After the bumper here, the review will get into spoiler territory. I will say that if you are a Sonic fan this movie will give you a sense of pride as it is far better than it should have had any right in being. Taking the franchise’s lore and resetting it to tell its own story, but retaining the strong characterization and quip heavy personalities of Sonic and Robotnik that makes their rivalry such a strong one. It also keeps the first entry simple with the hedgehog and doctor being the only two characters from the universe being in the film. This makes the story stronger since it can develop those two far more and not have to worry about any other kind of side character fan service for now.

Hey, at least now Sonic fans can brag to Mario ones that Mario may still be the king of games, but Sonic blew the plumber’s cinematic pieces out of the water. Not that that was a high bar I suppose. Then again, having better quality games than Sonic these days isn’t one either (the author quips while using a quote from Sonic Forces for his review’s headline).

In the video game Sonic the Hedgehog, timing is everything. While at the heart of the game is a fast paced platformer, its foundation has always been learning the layout of a level and timing your actions appropriately. In a twist, the timing of this film and its release had quite a bit of impact on my view of it.

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Is your standard charge for a speech $300,000?  According to an article appearing on the website of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and a May 31, 2013 email, Clinton’s standard contract usually includes: Round-trip transportation on a chartered private jet “e.g., a Gulfstream … Continue reading →

Tucker: There’s no value more American than free speech Liberals working to crack down on the First Amendment, ban speech they don’t like. GOOD EVENING, AND WELCOME TO “TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT.” It’s hard to think of an ideal more American … Continue reading →

SIBOS: IBM today announced a new blockchain banking solution that will help financial institutions address the processes of universal cross-border payments, reducing the settlement time and lowering the cost of completing global payments for businesses and consumers. Using IBM Blockchain, and in collaboration with technology partners Stellar.org and KlickEx Group, the solution is intended to improve the speed in which banks both clear and settle payment transactions on a single network in near real time.

Highlights  IBM scientists have measured how long information can stay in an individual atom  IBM breakthrough enables ability to actually record, study and visualize the magnetism of individual atoms at staggering speeds – one million times faster than previously possible  Could be valuable tool to study solar cells, quantum computing and storage-class memory at the nanoscale Today IBM researchers published a breakthrough technique in the peer-reviewed journal Science that measures how long a single atom can hold information, and giving scientists the ability to record, study and "visualize" extremely fast phenomena inside these atoms.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced that healthAlliance, New Zealand’s largest shared services organisation for the health sector, will use an IBM Netezza analytics appliance to provide faster, more accurate clinical and business analysis to better manage hospital resources and services.

IBM announced today it is providing IBM Business Partners worldwide with $4 billion in financing for credit-qualified clients over a period of 12 months. This financing, through IBM Global Financing, can make obtaining credit easier and more accessible to enable IBM's global partner ecosystem and their clients to acquire advanced technologies such as cloud, analytics and PureSystems. As part of today's news, IBM is also launching a new mobile app as another step to simplify the way IBM's Business Partners can apply for and secure financing for their clients within minutes via any mobile device -- anytime, anywhere.

Melbourne-based start-up Level35 is using Watson, the cognitive computing platform developed by IBM (NYSE: IBM), and IBM Cloud to help public-sector project managers improve how they communicate within some of the largest government agencies in Australia.

My topic today is innovation for a sustainable future. This raises two questions:

Six-year-old Teddy Lupin was feeling unnaturally nervous. One-shot Teddy's speech for his primary school about his parents, or people like his parents. R&R!

(in-package #:cl-pestilence)

;;   This is _not_ a simulation. It's just a game. And any resemblance
;; to any world, real or imaginary, is entirely coincidental.

;;   You can copy/paste this post in its entirety into a Common Lisp
;; REPL and play around with it if you like. I'm documenting it where
;; possible, but it's just a small toy to poke at for the moment.

;;   I've been thinking a lot about asymmetric multiplayer games and
;; <gestures wildly to world at large> all this.
;; I'm not actively _trying_ to model it accurately, but it's probably
;; obvious what's been consuming my thoughts lately.

;;   Let's get right into this. I'll explain as I go, and tie a few things
;; together neatly at the end. I hope. Regardless, there will absolutely
;; be a repo sometime fairly soon.

;; A place can be tagged arbitrarily, and can contain occupants.
;; They also collect points.

(defclass place ()
  ((tags :initarg :tags :initform nil :accessor tags)
   (occupants :initarg :occupants :initform nil :accessor occupants)
   (points :initform 0 :accessor points)))

(defun place? (thing)
  (eq (find-class 'place) (class-of thing)))

(defun place (&key tags occupants)
  (make-instance 'place :tags tags :occupants occupants))

(defun gen-place ()
  (let ((tag (pick '(:apartment-building :house :cottage
		     :office-building :factory :store
		     :cafe :lounge :theater))))
    (place :tags (list tag))))

(defmethod details ((place place))
  (format nil "====================~%~a {~{~a~}}~%~{  ~a~^~%~}~%"
	  (first (tags place))
	  (rest (tags place))
	  (mapcar #'details (occupants place))))

(defmethod show ((place place))
  (format nil "~20@a ~5a [~{~a~}]~%"
	  (first (tags place)) (points place)
	  (mapcar #'show (occupants place))))

;; A peep goes places.
;; They have
;;  - their daily routine (a list of places to visit)
;;  - their todo (the part of their routine they still need to do;
;;                they are currently at the first place in this list)
;;  - their health (a number from 0 to 100)
;;  - a list of plagues
;; Finally, they _also_ collect points.

(defclass peep ()
  ((routine :initarg :routine :initform (list) :accessor routine)
   (todo :initarg :todo :initform nil :accessor todo)
   (health :initarg :health :initform 100 :accessor health)
   (plagues :initform nil :accessor plagues)
   (points :initform 0 :accessor points)))

(defun peep? (thing)
  (eq (find-class 'peep) (class-of thing)))

(defun peep (&key places)
  (make-instance 'peep :routine places :todo places))

(defun health->string (health)
  (cond ((>= health 90) "@")
	((>= health 80) "0")
	((>= health 70) "O")
	((>= health 50) "o")
	((>= health 30) ":")
	((>= health 1)  ".")
	(t "☠")))

(defmethod details ((peep peep))
  (format nil "[~a ~3d [~{ ~a~^ ->~}]]"
	  (health->string (health peep)) (health peep)
	  (mapcar
	   (lambda (place) (first (tags place)))
	   (routine peep))))

(defmethod show ((peep peep)) (health->string (health peep)))

;; A world is a list of places, occupied by peeps. The world we start
;; peeps in also determines their routine.

(defun gen-world (&key (num-places 20) (num-peeps 100))
  (let ((places (loop repeat num-places collect (gen-place))))
    (loop repeat num-peeps
       do (let* ((routine (loop repeat 5 collect (pick places)))
		 (peep (peep :places routine)))
	    (push peep (occupants (first routine)))))
    places))

(defmethod details ((world list))
  (format nil "~%~{~a~}~%" (mapcar #'details world)))

(defmethod show ((world list))
  (format nil "~%~{~a~}~%" (mapcar #'show world)))

(defmethod all-peeps ((world list))
  (loop for place in world append (all-peeps place)))

(defmethod all-peeps ((place place))
  (loop for o in (occupants place) if (peep? o) collect o))

;; `tick!`ing a world means moving every peep through their routine once.
;;   We `tick!` each peep, then `tick!` each place until all the peeps are
;; done. Then we reset their routines.
;; You can think of this as a turn in the game.

(defmethod tick! ((world list))
  (let ((peeps (all-peeps world)))
    (loop while peeps
       do (setf peeps
		(loop for p = (pop peeps) while p
		   for res = (tick! p)
		   if res collect res))
       do (mapc #'tick! world)
       do (format t "~a" (show world)))
    (loop for p in (all-peeps world)
       do (setf (todo p) (routine p))))
  world)

;; Don't worry about the details of how to `tick!` peeps or places yet.

;;   Ok, here's where it gets a bit darker. Although we _did_
;; foreshadow this in the definition of `peep`. And also in the title
;; of the accompanying blog post.

;; A plague is another living thing.
;; It has
;;  - a host (a peep that it's infecting)
;;  - a signature (a token representing its lineage and strain)
;;  - health (how well it's doing inside its host)
;;  - virulence (how likely it is to spread to another host)
;;  - efficiency (how efficient they are at feeding)
;;  - reproduce (a function that returns a new instance to push into a new host)
;;  - and a strategy (a function, possibly closed, that takes
;;    itself and its host peep and mutates)

;; Plagues do not collect points; they score differently.

(defclass plague ()
  ((host :initarg :host :initform nil :accessor host)
   (signature :initarg :host :initform "SIG" :accessor signature)
   (health :initarg :health :initform 10 :accessor health)
   (virulence :initarg :virulence :initform 10 :accessor virulence)
   (efficiency :initarg :efficiency :initform 0.2 :accessor efficiency)
   (reproduce
    :initarg :reproduce
    :initform
    #'plague
    :reader reproduce)
   (strategy
    :initarg :strategy
    :initform
    (lambda (plague peep)
      (feed! plague peep 30))
    :reader strategy)))

(defun plague ()
  (make-instance 'plague))

;; Plagues can `feed!` on peeps or plagues. To feed means to
;; take away some of the targets' health and add some to your own.

(defmethod feed! ((self plague) (peep peep) (amount integer))
  (decf (health peep) amount)
  (incf (health self) (* (efficiency self) amount)))

(defmethod feed! ((self plague) (plague plague) (amount integer))
  (decf (health plague) amount)
  (incf (health self) (* (efficiency self) amount)))

;; Plagues can also `infect!` peeps by `reproduce`ing into them.

(defmethod infect! ((self plague) (peep peep))
  (unless (infected-by? self peep)
    (let ((child (funcall (reproduce self))))
      (setf (host child) peep)
      (push child (plagues peep)))))

(defmethod infected-by? ((self plague) (peep peep))
  (member (signature self) (mapcar #'signature (plagues peep))
	  :test #'string=))

;;  `tick!`ing a plague causes it to weaken and also carry out its strategy.
;; This models the background effect of the immune system of its host.

(defmethod tick! ((plague plague))
  (decf (health plague) 1)
  (funcall (strategy plague) plague (host plague))
  plague)

;;  `tick!`ing a peep means moving them to their next place, and also
;; `tick!`ing any plagues they may have contracted. Also, peeps are
;; resilient; they heal a small amount each time they tick (to a
;; maximum of 100).
;;  If a peep dies, they no longer move. And their plagues probably
;; won't do well. Peeps like to go places. They score points for each
;; place they go to.

(defun dead? (thing) (>= 0 (health thing)))

(defmethod tick! ((peep peep))
  (unless (dead? peep)
    (let ((location (pop (todo peep))))
      (incf (points peep))
      (setf (occupants location) (remove peep (occupants location)))
      (push peep (occupants (or (first (todo peep)) (first (routine peep)))))
      (setf (health peep) (min 100 (+ 5 (health peep))))
      (mapc #'tick! (plagues peep))
      (unless (empty? (todo peep))
	peep))))

;; `tick!`ing a place causes it to score for each `peep` present. And it causes
;; any `plague`s on present `peep`s to try to `infect!` other nearby peeps.
;; Places also lose points for each dead peep they contain.

(defmethod tick! ((place place))
  (incf (points place) (length (occupants place)))
  (loop for peep in (all-peeps place)
     if (dead? peep)
     do (decf (points place) 2)
     else do (loop for plague in (plagues peep)
		do (loop for victim in (remove peep (all-peeps place))
		      if (>= (virulence plague) (random 100))
		      do (infect! plague victim))))
  place)

;;  So, now we've got the basic framework of the game in place. There are three
;; players in this game: places, peeps and plagues.
;;   A plague player automatically loses if they are completely cured, and
;; automatically wins if they manage to kill everyone. That's fairly simple.
;;   A place player wins if they manage to cure the plague. They automatically
;; lose if all the peeps die. Also, fairly simple.
;;   A peep player is trying to survive. If they manage to make it some numer
;; of turns before dying, then we have to score the game instead of declaring
;; an outright winner regardless of game state.

;;   A peep player's score is the total number of points plus remaining health
;; on all of their peeps, minus the number of active plagues on said peeps.
;;   A plague player's score is the total number of health of their plagues,
;; with a multiplier equal to the number of places fully infected by
;; their plague.
;;   A place player's score is the total number of points in their places.

(defun score (world)
  (list :peep (let ((score 0))
		(loop for p in (all-peeps world)
		   unless (dead? p)
		     do (incf score (+ (health p) (points p)))
		   do (decf score (length (plagues p))))
		score)
	:place (let ((score 0))
		 (loop for p in world
		    do (incf score (points p)))
		 score)
	:plague (let ((score 0))
		  (loop for victim in (all-peeps world)
		     do (loop for p in (plaguesvictim)
			   do (incf score (max 0 (health p)))))
		  (loop for target in world
		     if (every
			 (lambda (victim)
			   (not (empty? (plagues victim))))
			 (all-peeps target))
		     do (setf score (* 2  score)))
		  score)))

;;   I think that's all I've got for now. This is definitely an idea I want
;; to run with. At the moment, it's just a tiny, in-repl proof-of-concept,
;; and not particularly fun, but I'm going to try developing it further with an
;; eye towards turning it into an actual web game playable from this site.

;; As always, I'll let you know how it goes.

(defun pick (lst)
  (nth (random (length lst)) lst))

(defun empty? (lst)
  (null lst))

 I gave myself a challenge tonight of seeing how quick I could paint some ACW soldiers to a standard I’d be happy to game with. I started off with a black under coat and added single colours to block out the uniform. I forced myself to just use one coat colour ( Foundry Union uniform B), I found later this can be dry-brushed with earth brown and this acts as a highlight. The soldiers are rough and ready campaign guys, so mud and dust was added to them.

Also, I love the fact that the varnish is as hard as nails and will protect them from knocks and scrapes. My last lot, because of the number of them, I just matte varnished without any gloss or floor varnish underneath. This didn’t sit well with me and I’m a lot happier knowing this lot have been dipped.



 As with the ECW lot, the flesh is the only paint I allowed myself to use two colours on. It made such a difference it was a ‘no brainer’. Skin tone under Army Painter needs two colours I think, as sometimes without, it can loose something and the men appear a little lifeless.


 Well after the quick blocking in and weathering I gave them a brush with the Army Painter strong tone. The results were very pleasing, a lot better than the photos do justice really.

For the American Civil War you need a lot of men unless of course you are using skirmishing rules. This I think has to be the route for me now with all of of my big projects, the results are quick and still pleasing. It’s also nice to force yourself into new ways of working which helps keep the hobby fresh and rewarding. I think that is a good word to use for the Dip, rewarding. Seeing those bags of figures in draws get a lick of paint on them and become units and thus, usable.

 We’ll have to see how they turn out when they’re matte varnished
This lot must have taken me an hour maybe a bit less. The brown tone works well on these guys but should be even better on the soft greys and browns of the Confederate army.

Something extraordinary happened on May 4, 2020.  Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger delivered an extremely impressive speech in virtually flawless Mandarin.  Here it is: Here's the transcript of Pottinger's speech (pdf), the formal English title of which is "Reflections on China's May Fourth Movement: an American Perspective — Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger to […]

Nobody likes a slow internet browser; frankly it’s a royal pain in the ass. We have better things to do then sitting around waiting for a page to load only to stair at a blank page. When it comes to slow internet browsers Internet Explorer has a history of being slow and clunky even with the best connection possible. Even their latest update Internet Explorer 9 is still much slower then browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox............

Having a slow internet connection is a pain in the ass. I hate waiting for pages that seem to take forever to load, videos that constantly buffer, and browsers that fail because it takes too long to open a web page. It’s frustrating and I have better things to do just like you, then sitting around losing my mind because my internet speed is slower then the second coming of Christ. So I put together a list of 10 things you can do to speed up your internet...............

Looks like the powers that be at Google are launching yet another free web tool you can use to help boost your sites performance. Google page speed is Google’s latest free tool, it’s purpose……well simply put it helps make your web pages load faster.........

So your website loads slower then old people Fu%@ing. Nobody likes a slow website, not the search bots, and especially not people who will leave rather then wait for a page that takes forever to load, let’s be honest our attention span is getting shorter all the time. On top of that Google’s recent Panda update looks at a sites load time to determine where it’s going to site in search results, either way you look at it your website loading time is a big deal............ So how do you speed up your website loading time? Here’s a list of 10 tips for optimizing your website to load faster.........

1. Queen Elizabeth's VE Day speech says veterans would be proud of coronavirus effort today  ABC News
2. Queen’s VE Day TV address: Tells Brits to ‘never give up’  NEWS.com.au
3. 'Streets filled with love': The Queen gets personal in VE Day broadcast  Sydney Morning Herald
4. King George VI VE Day speech: Read poignant message 'Our will-power is inexhaustible'  Express
5. A message of hope in difficult times  Telegraph.co.uk
6. View Full coverage on Google News

The 'Curtain of Distraction' is well known at Arizona State University as a hilarious sports tactic. This time Michael Phelps came out Magic Mike style to prevent a few free throws. Just look at those sweet moves, the opposing team was bound to miss. 

Iriss.fm is delighted to broadcast an episode on the work of Plumtree, an Australian not-for-profit organisation that provides support for young children from birth to 8 years old with a developmental delay or disability and their families.

Sylvana Mahmic (CEO) and Dr Melanie Heyworth (Peer Worker) tell the story of Now and Next, a project that has been successful at involving families as peer workers in early childhood intervention.

Three key messages:

Peer workers offer unique benefit to families of young children with disabilities that are not available through existing services, but which are complementary to them. Benefits include feelings of leadership, agency and community. Learning from mental health practice could be applied to the disability sector, so there was no need to spend time reinventing the wheel. It made it cost effective, quick and provided maximum benefit. Implementation of peer work into any existing organisation will face challenges and barriers, but these can be mitigated by pre-emptive organisational action.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes

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Meredith McIver is the speech writer who took responsibility for Melania Trump's plagiarism (you may have heard about it?). But people aren't convinced that Meredith is even real, leading to the internet's new favorite conspiracy theory. Is Meredith McIver a fake persona created by Trump? Let's examine the evidence.

And if you'd like some appetizer Trump memes before you get started, now would be the time.

Some of these are even more tremendous than Donald Trump Memes. What a time to be alive. Big times up ahead...

Cy rubs one out for us! See more at Peepshow.tv.

The post PeepShow.tv: Cy appeared first on QueerClick.

Windows can't fix all the bugs on each release. I'll look at some of the reasons Windows might not fix something you consider important.

Why Didn’t Windows Fix My Pet Peeve? from Ask Leo!.
Get the newsletter: https://newsletter.askleo.com

Princeton's Michael Oppenheimer spoke on CBS's "60 Minutes" about the threat posed by rising sea levels to many cities, including UNESCO World Heritage Site Venice, Italy.

Guest Post: XDP allows you to build a high-performance peering router using just Linux, while leveraging various open-source routing daemons.

Former NFL star Brett Favre said Wednesday he would repay the state of Mississippi $1.1 million after a state auditor discovered the Mississippi Department of Human Services paid the ex-quarterback for speaking engagements that never happened.

In the late 1970s, a harbor seal named Hoover began catcalling passersby at the New England Aquarium in a thick Maine accent. A new study confirms seals’ uncanny ability to copy human speech.

Saharan silver ants don’t have the longest limbs. But they make up for it with a sprightly combination of fast pacing, light-footedness, and synchronized stepping that effectively turns their six legs into two.

The 12-speed trickle down continues as Shimano unveils their new Deore drivetrain, along with new brakes and wheels.
( Photos: 14, Comments: 471 )

The cocktail includes three antiviral drugs and a different drug that boosts natural immune system chemicals.

C’mon folks. You’re getting to your destinations faster than ever with less than half the traffic on the road so why speed? Yet many of you (not my readers, of course, so pass this onto your friends and acquaintances) are doing so putting all of us at risk.

Former NFL star Brett Favre said Wednesday he would repay the state of Mississippi $1.1 million after a state auditor discovered the Mississippi Department of Human Services paid the ex-quarterback for speaking engagements that never happened.

The cocktail includes three antiviral drugs and a different drug that boosts natural immune system chemicals.

Former NFL star Brett Favre said Wednesday he would repay the state of Mississippi $1.1 million after a state auditor discovered the Mississippi Department of Human Services paid the ex-quarterback for speaking engagements that never happened.

Former NFL star Brett Favre said Wednesday he would repay the state of Mississippi $1.1 million after a state auditor discovered the Mississippi Department of Human Services paid the ex-quarterback for speaking engagements that never happened.

Fashion designer turned lifestyle guru Jenni Kayne renovated a property she calls "The Lake House," an all-white, three-level cabin tucked away in the mountains in Lake Arrowhead. We got a peek inside.

How can artists respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? Joaquin Phoenix's much-ridiculed Oscar acceptance speech actually suggests an answer.

As a divorce lawyer in 'Marriage Story,' Laura Dern calls out societal bias against mothers. She helped craft the speech with writer-director Noah Baumbach.

Before the Oscars on Sunday, watch the wildly different and entertaining acceptance speeches Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix have made this awards season.

Brad Pitt saluted stunt crew and coordinators while accepting an Oscar for his role in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood."

Joaquin Phoenix gave a weighty speech about commonalities, cows and second chances after winning the Oscar for lead actor Sunday night. Read the transcript.

When the Oscars telecast tried to cut off the "Parasite" team's speech after winning best picture, the audience rallied to let them continue.

THE QUEEN addressed the nation as part of VE Day celebrations today, and Her Majesty wore her Aquamarine Clip Brooches, making a sweet nod to her father, who gave her the jewellery.

COMPUTER services company PTC is using augmented reality , the enhanced visual technology seen in Pokemon Go smartphone games and Iron Man movies, to produce ventilators in record time for the NHS.

LOCKDOWN measures could turn the UK into "postcode lottery" as police forces admit they will not pursue low level speeding offences amid the restrictions.

IF YOU'VE ever wondered why your BT broadband isn't always performing to its best the firm may have some answers. Simple things can make a huge difference to your speeds and here's all you need to know about your Wi-Fi connection.

Premier League clubs will disinfect the grass when the season resumes.

Premier League clubs will disinfect the grass when the season resumes.