The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Everyday Objects appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Since many of us are still limited to where we can go, this week’s photography challenge topic is the EVERYDAY OBJECTS! Everyday objects can be anything from a cup filled with coffee, TV remote, shoes, pens, computer mouse to a guitar pick. You get the picture! Get creative with them, either with the photography style […]

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Everyday Objects appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In paperback:

Stephen King's The Outsider maintains its position at number 5 (trade paperback).

In hardcover:

Rae Carson's The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition debuts at number 5.

Patricia Briggs' Smoke Bitten debuts at number 6.

In paperback:

Stephen King's The Outsider maintains its position at number 5 (trade paperback).

In hardcover:

N. K. Jemisin's The City We Became debuts at number 9.

In paperback:

Stephen King's The Outsider is up one position, ending the week at number 4 (trade paperback).

Labeled as a thoughtful work of sociological science fiction, Juliette Wade's debut novel scared me a little. Indeed, this is usually the sort of book that appeals to critics but puts the bulk of SFF fans to sleep. Advance blurbs mentioned that Mazes of Power featured phenomenal worldbuilding, so I finally decided to give it a shot.

And what a mistake it turned out to be. Mazes of Power is one of the most boring novels I have ever read. I wanted to quit early on, that goes without saying. But I had already announced that I was reading the book on Goodreads, so I elected to persevere, hoping that it would get better. Alas, it didn't. . .

Here's the blurb:

This debut work of sociological science fiction follows a deadly battle for succession, where brother is pitted against brother in a singular chance to win power and influence for their family.

The cavern city of Pelismara has stood for a thousand years. The Great Families of the nobility cling to the myths of their golden age while the city’s technology wanes.

When a fever strikes, and the Eminence dies, seventeen-year-old Tagaret is pushed to represent his Family in the competition for Heir to the Throne. To win would give him the power to rescue his mother from his abusive father, and marry the girl he loves.

But the struggle for power distorts everything in this highly stratified society, and the fever is still loose among the inbred, susceptible nobles. Tagaret’s sociopathic younger brother, Nekantor, is obsessed with their family’s success. Nekantor is willing to exploit Tagaret, his mother, and her new servant Aloran to defeat their opponents.

Can he be stopped? Should he be stopped? And will they recognize themselves after the struggle has changed them?

When I think about complex and phenomenal worldbuilding, names of science fiction authors such as Peter F. Hamilton, N. K. Jemisin, James S. A. Corey, Kameron Hurley, and Alastair Reynolds come to mind. Understandably, given the advance praise, I was expecting something more than a society living underground with a technological level that often appears to be straight out of the 80s. In addition, nothing is truly elaborated on. Why are they living in cavern cities? Why is their society so highly stratified? Why is their technological level so low? Why is there such a weird battle for succession? Yada yada yada. This is not cool worldbuilding. This is not convoluted political intrigue. It's just an author offering basically no information to answer any of the questions raised by the concepts and ideas she came up with.

Another odd thing was the homosexual tendencies of a number of male characters. Nothing wrong with that, of course. I wondered if this was a world in which same-sex relationships were an accepted norm, only to find out that it's a big taboo. This left me quite confused at times, especially given the fact that the main protagonist is hopelessly in love with a girl. Once again, no light was shed by the author regarding this aspect of the tale. The emancipation of women in a decidedly patriarchal society appears to be one of the themes Juliette Wade wanted to explore in this series. And yet, for some reason, all the POV characters are male and we never get a female perspective.

There is no way to sugarcoat this, I'm afraid. The characterization is absolutely awful. The main protagonist, Tagaret, is thoroughly emo and extremely boring. To see events unfold through his eyes was pure torture at times. His younger brother, Nekantor, is the antagonist of the story. Ambitious and dealing with a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, he's the opposite of his sibling. Not as well-drawn as Tagaret, it often feels as though he's a caricature of sorts. Along with his father, some kind of hybrid between a calculating politician, an alcoholic dad from the 60s, and a Neanderthal, both characters actually growl in pretty much all of their scenes. I kid you not. Aloran was probably the most interesting protagonist of the bunch. But like Tagaret, he was way too emo to be believable. I would have liked to discover more about the Imbati culture and why they accept their role as servants without rebelling. Tamelera, the boys' mother, had the makings of a compelling character, yet the author did not see fit to give her a point of view. In addition, I would have liked to learn more about Della and her family, what with the fact that she is Tagaret's love interest. But again, we are left with more questions and few answers.

Juliette Wade is evidently one of those writers who are loath to use profanities in their stories. Nothing wrong with that. But if you decide to replace common obscenities with made-up ones, you should at least endeavor to make them good. In Mazes of Power, Wade replaced the f-word with gnash. Gnash it. Gnash this. Gnash him. Gnash that. And so on and so forth. I mean, this is worse than Brandon Sanderson! Why the author didn't go for safe and acceptable oaths instead of making up such a lame one, I'll never know. But it made me grit my teeth every time someone swore in the novel.

The pace can be quite uneven. At times the rhythm is fluid, yet there are some portions in which the pacing was decidedly slow-moving. My main gripe is that very little actually happens throughout the book. There are a few interesting bits from time to time, but overall the plotlines and the characters totally failed to capture my imagination and pull me in. This is the first volume in The Broken Trust series, which means that there will be sequels. However, can't for the life of me see myself considering reading the next installment. Going through Mazes of Power was a chore from the very beginning and it took me about a month to finish. I'm not going through such an ordeal again.

It's obvious that Juliette Wade's sociological science fiction is not for me.

The final verdict: 3/10

For more info about this title, check out these Amazon Associate links: Canada, USA, Europe.

In paperback:

Stephen King's The Outsider is down six positions, ending the week at number 10 (trade paperback).

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale returns at number 14 (trade paperback).

In paperback:

Stephen King's The Outsider is down five positions, ending the week at number 15 (trade paperback).

In paperback:

Stephen King's The Outsider is up three positions, ending the week at number 12 (trade paperback).

In hardcover:

Stephen King's If It Bleeds debuts at number 1. For more info about this title, follow these Amazon Associate links: Canada, USA, Europe.

Are small items getting lost in your IKEA drawers? The usual advice is to get a tray or dividers for drawers to organise smaller things into neat sections. However, not all IKEA drawers come with made-to-fit trays. But fear not, IKEAhackers readers have tray and drawer divider suggestions for the more popular IKEA drawers. So, […]

The post 7 ways to organise small items in IKEA drawers appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

When we renovated  our bedroom last year we built in lots of PAX storage. We built a large wardrobe with grey gloss sliding doors. Photo: IKEA.com We then used the 35cm deep frames to create open storage opposite the end of the bed. IKEA items: White PAX Frame White KOMPLEMENT Drawers This provides open shelving […]

The post Q: How to reduce KOMPLEMENT Drawer Spacing? appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

The latest episode of “We Roar” features Cecilia Rouse, dean of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Princeton faculty members Rubén Gallo, M. Zahid Hasan, Amaney Jamal, Ruby Lee, Margaret Martonosi, Tom Muir, Eve Ostriker, Alexander Smits, Leeat Yariv, James Stone and Muhammad Qasim Zaman have been named members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Visiting faculty member Alondra Nelson also was elected to the academy.

Ali Nouri, a 2006 Princeton graduate alumnus and president of the Federation of American Scientists, is the latest guest on the "We Roar" podcast.

Princeton historian Rhae Lynn Barnes reflects on teaching and service during the coronavirus outbreak and the history website she launched for educators.

Alan Blinder, the Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, is the latest guest on the "We Roar" podcast.

Surgical resident Glenn Wakam shares his view of the health disparities exposed and amplified by the pandemic, from his perspective on the front lines in a Detroit-area hospital.

Have you ever said 'yes', when you wanted to say 'no'? You're not alone. A lot of people do this, and often the situation is different every time. For example: It's a hot afternoon and your skinny best friend implores you to go to the ice-cream bar, because she doesn't have anyone else to go […]

Princeton ecologists Peter and Rosemary Grant led a team of researchers to discover how genetics and hybridization affected the beak shape of finches on the Galápagos Islands.

If only you knew how to make your employees care as much as you do. If only you knew how to motivate them. Then, they'd be more productive, more enthusiastic. Here's the simple and direct great leaders motivate a team member.

The post Mara West in Red appeared first on Advanced Style.

"I know no one expects much from me! [...] I know more than anyone else that I'll never beat you! But I must fight you anyway! I'm the only one left! It's not about winning or losing! I just have to stand here and face you!"
- Mumen Rider, the bravest hero of all time.

Saitama hates his job and dreams of a hero life in which he would save people like the greatest hero of the world : AllMight, the number one S-Class hero of the hero association. Animated by a strong will to save people from danger and monsters Saitama decides one day to change his life and to be a hero on its own. Thus he become the Justice Rider, a powerless but fearless hero with a strong will that doesn't hesitate to risk his life for others following the path of its main example : AllMight, the symbol of peace.

From now, Saitama's life will never be the same ...


Информация
Автор: Woяthy
Аниме: One Punch Man, Boku No Hero Academia
Музыка: Oh The Larency - Man On A Mission

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The post ‘Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law’ Co-Creator Michael Ouweleen Is Named Adult Swim President appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Even as about 90% of Princeton’s research labs are shuttered, care for research animals continues uninterrupted under the direction of Laura Conour, the University’s attending veterinarian and the director of Lab Animal Resources who is featured in the latest episode of "We Roar." 

SANTA YNEZ, Calif. – Today, in Santa Ynez, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) met with federal and state agencies and leaders from the region’s agriculture and food production industries to make progress on on-farm composting.

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PHILADELPHIA (April 16, 2020) – In a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Texas-based Raven Power LLC recently paid a $105,000 penalty for allegedly failing to timely report a 2017 release of a hazardous substance from the H.A.

Below is a guide for installing the Power of Red Build for Kodi. This is a 3rd party build so please do not post questions on the official Kodi forums relating to this build. You can follow the builder on Twitter here and you can also join the The Power

New rules come in this week

Association claims hotels are owed millions

Find out how you can make your website mobile-ready by simply modifying its Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

Microsoft's free web editor is a sophisticated WYSIWYG web editor with many features usually only found in commercial offerings (and no wonder, since it was previously something you had to buy). This tutorial series takes you through the process of designing a fully functional multi-page website with Expression Web.

This article on whether a domain name registrar is the same thing as a web host answers a question I was asked by a visitor.

The entire BlueGriffon Tutorial has been updated for the version 3 series of BlueGriffon. Those thinking of using it to create a website can find the complete series online.

What if someone else owns the domain on which your website sits? For example, as it was in the case of one of my visitors, someone may have bought the domain for you, and retained ownership of it. Or perhaps your website is on a free web host, or a blog host, and you are using the web address given to you by them. This article deals with how you can solve that problem (or potential problem).

For the sake of completeness (and also because a visitor requested it), the Layout Wizard has been updated to support one column websites as well. As a result, it can now create one, two and three column websites (depending on which you prefer). The generated web page is mobile-friendly and completely customizable. There are no advertisements, and nothing you enter into the Wizard is recorded anywhere. And it's free.

One of my visitors wanted to know how to change the distance between paragraphs on a web page. This article addresses that question. It also deals with what to do when you change the spacing between lines (eg to double-space it), and the gap between paragraphs becomes too wide.

A visitor asked me if there was a way to stop her web server from showing a directory listing of the folders on her site, without having to create a .htaccess file. This article gives 2 alternative solutions.

I was asked by a visitor how he could create rounded buttons. This article shows you how to add round corners to your buttons and, if that's what you really want, insert buttons that are completely circular.

I was asked by a visitor how he could move his website from Dreamweaver to the free BlueGriffon web editor. This article answers that question.

By default, anyone can place your website in a frame or iframe, for the purposes of clickjacking, altering your content, or putting advertisements on your page. This article shows you how to prevent this, using both the older backward-compatible method as well as the modern officially-recommended one.

Find out how you can insert a video into your web page with the free Microsoft Expression Web editor. The video, in this case, will be placed on your website itself (ie, self-hosted) and not on a video sharing site.

This article answers a question asked by a visitor on whether he can simply update all the URLs on his website to "https" without obtaining an SSL certificate, and, if not, why.