2013年8月4日 星期日

A Colonial with contemporary flair

The Colonial at 40 Griscom Road in Wayland offers sophistication and cozy family space in equal measure.Set well back on a beautifully landscaped level lot, the house is located on a quiet cul-de-sac convenient to recreation, shopping and commuter routes.

Pristine and move-in ready, the 10-room home has an excellent floor plan for entertaining and a contemporary flair with its up-to-date amenities, cathedral ceilings, skylights and spacious rooms. The feel is bright,Full color howotipper printing and manufacturing services. airy and open with a neutral color palette and rooms filled with natural light.

The four bedroom, three-and-one-half bath home offers 3,566 square feet of living space on a one-acre lot.A buymosaic is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain.Lee-Ann Yolin of Coldwell Banker is marketing the house at $895,000.

Curb appeal is high for this well-kept home with shrubs and trees nicely placed around the house as well as a wide front walkway and attractive fieldstone fa?ade surrounding the front door.The door opens to a marble foyer with a view straight through the French doors of the step-down living room and beyond to the sun porch and serene backyard. The sight line creates a feeling of spaciousness and brings nature into the interior design.

The foyer has a front window and a double coat closet and a door to the attached two-car garage.The cathedral ceiling living room with an open gallery on the second floor is a stunning room with a wood-burning fireplace with a marble surround, skylights and hardwood floors. Double glass doors open to an all-window solarium with a fan, two skylights and double sliders to a no-maintenance composite deck, which connects to glass sliders to the kitchen.

A wide entry opens from the living room to the dining room, which has a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and a hardwood floor.The large eat-in kitchen has a “wow” effect with custom features that make the room efficient for the cook, but also a wonderful gathering space.

It has top-of-the-line appliances, including a Thermador five-burner gas cooktop and Sub-Zero fridge, dining area window seat, curved center island and custom built-in storage unit.Hardwood floors with a decorative granite inset pattern, triple window and sliders to a deck, a bay window over the sink, granite counters and a large center island,Need a compatible parkingassistsystem for your car? recessed lights and ceiling speakers are all nice features.

Many expatriates and tourists visit Nigeria for one reason - to behold the beauty of our traditional artworks on display in major towns and cities.

Dedicated craftsmen who specialise in textiles, pottery, ceramics, bronze, brass, iron and fibre produce artworks such as ivory, jewelry, leather works, tie and dye, wood works, among others.

Such craftworks are regularly on display at Abuja Arts and Crafts village. It is located at the hub of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja; directly adjacent to Sheraton Hotel, Musa Yar’adua centre and Silver bird Cinema; all in Central Business District.

“I want to recommend or tell the government that they should sensitise the Nigeria Customs and Immigration officials because the expatriates and tourists that patronise us always complain that when they are about leaving Nigeria, that at the point of exit, the officials at the Airport will extort money and they would want them to pay twice the amount for the craft they purchased, claiming that its an artefact. We are fully aware that Nigerians do not really sell artefacts, they are our cultural heritage and they are not even in circulation except for contemporary works.

“For instance, a customer will purchase a craft at the cost of N500 and at the point of exit; the Customs or Immigration official will compel the person to pay N1,000. This makes the business very dull. We have not officially written to NCAC concerning this but it’s verifiable because if the officials would only be honest, if you go to the airport, you will see crafts littered on the ground.

On whether the officials figured the seized craftwork are artefacts, he said, “I don’t want to accept that because especially the Customs officers, they know the difference between artefacts and contemporary art works which we carved for the purpose of decorating the house.We are one of the leading manufacturers of crystalbeadswholesal in China In order to extort the foreigners, they simply compel them to pay and if they refuse, they impound such craft items in the guise of labelling then as artefacts.

Eguakun who is currently studying law at one of the Universities said he has been selling in the village for the past six years but called on the federal government to create a special tax for foreigners exporting craft works into Nigeria.

“It beats the imagination of artisans and craftsmen to discover that craft and art from other countries find their way into Nigeria market thereby making it more competitive to the locally manufactured craftsmen. We are not selfish and we are not saying that other countries should not export their craft works to Nigeria but we are telling the Federal government that there should be a tax in place that will give the local people an edge over other craftsmen importing from other countries.

He added,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a graniteslabs can authenticate your computer usage and data. “The business has been up and down because it’s the expatriates and tourists that patronise us because when the economy is balanced, there will be more patronage. When the economy has some challenges, it will also affect us. Security is relatively good and we don’t also have problems with utilities like electricity, water.
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Tasvih faces challenge from mobile apps

The new coating builds on an award-winning technology that Aizenberg and her team pioneered called Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces (SLIPS) -- the slipperiest synthetic surface known.A card with an embedded IC (Integrated Circuit) is called an parkingmanagement. The new coating is equally slippery, but much more durable and fully transparent. Together these advances solve longstanding challenges in creating commercially useful materials that repel almost everything.

SLIPS was inspired by the slick strategy of the carnivorous pitcher plant, which lures insects onto the ultraslippery surface of its leaves, where they slide to their doom. Unlike earlier water-repelling materials, SLIPS repels oil and sticky liquids like honey, and it resists ice formation and bacterial biofilms as well.

While SLIPS was an important advance, it was also "a proof of principle" -- the first step toward a commercially valuable technology, said lead author Nicolas Vogel, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in applied physics at Harvard SEAS."SLIPS repels both oily and aqueous liquids but it's expensive to make and not transparent," Vogel said.The original SLIPS materials also need to be fastened somehow to existing surfaces, which is often not easy."It would be easier to take the existing surface and treat it in a certain way to make it slippery," Vogel explained.

Vogel, Aizenberg, and their colleagues sought to develop a coating that accomplishes this and works as SLIPS does. SLIPS's thin layer of liquid lubricant allows liquids to flow easily over the surface, much as a thin layer of water in an ice rink helps an ice skater glide.

To create a SLIPS-like coating, the researchers corral a collection of tiny spherical particles of polystyrene, the main ingredient of Styrofoam, on a flat glass surface, like a collection of Ping-Pong balls. They pour liquid glass on them until the balls are more than half buried in glass. After the glass solidifies, they burn away the beads, leaving a network of craters that resembles a honeycomb. They then coat that honeycomb with the same liquid lubricant used in SLIPS to create a tough but slippery coating.

"The honeycomb structure is what confers the mechanical stability to the new coating," said Aizenberg.By adjusting the width of the honeycomb cells to make them much smaller in diameter than the wavelength of visible light, the researchers kept the coating from reflecting light. This made a glass slide with the coating completely transparent.

These coated glass slides repelled a variety of liquids, just as SLIPS does, including water, octane, wine, olive oil, and ketchup. And, like SLIPS, the coating reduced the adhesion of ice to a glass slide by 99 percent. Keeping materials frost-free is important because adhered ice can take down power lines, decrease the energy efficiency of cooling systems, delay airplanes, and lead buildings to collapse.

Importantly, the honeycomb structure of the SLIPS coating on the glass slides confers unmatched mechanical robustness. It withstood damage and remained slippery after various treatments that can scratch and compromise ordinary glass surfaces and other popular liquid-repellent materials, including touching, peeling off a piece of tape, and wiping with a tissue.

"We set ourselves a challenging goal: to design a versatile coating that's as good as SLIPS but much easier to apply, transparent, and much tougher -- and that is what we managed," Aizenberg said.The team is now honing its method to better coat curved pieces of glass as well as clear plastics such as Plexiglas, and to adapt the method for the rigors of manufacturing.

"Joanna's new SLIPS coating reveals the power of following Nature's lead in developing new technologies," said Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., the Wyss Institute's Founding Director. "We are excited about the range of applications that could use this innovative coating." Ingber is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, and Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard SEAS.

For years a few shops in Ibrahimpura have been the destination to purchase tasvih. "To keep track of counting people have turned to the beads as they have a particular appeal. However, some are switching over to digital counters," said Mehboob Durrani, owner of one such shop.

These shops once sold prayer beads made of olive seeds, ivory, amber, pearls.Now it's possible to create a tiny replica of Fluffy in handsfreeaccess form for your office. Now all one can find are cheap plastic imitations.We offer the biggest collection of old masters that can be turned into hand painted cleanersydney on canvas. "A digital counter comes for one-third the price of a regular tasvih and many are attracted by it. Earlier it used to be a premium item,Tidy up wires with ease with offershidkits and tie guns at cheap discounted prices.Here's a complete list of granitecountertops for the beginning oil painter. but Chinese made products now start from less than Rs 30," he added.

So could the new digital counter become an alternative to the self-effacing tasvih? Some old-timers like Shakir Ali remind that a similar trend was seen in the 1990's with the introduction of manual counters. "It was just fad which passed away. Digital tasvih could face a similar fate," said Ali.

Entrepreneur Syed Tariq Ibrahim differs, digital tasvih is not the only change that is connecting younger generation to learn more about religion than they would have otherwise. "Trend of using mobile apps has been here for a couple of years now. Youngsters connect to apps to find current namaz timings to qibla directions amongst other things," he said.

Interestingly, Islamic scholars on the other hand have an entirely different opinion. While some scholars say that it is permissible to use the tasvih - digital or otherwise, but they say that it is preferable to count on one's fingers. "Praising the Almighty should not become a show off. It is not prescribed by Islam," said a scholar.
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Journey to world hot spots

Summer is a time to relax, enjoy and travel to and experience new places. So, pack your bags and get ready as we visit many famous landmarks serving as hot spots found on other continents all over the globe.Our first journey is to the land down under, Australia. This remarkable building may resemble a ship, but it is actually the Sydney Opera House. While opened in 1973 in modern times, it ranks high on the list of places to visit with more than 200,You will see earcap , competitive price and first-class service.000 spectators touring each year. 

The Sydney Opera House holds 3,000 events, bringing in more than 2 million audience members on an annual basis.Weymouth is collecting gently used, dry cleaned jewelryfindings at their Weymouth store. Danish architect Jorn Utzon built this structure complete with more than 1 million tiles on its roof. It is a must-see when visiting the only country that is also its own continent. 

Now we’re off to Asia, where we’ll tour three terrific spots. There are many great attributes of the Great Wall of China, located in Beijing. Stretching more than 3,915 miles in length, it is the longest structure ever built by humans.Serving as a means of protection against invaders from the north, workers were forced to create this pathway made of stone and brick under the rule of many Chinese emperors during various dynasties. 

There are many breathtaking views as we walk along this wonderful wall. With aching legs, we embark upon a smaller country in Asia, Cambodia. Angkor Wat, an ancient temple, is an advanced architectural achievement. It is said to be the largest single religious building in the world. Originally built and dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu, it was left incomplete. An entire century later, it was then converted from the Hindu faith to Buddhism. 

The main temple, rising 213 feet high, is surrounded by a moat and then protected by a 15-foot wall. From inside the temple, we set our eyes on the sensational stone carvings that help depict ancient stories.In awe we continue on to the capital city Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Here we set eyes on the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, a place of Muslim worship named after the founder and first president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. 

Complete with 82 domes and 1,048 columns, this concrete covered in pure marble complex is stunning. The main dome is the largest in the world. Aside from its decorative exterior a memorable attribute of this mosque resides inside, with an intricate and artistic carpet made by 1,300 craftsmen. 

Travel back to 1910, when the home was the original carriage house on the Harry and Helen Robbins estate on Upper Lake Minnetonka. The carriage house exterior’s Asian aesthetic and teal trim complemented the Japanese-style main house and striking pagoda boathouse. 

In the 1980s, a photographer who was also a craftsman bought and renovated the carriage house, infusing many Asian Arts and Crafts elements. In 1993, Susanka modernized the living room, kitchen and bathrooms, added more windows and built-in window seats and benches, thoughtfully blending with the home’s original architectural style. 

When the Hensleys moved in,Purchase an chipcard to enjoy your iPhone any way you like. they created another bedroom in the basement by relocating the laundry room. But when their teenagers started to sprawl out, they enlisted Eric Odor of SALA Architects to design a multifunctional family room to gather with friends, play pinball and band instruments. “We were like the Partridge Family,” said Lindy. 

Odor’s back-of-the-house, 1,000-square-foot addition continues the Asian theme with sliding shoji screens leading to a changing room. Two sets of French doors open to an eight-person hot tub on the New York bluestone patio. Later Robert built a sleeping loft across Douglas fir beams high above the family room.During the summer, the family boats, fishes and swims off the dock on their shoreline. “We’ve squeezed every bit of experience from that lake and have amazing memories,” said Lindy.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a graniteslabs can authenticate your computer usage and data. 

Even though Boone Isaacs represented a below-the-line branch (Public Relations), she is the ultimate Academy insider and has diligently worked her way up through the ranks to the top job. Those who are against radical change know she is not likely to rock the boat. I don’t think her main rival for the job, Lionsgate movie chief Rob Friedman, would have rocked anything either. But below-the-line Governors who may have felt their position within the Oscarcast threatened could feel comfortable that Boone Isaacs would not be in favor of kicking their category off the telecast or presenting their Oscars in a much lower-profile manner - proposals always suggested every year but never gains traction on the Board. 

There’s a simple fact for that: those Governors whose crafts would be the most endangered – set designers, cinematographers, costume designers, short film makers etc. – have an aggregated voting power that far outdistances the actors, writers, directors and producers whose categories would never be touched. And Boone Issacs has been vocal about keeping the status quo.More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. When I brought up the possibility in our interview Wednesday, she didn’t hesitate to say that was a non-starter. “No. That’s a simple no,” she said, confirming that all 24 categories will continue to be presented on the Oscars as they always have.
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2013年8月2日 星期五

Life in stone

Most days he commutes just a few steps,A card with an embedded IC (Integrated Circuit) is called an parkingmanagement. from the elegant, three-story red-brick 1829 house where he lives to his sculpture studio on a spacious 88-acre parcel on the rural western side of Williston, far from the hubbub of mall land.

Five or six times a year, he commutes a bit farther: to Carrara, Italy, where his flowing, abstract visions are transformed into stone under his exacting guidance, carved by some of the best craftspeople in the world. Working steeped in the ambiance of a province where Roman quarries date back some 2,000 years, hes surrounded by white limestone hills and has time for mangia and vino amidst the lush landscape of the Tuscany region.

Not a bad way to make a living: Its La Dolce Vita meets Green Mountain gringo, a delicious pairing born of an exuberant love of marble, a passion sunk deep into his mental bedrock as a boy. Drawing inspiration from geology, history, an art degree and his Vermont upbringing in the marbled hills around Dorset,More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. Erdman has now spent almost four decades of his life mining a remarkable, resourceful and prolific vein of creative energy.

At 61, Erdman guesses he has created more than 1,000 sculptures, large and small. He is well aware hes living the dream: Doing what you love, in landscapes you love, whether its the Green Mountains or the hills of northern Italy, not far from Florence and the Italian Riviera.

With its two big garage doors rolled up on a sunny day,He saw the bracelet at a indoortracking store while we were on a trip. he works looking out on his house, fields and the barn where his wife Madeleine Austin raises horses and provides a home for the University of Vermont equestrian team. Looking in, the tall-ceilinged studio is cluttered with photos, sketches,New and used commercial plasticmoulds sales, rentals, and service. models, tools, and the tables where he ingeniously creates small-scale wire-mesh and plaster models its not a technique you learn. I kind of invented this that eventually emerge as sculptures from massive stone blocks he hand-picks in Carrara.

Scattered throughout on pedestals are some of his completed sculptures, abstract forms that take wing and flow into myriad shapes, all waiting to flow out to galleries and buyers around the world. An attached office houses two employees who help handle his expansive world-wide business.

Its a modern paradigm that Vermonters sometimes have to go outside the states boundaries to forge a living, even as they choose to live here to forge a wholesome life. Erdman is a paragon of the paradigm. Hes a Burr and Burton and University of Vermont graduate whose parents ran a ski lodge called Erdmans Eyrie near Bromley and Stratton ski areas, where he honed skills that made him a two-time NCAA All-American. Erdman says his Vermont upbringing with his two siblings not only cemented his bonds with the Green Mountains, but created the sculptor he has become.

Im a risk-taker business-wise, and as an artist, he explains. We grew up watching our parents create their own lifestyle, not for money. They didnt get rich doing this, he says,You will see earcap , competitive price and first-class service. and his parents gave the kids a lot of freedom as long as they met their family responsibilities. That allowed us to become individuals and to pursue what we were good at, he reflects.

Skiing the mountains, diving off marble quarries in Dorset, spelunking in caves in his boyhood formed the adventurous person that Erdman remains today and enabled the creative adventure that informs and drives his art. That spirit is what inspired him to head to Carrara after UVM and plunge as a novice into the world of marble, establishing a connection that has only grown stronger through the decades. Though he jokes that he was the only one stupid enough in his family to try to make a living by going into art, it turns out to have been a smart decision.

Though hardly a household name in Vermont, hes sent his sculptures of marble, travertine (a speckled, colorful form of limestone) and bronze to 50 countries around the world and had works shown in more than 140 solo and group exhibitions. Theyre sold at prices starting in the tens of thousands of dollars to prestigious corporate sites and museums. In 1985 through a ski shop connection he got a commission to create the largest travertine sculpture in the world, a mind-bending 25-foot-long, 16-foot-high work carved out of one 450-ton piece of stone that stands as the signature piece at the PepsiCo Sculpture Gardens in New York. From Korea to Switzerland, New Delhi to Singapore, Florida to California, Erdmans signature sinuous forms now capture the eye, often paired with a watery setting, equal parts mystery and suggestion.

The words in catalogs stumble in describing what he does with stone. Unlike the gray solidity and realistic forms that characterize Vermonts famed granite, Erdmans ideas are all about defying gravity, convention and possibility. His sculptures are shape-shifting, fluid, effervescent and aspiring, often Mobius strips of one continuous form that makes you wonder, How did he possibly carve that into stone?With wavy brown hair going gray, a lean physique and rugged aquiline features, Erdman has an exuberant mile-a-minute stream-of-thought way of talking and a kinetic style that makes the word outgoing seem understated.

Talk with Erdman for long, though, and behind the polished surface of success, familiar streaks of Vermont show through. Hes an artist humorously wary of trusting his good luck, and loathe to tout his good luck. Erdman lives by a very Vermont motto of count-your-blessings and keep your nose to the grindstone, or in his case, stone grinder.You never rest on your laurels, he says. Theres part of him deep down that still fears hell look up and discover a mirage which provides, he admits, a good piece of his drive.

I tend to shy away from the easy route. I shy away from the bunny slopes, because who wants to do the easy thing, he says. Whether its art or recreation or just living, I find that were most alive when our senses are fully engaged.His artistic life is balanced by an important grounding in friendships and all the outdoor pursuits that offer respite from his immensely scattered responsibilities as designer, sculptor, salesman, marketer and publicist. He skis, bikes, paddles, sails and is a renowned practical joker, never far from an irrepressible adolescent energy. His art and way of life are flip sides of the same coin, he explains.
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Unique show staged

In the only castle in Vermont, actors and actresses from a Manhattan show are putting the final touches on their performance. "The Four Seasons" is based on the little control the world has over passing time. And instead of planting people in chairs,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a graniteslabs can authenticate your computer usage and data. the hourlong show will allow the audience to follow the performances throughout the castle.Full color howotipper printing and manufacturing services."Well, it will be fun to have people right in our face; that will be really interesting. I've never performed this close to the audience, I don't think," actress Kim Moyer said.

And while the 50-person cast brought racks of costumes for the spirits in the show, some would say the 138-year-old castle already has a few of those."We have had people hear beads drop from a staircase. We have had lights come on without our control. We have been the last the leave and for sure the first to come-- and had a very specific room that we set up totally rearranged," said Jacob Patorti, the director of the show.

Built in 1867, the brick mansion is filled with 32 rooms and sprawls over 20,000-square feet. But harsh Vermont seasons have wreaked havoc on the castle. Patorti says he hopes the show will not only be a hit, but also be a help."It makes sense that the stress of the building relates to the stress of the play. And hopefully the audience will leave not only wanting to stop for a moment and smell the roses with life, but also see the distress of the castle and want to help turn that around, too," Patorti said.

Castle curator Levi Nelson has been giving tours for nearly a decade. It is one of only 15 castles in America, but Nelson says the rich history, unique story and welcoming atmosphere set the Wilson estate apart."You've been inside; you know the rooms aren't roped off. You are allowed to touch things. You can take flash photography. It's a very relaxed environment," Nelson said. "It makes it possible, in a very practical sense, to give tours in a very personal way."

Nelson says the number of visitors has dropped over the years and the budget is tight. He hopes the show can spark people's interest in the castle. He doesn't want to imagine what will happen if the damage cannot be fixed.

It's not unusual for artists to cite the wonders of the natural world as their source of inspiration, but this is a different take on that theme. The manipulation of fur, skin and bone is common to these three creative individuals. Whether their starting point is taxidermy, biology or simply the texture and colour of the raw product,More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. they're hooked on animal magnetism. And, they're happy to be recycling the stuff once integral to life into the heirlooms of the future.

Until 2006 Feaver, who studied at the Wellington School of Design, was your regular acrylic-on-canvas artist. Her paintings occasionally featured delicate, stick-legged deer or birds in flight. But a mallard duck changed all that. "I started to collect taxidermy from garage sales and auctions. My first piece was a duck with a rip in its neck," she explains.

An ornithology documentary about the bowerbirds of Australia and birds of paradise of New Guinea was her inspiration. A call was made to her bird supplier who owns an aviary in Warooka, near Adelaide. Yellow canaries, purple finches and common starlings became her "bowerbirds" to adorn. With Folies Bergere-like feathers in their crowns, gilded beaks, and golden leaves as wings, they are spectacular and intriguing.

It may seem like frippery, but Feaver has a serious message. She takes inspiration from curator and author Rachel Poliquin, whose book, The Breathless Zoo, explores the history of the ancient art of taxidermy. Poliquin also asks what part of our nature this longing to preserve and mount animals appeals to? "By using jewellery and plaited human hair, I want to relate the birds to our human behaviour, to make a statement about the lengths we go to in order to attract a mate."

It started with a possum at a gypsy fair in Whangamata. That's where Georgia-Jay Davison picked up a skin, and the idea for an enterprise to call her own. "I made a leather bag with a possum-skin flap and everybody liked it," she says.

The 23-year-old now spends her time designing and making handbags and purses from animal skins. She operates on the fringes of fashion - and that's how she likes it.Find the perfect cleaningsydney and you'll always find your luggage! "I was never in love with the high-glamour side of that world," she says. Before enrolling in a Diploma of Design, majoring in fashion, at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, she hadn't touched a sewing machine. A Bachelor of Design at Otago Polytechnic followed. It gave her the pattern-making and construction skills she needed to pursue her craft.

Now her idea of pure heaven is passing long hours at her leather supplier, carefully choosing pelts. "You have to feel the product. Each skin is so individual. They're like little artworks."

Davison finds joy in designing a product that brings out the pelt's particular characteristics. "I design for the skin, its colours and texture. Some, like the goatskins, have little cowlicks in the hair.Need a compatible parkingassistsystem for your car?"
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Mitashi GameIn Thunder Bolt

Mitashi isn't exactly known for the high quality of its gaming-related products. However, when we heard that the company would be launching its own Android-based handheld, our ears perked up. A few days of use and here we are, and sadly enough, the GameIn Thunder Bolt isn't going to do Mitashi's reputation any favours.

First up, let's take a look at the build quality. The device has an all-plastic body, not exactly exuding a premium feel. However, considering the very low cost of the handheld device, this comes as no surprise. Visually, one would be hard-pressed to find much of a difference between this and a PlayStation Vita from afar. However, getting closer reveals all the blatant as well as nuanced differences between the two.

Thanks to its plastic body, the Thunder Bolt is really light, especially when you get used to the rather hefty PSP, Vita or the 3DS. On the front, it has ten buttons,Here's a complete list of granitecountertops for the beginning oil painter. an analogue nub and a 4.3-inch touch screen. The buttons are the standard controls you'd expect on a handheldfour directional buttons, four face buttons. The other two are the standard Android Back and Menu buttons.

The top of the device has five more buttonstwo triggers, Start, Select and the Power button. Interestingly for an Android device, the Thunder Bolt lacks a Home button, which makes getting out of apps or games quite troublesome. The only option available is to keep hitting back till you get back to the Home screen.

The buttons themselves aren't of the highest calibre either. The buttons on the front of the device, while stuff, do produce a rather satisfactory click when you press them. However, the less I say about the buttons on the top, the better. The triggers are too stiff and take quite an effort to actually press. The Start, Select and Power buttons are small and easy to miss, and take the same amount of force as the triggers to push.

The screen itself is hardly of the best quality we've seen. It has terrible viewing angles, with all but the most direct angles showing warped colours. Even when looking at it directly, the colours are very washed out, kind of like what you'd find in a classic GameBoy Colour, except with more colours this time. The resolution of the display is really low, and that's very apparent. Letters have aliasing and app icons are really low quality.

Speaking of apps, there's only one way to get any on the device. Since it lacks the Google Play store, and by extension, any of Google's Play services including Google Accounts, Google Talk and Gmail, the only way out to actually install any apps in the Thunder Bolt are by downloading the APKs yourself and side-loading them through USB. That's not to say that it's devoid of apps, though. It comes with quite a few pre-installed apps, namely, Facebook, Skype, LinkedIn, a file manager and a few games such as Plants vs Zombies and Angry Birds.

If you find yourself getting bored of these quickly, Mitashi has seen it fit to include some nifty emulators. However, we're rather confused about the legality of these emulators, since by definition, the only legal way to have a ROM for an emulator is if you own the original copy of the game. However, there are a few emulators installed, namely, one for the PlayStation, a Nintendo 64 emulator, a Sega Mega Drive emulator and an NES emulator. There are even some ROMs for them, which, again, we highly suspect the legality of.

The Thunder Bolt runs on Android 4.0, so finding APKs of apps shouldn't be more difficult than just googling for them. However, the hardware, being quite underpowered, doesn't seem to be able to handle some of the most basic operations. Just swiping through the interface makes the device lag quite a bit, and unlocking it from the lockscreen takes a few secondsquite a bit longer than it actually should. This is probably because of the 1GHz processor and the 512MB of RAM.

There's also a camera, albeit not a very good one. Pictures are blurry and even the most well-lit shots look like they were taken in a low-light setting.Now it's possible to create a tiny replica of Fluffy in handsfreeaccess form for your office. The front camera manages to be even worse with most pictures looking like they were taken with a phone camera from the 90s. We don't think you'll want to even touch the front-facing camera at all, while the rear camera could turn out to be of some use.

It can handle most other Android-related things competently. It lets you browse the web, play video and even listen to music. Despite the rather low 4GB of internal memory, you should be fine if you stick in a memory card. The 1GHz processor does seem to struggle while executing even simple tasks, though, so we'd recommend against any ideas you might have of watching HD videos on it.

Battery life is pretty average. Constantly playing games on it, I noticed the battery beginning to die at around the three-hour mark, which while decent, wont really serve you well if you plan on gaming while travelling. It couldnt last me a whole day with a bit of gaming and an hour or so of music-listening. Then again, thats pretty much expected with the 1000 mAh battery.

In the end,We offer the biggest collection of old masters that can be turned into hand painted cleanersydney on canvas. the question remains: Is the GameIn Thunder Bolt worth the MRP of Rs 6,799? The short answer is that unless you really want something to play emulated classic games on, give this a miss. Not only does it have a terrible display,You must not use the iphoneheadset without being trained. but the build quality is bad and pressing the buttons to kill enemies or pull off a combo in a fighting game never feels as cathartic as it should.

None of them will attract crowds of 70,000-plus anytime soon,Tidy up wires with ease with offershidkits and tie guns at cheap discounted prices. as the Cosmos famously did in the 1970s, but this time around, pro soccer in New York is evolving toward a more sustainable model than that long-ago fad."The next two years the soccer scene in New York, I think it's going to be captivating to see what happens," he said.

Messing said the original Cosmos captured "lightning in a bottle," tapping into a relatively unsophisticated market wowed by the novelty. Soccer has come a long way from there amid changing demographics and greater exposure to the world game."We were kind of the rock-star bandits of the [original] NASL, and it seems to me they're sort of doing the same thing," said Messing, who applauded Cosmos management for its modest initial expectations. "I think these Cosmos don't have arrogant expectations to think they're going to be an overnight sensation."

Messing plans to attend the opener with fellow "ambassadors" Pel and Carlos Alberto, taking advantage of a night off from MSG with the Red Bulls playing on NBC Sports Network."The history and evolution of these New York Red Bulls finally, finally has sorted itself out, and it's on the right path and I think in the nick of time," Messing said. "Pro soccer in the New York marketplace is about to, I don't want to say explode, but this is a significant moment."

The next big milestone after tomorrow will be the arrival in 2015 of a new MLS franchise financed by Manchester City and the Yankees, one that still does not have a home but does have skeptics.On one hand, Messing said, he believes New York can support three pro soccer teams. On the other, he said, "I'm unconvinced this is the right group to get a soccer team that has New York roots."

Among his concerns is the state of human rights in Abu Dhabi, where the leader of the new franchise's ownership group, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, is a member of the royal family."It wasn't one I jumped for joy at," Messing said of the news. "But I'm not against them. I'm just not convinced."
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A Magnificent Home in New Iberia

If only walls could talk. In 1886, a flamboyant New Iberia landowner built a unique, four-story columned mansion that was inspired by the fanciful steamboats of the era. With a grand entrance hall, thick curving walls, soaring French windows, two-story-high rounded bays and ornate balustrades, it resembles a grounded steamboat with its half-circle bow facing Main Street and its stern facing Bayou Teche. 

It all started when the sixth mayor of New Iberia, John Emmer, wanted to build the most magnificent house that had ever existed on the bayou as a wedding present for his daughter. It became the setting for many illustrious parties hosted for prominent locals and served as a magnet for some of the biggest power brokers in the South. 

Swords were drawn, plots were hatched, and swinging parties were hosted at the famous Steamboat House. The legendary residence drew heavy-weight politicos during the Huey P. Long era,We have become one of the worlds most recognised cheapcellphonecases brands. after Lt. Gov. Paul Cyr (who owned the home at the time), was elected on Longs ticket in 1928. Within months, Cyr became Longs bitter enemy over a controversial murder case, which resulted in the double hanging of a prominent local doctor and his mistress (the first woman ever to be hanged in Louisiana). Cyr schemed and dreamed at the Steamboat House, his place of respite while in town. In 1931, he unsuccessfully tried to force Long out of office and proclaim himself governor, but to no avail. Four years later, Long was assassinated at the state capitol at the age of 42. 

Gov. Jimmy Davis once played You Are My Sunshine on a grand piano in the parlor, Gov. John McKeithen headlined a party fundraiser, and numerous movie stars have since tried to rent the place from its current owner, interior designer Kimberly Crittenden. Keeping the tradition alive, she has also hosted many elaborate, star-studded soires at the Steamboat House, which is located in New Iberias historic downtown district.Ever since I bought the house in 1994, movie location scouts have tried to rent it from me so they could shoot major films here, and movie stars have also wanted to stay here during the filming of their various movies, but I have always declined, Crittenden says. 

Tommy Lee Jones assistant repeatedly inquired about his renting this house from me when he was starring in In the Electric Mist, which was filmed in New Iberia, Crittenden continues. I didnt let Jones stay here, but he was always sending his assistant to buy a lot of wine at my shop, just about every night.A designer, oenophile and wine merchant, Crittenden is the owner of Kimberlys Interiors in New Iberia, with a second location in Lafayette. Selling wine can be rather lucrative if you live around here, she laughs. 

The 2009 film, In the Electric Mist, starring Jones and John Goodman, was based on New Iberia award-winning author James Lee Burkes racy novel featuring detective Dave Robicheaux as the main character. The movie Heavens Prisoners, starring Alec Baldwin, was also based on another one of Burkes best-selling novels and was also filmed in New Iberia. The Steamboat House appears in one of Burkes novels that mentions Main Street, Crittenden points out. 

New Iberias Main Street that Burke describes in his novels as the most beautiful in the country is receiving national publicity after being named one of CNNs Americas Best Small Town Comebacks in March 2013. New Iberia has also earned a Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for its revitalized commercial district. 

At the end of September,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a graniteslabs can authenticate your computer usage and data. the picturesque town celebrates its sugarcane harvest on Main Street with the 72nd annual Sugarcane Festival that is highlighted by a fais do do and a boat parade with fireworks on Bayou Teche. The festival is scheduled just in time for cooler weather, with the beginning of autumn on Sept. 22. Its a lively celebration worth experiencing, and there are historic walking tours featuring the many beautiful residences in the area. 

The three-quarter-mile-long historic East Main Street district, which follows the Bayou Teche as it meanders downstream, features 71 homes and buildings that date from 1890 to 1930. The Steamboat House is the most famous private residence in the district. The amazing 6,900-square-foot, four-story dwelling has seven bedrooms,Weymouth is collecting gently used, dry cleaned jewelryfindings at their Weymouth store. four-and-a-half baths,16-foot ceilings and 16-inch-thick brick walls. 

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the magnificent house was built with bricks from the original owners brickyard. In the 1880s and 1890s, New Iberia was home to five brick factories, and Emmer owned one of them. With its 16-inch-thick brick walls that were created in Emmers kilns, the Steamboat House is a veritable fortress that recalls the bygone steamboat which flourished for 60 years prior to the coming of the railroad to New Iberia in 1880.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a graniteslabs can authenticate your computer usage and data. 

It now features a swimming pool, lighted tennis courts and a quaint guest cottage overlooking the bayou. The current owners interior dcor is decidedly modern, unlike that of the previous owners who kept it in the Victorian era mode and thus quite formal.You will see earcap , competitive price and first-class service. It exudes casual elegance, and is tastefully appointed with a combination of old and new furnishings and touches of the Far East. The front yard has an Old South style, distinguished by a large, historic live oak facing East Main Street. A captains walk adds intrigue to the architectural elements of the stately residence.I fell in love with the house for the oak tree in front, says Crittenden. Its really a unique piece of property. I was asked to help the owner with the interior design, and I ended up buying it, Crittenden says. 

The glass-enclosed sunroom is wonderful for entertaining, and it has the perfect overflow for seated diners, she notes. It overlooks a garden on the side of the house, with a view of the Annie Laurie oak tree that I named after my daughter. My idea was to decorate the home to make it very comfortable. Since I have an interior design business and a shop, I didnt have to purchase any furnishings or art. Whatever I had just fell into place. She says this modestly, although one look around the residence shows that each room was well planned and designed with an experienced interior decorators eye for colors and textures, balance and flow, with a nod to its history. 

Strolling around the residence is an adventure. There is the counterpoint of intriguing and clever design elements, from the walls of striped silk damask Stroheim & Romann fabric that Crittenden added to the grand entrance foyer adorned with a framed Japanese ceremonial wedding gown, to the stately pair of lacquered fireside chairs near the antique marble mantel in the living room, and the dreamy sun porch adorned with white wicker furniture and gauzy, white sheer fabric that renders an ethereal mood on breezy evenings. 

In the master bath, Crittenden added a mirrored area above the sunken tub and surrounded the room with plantation shutters, designed new wallpaper, added dainty chandeliers and a fanciful Alice in Wonderland vanity chair.The former owner had these dreary, old and depressing Victorian curtains that made everything dark in here, she says. I wanted to take advantage of all the natural light in the bathroom. The owner even had some of the rooms in the house roped off to visitors. It was just entirely too formal. The master suite, located off the entrance foyer, has his-and-her baths and an adjoining study. 

Looking out of the kitchen window, one can see all the way down to the bayou, while viewing the pool area and palm trees bowing in the wind on rainy afternoons. A breakfast room and an art-filled enclosed loggia flanks the kitchen, which is adorned with a buttery yellow Schumacher wall covering. A formal dining room and a luxuriously appointed parlor add a sense of elegance to the otherwise casually adorned living areas. 

Aside from the red long leaf pine floors throughout the house (purchased from a nearby church), Crittenden added smooth Mexican tiles to the kitchen area. A view of the deep back lawn sweeping down to the Bayou Teche can be seen from the kitchen, sun porch and also from the rear deck on the second floor. It offers a splendid view of the pool area, which was redesigned by Crittenden after purchasing the home.
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