text:
 Restaurant Equipment Parts | Commercial kitchen Equipment parts- PartsFPS

With more than 50,000 parts, PARTSFPS brings you one stop solution for all your Food Service Parts requirements. We specialize in supplying food equipment parts for most of the manufacturers. We believe every part is a true friend - It Won’t Let You down Till It’s End. Start searching the part you are looking for. You can search by Manufacturer. Or our Part number search is robust to search within all categories/manufacturers in our database.

RESTAURANT EQUIPMENT PARTS | COMMERCIAL KITCHEN EQUIPMENT PARTS- PARTSFPS

PartsFPS is the largest distributor of foodservice parts for commercial kitchens. We provide top quality items at less price for your industry. As a COMMERCIAL KITCHEN EQUIPMENT PARTS supplier, we have Everything you need to run your business smoothly.

PartsFPS is superior in providing delivery services to customers. Your satisfaction is our goal. If you need any KITCHEN EQUIPMENT REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT PARTS, order from our website. Low price on OEM parts & same day shipping makes us the best choice for restaurant supply needs.

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[hobart slicer troubleshooting guide]

Friday, November 27, 2020

Hobart slicers are the preferred choice for many restaurants and other foodservice centers to make food preparation as easy as possible. However, sometimes malfunctions and issues arise in its working. These malfunctions or breakages will require Hobart slicer repair or replacement. You can fix some of the common problems yourself easily. So, here, we have given Hobart slicer troubleshooting guide for issues that your unit experience over its lifetime.

[how to clean popcorn machine]

Friday, November 20, 2020

It is important to keep the popcorn machine in the top condition, in its working operation by cleaning it regularly. With regular cleaning of machine, your popcorn will taste as good. Also, the machine will last longer if you focus on even less maintenance. So, you have to habituate the cleaning of popcorn maker that is essential to the continued growth of sales. Let's see the best ways for how to clean a commercial popcorn machine.

[soda machine troubleshooting guide]

Friday, November 6, 2020

Soda machine maintenance can be tricky to avoid problems. There will be a lot that can go wrong with soda machines. But, there are many chances for your machine troubleshooting before calling a soda fountain machine repair technician. Here we have few ways to determine how to fix soda machine in Easy way. These soda machine troubleshooting tips help to get your machine operational as soon as possible.

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question: Apart from providing parts for food service equipment, what other unique services do PARTSFPS provides for its customers?

answer: PARTSFPS is a company that provides parts for food services equipment used in restaurants and other food or snack-producing establishments. PartsFPS is the largest distributor of parts for commercial kitchens and prides itself on selling quality parts that last. Outside of providing equipment parts, one of PartsFPS's unique services is teaching their clients how to maintain their food equipment and informing them of the unique quirks that comes with each machine.


split: train

text:
10/23/12:
I have made the conscious decision to kill myself on November 1st, 2012. I know that most people who know me will not approve of this but there's no other way out of this. I live in a shitty home, have a shitty job and have a shitty life. I have no money whatsoever, my parents are dead, my brother lives in Wyoming, I have nothing to lose.

I've never been much afraid of dying or death, but learning you have an inoperable brain tumor the size of a small lemon is a pretty scary thing to hear. I guess it all just puts a new perspective on life to most people but not me. This was just my luck. Now I'm going to have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Well... they're not going to get it.

I went in to Facey Urgent Care about a week ago trying to solve why I've been having these massive migraines for the past month or so. I get at least four a week. They don't make me vomit or anything, It's just pressure and pain for hours on end.

My doctor referred me to a friend of his at Henry Mayo Hospital just around the corner for the next week to get an MRI to see what was going on. I went there and sat in the waiting room for almost an hour before my name was called.

They had me sit in a cold secondary waiting room when a man came in and sat next to me. He looked familiar to me but I couldn't exactly put my finger on it. He sat there silently looking at a pamphlet about cancer support groups. Now, I'm not one to talk to strangers but I had to know where I had seen this guy from. I asked him if I had met him before and he said no but he introduced himself to me. His name is John. He was really nice. He told me that he's been in Chemo Therapy for about a month now and has a brain tumor. I told him I've been having headaches and he told me it's probably nothing.

It actually felt comforting to hear him say that...
A nurse called me back and I got undressed and into a gown and sat on this table in front of this big machine. After wards I got dressed and was called into the doctors office where he told me the news. As soon as I heard it, "You have cancer.", everything went silent. The doctor continued to talk to me but I couldn't hear anything.

I went back out looking for John but couldn't find him. I asked the nurse where he went and she asked for which patient and I told her John. "We get many patients named John. Sorry hun." I was actually sad. I came home, sat on my computer and here I am now. I know what I'm going to do. I know what it's going to cause. But it's my choice and I'm happy with that.

I'll be updating either tomorrow or the next day for anyone who cares to read a dying mans last words.

EDIT: Just found out my first Chemo session is tomorrow.

title: 10/23/12: Headaches

question: Does the narrator decide to go through with chemo, or just kill themselves?

answer: The whole point of the piece is to announce that they're killing themselves, that they'll do it before they rack up thousands of dollars in medical bills, but the last statement "my first Chemo session is tomorrow" sounds like they may in fact consider treatment. It's conflicting.


text:
[Galaxy S7 battery life with Exynos CPU vastly superior to Snapdragon flavor, here's the proof]

With the exception of last year's Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, Samsung has, for years, partnered with San Diego-based Qualcomm, which supplied some of the processors for its flagship line. If you lived outside of the States, however, chances were that local carriers had the phone with Samsung's own Exynos chipset on the inside. This split is also true this year with the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge: buyers in the States get Snapdragon, while elsewhere, Exynos rules.

For the most part, this split has been rather inconsequential from a consumer point of view, as the chips were always highly similar in terms of overall performance. In fact, back in March, we found that

the Exynos-based S7 is essentially identical to the Snapdragon one in terms of processing power, managing highly comparable scores in various synthetic benchmarks. What we had reasons to suspect, but had insufficient data to back up, however, is that the Exynos variant is superior in terms of efficiency. Vastly superior, in fact.

New data comes to light

Made exclusively available to PhoneArena by the creators of

GameBench—a tool aimed at developers that are looking to identify and fix performance issues with their apps—a new, revealing data set is reminding us that we have some unfinished work here. In short, the folks behind the benchmark suite have spent quite some time testing the two Galaxy S7 models, along with the Snapdragon 820-based HTC 10 and LG G5. The tests included audio playback through both Spotify and Tidal, and video watching via both YouTube and Netflix. In concert with our own, custom battery tests, we now have an adequate number of data points to revisit the topic.

Here's GameBench's methodology for the video streaming tests:

-   Streaming through LTE with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned off;
-   Only 12 user-installed apps, some of which logged in and sending in notifications;
-   Streaming 30 minute clips at automatic quality settings for both YouTube and Netflix;
-   The Snapdragon 820-based Galaxy S7 had Verizon bloatware that may or may not have affected power efficiency

[Galaxy S7 battery life with Exynos CPU vastly superior to Snapdragon flavor, here's the proof]

GameBench's methodology for the audio streaming tests was the same as before, plus:

-   Playing a song for 30 minutes;
-   Always On Display turned off;
-   Spotify set to Extreme quality;
-   Tidal set to Hi-Fi quality

[Galaxy S7 battery life with Exynos CPU vastly superior to Snapdragon flavor, here's the proof]

Finally, our own custom battery benchmark scores for the Exynos/Snapdragon Galaxy S7, plus the HTC 10 and LG G5:

[Galaxy S7 battery life with Exynos CPU vastly superior to Snapdragon flavor, here's the proof]

Using the data above and with the help of a calculator, we can conclude the following:

-   The global (Exynos-based) Galaxy S7 is, on average, over 71% more efficient than its US (Snapdragon-based) twin;
-   Our own test shows a delta of over 62% between the Exynos and Snapdragon variants of the S7;
-   The Exynos 8890 in the S7 is also more efficient than the Snapdragon 820 in the HTC 10 and LG G5;
-   When it comes to audio playback, the Snapdragon 820 is only slightly behind;
-   The Snapdragon 820-based Galaxy S7 is the least efficient of the bunch;

Following the publishing of this new data, Qualcomm reached out to us. Here's an official statement, followed by our own comment:

"The software-based methodology for measuring power that's used in this article is primarily designed for app developers who want to understand and optimize power and performance for specific use cases during development. The SoC power consumption numbers stated in this article are very different from the tests that we have run internally. Qualcomm believes that a more controlled test/network environment, along with a method of isolation of the non-chipset components would be required to get accurate chipset level comparisons."

PhoneArena's comment: "We agree with Qualcomm's considerations, as the tests that we and GameBench conducted measure power consumption of the products as a whole, and not their chipsets specifically as isolated hardware components. Our findings reflect battery life and power consumption observations exclusively for the Galaxy S7 and Samsung's particular implementation of the Exynos and Snapdragon chips. In other words, this isn't (and wasn't meant to be) a technical chip vs chip test.

In addition, since testing the Verizon Snapdragon 820-based S7 in the UK meant that cellular fallback was potentially impacted, and therefore so was power draw, we've worked alongside GameBench to modify the testing methodology from above, and adapt it to streaming over Wi-Fi. As you can see for yourself, the results here corroborate our initial findings, so we can rule out this being the issue.

Some changes in the methodology:

-   Fewer apps were installed on each device (no games);
-   Adaptive Display was switched off this time around;
-   Tested over Wi-Fi only, with SIM card removed;
-   During the testing period, Spotify streamed ~110MB, Tidal ~240MB, YouTube ~345MB, and Netflix between 230-250MB

Power consumption (mW) of streaming apps on each device

UK GS7 (Exynos)

US GS7 (SD)

Spotify

474

1170

TIDAL

556

1042

Netflix

1040

1784

YouTube

1028

2224

Closing words

While we all get to watch video on YouTube, and many of us stream music through Spotify, these are just two out of many activities a phone goes through. In combination with our test, however, which is built to mimic typical real world use, we can draw some conclusions.

Galaxy S7 owners in the States drew the short stick, it seems!

First and foremost, it seems that US Galaxy S7 users drew the short stick, as despite the Snapdragon 820 offering essentially identical processing power, it does seem to seriously lag behind in terms of efficiency. Sure, it being a Verizon model with extra bloatware, we can attribute some of the drain to these two uninstallable apps (My Verizon Mobile and VZ Protect), but we have no reason to believe that they're entirely responsible for the massive delta between the performance of the two flavors.

The rest of the data clearly shows that the Exynos 8890 within the Galaxy S7 is also more power-efficient than the Snapdragon 820 in the HTC 10 and LG G5, especially in terms of video streaming. Our very own tests show a 62% delta between the Exynos and Snapdragon variants of the S7, which is disconcerting.

We've reached out to Samsung for a comment and will update this article should we get one.

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question: Who has Samsung partnered with for years?

answer: Samsung has partnered with San Diego-based Qualcomm for years.

question: What is GameBench?

answer: GameBench is a tool aimed at developers that are looking to identify and fix performance issues with their apps.

question: What is the main argument of the article?

answer: The main argument is that the Galaxy S7 battery life with Exynos CPUS is superior to the Snapdragon flabvor

question: On what interfaces did the tests include audio playback?

answer: On both Spotify and Tidal

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses the advantages of a Samsung phone and how it has a better battery life than Snapdragon. The settings of each phone is described along with tests of how to prove the battery life is more efficient.


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B/W 1941chimpanzee climbing up pole + grabbing banana from ceiling / Of Pups and Puzzles : Stock Footage Video

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text:
ABA KHEL is the subtribe of Mandanr Yusafzai Pashtun tribe in Swabi District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. They are settled in villages Zaida, Kaddi, Hund, Shah Mansur, Khunda, Ambar, Panj Pir, Beka, Aryan, Lahor and Kheshgi (District Nowshera).

History

Yusafzai are named after Yusaf who was the son of Manday along with Umar. Umar died early and left behind his son Mandanr who married the daughter of his uncle Yusaf. The descendants of both Yusaf and Mandanr are together called Yusafzai.

Mandanr, the son of Umar had four sons namely Munu, Razar, Hazar & Mahmood.

Munu then had two sons namely Usman and Utman.

The descendants of Sadu, son of Utman are called Sadu Zai who are divided into five families namely Aba Khel, Umar Khel, Khadu Khel, Mir Ahmed Khel and Behzad Khel. The tombs of Aba and Umar are present between the villages of Panj Pir and Darra marking the boundary between Aba Khel and Umar Khel.

Aba, the forefather of Aba Khel subtribe had two sons namely Nusrat and Daulat.

The descendants of Nusrat inhabit villages Zaida, Kaddi, Panj Pir, Hund, Beka, Nabi, Aryan, Ambar, Lahor, Balu, & Sala while the descendants of Daulat live in villages Shah Mansur and Khunda.

The eldest son of Nusrat was Ulas or Usi and gave rise to Usi Khel who are divided in seven Khel based on seven sons of Usi. They are Balar Khel, Taju Khel, Ayub Khel, Zakarya Khel, Panj Pao, Tawus Khel and Bazaid Khel. Usi Khan younger brother (safu Khan) whose children live in village Nabi next to Beka, called safu khail.

title: Abakhel (Pashtun tribe)

question: Where does the Aba Khel subtribe live?

answer: The tribe is settled in the villages of Zaida, Kaddi, Hund, Shah Mansur, Khunda, Ambar, Panj Pir, Beka, Ayran, Lahor, and Kheshgi in Pakistan.

question: How many sons did Mandanr have?

answer: He had four sons.

question: Who did Mandanr marry?

answer: Mandanr married the daughter of his uncle Yusaf.

question: Where do the descendants of Nusrat live?

answer: They inhabit the villages Zaida, Kaddi, Panj Pir, Hund, Beka, Nabi, Aryan, Ambar, Lahor, Balu, and Sala.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
Aba Khel is a subtribe of Mandanr Yusafzai Pashtun tribe. They reside in villages Zaida, Aryan, Beka, Panj Pir, Ambar, and more in Pakistan.

Mandanr the son of Umar was married to his uncle Yusaf's daughter and had four children. Utman's (Mandanr's grandchild) has a son named Sadu. Sadu's descendants are divided into five families namely, Aba Khel, Umar Khel, Khadu Khel, Mir Ahmed Khel, and Behzad Khel.


text:
	When I was a boy, my family and I lived at the end of a long, dusty street. Adjacent to our house was a small school, but other than the school, my street was empty. We were surrounded on the remaining three sides by fallow farm-fields. They may have once been cultivated, but were the domain of wild mustard plants and purple-crowned thistles now. To the southeast, across one such field, was the playground of my youth: the canal. It was fairly wide and deep, and throughout most of the year, dry as a bone. Spanning the canal was a bridge built from rusty, fifty gallon drums and thick, rough timbers; held together by some farmer’s ingenuity and a good measure of luck. Whenever the canal was full, the bridge became our diving platform, and when the canal was empty, an excellent place to tie ropes for makeshift swings. This canal, dusty and dirty, was the place of childhood adventures for me. As I was alone on my street, the canal became the place to meet up with kids from the surrounding neighborhoods, and invariably, a place of excitement, trouble, and mischief. A fickle mistress was the canal of my youth; sometimes giving, sometimes taking. This story pertains to the latter; a story of loss and defeat for boy of seven: the day I lost my pants (to the canal).

	It was not an unusual day; it started like any other lazy weekend; breakfast, cartoons, and out the door. I grabbed my trusty BMX bike, and set forth in search of excitement. Now, in those days, bicycle chain-guards were considered a sign of weakness for a kid: a sign of fear. If you were cool, and brave, the chain-guard had to go, and so, mine did. The only problem with this arrangement was the high likelihood of getting your trouser cuff stuck between chain and sprocket. In order to overcome this threat, we had learned to tuck the end of our pant leg into our socks. While this set up was fine for new socks, overtime, tragically, elastic loses its stretch.

	I set off across one of the many well-worn dirt paths that crisscrossed the field heading to the canal. As occasionally happened, no boys my age were there. Some older boys, around eleven or twelve, were riding up and down the dry banks of the canal and making quite a commotion. When you are seven, twelve-year olds are, hierarchically speaking, the top of the pre-pubescent social structure; practically grownups, and as such, usually given wide berth. Normally I would have ridden on in search of greener pastures, but that day, for some reason, I did not. Something about the way they were carrying on drew me in, so I rode up to the bank to take a good look at the source of the excitement.

	What I saw that day blew my mind. Those older boys had made an earthen ramp along the dry bed of the canal and were racing down the banks and launching themselves into the air with abandon. I mean, we had made ramps before, but usually they were just a piece of plywood nailed to a couple two by fours; but this, this was a monster. The ramp stood at least a foot tall, maybe eighteen inches; a mighty rampart from which the boys could demonstrate their mastery of bicycle aeronautics.

	I was in awe, but I was not a fool. I wanted to jump this ramp, heck, I needed to jump this ramp, but I would have to bide my time. You just do not cut in on older kids: they would not have it. So I tooled around off at a distance; entertaining myself by riding up and down the banks of the canal. When the older boys got bored and rode on, I finally had my chance.

	I rode up to the top of the canal bank where the boys had queued up for their turns at the jump. Once in position, I made some pre-flight assessments; bike was mechanically sound, pathway to the ramp appeared clear of debris, wind speed was nominal – I gave myself the green light for go! With a push and a kick, I launched down the embankment towards my goal. This was going to be awesome! Like a madman, I peddled - I burned rubber - as we used to say, and my speed increased exponentially. A bit of turbulence shivered through my handlebars, but I compensated; canal banks are never perfect runways after all. Blazing down the bank I cut left to align myself with the basin and put the ramp squarely in my sights: this was going to happen.

	Just as my front tire began its ascent up the short runway of the ramp, a thought entered my mind. And you know its funny how time seems to slow down in times of extreme adrenaline rushes. Although that thought could have only taken a millisecond, it seemed an eternity: “was my pant leg tucked in?” Ascending the ramp my mind flashed back to my pre-flight checklist; pant leg cuff check was missing. A cold tremor of apprehension ran down my spine, but it was too late to turn back. My front tire broke the event horizon at the lip of the ramp: I was committed now. As I lifted off and my rear tire broke free of gravity's stubborn embrace, my fears came to fruition. The frightening, unmistakable sensation of jeans being inexorably bound up in a matrix of sprockets gears and chain links crept up my leg. As my pants became further entangled, my foot was pulled from the pedal and cinched, as if trapped in the jaws of a vice, against the side of the sprocket. The dawning realization that I just might not make it out of this began to creep into my mind.

	Now ordinarily, I might have pulled through, but my velocity was too great; my trajectory through the atmosphere too high; I was going to come down hard, and a landing like this requires all feet firmly astride their peddles. Like Icarus, I had flown too high, but it was not the Sun that was my undoing, it was the canal. My dear, sweet canal; jealous of my high flying act, she beckoned me back down; back to the realm of mud and rocks and weeds.

	For a brief moment, I thought I might make it, but I couldn’t accommodate the balancing act required to deal with so much force. With my foot trapped in my chains steely embrace, I was doomed, and came over hard on my trapped leg. Like a flexible green twig pulled back and released, my upper body swung downward with a vengeance. Thwack! The ground hit me, and the wind was violently punched from my lungs. I can still vividly recall sliding across the dirt clods and pebbles on my chest that day; dust and grit flying in my mouth and eyes, and slowly grinding to a crumpled, broken stop.

	As my head cleared, and the breath slowly returned to my laboring lungs, I ran a post crash assessment of my injuries. Dirt and scratches covered forearms, elbows, chin, chest, right thigh and knee. Only my left leg had escaped the carnage, riding out the crash over the top of my bike. As I tried to pull myself free of my bicycle, I became fully aware of the extent of my problems. Never before had I seen so much pant leg trapped in a chain before. I laid there for what seemed forever; salty tears making little muddy tracks down my face; pulling and pulling to free my pants, but to no avail. I realized then, that only one course of action was going to free me; I was going to have to kick off my shoes and pull my leg free of my pants if I was ever going to see home again.

	Perhaps it was my imagination, or the ringing my head had taken upon impact, but I could almost sense a soft laughter coming up from the earth. The canal was mocking me. I lay there desperate, hurting, and the canal was taunting me.

	I walked the walk of shame that day, as I pushed my bike home in my drawers, pants trailing behind, still wound up in my bicycle’s chain. Maybe you’ve trudged down this path too. The walk of shame, no matter its length, is a long, hard walk. This battle had been fought with all I had, and I had lost. Regardless of the fact that my pants went home with me that day, I knew in my heart of hearts, those pants belonged to the canal. In spite of the selfishness of the canal that day, looking back, I snatched a small victory from the jaws of this defeat: a rite of passage. I learned that life isn’t fair, and you can lose your pants if you’re not careful. I may not have become a man that day, but I was certainly less of a boy.

title: The Day I Lost My Pants

question: Did something unusual happen on the narrator's usual day?

answer: The narrator's pants got stuck in his bike chain as he descended a ramp. To free himself from his bike, he had to remove his pants and walk home.

question: Who are the main characters in this story?

answer: The narrator

question: Describe the older boys the narrator mentions.

answer: The boys were around eleven or twelve, which the narrator describes as the age that is the top of the pre-pubescents social structure.

question: Does the narrator have a love interest?

answer: There is no love interest in this story.

question: Why did the narrator cut left when they were blazing down the bank?

answer: He did this to align himself with the basin and put the ramp in his sights. It seems he was gaining momentum to go up the ramp.

question: Why did the narrator feel that the canal was mocking them?

answer: He felt it was due to the canal that he had lost his pants.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator details the embarrassing moment he lost his pants when he was seven. He often frequented the canal that was close to his home, and there he saw that some older boys had made a dirt ramp. When they left, he shot up the ramp with his bike. However, his pants got stuck in the bike chain and he fell down the ramp. His pants were so stuck that he had to remove them and walk his bike home. He saw this as the moment that made him less of a boy.


text:
It seems like the 2018 FORD MUSTANG GT wants to raise a little hell on the track. Ford claims the new Mustang GT can hit 60 mph in less than 4 seconds in Drag Strip mode.

A PORSCHE 911 CARRERA packs a twin turbocharged flat-six rear engine that offers 370 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque. It'll sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds. A Carrera 4S will get you there in 4.0 seconds.

The redesigned 5.0-liter V-8 of the 2018 Mustang GT makes 460 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. The extra power and torque join the quicker, smoother shifting 10-speed SelectShift automatic and a set of custom-designed Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires to complete the 911-beating package.

"Typically, when you shift gears, you give up time," Mustang chief engineer Carl Widmann says in a news release. "In Drag Strip mode, the engine torque doesn't drop when you're shifting. You get peak engine torque and horsepower straight through thanks to our new Ford-built 10-speed transmission."

Ford's upgraded 5.0-liter V-8 features a dual-fuel, high-pressure direct injection, and low-pressure port fuel injection technology for increased power and efficiency.

The engine offers 25 extra ponies and an additional 20 lb-ft of torque over last year's version. Ford also claims it delivers more low-end torque, high-rpm power, and improved fuel efficiency.

Drag Strip mode has been designed to provide maximum acceleration and performance for straight-line driving and is one of five driver-selectable modes available for 2018. Normal, Sport, Track, and Snow/Wet are the other modes on tap.

"Gearing matters, and in Drag Strip mode this car launches better than ever off the line," Widmann boasts.

Even the EcoBoost-equipped Mustang gets a boost in power on the strip. A retuned EcoBoost four-cylinder now offers 310 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque, which is a 30 lb-ft gain over the 2017 model. Ford claims the 2018 version in Drag Strip mode with Performance Package, and the 10-speed automatic, can reach 0-60 mph in less than 5 seconds.

The 2018 Mustang is available at dealers in the fall and you can build and price one starting on July 25 at www.ford.com/mustang/2018.

question: Name the new track feature on the 2018 Ford Mustang GT that Ford is most excited about.

answer: In Drag Strip mode, the new Mustang GT can hit 60 mph in less than 4 seconds.

question: How does the new Ford Mustang GT stack up against a Porche 911 Carrera and Carrera 4S?

answer: The Porche 911 Carrera packs a twin-turbocharged flat-six rear engine that pumps out 370 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque can go 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds, while a Carrera 4S can do it 4 seconds. The Mustang GT's 5.0-liter V-8 makes 460 horses and 420 lb-ft of torque and does 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds.

question: What upgrades did Ford make on the 2018 Mustang GT?

answer: In Drag Strip mode, the engine torque doesn't drop when a driver is shifting thanks to Ford's new 10-speed transmission. The 5.0-liter V-8 features a dual-fuel, high-pressure direct injection, and low-pressure port fuel injection technology for increased power and efficiency.

question: How does the 2018 Mustang GT compare to last year's model?

answer: The 2018 Mustang GT has 25 more horsepower and 20 lb-ft more torque.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Ford's new 2018 Mustang GT can go from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds when using Drag Strip mode, faster than a Porche 911 Carrera (4.4 seconds) and a Carrera 4S (4.0 seconds). The company says the new Mustang GT packs an upgraded 5.0-liter V-8 engine that makes 460 horses and 420 lb-ft of torque, mated to a SelectShift 10-speed automatic transmission. Ford is proud of their new transmission, saying that in Drag Strip Mode, the engine torque doesn't drop during shifting, giving peak engine torque and horsepower straight through. The EcoBoost-equipped Mustangs also received a boost in horsepower and torque.


text:
JOHN LAMBERT (15 July 1926 – 7 March 1995) was a British music composer and teacher.

Biography

John Arthur Neil Lambert was born at Maidenhead. After obtaining a post at the Royal College of Music, he lived at Brighton for the rest of his life, where he shared a house with organist Timothy Bond. He died in Brighton from liver cancer.

Music career

Lambert studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and then at the Royal College of Music. He studied with Nadia Boulanger privately in Paris; that study ended in 1953.

In 1958 Lambert was named Music Director at the Old Vic theatre; he retained that post until 1962, when he accepted a post as Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music. At the Royal College he established a dedicated experimental music group.[1]

Lambert taught many students who went on to become noted in their own right, including Oliver Knussen, Antony Cooke, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Simon Bainbridge, Gabriel Jackson and Julian Anderson.[2] He also taught Javier Álvarez, Gary Carpenter, David Fanshawe, Jonathan Lloyd, Carlos Miranda and Barrington Pheloung. The striking thing about this list is the musical diversity which is represented therein.[3] Lambert retired from teaching in 1990.

Teaching style

Lambert was a gifted composer and an effective and influential teacher,[4] and was widely regarded as “self-effacing”.[5]

For his entire teaching career, Lambert maintained an intense curiosity and openness to the latest trends in music. He stated that his musical development had been stinted by the lack of musical openness in mid-century England, and he hoped that his students would not suffer a similar deprivation. He exhibited this openness in his own curriculum; he regularly invited noted musical influences.[6]

He encouraged musical students to develop an “analytical ear” - the ability to spot an interesting sound or phrase, then dissect it and sense its potential. He taught this technique in his _Experimental Music Group_, an improvisation seminar which he assembled each week from 1970 until 1990. This involved students both from the college and elsewhere, combining music with live electronics, theatre, dance, film and animation; a forum in which one could try out the most unexpected, even bizarre things and, if they did not come off, that was as important a discovery as if they did.

Musical compositions

Lambert was most productive in his later years. He progressed most rapidly after taking the Music Director post at the Old Vic, where he worked with noted musicians of the period, such as Franco Zeffirelli. He composed music for a range of productions, but also commissioned music from other composers such as Thea Musgrave and Michael Tippett (whose music for The Tempest, 1962, was one of the most striking products of this era).

Possibly Lambert's most imposing composition during his Old Vic period was his _Organ Mass_, composed in a five-year stretch (1964-1968). After that he produced happier, more direct music, such as _Formations and Transformations_ (1973), and an opera, _Family Affairs_, which premiered at the 1988 Brighton Festival.

Lambert's[7] later works include a choral work, _Scale_ (1988), and string quartets. His _Second String Quartet_ (1986) revealed a more intimate side. The most ambitious project was the cycle _Sea-Change_ (1978–94), five contrasting works for ensemble and electronics.

[1]

[2]

[3] _What is so striking about that list is that all the figures in it have gone in completely different, even contradictory, directions. Lambert was extremely proud of that diversity, and it was the key to his special teaching abilities._ (from his Obituary)

[4] _On meeting Lambert a few years ago, a well-known American conductor exclaimed, “Ah, the father of new British music!”_ (from his Obituary)

[5] Obituary for John Lambert, The Independent, 9 March 1995

[6] His obituary mentions seminars by Pierre Boulez and Witold Lutosławski.

[7]

title: John Lambert (composer)

question: What would have happened if Lambert did not teach at the Royal College of Music?

answer: The first change would be the loss of his influence on the notable students mentioned in the article. However, he is not the only teacher in the RCM; and while the educational influence of a gifted composer is certainly beneficial, it does not instantly mean that these students would be significantly lesser without Lambert. So the effect of not having Lambert as a teacher may not alter much for the students who he has taught. The second change would be the likelihood of Lambert becoming even more productive at earlier years. Without his academic responsibilities, Lambert would be able to focus on composing more music possibly for stage, and based on the direction he took with his educational style, he might have also delved into experimental music earlier in his career.


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VIVIAN MORGAN CARKEEK (November 23, 1879 - December 29, 1934) was an American attorney and businessman from Seattle, Washington.

Born to Morgan and Emily Carkeek,[1] one of the area's early pioneer families for whom Carkeek Park is named, Carkeek graduated from the University of Washington School of Law's inaugural class in 1901 (a classmate of Walter B. Beals and Walter M. French, who later married Vivian's cousin, Bessie Westlake Carkeek), and was a partner at the firm Carkeek, McDonald, Harris and Coryell.[2] From 1930 to 1931 he taught at the University of Washington School of Law. Carkeek was generally recognized as one of Seattle's powerful and influential civic personalities.[3][4]

Carkeek, like his mother and sister, was passionately interested in the history of the Seattle area, and he served briefly as president of the Seattle Historic Society, which his mother had founded in 1911, and was a founding officer of the Associates of Eighty-Nine, which was established in 1919 to perpetuate remembrance of the Great Seattle Fire. In the early 1930s he financed the acquisition of theater historian J. Willis Sayre's private collection of 12,500 theatrical programs for the Seattle Public Library. Carkeek also established the “Vivian Carkeek Prize” which is annually awarded “for the best student contribution to the _Washington Law Review_ on a point of Washington law or any point of peculiar interest to Washington attorneys”.[5][6][7][8]

Photographs

-   Morgan and Vivian Carkeek seated in office, circa 1920s, University of Washington Libraries.
-   Vivian Carkeek, circa 1925, University of Washington Libraries.

[1] Dorpat, Paul (August 19, 2005). “Celebrating in Style,” Pacific NW Magazine, _Seattle Times_ (“The Carkeeks were English immigrants, and their children, Guendolen and Vivian, kept the family's Anglo-Saxon flame lit. More than a student of the King Arthur legend, the lawyer Vivian Carkeek was a true believer, and for years the national president of the Knights of the Round Table. Guendolen was packed off to England as a teenager to go to school, although she wound up living in Paris and marrying a Russian count. Later, she returned to Seattle to help revive the historical society that her mother founded in 1911.”)

[2] _American Legal News_ (1915), vol. 26, p. 38 (Washington news: “Announcement has been made of the dissolution of the law firm of Carkeek, McDonald & Kapp, 1207 American Bank Building, Seattle, by the retirement of F.C. Kapp. Vivian M. Carkeek and Donald F. McDonald, with W. H. Harris, and George Coryell, Jr., have formed a new partnership known as Carkeek, McDonald, Harris & Coryell, 1162-1167 Empire building.”) Google books; and _Martindale's American Law Directory_ (1922), p 831 (Washington lawyers, entry for Vivian Carkeek, “a.v. rated.”) Google books

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

title: Vivian Carkeek

question: When was Vivian Morgan Carkeek born?

answer: November 23rd 1879.

question: Where was Vivian Carkeek from?

answer: Seattle, Washington.

question: When did Vivian Carkeek die?

answer: 1934.

question: What society did his mother found?

answer: The Seattle Historic Society.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Vivian Morgan Carkeek, an attorney and businessman who was active in the Seattle area in its historical societies, especially at the end of his life.


text:
[]

Andrew Carmichael Post
 Screenshot/LA Times Video
The Los Angeles Times has a sobering profile of a young law school grad who seemed to be "fast-tracking his way through life" but ended up with $215,000 in debt along the way.

Andrew Carmichael Post was just 22 when he became a member of the California State Bar after graduating from USC's Gould School of Law. Now he's 24, living with his parents, and having to fork over a _minimum_ of $2,756 a month to pay down $215,000 in student loan debt.

"It's like some sort of nightmare where someone gave me a bank mortgage but forgot to add the deed to the house," Post told the LA Times.

His debt situation was aggravated by his inability to find a full-time job as a lawyer after school.

Things have been looking up for him since he got a well-paying job as a programmer, but he still faces an unfathomably high monthly student loan payment.

Post represents an extreme version of the financial burdens facing law school graduates. Students who go to private law schools have an average debt load of $125,000, and those who graduate from San Diego's Thomas Jefferson School of Law carry an average of $168,800 in debt.

Post's inability to find full-time work as a lawyer wasn't unusual, either.

In March, the ABA Journal reported that just half of 2012 law school grads had gotten full-time, long-term legal jobs. Those kinds of job prospects make the idea of paying off six figures of debt all the more daunting.

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[]

question: What caused the young Law School Graduate to be in debt?

answer: Inability to find a full-time job as a Lawyer.

question: Did he eventually find a job?

answer: Yes.

question: How does the Graduate pay his monthly student loan debt?

answer: He got a job as a programmer, but it's uncertain if he could complete the payment of his debt.

question: Is it normal not finding a full-time job as a Lawyer?

answer: It appears getting a full-time job is not unusual.

question: How many Law Graduates in 2012 were able to get full-time long term jobs?

answer: Half.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The article describes the difficulties the average Law School Graduate experiences after school. It appears getting a full-time job as a lawyer is difficult. Using the example of a 24-year-old Law Graduate who still lived with his parents at the time of this article, he got a job as a programmer and still had a mountain load of student loan debts to pay off. In 2012, only half of the Law School Graduates were able to secure full-time jobs as lawyers.


text:
Feedback welcome! I really like the idea and want to do it well. Let me know if there are any grammatical errors I missed. thanks!

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I stop to catch my breath on the 43rd floor. On especially foggy days you can't see the top of the Columbia tower from the ground below. Your imagination doesn't strain to picture it rising up forever. The fog could clear and you would see black windows stretch on for miles into the the sky until you lose sight of it in the distance. This illusion is not shattered from the inside of the building.

Once a year there is a fundraiser where firefighters climb all 69 flights of stairs with full gear on to raise money for leukemia. Even if the cure for cancer was on the line, I still would have stripped my backpack off 10 stories ago. climbing these steps Isn't as bad after shedding 50 pounds.

I haven't slept in two and a half weeks. I know because I keep a tally of the passing days. 20 parallel lines and four vertical slashes etched into the base of the clock tower in King Street Station are the only reason I know I haven't been here for years. That fucking tower. Home of the only working clock in the city. All the others are simply stopped. Digital clocks and watches are just a series of random numbers. a new sequence every few seconds. The result is a change in perspective, the center of the city seems to have shifted to the station. It is where I first woke up 24 days ago and it is where I always return. So much time spent sitting at the base of that tower listening to the tick tick tick of the second hand.

Still climbing. Out the window I see the city sprawl into the distance. Not a sign of life. Not a single living thing as far as I can see. I'm alone here. 56th floor now. Not far from the top.

I tried to leave at first. See if there was life elsewhere. Maybe I was unconscious through an evacuation. Maybe there were electrical issues that would explain the clocks. I found that that wasn't the case. Something bigger is happening. Since there are no cars that will start I packed some food and water and tried to leave the city on foot. The fog made it impossible to leave. I must have walked for a day through the thick consuming grey that was heavy as water around me, making it impossible to see more than a couple feet ahead. I tried to tell myself that I just got turned around when the fog cleared and I came out in exactly the same place I entered it.

Unwavering consciousness is maddening. After a week you would kill to sleep for even an hour. A couple days in I was in a panic, tearing through medicine cabinets in an empty apartment,  I took everything I found. A handful of Valium and Ambien and I just laid there for two hours staring at the ceiling, clear headed and wide awake. Eventually my gaze dropped to look at the pictures on the walls. I felt nauseous. Not from the pills but from seeing the photographs around me. on the walls, on the dressers and bed side table. there were no people in them. Baby pictures with no babies. Empty cribs. Cheap family photo backdrops with no family in front. Pictures taken of people minus the people. I stood up and walked back into the bathroom to confirm my fear. In my frenzy I hadn't even taken a second to look in the mirror. No reflection. I broke the mirror and walked back to the station.

68th floor now.

For a while I was in a haze. Almost catatonic. What could I do? For days I wandered aimlessly, my footsteps the only sound I could hear.

A  couple days ago I broke the window of a house in a more residential part of the city and climbed in. In the living room I sat cross legged in front of a crate of vinyl records. I am unable to see another person but maybe I can hear one. I pull Abby Road from the crate and feel the chills roll down my spine when I see the cover. For some reason the reality of all of this really set in when I saw the empty street. The Isolation and hopelessness of my situation somehow came over me full force while I stared at the sleeve. The familiar scene was all there, the yellow bug on the left, the trees over the peaceful street lined with cars stretching into the distance, but no one in the crosswalk. I knew it would be anything but reassuring at this point but I put the record in and dropped the needle down. There was music, but no vocals. I should have enjoyed it anyway but it was only unsettling. I decided to go with Beethoven while I sat and tried to figure out what to do next.

Here I am. Looking down on the city from the observation deck of it's tallest skyscraper. The view is incredible. A vast concrete landscape meets beautiful blue water encompassed be blanket of fog in all directions. Like living in a snow globe. I take a moment to really appreciate it before picking up one of the heavy wooden chairs on the far end of the room. Luckily the glass is single pane and after three or four tries I swing the chair as hard as possible against the window and it finally gives, shattering outward, sending a glistening cloud of glass to the streets below. Looking over the edge, the ground looks miles away. I start to feel a breeze. The air has been still as long as I can remember. In the wind I hear a sound. It sounds like voices. Whispering. incoherent but there is no mistaking it. I take a deep breath. Then, exhaling every ounce of fear in my body, I jump. The street comes rushing toward me a thousand miles an hour, then black.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

My eyelids are heavy but I force them open. I'm blinded by fluorescent light. Plain white walls and sterile impersonal steel. Hospital. I feel the tubes all around me. The needles. Unnatural extensions of my body. Then a voice.

"Oh my god. Doctor! he's awake! Get in here now, he opened his eyes!"

A frenzy of motion all around me. Scuffling footsteps. A man in light blue scrubs is hovering over me, shining bright light into my eyes.

"Can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me. Are you able to speak?"

I understand but am unable to react. My body is not under my control. Dead weight.

"Keep your eyes open. Listen to my voice. stay with me!"

I can't. My vision begins to blur and sound begins to fade. The voices becoming unintelligible, far away.

"just stay with me."

Then black again.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I wake up and feel cold concrete. I'm confused and all I see is grey. Straining my eyes to look upward I see that familiar tower. It's dead silent
except for a Tick Tick Tick from the clock above.

title: short story I wrote today

question: What does the narrator do for a living?

answer: It's not disclosed in the story.

question: How high does the narrator intend to climb?

answer: To the 69th floor

question: What supernatural phenomena are happening in the story?

answer: There is a powerful fog that the narrator can't escape, all of the clocks except the one in the King Street Station tower are not working, and he cannot see or hear people.

question: Why can't the narrator sleep?

answer: That's not explained in the story.

question: Why does the narrator go to the hospital?

answer: He jumps off a building to escape the silence.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: A man who cannot see or hear people is lost in a mysteriously foggy city. He climbs to the top of a building in order to escape his lonely and sleepless situation.


text:
_AMERICAN GENIUS_ is an American documentary series focusing on the lives of inventors and pioneers who have been responsible for major developments in their areas of expertise and helped shape the course of history. Consisting of eight episodes, it was telecast on the National Geographic Channel from 1 June 2015 to 22 June 2015.[1] Through re-enactments, each episode focuses on the lives of two individuals (or groups) competing with each other in the same field of expertise, illustrating how some of the greatest inventions were made possible by competition between aspirants. Segments of the episodes also consist of interviews by historians and experts in the specific domain under discussion.[2][3] Apple Inc.'s co-founder Steve Wozniak gave his perspective and thoughts on the episode 'Jobs vs Gates' to several media outlets before the series premiere.[4]

Episodes

Reception

The series received favorable reviews from critics. Melissa Camacho from the Common Sense Media rated it 4 out of 5 stars while concluding “It will encourage the audience to think about the technology we rely on today a little differently”.[5] While Neil Genzlinger from _The New York Times_ described the expert interviews as interspersing and illuminating, he wrote the word 'versus' in the episode titles were unsuitable as several of the inventors had collaborated to work at some point in their lives.[6]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

title: American Genius

question: What is American Genius about?

answer: It is a documentary series that focused on the lives of inventors and pioneers who have been responsible for major developments in their area of expertise and helped shape the course of history.

question: Where was American Genius broadcasted?

answer: It was telecast on the National Geographic Channel.

question: What is the documentary's relation to Steve Wozniak?

answer: Wozniak gave his perspective and thoughts on the episode 'Jobs vs Gates' to several media outlets before the series premiere. He is Apple Inc.'s co-founder.

question: What was the general reception of the documentary?

answer: It received favorable reviews from critics.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses American Genius, a 2015 docuseries focusing on the lives of inventors and pioneers who have been responsible for major developments in their areas of expertise and helped shape the course of history.


text:
Researchers from The University of Manchester have discovered a new mechanism that governs how body clocks react to changes in the environment.

And the discovery, which is being published in _Current Biology_, could provide a solution for alleviating the detrimental effects of chronic shift work and jet-lag.

The team's findings reveal that the enzyme casein kinase 1epsilon (CK1epsilon) controls how easily the body's clockwork can be adjusted or reset by environmental cues such as light and temperature.

Internal biological timers (circadian clocks) are found in almost every species on the planet. In mammals including humans, circadian clocks are found in most cells and tissues of the body, and orchestrate daily rhythms in our physiology, including our sleep/wake patterns and metabolism.

Dr David Bechtold, who led The University of Manchester's research team, said: "At the heart of these clocks are a complex set of molecules whose interaction provides robust and precise 24 hour timing. Importantly, our clocks are kept in synchrony with the environment by being responsive to light and dark information."

This work, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, was undertaken by a team from The University of Manchester in collaboration with scientists from Pfizer led by Dr Travis Wager.

The research identifies a new mechanism through which our clocks respond to these light inputs. During the study, mice lacking CK1epsilon, a component of the clock, were able to shift to a new light-dark environment (much like the experience in shift work or long-haul air travel) much faster than normal.

The research team went on to show that drugs that inhibit CK1epsilon were able to speed up shift responses of normal mice, and critically, that faster adaption to the new environment minimised metabolic disturbances caused by the time shift.

Dr Bechtold said: "We already know that modern society poses many challenges to our health and wellbeing - things that are viewed as commonplace, such as shift-work, sleep deprivation, and jet lag disrupt our body's clocks. It is now becoming clear that clock disruption is increasing the incidence and severity of diseases including obesity and diabetes.

"We are not genetically pre-disposed to quickly adapt to shift-work or long-haul flights, and as so our bodies' clocks are built to resist such rapid changes. Unfortunately, we must deal with these issues today, and there is very clear evidence that disruption of our body clocks has real and negative consequences for our health."

He continues: "As this work progresses in clinical terms, we may be able to enhance the clock's ability to deal with shift work, and importantly understand how maladaptation of the clock contributes to diseases such as diabetes and chronic inflammation."

###

DISCLAIMER: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

question: How do our internal clocks synchronize with the environment?

answer: Our internal clocks synchronize with the environment by being responsive to light and dark information.

question: Who made the discovery?

answer: This work is undertaken by a team from The University of Manchester in collaboration with scientists from Pfizer led by Dr. Travis Wager.

question: What is responsible for controlling our adaptation to a new environment?

answer: An enzyme casein kinase 1epsilon (CK1epsilon) is responsible for controlling how we adjust to the environment.

question: How does CK1epsilon affect our adaptation to a new environment?

answer: CK1epsilon speeds up shift responses and hence we have a faster adaptation to a new environment with minimized metabolic disturbances caused by the time shift.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer:
According to research conducted by The University of Manchester, a new mechanism has been found that controls how our body clock reacts to the environment. An enzyme casein kinase 1epsilon controls this adjustment.

The study shows that drugs that inhibit CK1epsilon could speed up shift responses of normal mice and minimize metabolic disturbances caused by the time shift.


text:
Gary Ombler / Getty Images

Quartz (crystalline silica or SiO2) is the most common single mineral of the continental crust. It is unusually hard for a white/clear mineral, hardness 7 on the Mohs scale. Quartz has a glassy appearance (vitreous luster). It never breaks in splinters but fractures in chips with a typical shell-shaped or conchoidal surface. Once familiar with its appearance and range of colors, even beginner rockhounds can reliably identify quartz by eye or, if necessary, with a simple scratch test. It is so common in coarse-grained igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks that its absence may be more noteworthy than its presence. And quartz is the main mineral of sand and sandstone.

The uncrystallized version of quartz is called chalcedony ("kal-SED-a-nee"). A hydrated form of silica is called opal, most of which does not resemble the gemstone.

 Different Kinds of Quartz

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Left to right, rose quartz, amethyst, and rutilated quartz display some of this mineral's variety.

 Doubly Terminated Quartz Crystal

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Double-ended "Herkimer diamond" quartz crystals are found in a few places, but quartz is almost always attached at one end.

"Herkimer diamonds" are distinctive doubly terminated crystals of quartz from the Cambrian limestones near the town of Herkimer, New York. This specimen came from the Herkimer Diamond Mine, and they can also be found at the Crystal Grove Mine.

Bubbles and black organic inclusions are common in these crystals. Inclusions make a stone worthless as a gem, but they are valuable scientifically, being samples of the fluids that circulated in the rocks at the time the crystals were being formed.

It's a real thrill to dig for Herkimer diamonds, no matter what age you are. And studying the faces and angles of the crystals will give you an appreciation of their appeal to mystics and to scientists, both of whom take crystal form as a tantalizing clue to the true nature of matter.

 Quartz Spears

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Quartz crystals generally terminate in blades, not true points. Many pointed rock-shop "crystals" are cut and polished quartz.

 Grooves on Quartz Crystal

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
A sure sign of quartz is these grooves across the crystal faces.

 Quartz in Granite

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Quartz (gray) breaks with a conchoidal fracture, making it glitter, whereas feldspar (white) cleaves along crystal planes, making it flash.

 Milky Quartz Clast

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Quartz is often milky like this pebble, probably an eroded chunk of a quartz vein. Its tightly interlocked grains do not have the outer form of crystals.

 Rose Quartz

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2009 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Rose quartz is milky quartz of a pink color, thought to be due to titanium, iron or manganese impurities or microscopic inclusions of other minerals.

 Amethyst

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Amethyst, the purple variety of quartz, gets its color from iron atoms in the crystal matrix plus the presence of "holes," where atoms are missing.

 Cairngorm

Quartz and Silica Minerals Picture Gallery. Photo (c) 2012 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Cairngorm, named for a Scottish locality, is the dark brown variety of smoky quartz. Its color is due to missing electrons, or holes, plus a whisper of aluminum.

 Quartz in Geode

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Quartz commonly forms a crust of crystals on the inside of geodes in addition to the layers of chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) in this cut section.

 Chalcedony in a Thunder Egg

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2003 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
The core of this thunder egg is composed of chalcedony (kal-SED-a-nee), the microcrystalline form of silica. This is about as clear as chalcedony gets. (more below)

Chalcedony is the special name for quartz with microscopically small crystals. Unlike quartz, chalcedony does not look clear and glassy but translucent and waxy; like quartz it is hardness 7 on the Mohs scaleor just a little softer. Unlike quartz it can take on every color imaginable. An even more general term, encompassing quartz, chalcedony and opal, is silica, the compound silicon dioxide (SiO₂). Chalcedony may contain a small amount of water.

The major rock type that is defined by the presence of chalcedony is chert. Chalcedony also very commonly occurs as a mineral filling veins and openings, like geodes and this thunder egg.

 Jasper

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2009 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Jasper is a red, iron-rich chert that is rich in chalcedony. Many varieties are named; this is "poppy jasper" from Morgan Hill, California. (click full size)

 Carnelian

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2009 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Carnelian is a red, translucent variety of chalcedony. Its color, like that of jasper, is due to iron impurities. This specimen is from Iran.

 Agate

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2009 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Agate is a rock (and a gemstone) composed chiefly of chalcedony. This is a particularly refined specimen from Indonesia. (more below)

Agate is the same kind of rock as chert, but in a much purer, more transparent form. It consists of amorphous or cryptocrystalline silica, the mineral chalcedony. Agate forms from solutions of silica at relatively shallow depths and low temperatures, and is exquisitely sensitive to the physical and chemical conditions around it. It is commonly associated with the silica mineral opal. Fossilization, soil formation, and alteration of existing rock can all create agate.

Agate occurs in infinite variety and is a favorite material among lapidaries. Its fluid forms lend themselves to attractive cabochons and similar flat or rounded jewelry formats.

Agate may have several different names, including carnelian, catseye and many fanciful names suggested by the shapes and colors of a particular occurrence.

This stone, magnified several times, displays cracks that extend only a few millimeters from the surface. They are completely healed and do not affect the stone's strength. For a larger specimen, see the agatized tree-trunk in the Fossil Wood Gallery.

For deep geologic information on agates, including hundreds of pictures, visit the Agate Resources page from the University of Nebraska. Agate is the state rock or state gemstone of Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska and North Dakota.

 Cat's-Eye Agate

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2009 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Microscopic fibers of the amphibole mineral riebekite in this chalcedony specimen produce the optical effect called chatoyancy.

 Opal, Hydrated Silica

Quartz and Silica Minerals Gallery. Photo (c) 2007 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Opal combines silica and water in a nearly random molecular structure. Most opal is plain and translucent or milky, but gem opal displays schiller. (more below)

Opal is a delicate mineraloid, hydrated silica or amorphous quartz. The mineral includes a fairly large amount of water molecules, and opals should not be left in direct sunlight or high temperatures.

Opal is a lot more common than people think, but it's usually a thin whitish film that lines fractures in rocks subjected to diagenesis or very mild metamorphism. Opal is commonly found with agate, which is cryptocrystalline quartz. Sometimes it is a bit thicker and has some internal structure that produces the highlights and color range of gem opal. This spectacular example of black opal is from Australia, where nearly all of the world's supply is mined.

The colors of gem opal arise as light diffracts in the ghostly internal structure of the material. The background layer, or potch, behind the colorful part of the opal is important too. The black potch of this black opal makes the colors appear especially strong. More typically, opal has a white potch, translucent potch (crystal opal) or clear potch (jelly opal).

OTHER DIAGENETIC MINERALS

question: What is the most common form of mineral on the continental crust?

answer: Quartz.

question: What does Quartz look like?

answer: It has a glassy appearance and has a range of colors. It is the main mineral of sand and sandstone.

question: What is the uncrystallized form of quartz called?

answer: It is called chalcedony. Unlike quartz, it does not look glassy and clear but waxy.

question: Which of the mineral is more common than people think?

answer: Opal.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: Quartz is the most common form of mineral on the continental crust. It is the main mineral is sand. Quartz generally looks glassy and clear, though it can appear in several ranges of colors. The uncrystallized form of Quartz is called chalcedony. It is waxy and translucent in appearance. Of all minerals, opal is more common than a lot of people think.


text:
This is my first post here, hope you guys enjoy it!
Any feedback is welcome. Thank you for reading! :)

“Bring me the remote.” He brings in the remote on a silver plate. The plate remains resting on the fingertips of his white-gloved hand until I remove the remote from its place. I push the power button and suddenly there is a projection in front of me. News. I can never really watch the news; it disinterests me. The reporter is covering the speech from the president. I couldn’t care less. It’s always the same spiel about how great the new world is, how a perfect society is now in place and how world peace has finally been achieved. “Utopia”, as the president calls it.
The Butler walks in and retreats to the corner where he will always stand, staring straight ahead at the wall adjacent to him until I give him a command. Butler is a hyperbole; he is more of a slave. But what is a perfect world with slaves? After all history has taught us that slaves are unacceptable in a perfect union. Therefore the proper term, deemed by the president of course, is Butler.
I glance at him. He looks revolting. Standing still as a statue, his blue eyes looking straight ahead. His bleach blond hair, cut short on the sides and trimmed to exactly one and a half inches on top, is combed over to the right side of his head. His skin is pulled tight over his cheekbones and jaw making them more pronounced. His pink lips are full and bright. He stands at exactly six feet, the majority of his height stemming from his legs. The light flooding in through the window reflects off his white skin, giving him a sort of glow. I can’t stand to look at him. One would think it would get easier, especially given that all Butlers look close to the same and every household has one. They most definitely are not an uncommon sight. Yet, there is something about them that always stands out, something that repulses me. It’s that stare. They all share the same stare.
“We will continue to evolve! It is our time! Our reign! Our world!” The propaganda continues to spew from the president’s mouth.
I walk to the window and look out over the vast city that is the new capital of the world.
“Have you watered the plants today?” I ask the Butler as I continue to gaze over the city in front of me.
“No, sir” he mutters, “I will immediately, sir”
He walks off into the other room.
The sun’s rays blanket the city turning it into an immense ocean of orange and yellow. I sometimes catch the Butler looking at this ocean, watching the waves of red and purple roll through the clouds. His eyes are different when he watches all these colors. I still cannot figure out how. They don’t themselves change color, nor do they change in size or in any physical way that I can determine. But they are different. When the light glares off a neighboring building is the only time his eyes physically change; they draw together, much the same as the shades on the window would, if I ordered him to pull them shut. After closing them for exactly a tenth of a second those eyes go back to staring, that usual stare that makes me hate the Butlers.
I focus my own eyes on the glare. I look straight into it for ten minutes, waiting. But nothing changes with me. I don’t find this interesting. What does he see?
He returns to his post, again staring at the adjacent white wall.
I focus my attention back to the president’s words. “The tables have been turned, the ruled have become the rulers! The Butler’s provide for us now, as we once provided for them! We have become the dominant species and it is our inherent right, our privilege, and our purpose to dominate them now! Our utopia is built upon the backs of the Butlers as their world was built upon us!”
A loud applause comes from the audience.
The Butler is focused on the colors through the window.
“Shut the shades” I order him. He does it without a sound. I do not want to see that unexplainable change in his eyes at the moment.
I feel myself becoming drained. I need to recharge. I tell the Butler that I am ready to sleep. He disappears for a moment and comes back with a long white chord. I hold my hand up, a gesture for the Butler to wait. I listen to the last little bit of the speech from the president, “our race will forever live in harmony! There will never be conflict! There will never be war! Our race is the perfect race! We are the robot race and it is our world now! Our imperfect human creators will serve us for all time as a constant reminder to how we saved them from their inevitable self-annihilation! This is our planet now and it will be our planet always!”
I motion to the Butler; he opens a slot in my head and plugs in the white chord. I feel the energy pulsing through me to my core. The Butler moves back to his spot and stares ahead. I look into his eyes, I am still perplexed by those staring eyes, they hold something in them; something I cannot comprehend. I start to drift into sleep. I hate him for his eyes, for whatever it is that his eyes hold.

title: Butler

question: How did the butler end up as a slave to the narrator?

answer: The butlers had once ruled the narrator's world but the narrator's people overthrew the previous government. Now the ruled have become the rulers and the butlers must work for the new species. As once the butlers had ruled now the new species rules.

question: What kind of entity is the narrator?

answer: The narrator is a robot. The robots that humans made have overthrown the world and taken the humans hostage. The robots believe that they saved humans from self-annihilation and they plan to rule the world forever.

question: What does the narrator dislike the most about the butler?

answer: The narrator can't stand what the Butler looks like. He particularly dislikes his eyes. The narrator thinks that the butler is revolting. All butlers look similar with short bleach blonde hair, full bright pink lips, and translucent white skin. The narrator can't bear to look at him.

question: How did the war between humans and robots start?


text: Their eyes meet and he smiles, his face illuminated and bright. He has never seen anyone so beautiful in his life. She has plain features and limp drab hair, but to him she is perfect. Framed in shadow, she sees him and a look of shock transforms her face. The happiness in his face flickers; maybe he shouldn’t put his burdens on her. But no, it’s too late to go back. Thoughts race and build inside him, the noise around him bringing up latent memories. He is six years old, standing behind a door and quietly crying as his parents scream at each other. He remembers the heavy sting of alcohol filling his nostrils and the crack of his father’s hand across his mothers face. He is twelve, a failing test grade in one hand and a crumpled cigarette in the other as his mother tells him that he is the reason his father left.  Fifteen, dropped out of high school, working two jobs just to eat, while his mother lies passed out on the couch, still clutching the syringe that she traded the food stamps for. This is all he knows of life, a hardness that grew up with him, grew inside him. He has never trusted anyone until now. As he gazes towards her, he knows that she can help, knows that she can erase the twenty-two years of hell. A tear trickles down his cheek, shining in the headlights of her pre-owned mid-size sedan as it hits him at 43 miles per hour and sets him free.

title: Angel

question: Who are the main characters?

answer: A 22 year old man, and a woman driving a car.

question: Do they know each other?

answer: They don't know each other.

question: How is the main character feeling?

answer: He is feeling like she is the perfect person; he can trust this woman to help him erase his horrible memories.

question: Does the other character share their feeling?

answer: Not at all. She's totally unaware of his feelings.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: A 22 year old man sees a woman whom he thinks is perfect. He can trust this woman to help him erase his memories of his horrible life: is parents fought, his father was abusive and left them, his mother blamed him and turned to drugs, and he dropped out of school to support himself. He is standing in the road and she is driving her car; she hits him going 43 mph and sets him free.


text:
_XENOPHIDION_ is a genus of snakes first described in 1995, and the only genus of the monotypic family XENOPHIDIIDAE.[1] Commonly referred to as spinejaw snakes, this genus is found in Borneo and peninsular Malaysia.

Morphology and classification

This genus is taxonomically and phylogenetically challenging to classify, as these snakes possess several morphological traits that distinguish them from all other snake species; head scales with numerous sensory papillae, large prefrontal scales, and an upper jaw which has a spiny palatine process. They also lack any pelvic girdle vestiges, a left lung, or a coronoid bone.[2] In 2004, cytochrome b sequencing suggested a sister relationship of _Xenophidion_ to Bolyeriidae from Mauritius.[3] Similar to _Boyleriidae_, spinejaw snakes have a jointed maxilla.

Diet, reproduction, and habitat

Very little is known about this genus. Specimen dissection has revealed the presence of a partially digested skink and an oviparous mode of reproduction, but male specimens have not yet been identified.[4] They are likely fossorial and may be under severe threat from palm oil agriculture.

Species

-   _Xenophidion acanthognathus_ Günther & Manthey, 1995
-   _Xenophidion schaeferi_ Günther & Manthey, 1995

[1] .

[2]

[3]

[4] Xenophidion: The Snake with the Mystery Penis. snakesarelong.blogspot.com (28 September 2016)

title: Xenophidion

question: When were spinejaw snakes first described?

answer: The Xenophidion genus was first described in 1995.

question: What characterizes them as distinct from other snake species?

answer: Head scales with numerous sensory papillae, large prefrontal scales, and an upper jaw which has a spiny palatine process. They also lack any pelvic girdle vestiges, a left lung, or a coronoid bone.

question: Why do scientists believe Xenophidion is related to Bolyeriidae?

answer: Cytochrome B sequencing suggests a sister relationship and they both have a jointed maxilla.

question: Why are males so hard to find?

answer: They are likely fossorial and under severe threat from palm oil agriculture.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The Xenophidion genus, or spinejaw snake, was first described in 1995 and is found in Borneo and peninsular Malaysia. Xenophidion are classified as distinct from other snake species because of their head scales with sensory papillae, large prefontal scales, an upper jaw with spiny palatine process, lack of any pelvic girdle vesetiges, a left lung, or a coronoid bone. Scientists believe they are related to Bolyeriidae because of cytochrome b sequencing and their jointed maxilla. Males are hard to find as they are likely fossorial and under threat from palm oil agriculture.


text:
ANZIC RECORDS is an independent record label, based in New York City. It was founded in 2005 and has released many albums by Israeli musicians, but does not restrict itself to performers from that country.

History and scope

The label was founded by “philanthropist and businessman Colin Negrych with clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen”.[1] “Anzic” is a portmanteau of Cohen's first name and “music”/“muzic”.[2] Cohen's _Place and Time_ was its first release, in 2005.[3][4] They released nine CDs in 2007.[5] The scope of Anzic's material was summarized by a writer in _The New York City Jazz Record_ in 2011: “Anzic Records has been a platform for showcasing the unique appreciation that Israeli jazz musicians have for the Talmud according to Trane [John Coltrane] and the Mishnah according to Miles [Davis].”[6] Their roster, however, includes non-Israeli musicians.[7]

Practices

The musicians are involved in all facets of their recordings, from conception to marketing.[8] In contrast with many other labels, the musicians are “paid immediately for CD sales versus waiting for the recording advance to be recovered.”[9] Cohen contrasted this with a typical record label experience: each musician with Anzic “knows exactly what's going on. They are part of the process. I think it's really important that musicians wake up and know the numbers, realistic numbers: how much it costs to make a CD, how much people expect to be paid, when they can get paid.”[10]

[1] Simon, Elliot (October 14, 2007) “Anzic Records”. AllAboutJazz.

[2]

[3]

[4] “About Anzic”. Anzic Records. Retrieved December 22, 2016.

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8] Ouellette, Dan (November 2008) “Village Ambassador”. _Down Beat_. p. 36.

[9]

[10]

title: Anzic Records

question: What is Anzic Records?

answer: An independent record label based in NYC.

question: When was it founded?

answer: In 2005.

question: Who was it founded by?

answer: By philanthropist and businessman Colin Negrych and clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen.

question: Why is this label considered special?

answer: All the musicians are involved in all facets of their recording and are paid immediately for CD sales versus waiting for the recording advance to be recovered.

question: What kind of music does the label release?

answer: Mostly jazz Israeli musicians.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The text is about Anzic Records, an independent record label.


text:
TOYOTA 86 FACELIFT
PREVIEW DRIVE
OYAMA, JAPAN

_TOYOTA’S UPDATED 86 WAS LAUNCHED IN JAPAN THIS WEEK WITH REVISED LOOKS AND A LITTLE EXTRA OOMPH; WELL, AT LEAST FOR MANUAL VARIANTS. THERE’S ALSO MORE EQUIPMENT AND A MILD UPDATE TO THE MODEL’S INTERIOR — CHANGES AIMED AT KEEPING THE POPULAR AND AFFORDABLE COMPACT COUPE FRESH. DUE TO GO ON SALE LOCALLY IN NOVEMBER THIS YEAR, IT IS HOPED THE REVISED 86 WILL STAY CLOSE TO ITS CURRENT SUB $30K KICK-OFF PRICE._

The 86 was something of a revelation when it launched in Australia in mid-2012. It returned Toyota to the budget sports car segment with a stellar blend of involving dynamics, athletic good looks and, importantly, a price that made it attainable.

Since then the 86 has maintained its popularity with monthly sales figures that defy sports car trends — even those of Toyota’s former affordable sports car challenger, the Celica.

Now, the 86 has been revised with sharper looks, more equipment and a little extra oomph, at least for manual variants. There’s worthwhile changes to the suspension and interior, too, and though we’re unsure of any price movement at this stage, expect little change in the enormous value equation already on offer. The 86 currently retails from $29,990 (plus on-road costs).

[]
Visually the facelifted 86 is recognised by a lower, sharper front bumper cover said to improve downforce and reduce aerodynamic turbulence over the wheel-wells. The vents and piston badge of the front quarter panel are now omitted, replaced by a smaller, round 86 logo behind the front wheel. All models receive LED tail-lights.

Additionally, high-grade GTS models receive an all-aluminium bootlid spoiler (to replace the plastic unit used previously) and new-look 17-inch alloy wheels, while also adopting LED headlights, DRLs (daytime running lights) and foglights.

There are changes inside, too, including the use of soft-touch Grandluxe material (similar to Alcantara) atop the instrument binnacle and door cards.

[]The instrument panel itself is faced with a new tachometer (the 7000rpm redline now set at the 12 o’clock position), while the GTS adds a new 4.2-inch MID (multi-information display) with lap-time and G meter.

All models receive Toyota’s smallest-ever steering wheel (-3mm to 362) with steering wheel controls added on GTS variants, and all-new upholstery – GT variants score new black cloth and GTS variants perforated a black Grandluxe and leather combination. The infotainment system is unchanged.

Perhaps more important are changes to the 86’s suspension. Taking lessons it learnt from Toyota’s 24 Hours of Nurburgring 86, the factory has bolstered spot welding and sheetmetal thickness in the rear-end, stiffening the frame.

The changes are balanced with softer rear springs and dampers (-15 per cent) and a slimmer anti-roll bar (-1mm to 14mm). Up front are firmer coils and dampers (+10 per cent), and an EPAS (electric power-assist steering) re-tune. And let’s not forget the inclusion of a ‘half-way’ mode for the stability control system dubbed ‘Track Mode’.

Under the bonnet we find zero changes to automatic variants – the alterations made to manual models resulting in excessive drive-by noise levels on the rev-blipping auto.

For six-speed manual variants the changes extend to a spider-style, cast aluminium intake manifold, new air intake plumbing, buffed intake and exhaust valve stems and a smoother camshaft journal.

[]Toyota has also remapped the torque curve of the modified manual to bolster response at lower engine speeds. The 212Nm of torque now available arrives 200rpm earlier than before (now 6400-6600rpm) while the 152kW now on offer arrives at an unchanged 7000rpm. Automatic variants still offer 147kW (at 7000rpm) and 205Nm (over 6400-6600rpm).

Fuel consumption figures have yet to be announced, though the 86’s chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada, indicated a slight reduction for the updated mill. Similarly, 0-100km/h times are also under wraps, though we expected little change from the current model’s 7.6sec (8.2sec for the auto).

We sampled the revised 86 back-to-back with the current model at Fuji Speedways short circuit, and found incremental differences that refine the overall experience. Power changes are appreciably small, but benefit delivery and throttle response when accelerating from corners – as does the changed final drive ratio (now 4.30:1, up from 4.10:1) — helping the 86’s boxer four to rev more freely.

[]
Changes to the suspension are likewise cumulative in effect, refining — rather than rewriting — the feel at the wheel. The softer rear-end improves turn-in while at the same time reducing the ‘stepped’ progression of the previous model.

The linearity in the way the rear-end loads is appreciably different, improving predictability and aiding placement in corners. We dare say it will also result in a more comfortable ride.

The steering is more consistent in its weighting, the revised mapping of the EPAS system tending to flatten-out the peaks and troughs the current model exhibits during heavy cornering. There’s a little more assistance at all speeds, though we wouldn’t say this comes at the cost of road feel.

[]Overall, the changes improve the 86’s liveability, as well as the way it communicates with the driver. The chassis is easier to understand, making it easier to pilot at speed and less daunting during sudden direction changes.

It’s more difficult to break cornering traction, but far easier to control once sideways, increasing its dynamic threshold and making it faster on a twisting road, while also making it easier to drift beyond the limit on a racetrack.

After our first taste at Fuji, we can’t wait to sample the upgraded 86 on our favourite roads and tracks after it arrives Down Under in November.

2017 TOYOTA 86 MANUAL PRICING AND SPECIFICATIONS:
PRICE: TBC (currently from $29,990)
ENGINE: 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer petrol
OUTPUT: 152kW/212Nm
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed manual
FUEL: TBC
CO2: TBC
SAFETY RATING: Five-star ANCAP

2017 TOYOTA 86 AUTO PRICING AND SPECIFICATIONS:
PRICE: TBA (currently from $32,490)
ENGINE: 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer petrol
OUTPUT: 147kW/205Nm
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed automatic
FUEL: TBC
CO2: TBC
SAFETY RATING: Five-star ANCAP

ALSO CONSIDER:
>> Hyundai Veloster (from $25,050 plus ORCs)
>> Kia Cerato Koup (from $24,190 plus ORCs)
>> Mazda MX-5 (from $31,990 plus ORCs)

question: What does the text say about the Toyota 86's popularity?

answer: The 86 has maintained its popularity with monthly sales since its release in mid-2012. These sales defy sports car trends. Its popularity can probably be attributed to its involving dynamics, athletic good looks, and an attainable price.

question: Summarize the aesthetic improvements of the updated 86.

answer: The updated Toyota 86 sees a number of aesthetic improvements. There is a lower, sharper front bumper cover, new LED tail-lights, and Grandluxe material atop the binnacle and door cards. The vents and piston badge of the front quarter panel are omitted and replaced by a smaller, round 86 logo behind the front wheel. The steering wheel is now the smallest-ever with all-new upholstery. GTS variants have Grandluxe and leather, while GT has black cloth on the steering wheel.

question: What does the text say about steering wheels?

answer: The updates for the Toyota 86 include the smallest-ever steering wheel with steering wheel controls on GTS variants. The wheel includes all new black Grandluxe and leather upholstery for the GTS variants, and black cloth for the GT variants. The wheel includes EPAS (electric power-assist steering), and the steering is more consistent in its weighting. The EPAS system tends to flatten out the peaks and troughs during heavy cornering.

question: What does the text say about monthly installments for payment?


text:
It’s less than a week before “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” hits theaters, and people are already waiting in lines across the country. With the anticipation building, a number of local Atlanta hotspots are pulling out all the stops to celebrate the long-awaited release of the latest in the series.

There’s something for everyone around the city this week, from Atlantans who have tattoos of Boba Fett to the more casual fan who’s fine with the special editions.

ATLANTA HAWKS STAR WARS NIGHT

Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Sorry BB-8, the only balls allowed on the court when the Hawks play the Philadelphia 76ers will be basketballs. And using the force to help the team make shots will be strictly forbidden, but that shouldn’t stop fans from coming dressed as their favorite “Star Wars” characters (though there are some guidelines). Once at the game, fans will be treated to an extended version of the trailer, “Star Wars” giveaways and more.

STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR WARS AT JOYSTICK GAMEBAR

Wednesday at 8 p.m.

By the name you can tell that Joystick is serious about its “Star Wars” and is pulling out all the stops to celebrate the movie’s release. Partiers can spend their hard-earned quarters on an original 1983 Atari Star Wars arcade cabinet, enter into a costume contest to win two weekend passes to Wizard World Atlanta’s annual gaming convention or join a raffle to win a life-sized Han Solo in carbonite sculpture. The bar is also giving a 10 percent discount to any gamers who come in wearing “Star Wars” costumes.

SCENE MISSING PRESENTS: STAR WARS: THE FORCE ATLANTANS

Wednesday at 9 p.m. at the Highland Ballroom

Scene Missing brings local artists, musicians, comedians and writers together to give their own skewed takes on different movies and TV shows monthly. This month they’ve turned their eye on “Star Wars” to celebrate and poke fun at all of your favorite (or least favorite, Jar Jar anyone?) through song, improv and more.

‘STAR WARS’ MARATHON AT REGAL ATLANTIC STATION 18

Starts Thursday at 4 a.m.

For the true “Star Wars” fans who want to experience the seven movies back to back to back to … well, you get the gist, Regal Atlantic Station 18 is hosting a marathon viewing party starting with “The Phantom Menace” and ending with the premiere of “The Force Awakens.” Guests will also receive a collectible lanyard featuring exclusive art.

BATTLE & BREW’S ‘THE FORCE AWAKENS’ PREMIERE PARTY

Thursday from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Battle & Brew’s party to celebrate the movie’s release won’t just involve its usual mix of booze and arcade games. Partygoers will actually have the chance to hop on a shuttle bus and head to the theater to see the movie for free.

THE FORCE AWAKENS STAR WARS SKATE NIGHT

Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m. at Atlantic Station

Atlantic Station has teamed up with Star Wars at DragonCon, a local “Star Wars” group, to host a night of skating, food, crafts and sci-fi. Skaters who wear a “Star Wars” costume (no masks or blasters please, sorry storm troopers) get $2 off their SKATE Atlantic Station ticket. If you don’t want to dress up, bringing a toy for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will also get you the discount.

HIGHWIRE COMEDY CO. PRESENTS: THE FARCE AWAKENS

Friday at 8 p.m. at the Highland Inn Ballroom

If you missed out on your chance to get tickets for a first day show or you just didn’t want to stand in the long lines, Highwire Comedy Co. might have just the thing to cheer you up. The group’s sketch team, Livewire, will be celebrating “all things Star Wars with live sketch comedy George Lucas wouldn’t want you to see.”

[]

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question: How many different events are listed in this article?

answer: Seven

question: How many days are there events taking place?

answer: 3 (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday)

question: Describe the event taking place at the Highland Ballroom.

answer: Local artists, musicians, comedians, and writers will be celebrating and poking fun at Star Wars through song, improv, and more.

question: What city are these events taking place in?

answer: Atlanta

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The article consists of a listing of various events taking place in Atlanta to celebrate the Star Wars series in the days leading up to the release of The Force Awakens.