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Simone Biles Fights Back Tears While Describing Abuse During Congressional Testimony

She says it impacted the Tokyo Olympics.




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Ex-NBA Player Tyson Chandler And His Wife Are Divorcing After 16 Years

Kimberly Chandler reportedly filed this week.




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First Bald Eagle Reported In Bermuda In 34 Years

A Bald Eagle — the first one reported in Bermuda in 34 years — has been seen flying across the island, the Bermuda Audubon Society said. The Bermuda Audubon Society posted the photos below online, saying, “Bald Eagle arrives in Bermuda! Rumors were circulating this past week about a very large bird flying around Bermuda. […]




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UK Court: Jahkiel Samuels Sentenced To 3 Years

Jahkiel Samuels has been jailed for three years and four months in England after pleading guilty to charges of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place. The Nottinghamshire Police website said, “A man threatened two men with an imitation sawn-off […]




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Kemar Maybury Jailed For Four Years In UK

Kemar Maybury has been jailed for four years in the UK on drug related charges. The Sussex Police website said, “A Brighton man has been jailed for four years for using children to supply drugs around the city. “Kemar Maybury, 40, of Dartmouth Crescent in Brighton, was arrested on Thursday, March 11, 2020, after his vehicle […]




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Bahamas Court Hears Boat Heading For Bermuda

A law enforcement officer testified in a Bahamian Court about allegedly discovering “suspected cocaine” on a vessel that the defendants — who have denied the charges — claimed was “heading for Bermuda.” The Bahamas media reported, “A Drug Enforcement Unit officer yesterday testified about discovering three bags with suspected cocaine on a vessel captained by […]




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Man Sentenced To 11 Years For Sexual Assault

Ronald Kirkland Simmons, 39, was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment for sexual assault. Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Nicholas Pedro said, “The Bermuda Police Service welcomes the sentence in the Supreme Court today [Tuesday, 4th October 2022], in a case where a man seriously sexually assaulted a woman in Pembroke on 20th September, 2020. “The […]




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Locksley Cummings Sentenced To 35 Years

Locksley Cummings was sentenced to 35 years in prison for multiple counts of sexual exploitation, with the police commending his young victims for their  ”courage in coming forward to bring this situation to the attention of the police.” Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police [Crime] Sean Field-Lament said, “The Bermuda Police Service notes the historic sentence handed […]




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Joan Williams Celebrates 40 Years At Little Venice

Joan Williams is celebrating 40 years of working at the Little Venice Group, with her colleagues hosting a special lunch to mark the milestone. A spokesperson said, “Not all shining stars are on the front lines! Joan Williams has been steadily working behind the scenes counting the numbers in the accounts department for the Little Venice […]




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Barritt’s Celebrates 150 Years With New Mixers

Barritt’s is celebrating 150 years of its iconic ginger beer with the launch of a new mixer line and a brand refresh. A statement from the company said, “Barritt’s Ginger Beer, from Barritt’s Beverages International Ltd, a proudly family-owned business for five generations hailing from Bermuda, celebrates 150 years of its iconic ginger beer with […]




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Marking Five Years Of “Kids On The Reef”

The XL Catlin Kids on the Reef programme, a partnership between the Bermuda Zoological Society [BZS] and the I Am Water Foundation, sponsored by XL Catlin has now completed its fifth successful year. The programme brings together world-class free-diving conservationists and local marine ecology educators to take local public middle school students beyond the classroom […]




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Videos: 41 Years Ago Bermuda Won Miss World

41 years ago today [Nov 15] Miss Bermuda Gina Swainson won the Miss World contest, becoming the first, and to this date, the only Bermudian to ever win a major international beauty pageant, and the photos and videos below can give you a walk down memory lane to see the crowning moment. Also notable as […]




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BE Solar Celebrates 12 Years In Business

BE Solar is celebrating 12 years in business, with the company “focusing on helping people make sensible investments in high quality, reliable and clean energy solutions for their homes and businesses.” A spokesperson said, “Eighty-six years ago, Bermuda Engineering Company Ltd. was founded by renewable energy pioneer Gordon Hamilton Burland who installed Bermuda’s first wind […]




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800 Ears Of Corn Stolen From Amaral Farms

Over 800 ears of corn and several heads of broccoli were stolen from the Amaral Farms fields on Somers Hill Road in Hamilton Parish, with thieves hitting the family-owned farm yet again on Thursday [May 15]. The Farm has been having repeated issues with theft, with some 150lbs of sweet potatoes and 30lbs of broccoli […]




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Cumbermack Gears Up For Talent Cup Race

[Written by Stephen Wright] Bermudian motorcycle racer Jediah Cumbermack is ready to “make my country proud” as he gears up for the opening race of the North America Talent Cup in Austin, Texas, this coming weekend [April 8 to 10]. The 16-year-old is racing overseas for the first time against talented young riders from the United […]




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Lecture On 175 Years Of Portuguese History

The Department of Culture, in collaboration with the Portuguese Cultural Association of Bermuda, hosted a Bermudian Heartbeats Lecture featuring Azorean historian Eduardo Medeiros. A Government spokesperson said, “Last week [June 27], the Department of Culture hosted their latest Bermudian Heartbeats Lecture Series, in collaboration with the Portuguese Cultural Association of Bermuda. The topic was “175 Years […]




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Beyoncé Wears Bermuda Jewelry Brand

David and Rose Zuill, the creative duo behind Bermuda’s Davidrose Studio, said they were thrilled when superstar Beyoncé shared Instagram photos wearing a ring from their Ocean Collection. A spokesperson said, “On Saturday evening, David and Rose Zuill, the husband and wife team behind the Bermuda based jewelry brand Davidrose Studio, were sitting with other […]




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Court: Man Sentenced To Three Years In Jail

Jaha Mallory was sentenced to three years in prison and two years probation for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. The ruling said, “The facts of this case were outlined in the Summary of Evidence read to the Court. In short, the Accused and the Complainant were personally known to one another before […]




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Man Jailed For 12 Years For Ammunition

A 31-year-old man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for possessing 32 rounds of ammunition. The ruling said, “The Accused, Mr. Christopher Perinchief, appears before the Court for sentence, upon his guilty plea entered on 21 June 2022, to the single Count on Indictment No. 7 of 2022 charging him with possession of […]




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Maurice Jones Jailed For 30 Years In UK

25-year-old Maurice Jones has been jailed for 30 years in the UK after being convicted of murdering a father while he was pushing his young son. A statement from the Wiltshire Police said, “Maurice Jones, 25, of Gainsborough Close, Bemerton Heath, was convicted of murder and possession of a bladed article following a two-week trial […]





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35 Years



Thirty five years ago - life changed. ( five in people years )

I left on a journey that took me many places.
I made many friends, held a few jobs, and found a family.

  
Things turned out just wonderful.


 So, today
I can't help leaping for joy


or running for joy...


or boucning for joy.


Well....to be honest - it all just makes me smile.




Wishing a Happy Thirty Five to all the pups and people out there.


-Jonny






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Board Game Review: Expeditions Gears of Corruption

Last year I reviewed Expeditions and ranked it #1 among all Stonemaier games on account of the challenging intellectual puzzle it presents. This year I have played my way through the new expansion, Gears of Corruption, and I’m delighted to let you know that it makes the base game even better. That the expansion so cohesively builds on the base game should not be a surprise to anyone who closely examines the original box for Expeditions. All expansion components perfectly fit in that box including the 2 new mechs that nestle in the placeholder cubbies clearly made for them.  That can’t be coincidence. There might a few features rolled into Corruption of Gears that were developed as a result of consumer feedback on the base game (I’m looking at you, wild meeple), but my theory is that Stonemaier did a Lord of the Rings maneuver with this game and its expansions, designing the entire game with most of the additions integrated up front, and then breaking it into base + expansions for marketing and distribution.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the components and features in Gears of Corruption:

 

  • 2 new mechs
    • Both new mechs use map tokens as discards to gain a benefit. The Scarecrow adds an extra action to your refresh turn while the Mole lets you access hex actions covered with corruption tokens. The Mole felt especially powerful in play.
  • Replacement mech mats for the original mechs + 2 new mech mats for the new mechs
    • The new mech mats are GREAT. They have inset spaces for the guile, strength, and action tokens to prevent player components from sliding off the mat during player.

  • Hero worker meeples
    • These meeples function as wildcards, and everyone is given one at the start of the game. This speeds up play and helps avoid the heavy disadvantage for the 3rd player and after who can’t get to the gain worker hex on their first turn.
  • Replacement discovery card for one of the original cards in the base game + 5 new discovery cards
    • The cards are all items and most if not all of them provide ongoing benefits in the form of when you do X also do Y
  • 7 mech cards
    • These cards are used for drafting/assigning a mech mat to each player and they also provide a list of starting resources to shorten the length of the game
  • 12 corruption cards
    • These cards are used both to control an additional mech on the main board (representing a malicious presence among us) that inflicts penalties on players whose mechs it would otherwise bump into AND to provide additional corruption targets for vanquishing by players. If all the corruption cards are vanquished, the corrupted mech wandering the board returns to the box, the threat eliminated. Three cheers to the player who accomplishes that!

  • 4 pairs of new starting cards (character + companion)
    • The new character/companion combos are pretty standard but one of the pairs (Baaliahon & Zephon) plays off the corruption card scoring added with this expansion. I played as this fellow and was competitive in all my games. A+ would recommend! ***Interesting side note: While I was researching the origin of the name Baaliahon (turns out to be a Phoenician name that means so that Baal will favor), I came across the website for the artist and worldbuilder on Expeditions, Jakub Rozalski. He’s got fantastic stories and lore for the game as well as additional artwork on the site and I encourage you to check it out at https://jrozalski.com/projects/JvAvPZ
  • 6 new corruption tiles in lower values that the base game
    • These tiles have a strength of only 2, making it easier to remove them.
  • 6th player capacity
    • Playing with an additional player DOES increase the game length, but this is well balanced by the time saved thanks to the new hero worker meeples and mech cards
  • Additional coins & map tokens

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Expeditions Gears of Corruption is a fantastic (although not absolutely mandatory) expansion for players who love the base game, like me. But this is not one of those expansions that fundamentally alters the overall feel or play of the game so if you’re among those that didn’t go gaga for the base, this will do nothing to change your mind. Yep, I see some of you over there complaining about the solitaire racing aspect of Expeditions and lack of strong player interaction, and to you ladies and gents I say go back to Scythe where you belong.

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Publisher: Stonemaier
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Artist and Worldbuilder: Jakub Rozalski
Players: 1-6 (We played with 3, 4, and 6)
Actual Playing Time (vs the guideline on the box): About 90 minutes per game
Game type: worker placement, hand management
Retail Price: varies; direct from the publisher https://stonemaiergames.com/games/expeditions/gears-of-corruption/

Rating:




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24 Elephants or Bears - Elephant or Bear 15


 

ALT TEXT: The head of a bear, figured in every artist's medium of choice: yellow Playdoh. And looking considerably more apprehensive than the artist intended, although I suppose that makes a change from all the inane grinning. 

The 'head only' approach is by far my patron's least favourite. He loathes it, and any such submission is immediately met with outraged cries of 'Knees! Knees!' However, as I believe Caravaggio used to say to Cardinal Del Monte, "There's only so much Playdoh in the tub."




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24 Elephants or Bears - Elephant or Bear 16


ALT TEXT: A quick scribbly biro bear head. I did a ‘proper’ version of this to put up here, with lots more pen-strokes and anatomy and shadows and what have you, but to my irritation the quick scribble looked more like a bear. 

No knees, either. I’m in big trouble.

 




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24 Elephants or Bears - Elephant or Bear 17

 First, an apology. It has been brought to my attention that I have been irritatingly coy about the identity of my patron for this series of pieces, and the precise nature of my relationship with him. This is of course information you have every right to know, for reasons too obvious to explain; and which you could not possibly in a million years have guessed. No-one’s that clever-clever. 

So let me now be perfectly straightforward with you: my patron is His Serene Grace Archduke Gustavus Von und zu Schellenhuber, Prince-Elector of Westphalia. I recently had the honour to be appointed his Court Artist (Ursine and Elephantine works only). 

Here is the latest piece I have completed for His Grace. I believe he intends it as a fresco for his refectory.


ALT TEXT: A felt-tip drawing of an elephant, with a sign on his side reading ‘Cat Bus’, carrying several cats, represented by stickers. (His Serene Grace the Archduke loved this one. He laughed his gold epaulettes off, and then spent some time repeatedly counting the kittens held in the elephant’s trunk- although not, it must be said, with remarkable accuracy.)







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24 Elephants or Bears - Elephant or Bear 18


ALT TEXT: A cardboard box, on which is drawn a family of hippos gazing in delight at a shower of cupcakes falling towards them like manna. This reflects my patron's short-lived hippo phase. However, elephants are just about visible on two other flaps of the box, so yes it does count, thank you.  




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24 Elephants or Bears - Elephant or Bear 19 (Surprise!)


ALT TEXT: It’s simply a picture of an actual bear.





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24 Elephants or Bears - Elephant or Bear 20



 ALT TEXT: Daddy Bear and Baby Bear in bath. Baby Bear did big jump, and splashing, splashing. Such, at least, was the commission. 




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24 Elephants or Bears - Elephant or Bear 21

 

Alt text - two friends go looking for an adventure, and a sun rises.




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24 Things, Many of Which Are Still Likely To Be Elephants or Bears, Especially Elephants; But Also It’s Vanishingly Unlikely There’ll Actually Be 24 of Them, or Even Close - Thing One. And Possibly Only.

Alt text: a stylish woman in a coat, who is emphatically neither an elephant nor a bear. Not everyone is.




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Drop bears are scary right

Drop bears are scary right



View Comic!







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These New Years Cycles Confuse Me

Fun Fact: No-So-Handy Andy was also born on the year of the Dragon.




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Bears fire OC Shane Waldron, how much of it is on Caleb Williams? | First Things First

Nick Wright reacts to the Chicago Bears firing OC Shane Waldron, then discusses how much Caleb Williams is to blame for the team's poor season.




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'Today Years Old' Revelations That Might Teach Something New

The saying "you learn something new every day" may not always feel true, but on Twitter, that's definitely the case. People are very eager to share surprising and little-known facts that blow their minds - whether they're political or about something as trivial as the flavor of green Haribo gummy bears. These facts might not be revelatory for everyone, but they definitely aren't common knowledge. And it's nice to make that brain feel a little bigger. 




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Moving Institutions Toward Open—Building on 6 Years of the Open GLAM Survey

“Violette Heymann, 1910” by Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection ,CC0. Creative Commons’ Open Culture Platform is supporting 25 institutions in opening up access to their collections by the end of 2025. Members of the Platform community will be working together to create a policy template, conduct outreach,…

The post Moving Institutions Toward Open—Building on 6 Years of the Open GLAM Survey appeared first on Creative Commons.




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CC Welcomes Sarah Pearson Back as General Counsel

As part of CC’s renewed commitment to investing in the core open infrastructure it stewards, we are excited to announce several updates to our legal team.  Sarah Hinchliff Pearson is returning to Creative Commons as General Counsel. She will manage in-house legal work and play a leading role in shaping CC’s stewardship program and its…

The post CC Welcomes Sarah Pearson Back as General Counsel appeared first on Creative Commons.




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Startup CEO says humans won't be needed for translation in 3 years as it launches AI app

Unbabel on Wednesday announced an artificial intelligence-powered translation service, adding another rival to a highly competitive space.




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After spending three years working on SMS verification at Zenly, Prelude wants to fix SMS onboarding

Prelude is a new a new French startup that focuses on SMS verification; it’s coming out of stealth Wednesday. The two founders met when they were working for Zenly, a popular location-sharing app with tens of millions of users that was acquired by Snap (and later shut down). While you might not…




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'Crumb trails' of meteoroids could reveal potentially dangerous comets years before they reach Earth

Potentially dangerous comets could be spotted many years in advance by following the meteoroid trails they leave near Earth, new research shows.




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15.6: 15 Years!

It's our 15-year PotterCast anniversary! WHAT!? This is our live show that we did to celebrate, the video of which you can access at fb.com/pottercast. In this episode, we do some nostalgia, we do some mailbags, we do some Q&A, we play some Quiplash, and we reflect on the magic of the past and the promise of the future.

Here are ways to support the show!
Join our patreon!
patreon.com/pottercast - Now, you can also join our Discord community there!

You can also buy PotterCast-related merch at mischiefmerch.com!




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Short break support is failing family carers: reviewing progress 10 years on from Mencap’s first Breaking Point report

In 2006 Mencap produced a comprehensive review of short break provision. Now, 10 years on, they are revisiting the support available for family carers to see whether recent policy initiatives and investment have delivered the much-needed change. A total of 264 family carers responded to their survey on short breaks provision and experiences of caring. They also sent Freedom of Information requests to all 152 local authorities in England that provide social care services. This report looks at short breaks provision in a climate of cuts to central and local government budgets. It examines the extent to which these cuts have impacted on the lives of people with a learning disability and their family carers. It also looks at the state of affairs for family carers of children and young people across the full spectrum of learning disability; from people with mild and moderate learning disabilities, to people with severe and profound disabilities.





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Mara Jade finally appears on a reprint cover

Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and Rogue Squadron are coming out as new trade paperback editions in September as part of Del Rey's Star Wars Essential Legends Collection.




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Our ancestor Lucy may have used tools more than 3 million years ago

An analysis looking at the hand bones of australopithecines, apes and humans reveals that tool use likely evolved before the Homo genus arose.




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Bitcoin Fog Founder Sentenced to 12 Years for Cryptocurrency Money Laundering

The 36-year-old founder of the Bitcoin Fog cryptocurrency mixer has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for facilitating money laundering activities between 2011 and 2021. Roman Sterlingov, a dual Russian-Swedish national, pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business earlier this March. The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ)




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20 years of The Practice of System and Network Administration!

Twenty years ago the first edition of The Practice of System and Network Administration shipped! Since then there has been a 2nd and 3rd edition (2006 and 2014), plus a sequel book The Practice of Cloud System Administration, and many printings. (see the timeline here)

When we started the project we had no idea if it would be a success. There was a real chance it could be a flop. Many people told us that our proposal was illogical: How could you have a book about system administration that is vendor agnostic and talks about process and people instead of specific tools and operating systems? Well, to be honest, we took a deep breath and started writing anyway. It took 2+ years but in Sept/Oct 2001 the book finally shipped!

Instead of a flop, the reaction we got was very positive! It has sold tens of thousands of copies. Many universities have used the book and its future editions as text books. It received the Usenix LISA Outstanding Achievement Award. One DevOps pundit told me she considers it to be "the first devops book" which was quite humbling.

When I visited Google in 2004 (a year before I considered joining) I was told everyone in the "systems operations" team was given a copy on their first day. The person giving me a tour then took me to a supply closet with 30 copies awaiting to be distributed to new hires.

However the real satisfaction comes from how it has helped others. Fans have related many heartwarming stories. Many fans have told us they felt like reading the book was a turning point in their life, that the book "turned me into a professional system administrator".

To thank our readers, our publisher is offering a special deal: 45% off the latest editions now until Oct 31, 2021 What? You still have the 2nd edition and haven't seen the dozens of chapters of new material in the 3rd edition? Or maybe you haven't heard of our Cloud book? Now is your chance to get the 3rd edition or the cloud sequel!

Thank you to everyone that gave us feedback on the early drafts! Thank you to all our readers! This book changed our lives and we hope it changed yours too!

P.S. We would love to hear from you! Please post a comment with reflections on the book.