals (Figure 3). Figure 3. Decreased frequency of naïve T cells (TN) and unreduced frequency of very early memory T cells (TVEM) in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). Percentages of CCR7+CD45RAmed TVEM and CCR7+CD45RAhigh TN in the CD4+ T cell population are shown. Percentages of positive cells were assessed by flow cytometry. Values are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean. **P < 0.01, Mann-Whitney U test. CCR, CC chemokine receptor; HC, healthy control. Distinct cytokine-producing subsets within CCR4+ and CCR6+ T-cell populations We showed increased frequencies of circulating CCR4- or CCR6-expressing (or both) CD4+ TCM, TEMRA, and TVEM in patients with GPA. To investigate functional features of CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells within the total CD4+ T cell population, peripheral blood cells were stained for intracellular cytokines. An IFNγ+ cell fraction was found in all CCR4+ or CCR6+ subsets or both. An increased percentage of IL-17+ and IL-22+ cells was detected in the CCR4-CCR6+ 'single positive' and CCR4+CCR6+ 'double positive' cell fractions when compared with the CCR4-CCR6- 'double negative' cell subset. Furthermore, an increased frequency of IL-4+ cells was shown in the CCR4+CCR6- 'single positive' cell fraction compared with the CCR4-CCR6- 'double negative' cell subset in both patients with GPA and healthy controls. CCR4-CCR6+ 'single positive' and CCR4+CCR6+ 'double positive' cells differed from each other with respect to the percentage of IFNγ-producing cells, which was significantly higher in the CCR4-CCR6+ 'single positive' fraction (P < 0.01, Mann-Whitney U test). The CCR4-CCR6- 'double negative' cell subset differed from the other subsets in that only an IFNγ+ cell fraction was remarkable in this subset (Table 2). Less than 1% of cells displayed intracellular co-expression of IL-17 and IL-22 in CCR6+ cells within the total CD4+ T-cell population (data not shown). Thus, circulating CD4+CCR4+ and CD4+CCR6+ T cell populations comprised distinct subsets of cytokine-producing cells. Discussion Chemokine receptors play an important role in mediating T cell recruitment to distinct anatomical sites and tissues [2]. Whereas the CC chemokine receptor CCR7 mediates homing of naïve (TN) and central memory (TCM) T cells to lymph nodes, other CC and CXC chemokine receptors (CCR/CXCR) trigger intravascular adhesion and direct migration of effector memory T cell subsets (CD45RA- TEM and CD45RA+ 'reverted' TEMRA) into peripheral tissues for patrol and recruitment to inflammatory sites [2,19]. Previously, cloned CCR6+ cells from peripheral blood and inflammatory sites in Crohn's disease have been shown to produce IL-17. In contrast, CCR4+ cells secrete IL-4 [11,12,22]. Recently, Th17-, Th22-, and Th2-type PR3-specific cells have been suggested to be involved in chronic inflammation and autoimmunity in GPA [8-10,23]. Moreover, an increased proportion of circulating CD45RClow Th2-type and Th17 cells has been reported in ANCA-associated vasculitides, including GPA. The increase is independent of disease duration and treatment [24]. Therefore, to investigate the extent to which CCR4 and CCR6 expression could be implicated in T-cell recruitment in GPA, we analyzed the expression of these chemokine receptors on T cells. In this study, we found increased frequencies of circulating CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells within the total CD4+ T cell population in GPA. In contrast, we found no significant increase in the frequencies of CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells in the total CD8+ T cell population. CCR4 and CCR6 expression suggests T cell activation [11,12]. Persistent T cell activation regardless of clinical disease activity has been reported in GPA [20,21,25]. Recently, stable CCR6 expression was reported to be controlled by epigenetic mechanisms [26]. In line with previous reports, CCR4 and CCR6 expression was confined largely to circulating CCR7+CD45RA- central memory (TCM), CCR7-CD45RA- (TEM), and CCR7-CD45RA+ (TEMRA) effector memory CD4+ T cells [11,12]. We found a significant increase in the frequency of CCR4+ and CCR6+ TEMRA and CCR6+ TCM in patients with GPA. Surprisingly, CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells were also detected within the CCR7+CD45RA+ population, which contains the naïve T cell subset (TN) by definition. TN are CD45RA+ and express CCR7 for peripheral lymph node homing but lack receptors such as CCR4 and CCR6 for the migration to peripheral tissues [2,16-18]. Further analysis dissecting the CCR7+CD45RA+ population with regard to CD45RA fluorescence intensity disclosed that the CCR7+CD45RA+ T-cell compartment contained two subsets. One subset of CCR7+CD45RAhigh T cells generally lacked CCR4 and CCR6 expression with the exception of three patients with GPA. Thus, CCR7+CD45RAhigh T cells represented genuine TN. CCR4 and CCR6 expression on CCR7+CD45RAhigh TN in individual patients with GPA could represent TN activation, which has been reported before by demonstrating an increased frequency of CD4+CD45RO-FoxP3- TN expressing the activation marker CD25 [20,25]. In line with earlier studies, we showed that the percentage of CCR7+CD45RAhigh TN within the total CD4+ T cell population was significantly lower in patients with GPA [20,21]. In contrast, the percentage of CCR7+CD45RAmed T cells was not decreased in patients with GPA. CCR7+CD45RAmed T cells displayed CCR4 and CCR6 expression reminiscent of so-called very early memory T cells (TVEM). Higher frequencies of CCR4+ and CCR6+ cells within the CCR7+CD45RAmed TVEM subset were found in patients with GPA compared with healthy controls. TVEM have been described earlier as 'apparently TN' oddly displaying chemokine receptors for both lymph node homing (CCR7) and peripheral tissue migration (CCR4 and CXCR3) in healthy individuals by Song and colleagues [19]. Analysis of the proliferation history, T-cell receptor repertoire, and cytokine response of CCR4- and CXCR3-expressing CCR7+CD45RO- T cells suggests that these cells represent TVEM, which have proceeded only a short way along the differentiation pathway from TN to TCM or TEM. TVEM are still multifunctional but finally differentiate into either TCM or TEM [19]. Earlier studies showed that chemokine receptor expression for lymph node homing (CCR7) and peripheral tissue migration (for example, CCR4) is not mutually exclusive on T cell subsets [27]. The migratory behavior of TEM displaying dual-chemokine receptor expression is determined by chemotactic gradients and cytokine- and T-cell receptor (TCR)-mediated signals [28]. CCR4-expressing CCR7+ TEM have been reported in inflamed peripheral tissues (for example, in psoriasis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis) [29,30]. Whereas CCR7- TEM remain in the peripheral tissue, CCR7+ TEM migrate to peripheral tissues and subsequently exit the tissue to enter draining lymph nodes in different animal models [31,32]. Although CCR7+ TEM retain a capability to enter lymph nodes, inflammatory cytokines can subvert migration of CCR7+ TEM, resulting in the retention of CCR7+ TEM in the inflamed synovial tissue [33]. Cytokines also drive the differentiation of CCR4-expressing CCR7+ TCM to CCR7- TEM [22]. Of note, CCR7+ TEM accumulate in areas of ectopic lymphoid tissue in the inflamed synovial tissue [30]. In contrast, CCR4-expressing CCR7+ TVEM reside or recirculate in secondary lymphoid tissues, where they continue to differentiate and acquire further chemokine receptors for peripheral tissue migration [19]. Having shown increased frequencies of circulating CCR4- and CCR6-expressing CD4+ memory T cell subsets, including TVEM in patients with GPA, we analyzed the cytokine production of CCR4+ and CCR6+ T cells. Previously, cloned and, as such, preselected CCR6+ cells were reported to secrete IL-17, whereas CCR4+ T cells produce IL-4 [11,12]. In our study, we found an increased percentage of IL-17- and IL-22-producing cells in the CCR4-CCR6+ 'single positive' and CCR4+CCR6+ 'double positive' cell subsets and an increased frequency of IL-4+ cells in the CRR4+CCR6- 'single positive' cell subset compared with the CCR4-CCR6- 'double negative' cell subset within the total circulating CD4+ T-cell population. Thus, in line with earlier studies, we found Th17 cells within circulating CCR6+ cells and Th2-type cells among CCR4+ cells [11,12]. Moreover, CCR4-CCR6+ 'single positive' and CCR4+CCR6+ 'double positive' cells differed from each other with respect to the percentage of IFNγ-producing cells, which was higher in the former cell population. Conclusions We found increased frequencies of circulating CCR4+ and CCR6+ T cells in patients with GPA. CCR4 and CCR6 expression was confined largely to central memory (TCM) and effector memory (TEM and TEMRA) subsets but could also be detected on very early memory T cells (TVEM) displaying chemokine receptors for both lymph node homing (CCR7) and peripheral tissue migration (CCR4 and CCR6). CD4+CCR4+ and CD4+CCR6+ T-cell populations contained distinct cytokine-producing subsets. Our data suggest that CCR4 and CCR6 could be involved in the recruitment of different T cell subsets, including cytokine-producing cells, to inflamed sites in patients with GPA. Further studies are needed to assess CCR4+ and CCR6+ T cell reactivity to the respective chemokine gradients and the expression of CCR4, CCR6, and their chemokine ligands in inflammatory lesions in patients with GPA in order to define new targets for therapeutic intervention. Abbreviations ANCA: anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies; APC: allophycocyanine; APC-Cy7: allophycocyanine-cyanine dye 7; CCR: CC chemokine receptor; CXCR: CXC chemokine receptor; Cy7: cyanine dye 7; FACS: fluorescence-activated cell sorting; GPA: granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's); IFNγ: interferon-gamma; IL: interleukin; PB: Pacific blue; PE: phycoerythrin; PR3: proteinase 3; TCM: central memory T cells; TEM: CD45RA- effector memory T cells; TEMRA: CD45RA+ effector memory T cells; Th: T-helper cell; TN: naïve T cells; TVEM: very early memory T cells. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors' contributions UF participated in the design of the study, acquisition of data, interpretation of the results, and drafting of the manuscript. SP participated in the acquisition of data, interpretation of results, and drafting of the manuscript. WLG participated in the coordination of the study and assisted in the interpretation of the results. PL conceived the study, participated in its design and coordination and the interpretation of the results, and drafted of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Authors' information UF, Ph.D., is a biologist. SP is a medical technician. WLG, M.D., is the director of the Department of Rheumatology and spokesman of the Vasculitis Center UKSH and Clinical Research Unit 170. PL, M.D., is the coordinator of Clinical Research Unit 170. All authors are at the Department of Rheumatology, Vasculitis Center UKSH and Clinical Center Bad Bramstedt, University of Lübeck (Lübeck, Germany). Acknowledgements This work was supported by the German Research Foundation-funded Clinical Research Unit 170 'Early pathogenesis of Wegener's granulomatosis', Excellence Cluster 'Inflammation at Interfaces' (JRG-Ih), University-funded Priority Program Autoimmunity, and a grant from the Association for the Promotion of the Study and Control of Rheumatic Diseases (Bad Bramstedt, Germany). References Woodland DL, Dutton RW: Heterogeneity of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Curr Opin Immunol 2003, 15:336-342. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Von Andrian U, Mackay CR: T-cell function and migration. Two sides of the same coin. N Engl J Med 2000, 343:1020-1034. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Lamprecht P, Erdmann A, Mueller A, Csernok E, Reinhold-Keller E, Holl-Ulrich K, Feller AC, Bruehl H, Gross WL: Heterogeneity of CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells in localized and generalized Wegener's granulomatosis. Arthritis Res Ther 2003, 5:R25-31. PubMed Abstract | BioMed Central Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text Lamprecht P, Holle J, Gross WL: Update on clinical, pathophysiological and therapeutic aspects in ANCA-associated vasculitides. Curr Drug Discov Technol 2009, 6:241-251. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | granulomatous lesions between localized and generalized Wegener's granulomatosis. Clin Immunol 2003, 108:1-7. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Balding CE, Howie AJ, Drake-Lee AB, Savage CO: Th2 dominance in nasal mucosa in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis. Clin Exp Immunol 2001, 125:332-339. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text Abdulahad WH, Stegeman CA, Limburg PC, Kallenberg CG: Skewed distribution of Th17 lymphocytes in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis in remission. Arthritis Rheum 2008, 58:2196-2205. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Fagin U, Csernok E, Müller A, Pitann S, Fazio J, Krause K, Bremer P, Wipfler-Freißmuth E, Moosig F, Gross WL, Lamprecht P: Distinct proteinase 3-induced cytokine pattern's in Wegener's granulomatosis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, and healthy controls. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2011, 29(Suppl 64):S57-S62. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Leavitt RY, Fauci AS, Bloch DA, Michel BA, Hunder GG, Arend WP, Calabrese LH, Fries JF, Lie JT, Lightfoot RWGI, Witter J, Yazici H, Luqmani R, the European Vasculitis Study Group: Appay V, van Lier RAW, Sallusto F, Roederer M: Phenotype and Function of Human T Lymphocyte Subsets: Consensus and Issues. Cytometry A 2008, 73:975-983. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text De Rosa Herzenberg LA, Herzenberg LA, Roederer M: 11-color, 13-parameter flow cytometry: identification of human naïve T cells by phenotype, function, and T-cell receptor diversity. Nat Med 2001, 7:245-248. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Song K, Rabin RL, Hill BJ, De Rosa SC, Perfetto SP, Zhang HH, Foley JF, Reiner JS, Liu J, Mattapallil JJ, Douek DC, Roederer M, Farber JM: Characterization of subsets of CD4+ memory T cells reveals early branched pathways of T cell differentiation in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005, 102:7916-7921. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text Marinaki S, Neumann I, Kälsch AI, Grimminger P, Breedijk A, Birk R, Schmitt W, Waldherr R, Yard BA, van der Woude FJ: Abnormalities of CD4 T cell subpopulations in ANCA-associated vasculitis. Clin Exp Immunol 2005, 140:181-191. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text Abdulahad WH, van der Geld YM, Stegeman CA, Kallenberg CG: Persistent expansion of CD4+ effector memory T cells in Wegener's granulomatosis. Kidney Int 2006, 70:938-947. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text:725-735. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text Popa ER, Franssen CF, Limburg PC, Huitema MG, Kallenberg CG, Tervaert JW: In vitro cytokine production and proliferation of T cells from patients with anti-proteinase 3- and antimyeloperoxidase-associated vasculitis, in response to proteinase 3 and myeloperoxidase. Arthritis Rheum 2002, 46:1894-1904. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Ordonez L, Bernard I, L'Faqihi-Olive FE, Cohen Full Text Marinaki S, Kälsch AI, Grimminger P, Breedijk A, Birk Steinfelder S, Floess S, Engelbert D, Haeringer B, Baron U, Rivino L, Steckel B, Gruetzkau A, Olek S, Geginat J, Huehn J, Hamann A: Epigenetic modification of the CCR6 gene is associated with stable CCR6 expression in T cells. Blood 2011, 117:2839-2846. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Campbell JJ, Murphy KE, Kunkel EJ, Brightling CE, Soler D, Shen Z, Boisvert J, Greenberg HB, Vierra MA, Goodman SB, Genovese MC, Wardlaw AJ, Butcher EC, Wu L: CCR7 expression and memory T cell diversity in humans. J Immunol 2001, 166:877-884. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Foxman EF, Kunkel EJ, Butcher EC: Integrating conflicting chemotactic signals. The role of memory in leukocyte navigation. J Cell Biol 1999, 147:577-588. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text Teraki Y, Miyake A, Takebayashi R, Shiohara T: Homing receptor and chemokine receptor on intraepidermal T cells in psoriasis vulgaris. Clin Exp Dermatol 2004, 29:658-663. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Gattorno M, Prigione I, Morandi F, Gregorio A, Chiesa S, Ferlito F, Favre A, Uccelli A, Gambini C, Martini A, Pistoia V: Phenotypic and functional characterization of CCR7+ and CCR7- CD4+ memory T-cells homing to the joints in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Arthritis Res Ther 2005, 7:R256-267. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text Debes GF, Arnold CN, Young AJ, Krautwald S, Lipp M, Hay JB, Butcher EC: Chemokine receptor CCR7 required for T lymphocyte exit from peripheral tissue. Nat Immunol 2005, 6:889-894. Full Text Zhang X, Nakajima T, Goronzy JJ, Weyand CM: Tissue trafficking patterns of effector memory CD4+ T cells in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 2005, 52:3839-3849. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text

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Youngsters especially teenagers these days are much more concerned about how they look. Acne is a problem they usually have to deal with as it can cause great stress and embarrassment at times. It is somewhat that does not discriminate between caste, creed and color. This problem thus needs to be treated in a much bolder way. For treating it permanently we really need to reach up to its root cause. A healthy diet with right kind of nutrition content will surely help you in suppressing acne permanently. Nutrients you Need stop Acne Breakouts 1. Vitamin A- Dietary intake of vitamin A is imperative for those who are suffering from any kind of skin problems, especially acne. Some rich sources of Vitamin A that you should consume in your daily diet include dairy products, Fish oils, mango, carrots and vegetables. Include Vitamin A rich products in your every day meal and see considerable effects within a month time. 2. Fiber- Acne may also occur because of the toxins present inside our body. These toxins do not only result in body acne, but could also cause other health issues as well. Thus, detoxification is very necessary. Fibrous foods generally act as detoxifying agent and helps in cleaning our skin tissues against harmful toxins. Eat food like whole grains, oatmeal, pastas and flax seeds for improving the state of your skin. 3. Vitamin C- Vitamin C is an important nutrient known for building our immune system and healing wounds. Acne breakouts are the signs of poor immune system. Intake of vitamin C can help you cure acne related problems. Eat fruits and lots of vegetable that are rich in Vitamin C. Oranges, broccoli, cantaloupes and lemon juice are considered as the richest sources of vitamin C. It helps in stimulating collagen hence preventing our skin from premature aging and removing acne scars. 4. Vitamin E- Vitamin E is another nutrient that protects our skin from aging and brings glow to it. Oxidative stress is one of the major reasons for several acne problems. Papaya, Almonds, mustard greens, chard, sunflower seeds, spinach and Turnip greens are the excellent sources of vitamin E. Instead one can also consume vitamin E supplements. Instead of applying ointments and consuming lots of supplements the best treatment for acne is to have diet rich in all essential nutrients. Deficiency of any of these could exaggerate the problem further. Despite of having nutrient rich dietary intake increase your daily water intake as it will help you in flushing out toxins from the body making your skin look youthful and radiant.

http://articlebullet.com/25002420/how-to-get-rid-of-acne-breakouts.html

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Greene had to appreciate the early-inning lead. He had given up seven runs in 2 1/3 innings on the way to his first loss of the year at Veterans Stadium in Game 2. This time, he took advantage of a big defensive play in the second inning and carried a shutout into the fifth. The Braves might have pushed him into a hole after he walked Fred McGriff to lead off the second. David Justice followed with a rocket toward right-center field that was speared by a leaping Morandini.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-10-14/sports/1993287126_1_phillies-pittsburgh-pirates-inning/2

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Activity at the nation's factories increased for a 20th consecutive month in January, but the pace of expansion eased, reflecting sustained, moderate growth in the overall economy. The Institute for Supply Management said yesterday that its index measuring manufacturing activity declined to 56.4 in January, just below the reading of 57 expected by analysts. That was a drop from a revised reading of 57.3 in December, but any measure above 50 indicates expansion.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2005-02-02/business/0502020300_1_index-manufacturing-moderate-growth

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Baltimore City Councilwoman Helen L. Holton, who pleaded no contest this week to a campaign finance violation, will attend a three-day conference in Palm Beach, Fla., next week at the city's expense. The city spending board voted Wednesday to approve the $1,100 trip for Holton, who will be attending the National Association of Counties conference there from Oct. 13 to 15.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-10-06/news/bs-md-holton-trip-20101006_1_holton-plea-deal-campaign-finance

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Independence Day gives us a renewed opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of our nation's founders, the triumphs of generations of brave men and women in uniform and appreciate the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans - freedoms we often take for granted. At a time when many Americans gather at barbeques, parades and fireworks displays, the price of gasoline this year could prevent some families and friends from celebrating together. Today in Central Kentucky, some families are choosing between buying groceries and getting to work in the morning. As gas prices soar to over $4 per gallon, I know that Kentuckians need relief now. Gas prices are high for a number of reasons. Decades of failed policies and the increase in demand from new world powers such as India and China are now catching up to Americans. As you may know, the weakening dollar has helped make the price of a barrel of oil skyrocket, while price speculation by major investors further artificially drives up the price. With new international markets, price speculation and the weakening dollar, supply and demand are not as simple as they used to be.

http://articles.centralkynews.com/2008-07-09/news/24904464_1_gas-prices-oil-price-speculation

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Q. I have been experiencing yeast infections at least once every month. I also have vaginal bacterial infections but not one of the sexually transmitted diseases. For months I've taken cleocin for the bacteria, Flagyl for the yeast and have switched my oral birth control pills, but to no avail. This last visit my doctor prescribed a higher dose of Flagyl and said for my husband to take some, too. And if it comes back to go see her again. What can I do? A. Sorry that you are having such a frustrating experience. But you may have hit upon the right approach. Yeast infections are common and seem to be increased in women who are taking birth-control pills. If this is a problem that started not long after you began taking the pills, finding another form of birth control may help.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-12-24/news/9712250072_1_yeast-infections-dry-eye-syndrome-contact-lenses

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