![]() ![]() Randomizing the board is an easy way to offer game variation without having to buy a game extension. The first option can only last so long since it gets tiresome to always play the same initial board. Randomizing the tiles to play on a unique setup.Playing on the suggested beginner board setup.When setting the game up, you have basically two choices: It will come up handy when attacking the fairness question… How to decide on the initial Catan board setup And since balance is easier to determine than fairness, let’s start with balance. Tile associated numbers don’t have the same probabilities of coming up.Īll of this makes certain spots on the island much more interesting than others… Are some initial board setups unfair?Ī balanced Catan board is a board where resources and roll probabilities are equally distributed on the board, but also where probabilities are well distributed among resources types.Ī fair Catan board is a board where all players have an equal chance of selecting good starting positions, no matter in which order they play.įairness and balance are not necessarily the same thing.Some resources are scarcer than others on the island.Resources are not of equal importance during the game,.Thus making it a tough choice of securing a good location, or deciding to get an early advantage by starting with known resource cards, but a lower resource payout. To complicate things, each player receives one resource card for each tile surrounding its second settlement. So the player order is: 1-2-3-4 4-3-2-1 Example of settlement placement in a 4 players game When this is done, they all place a second settlement-road combo, but in reverse order. In the beginning, each player place, in-turn, one settlement, and one attached road. They need at least one empty settlement position between them. Settlements cannot be placed next to each other. Roads are placed on the side of hexagons and are used to connect settlements. And thus are associated with between 1 and 3 hexagons, depending on where they are placed. Settlements are placed at the corners of hexagons. The first step in the game is to place initial settlements on the board. They allow an exchange rate of 2 cards of the harbor type against 1 card of any type (Noted 2:1 on the map).įour harbors are neutral harbors allowing exchanging 3 cards of one type against 1 card of any type (Noted by 3:1 on the map). The harbors allow players to trade resource cards at a better exchange rate than the default.įive harbors are of a specific resource type (one for each resource type). ![]() Each connects with two hexagon corners, and are placed with at most one harbor connection per settlement positions around the island.ĭuring her turn, a player can exchange 4 resource cards of the same type against 1 resource card of her choice. Harbors are placed around the island as if they were on their own sea hexagon. The only restriction on how the numbers are placed is that high probabilities number, like 6 or 8, cannot be on adjacent tiles. Each settlement around those tiles will produce one resource card for its owner (2 resource cards if the settlement was upgraded to a city). The sum of both indicates which resources tiles will pay out. Here is a preview of my new metric, the Catan Island Balance Index:ĭuring the game, at the beginning of each player’s turn, the player rolls a pair of dice. Have a look at different initial boards and even have a peek at extreme board setups!.Find an objective way to measure if a Catan island is well-balanced.Establish the difference between a balanced setup and a fair setup.Quickly look at what is the Catan Island initial setup.In today’s post, we will address the initial setup of the game, and try to answer the following question:Īnd to get started on this, we will do 4 things: You see, we already have a good mystery on our hands! What to expect in this article The winner is mostly determined by starting position (and mostly unaffected by what follows.) The winner is determined by the luck of dice during the game It is easy to spot an apparent contradiction: The game is unfair, starting position usually determining who will win from the start.The initial setup of the island is often unbalanced, making some resources hard to get.The game relies too much on randomness, with too many dice rolls.If you are familiar with online board game communities, you’ll often read criticism of Catan among the following lines: Here are my previous articles about Catan: ![]()
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When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.īBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. Read MoreīBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.īBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. I'm at my wits end, I would have chosen a different program had I known this would be. Unless not then someone will call with any update. Just received a call that we will receive a call Friday afternoon. Same thing, oh something is odd, we'll call back later. I wait until Wednesday, no response, so I call again. Finally everything sounds settled, I'm told we'll get a call the following Monday. I call again multiple times the week after spring break, each rep telling me they don't know why our account is just sitting there but they'll have to look into it. Fine, I'll wait til after spring break while my child has now been out of school for weeks ( they were pulled from public school due to personal safety). I send an email, get a response that no one can help me via email. Then I see a notice that spring break will begin the following week. hear from your child's principal or teacher soon for placement". Everything is good to go, I was told by a rep, hooray, now you enter "what we call the happy stage, stage 2! This stage is very quick, within minutes of you completing another form your child will be placed and you will. Another 2 days and a weekend, received a call. I called multiple times to inform them about the email, every rep said I would have to wait for the full 14 days for them to respond because they don't see this email anywhere. The school emailed back after a few days and cc'd the rep and myself on the email. They sent an email to my child's district and awaited a response to confirm enrollment. First call with Connections Academy at the end of February, the rep was very knowledgable and answered my questions and assured me the enrollment process takes about 1-2 weeks. ![]() ![]() This one, too, is blacklisted, according to Mr. Also, when you tap inside the address field, it doesn’t highlight the text. Red Onion defaults to use Bing as its search engine, and Google won’t work through the browser at all, in my experience. You can also protect your browser with a password or Touch ID, so you don’t have to worry so much about your privacy being invaded through physical access to your device. Red Onion gets its name because Tor was originally an acronym for “The Onion Router.” It redirects your internet browsing through the Tor network, and automatically cleans up cookies when you exit the app. ![]() Black Mesh is available for $1.99 on the App Store. Whoer reports that the IP address I get through Black Mesh is infected with a Trojan. I’d give this a three out of five it does what it’s supposed to, but remarkably slower than most of us would like. ![]() This is a decent option, but it’s notably slower than my own VPN. The first one isn’t a browser at all, but one that changes settings in your iPhone so that your internet traffic redirects through the Tor network. StackExchange referred to them as “spammers, trolls and psychopaths.” Black Mesh, a VPN That Redirects You to Tor From most of my research, including a rare answer from Stack Exchange itself, this is because of the wide variety of nefarious individuals who use Tor to mask themselves as they carry out dastardly deeds on the internet. The one thing you’ll need to bear in mind about Tor browsers is that it’s pretty common for major internet sites to blacklist them, forcing you to endure Captchas to no end. There are plenty of iOS Tor clients out there, so let’s cover a few of them. It will conceal a user’s location and usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis. Tor directs Internet traffic through a worldwidefree volunteer network consisting of more than seven thousand relays, for free. If you don’t already know about it, the Tor browser is built from the ground up to anonymize your browsing experience. You might also choose to set up your own private VPN for your personal use. ![]() You could go with TunnelBear, for one, or Astrill VPN. There are plenty of commercial VPNs out there. One important step is to use a Virtual Private Network, or VPN. This even applies to your cellular network, so you might wonder what you can do about it. If you want to lock up your Internet security and privacy, is a Tor browser really the answer? (Image Credit: HypnoArt First Things First, Secure Your Networkīefore you do anything else, you should make sure your network is secure. Let’s look at some of the methods for doing that and I’ll give you my not-so-humble opinion about which one is best. I figure it’s about time to give the iPhone some loving, since there are a number of ways to make sure you have a good experience browsing while keeping things private. I’ve written quite frequently about securing your browser and network on the Mac. ![]() ![]() ![]() This feature allows you to edit code and see how the changes are doing in real-time in a preview window.īrackets also offers code hint integration with Photoshop, making it possible to import handy files from Photoshop like fonts, colors, or measurements. The program offers a live preview tool which is a big hit amongst many users. Since Brackets is an Adobe project, it performs brilliantly in everything related to design integration. When it comes to front-end development, Brackets stands out among other text editors. What is Brackets? Web designers benefit from a well-engineered text editor.īrackets is an HTML text editor developed by Adobe. Additionally, Atom makes it easy to work with config files. ![]() The built-in package manager will allow you to add packages in seconds. It allows users to write packages with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, further optimizing the process of web development.Ītom has an excellent tool that is also very practical. Atom also includes a handy integrated spell-check tool.Ītom was designed to be a customized version of Chromium, which is Google’s open-source web browser. Atom also incorporates a learning curve feature which is a great way to see the performance of your project.Ītom comes with helpful features that make web development easier, including a smart auto-complete and a find-and-replace tool. If you’ve been working with another text editor called Sublime, it shouldn’t be difficult to start using Atom. Atom allows users to customize coding projects with ease. What is Atom?Ītom was designed as an open-source code editor at GitHub. Access exclusive scholarships and prep coursesīy continuing you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and you consent to receive offers and opportunities from Career Karma by telephone, text message, and email.Career Karma matches you with top tech bootcamps. ![]() ![]() ![]() It shows that you've put in the effort and thought into creating something unique and meaningful. Make a Unique Gift: A personalized collage featuring memorable moments with friends or family makes for an excellent gift.By arranging your pictures creatively, you can tell a story and evoke emotions beyond the individual images. Tell a Story: A collage of multiple images can convey a more extensive narrative or theme that may not be possible with a single photo.Celebrate Your Team: Whether for an annual report or an office display, creating a collage of headshots of all your employees is a great way to show appreciation and celebrate your team's diversity and accomplishments.But by making a collage, you can highlight your favorite moments and capture your audience's attention with a visually stunning post. Stand Out on Social Media: Posting multiple photos on social media can be overwhelming, and your followers might not be interested in scrolling through them all.It's a great conversation starter and will leave a lasting impression on your guests. Make a Lasting Impression: Organizing a conference or a special event? Creating a vast billboard of hundreds of photos is an impressive way to showcase the highlights of the occasion.Imagine having a single masterpiece that features all your best work. Showcase Your Photography or Design Skills: If you're a photographer or a designer, combining all your photos from a shoot or a design project into one sheet is an excellent way to display your creativity and talents.And more specifically, they allow you to: You might wonder, "Why would I want to make a collage with so many photos?" Collages are a fantastic way to combine multiple images into one captivating work of art. You can even make a collage out of 200 or 400 photos with the steps described above. Let's make a collage with lots of photos like the one below! Make a 100 Photo Pile: Add Unlimited Pictures To get started, you'll need to download and install TurboCollage.ĭon't worry it's a quick and easy process that takes less than a minute to complete. Uploading a hundred photos can be a hassle with online services better suited for smaller, fixed templates.īut with dedicated, downloaded software, you'll have the processing power to edit a large number of high-quality, high-resolution images efficiently. Why Download a 100-Picture Collage Maker App? Why Not Online? With that in mind, let’s dive into six types of collages you can make without breaking the bank. And the best part? You don't need any design experience or expensive software like Photoshop. Setup a collage with a prominent center picture, arrange pictures in a regular grid, or create a random picture pile. Create stunning picture collages on your Mac. Search TurboCollage 6 on Mac App Store to get the latest version. In this article, we'll teach you how to create a collage of 100 or more pictures quickly and easily. 23,99 Screenshot SALE - 20 OFF FOR TODAY ONLY A newer version of TurboCollage is now available. Have you ever had lots of photos to share with your friends but no idea how to organize them all? Whether it's from a photo shoot or a vacation, we've all been there. ![]() ![]() ![]() Continued abuse of our services will cause your IP address to be blocked indefinitely. Please fill out the CAPTCHA below and then click the button to indicate that you agree to these terms. If you wish to be unblocked, you must agree that you will take immediate steps to rectify this issue. If you do not understand what is causing this behavior, please contact us here. If you promise to stop (by clicking the Agree button below), we'll unblock your connection for now, but we will immediately re-block it if we detect additional bad behavior. 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![]() ![]() The postie and the priest refuse to capitulate and the drama showing their determination to get the work published regardless continues to unfold even as the nasty Archbishop plots against the priest in a public display of bullying. The reader is in the book-lined study as the duo discuss the vagaries of the publishing world: the insistance by publishers and their editors that the edges of the manuscript be chamferred so that it easily slots into an existing pigeonhole. There are anecdotal stories about posties and people who the postie meets as he pedals around the streets of South Melbourne delivering his mail, an epoch into the times in which both he and the priest live.Īs the manuscript develops Father Bob, who says that there isn't much of a story to tell, finds that his interest is piqued by the unusual style of writing of the man he has 'ordained' as a mobile priest he enjoys being a character in a book full of colourful characters, protagonists who prospective publishers want to eliminate. ![]() It has a 105cc, four-stroke, air-cooled single-cylinder engine with a four-speed transmission and automatic clutch. The priest is well in that millieu too as friction develops during a heated discussion about the priest's interaction with paedophile priests: despite their friendship this is no hagiography.Īs he is regaled with stories about creepy Catholics, Post Office Fleas, lunatics, beekeeping, and a tragic story about a flash priest from Braybrook who built a church in the mud, the postie is always mindful of his red pushbike with its yellow bag of mail leaning innocuously against the front fence because, unbeknown to his superiors, these sessions are held midway through his round. While other bikes preceded it, the Honda CT110, used by posties today, was first introduced in 1980 and is known for its reliability, ease of use and design simplicity. With his rich Shakespearean-like use of language, humour and humility, the priest steps down into the millieu of the postie and tells his monologous tales against the background noises of ringing telephones and the door bell constantly buzzing as the dog crunches on chicken necks or charges around the study flinging a rubber hamburger about. The symbiotic relationship between the postie and the priest is evident during the sessions in the rectory when the priest, with his long-legged poodle lolling in an armchair, tells his story to the postie whose interviewing skills have not had the requisite time to develop. With its fifty-seven short, sharp chapters, a la 'Gargantua and Pantagruel,' The Postie And The Priest is a biography about the iconic Father Bob Maguire whose message could well be: "Love thy neighbour but don't become holier than thou whilst doing it." Ron, an impious postie who rides for the South Melbourne Disaster Centre, has no intention of doing that in fact by introducing two most unlikely characters he indulges his alter-ego's insistence on allowing his imagination a lateral perspective on his perception of the reverent father's life. ![]() ![]() ![]() The digital tire tread depth gauge measures approximately 11.2 x 6 cm, the coded tire tread depth gauge measures approximately 8.5 x 2.5 cm, and the brake pad measuring tool measures approximately 13 x 3.6 cm, making them convenient to store when not in use. The set includes a digital tire tread depth gauge, a coded tire tread depth gauge, and a brake pad measuring ruler.Ĭonstructed with flexible plastic and stainless steel materials, these tools are lightweight, solid, and sturdy, making them resistant to rust and breakage. ![]() The 3 Pieces Tire Tread Depth Gauge Tool is a set of reliable and durable automotive tools designed to accurately measure the tread depth of tires and brake pads. 2. 3-Piece Digital Tire Tread & Brake Gauge Set For Vehicles With its dual camera and real-time data capabilities, the TBE200 is a must-have tool for any automotive technician looking to improve their efficiency and accuracy when it comes to tire and brake maintenance. The TBE200 comes with a one-year warranty and 30-day refund services, ensuring that technicians can trust in the quality and reliability of this revolutionary tool. With the ITS600, technicians can obtain a comprehensive test report that includes all the data and insights they need to make informed decisions about tire and brake maintenance. One of the key features of the TBE200 is its compatibility with the ITS600, which provides additional data and insights into TPMS health, tire tread depth, brake disc wear, and repair tips. With the TBE200, technicians can scan DOT, tire expiration notification, and tire recall lookup, as well as take pictures of tire wear and damage. The TBE200 helps technicians obtain uneven wear analysis, replacement and maintenance advice, including tire/brake disc replacement, tire rotation/alignment repair, and more. ![]() The TBE200 is compatible with passenger cars, off-road vehicles, and commercial vehicles, making it a versatile tool for any automotive technician. With a measuring accuracy of 0.1 mm, the TBE200 is a highly precise tool that can measure tread depth and brake disc wear without requiring the removal of wheels.Įquipped with a 1.65-inch AMOLED Super Retina touch screen, the TBE200 provides real-time display of measurement data and curves, making it easy for technicians to obtain a full tread measurement/quick check. The Autel MaxiTPMS TBE200 is a revolutionary tire tread depth and brake disc wear tester that allows technicians to obtain a comprehensive test report on TPMS health, tire tread depth, brake disc wear characteristics, and repair tips without having to remove the wheel. By considering these key points, you can ensure that you invest in a reliable tool that will help you maintain safe driving conditions for you and your passengers. To summarize, when looking for the best tire tread depth gauge, you should prioritize accuracy, durability, portability, versatility, and affordability. Lastly, it should be affordable and provide value for money. Fourthly, it should be versatile enough to measure the tread depth of various types of tires, including those on cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles. Thirdly, the gauge should have a compact design that makes it easy to store and transport. Secondly, the gauge should be durable and made of high-quality materials to prevent it from breaking or becoming damaged during use. Firstly, you need to ensure that the gauge is accurate and easy to read. When looking for the best tire tread depth gauge, there are a few key points you should consider. To avoid such situations, it is essential to measure your tire's tread depth regularly with a reliable tire tread depth gauge. Tires with worn-out treads can be hazardous, especially during wet or snowy conditions, and can lead to accidents. As a car owner, one of the most important things you should be aware of is the condition of your tires. ![]() ![]() ![]() The genus name is from Ancient Greek khrusolophos, 'with golden crest', and pictus is Latin for 'painted' from pingere, 'to paint'. Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source code that was used in this project: Elastic Search, WordNet, and note that Reverse Dictionary uses third party scripts (such as Google Analytics and advertisements) which use cookies. The golden pheasant ( Chrysolophus pictus ), also known as the Chinese pheasant, and rainbow pheasant, is a gamebird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae ( pheasants ). The definitions are sourced from the famous and open-source WordNet database, so a huge thanks to the many contributors for creating such an awesome free resource. In case you didn't notice, you can click on words in the search results and you'll be presented with the definition of that word (if available). The City of Fawn Creek is located in the State of Kansas. For those interested, I also developed Describing Words which helps you find adjectives and interesting descriptors for things (e.g. The Himalayan Monal, or Impeyan Pheasant, with its heavy body shape is very different from any of the other pheasant species. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khrusolophos, 'with golden crest', and pictus is Latin. So this project, Reverse Dictionary, is meant to go hand-in-hand with Related Words to act as a word-finding and brainstorming toolset. The golden pheasant ( Chrysolophus pictus ), also known as the Chinese pheasant, and rainbow pheasant, is a gamebird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae (pheasants). That project is closer to a thesaurus in the sense that it returns synonyms for a word (or short phrase) query, but it also returns many broadly related words that aren't included in thesauri. I made this tool after working on Related Words which is a very similar tool, except it uses a bunch of algorithms and multiple databases to find similar words to a search query. So in a sense, this tool is a "search engine for words", or a sentence to word converter. It acts a lot like a thesaurus except that it allows you to search with a definition, rather than a single word. The engine has indexed several million definitions so far, and at this stage it's starting to give consistently good results (though it may return weird results sometimes). ![]() For example, if you type something like "longing for a time in the past", then the engine will return "nostalgia". It simply looks through tonnes of dictionary definitions and grabs the ones that most closely match your search query. The eggs are incubated by the female only for almost 28 days.The way Reverse Dictionary works is pretty simple. When they do, female Chinese monals lay clutches of three to five eggs per each between March and June. As it doesn’t breed every year, and takes several years to reach sexual maturity. Female birds are also slightly larger than their mates.Īctually, the Chinese monal is thought to have a slow reproductive rate. The female is more understated in appearance with grey and reddish-brown plumage, a white back, and rufous tail. Male Chinese monals also have reddish gold mantles, black underparts and blackish, purplish-green tails. He has a large drooping purple crest, a metallic-green head and blue bare skin around the eyes. The male Chinese monal boasts extremely showy iridescent plumage. And by mass, the Chinese monal is one of the largest pheasants after the Turkey, the Green Peafowl, and the Indian Peafowl. It is the largest of the three Monal species (the others are the Himalayan Monal and the Sclater’s Monal). The Chinese Monal is a Pheasant species restricted to the mountainous areas of southwest China. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() To be honest, what I had to learn wasn’t the Audacity UI, but audio terminology. In saying that though, it’s not that much of a learning curve. Honestly, given I’ve been in open-source for so long, I should hold my head in shame for not using it sooner.īut hey, using it was a bit of a learning curve. I’ll be honest, at first I was a bit dubious about using it, thinking it wouldn’t give me the kind of sound I wanted, instead preferring stick to the “ safe” route of using GarageBand.īut after some experimentation, I’ve found that Audacity’s clearly the better choice. It can remove annoying background sounds with its noise gate functionality.It can apply numerous effects, including: Normalization, Equalization, Fade In, Fade Out, Silence, & Truncation.It can cut, copy, splice, or mix sounds together.It can edit WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP2, MP3, or Ogg Vorbis sound files. ![]() It has a very healthy range of features but here’s a short list: If this is your first time hearing about it, Audacity is an open source (and free) application for recording and editing audio. So in my never ending search for that perfect sound, I’ve come across a reliable process which works for me.īest of all, it’s using Audacity, which is my all-time - favourite - audio editor. I’m not saying I want to sound like I have access to a professional recording studio.Īs it’s nice to still have a slightly more relaxed sound. So it’s important to me that I sound professional, and not like I’m all alone in a room. I do an increasing amount of audio work whether that’s for my Free the Geek podcast, technical training videos, or longer courses. Whether you’re creating a podcast or a screencast, how do you make your voice sound as professional as possible - without an expensive recording studio? Today I’ll show you how to do it using the free, open-source tool Audacity. ![]() |