I'm driving from CDG to slightly before Beaune and have some time to kill. Any suggestions for places that can accommodate jet-laggy 9-12 year olds and their grown ups? We gravitate toward open spaces, mild activity (lazy swimming, kayaking, etc.), local shops/groceries, small towns, cafés, maybe a nap spot, and the unusual.We'll be passing near Melun, le Parc Naturel Régional du Gâtinais Français, Courtenay, Auxerre, and le Parc naturel régional du Morvan. Bonus Q: Are speedos/lycra swim trucks still required for boys/men at municipal pools? If so, where could we pick up a few suits en route? Nous parlons un peu de français. Merci!
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I'm looking at replacing an ageing iMac with a new Macbook Pro plus external monitor. I've also got a work-issue Surface Pro 4 and would like to be able to use the external monitor for that as well. The main question is, what monitor should I be looking at?My thinking is that I would get a monitor with a USB C connection for the Macbook Pro and then a displayport or HDMI for the Surface Pro, to minimise plugging and unplugging. For bonus points, I'd like to use an external keyboard and mouse, and minimise plugging and unplugging - would bluetooth be the way to go (or would it create issues pairing with two laptops)?
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Take 15 minutes to watch "Chapter 1" of this Big Pacific episode "Behind The Scenes", wherein a film crew innovates ways to film a pufferfish building a nest to attract a female. I'm sorry there is no transcript, and I can't check for region blocking. Also apologies that I cannot link directly to the episode but it is at the top of the PBS page for the show.
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I am looking for suggestions for comfortable, attractive floor seating solutions that I can fold or roll up and put away when not using them.I have a tiny flat and would love to be able to entertain more but I only have a sofa that seats 2 and a swivel chair. I would like some floor seating to allow people to sprawl out and get comfortable but I don't have the space for an armchair or a large bean bag that I can't put away when I am not using it. It's not that I haven't found some options online, but they're all kind of ugly or don't seem to be well-reviewed or from reputable sellers. It would really help me to have some personal experience-based recommendations. Alternately, any other suggestions for how to comfortably fit more people into my apartment for relaxed get togethers? I would like to do this without resorting to plastic/foldable/stackable chairs.
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Does "fuel on hand," stored onsite in substantial amounts, make fueled power stations somehow more resilient and valuable than other generators? It's a good question with more claims than analysis, but historical experience may suggest useful insights. (Rocky Mountain Institute)
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A question for professional translators: (when) is it acceptable to make up a word in the language into which you're translating? Major spoilers for Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis inside!In the most recent Vampire Chronicles book by Anne Rice, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, Lestat and the other vampires are questioning a group of strange humanoid entities. Their de-facto leader, Kapetria, tells the story of how they were created by alien beings, and says something like: "The closest translation in your language for what they called us would be 'Replimoids'." This has bugged me since I read the book, because 'Replimoids' is not an English word; it's one that Rice made up just for this book. It seems wrong to call that a translation! But today I wondered if I've been unfair to Kapetria. With the understanding that she's a fictional, immortal, alien-created humanoid and not a professional translator, I would like to know: is it ever appropriate for a translator to just make up a word in the target language, and if so, under what circumstances? Thanks!
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Boyfriend and I have been together for just under a year and lately a difference in love languages is becoming a bone of contention. I want to resolve this going forward.Usually I see my boyfriend 2-3 times a week. It is usually given that we see each other once during the week and during the weekend, even for some of the time or the whole weekend. However I come from a family of planners, meaning I make advance plans and usually enjoy doing so. But, sometimes, I like my partner to take the reigns with planning and told him this from the beginning. While I still do most planning he occasionally makes suggestions or plans something, which he never did before me. But I have made all plans for the last few weeks. At the moment my boyfriend is in a very stressful job and leaves at 6am. Usually he asks me when I want to meet the following week and wants to make a plan - I am far too dead to the world to make plans at this point. But recently this has simply become 'so, i'll see ya next week' - by the time he actually made a plan with me during the week, my diary was filled up and we literally had just a few hours to spend together. On top of this he has gone on a trip the whole weekend, not taking me with him. He is travelling to a last minute family event, which I was not invited to and felt a little hurt by (he says he did not think to invite me, 'but of course you are always invited wherever I go!!'). This morning when he said 'goodbye' with no mention of plans for the following week, I asked to see him on Monday, when he returns as he has the day off work. He said he would be 'really busy' catching up on domestic things and could see me Tues or Wed instead. Even if he is busy, I would just like to be in the same house as him, reading or something. I told him this and he was non-committal, so now he has gone to work with both of us grumpy. I really love my boyfriend and think he's a wonderful person. We enjoy our time together, but I feel as though I want to spend more time together, miss him more when apart and feel hurt at the prospect that he doesn't share these feelings. Am I being needy? How can we sort this out?
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How do you differentiate normal fears about the future from debilitating anxiety? How do you weigh intellectual capability against an emotional handicap? How do you determine what the ideal next step should be, when you're not sure if aiming high will actually give you the lifestyle you want or need?At 31, I'm less than a year away from finally getting my BA. I suffer from debilitating major depression, generalized anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I don't primarily identify myself by these labels, but I am also aware that they have not stopped being constant companions -- I have spent the past two weeks feeling physically ill because of my anxiety over producing good research. I have been physically ill this summer because of my anxiety about the future. I'm doing very well in school, and I'm proud of that. This may be the first time in my entire life that I have felt sort of satisfied with my life and with who I am. Six months ago, grad school seemed like the obvious next step, because I didn't want this ride to end. At the same time, I have to accept that school is an enormous emotional drain. Every semester (and over the course of my research this summer), I get worn down. I stop being able to eat. I fall into deep depressions. I worry that I'm imagining myself in grad school because I'm imagining a self who does not exist, one who doesn't literally get sick from anxiety at the slightest hint of pressure. I have improved enormously over the past five years, but it still takes shockingly little to break me down. At what point do I determine that I'm intellectually capable of something grand, but that it would be harmful for me in every other way? I'm in college because I was unhappy and understimulated without it. Now I find myself wishing I could go back to working for a video store until the end of time (although sadly, no longer a viable option). Grass-is-greener, or what? I guess I'm asking this: how do I think about my future? I spent two decades expecting that I was at the end of my life (if you catch my meaning). I no longer feel that way, but I have spent my entire life with essentially no vision of myself in the future, and that includes today. I know I don't need to make every decision this minute, but I do need to make some crucial ones very soon. I need to think about whether to apply for grad school now, or wait until later. If I choose to wait until later, I need to worry about getting a job to pay off my loans. What kind of job do you get if you break under pressure as easily as I do? Etc, etc. More to the point, I'd like to imagine myself somewhere. I am in therapy, and I have a wonderful, supportive partner (my cat helps, too -- we watch TV together when I'm depressed). I have the immediate support I need. I just need to figure out an image of myself that feels realistic, when I only have extremely vague fantasies about Harvard on the one hand, or about living in a tiny shack in the woods on the other. Don't get me wrong, both are great fantasies, but I'd like something that feels a little more real. I'm sorry if this isn't as focused as it could be. I'm not sure if I can articulate it better -- ha, maybe that's part of the problem.
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Server Crashes, 40GB Patches and DLC: Gaming's Biggest Irritations Explained [The Guardian] "Video games have changed immeasurably since the days of tape loading and cover-mounted floppy discs. Today, we get lifelike 3D virtual worlds where the player can seamlessly connect with companions and opponents from every corner of the globe. An online triple-A title will now offer literally hundreds of hours of fun spread across years of play. Yet, inflation aside, the price we pay at the till remains the same now as it was 25 years ago. To make this possible, a lot of things have changed about the way the games industry works – but those changes haven't always been well received. When problems arise, frustrated consumers will often blame "money-grubbing" publishers or "lazy" developers. But is that fair? We asked the industry to explain five of the most controversial aspects of modern games buying – and, crucially, why they happen. 1. Downloadable content 2. Season passes 3. Day-one patches 4. Pre-orders 5. Server crashes" • With the Apparent Death of Season Passes and $15 DLC, Did We Actually End Up With a Worse Deal? [VG24/7] "For the longest time, games followed a single cadence with post-launch content: expansion packs that launched at around 50 percent of the base game's price, and required the main game to function. Then DLC happened, and with it came season passes. Since then, season passes and piece-meal content packs have been the defacto way for publishers to support multiplayer games post launch, until very recently. Suddenly, one game after another started offering or promising post-launch content for free. Sometimes this takes the form of new maps, modes, and weapons. The one thing all games that shifted to this model have in common is microtransactions. For the most part, these tend to offer cosmetic items and other trinkets that don't interfere with gameplay. When they do interfere, they're handled well enough that you can ignore them, or earn an equivalent just by playing. This move has largely been positively received, save for those who have a principled stance against microtransactions in full-priced games." • Season Passes Are Starting To Sound Like Scams [Game Informer] "The first season pass that I can remember clearly was for Rockstar Games' L.A. Noire. Although many people (myself included) reacted negatively at the notion of pre-buying DLC, Rockstar successfully detailed its plans for L.A. Noire's extended content with descriptions and release dates for each piece. Yes, Rockstar put an incentive on buying it quickly – a two-dollar deduction for early birds – but there was no guesswork on the consumer's part. We knew exactly what we were getting into. That's an example of how season passes can (and should) work. Given how these passes are issued now (especially the examples I listed), they sound like scams coming from money-hungry corporations. The point of DLC is to entice the player base to hold onto their game and revisit it. I get that. I like the proposition of getting more value out of my game, even if I have to pay for it in some way. But I want to feel confident in my purchases, and not be left wondering if I'm being taken advantage of." • The Multiplayer Season Pass is Almost Dead, This is How For Honor and Titanfall 2 Are Killing It [GamesRadar+] "For Honor's developers plan to release all of the game's post-release multiplayer maps and modes for free, following more than a year of high-profile games that have abandoned the once-common paid DLC format. If you play many big, non-free-to-play multiplayer games, this development likely feels long overdue for you, and doubly so for your wallet. Titanfall 2, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, and Gears of War 4 have all taken a similar angle. The latest scions of the two big shooter series, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1, persist in parceling out paid map packs on top of their full game price, but clearly the times are a-changin' - I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last year for both of their usual passes as we know them. It's a welcome sea change for multiplayer gaming, and the reason couldn't be simpler. [...] "We need to trust the player and they need to trust us," McCoy said. "Trust that if we do the right thing - not sell maps and modes - we'll get more people investing with us, investing in the game as a whole. They're going to trust us not to screw them over and they can be happy with their $60 versions". That doesn't mean multiplayer games just want to take your $60 and to leave it at that, of course. They're just finding smarter, less-disruptive ways to get extra cash out of you." • 7 Reasons Why Gamers Support DLC and Season Passes [The Gizmo Life] 1. Season Passes are cheaper 2. Season Pass holders get Early Access to DLCs 3. Season Pass holders get exclusive bonuses 4. DLCs offer normally inaccessible content 5. DLCs help in keeping things fresh 6. DLC items sometimes give godly benefits 7. To show support to the developers • From Expansion Packs to DLC: The Evolution of Additional Video Game Content [The Artifice] "Anyone with a good internet connection now has the ability to purchase and download a title on release day. Good expansion packs like those for the older Blizzard games on PC are not things of the past as some would think – The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine being an example of that – yet the marketplace is filled with an over abundance of frivolous offers that many see as a detriment to the entire industry of video gaming, a shallow cash grab from a cynic's point of view. Overall, what the history of additional content for video games has shown is that it is not the distribution abilities that is the pivotal aspect to what makes additional content worth it or not, but whether or not the time and care was put into the project. Because of the high profits being made currently, this practice that the majority of game companies follow concerning downloadable content will continue on without any major changes. Gamers should demand that additional content be something that thoroughly expands on the initial experience of the original title, and perhaps most importantly these additions must show that the makers respect their fanbase." • Nintendo's New Fire Emblem DLC Costs More Than the Game Itself [The Verge] "Given that Shadows of Valentia costs $39.99, that makes either DLC option more expensive than the base game, something that even games with price $50 season passes like Star Wars: Battlefront, Call of Duty, and Battlefield 1 have yet to accomplish. That price gets you five DLC packs: Fledgling Warriors, which offers two new maps and a dungeon to explore; Undaunted Heroes, for another two maps and a dungeon; Lost Altars, which will add some more dungeons and new character classes, Rise of the Deliverance, which offers some prologue story DLC with new missions and voice acting; and a fifth and final pack that Nintendo has yet to detail. While that's not a bad selection of content when it comes to add-ons to the base game, the total price — which is, again, more than the entire "main" game — isn't a great look for Nintendo, which had spent years holding out on selling downloadable content and instead simply packaged games as complete experiences out of the box." • What's One Lesson You Wish Developers and Publishers Would Learn? [Destructoid] GoofierBrute: File both of these under the "never going to happen" folder, but I wish publishers would A) stop rushing out their games just to meet a deadline, and B) don't announce DLC or a Season Pass when the game isn't out yet. Let me break it down: A) In the case of the first one, I wish publishers and developers would take their time when it came developing games. I know this is all about money, and in this day and age of digital distribution it's super easy to patch games, but you only get one chance and make a good first impression. Take No Man's Sky; it's a lot better now than it was when it first came out, but because the game was such a disappointing mess, it doesn't matter that it's better because everyone else just moved on. I'm not saying a game should be indefinite development (hello Duke Nukem Forever), but a game shouldn't be rushed out the door just to meet a deadline. Take your time, and make the best possible game that you can. B) This one is pretty straightforward: stop trying to sell me a Season Pass for your game that isn't out yet. I don't know if you're going to support the game after launch, let alone if it's even good enough to warrant buying DLC, so why should I buy a Season Pass? And if you are going to do that, at least tell me what's in it before I buy it. I'm not expecting a full checklist, but at least something like what Nintendo did with Mario Kart 8, where they said "here's our Season Pass. You get two packs, each coming with three racers, vehicles, and 2 cups. You can buy them individually, but if you get both, you get it at a reduced price and free in game skins that you can use right away."
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I really like the song Late Nights & Heartbreak sampled on Jay-Zs new album and was surprised to find out singer Hannah Williams is contemporary and British.It's not so much the torch-song beginning I like as the chorus (particularly the final chorus) and a big part of what I like in the chorus is the brass (though the vocals themselves, and the style, are pretty great also IMO). Some of Nina Simone's songs have some of the same elements -- who besides her should I be checking out?
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This Galaxy magazine cover from 1952 is credited to "Camerage," which according to the issue's editorial is an experimental photographic technique. I can't find any other references to Camerage online, and as far as I can tell it was only ever used on one other cover. I'm wondering if it's something incredibly obscure, or if it's just another word for a well-known photographic technique (like how "Rayograph" is another word for photogram).This is the editorial, which explains how it's done: "The artists are Jack and Bob Strimban and Sam Willig, and the name they have devised for this entirely new technique is "Camerage." Now let's see how clearly it can be explained. That isn't an easy job, for much of the process can be described only by paradoxical statements. For example, Camerage is a three-dimensional montage effect—but it's not a montage. Many photographers do montages; they combine sections of several pictures to make a single complex photograph. That has to be done in the dark room. Well, Camerage takes the dark room out into the studio. All the objects in the picture are assembled at one time, illuminated by projected colored lights—some with plain gelatins, others with gelatins in abstract shapes—and are shot by a number of cameras placed on different planes. A panel of rheostats precisely controls the light that each object receives from every one of its sources. The effect of this is no less than startling. Each object Can be made completely opaque, translucent, or absolutely transparent—not just for the camera, but right in front of your eyes! Once they achieved that, the artists immediately went to work on apparent size. By controlling the amount, direction, color and shape of light, they can increase or decrease the size of each object without moving either it or the cameras a single inch. Again, this effect can be seen with the naked eye. A photographer can instantly recognize the advantages of the process. Instead of working by guess and by God in the dark room, he obviously would prefer to have everything visible and under exact control. That's what Camerage allows—photographic orchestration of color, shape and size, since the whole thing is done in one operation rather than many, and in the open studio. The day of lucky accidents leading to important discoveries is evidently not over, for that's just how Camerage was found. However, the Strimbans and Willig had to put in almost three years of exhaustive experimenting before the cover on this issue could finally be produced. That's right—this is the first appearance of Camerage. Using our cover as a sample, the artists quickly acquired orders to go and do likewise for Vogue, some large advertising agencies, a product packager—and are negotiating to make a feature-length film with the process. But you'll be seeing more Camerage covers in future issues of GALAXY."
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Is it worth replacing the engine in my 2008 jeep liberty?My 2008 Jeep liberty ( 220 000km) needs minimum $2000 work on the engine. ( head gaskets) The guy at the shop recommended just replacing it or trading it in. He quoted me a price for replacement ($3600) but said i should call around and go elsewhere as it would be cheaper. (this was at Canadian Tire) I found an engine with 125 000km for $2500 installed after taxes at a local auto recycler. It seems like a great deal and I think I will do it. I would have to take on a loan if I were to buy a different car. Is this a good idea or are there common reasons why more people don't do this?
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A peculiar detail on this Friends DVD cover has Twitter exploding with conspiracy theories.
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Yes, God, Yes is a 10 minute film by Karen Maine starring Natalia Dyer. It is based on Maine's experiences of growing up Catholic in the Midwest in the 1990s, and coming of age sexually in the age of America Online. Maine was interviewed by Marta Bausells about Yes, God, Yes in The Guardian.
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The Heartbreaking Story Of A Man And His '68 Camaro - David Obuchowski I ask him if his dad still knew about the Camaro in the end. He says he did, and they'd reminisce about it often. "Oh, he'd get a kick out of it. We'd get a kick out of it when we'd talk about it. I'd say, 'Remember, dad, when I was in the service, and I heard from my friends you were cruisin' Main in it?' And he'd laugh."
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The Lawyer, the Addict (New York Times). Tragic and thoughtful piece about one of the brightest stars in the Silicon Valley legal industry, drug abuse in the profession, and the mental health tolls of a professional culture of overworking.
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I'm driving from Baltimore to southern Vermont. First time driving the northeast coast and all I hear about are tolls! Oddly, I have not really dealt with tolls in any of the places I've lived. If anyone has made a similar trip, how much money should I take with me for a round trip in tolls? Can I pay in credit card or just cash? Just quarters??Bonus, please tell me of good things to see/eat/visit in the Bennington, Arlington, Manchester VT area? (And of good places to take cute couple photos too, if you have any ideas.)
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You Don't Have to Love your Body
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tl;dr I am my father's only daughter and he molested and tried to rape me when I was a teenager. IANAP but I think it is safe to say my father has fucked up my head and by extension my life and I want to confront him.Back story: I was completely and totally in love with my father as a kid like any little girl would be. He was my hero, alas, I couldn't see then he was a deadbeat dad and couldn't understand why my mother loathed him so much. Her feelings toward him however didn't stop me from thinking he was the best dad in the world even if I only saw him months at a time. Ffwd to my teenaged years, still enamored with my absentee father, the opportunity had arisen for me and my sibling to spend a vacation with him and his wife (us being old enough to make that kind of decision and all). I was ecstatic to finally be able to be with my him, every little girl's dream. The vacation was uneventful and was approaching its end. While my sibling was stoked to go back home, I wanted to stay and was allowed to. It was after I was alone my father started playing inappropriate touching games with me, sleeping in my bed with me, wanting to spoon me while he was erect and so on and a host of other despicable things that I was too afraid to speak up about even more so when he warned me not to tell anyone. He subsequently tried to rape me when he took me on a trip. I eventually moved back home with my mother and never spoke to my father again neither did I speak of the events that took place till I was 18 -when I confided in a boyfriend who felt it was his duty to tell someone who ended up telling my mother- and have never been spoken of since. My father and I lost contact and I grew up not speaking to him. He contacted me when my child was born and we have been in contact ever since. Every time we speak I have memories of the things that he did to me but can never verbalize my feelings toward him about them. I keep coaching myself on how exactly I will go about expressing the hatred that I feel for him but I cannot. I seethe with anger when we talk because, how can you be so blatantly hypocritical wanting to dispense advice about how I should be living my life, about standards, and so on when you and I both know how utterly despicable you are. I don't know how to approach him with this issue without being disrespectful, something I think I am well within my right to be. I am distrustful and vulnerable and attribute a lot of my terrible decisions with men to the experience I had as a child with my father. We have NEVER discussed this and I have never discussed it with anyone else since that boyfriend. I am currently interacting with someone whom I think is the guy I want to be with for the rest of my life, but the events of my past are haunting me on a daily basis and I am very wary of this guy not because of anything he has done, but my mind has already painted him as a monster. I want to confront my dad and call him out on his BS and tell him how much I hate him, and how anxious I get about relationships, tell him about the shitty decisions I've made in partners and my life because of the fear he planted in me since then. How do I go about this? How do I overcome these feelings? At thirty something these feelings are wearing on me like never before. I keep seeing him in my head over and over, I can't concentrate on anything else and am scared to even attempt serious relationships. Help please. My question first and foremost is how do I confront my father? Should I confront my father?
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I just managed to paste a folder into its own subfolder and all the folders and subfolders disappeared. How do I fix this before I turn off my computer?Long story short, I copied a folder of fonts intending to paste them into a subfolder elsewhere, then somehow managed to copy the parent folder of the subfolder I was heading into, then pasted it into the subfolder. I said yes to the confirmation box asking if I wanted to use my admin powers to do this because I still thought I had the folder of fonts in memory. When I realized my mistake, I tried to undo it, but I guess I had already put something else into memory. If I look at the directory listing for the parent folder where the folder I borked used to be, I can see my folder in the command prompt window. Its subfolders are also listed, but now they're at the same level as the folder I accidentally pasted. That folder is not visible in the Windows 10 File Explorer, though, even though I have it set to show hidden folders. I ran the chkdsk command but it didn't find any problems. Also tried looking in the recycle bin, %appdata% and %temp% to no avail.
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I recently started wearing t-shirts with stuff on them, but I'm having problems finding ones that fit. Do you know any shops on Etsy or the like who carry graphic shirts for tall women?I love this shirt, for example, but the XL I ordered is a real boob-hugger and probably won't fit me after I toss it in the dryer. I know I can look at size charts -- I bought this shirt knowing it was slim, this is not the seller's fault -- but I don't want to look through every freaking store that sells shirts to see if any come in reasonable sizes. I'm tall and have broad shoulders. I've never worn plus sizes (I'm a size 10T in jeans and dresses), so if that's the answer I'd appreciate a Plus Sizes 101 -- how do I make sure plus size shirts won't look like maternity tops on me, the way "unisex" shirts do? I'm looking for shirts with outdoorsy themes, owls, camping, hiking, retro-ish designs, that sort of thing.
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Welcome to the International Space Station! Feel free to look around. How did they map the International Space Station?
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Y-40 "The Deep Joy" pool first opened on 5 June 2014 and was designed by architect Emanuele Boaretto. It is 40 metres (131 ft) deep, making it the deepest pool in the world. It contains 4,300 cubic metres (1,136,000 US gal) of thermal water kept at a temperature of 32–34 °C (90–93 °F). Watch Guillaume Néry go deep. Guillaume Néry Previously and Previouslier and Previousliest
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This is my first pregnancy and I've gone back and forth a lot on this question. I don't have any complications and my doctor says I can try to a totally natural birth although obviously have to be prepared for anything just depending how things go. I'd love to hear your experiences with this...I feel like I just keep going back and forth on all the statistics and advice!We are planning to hire a doula but could look for one who is okay with working with someone getting an epidural if I decide to go that route. Either way this will be a hospital birth so I will have access to a full range of options. Our hospital does have birthing tubs and other options for supporting natural birth if I end up doing that.
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I'm looking for images that, as you zoom in/out, tell a story or change in an interesting way. Some examples are fractal sets and "Powers of Ten", but I'd like to find something with a bit more plot to it -- or that's at least more down-to-earth. New ideas are also welcome!
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