text:
_THROUGH THE MANY WINTERS, A CHRISTMAS ALBUM_ is a 2005 Christmas album by Michael McDonald.[1][2] It was one of the first in the longstanding series of annual seasonal albums commissioned and retailed by Hallmark Cards to have reliable sales figures published, despite being sold through Hallmark's 4,000 card franchise shops, rather than through normal record shops in the _Billboard_ chart system. The album was released three weeks before Thanksgiving, and reached Gold status (500,000 copies sold) two weeks after its release.[3] At the time of its release, the album was priced at $7.95 with a purchase of three Hallmark cards.

Track listing

1.  “Silent Night” - 4:47
2.  “O Holy Night” - 5:06
3.  “Come, O Come Emanuel/What Month Was Jesus Born” - 4:10
4.  “Deck The Halls/Jingle Bells” - 2:50
5.  “O Tannenbaum” - 1:55
6.  “Wexford Carol” - 5:01
7.  “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” - 3:35
8.  “Through The Many Winters” (Amy Holland / Michael McDonald) - 6:51
9.  “Christmas On The Bayou” (McDonald / Grady Walker / Shannon Forrest) - 3:41
10. “Auld Lang Syne/O Tannenbaum (Reprise)” - 2:26

Personnel

-   Michael McDonald – lead vocals, acoustic piano, synthesizer, Hammond B3 organ, dulcimer, accordion, acoustic guitar, bass
-   Pat Coil – keyboards (1, 2, 3, 8), synthesizer (1, 2, 3, 8), acoustic piano (1, 2, 3, 8), Hammond B3 organ (1, 2, 3, 8), string arrangements (1, 2)
-   Josh Henson – acoustic and electric guitars (3, 4, 6, 7), bass (6)
-   Russell Bono – additional electric guitar (3), backing vocals (3)
-   Tom Hemby – nylon guitar (8)
-   Shannon Forrest – drums, programming
-   Conni Ellisor – strings (1, 2)
-   Anthony LaMarchina – strings (1, 2)
-   Mark Douthit – tenor saxophone (2, 3, 10), soprano saxophone (5)
-   Stuart Duncan – fiddle (6, 9)
-   Pat Bergeson – harmonica (8)
-   Daniel Moore II – backing vocals (3, 7)
-   Drea Rheneé – backing vocals (3, 7)
-   Kabanya Vinson – backing vocals (3, 7)
-   Amy Holland – lead and backing vocals (6)

Production

-   Producers – Michael McDonald, Shannon Forrest and Grady Walker.
-   Production Coordination – Kathy Walker
-   Engineer – Shannon Forrest
-   Second Engineer – Grady Walker
-   Recorded and Mixed at Bingham Bend (Leiper's Fork, TN).
-   Mastered by Jim DeMain at Yes Master (Nashville, TN).
-   Management – Joel Hoffner and Ken Levitan at Vector Management.

[1] Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961-2006: " album cut from the album Through The Many Winters: A Christmas Album (available only at Hallmark ..."

[2] Sound and Vision - Volume 70 - Page 125 2004 Also out: Jane Monheit's The Season, Anita Baker's Christmas Fantasy, Michael McDonald's Through the Many Winters (only at Hallmark Gold Crown)

[3] Michael McDonald's Hallmark Gold Crown(R) Stores' Holiday CD 'Through the Many Winters, A Christmas Album' Reaches Gold Within Two Weeks of Release Nov 29, 2005

question: Summarize everything relating to "Through the Many Winters, A Christmas Album"

answer: It is a 2005 Christmas album by Michael McDonald commissioned and retailed by Hallmark Cards through their card franchise shops instead of normal record shops in the Billboard chart system. It was one of the first in the longstanding series of annual seasonal albums Hallmark sold and reached Gold status (500,000 copies sold) two weeks after its Thanksgiving release.

question: How much was the "Through the Many Winters, A Christmas Album" priced at the time?

answer: It cost $7.95 with a purchase of three Hallmark cards.

question: Name four of the longest songs in the "Through the Many Winters, A Christmas Album"

answer:
- “Through The Many Winters” (Amy Holland / Michael McDonald) - 6:51
- “O Holy Night” - 5:06
- “Wexford Carol” - 5:01
- “Silent Night” - 4:47

question: Name all the musical instruments Michael McDonald used for the "Through the Many Winters, A Christmas Album" other than his voice.

answer: He played the acoustic piano, synthesizer, Hammond B3 organ, dulcimer, accordion, acoustic guitar, and bass

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: "Through the Many Winters, A Christmas Album" is a 2005 Christmas album by Michael McDonald commissioned and retailed by Hallmark Cards through their card franchise shops instead of normal record shops in the Billboard chart system. It was one of the first in the longstanding series of annual seasonal albums Hallmark sold and was priced at $7.95 with a purchase of three Hallmark cards. The album reached Gold status (500,000 copies sold) two weeks after its Thanksgiving release.


split: train

text:
[Hair being styled with a crimping iron in a salon.] HAIR CRIMPING is a method of styling usually straight, long hair so that it becomes wavy, often in a sawtooth / zig-zag fashion. In the Southern United States, it is usually referred to as crimping, but also can be called crinkles or deep waves.

Hair crimping is usually achieved by treating the hair with heat from a crimping iron (also referred to as hair crimper) or by braiding the hair, often in multiple strands, then undoing the braids after a couple of hours. A crimping iron has parallel heated plates designed with a flat S-shaped repeating groove.

In 1972, the modern crimping iron was invented by Geri Cusenza, the original founder of Sebastian, for Barbra Streisand's hair.[1][2][3][4]

Crimping peaked in mainstream popularity during the mid-1980s. In 2007 at a Chanel runway show crimped hair was shown on a model, and it became more popular throughout late 2007 and 2008. Crimping's popularity has a tendency to return in ten-year cycles, although it is often seen in fashion and hairstyle shows due to its visually striking effect.[5]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

title: Hair crimping

question: According to the article, in what years was crimping likely to see its next resurgence after the 2007/2008 resugrence?

answer: 2017/2018

question: If it weren't for Barbra Streisand, how might the history of crimping have played out differently?

answer: The modern crimping iron might not have been invented.

question: What is the main purpose of paragraph two?

answer: The main purpose of paragraph two is to explain how crimping works.

question: Why is crimping usually done on straight hair?

answer: Because crimping is a method of making hair wavy, so there would be no need to do it on already wavy hair.


text:
So I really love to write short stories, but I never feel confident enough to share them so comment and give me advice!

Beep Beep! I groggily rubbed my eyes and checked the time, 8:13, way too early for a Saturday. Oh well, I won't be able to fall back asleep now that the rays of the early mourning sun trickled into my bedroom. I picked up my phone, I had gotten a text from an unknown number it read:

C u soon my little angel- Dad

Must be a wrong number, I thought, my dad died when I was little. I don't remember him and I live alone with my mom. I just shrugged it off and got ready for the day.

I was still brushing my long brown hair as I walked down the stairs to the kitchen. "Mmmm Mom, that bacon smells delicious, is there some for me?" I entered the kitchen to the aroma of a homemade breakfast.

"Of corse Amber, I also made pancakes! Come sit down at the table with me." I helped her bring the food to the table and we both sat down to eat.

"This food is delicious Mom, what made you want to make such a big breakfast?"

She looked around nervously, "Can't I make a breakfast without you thinking there's some ulterior motive?!" She laughed and I smiled, I still had a feeling something was up.

I was right.

"Okay Amber you got me, I do have news and you're not going to like it." I raised and eyebrow as if to say 'okay what is it?' "We're moving away, again."

"WHAT?" I shouted as I stood up, "I thought you said we were going to finally settle down!"

Mom sighed, "I know what I said but I found a job in New York that I can't deny."

"So we're moving across the country for a job again? Why can't we just live in one place for over a year? I'm in High-school  now, it's already hard enough for me to make friends without being the new kid all the time." I stormed out of the kitchen up into my room slamming the door behind me.

***********************************************************

That night I had a very strange dream, I was in a bedroom that was on fire. I was a baby in a crib and I couldn't get out. Suddenly a man entered the room and came over to pick me up. He looked into my eyes and said with a frown, "You should have never been born, now the witches are angry and you must die," he began to pick me up but was struck from behind, he got up and turned around to see my mother. She took a burning piece of wood and struck him across the face with it. When she was sure he was dead she picked me up and ran out the door.

***********************************************************

I woke up sweating, it was 1:32 in the mourning and was still dark. My mom burst in the room, "I heard you scream," she panted, "are you okay?"

I burst out crying as I told her about my dream, she just sighed and sat on my bed. "I guess it's time I told you the story of your father. So about 20 years ago your father, Andrew was a part of some sort of group. The men of the group served these witches who provided them with wealth and safety, but they were to be married to one of the witches. Andrew didn't want to marry them so he left. We met a few years later, got married and had you. When you were still young something happened to Andrew, he started to act strange saying, the witches are angry the girl must die. I got scared when he tried to kill you with a steak knife so I took you and ran. I stayed with a friend for a while until Andrew found us and set the house on fire. Your dream was a memory of him trying to kill you. I've been on the run from him ever since."

I was silent for a few minutes, this was a lot to soak in at once, "I'm going to go take a walk." Mom nodded and I got up and left.

It was still dark out as I walked down the street, None of the steetlights were on and no one was around. My head was spinning with so many questions, where is he now? Will he hurt my friends? Then it hit me, the text was from my dad, he's here! I turned and started to run back to the house to tell mom but I ran into a man. As I got back on my feet and rubbed my head I started to apologize, "I'm so sorry sir, I-" I looked up at his face and gasped, "Dad?"

Well that's part 1, please tell me what you think. I'll have Part 2 up soon!

title: The Man With The Scar Part 1

question: What does Amber believe she was right about?

answer: She believed there was a motive behind her mother making her a big breakfast. It turns out she was right because her mom announces they are moving.

question: How old is Amber?

answer: Amber is in high school, which would mean she's a teenager.

question: What is the main conflict in this story?

answer: The main conflict is Amber's realizations about her father. She receives a text from "dad" who claims to be seeing her soon. After she dreams about her father having tried to kill her, her mother confesses he did try to kill her and they've been on the run for years. Amber then runs into her dad.

question: Describe Amber's dream.

answer: Amber dreams that a man tried to kill her when she was a baby. The man tells her that the witches are angry and she must die.

question: Who is Amber referring to when she wonders if he will hurt her friends?

answer: She is referring to her father.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: A teenager named Amber receives a text that says "C u soon my little angel - Dad", but is suspicious since she believes her father is dead. That night she dreams of a man trying to kill her. He was claiming the witches are angry. She tells her mom about the dream, who tells her that her dream was a memory, and that they have been on the run from him ever since he tried to kill Amber. On a walk to clear her head, she bumps into a man who may be her dad.


text:
The top Senate tax writer on Friday cast doubts on President Donald Trump's goal of slashing the corporate tax rate to 15 percent.

"Well, the president wants it down to 15 percent. That would be wonderful if we could get it down there," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told CNBC. "We'll be working to try to do that. I sincerely doubt that we'll be able to get to that level on the corporate tax rates."

Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is one of the so-called Big Six congressional and White House officials leading the Republican tax reform effort. The GOP hopes to pass a major tax overhaul this year, an effort that Hatch admitted will be "complex."

Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator, believes passing a tax reform plan this year is realistic.

"I actually believe we know enough about it that we can do this in 2017. But it's going to take a lot of cooperation of both Democrats and Republicans," he said.

On Thursday, Hatch's committee held a hearing on individual tax reform. The panel will have another hearing on overhauling the corporate system next week.

Congressional Republicans aim to release more details about their still-evolving plan later this month. The GOP has not publicly released many specifics of a possible bill, beyond a joint statement from the Big Six and a one-page outline from the White House earlier this year.

Broadly, the GOP has pledged to craft a plan to chop individual income and corporate tax rates, encourage corporations to bring back cash parked overseas and eliminate most deductions. Trump and Republican leaders have pitched tax reform as essential to boosting economic growth.

On Friday, Hatch said, "We're all trying to get on the same page." He admitted that overhauling the tax system is harder than passing a health-care plan, which the GOP failed to do earlier this year.

"It's much harder than health care," the senator said.

Hatch is not the only one of the Big Six this week to temper expectations for a 15 percent corporate tax rate. On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the goal would be difficult to achieve.

WATCH:  Tax reform has to be bipartisan: Brookings Institution's Aaron Klein

question: How hopeful are the Republicans on the house opposition accepting and endorsing plans to cut down the corporate tax to 15%?

answer: Despite their optimistic language, they seem to be expecting lots of opposition to the idea.


text:
Lynnette Koeller | Serving the Community

Employee Spotlights

[Lynnette Best Pic]When Lynnette Koeller changed jobs more than 25 years ago, she never imagined the positive impact it would have on her life not only professionally, but also personally. Lynnette joined our team in Wausau, Wisconsin, in 1989 as a driver. She had spent years on the road with her husband driving semi-trucks. After suffering a broken wrist, she decided it was time for a change. “Ironically, it turned out to be a lucky break because I found the perfect job for me,” shares Lynnette.

FAMILY AFFAIR
Caring for students is a family affair for Lynnette. Her sons grew up on her school bus. Because the location offered a ride-along program, she did not have to worry about child care. Lynnette could safely secure their car seats on the bus and have her sons right by her side. Lynnette’s children rode with her on a special needs route for years. “You form a real bond with these students and their families,” says Lynnette. “My children also felt this special connection. It was amazing for me to watch the interaction that would occur on the way to and from school.” Lynnette believes the experience influenced her children’s career choices. One of her sons is now a special education teacher. The other is a school bus driver with First Student.

MAKING IT WORK
When her sons were older, Lynnette moved into her current position as operations clerk. She manages payroll, dispatch and routing. Our team in Wausau transports more than 3,000 students every school day. Lynnette is on the front line coordinating, directing and juggling to ensure on-time performance and great customer service. “Coordinating the movement of students, drivers and buses is challenging,” says Lynnette. “I like figuring it out and executing the plan.” Lynnette still drives a route most school days. She believes being behind the wheel keeps her grounded and connected to the drivers at her location.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE
Lynnette takes pride in serving the children in her community. “I was in a store, and a visually-impaired student who I transported years ago was there,” shared Lynnette. “He still recognized my voice after all of this time.” She and her team have worked closely with their school district partners to create an environment of trust and respect on the school bus by providing positive reinforcement to students for good behavior. “It’s really made a difference,” says Lynnette. “You feel better and the students and parents feel better, too. Remembering to accentuate the positive can really change the culture of how we operate.”

CONTINUED COMMITMENT
When our Wausau location hosted a stop on the Safety Dog Bus Tour in August, Lynnette went above and beyond to help make it a success. She even volunteered to wear the Safety Dog costume. “The event really opened our eyes to how the community sees us,” says Lynnette. “We’re about more than just driving students to and from school safely.” As a result, the location is becoming more engaged in the community, and Lynnette enjoys playing our safety mascot whenever she gets the chance. It’s another way for her to show her continued commitment and dedication to her location and the students we transport.

question: When was the article written?

answer: That information can't be found

question: What is Koeller's job?

answer: She drives a school bus and works as an operations clerk directing other drivers

question: When did Koeller start her job?

answer: 1989

question: Where is Wausau?

answer: Wisconsin

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The article recognizes Lynnette Koeller's history driving a school bus in Wausau, Wisconsin.


text:
_NEVERWINTER NIGHTS_ is a third-person role-playing video game developed by BioWare. Interplay Entertainment was originally set to publish the game, but financial difficulties led to it being taken over by Infogrames, who released the game under their Atari range of titles. It was released for Microsoft Windows on June 18, 2002. BioWare later released a Linux client in June 2003, requiring a purchased copy of the game to play.[1] MacSoft released a Mac OS X port in August 2003.

_Neverwinter Nights_ is set in the fantasy world of the _Forgotten Realms_ campaign setting, with the game mechanics based on the _Dungeons & Dragons_ 3rd edition rules. The game engine was designed around an Internet-based model for running a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), which would allow end users to host game servers. Up to 64 players could connect to a single server.[2] The intent was to create a potentially infinite massively multiplayer game framework. This game was named after the original _Neverwinter Nights_ online game, the first graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG),[3] which operated from 1991 to 1997 on AOL.

The original release of _Neverwinter Nights_ includes the game engine, a game campaign that can be played as single player or in multiplayer mode, and on Windows releases, the Aurora toolset used for creating custom content that would run in the same engine. Three expansion packs were subsequently released for the game: _Shadows of Undrentide_ in June 2003; _Hordes of the Underdark_ in December 2003; and _Kingmaker_ in November 2004. BioWare began selling premium modules through an online store in late 2004. The game's success led to a sequel, _Neverwinter Nights 2_, released on October 31, 2006.

Development

BioWare intended to create a game system which emulated the interactions in a pen-and-paper version of _Dungeons & Dragons_ including the role of Dungeon Master. They worked alongside the _AD&D_ to ensure the game framework was faithful to the tabletop game.[4]

A posting at the _Neverwinter Nights 2_ Vault on June 4, 2008 contained information from what appeared to be original _Neverwinter Nights_ documentation. At the BioWare forums, _Neverwinter_ lead designer Rob Bartel confirmed that the “series of excerpts from the game's design doc” were not a hoax. When asked if the plans were altered due to time constraints, Bartel referenced various legal difficulties that the company was working through.[5]

Gameplay

[A large end-game battle. The encounter is complete with dynamic graphical effects. In the lower left corner, the player console displays _Dungeons & Dragons_ game mechanics behind the actions.]

The original scenario supplied with the _Neverwinter Nights_ is the campaign. It comprises approximately sixty hours of gameplay.[6] The gameplay centers on the development of a player character (PC) through adventuring, who ultimately becomes the hero of the story. The PC is tasked with defeating a powerful cult, collecting four reagents required to stop a plague, and thwarting an attack on the city of Neverwinter, located along the Sword Coast of Faerûn, in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of _Dungeons & Dragons_. The first and final chapters of the campaign deal with the city of Neverwinter itself, but the lengthy mid-story requires the player to venture into the surrounding countryside and travel northward to the city of Luskan. Along the way, many optional side quests are made available.

As in the _Dungeons & Dragons_ tabletop game, the first thing a player must do is create a new character. The game provides a set of ready-made characters, or the player may create one from scratch.[7] A series of panels are presented for selection of the character's gender, race, character class, alignment, ability scores (such as strength and intelligence), specialized abilities called skills and feats, in-game appearance, and name.[8] This process grants significant allowance for customization; one can be, for example, an outdoorsman (ranger) or a healer (cleric), then choose skills and feats that would work well with that class in the game.

Following a small prelude, there are four chapters in the original game, with each chapter following part of the general storyline. Within each chapter, there are many quests, subquests, and mini-storylines provided to the player. Depending on the specific quests completed, and the unique items kept, some storylines are continued throughout the entire game, such as the Henchman's or Aribeth's tales. Completing many of the side quests will give the player's character more experience and special items, making them improve more rapidly and continue to make the game easier as the player progresses. These improvements come in the form of levels earned through experience points, with each level providing the protagonist with a set of enhancements as selected by the player.

The game's mechanics are based on the _Dungeons & Dragons_ 3rd edition rule set;[9] the outcome of most actions, such as combat and skills usage, are randomly determined by dice rolls.[10] For example, when a fighter attacks, the computer would digitally “roll” a 20-sided die (called a d20 in-game) to determine if he hits the target. On a success, another die is rolled to determine the damage dealt, with powerful weapons assigned to dice with a greater number of sides, due to their ability to do more damage. Although the outcome of nearly all actions is determined by dice rolls, the player does not see them, with the results calculated in the background. However, the player has the option to display the outcomes of these rolls. The player can control the game almost entirely via the mouse.[11]

Multiplayer

A robust multiplayer component separates _Neverwinter Nights_ from previous _Dungeons & Dragons_ games, as this allows players to play on many different servers hosting games. Depending on hardware and bandwidth, each server can support up to ninety-six players on the same server application, plus Dungeon Masters (DM) to run the games, if desired. _Neverwinter Nights_ game modules are run in a variety of genres and themes, including persistent worlds (which are similar to MUD), combat arenas (player versus player modules), whole servers dedicated to sexually oriented roleplay, [12][13] and simple social gatherings similar to a chat room. BioWare requires that these persistent worlds be free of charge, primarily for reasons of copyright law.

Because _Neverwinter Nights_ lacks a global chat function aside from the supported GameSpy, players typically join pickup games through the game's multiplayer interface, or schedule games in advance with friends. Matchmaking sites can facilitate scheduling of games, and the experience is much like traditional pen-and-paper role-playing games. Persistent worlds do this work for them by inviting players to visit their website and continue to roleplay there.

An important feature of _Neverwinter Nights_ is the Dungeon Master Client: a tool that allows an individual to take the role of the Dungeon Master, who guides the players through the story and has complete control of the server.[14] Previous games such as _Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption_, based on the printed gamebooks by White Wolf Publishing, utilized this feature to a limited extent.[15] When it was released, _Neverwinter Nights_ was viewed as the first successful implementation of the feature.[16] The DM Client allows players to participate in regular campaigns, while also allowing persistent world servers to flourish by permitting the DMs of those servers to take control of non-player characters (NPCs) in mid-game for added realism and flexibility. The Dungeon Master Client also permits the user to spawn and control masses of monsters and NPCs much in the same way as units would be controlled in a real-time strategy game.

Custom content

_Neverwinter Nights_ ships with the Aurora toolset, which allows players to create custom modules for the game.[17] These modules may take the form of online multiplayer worlds,[18] single player adventures, character trainers or technology demos. Additionally, several third party utilities have further expanded the community's ability to create custom content for the game. By the end of 2002, there were over 1,000 custom adventures available.[19][20]

Custom content creators are known as builders in the _Neverwinter Nights_ community. The Aurora toolset allows builders to create map areas using a tile system; the appearance and surface textures of the area are defined by the area's selected tileset. Builders can overlay placeable objects onto areas, and use the built-in scripting language NWScript, which is based on the C programming language, to run cut scenes, quests, mini-games and conversations.[21] Third party utilities allow builders to create custom content for most aspects of the game, ranging from new playable races and character classes to new tilesets, monsters and equipment. Custom content is added to the game in the form of hakpaks. Builders have used the Aurora toolset in combination with hakpaks to create playing experiences beyond the scope of the original campaign. Additionally, the Aurora toolset has allowed for the creation of a number of ongoing persistent worlds modules.

Despite the game's age, the _Neverwinter Nights_ custom content community remains active. The community, mostly centered on the Neverwinter Vault, has created over 4,000 modules for the game, among them, many award-winning adventures and series such as _Dreamcatcher_.[22] The Aurora toolset is not available for the Linux and Macintosh versions of _Neverwinter Nights_. The open source project neveredit aims to port the toolset features to these platforms. The game's module-making legacy was continued by _Neverwinter Nights 2_.

Plot

The story begins with the player character (PC), the protagonist of the story, being sent to recover four creatures (dryad, intellect devourer, yuan-ti, and cockatrice) known collectively as the “Waterdhavian creatures”under the guidance of Lady Aribeth de Tylmarande.[23] The Waterdhavian creatures are needed to make a cure for the Wailing Death, a plague that is sweeping the city of Neverwinter and forcing a quarantine.[24] With the help of Fenthick Moss, Aribeth's love interest, and Desther, Fenthick's friend, the PC is able to retrieve the creatures. As they collect the creatures, they are attacked by mysterious assassins from a cult that is behind the spreading of the plague.

As the cure is being made, Castle Neverwinter is attacked by the minions of Desther, who betrays the heroes. Desther takes the completed cure and escapes the castle, with the hero and Fenthick in pursuit. When they catch up to Desther, he surrenders after a short battle. Desther is sentenced to burn at the stake, and Fenthick, despite being unaware of Desther's true intentions, is sentenced to hang. The protagonist meets up with Aribeth and Neverwinter's spymaster, Aarin Gend, to begin searching for the cult responsible for the plague and the attack on Neverwinter. The PC retrieves the diaries of dead cultists and letters from a person named Maugrim Korothir, which convince Aribeth that the cult's headquarters are in Luskan. Aribeth goes ahead to Luskan, and the hero follows after speaking once more to Gend.

After arriving in Luskan, the protagonist hears rumors that Aribeth has defected and joined the cultists. These fears are confirmed when she is found meeting with Maugrim and Morag, Queen of the reptilian Old Ones. They seek a group of magical relics called the Words of Power. The protagonist retrieves all of the Words of Power except for one held by the cult. The hero discovers that the Words open a portal to a pocket world inside the Source Stone, where Morag and the other Old Ones sealed themselves long ago to avoid extinction during a primordial ice age. The protagonist confronts Aribeth, and depending on how the meeting is handled, she either surrenders to the PC or they are forced to kill her. The hero battles Maugrim for the final Word, then uses the Words to enter the Source Stone and battle with Morag. After Morag's death, the protagonist escapes the Stone as the world inside it implodes.

Reception

Sales

For the launch of _Neverwinter Nights_, publisher Infogrames shipped 1 million copies to stores, with half allocated to North America and the rest to international markets.[25] In an experimental move, the company priced the game at $55, an increase over the $50 typical of computer games at the time. CNN Money columnist Chris Morris reported that “gamers complained loudly about” this decision.[26] The game proceeded to sell 125,000 copies by June 27, after its release on the 18th.[27] It debuted at #1 on The NPD Group's computer game sales chart during the June 16–22 period,[28] and held the position for two weeks, before being displaced by _Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos_.[29][30] However, _Neverwinter Nights_ continued to place in the chart's top 10 consistently for its first three months of release.[31] By July 23, the game's global sales had surpassed 200,000 units.[32] NPD reported North American sales of 330,000 copies by late December, which brought in revenues of $18 million.[33] It was ultimately the region's 11th-best-selling computer game of 2002.[34]

Greg Zeschuk remarked in June 2003 that _Neverwinter Nights_ had sold above 1 million copies, before the release of its first expansion pack.[35] In the United States alone, the game sold 510,000 copies and earned $23.2 million by August 2006. At that time, _Edge_ declared it the country's 26th-best-selling computer game released since January 2000.[36] It also received a “Silver” sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association,[37] which indicates sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[38] Combined global sales of _Neverwinter Nights_ and its expansion packs surpassed 2.6 million units by early 2005;[39] by August 2006, the games totaled 1.3 million sales in the United States alone.[40] Discounting its expansions, the original _Neverwinter Nights_ ultimately sold 2.2 million copies, as of 2007.[41]

Critical reviews

In general, _Neverwinter Nights_ was met with positive reviews, receiving “universal acclaim” according to Metacritic.[42] GameSpot referred to it as “one of those exceedingly rare games that has a lot to offer virtually everyone, even if they aren't already into RPGs”, and praised it for its campaign, its Aurora toolset, and its graphics.[43] _PC Gamer US_ called it “a total package—a PC gaming classic for the ages”, and said that its “storyline [is] as persuasive as any I’ve encountered in a fantasy roleplaying game”.[44] Chris Chan of _New Straits Times_ said, “_Neverwinter Nights_ is every role-playing gamer's dream”.[45] Allgame found that the game's story was “humdrum” and “mediocre”.[46] Mark Meadows of _The Wisconsin State Journal_ agreed, saying the game was too focused on technical details.[47] Victor Godinez of _Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service_ did not care for the turn-based combat system, preferring to have direct control. He also said the controls were difficult to use occasionally.[48]

_GamePro_ noted the game's graphics as being “gorgeous” and its sound as “untouchable”,[49] and GameZone likewise praised its visuals, specifically mentioning its combat animation and spell effects as being well done.[50] GameSpy wasn't as impressed by the graphics, saying “The biggest, and arguably the only, glaring flaw in the game, is its graphics. You can tell that this game has been in development for five years[...]”; however, they praised its voice acting and music.[51] Godinez agreed, and also liked the game's audio, noting in particular the scraps of conversation that can be heard in the background throughout the city.[52]

Allgame praised _Neverwinter Night_{{'}}s DM tools, calling the game's level creation options “impressive” and the multiplayer options “great”.[53] _GamePro_ thought that _Neverwinter Nights_ is the closest that any video game has come to accurately representing the full _Dungeons & Dragons_ rules,[54] a statement further reinforced by Greg Kasavin of GameSpot, who said that “Neverwinter Nights isn't the first _Dungeons & Dragons_ game for the computer to make use of the pen-and-paper game's 3rd Edition rules, but it's the first to implement them so well”.[55] GameZone said that the Aurora Toolset was one of the “best features” of the game.[56] John Breeden II of _The Washington Post_ said including the tool set was “smartest thing Bioware did”. He went on to say that giving such tools to the players became more commonplace, but was a bold move at the time of the game's release.[57] Chan commented, “you could use the Aurora tools to create a dream world”.[58]

Peter Suciu of _Newsweek_ magazine called _Neverwinter Nights_ “possibly the richest fantasy PC experience ever created.”[59] According to GameSpy, “_Neverwinter_'s contribution to D&D gaming is always a hot topic and a source of argument.”[60]

Awards

_Neverwinter Nights_ was named the best computer role-playing game of 2002 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS),[61] _PC Gamer US_ and GameSpot.[62][63] RPG Vault declared it “Product of the Year”,[64] while _Computer Games Magazine_ ranked it the year's second-best computer game across all genres. The latter publication's editors wrote that the “single-player game is merely passable”, but they highly praised _Neverwinter Nights_{{'}} content-creation tools, and argued that the game is “what computer role-playing games should have been all along”.[65]

The game won special awards for its technology from _Computer Games_,[66] the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) and RPG Vault, the latter two for its network programming and Aurora Toolset, respectively.[67][68] Aurora was also a nominee in the AIAS's “PC Simulation” category.[69] RPG Vault's staff hailed the tool as “an unprecedented combination of power, flexibility and ease of use.”[70] _Neverwinter Nights_ received further nominations in the AIAS's special categories for “Innovation in PC Gaming” and “Game Design”, and in RPG Vault's categories for music and writing, but lost these to other titles.[71][72] However, it did win RPG Vault's “Outstanding Achievement in Community Building” prize.[73]

_Neverwinter Nights_ was a runner-up for the “Role-Playing Game of the Year” awards of _Computer Gaming World_, IGN, GameSpy and RPG Vault, all of which went to _The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind_.[74][75][76][77] The editors of _Computer Gaming World_ wrote that _Neverwinter Nights_ “gave gamers a fabulous toolset for creating their own adventures—too bad the single-player campaign prompted a staffwide shrugging of shoulders.”[78] It was also nominated as the overall best computer game of 2002 by GameSpot, _PC Gamer US_ and the AIAS,[79][80][81] and as the year's best game on any platform by the GDCA.[82] These prizes went variously to _Warcraft III_, _Battlefield 1942_ and _Metroid Prime_.[83][84][85][86]

Legacy

IGN ranked _Neverwinter Nights_ No. 4 on their list of “The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time” in 2014.[87] Ian Williams of _Paste_ rated the game #4 on his list of “The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames” in 2015.[88] The game has inspired a number of fan-made films made using machinima techniques of synchronizing video footage from a game to pre-recorded dialogue and other audio, such as _BloodSpell_, and _Neverending Nights_.[89][90][91]

Since the original release of _Neverwinter Nights_, several in-game portraits have been modified in patches due to their having been copied from outside sources. In another instance, the Canadian Red Cross complained to BioWare about the appearance of the Red Cross symbol on the in-game item “Healer's Kit”, as part of a long-running attempt to discourage outside usage of the symbol. This resulted in the Red Cross symbol being removed from the Healer's Kit through patches.[92]

_Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic_, a role-playing video game based in the _Star Wars_ universe, was also released by BioWare using a modified version of the Aurora engine of _Neverwinter Nights_, called the Odyssey Engine. The sequel, _Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords_, also used it. Because of this, modders have been able to modify these games using some _Neverwinter Nights_ modding tools. _The Witcher_, a role-playing video game by CD Projekt Red, is also based on the Aurora engine of _Neverwinter Nights_. BioWare used _Neverwinter Nights_ and its toolset to develop prototypes and mock-ups of various areas and scenarios for _Dragon Age: Origins_.[93]

Expansion packs and modules

_Neverwinter Nights_ received an expansion pack, _Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide_, in June 2003. Its story line concerns a student sent out to recover some stolen magical objects. The story begins in the Silver Marches, moving toward the desert of Anauroch and the old Netherese city of Undrentide. A second expansion _Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark_ was released in December 2003. The story continued where _Shadows of Undrentide_ ended, with a character of at least 15th level, and led into the vast subterranean world known as the Underdark. The first chapter of the story took place in the Undermountain dungeon beneath the city of Waterdeep. _Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker_ was released in November 2004, and features three premium modules: the award-winning _Kingmaker_,[94] _Shadowguard_, and _Witch's Wake_.

Atari and BioWare helped to promote and release free downloadable hakpaks, models, and tileset expansion packs, which greatly expanded the possibilities of mod-making. The _Players Resource Consortium_ (_PRC_) was released in early December 2003, and is a group of hakpaks adding classes, races, skills, and spells to the game. The _PRC_ has roughly three times the number of prestige classes the original game had. It also adds dozens of epic spells, and many normal spells that make better use of BioWare's Aurora engine. Psionic powers have also been included. The _Community Expansion Pack_ (_CEP_), originally released in March 2004 (last updated in January 2017), is based on the _Neverwinter Nights_ community's fan-made material. This freely downloadable expansion was compiled by members of the community. It combines a selection of previously released custom content into one group of hakpaks.

In late 2004, BioWare launched its online store and started selling what it called “premium modules” as part of its digital distribution program. This initiative was led by BioWare's Live Team Lead Designer, Rob Bartel. These smaller-scale adventures introduced new storylines and gameplay, and include new music and art that BioWare integrated into later patches to the core game. According to BioWare, the revenue generated by sales of the premium modules would be used to support their fan community and provide ongoing updates and improvements to the game. The modules that are sold in the BioWare store require an active Internet connection to play, even when played in single player mode. The modules in the _Kingmaker_ expansion were stripped of this requirement, but are only available for Windows systems. The modules included with _Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition_ do not require Internet access to play. In August 2009, BioWare discontinued its selling of premium modules due to a request made by Atari.[95] On June 16, 2011, the _Neverwinter Nights_ digital rights management (DRM) authentication server was temporarily taken down as a reaction by Electronic Arts to the _Neverwinter Nights_ store being hacked and customer data stolen. Premium modules which were purchased via BioWare's store could not be played during that time because they could not connect to the server to validate the purchase,[96] though DRM-free modules were unaffected. The modules _Kingmaker_, _Shadowguard_, and _Witch's Wake_ were sold as part of the _Diamond Edition_ package.[97]

include _Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker_, BioWare's flagship premium module, which later received the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences 'PC RPG of the Year' award.[98] In the module's story, the hero must defeat the evil at the Keep of Cyan and win the throne. Others include _Neverwinter Nights: ShadowGuard_, created by community member Ben McJunkin; _Neverwinter Nights: Witch's Wake_, a remastered version of a module by Rob Bartel; _Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast_; _Neverwinter Nights: Infinite Dungeons_, a BioWare module taking place in the Undermountain area below Waterdeep; and _Neverwinter Nights: Wyvern Crown of Cormyr_, which features fully ridable horses, flowing cloaks, tabards and long coats, a new prestige class (the Purple Dragon Knight), and extensive new art, creatures, and tilesets.

Premium modules were eventually discontinued. Three premium modules were known to be in development before cancellation. Two of them ended up being free downloads, while the third, a planned sequel to _Witch's Wake_, was never released. _Hex Coda_ by Stefan Gagne, the first cancelled premium module, was released to Neverwinter Vault in May 2005. The story was a mix of fantasy and science fiction and involved the protagonist dealing with the machinations of a multinational corporation called Cathedral. A sequel was in development, but was cancelled. In August 2006, Ossian Studios Inc., headed up by Alan Miranda, a former producer at BioWare, released the second canceled premium module to the Vault: _Darkness over Daggerford_. The story takes place in and around Daggerford and has been compared favorably to _Baldur's Gate 2_ in terms of its scope. Characters start at the 8th level. The module includes a cinematic intro (like the main campaign) and a world map. Darkness over Daggerford's status as a quasi-official expansion pack was supported by the next release of the team, this time a fully official one: Mysteries of Westgate for Neverwinter Nights 2.

Sequels

A sequel to _Neverwinter Nights_, _Neverwinter Nights 2_, was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a company with a long history with BioWare. According to BioWare, the change of developer was due to BioWare's business with other titles, such as _Mass Effect_ and _Dragon Age: Origins_. _Neverwinter Nights 2_ shipped in November 2006.

On August 23, 2010, Atari announced Cryptic Studios would be developing _Neverwinter_, an online role-playing game based on the book series of the same name by R.A. Salvatore.[99] It is based on Wizards of the Coast's global property _Dungeons & Dragons_ rules and feature the titular city Neverwinter. It was scheduled for an early 2013 release,[100] and was ultimately released on June 20, 2013.

Educational usage

_Neverwinter Nights_ has been used by colleges and universities for a variety of educational purposes. It has been used at West Nottinghamshire College in the United Kingdom as a means of delivering key skills and of showing IT designers how to understand the coding in the game.[101][102] The Synthetic Worlds Initiative at Indiana University has used it as a basis for the creation of _Arden: The World of Shakespeare_, where Shakespeare's dramatic history of Richard III and The War of the Roses can be interactively explored.[103] The game and the Aurora toolset were also used at Macquarie University in Australia.[104] The University of Alberta has offered a video game design course which uses _Neverwinter Nights_ and the Aurora Toolset as the platform for teaching and course projects.[105] The University of Minnesota has used the game to teach journalism students how to gather facts and information for news events with a modified modern setting for the game that involves interviewing witnesses and doing library research;[106] in a modified game, students would work in pairs putting together a story about a train accident that causes a toxic chemical spill.[107] _Neverwinter Nights_ has also been used as an interface for some Moodle activity types.[108]

Editions and re-releases

Atari released subsequent editions of the game following its first release in 2002. These editions are:

-   _Neverwinter Nights: Gold_ (2003), which includes _Shadows of Undrentide_
-   _Neverwinter Nights: Platinum_ (2004) (in Europe: _Neverwinter Nights: Deluxe Edition_), which includes both _Shadows of Undrentide_ and _Hordes of the Underdark_
-   _Neverwinter Nights: Diamond_ (2005) (in Europe: _Neverwinter Nights Deluxe: Special Edition_), which includes everything in the _Platinum_ edition plus the _Kingmaker_ expansion pack
    -   In 2010, the _Diamond_ edition was licensed for online distribution to Good Old Games.[109]

Atari also re-released the game and both expansion packs in the following collections:

-   _Atari Collection: Rollenspiele_ (2005)
-   _Neverwinter Nights 2: Lawful Good Edition_ (2006)
-   _Neverwinter Nights 2: Chaotic Evil Edition_ (2006)
-   _Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons_ (2006); _Rollenspiele: Deluxe Edition_ (2007)
-   _Neverwinter Nights 3-Pack_ (2007)
-   _Neverwinter Nights: The Complete Collection_ (2011) contains _Neverwinter Nights 2_ and expansions as well.

Beamdog announced the upcoming release of _Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition_ on November 20, 2017. This version includes fixes made by the community since the last release, graphic improvements, premium modules, and a return to a multiplayer server list that was lost when Gamespy was shut down. A digital deluxe version includes the soundtrack and the rest of the premium modules. A pre-release version was made available to purchase on November 21.[110] _Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition_ launched on Steam on March 27, 2018[111] and on Google Play for Android on December 4, 2018.[112]

Skybound Games, a division of Skybound Entertainment, released Beamdog's remastered version for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 3, 2019.[113][114]

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[74] s 2002 Games of the Year |date=April 2003 | issue=225 | pages=83–86, 88, 89, 92–97 }}

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title: Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)

question: How has Neverwinter Nights impacted on the world?

answer: The game has been used for both pleasure and education.

question: Summarize the game in a sentence.

answer: Neverwinter Nights is a role-playing game based on Gary Gygax' "Dungeons & Dragons" tabletop game, which was released by BioWare in 2002.

question: What does the videogame rake from the tabletop version?

answer: The tabletop version has a ruleset designed around rolls of dice to determine whether a character hits its target or not this is implemented as a background mechanic for the video game. The game also allows a dungeon master to take control of a whole server to deliver a narrative, just as they would with the original game.


text:
It was 1:30am after a grueling Day 3 on the Inca trail. I haven't pooped since day 1. I had hoped to hold it until we returned to the hotel the following night.  But I knew when I crawled into my bag that this night might have other plans.  It was such a strange mixture of feelings.  On the one hand, there was almost an inevitability that pooping would happen this night.  I was afraid if I stayed in the tent there might be an extremely embarrassing situation. On the other hand, I was freezing and I didn't want to leave the tent.  I didn't want to wake up my travel companion.  I was afraid that the poop might be a messy affair, and just maybe I could hold it for another day.

After hours of tossing and turning, I decided I must get up.  I put my freezing FiveFingers on my already freezing feet.  Upon exiting the tent, I'm greeted by the most haunting, beautiful gift of a vista.  It was a clear night, the first since we had started hiking.  Machu Picchu Mountain was visible bathed in silvery moonlight.  In the distance were the snow capped peaks of the Andes, also reflecting the brilliance of June's supermoon.   I saw constellations I've always read about but never seen: the Crab, Pegasus and his Great Square--even Orion was here!  I didn't expect to see him in the Southern Hemisphere!  The Big Dipper, low on the horizon and upside down, pointing towards home.  And Cruz, the beautiful Southern Cross.  CSN kept repeating in my head--"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time.  You understand now why you came this way.  The truth that you've been running from is so small, but it's as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day!"  The truth is that I'm a worthwhile person.

I could've stood mesmerized there for hours, except that I had a job to do, a biological imperative.

I walked up a lonely trail to the restroom.  My experience with the free restrooms on the trail was that they were nasty.  This one proved to be no exception.  I open the door and look in.  There's shit all over the floor, but it doesn't matter.  This is my destiny.  There's no toilet, just a porcelain hole in the ground.  I drop trou, being as careful as I can not to let my hiking pants touch the turdy tile floor.  I squat slightly, with no idea what's going to happen.  I'm afraid it's going to be a drawn out watery affair, and I will have to stay in this tiring squatting position a long time while my insides flush out.   I'm afraid I might slip on the floor, damp with piss and excrement.  I'm afraid I might miss the hole and make the room even more unsanitary.  Was I standing in exactly the right position?

It was the moment of truth.  In less than a minute, there was a solid compact mass of well-formed shit.  It felt like a beautiful black birth.  I knew in an instant that that was going to be all, and it was enough.  It seemed to fall towards the porcelain hole for an eternity.  And…

Bullseye.

My job done, I wipe (though I hardly had to).  I open the door and walk to the hand washing station.  When I'm done, I turn to revel in the light of the moon, the stars, and the promise of a coming day.

title: Pooping On The Inca Trail [500 words, OC]

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: Information not found.

question: Why was he at the Inca trail?

answer: He was hiking.

question: Why was he struggling to decide whether or not to relieve himself?

answer: Because it was cold outside and he did not want to leave his tent.

question: What was "the truth"?

answer: According to the narrator, the truth was that he's a worthwhile person.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator struggles to relieve himself at the Inca Trail.


text:
Police ‘terrified’ by red ‘It’ balloons tied to grates

Posted: Sep 5, 2017 / 09:25 PM EDT / Updated: Sep 5, 2017 / 09:25 PM EDT

[red-balloon-it-movie_415991]

LITITZ, Pa. (AP) – Police officers in a small Pennsylvania town are evidently afraid of a certain homicidal clown.

The Lititz police department posted photos Tuesday of red balloons that a prankster had tied to a pair of sewer grates. A red balloon is the calling card of Pennywise, the sewer-dwelling, child-eating clown in Stephen King’s horror novel “It.” The hotly anticipated movie version opens in theaters Friday.

[]
In a playful Facebook post, police wrote that while they admire the prankster’s creativity, officers were “completely terrified” while removing the balloons and “respectfully request they do not do that again.” Police also suggested that people watch previews of the movie with the lights turned on and the volume turned low.

The police department’s post ended with a famous line from the book: “You’ll float too.”

Trending on WKBN.com

question: What happened in Lilitz?

answer: A prankster had tied red balloons to a pair of sewer grates.

question: Where is Lilitz?

answer: Lilitz is in Pennsylvania.

question: Who is Pennywise?

answer: Pennywise is the sewer-dwelling clown in Stephen King's horror novel "It."

question: What did the police department's Facebook post end with?

answer: The post ends with a famous line from the book: "You'll float too."

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: A prankster has left red balloons tied to sewer grates in Lilitz, Pennsylvania, the calling card of Pennywise, the murderous clown in Stephen King's horror novel, "It." Police respectfully requested that the perpetrator not do it again.


text: New and specially improved version of the zombie smashing hit, exclusively for the Xbox One. Insane mix of cars, speed, explosions, blood and zombies! Fight through an epic narrative campaign or test yourself in the Slaughter and Blood Race modes. Engage huge bosses, save survivors, drive crazy vehicles such as a bulldozer, fire truck or even a tank and smash everything in your way. Take part in the Blood Race tournament - chase other cars and take them down without mercy on brutal racing tracks. Jump into the Slaughter mode and survive as long as possible on specially crafted arenas. Experience super smooth gameplay at 60 frames per second and extra crisp visuals. Zombie Driver Ultimate Edition includes all DLC content that was ever created for the game.

question: What genre is the game?

answer: It's an arcade racer.


text:
    When the world was young and innocent of Death, and Light ruled while Darkness slept, my sister and I lived in a garden. In this garden there were many beautiful things: plants and creatures alike. While we loved this garden, we were not the caretakers of it and knew not who the gardener was who had planted it or who it was that took care of it; yet it was always quite luscious and constantly thriving. One day while wandering throughout the garden we decided to rest under our favorite cherry tree, which was in full blossom.

    While we rested and talked, there came a great rush of air and a tremendous beating of wings above the tree where we sat. It was a bird that landed gracefully but powerfully in front of us. But this was not just a bird, no, this was a beast of a bird, a king of winged creatures, a lord of the skies. Its colors were that of the rainbow and its feathers many and soft to the eyes. Its size was enormous and great: nearly ten feet from beak to claw and its wingspan at least that twice. We were, of course, amazed at the size and greatness of this bird. We both watched in wonder as all the birds of the garden, and all the animals too, came to this beast’s feet and offered gifts of fruit, flowers, and dance and song. All the creatures in the garden seemed to fear and worship this magnificent bird.

    Then, after seeing the respect and adoration this winged master was receiving, we grew jealous and began to hate the bird and despise it for its beauty and power. We wanted the love and worship of the animals, for we were the blessed, the human, the masters of the garden–or so we deemed. We befriended this beautiful beast and then poisoned an apple and gave it to the bird as a gift. The bird ate it eagerly. Soon the beast was crying out in pain while my sister and I danced around him and his misery.
Soon after that, the creature breathed his last. But our jealousy had grown, as it always does. I cut off his head with my sword, and my sister and I pulled off every last one of his colorful feathers and made a coat out of them. We marched and we pranced around the garden with our pride and our lust, brightly colored, while all the animals bowed to us now and gave us their wealth and their loyalty.
Before long, the sky began to weep, and the raindrops washed away the blood on our hands but not on our hearts. With the rain came the guilt of our sin, the knowledge of our transgression–the fruit of our conscience.

    For we realized then just what it was we had done. We had destroyed something beautiful, we had horrified something lovely, we had damned something blessed. The beautiful beast was now nothing more than bones which were scattered on the ground. And so we set to work in utter desperation: to try and piece the bird back together again. Yet our foolish attempt to mend that which we had broken was in vain; for we were destroyers, not creators; we were haters, not lovers; were children, not gods.
The product we created was far from the beautiful creature that once ruled the garden. This was no animal we made, it was a machine. Yes a machine: one with many whining gears and moving parts. We had destroyed beauty, and sought to recreate that which only can be created, not produced or made with human hands; it was not beauty at all.  We watched helplessly as our machine went on a rampage, cutting and burning all the trees and plants in the garden, and forcing all the animals to flee from their once-beautiful homes.

     So there we stood, my sister and I, amidst the ruin of our garden, the trees aflame, beauty destroyed, perfection mutilated: by us and our machine. We left the garden and found a cave far off where we spent the rest of our days: in darkness and not light, in horror and not beauty: in Death and not Life.

title: Something Beautiful Destroyed

question: Why did the duo kill the giant bird?

answer: They grew jealous of the worship it received from the animals of the garden.

question: Why did they create the rampaging machine?

answer: In their regret, they thought they could unmake their crime of killing the bird.

question: How did they kill the giant bird?

answer: Through treachery and betrayal. They befriended it before giving it a poisoned apple.

question: Explain how the creatures of the garden came to worship the duo.

answer: They turned the giant bird's feathers into coats for themselves, garnering the worship of the creatures that worshipped the bird.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer: In a beautiful garden innocent of death, a man and his sister come across a giant magnificent bird. They see the creatures of the garden worshipping the great best and grow jealous. They befriend it and feed it a poisoned apple, dancing around its corpse in glee. They make coats from its feathers, gathering the worship of the garden's creatures. Soon they begin to regret their treachery and try to unmake their crime, to put the bird back together. They only manage to create a machine that rampages through the garden and destroys it. They leave the garden for a cave to live in shame and horror.


text:
Raspberry Pi for pwning and penetration testing? Of course! Why not? As an introduction, Raspberry Pi is an ARM GNU / Linux box or a credit card size mini computer that can be plugged in to your TV using an HDMI cable then to your USB type of keyboard and mouse.

Aside from office work, programming, personal usage, and gaming, it is also used by enthusiasts out there as a penetration testing box by installing Ubuntu or Debian Linux and a couple of tools for information gathering, vulnerability assessment, exploitation, maintaining access, reverse engineering, social engineering, forensic analysis and VOIP analysis.

[]

In this article, I will introduce some penetration testing distributions and kits that are available for your Raspberry Pi:

PWNPI

PwnPi is a Linux-based penetration testing drop box distribution that has over 200 network security tools pre-installed and uses Xfce as its window manager. Below are some of the tools of PwnPi as described by the lead developer:

-   6tunnel _– TCP proxy for non-IPv6 applications_
-   aircrack-ng _– WEP/WPA cracking program_
-   amap _– a powerful application mapper_
-   arp-scan _– arp scanning and fingerprinting tool_
-   bfbtester _– Brute Force Binary Tester_
-   bing-ip2hosts _– Enumerate hostnames for an IP using bing_
-   bsqlbf _– Blind SQL injection brute forcer tool_
-   btscanner _– ncurses-based scanner for Bluetooth devices_
-   chaosreader _– trace network sessions and export it to html format_
-   chkrootkit _– rootkit detector_
-   cryptcat _– A lightweight version netcat extended with twofish encryption_
-   darkstat _– network traffic analyzer_
-   dhcpdump _– Parse DHCP packets from tcpdump_
-   dissy _– graphical frontend for objdump_
-   dmitry _– Deepmagic Information Gathering Tool_
-   dns2tcp _– TCP over DNS tunnel client and server_
-   dnswalk _– Checks dns zone information using nameserver lookups_
-   dsniff _– Various tools to sniff network traffic for cleartext insecurities_
-   enum4linux _– a tool for enumerating information from Windows and Samba systems_
-   etherape _– graphical network monitor_
-   fcrackzip _– password cracker for zip archives_
-   fimap _– local and remote file inclusion tool_
-   flasm _– assembler and disassembler for Flash (SWF) bytecode_
-   foremost _– forensic program to recover lost files_
-   fping _– sends ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts_
-   ftp-proxy _– application level proxy for the FTP protocol_
-   galleta _– An Internet Explorer cookie forensic analysis tool_
-   ghettotooth _– a simple but effective blue driving tool_
-   hostmap _– hostnames and virtual hosts discovery tool_
-   hping3 _– Active Network Smashing Tool_
-   httptunnel _– Tunnels a data stream in HTTP requests_
-   httrack _– Copy websites to your computer (Offline browser)_
-   hydra _– Very fast network logon cracker_
-   ike-scan _– discover and fingerprint IKE hosts (IPsec VPN Servers)_
-   inguma _– Open source penetration testing toolkit_
-   iodine _– tool for tunneling IPv4 data through a DNS server_
-   ipcalc _– parameter calculator for IPv4 addresses_
-   isr-evilgrade _– take advantage of poor upgrade implementations by injecting fake updates_
-   ipgrab _– tcpdump-like utility that prints detailed header information_
-   john _– active password cracking tool_
-   kismet _– Wireless 802.11b monitoring tool_
-   knocker _– Simple and easy to use TCP security port scanner_
-   lcrack _– A generic password cracker_
-   lynis _– security auditing tool for Unix based systems_
-   macchanger _– utility for manipulating the MAC address of network interfaces_
-   mboxgrep _– Grep through mailboxes_
-   mdk3 _– bruteforce SSID’s, bruteforce MAC filters, SSID beacon flood_
-   medusa _– fast, parallel, modular, login brute-forcer for network services_
-   metagoofil _– an information gathering tool designed for extracting metadata_
-   metasploit _– security project which provides information about security vulnerabilities_
-   mysqloit _– SQL Injection takeover tool focused on LAMP_
-   mz _– versatile packet creation and network traffic generation tool_
-   nbtscan _– A program for scanning networks for NetBIOS name information_
-   netcat-traditional _– TCP/IP swiss army knife_
-   netdiscover _– active/passive network address scanner using arp requests_
-   netrw _– netcat like tool with nice features to transport files over network_
-   netsed _– network packet-altering stream editor_
-   netwag _– graphical frontend for netwox_
-   netwox _– networking utilities_
-   nikto _– web server security scanner_
-   nmapsi4 _– graphical interface to nmap, the network scanner_
-   nmap _– The Network Mapper_
-   nstreams _– a tcpdump output analyzer_
-   obexftp _– file transfer utility for devices that use the OBEX protocol_
-   onesixtyone _– fast and simple SNMP scanner_
-   openvas-client _– Remote network security auditor, the client_
-   openvas-server _– remote network security auditor – server_
-   ophcrack-cli _– Microsoft Windows password cracker using rainbow tables (cmdline)_
-   ophcrack _– Microsoft Windows password cracker using rainbow tables (gui)_
-   otp _– Generator for One Time Pads or Passwords_
-   p0f _– Passive OS fingerprinting tool_
-   packeth _– Ethernet packet generator_
-   packit _– Network Injection and Capture_
-   pbnj _– a suite of tools to monitor changes on a network_
-   pentbox _– Suite that packs security and stability testing oriented tools_
-   pdfcrack _– PDF files password cracker_
-   pnscan _– Multi threaded port scanner_
-   proxychains _– redirect connections through proxy servers_
-   pscan _– Format string security checker for C files_
-   ptunnel _– Tunnel TCP connections over ICMP packets_
-   ratproxy _– passive web application security assessment tool_
-   reaver _– brute force attack tool against Wifi Protected Setup PIN number_
-   s.e.t _– social engineering toolkit_
-   scrub _– writes patterns on magnetic media to thwart data recovery_
-   secure-delete _– tools to wipe files, free disk space, swap and memory_
-   sendemail _– lightweight, command line SMTP email client_
-   siege _– HTTP regression testing and benchmarking utility_
-   sipcrack _– SIP login dumper/cracker_
-   sipvicious _– suite is a set of tools that can be used to audit SIP based VoIP systems_
-   skipfish _– fully automated, active web application security reconnaissance tool_
-   socat _– multipurpose relay for bidirectional data transfer_
-   splint _– tool for statically checking C programs for bugs_
-   sqlbrute _– a tool for brute forcing data out of databases using blind SQL injection_
-   sqlmap _– tool that automates the process of detecting and exploiting SQL injection flaws_
-   sqlninja _– SQL Server injection and takeover tool_
-   ssldump _– An SSLv3/TLS network protocol analyzer_
-   sslscan _– Fast SSL scanner_
-   sslsniff _– SSL/TLS man-in-the-middle attack tool_
-   sslstrip _– SSL/TLS man-in-the-middle attack tool_
-   stunnel4 _– Universal SSL tunnel for network daemons_
-   swaks _– SMTP command-line test tool_
-   tcpdump _– command-line network traffic analyzer_
-   tcpflow _– TCP flow recorder_
-   tcpick _– TCP stream sniffer and connection tracker_
-   tcpreplay _– Tool to replay saved tcpdump files at arbitrary speeds_
-   tcpslice _– extract pieces of and/or glue together tcpdump files_
-   tcpspy _– Incoming and Outgoing TCP/IP connections logger_
-   tcptrace _– Tool for analyzing tcpdump output_
-   tcpxtract _– extracts files from network traffic based on file signatures_
-   theHarvester _– gather emails, subdomains, hosts, employee names, open ports and banners_
-   tinyproxy _– A lightweight, non-caching, optionally anonymizing HTTP proxy_
-   tor _– anonymizing overlay network for TCP_
-   u3-tool _– tool for controlling the special features of a U3 USB flash disk_
-   udptunnel _– tunnel UDP packets over a TCP connection_
-   ussp-push _– Client for OBEX PUSH_
-   vidalia _– controller GUI for Tor_
-   vinetto _– A forensics tool to examine Thumbs.db files_
-   voiphopper _– VoIP infrastructure security testing tool_
-   voipong _– VoIP sniffer and call detector_
-   w3af-console _– framework to find and exploit web application vulnerabilities (CLI only)_
-   w3af _– framework to find and exploit web application vulnerabilities_
-   wapiti _– Web application vulnerability scanner_
-   wash _– scan for vunerable WPS access points_
-   wavemon _– Wireless Device Monitoring Application_
-   wbox – _HTTP testing tool and configuration-less HTTP server_
-   webhttrack – _Copy websites to your computer, httrack with a Web interface_
-   weplab – _tool designed to break WEP keys_
-   wfuzz – _a tool designed for bruteforcing Web Applications_
-   wipe – _Secure file deletion_
-   wireshark – _network traffic analyzer – GTK+ version_
-   xprobe – _Remote OS identification_
-   yersinia – _Network vulnerabilities check software_
-   zenmap – _The Network Mapper Front End_
-   zzuf – _transparent application fuzzer_

The default username for this distro is root and the default password is toor, which reminds me of BackTrack Linux.

Download Link: http://pwnpi.sourceforge.net/index.html_q=download.html

KALI LINUX

BackTrack Linux’s successor “Kali Linux” is also available for Raspberry Pi and for other ARM architectures. It has XFCE as its desktop manager for sleek performance, but it still rides like your new favorite penetration testing distro “Kali Linux.” Unlike BackTrack Linux, Kali is based on Debian GNU / Linux distribution but it is still aimed at computer forensics, reverse engineering, wireless penetration testing, web hacking, and many more.

There are more than 300 penetration testing tools and security auditing programs pre-installed for this distro, which includes theMetasploit Framework, Nmap, SQLmap, Openvas, Aircrack-ng, John, Hydra, Maltego, zaproxy, Wireshark, sslsniff, webmitm, hexinject, dex2jar, etc.

The tools for Kali Linux are also categorized as Top 10 Security Tools: Information Gathering, Vulnerability Analysis, Web Applications, Password Attacks, Wireless Attacks, Exploitation Tools, Sniffing/Spoofing, Maintaining Access, Reverse Engineering, Stress Testing, Hardware Hacking, Forensics, and Reporting Tools.

Download Link: http://cdimage.kali.org/kali-images/kali-linux-1.0-armel-raspberrypi.img.gz

RASPBERRY PWN

Raspberry Pwn is an installer from Pwnie Express for transforming your Debian distribution that is running on Raspberry Pi into a penetration testing kit which is loaded with a suite of security and auditing tools like SET, Fasttrack, kismet, aircrack-ng, nmap, dsniff, netcat, nikto, xprobe, scapy, wireshark, tcpdump, ettercap, hping3, medusa, macchanger, nbtscan, john, ptunnel, p0f, ngrep, tcpflow, openvpn, iodine, httptunnel, cryptcat, sipsak, yersinia, smbclient, sslsniff, tcptraceroute, pbnj, netdiscover, netmask, udptunnel, dnstracer, sslscan, medusa, ipcalc, dnswalk, socat, onesixtyone, tinyproxy, dmitry, fcrackzip, ssldump, fping, ike-scan, gpsd, darkstat, swaks, arping, tcpreplay, sipcrack, proxychains, proxytunnel, siege, sqlmap, wapiti, skipfish, and w3af.

It is just easy to install Raspberry Pwn, but make sure that you have already booted up Debian or Soft-float Debian “wheezy” which can be downloaded here.

Installation:

1.  Resize the root partition and use the whole SD card.
2.  Start the SSH service and SSH into your Raspberry Pi so that you can have access into the terminal or console of your Debian box. You may also grab your terminal right away if your Raspberry Pi is already connected to your TV or monitor.
3.  Change to the root user:
    _# sudo -s
    _
4.  Install git (Make sure you are connected to the Internet):
    _# apt-get install git
    _
5.  Download or clone the Raspberry Pwn installer from the Pwnie Express Github repository:
    _# git clone https://github.com/pwnieexpress/Raspberry-Pwn.git
    _
6.  Move into the Raspberry-Pwn directory and run the installer script: _cd Raspberry-Pwn ; ./INSTALL_raspberry_pwn.sh_
7.  And then, wait for the installation to finish!

PWNBERRYPI

PwnBerryPi is another pentesting suite for the Raspberry Pi and is based from Pwnie Express’s Raspberry Pwn, so basically you can expect the same tools from Raspberry Pwn. You can download or clone the PwnBerryPi installer from the g13net Github repository from here: https://github.com/g13net/PwnBerryPi.git

RESOURCES:

https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/handy-devices-hacking-part-1/

http://pwnpi.sourceforge.net/index.html_q=tools.html

http://www.kali.org/downloads/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Linux

http://blog.pwnieexpress.com/post/24967860602/raspberry-pwn-a-pentesting-release-for-the-raspberry

https://github.com/pwnieexpress/Raspberry-Pwn

question: Summarize everything about the Raspberry Pi.

answer: The Raspberry Pi is an ARM GNU mini-computer the size of a credit card running Linux. It can be connected to a TV using an HDMI cable and USB ports enable connection to a keyboard and mouse. The Raspberry Pi has many applications, including office work, programming, personal use, gaming, and even a penetration testing box by enthusiasts.

question: How do Raspberry Pi enthusiasts use the machine as a penetration testing box?

answer: They install either Ubuntu or Debian Linux and a couple of tools for information gathering, vulnerability assessment, exploitation, maintaining access reverse engineering, social engineering, forensic analysis, and VOIP analysis.

question: What pentesting Linux distribution has the most robust tools for penetration testing, PwnPi or Kali Linux?

answer: Kali Linux has 300 security tools versus PwnPi's 200. Kali Linux tools are also categorized as Top 10 Security Tools, giving it an edge over PwnPi.


text:
     Attention: I can't think of how to end this short story, but here is what I've written so far.

    The hurt was excruciating, so deep and cutting that it was almost physical. Alone, in a house full of my family, the night drew out even longer as every red minute on the digital clock flickered by. At three in the morning, my only company was the teddy bear at the end of the bed. All he had to offer was a blank stare.
	I choked back another flood of pain, biting into my pillow. Muffled screams filled my ears and salty tears filled my eyes and the thought of him filled my mind. That smile turned sneer, that gaze turned glower haunted the dark abysses of my thoughts. In the day, I could run from the mental image branded to me. Distractions and daylight saved my soul and sanity from the memories of his touch, but when night fell and the world laid to rest, there was no escape.
	He said forever but only meant a year. He said love but only meant abuse. He said I was important, that I mattered, that I was his one and only. I said he was my everything, but only realized he was more that that. Left like this, I felt less than nothing. Emotions were string. For him, they were something to play with and tangle. They were what strangled me, tied me to him even after he walked out of my life.  This wasn’t heartbreak. It was shattering my heart on the pavement and grinding it with his heels, like the way he ground cigarette butts.
	He left and took part of me with him, the vulnerable that opened up to him and only him. Carrying around my secrets, he knew the taste of my mouth, the feel of my lips, the love of my heart.
	It was the same heart that ached in the silence of my room. Its beating filled my ears and my face burned where he used to absent-mindedly trace the outline of my jaw.

title: This wasn't heartbreak.

question: Where does this take place?

answer: Narrator's (family's?) house.

question: What is the narrator going through?

answer: Heartbreak

question: Is the narrator a victim?

answer: It seems that from their view, yes.

question: How long has it been since the break-up?

answer: It seems fairly fresh.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator lies awake in the night, dwelling on the heartache they have endured after a breakup, critical of the antagonist but unable to not want the person who has hurt them so deeply.


text:
All the world is silent. The streets outside of the window groan with each passing car, but none make noise. They are all distant, many miles away. Inside, there is more silence. A world of non-existent sounds and forever stillness. The laptop, set aside, shares nothing but the sheen of a blank screen. The cellphone is only a quiet piece of metal and plastic. There is no object that can penetrate the silence. There is no outside. There is only here, there is only now.

And now is a time for sitting. For quietly taking in what's before her. A bed sheet, a blanket, two pillows, and her feet. I like this, she thinks, but the registration of her thought disturbs her silence, so she pushes them back down and merely looks. She looks upon them, on the hardwood floor of her studio, and silently expresses satisfaction for herself, for her will to push past where she'd been, and where she is at now. All quietly, all without a thought. Loneliness introduces itself with a whisper, but it knows its place and its place is far away. It merely notifies her of its presence and that is enough. She acknowledges it for that's all that it needs, and continues on with what's before her. Mine, she thinks. The thought is firm and it creates ripples across her studio. It is not a disturbance, but a natural part of the world. There has never been anything more natural than a thought that is secure and definite and at this moment. I made this. This is mine.

And I like it.

And, hearing the conviction in her thought, far and away, Doubt rose and looked her way. And doubt was far. Very far. But there is a certain quality of Doubt that allows it to travel with a speed not limited by distance or time. And Doubt is not an impatient thing, it is one that is content to wait, and linger, and haunt, like Lonliness. Together, they are powerful forces that do not need to be near to be known. So Doubt rose and looked out at her and she felt it. Even from that distance, and with all the conviction she had within her, she felt Doubt.

It was not a good feeling, but she didn't have time to worry about Doubt now. The silent world was starting to murmur and she would not have it. Not tonight. Not while she had created her retreat in the middle of her living room. Not tonight. Not ever. So she stayed where she was and looked at her pillows, and blankets, and bed sheets and felt satisfied. But there was more to do. She needed string to suspend the sheets. She needed to get up to tie the string to her window blinds and across the room to her kitchen cabinet doors. She needed to make those secure so that her bed sheets would be able to hang from them and create the tent that she had in her mind. And then she needed to light it. She needed to create the atmosphere that would make her tent living room perfect. She needed her retreat and she needed it to be perfect.
And so, that's what she did.

She laid down her blankets, creating a soft bedding in the middle of her open living room. Above it, she suspended string reaching across the entirety of her studio, from the window blinds to the open kitchen cabinets, securing them tightly at each end, making them perfect for the exact tent shape that she wanted. A small pride grew within her as she started to see her creation take shape. She viewed it as herself and as an observer watching herself create and then be within the space she saw she was creating, and a small seed of accomplishment sprouted within her alongside her pride. All it needed now were some books to hold the sides of the suspended sheets down to create the proper shape of a tent and then some lights to -

and Lonliness comes again. A quick step closer than where it was before. It is pushed back by her will, but its step into her territory was a message: I am always here. I am always close. She stands at this and closes her eyes. There are no sights, there are no sounds, there is only me. There is only my wants and my desires and that is all. There is nothing else. There is only what I want. Lights. I want light.

And the lights she has in mind are perfect. Small electric diodes taped to the inner lids of mason jars. Simply made and, when their wires are touched to a battery, emitting a warm light, they look to be the glow of small fireflies. Magic in a jar. Magic in a living room. It's beautifully cinematic and it's perfect.

title: All the World is Silent

question: What does the text say about doubt and loneliness?

answer: The story characterizes these feelings as if they are entities of their own right. They don't need to immediately cause issues for a person since they can bide their time. It's practically impossible to be completely free of them, but they can be kept at bay.

question: What does the story say about anxiety?


text:
Louis van Gaal's appointment struck fear into the Manchester United dressing room and that's exactly why he's the right man for the job... He's Fergie Mk II

-   Van Gaal has had sucess everywhere he has been a manager
-   Dutchman does not tend to stick around at clubs for too long
-   Ryan Giggs will provide Van Gaal with a link to the dressing room
-   United players need to realise they're not most important people at club
-   The club can't afford to fall too far behind Chelsea and Manchester City

 Published: 08:54 EST, 29 May 2014 | Updated: 13:00 EST, 29 May 2014

When the Manchester United playing squad first heard of the club’s interest in Louis van Gaal last month, the reaction was not universally positive. Good enough reason to suggest, therefore, that the 62-year-old Dutch coach may transpire to be exactly the right choice.

Time will tell. A year ago, there were not many dissenting voices in and around football following the appointment of David Moyes. Many commentators who criticise that choice now were happy to declare themselves in favour at the time.

What is clear, however, is that United’s playing squad now need a firm hand. They need to realise, and quickly, that, contrary to what they may presume, their voices are not the most important ones at Britain’s biggest football club.

New man in charge: Louis van Gaal will take over at Manchester United after the World Cup

Moyes, it transpired, couldn’t hold on tight enough to a group of players unsettled and unnerved by the presence in their midst of anyone other than Sir Alex Ferguson and his familiar band of coaches. For Van Gaal, we should presume that will not be a problem.

He has a reputation for being forthright, positive and free of self-doubt. He will need to be all of these things as he looks to restore the proper order of things at Old Trafford and, further down the road, tries to restore United to their accustomed place at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

For United, this is Life after Ferguson Part II. This is the bit that they really have to get right. One bad appointment is a nuisance. Two, however, starts to chip away at reputation, at standing and at prospects.

Moyes was an appointment for the long-term and it didn’t work simply because he couldn’t get the short-term part right. Van Gaal, sticking to that theme, is perhaps a man for the mid-term, a coach who must guide United over a bump in the road that has grown an awful lot bigger over the last few months.

Getting the team together: Van Gaal will be chared with getting the United players pulling in the same direction

Cups of joy: Van Gaal has a habit of winning trophies in his career at Ajax and Barcelona

The second coming? Van Gaal's reign is set to be like Ferguson's in terms of the respect that he commands

Van Gaal’s record shows that he doesn’t tend to stay in one place for too long. After almost a decade at Ajax, he did three years at Barcelona, two with Holland, another with Barcelona, four at AZ Alkmaar and two at Bayern Munich. From that point of view, the three-year contract handed him by the Glazer family feels about right.

Ideally, United may have liked a younger man. At Old Trafford, though, priorities have changed dramatically since last summer. United are a club that cannot afford to slip any further behind Manchester City and Chelsea.

Currently they are no longer even in their rivals’ slipstream and Van Gaal’s appointment – as strange as it sounds – is just as much about moving United forwards again, about arresting decline, as much as it is about winning the Premier League next season.

Van Gaal, in many ways, is a safe option and the Dutch coach arrives to find a squad in dire need of an overhaul.

Getting it right: Ed Woodward played a key role in the appointment of Van Gaal

United won the Premier League just a year ago but suddenly theirs is a squad short of at least two new central defenders and maybe two left backs. It also needs at least one central midfield player, one wide player and maybe a centre forward.

United chief executive Ed Woodward has been talking big in terms of projected spending. Once Van Gaal takes proper stock, however, Woodward may find that even £150m begins to look rather conservative.

Currently, United appear to be stuck a little between the old regime and the new in terms of transfer targets. Woodward had hoped that the list of players put together by Moyes would withstand the scrutiny of the new manager.

The wrong one: David Moyes' appointment was a mistake - although there were not too many dissenting voices at the time

Plenty to work on: The United squad will be expected to do better than last season

That, of course, was always unlikely and currently the club’s stated aim of doing most of their business before the World Cup looks startlingly unrealistic. Van Gaal is now on the cusp of a World Cup campaign with Holland and will not be seen at Old Trafford until the middle of July.

As such, the synergy between him and his chief executive is going to be a damn sight better than that between Woodward and Moyes if United’s squad is going to be competitive by the start of next season.

In the background, meanwhile, lurks Ryan Giggs.

Van Gaal’s decision to give Giggs a key role on his staff represents the safe option and something of a risk all at the same time. It gives the new United manager a link between himself and his dressing room already as well as insight in to how the club works and what it expects, on and off the field.

A good link: Keeping Ryan Giggs as his No 2 will give him a link to the playing squad

A pipe dream: Giggs and his fellow Class of 92 teammates Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville would never have worked at this time

Should things not start well for Van Gaal, though, he may find that the man next to him in the dugout begins to represent a threat – at least in terms of the public’s perception – as much as anything else.

There is a faction among the United support – romantic fools that they are - that would have liked to see Giggs and his former team-mates – the so-called ‘Class of 92’ – given the job. Management by collective, so to speak.

That would never have worked. A club needs a manager, a figurehead, a leader. The man United have chosen certainly has broad enough shoulders to cope. Woodward and the Glazer family must hope he has the flexibility and the wherewithal to adapt to the Premier League, too.

Another poor appointment and United could find themselves adrift.

FERGUSON VS VAN GAAL

SIR ALEX FERGUSON

ST MIRREN

1 Scottish First Division title

ABERDEEN

3 Scottish Premier League titles

4 Scottish FA Cups

1 Scottish League Cup

1 European Cup Winners' Cup

1 UEFA Super Cup

MANCHESTER UNITED

13 Premier League titles

5 FA Cups

4 League Cups

2 Champions League

1 European Cup-Winners' Cup

1 Intercontinental Cup: 1999, 1 FIFA Club World Cup: 2008

LOUIS VAN GAAL

AJAX

3 Dutch titles

1 UEFA Cup

1 Champions League

1 UEFA Super Cup

1 Intercontinental Cup

BARCELONA

2 Spanish title

1 Copa del Rey

1 UEFA Super Cup

AZ ALKMAAR

1 Dutch title

BAYERN MUNICH

1 German title

_*Major trophies only_

question: What sport does this article cover?

answer: football (American soccer)

question: Who is Louis van Gaal?

answer: A 62-year-old Dutch coach who took over at Manchester United (2014).

question: Who is David Moyes?

answer: It seems he was the previous coach.

question: Does the author think van Gaal is a good coach for Manchester United?

answer: Yes, "He has a reputation for being forthright, positive and free of self-doubt."

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Louis van Gaal, 62-year-old Dutch coach who took over at Manchester United (2014). The previous coach, David Moyes, couldn't hold on tight enough to a group of players unsettled by anyone other than Sir Alex Ferguson.


text:
ARE YOU READY FOR A NEW FRONTIER IN FANDOM?

[Portal 47]

_Your Insider Access to More In‑Depth Trek_

[Image]

Join “Dr. Trek,” Larry Nemecek, for a deeper dive into all things Trek

New to Trek and not sure where to start? Veteran fan tired of the same-o’, same-o’? Get ready to engage on a whole new level… AND GO WHERE NO SAVVY FAN HAS GONE BEFORE!

Portal 47 is like a “mini con” all year long — with Larry and his 25+ front-line years in Trek as your personal guide!

SIGN UP NOW!

Go where no savvy fan has gone before…

-

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    Tales from the Trek trenches you’ve likely never heard before, with live access to Trek cast and crew

-

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    “Live Dives” in person whenever Larry is a con guest near you — plus a 24/7 exclusive Facebook community

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    Early-access previews of content created for the TREKLAND blog, including upcoming vidchats and posts.

_“LARRY… THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PUTTING THIS OUT. IT WOULD BE A SIN TO LOSE THIS. I RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN TREK!”_
—Ronald B. Moore, Star Trek Visual Effects 1987-2005

[]

For years I’ve wanted to find a way to share with Trek fans my front-row Star Trek experiences, archives and especially crew contacts… but in a WHOLE NEW WAY. Books, magazines, even audio or podcasts all seemed so slow and limited.

So now, I’m thrilled to present an all-new doorway to the 24th Century… using the best in 21st century tools! A boutique beam-in backstage pass… for a deep-dive like no other:

PORTAL 47.*

IT’S LIKE A MINI-CON ALL YEAR LONG —beamed right to your own center seat! Wherever that may be.

My hope is to bring new context to your Trek, from facts and faces you didn’t know existed… All from my unique 20+ years in Trekland.

Dammit Spock, can you tell I’m excited? It’s just the thing to move on from the 50th anniversary!

[]

* Wondering what that 47 means?  That’s the first bit we’ll jump into!

Monthly with 12-month commitment

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-   Live, one-hour monthly telebriefing with a real-life Trek veteran—and the recording to keep!
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_WANT AN EVEN MORE EXCLUSIVE DEEP DIVE WITH DR. TREK?
Learn more about DECK ONE — email me here._

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Give it a try, no strings attached!

_Try it for just a month — you can upgrade and amortize for the regular rate._

Questions? Email Larry at p47@larrynemecek.com

Or weekdays, use the “blue hexagon”  button to live chat!

I THOUGHT I KNEW TREK! After one call with Larry I realized I don’t even know what I don’t know. Larry’s unmatched access and archives are a treasure trove of Trek… ALL THE CALLS HAVE BEEN A BLAST!

question: What is Portal 47?

answer: It is a subscription-based service for Star Trek fans where they can hear unheard stories and access exclusive archives of 25-year Star Trek superfan, Larry Nemecek. According to Larry, it is like a mini-con all year-round, but at the comfort of home.

question: Who is Larry Nemecek?

answer: Also known as Dr. Trek, Larry Nemecek has immersed himself in the Star Trek universe for 20 + years, compiling stories, interviews, rare videos, audio, documents, and images kept in his private archives. He's a fixture in Trek fandom and often speaks at comic conventions.

question: Who is Portal 47 for?

answer: It is for Star Trek fans who want to dive deeper into all things Trek, with Larry as their personal guide.

question: What does "47" mean in Portal 47?

answer: It means $47 for a no-strings-attached one-month trial. Customers can then move to the original price of $33 a month.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Dr. Trek, Larry Nemecek, is a Star Trek superfan and 25-year veteran of all things Trek. He is a respected member of the Trek community and has amassed an impressive archive of stories, video, audio, images, and documents. His experience in the Trek universe has made him a subject matter expert, and now he's offering Star Trek fans exclusive access to his private archives, live, one-hour telebriefings, round table telebriefings, product and event discounts, and a discounted one-day personal Trekland Tours of Trek film site locations in LA. Larry is offering all this in Portal 47, where fans can subscribe for $33 per month or a one-time, one-month trial of $47.